Shocking, I know. Interviewed on Network Ten’s “9am with David & Kim” he actually acts likeable and a bit fun.

USA Today Online has created a online feature where you can match your views to the U.S. Presidential candidates. So who are you most like? Hillary? Obama? Thompson? Paul? Find out by taking the test.

Now to my results, first result was Dennis Kucinich followed by Mike Gravel and then a surprise. Joseph Biden was third, I hardly know anything about Biden yet alone would be interested in voting for him if god forbid I was a American citizen. Anyways take the test even if like me your not even American, its a little bit of fun.

Technorati Tags: 08 Elections, Presidential Elections, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich. Mike Gravel, Joseph Biden

The answer of course is yes, it may be a little pricey ($5.00 AUD for a tiny block) but it truly is worth it. The creamy vanilla (also available in chocolate) layers with almost spicy chocolate slices between is a perfect blend. Usually only had at Birthdays, Christmas and other family gatherings it is something of a icon in our family and its appeal is spread through from the younger kids to my 100 year old great grandma. If you have not had it before its a must try item.

Technorati Tags: Ice Cream, Viennetta, Snacks

Please pay attention to this Australia, following American governments to a pointless war in Iraq and in any situation blindly following any country is a dangerous thing to do. Vote for the person who will take our troops out of Iraq and away from this pointless and violent danger. It’s not worth risking our soldiers for a cause we can’t win and a cause with no end in sight.

AN Australian soldier is in a serous condition after being shot while on patrol in southern Iraq. The soldier with the Overwatch Battle Group was carrying out a routine patrol in Dhi Qar province when the incident occurred about midnight Iraq time (about 7am Australian time). The shooting happened about 60km from Camp Terendak, the Australian base, Defence spokesman Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said.

The soldier was in a serious condition but the single wound was not considered life-threatening, Brig. Niikoloc said. The soldier’s colleagues gave him first aid before he was taken by US helicopter to a hospital at nearby Tallil. “The soldier is conscious and has spoken highly of the conduct of his colleagues in responding to the incident,” Brig. Nikolic said. “The incident highlights that Iraq remains a dangerous place. Anti-Iraqi forces see the Coalition’s contribution to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq as a threat to their attempt to gain control in Iraq.”

The name of the wounded soldier would not be released but his family would be told. Prime Minister John Howard was told of the incident while attending the funeral today of Trooper David Pearce, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last week. “It’s just a reminder that these men and women are at daily risk. It brings home to all of us, particularly today as we have honoured the contribution of a wonderful soldier in Afghanistan, it’s tremendously important that we all honour these men and women who are serving our country in such dangerous circumstances,” Mr Howard said.

Technorati Tags: Iraq War, Australian Election, Kevin Rudd, John Howard

Australia’s prime minister, John Howard, called a general election yesterday as polls showed him heading for a landslide defeat after nearly 11 years in office.Speaking in Canberra the 68-year-old insisted he was still the best man to lead the country despite many voters switching to his Labor opponent, Kevin Rudd.Setting November 24 as the election date, Mr Howard argued that his strength and experience trumped those of his youthful challenger. “Love me or loathe me, the Australian people know where I stand on all the important issues of their future,” he said. He played down his age and the fact that he is seeking a fifth term, saying the country “does not need new leadership. It does not need old leadership. It needs the right leadership”.

- The Guardian

Technorati Tags: Australian Elections, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Labor, Liberal

#1- Traffic is generated by participating in the community; not daily posting – The blogosphere doubles in size every 6 months and cutting through the clutter will become ever more difficult with a new blog emerging every second. Daily posting deals with the clutter by adding more clutter.

Although this strategy made sense 12 months ago and still makes sense for the top bloggers, its effectiveness diminishes with every new blog created. Traffic is generated by successful bloggers linking to you either in their posts or in their blogroll. Mack at Viral Garden has a series of great posts on the importance of joining the community.

#2 – Traffic is irrelevant to your blog’s success anyway– Unless you specifically target bloggers like Bruce, are a blogging consultant or blog about your latest book, traffic is irrelevant to you. What matters most is whether you are reaching your target audience (which may be narrow and focused), not necessarily how many people read your posts. Engaging with the audience you want to have a relationship with is a much smarter strategy than posting frequently

#3- Loyal readers coming back daily to check your posts is so Web 1.0 – As the blogosphere matures, the number of new readers and bloggers will decrease and loyal readers are going to matter more. I have heard many bloggers tell me that they will lose reader loyalty if these readers come back daily and do not see any new posts. This perception is still very strong although irrelevant. Loyal readers subscribe to your blog via RSS feeds and have new content pushed to them. They will remain loyal because they have subscribed, not because you post frequently.

#4 - Frequent posting is actually starting to have a negative impact on loyalty: Seth Godin (a frequent blogger) has a very interesting theory. According to him, RSS fatigue is already setting in. With too many posts, you run the risk of losing loyal readers, overwhelmed by the clutter you generate. Readers will start to tune off if your blog takes up too much of their time

#5: Frequent posting keeps key senior executives and thought leaders out of the blogosphere – My colleagues and industry peers cite bandwidth constraints as the number one reason for not blogging. They are absolutely right: frequent posting is not very compatible with a high pressure job. As an example, not one single blog is authored by a senior corporate marketing blogger in the top 25 marketing blogs listed by Mack. Not only does the blogosphere lose valuable thought leadership, it runs the risk of being overlooked by these very same marketers.

A recent study by Forrester found a reluctance among marketers to shift from more tried-and-true online channels like search and e-mail marketing. Just 13 percent reported using blogs or social networks in marketing, and 49 percent said they had no plans to do so in the next year. If the blogosphere wants to become more mainstream (vs. being the latest hype), frequent posting and required bandwidth are undoubtedly a major barrier to adoption.

#6: Frequent posting drives poor content quality – The pressure of daily posting drives many bloggers to re-purpose other bloggers’ content or give quick un-insightful comments on the news. Few bloggers have enough time (or expertise) to write daily thought leadership pieces, thus adding to the clutter. Ben at the Church of the Customer Blog explores the 1% rule and cites the Wikipedia example: 25 million readers visit Wikipedia every month, but the number of people who actually contribute content to Wikipedia is about 1-2 percent of total site visitors. I would argue that the same is valid for the blogosphere as a whole where most of the original high value content is driven by 1% of the bloggers. Some of the most insightful –and most quoted- marketing thought blogging leaders are actually infrequent posters, from Sam Decker to Charlene Li or Randi Baseler.

#7: Frequent posting threatens the credibility of the blogosphere – as many bloggers re-purpose existing content under the pressure of daily posting, they do not take the time to do any sort of due diligence and conduct effective research. Errors snowball in the blogosphere as they spread from one blogger to the other. The collective wisdom of user generated content was supposed to provide an alternative to biased traditional media content – it is instead echoing the thoughts and biases of a few.

#8 - Frequent posting will push corporate bloggers into the hands of PR agencies – As they struggle with bandwidth constraints as well as peer pressure to join the blogosphere, more and more companies will resort to partnering with their PR agencies to create blogs. The blogosphere will in turn lose some of its effectiveness and value.

#9 - Frequent posting creates the equivalent of a blogging landfill – According to Technorati, only 55% of bloggers post after 3 months of existence. The pressure of the first months to write frequently certainly contributes to people abandoning their blogs. Is that in the blogosphere’s best interest to have a third of its participants frustrated by their initial efforts?

Via MPDailyFix