Aussie ad agency now hiring trolls and spammersAd agency Emerson is looking to employ a “social search consultant” to comment on blogs and forums under a fake persona then sneakily promote its clients. The agency at least concedes it’s pretty underhanded, but insists it’s not spam, but rather “link baiting”. A troll by any other name…
August, 2009
Why the old media dinosaurs aren’t extinct yet
The internet sneered and jeered at Rupert Murdoch’s announcement that News Corp will start charging for online news: “We won’t pay”. But the success of Apple’s iTunes and App store proves they will pay, says Leslie Nassar. Maybe the old man isn’t such a dinosaur after all…
WD-40 outsources product development … to customers
Vegemite asked customers to name their new flavour. Now WD-40 wants help to come up with new products — or a fresh take on the original. The aim: for the brand to become as diversified as Virgin.
Is the US growing another Timothy McVeigh?
Right wing militia groups, like those responsible for Waco and the Oklahoma bombings, are growing in the US. With increasing public discontent at the government, the rise is even more alarming.
Does your website speak Bing?
To get ahead online, brands need to get their names high up on search results pages. Til now that’s meant optimising websites for Google. But with Microsoft moving in on the market, companies need to speak Bing too.
Saving the planet, one ice-cream at a time
Unilever is creating a “low carbon” ice-cream, which will be sold at room temperature and frozen at home, to reduce the enormous carbon footprint of keeping the treats frozen during transportation and storage. But can ice cream really help cool the planet, or is “low carbon” just the new “low carb”?
Saif Gaddafi: The truth about Lockerbie
In an op-ed for the NY Times, Saif Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi and mate of the “Lockerbie bomber” Abdel Basset Megrahi, says there was no “hero’s welcome” when Megrahi returned home to Libya recently, regardless of what the Western media says.
Treasury advice: don’t stop stimulating
The government’s $42b stimulus package has been “more effective than first thought’”, according to Treasury advice. That means phasing it out (let alone stopping it cold) could be problematic. Philip Coorey has the exclusive.
Berlusconi sues the European media
Irreverent Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is launching legal action against a series of media outlets across Europe for their coverage of his private life, which his lawyer describes as an “intolerable campaign” of slander.
Nelson blasts Turnbull: ‘he’s got narcissistic personality disorder’
In explosive comments by retiring MP Brendan Nelson against his leader Malcolm Turnbull, Nelson says Turnbull has no empathy and tempts him to be vindictive. Will Turnbull learn from anything from Nelson’s spray?
Gillard finally hits a bump in the road
The stimulus schools building blow out has taken some of the shine off Julia Gillard’s halo. The pollie being touted as the PM-in-waiting shouldn’t have been put up on a pedestal, writes Laurie Oakes.
Evans to announce immigration overhaul
Immigration policy is to be overhauled, with Immigration Minister Chris Evans calling for sophisticated public debate on immigration and for the public to stop focusing on the hysteria of immigrants as potential terrorists.
LEAKED: Lockerbie release was an oily deal
Ministerial documents reveal the British government believed it was in the “overwhelming interests” of the UK to release the Lockerbie bomber after Libya used a pending multi-billion dollar oil deal with BP as a bargaining chip.
MEANWHILE…
NYT: Saif Gaddafi: The truth about Lockerbie
Has Anderson finally gone bush and joined the “anti-interventionistas”?
After consistently supporting the Northern Territory Intervention, former MLA Alison Anderson appears to have done a political backflip and withdrawn her approval of the program, reports Bob Gosford.
A sinking economy in the land of the rising sun
For all the talk of “change” in the wake of Japan’s election, one thing will remain the same: the country’s economic woes, with growing national debt and few innovative ideas from the incoming Democratic Party oh how to tame it.
Change Japan can believe in
After almost 54 years of uninterrupted rule by the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, the winds of change swept the Democratic Party of Japan to an overwhelming victory in yesterday’s election.
Meet Japan’s new Prime Minister
The Guardian profiles Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, heir to a political dynasty and now a strong mandate from the Japanese public. Yet, according to one expert, expectations are not high for him as a leader.
Sheridan: Japan’s election could be pivotal for Australia
Japan is Australia’s largest export market and the biggest Asian investor in Australia. Will Japan’s big moment of change be one for Australia, too? asks Greg Sheridan.
Australia: the pot calling the kettle black in the pacific
Australia’s treatment of its own indigenous people seriously undercuts its credibility as a moral leader on human rights in the pacific region, says the Fiji Daily Post.
Birmingham: Leave Tarantino alone!
Audience response to Quentin Tarantino’s latest flick Inglorious Basterds has been overwhelmingly positive — so why are so many film critics sneering and jeering? asks John Birmingham. It’s time they pulled the “too-cool-to-like-anything-popular” stick out.
VIDEO: How to hack an elevator
Sick of spending half your morning travelling up and down in the office sardine tin? CNET roadtests some elevator “hacks” to speed up your journey.
Picasso painting found in Iraq…or was it?
A Picasso painting has been ‘found’ in Iraq, supposedly looted from Kuwait after Saddam Hussein’s invasion. But on closer inspection, where is the record of any missing Picasso painting?
Time to call an end to the phone book?
Does anyone actually use phone books anymore? A new campaign in the US is attempting to make phone books an “opt-in” service, hoping to save some of the 5 million trees that are cut down each year to produce the country’s telephone-number tomes.
