Now this is what I call ridiculous

Maybe its a big hit, but still the overall concept on which this is based is driving me nuts.

---From MoCoNet News
I like this quote about the upcoming ESPN MVNO: “Given the ESPN name’s ubiquity and popularity, an ESPN phone and wireless service are no-brainers, said Terry Lefton, an editor at the SportsBusiness Journal trade publication. “Given your druthers, what is a brand you’d put on a sports product?” he said. “One would be Nike. The other would be ESPN.”
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Now, if they were to innovate by making a phone which was better engineered or had a super superior UI, I would have really appreciated ESPN doing that, but just by looking at this phone it just doesn't seem that way. In order to get a particular content should I buy a ESPN branded phone ?? So does that mean next computer I am going to get it from CNN of NBC instead of IBM or Sony or Dell ..Hell NO !

When will these guys understand its gonna be one device to bind them and one device to rule them all, so instead of coming up with branded phones ESPN should focus on how to reach existing phone users with their content.

Rewarding the most passionate users

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/10/rewarding_the_m.html

Use of cartoons vs real characters in marketing

Found this interesting stuff

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/10/the_best_thing_.html

In the classic (must must must read) Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud suggests that the more abstract (as opposed to photorealistic) nature of cartoons allows the viewer to identify with the character. An abstract, iconic face could be... almost anyone. But as photorealism increases, the likelihood of the user seeing himself in the character decreases. A cartoon happy face could be me. A photoreal image of a 25-year old male with cropped hair, a beard, and a pierced nose is clearly not.

List of top 100 blogs

http://news.com.com/2310-10784_3-0.html

Blog Stats

http://www.technorati.com/weblog/2005/08/34.html

Blackberry style devices stats

The worldwide market for mobile devices configured to connect with corporate e-mail systems in real time remains tiny compared with the overall cell phone industry, accounting for just 8 million devices, according to Gartner Inc.

But the market is growing fast. RIM, which accounts for nearly half the market with 3.65 million BlackBerry users, reported last month that it sold 620,000 devices during its just-ended quarter.

from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051012/ap_on_hi_te/nokia_email_phones