We’re speaking today with Len Hause, Internetologist and founder of MashBrain where he consults on Internet marketing and technology strategies. Today we’re talking about the Transformation of the Grid. I’ve known Len since the early 1990’s where we worked in IT at Motorola. Len and I where involved in dozens of Intranet and Internet-based projects during the early days of the enterprise learning how to use the Internet.

There’s been quite a bit of discussion lately about the nation’s electrical grid, from aging components, demand exceeding output, discontinuity from sector to sector to potential for terrorist attacks against it.  So, I thought a conversation with Len would be helpful to get the bigger picture of how the lessons learned in building the Internet could be applied to a new generation power grid for the nation.

1. - How has the the transformation and maturity of the Internet affected other sectors? What analogies can we draw between the Internet and the electrical grid?
2. – What are the driving forces and technologies?
3. – Who are the players?
4. – What are some of the initial changes we will see?
5. – What is the scope of the transformation?
6. -What role will open source, or internet standards-based technologies play?
7. – What new markets will emerge?
8. – What role will Social Media play in this transformation?

See this TechCrunch article for more detail on Google and Twitter …

If you stop and think about this, it just makes sense to some degree. Google dominates in the area of search. But they don’t do ‘real-time’ search of conversations and that’s where Twitter is strong. If you haven’t used the http://search.twitter.com — do so and you’ll see the power of this new era. Type a few keywords in and watch as it updates for you in real-time, listing the Twitter conversations going on with those keywords.

We’ll see… rumors are rumors.  But just because it makes sense to a bunch of bloggers doesn’t mean it will happen.  Personally, I’d like to see it occur provided Google doesn’t sit on Twitter like it did Blogger and slow the development of the platform.  But I have my doubts Google will make the leap because there is so much in flux right now. New developments in social media and social networking tools are happening almost weekly from startups and the majors.

For example, where does FriendFeed fit into the picture with their announcements this coming Monday (April 6th) for major changes?  I’m personally more interested in these developments because it’s a more powerful communication tool then Twitter.  And what will Facebook do?  My goodness; there are so many changes occurring in the social tools space that 2009 is an exciting year of unpredictable change for most of us. Hardly a new concept though considering the last few years, but that’s another more philosophic topic.

Robert Scoble seems to be leaning away from the idea that Google would buy Twitter. As you know, opinions are like noses, everyone has one. What do you think?  Kara Swisher is reporting that there is no Google deal under discussion to buy Twitter.

Tom

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It’s time to update you on my whereabouts the last couple of weeks.

◊ The big event was the launch of ’showbizzle,’ and that started with a bang.  Unique visitor traffic and views of the episodes shot up rapidly the first two weeks after launch. From what I can tell, about 50% of the traffic view the episodes on the showbizzle.com site and the other 50% of the views are coming from the 10 video distribution sites we’re using with TubeMogul.com. It’s heart-warming to see episode views shoot into the thousands in such a short period.

If you have not visited the showbizzle.com site yet, then make a point to check it out. Have fun, and while you’re there go ahead and become a member. The quality of the video and performances is stunning. Though I’m biased, I’ll have to admit that I check the new views each day (three new ones Monday through Friday) to see how the characters are doing in their very dramatic and at times funny lives.

◊  My copy editor, Jenny Meadows, at her so-appropriately-named business (MyCopyEditor.com), gave me some good advice during one of our conversations. Once a week (or so) she’ll post here a very short summary of all the media I produce for various clients. I create two audio interviews a week typically; one for EnterpriseLeadership.org and one for TalkBMC. I am in the process of making some of these video-based for BMC Software who sponsors both the sites. I am working closely with the BMCtv group to define a workflow that is fast yet maintains good quality for video podcasting. The issue, as you can imagine, is how to capture an interviewee on a video podcast in some kind of consistent way that has appropriate quality. BMC folks are spread out all over the world, though the majority are in Houston, Austin and the San Francisco area. So I’m testing a variety of approaches: Capturing video from webcams; sending out a camera for them to use; and, of course, scheduling them into a studio at BMCtv (Austin or Houston) when they come into town. It’s an interesting project and I’m enjoying the journey. You’ll see results from this in a couple of weeks.

◊  Gary Powell hosted a Friday afternoon social media training event at his place. It was a non-stop question-and-answer affair with some extremely talented independent individuals who have businesses on the web. Truth is, I learn a lot during these kinds of small-group trainings, and one of the points that kept coming up was expanding the use of Facebook for your business.

I’ve been hesitant to recommend Facebook for business use until recently. However, there seems to be a gradual shift in adoption of greater numbers of people across a widening demographic. A good reference to learn more about marketing on Facebook is an e-book by Justin Smith called The Facebook Marketing Bible. You can download this sizable PDF for a very resonable price considering the insights it holds. Smith claims to be keeping the book up to date, which is a plus considering how quickly Facebook use is evolving and changing.

◊  Have you heard about the game-changing product from Canon: Canon EOS 5D Mark II? It’s a still camera that shoots HD video at 1920×1080p with audio. Yeah … amazing. If this rings any bells of interest for you then you simply must check out this review of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. (It has me interested and I’ve been a Nikon guy for years).

Tom