Blogging Shut Down in India

The New York Times reported yesterday that in the wake of the bombings in Mumbai, the Indian government has effectively ordered ISPs to block a number of domains, including “*.blogspot.com” (Blogger),”*.typepad.com”(Typepad) and “geocities.com/*” (Yahoo! Geocities), citing that terrorists might use blogs to coordinate attacks. Yahoo! Groups has also been blocked....

Some Quick Hits

Here are some quick takes on a few items I’ve come across in the news the last few days:

(1) The average online news story receives half of its page views within the first 36 hours of being posted, according to a new study by the University of Notre Dame....

Proof that the Internet is Fantastic: Social Networks for Pets

There are two social networking sites for dogs: Dogster and Pawspot. And one for cats: Catster. Below is a pic of Yuki, a boxer who is the second most popular dog on Dogster with over 3,000 friends.

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Microfinancing online

Over the past few years, microfinancing has grown in popularity with a number of internationally focused entrepreneurs and international development workers. The concept of microfinance was introduced by Dr. Muhammad Yunas, who began an experiment in Bangladesh in the mid 1970’s. The professor gave a group of 42 women only $27 to start a bamboo chairmaking operation.  ...

Clerks II Launches MySpace Promotion

Fans of the movie Clerks will have an opportunity to make themselves a permanent part of the sequel, Clerks II. The first 10,000 Myspace users who add Mooby Presents Clerks II as a MySpace friend will have their names listed in the end credits of the new movie.

Seems like a great word of mouth marketing stunt to me....