The last humans?

On June 8, Twentieth Century Fox releases Prometheus. The hype and anticipation for this film couldn’t be greater.

In the run-up to this release, the marketing minds for Fox mounted an intriguing video, a TED talk brought back from the year 2023. Peter Weyland of the Weyland Corporation introduces himself and gives a hint of where the corporation’s science is headed. You might recall Weyland-Yutani is the same fictional company that sent Marines and Lt. Ripley on a rescue mission to that planet with the horrible creatures. Sounds like a prequel to Alien, doesn’t it?

For the benefit of those who avoided the humanities part of their college catalog, Weyland explains Prometheus was a titan of Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods. Exactly, how far have we come from the fire starters (and how angry are those gods now)? Weyland tells us and checks off among other great feats biotech, fusion, nanotechnology and M Theory.

The great achievements of recent history promise radical change for us. So now, the question is do we share a fate with Prometheus? Were the ancients wise to warn us acquisition of knowledge portends horrible events – say, eagles coming to feed on our livers?

Portraying such ideas in cinema is the quintessence of the science fiction genre. While vetting ideas in this way was always about entertainment, it will be a good thing if people are talking about this film long after tweeting their friends.

Creating cybernetic organisms that are indistinguishable from the rest of us may be the most evil plan ever hatched in film. While Prometheus is certainly not the first film to portray cyborgs, the release comes at a time where corporate power is reaching new zeniths, technology has brought us closer to such realities and, maybe, many of us look to the future with growing trepidation. Robotic gear allows soldiers to heft packs that would be difficult for the strongest man to lift. Prosthetics, of course, are another step in that direction. The question might not be are we headed there, but when might we arrive.

Weyland makes a stunning sales pitch for the future: “We are the gods.”

From this video (which was made to promote the film), it has to be asked: “Which we.”

Science fiction plants seeds for thought. Try this on: That monster who heads the corporation where you work … yes, he’s a cyborg.

The hungry blog …

Newspaper columnists often complain they hit a wall. The ideas just stop coming.
That has never been a problem with my wife’s real estate blog.
When my business slowed down two years ago, my wife had me teach her what I know about social media. The two years are a blur.
These days, we collaborate on ideas for her real estate blog, BoulderSuz. Real estate is such a huge activity, there always seems to be a subject that needs to be addressed.
We discovered that even when her business is slow, there is plenty to talk about. Take a look at http://bouldersuz.wordpress.com and scroll down.

BoulderSuz is the name in which Susan Alvarez chose for her social media presence.

Susan has covered any number of subjects, everything from announcements of a new brochure to how to start a real estate recovery. Last year, she suggested modifying 1 million mortgages to stem the tide of foreclosures. Even the modifications didn’t materialize, the foreclosures slowed to a trickle here in Colorado. As luck would have it, the economy surged and buyers immediately came hunting for houses. We haven’t been this busy since our twins were born.
Real estate is so complex and gives rise to so many subjects, it’s really a matter of sorting through what is the pressing issue of the moment. In Boulder County, the story is low inventory.
Here are some real estate subjects: Seasonal changes, buyer pre-qualiftication, credit repair, mortgages, closings, contracts, offers, low-ball offers, short-sales and the pitfalls of home restoration. Foreclosure topics were the subject of blogs on at least four occasions. Additional subjects: lighting, staging, selling tips, home repairs, remodeling, and so on. Investing has been a topic, too.
There is no shortage of subjects. But there always seems a shortage of time

The next wave of social media

Expect to see three waves of social media. You couldn’t miss the well-publized first wave, a massive move to social networking sites.

Twitter gains 20 million subscribers with the blink of the eye. Facebook’s followers outnumber many countries.

Spreading the word ...

The next question became can they make money, and will business support the business models of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? On the eve of an initial public offering of stock in LinkedIn, plenty are listening to the LinkedIn story. In fact, LinkedIn has been revalued at $4 billion. So, you could say LinkedIn is expected to make a big splash when it appears on market Thursday. So far, indications are good that social media will be well-subscribed. Chinese company Renren shares debuted about a week ago on the New York Stock Exchange, rising more than 40 percent before dropping. Renren is the Chinese version of Facebook.

Monetizing social media is still a question as the stock rolls out. Facebook claims it had gained $2 billion in revenue. About a week ago, the Wall Street Journal declared that corporations are now taking social media seriously. In an article headlined “Business joins the party,” the Journal observes that website traffic is getting upstaged as millions swarm to social pages. Notably, Coca Cola counts a mere 270,000 at its web site. Compare that impressive number with the 22.5 million that find their way to the soft drink company’s Facebook page.

Acknowledging that there might be something to the social media phenomenon is one thing. To say that the corporate world is not comfortable yet in making the transition to social media would be putting it mildly. The initial concern was whether corporate culture and social media would mesh. Some companies, however, are finding that resistance is coming from a surprising source.

Three obstacles to social media marketing:
• Comfort level. Employers may be ready for new concepts in marketing, but their employees are drawing the line when it comes to inviting the company onto their Facebook page. With all the firings that have been well-publicized is anyone surprised that some are balking at letting the boss visit?
• Staffing challenges. Companies have found that bringing in an intern to handle a responsibility of such large proportions as communication was a bad idea. The young set may be less expensive and more comfortable using social media, but that comfort does not necessarily translate to good communication.
• Legal obstacles. Drawing the line on how social networking can be used by employees is proving challenging for employers, too. Lawyers have weighed in and noted that blanket policies likely will not pass muster in courts. As these incidents grate on the nerves of employers, sometimes resulting in firings employers suddenly have been confronted with attacks on their brand from within. Dominoes has a more famous case where employees put food safety under the spotlight in an ugly prank that went viral on YouTube.

And nobody has forgotten that social media is a two-edged sword. It can be turned against brands, too.

Domino’s quickly fired pranking employees, turned them over to authorities and mounted a video of their own on YouTube to address concerns about food safety. The store where employees videoed their antics was shut down for a floor to ceiling scrub down. And, an apology was quickly presented from Domino’s president Patrick Doyle.

A few years removed from bad YouTube experiences, social media are hip and crackling with lively talk. Twitter might have cemented its importance in media with the story of bin Laden’s death that went viral before the president could get to a microphone and address the nation. Everyone from the local microbrewery to real estate agents is jumping on board.

The appeal for business is clear enough. CityGrid Media says more than half of consumers consult websites before determining where they will shop. Considering Facebook is edging out web sites and it’s reach – reported to be 500 million users – the projections might have to be revised. Some are expecting social media ad revenue to eclipse $8 billion by 2014.

That might be the year when we can comfortably declare a third wave of social media: Corporations will have come to depend on it. The day social media becomes entrenched enough in corporate culture and the all-important bottom line – that is the day it can be said social media are here to stay. Starbucks provides one model of a company that has adapted, embraced and has come to rely on social media. Starbucks is followed by 1.4 million Twitter users. More than 21 million like the Starbucks Facebook page. That translates to a lot of lattes.

Speaking of froth, some in financial circles already are saying social media has reached the bubble stage. In other words, they’re not expecting a repeat of Google’s phenomenal run that saw its IPO soar to higher prices. The pundits are saying that investors will not bid up the price to the 50-times earnings mark that Google achieved at its peak. We’ll get a chance to see.

Follow author Raymond Alvarez – @NextwaveRay on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Wow! Twitter has wings!

If you have a cocktail napkin, you have half the ingredients for forming a tech startup. Jack Dorsey put his idea on tablet paper, though. With a sketchy mockup of a Twitter page, a few million dollars and some magic from South by Southwest – where Twitter became a phenomenon – another digital revolution was begun.

Small biz loves Twitter.

It was in 2006 that Twitter sputtered to life. The free micro-blogging service arrived on the Internet with little fanfare. But, the new service would not remain obscure for long. You can no longer say that Twitter has not made a dime of revenue. The startup that moved into the now-defunct podcasting company Odeo, within eyesight of the I-80 in San Francisco, made a cool $45 million last year, according to Twitter.

Dorsey’s “better LiveJournal” was an irrestible idea, the others would say later. Williams and Stone had been on a similar track. They were already thinking about what interesting things to do with SMS (text messages). The link between status messaging and SMS was made.

The next capitalization infusion might not come from a public offering. Dorsey is telling the press that it won’t be in 2011, anyway. A change in SEC limits may raise enough through private placement to capitalize Twitter further.

Meanwhile, Twitter user numbers continue to skyrocket – 175 million. I think that calls for a Woot!

BTW: I don’t really speak Tweety. It’s a Twitter thing.

Update on making banks accountable

Citizens are asked to call their attorney general today.

http://showdowninamerica.org/countdown-march-29#call-ag-reasons

Meanwhile, the big banks were summoned to Washington, D.C. today to meet with federal and state regulators,
Marketwatch.com reported Monday.

Here is that link:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/big-banks-to-talk-foreclosure-settlement-2011-03-28

Interested people should spread the word and urge the government not to back down from pushing changes in modifications as well as principal reductions. Real estate sales are slowing and home values have been sliding in recent months – and that’s after foreclosures dropped dramatically. The pace has slowed so much in Florida that the state’s judicial system is looking for $70 million to pay the employees hired to process foreclosures. The likely scenario is many will be furloughed.

We need this ugly chapter to draw to a close – but not before the guilty are penalized and go to jail.