Over the past few weeks, we have been eagerly following the rise of social networking technologies within corporate organisations.  This week Ian Grayson’s Hydrapinion entry asks:  is Web 2.0 in the workplace to be embraced or blocked?  Grayson cites numerous examples of companies who have utilised social networking websites such as Second Life and Facebook as a way to open new lines of communication.  He likens the benefits of using Second Life in the workplace to the “water cooler effect”; creating a sense of community among staff.   Grayson encourages organisations to allow employees access to networking sites as “staff will be more likely to share ideas and knowledge and customers will enjoy closer relationships.”

With only a few weeks leading up to Christmas, Jonathan Schlaffer of TechBlorge comments on shocking online shopping statistics revealed on a GuardSystems survey.  Schlaffer indicates 91% of online shoppers handle account passwords irresponsibly, 74% received a phishing email and 50% were fooled or nearly fooled into giving away their account details.  Furthermore, one third claimed they would shop on an unfamiliar site if free products were being given away.

Lastly, Mark Jones on Filtered has posted quite a humorous video of a major PR blunder by Apple!  To check out the full clip, click here. 

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  TechBlorge, ScreenPlay, Radioactive IT, Hawk Wings,  The Beer Files

Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: The Tower Blog, Frankarr, Laurel Papworth – Online Communities, Dipping into the Blogpond, Mossyblog

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.

It’s been relatively quiet in the blogoshpere this week with fewer blog entries from both IT professionals and journalists. Is this a reflection that the party season has started?

Lhong Zheng of I started something has been eagerly tracking the arrival of Microsoft’s latest portable media player, the second-generation Zune.  Zheng discusses positive reviews about the new features – specifically its aesthetic user interface. Zheng comments that consumers will be able to personalise the back cover of their Zunes with three different types of funky laser engravings.  You can scope out the different artworks here.  
 

Following on from our previous post, Facebook was mentioned across various blogs this week. Steven Fenech’s Daily Telegraph blog asks ‘Are you addicted to Facebook?’ Stephen questions why and how people become addicted, commenting that ‘procrastination and boredom were often cited as major reasons people first log on to networking sites’. Hands up who can confirm that rumour?! The SMH’s Mash Up also focuses in on Facebook by questioning whether the ads that appear on the social networking site are too invasive, and its plans to turn users into viral marketers. This generated a lot of buzz on Mash Up’s discussion board.

 
Talkingtechnology indicates Blackberry has partnered with Facebook in the US allowing users to receive messages and notifications.  We look forward to seeing when this technology will hit our shores! 

 
Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  TechAu, Tim Gaden – Hawk Wings, Jason Hill – ScreenPlay, Stan Beer – The Beer Files, Anthony Caruana

 Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: The Tower Blog, I Started Something, Laurel Papworth - Online Communities, Dipping into the Blogpond, Innovate

 
For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.

It’s the first entry of November or should we say Movember?  Jeff Alexander welcomes the month as a worthy way to raise money and awareness of male related health issues. 

The launch of Google’s OpenSocial created a buzz of frenzy in the blogoshpere this week.  Mark Neely describes the new application as taking social media to the next level.  Neely indicates that through OpenSocial, users will be able to build a “master profile” that can be used across different social websites.  This will be pretty handy for those signed up to multiple social networking sites!  A more detailed description of the latest application can be viewed here.  Hey Jude reveals OpenSocial has already been released across the Ning community.  After a quick search, we discovered Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Oracle, Plaxo, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING are just a few  of the other networks also choosing to implement OpenSocial.  The full list can be viewed here. 

Still on board the topic of social media, Angus Kidman discusses on Snorage the benefits of allowing employees to access Facebook at work.  Kidman refers to Greg Booker of St George who is supporting the use of Facebook as a way to meet employee expectations and minimise enterprise storage. 

Lastly this week we bid farewell to Australian PC World magazine. TechAU comments that in this technological age, the cost of maintaining print publications has increased so dramatically that it has forced PC World to shut down the print version of their magazine.   

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  TechBlorge, TechAU, Jason Hill – ScreenPlay, Ross Dawson, Stan Beer – The Beer Files

Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: The Tower Blog, Hey Jude, Laurel Papworth – Online Communities, The Spoke, Dipping into the Blogpond

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.

This week saw the arrival of Australia’s very own YouTube site.  Stephen Fenech indicates Australia is one of the first countries in the world to launch its own localised homepage and search functions. Stephen explains how the new site will function, such as prioritising videos uploaded by Aussies, allowing users to find local content faster. Hey Jude also welcomed the launch of YouTube Australia, yet believes it is still early days before the site's claim “to help us with our viewing speed” can be validated. You can view YouTube Australia here.

The launch of Apple’s eagerly awaited Leopard was a hot topic in the blogosphere this week. Fuzzy Logic highly recommends Leopard, claiming “it is undeniably the best version of the Mac OS ever, built on a solid foundation and undergoing regular upgrades to gently transition users to new features and capabilities slowly and methodically, instead of in a big bang fashion every few years.”  You can read the complete analysis here.  From an alternative perspective The PDA Guy indicates Leopard is incompatible with various applications and systems, so potential buyers must be wary.

Further to last week’s post, The Beer Files indicates Skype is also set to join forces with mobile carrier 3.  However, The Beer Files post is quite cynical to the partnership, questioning the benefits of being able to freely contact Skype contacts through a mobile phone when 3 already offers the same deal through its own 3-to-3 network.  We look forward to seeing how this works out.


Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  TechBlorge, Stephen Withers, The Beer Files, ScreenPlay, Fuzzy Logic

Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: The Tower Blog, Snur Blog, Laurel Papworth – Online Communities, Mossy Blog, I Started Something.

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.