Microsoft ZUNE: “welcome to the orgy”

[image credit: http://nsputnik.com/?p=106]

Related (and not funny at all): Zune’s viral DRM

Virtual fame – the rise of ‘thin air’ blogs

If you’ve reached a certain age (or just happen to be interested in media history), the name of Marshall Mcluhan (1911-1980) might ring a bell. His quote “The medium is the message” has become a classic, while many will be familiar with “The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century”. McLuhan didn’t live to see the world actually transform into a virtual GlobalVillage (the www), but in a way we are its current inhabitants.

Like in the real world, our “virtual village” has its famous, less-famous and totally unknown inhabitants, which in the blog sphere translates to “a technorati rating” (ie how many blogs link to your meandering thoughts)

kineda has a visual ranking-check (thanks Di), but you can obviously use the original at Technorati.

Although I’m just a “C-list Blogger”, I do notice that even A-list bloggers (often professional publications with a paid staff) have a tendency to recycle the sensational, the shockers, the juicy bits that the whole world is talking about. And it’s all about ‘visibility’: a great blog like Experiencing Belgium has “no authority” (due to its lack of links), although it does contain numerous superb original entries, while a totally trivial ‘Paris Hilton’ blog supposedly has “High Authority”.

Sometimes virtual fame is an easy concept: I’m no longer surprised that people keep on reading my “sex with animals is perfectly legal” entry (almost 300 unique hits in a day) while totally ignoring “Become a master in applied ethics”.

Sex sells, even if there is nothing tangible or visible miles around – well, kilometers overhere.