My wishes have finally come true: Sirius is now accessible on the iPhone, thanks to Jason Millard’s brilliantly designed software uSirius for the iPhone.

Of course, you need an internet streaming subscription to Sirius in order for the player to work. I’ve had Sirius since its early days and gave my system to my sister when I moved overseas. I thought about buying another one, but decided to add on internet streaming to the account for $2.99 and stream to my Mac using StarPlayr2.

I knew eventually someone would develop an app for the iPhone and couldn’t be happier. uSirius is in beta and buggy, but with its most recent update yesterday I can’t complain—it works great—even over the Edge network.

If you can’t find the current update (v.62), then just add Millard Software’s repository to your sources list: http://www.millardsoftware.com/files/downloads/usirius/iphone/iphone.xml

Don’t bother with anything older than v.62—many of the channels don’t work correctly and end up playing Howard Stern instead.

I used it in the car today and was amazed at how well it worked. One quick tip: if you’re driving, make sure you turn off your WiFi connection. Otherwise, uSirius will disconnect and stop playing every time you drive by an available wireless signal. With that in mind, it takes about 30 seconds to buffer using Edge, but it sounds as good as my old Sirius car system did.

I can’t help myself. I’m a tech junky who loves his music too.

Photo from iLounge.com

Shape of Things to Come [WSJ.com]

The iPod shape trademark gives Apple a new weapon in the fiercely competitive market for media players. While competitors may eventually appropriate the iPod’s inner workings, as utility patents expire, they will risk litigation if their products come too close to the trademarked shape of the iPod, including its popular circular-touchpad interface.

I gave my third presentation this week on Online PR (or should we be calling it PR2.0?) to undergraduate public relations students here at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and am loving the response from students.

I first presented in Dr. Brenda Wrigley’s intro PR class. She recommended my presentation to Dr. Sung-Un Yang’s, who invited me to present in his intro PR class as well. I received feedback each time thanks to Dr. Wrigley’s wonderful suggestion to quickly survey the students.

My third presentation this week was in a combined PR Management class, and the students were more eager to ask questions, get involved straight away, and, well, start blogging.

Most are graduating in May, want good jobs, and realize they need the skills to communicate via blogging and other social media.

The most asked question: How do I start?

My answer: Dive in. Monitor blogs. Comment on blogs. And, start blogging now. Become a part of conversations that are already happening.

Elise Arsenault, a Senior PR student, started her blog r2r: relating to relations:

As this is my first post, I’d like to point out that I’m very new to blogging. Being that I belong to the generation I do, I’m very exposed to social media outlets and I feel as though I’m fairly tech savvy. However, blogs to me were always those odd little ways that people tried to express themselves; expression that I felt wasn’t very relevant to me. As more and more people are quickly realizing, this is clearly not the case.

Thanks Elise, you rock!

Photo by serafin_s

The Center for Democracy and Technology reports that consumers don’t like it when advertisers track online behavior to tailor ads and content, according to a recent study by Harris Interactive and Alan F. Westin:

The 2,513 adults surveyed were told that Web sites like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN can provide free search engines and email accounts because they profit from online advertising. When asked how comfortable they would be with these sites using information about their online activities to tailor ads and content to their interests, 59% of survey respondents said they would not be comfortable, while 41% said they would be comfortable.

So, is tracking an ethical business practice? I personally don’t mind it. I’m a consumer with needs and problems to be solved. If a company can cut through the junk and tailor ads specific to my needs, then maybe it’s okay as long as I’m interested. Still, this is an ongoing ethical dilemma and most consumers aren’t even aware they are being tracked.

Consumer (Dis)Comfort With Online Tracking [CDT]

I just have to say how disappointed I am with Spitzer.

I voted for him, and I watched—and loved—his every move. He brought change to our state and stood tall as a respected beacon for New York State.

Hearing him speak was always moving. He pushed for equality. He pushed for a better world.

But he also pushed to rid the state of corruption. Ooops. And the rest is history…

I’m disappointed with the whole ordeal because of how great he was as Attorney General and then as Governor, but also because his actions rub off on Hillary—let’s be honest.

However, from a reputation management, ethics, accountability, and public relations perspective, his swift apology and resignation—the story broke on Monday and he resigned on Wednesday—shows that although he’s a swarmy cheat and liar, he had enough respect for those around him to just get out of the way. End of story, let’s move on, the people of New York no longer need him tarnishing the image of our state.

Just imagine if he let it drag on for weeks. The media would have continued to have a field day and the image of New York, its people, its politicians, and most importantly, of Hillary, would have been damaged further.

A big rule in public relations ethics is to take responsibility, remain accountable for your actions, and apologize as quickly as possible. As much as I am disappointed with him and feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back as a voter and strong supporter, I respect his stepping-down today.

He screwed up and it wasn’t worth him hanging around making things worse.

Ugh. Politicians…

The best blogs of the web (the Bloggies) for 2008 were announced today at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.

A few highlights:

• Best Computer or Technology Weblog: Lifehacker
• Best American Weblog & Weblog of the Year: Dooce
• Best Entertainment Weblog: Television Without Pity
• Best Weblog About Politics: Crooks and Liars

Eighth Annual Weblog Awards: The 2008 Bloggies

Stephen Davies has a great post pointing out the importance of blogging for PR students. Why? Because it can jumpstart your career. I couldn’t agree more. Blogging gets your name out there, gets your name indexed in Google, creates a reputation that you know your stuff, and makes you money—hopefully by getting a job.

Students should think of the job hunt as running their own PR campaign. A blog is a great way to start.

Where are all the student PR bloggers? [PR Blogger] 

It’s easier than most people thing to keep tabs on topics that interest you or your organization. The Social Media University, Global (SMUG) offers a quick run down on how to monitor the blogosphere using free tools that many are familiar with already, including Technorati, BlogPulse, and IceRocket, and Google News:

For any of these, it is easy to get automatic, up-to-date alerts via RSS feeds or e-mail, so you can be aware of what is being said about topics that matter to you.

Blogging 102: Blog Search Engines [SMUG]

PC Magazine gave Apple’s 10.5.2 Leopard operating system an Editor’s Choice award and a stunning review. I have to say, I’ve been using a Mac since I was a kid and things just keep getting better and better. Hands down, I think that Leopard is the best so far and my roommate agrees—he became a convert over the weekend and bought a new MacBook. All I’ve been hearing is “oh my God” and “wow, that is so cool” coming from him since he turned it on. And the new screen sharing with iChat….let me just say that I no longer have to run to the other end of the apartment to show him how to do something. Never realized how useful that could be. As PC Mag writes:

Despite minor problems, it’s by far the best operating system ever written for the vast majority of consumers, with dozens of new features that have real practical value—like truly automated backups, document and spreadsheet preview images in folders, and notes and to-do lists integrated into the mail program.