Wow… the folks at Le Web 3 did a really nice job cutting the videos from the event!

Folks have been asking me to upload bulldog puppy videos…. here is my first test using blip.tv.

Click To Play

For all you TF fans out there…. a classic!

I’m going to be in New York City next week and I’m trying to really take a couple of days up and recharge my batteries for what is going to certainly be an epic 2008. I’ve found that in the past I would a bunch during the break and it felt like I was doing the right thing, but frankly life is too short and you need to take some time for yourself/your family (yes, I’m getting old).

As such, I’d like to go to see the top couple of plays… hoping tickets are available. Assume I can overpay some scalpers if need be.

So, what should I see?

Very cute version of 12 Days by Straight No Chaser.

When searching for information advertising is content. Given that we’ve taken a very transparent approach to testing various ad services on Mahalo: WE FEATURE the ads!

Today we started testing Shopzilla ads on our search results, and as you’ve no doubt noticed we have Google text ads as well. Instead of having small “ads by…” text on the bottom right we’ve decided to put a HUGE font and text above the ads saying: Ads by Google or Ads by Shopzilla.

My thinking is that if you are super upfront about what’s an advertisement and what’s content folks will really focus on the ads *IF* they are in commerce mode. If users are not in commerce mode we don’t want to try and trick them/shif them…. let them stay in information mode.

Sort of the Jeff Bezos school of thought I think… make your page the best place on the planet for information about the product and have a clearly labeled commerce area that users can go to when they’re ready.

Not sure this will work, but I really like the approach as a consumer.

PS – Anyone have ideas for advertising providers by vertical that really provide value to the user? Who would you use for health or travel ads? Would you stick with Google or use some niche player?

• Question: If everyone did a blog post saying “Cigna Sucks!” or “Screw you CIGNA!” would that get to the front page of the WSJ/NYT? Would it impact CIGNA’s stock price?! Would it get to the #1 result on Google for Cigna ABOVE Cigna’s own home page?!

  I wonder what would happen if 1,000 or 10,000 bloggers did a post what impact that would have on how CIGNA treats people?

  I wonder what would happen if 100,000 folks did this blog post/Twitter/Facebook/MySpace post?

  What is 1M people did it!?!?

Some of these insurance company executives need to consider killing themselves. How do you deny a patient a transplant, then approve it in the 11th hour when the patient is about to die!?!

Even worse in this video the ABC reporter says it’s not CIGNA’s fault but rather our “system.” Uhhhh…. no, it is CIGNA ’s fault. They wouldn’t give her the transplant.

These companies are making a killing, killing people. Shame.

Rawstory has the video and we are tracking Nataline Sarkisyan’s story on Mahalo.

Highly recommend you blog about this and send a message to CIGNA and other insurance companies. I’m so furious about this… I don’t know exactly what to do besides blog about it and encourage you to do the same. Maybe if CIGNA’s management team got emails about this they will take a long look in the mirror and realize they killed this girl.

15 Billion dollar market cap… almost 20B in revenue… you can’t afford a transplant?! More.

Update: If everyone did a blog post saying “F- You Cigna!” or “Screw you CIGNA!” would that get to the front page of the WSJ/NYT? Would it impact CIGNA’s stock price? I wonder what would happen if 1,000 or 10,000 bloggers did a post what impact that would have on how CIGNA treats people.

CIGNA Executive Management Team — how do you sleep at night?!

• H. Edward Hanway, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CIGNA Corporation
• Michael W. Bell, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, CIGNA Corporation
• David M. Cordani, President, CIGNA HealthCare
• Paul E. Hartley, President, CIGNA International
• John M. Murabito, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Services, CIGNA Corporation
• Carol Ann Petren, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, CIGNA Corporation
• Karen S. Rohan, President, CIGNA Group Insurance and President, CIGNA Dental & Vision Care
• Michael D. Woeller, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, CIGNA Corporation

More

• Google News: Nataline Sarkisyan
• ABC News: Tragedy for Teen After Surgery Denied (December 21, 2007)
  • Statement from Nataline Sarkisyan: “We have a war here…They’re the ones who caused this. They’re the one that told us to go there, and they would pay for the transplant.”
• International Herald Tribune: U.S. girl dies hours after insurer reverses (December 20, 2007)
• Los Angeles Daily News: Teen dies before she can receive transplant (December 20, 2007)
• CBS Los Angeles: Cancer Survivor Dies After Transplant Is Approved (December 20, 2007)
• Yahoo! Finance: CIGNA Capitulates to Patient Revolt (December 20, 2007)
• California Nurses Association: CIGNA Capitulates to Patient Revolt
• Michael Moore: 17-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Denied Transplant (December 20, 2007)
• Daily Kos: Murder by Spreadsheet (December 20, 2007)

When we launched Mahalo Social last week at Le Web 3 we asked folks to enter their Twitter accounts into their profiles. Today we turned them on, and it’s very simple and cool. When you’re looking at a Mahalo Social profile you can click over to a Twitter tab and see what the person is Tweeting.

Sure, we could have built our own little messaging system, but frankly as a user I don’t want to remember another SMS code or download another client or two. It’s some much easier to just let the power users syndicate their accounts over.

It was funny to me when we launched Mahalo six months ago (has it been that long!?) a large number of folks attacked us for being sooooo simple. Well, that’s the point isn’t it? Build something really simple for a large group of folks…. I mean, Google’s 10 links with abstracts didn’t change much over the past eight years did they? They just added video to the results gosh darn it.

However, the social networking part of Mahalo, well, that is designed for advanced users and will have some advanced user features like syndicating your Twitter feed. Advanced features for an advanced function: using a social network to refine and build search results. The social network at Mahalo isn’t for socializing like Facebook…. it socializing as a tool to build better results.

Social networks with a purpose are the future… that’s why I think NING is going to be bigger than Facebook–like twice as big. People can create a social network on NING to solve a problem, and they can own the entire social graph–not just borrow it from Facebook.

My two most important companies of 2007 and into 2008? Ning and Twitter.

Here’s a really great how to article on How to select a digital camera.