What percentage of people are using the web, personally or professionally?  Do seniors use the web?  Do lower income people use the web?  Does rural America use the web?  I’ve had this conversation many, MANY, times in places where I’ve consulted and on my home turf.

I tripped across this neat little video over at WebInkNow, the blog presence of David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly (By the way, to my knowledge this is the only book I’m actually in. Check out chapter 11).

While you’re here, take a couple minutes and check out Scott in Istanbul.  Very, very interesting stuff:

One of the best tech companies (from the standpoint of user benefit) is 37signals.  Jason Fried is the founder.  They’re the guys that gave us Basecamp, Backpack and Highrise.  All three are awesome tools that make my life so much easier.

Here’s a great interview with Jason Fried.  Fascinating stuff.  Full of great quotes.  I talked about him in an earlier post on the Enemies of Mediocrity.  This is the interview that the quotes came from.

I’m testing a new idea on Wednesday, August 8th at 8:00 a.m. (pacific).  You can check it out by clicking the link below!  If there’s one thing that always catches my attention it’s a new web 2.0 widget. 

I hope to see you there!

One of the greatest tools available on the web is 37 Signal’s new Backpack. If you’re not familiar with Backpack, you’re missing out on something so cool.  If you’ve already been using it you know what I’m talking about.

What do I use Backpack for?  I use it to keep track of all kinds of stuff.  I’ve got my GTD “someday/maybe” list on a page.  I’ve got a page called “Mark’s Life” where I keep all kinds of checklists and ideas.  I’ve got a page where I keep ideas for blog posts.  And I’ve got a page where I keep Lifetogether stuff together.

Best part?  Aside from the cool techy thing it is to have it, you’ve got to know that the basic version is free and easy to pick up.  And with the new version…well, it just got cooler!  You can check it out right here and then sign up right here.

If you’ve read The Tipping Point or Blink, you need to check out Paul Dunay’s great interview with Malcolm Gladwell.  Really, really interesting and VERY applicable to what all of us do.

For example, speaking about the power of new technologies like Twitter and other forms of mobile communications, Gladwell said:

At the end of the day, I am most powerfully influenced by
those who I love and respect and know. And that’s the last mile. And none of these technologies solve
that. At the end of the day you have to
be able with your idea or your product to make such an enduring impression on
people with influence in their social circle that those people will be your
ambassadors. That game has not changed.

My brother is my computer maven. You can invent all the fancy technologies you
want. At the end of the day you’ve got
to impress him. Or you’re never going to
reach me.  You can’t. Because everything goes through him. That’s how on the decisions that really matter, that last mile is always
the same. It involves a
relationship. And there’s no getting
around that.

Does that ring true?  What a really compelling way of thinking about what we do!

You can check it out by clicking right here.

Thanks to Bobby Gruenewald over at swerve for the headsup. 

Ok…don’t know if you’ve seen the new Apple website…but this is a really cool change.  You can check it out right here!

I’ve been a Backpack fan for about a year and it’s helped me get organized in some key ways.  I tripped across this great list of ways to use Backpack today in the usual round-about way.  Saw a link to it over on Terry’s new blog, followed that over to Lifehacker (which by the way is a great blog to have in your daily reading list), and that led to Web Worker Daily…which looks like I’ll need to add it to my Bloglines.

This is worth checking out.  You can take a look at Backpack right here.

Dig it! I know the rest of you are already here…but I’m adding this post from my phone! Cool!

Have you checked out 30 Boxes yet?  Very cool application.  Looks like it could have some really good potential for a low budget solution to sharing calendars.  I heard about it on Scoble’s blog and actually watched a very interesting video podcast featuring an interview with Andy Barron, the founder of Rocketboom.

If you’re using a web-based solution for calendar, what are you using?

Ok.  Talk about Web 2.0…Gliffy.com has got huge implications for me!  If you’re the kind of person who likes a good visual to go along with your talk…you’ll love it, too!

If you were along for the ride when I posted on Glen Hiemstra’s, Turning the Future Into Revenue, you’ll recognize the idea behind this diagram.

Check it out.  I created this one on Gliffy.com!  Mark Howell, with his limited web 2.0ness, was able to put it together.  Unbelievable what is available…free…on the web.  I love it!

Thanks to Logic + Emotion for the link!