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Using ComScore for Digg Valuation verus Fresh Paint and Dice…See You at RSA
What the WOMMA?
I was preparing to have my say (with a blowtorch and chainsaw) on the ex-Edelman individual (see long thread below where once again- “I don’t get new media- from another new media expert.” so I reached out to confirm a few things- professional courtesy. Confirmed houston.
Rest assured I plan to have my say. Either with Mr. Abraham on a Podcast or I’ll lay it out here with blowtorch and chainsaw. Because nothing bothers me more than people who barge in, make comments, and violate their own rules without frame of reference …….oh wait that is what Edelman is known to do- see WOMMA for details. I am going to try to sneak in a purchase order for $200 of Monkey Phone Calls and wake them up. I might get slapped, but I’ll feel good about it in the morning. Corporate Aqua Velva
The A-Team
More to come, I’ll see how much conversation Chris A. wants to have. I do forgive him, no malice, but let’s open it up- I want to hear the story- micro persuade me as an expert. Otherwise I, even others, might monkey phone call you- out of fun of course. I even plan to tap the vanguard- the A-Team or A-List or whatever…and a couple of random citizens. Then on to Nielsen Ratings… If I don’t get “new media” as two folks have told me so far, then tell me how some of the examples I plan to cite that he utilizes show stewardship and “getting new media”? Where am I deficient?
Psssst…. if you get me Google’s co-founders cell phones (my reach isn’t that high) they will get a call too - because they would appreciate the novelty and beauty of the phenomenen. Steve Rubel…I’ll try one more time out of respect for the guy, then again, as I understand it, perhaps he wasn’t behind that genius move. For those who did conceive of it let me recommend you try being a consumer (bad word, I hate it,- try “people”) for awhile. There is a fine line, between an ARG and deception.
On to Cage Matches
For those concerned that 1938Media Loren and I aren’t going at it- don’t worry folks, still warming up for a memetics match with Loren, ok not sure what kind of match, but we are going at it. (c’mon Loren WEAR the I Hate Wayne Porter shirt and help kids with little leauge- i’ll wear yours to the summit if it is setup for a charity)…anyone here willing to kick in with a store? Loren I’ll even talk to the CEO of Cafe Press if you can’t scrape up the change! If you are going to be hated use it for a good cause.
Loren isn’t all that mean, in fact, I had a laugh or two with him. He is just coarse- that is his “branding” thing- still what I had envisioned would be a bloodfest, much like bots blasting into IRC, it appears to be a sit down talk and possibly civil…we shall see, maybe we can throw chairs? Why a greynets researcher would know jack about “the new media”? Good question. I study it in my offtime? I read comic books? (I use “new media” loosely.) Eitherway I look for Loren and myself to fight just because we can and we don’t take it personal. Slow days…we will mess it up perhaps.
Honestly, neither of us hate each other, but I am all for a good cage match…perhaps that is the new FUN incarnation of Revenews? People don’t want news- they have way too much of it- same for opinion from so-called experts. I say Sam Harrelson at CostPerNews.com was close- it’s Cost Per Pain, Cost Per Hate, Cost Per Punishment, Cost Per Debate- not Cost Per Love…Here is a guy cranking out quality stuff- how much support does he get? Good question. Go to Cost Per Debate Sam…
They want blood, they want debate, they want to see Ceasar point thumbs down and unleash lions on a dude with a bent trident and a broken fishnet and then hurled into a “weapons on” zone in Second Life. I am comfortable with that. For you old timers it is like Marty and Joe on steroids, crack and armed with ball bats…time to bring them back with some seasoning.
When is the question….
I am on a brief vacation, sorely needed, and then it is a slamming schedule into January between the Affiliate Summit and then RSA 2007 in early February. If you are not into security, RSA is like- well its the kind of like Defcon only they give out legal stuff, you may return with your laptop intact, everyone is from an agency with an acronym pretending not to be and they dress better. If you are worried about botnets and concerned about advanced fraud and all that- I promise you, if Mr. Boyd and I can articulate only 1/4 of our presentation in a coherent fashion (he can- I am questionable if there are bunch of flash bulbs and the disorder kicks in)- it will absolutely smash you or, at least he will with the Liverpool accent thing and various staves, staffs or his weapon of choice for the day- sometimes a banana. To quote Facetime’s famous Kung-Fu Malware kicker himself:
That’s right kids, watch out because the greatest hero in English history is winging his way over to RSA 2007 in the face-splattering form of…. Botnet Live: Tracing, Chasing and Building the Case to Bust the Bad Guys with Chris Boyd, Wayne Porter - FaceTime Security Labs From the session blurb (scroll down to the sexily titled HT1-202): This session will provide an introduction to criminal botnets, a demonstration of botnet tracking and guidance on how to collect key information for law enforcement. Botnets have become delivery vehicles for spyware and adware, and revenue sources for their creators. This presentation will provide in-depth information on fraud strategies, and illustrate the financial impact of click fraud and other methods.
Seriously this is very, very wicked stuff- and if you want to see how we use “new media” (and how dangerous it can be) come along. It gets fairly insane which is par for the course in research…the chain of events set off by the smallest things can be amazing we’ll also talk a bit more about middle eastern botnets and some new stuff- never before released. Some we can’t release and only show you artist’s versions- honestly. Large networks, merchants, etc- you really BETTER worry about this stuff. It is on your doorstep and by chance, accident or on purpose- you helped fuel it.
Pause for the cause: This is a slightly promotional paragraph so skip if you don’t care, but I rarely mention my superiors, not because I am convinced they slip poison into my coffee, I suspect only one or two of doing that, they usually aren’t out propogating malware and to be honest- I try to avoid them- except my CEO- who I only call on Sundays- he can verify.
If you are at RSA 2007, give us a shout at the FaceTime Communications booth or wherever they lock us up, and naturally you can watch us *try* to take down the theoretical RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) grid we believe is set-up. Doing so using only paperclips, tinfoil and a piece of dryer lint treated with Lysol ™.
Wal-Mart agencies have yet to master using RFID chips in fake blogs- but could be working on it.
Plus a bunch of our executives will probably be there, so step up and say hello or how much you hate us, love them, hate them, and love us or mix and match. Note: Watch out for our CTO Herb. I really think he is ex-CI-something and plays video games alot- hint WarCraft or something like that and $50.00 to anyone with clear and verified footage of him getting pwned in a game.
Others who may attend- Our VP of Marketing Frank Cabri, great guy, he does not do karate and stuff, but he tolerates our antics and lethal with power points and Vulcan nerve grip at close range; Larissa Gaston, Senior Marketing Director- patient beyond belief, at least during my phone calls and she paid attention in school; James Brigham one of our Sales Engineers who can tell you almost everything about Texas and your network and lots of technical jazz, plus many of the other people- I just don’t know who- I am not on that list. Some of it is on Need-To-Know-Basis although our CEO, Kailash Ambwani, should be there too.
Talk to him about greynets or poker or poker as a greynet or ask him a question about physics I think he has a Phd in theoretical astrophysics. Top that one.
I also ask you subliminally suggest he send Boyd and I to a tropical island for four weeks of R&R- or “Wayne deserves a sabbatical to study meditation”, maybe he will! Honestly I am not sure who all will be there, but merchants, etc you are welcome to come by and say hello and see what we do, meet the folks. If there I will answer, if not Mr. Boyd will, although he may use a finger puppet. OK- really we do take it serious.
This year I do plan to see just what kind of chip (RFID???) might be embedded in the badge BEFORE blowing it up and Chris Boyd is worth the trip alone- just bring a bowstaff, holy water, and comic books.
With that out of the way on to the mundane…
Digg. I found this from Loren Baker (not Loren Feldman see one of two guys who say I don’t “new media”)- what caught my eyes was ComScore…on my radar as of late.
Loren Baker of Search Engine Journal notes:
Not too much more news about the expanded funding except some user valuation information based upon the MySpace acquisition numbers (which may or may not even be relevant):
(Loren cites Wendy here I think,who cites VentureWire
Loren is right. Not relevant, at least to me. Metrics like that are FLAT. NO DIAL TONE. D.O.A.
Of course that is if ComScore Media Metrix’s traffic estimates were even near the park, somehow they have become the canon- probably because most other options suck. The real problem- they aren’t close- no one I speak to can validate enough proximity to fire a shotgun- many show me logs and then relate ComScore numbers and I am like “Is this like Einstein’s first attempt at calculating Avogadro’s number or are we waiting for year five where the smart kid shows up to help pin down the number of molecules in a gram mole of an elemental substance?”
Another example, Alexa (so easy to manipulate that no one bothers do they?) it is cool and all, a thumbprint perhaps, but NOT reality for hard financial work. Any insider worth a hill of beans knows how to read Alexa numbers, any pro worth their salt can manipulate them with ease that it really isn’t sporting. (Note some areas and situations ARE resistant to manipulation, just like some sectors are overly loaded- e.g. marketing message boards.) Even VentureBeat gets it- 3rd party metrics aren’t that great, but get used to it for lack of anything else. This is my proverbial holy grail of work. I feel it calling.
Drop Kicked
Not only do they sport data that appears to be inaccurate, but companies like ComScore are getting drop kicked by colleagues Eric Howes and Ben Edelmanfor questionable (sleazy) install practices ala Dollar Revenue, and I have evidence I am parsing that goes from nasty to just plain- “how far can you pass a proxy server that scrapes your personal info off as good and then expect folks to buy into it?” This is hopefully coming to a Facetime blog near you soon. Did they get permission- that depends I think. Read the agreement and weep even if they did.
In the meantime analysts, soothsayers and financial people if you predicate the value of Digg on these numbers- why not just roll some dice and walk around rooms full of fresh paint in either order. From what I have seen, and heard, it could be equally as accurate and far more entertaining depending on how well you handle paint fumes.
Can you Game Digg? Can you game people?
Lastly, as a parting shot, can Digg be gamed? Naturally! Human elements, social elements- gaming elements- some call it the con- I call it social engineering. This researcher plans to see how impervious the system might be in 2007 (without revealing his sources-) and when all else fails- money talks.
You can beef up your algorithms, you can fire up your firewall, you can erect a techno fortress, but you cannot control human beings, you cannot control uneducated minds, smart ones and furthermore you will have a very hard time limiting determined minds- they are the most dangerous, crafty and cunning and although often the most useful.
2007 Security Prediction- Year of the Human Being, the Biggest Threat to Network Security and That Means Commerce too.
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I_Hate_Wayne_Porter, edelman, womma, RSA, Alexa, Facetime Communications, comscore, greylock, digg, installs, spyware, adware, revenews, wayne_porter, 1938media, chris_abraham_, a_list_bloggers, greylock, rsa, GOOHF, monkey_phone_calls
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There were a lot of words above and I am bust but I am happy to take the rest of the day reading through this blog post (rule one, keep the post short, pithy, and limited to just one subject, more like an email than War and Peace, advice from Doc Searls).
So, forgive me… please let me parse through all the text. I am sure the pattern-recognition portions of my brain will sort it all out.
Wow, I was only at Edelman for 3 months. So, I guess I can’t speak for Edelman, but this is a fun game, so I guess I will participate. I always wanted to be Frankenstein’s Monster v. villagers with torches.