Wired checks out 18 year old's new show

Michael Cera, 18, and his friend Clark Duke have inked a deal with CBS' new broadband channel, . The duo will write, produce, direct, and act in their own short-form comedy series called, succinctly, Clark and Michael. To speed up our interview, we've deleted the questions.

WIRED:...?

DUKE: It's about two guys who think they have this great idea for a TV show. But they're so wrapped up in acting like Hollywood hotshots that they're sort of oblivious to the fact that their project is going down the tubes.

WIRED:...?

CERA: We sort of modeled it after the stuff we enjoy on Adult Swim - especially shows like Tom Goes to the Mayor, which are really great at getting in a lot of jokes in a relatively small amount of time.

WIRED:...?

DUKE: Since we're producing for the Web, where you can't always expect people to stick around for an hour or even half an hour, 11-minute episodes seemed to make a lot of sense. Our budget is obviously a lot smaller than it would be if we were making the show for TV. But I think that will turn out to be a good thing, because we ended up hiring friends to operate cameras and do the lighting and stuff, which means we're working with people we really like.

CERA: Also, we traded in a larger budget for the ability to be a little more offbeat. We have the freedom to attract a different audience than CBS usually goes for. If the network can build a big business around selling ads on smaller, weirder projects, that will be pretty awesome.

WIRED: !!!

CERA: Yeah! We're the Web's great hope.
- Eric Steuer

Innertube

Innertube

Map of Online Communities

7 Steps to Better PPT Presentations (via Veen)

Jeffrey Veen is an author ("The Art & Science of Web Design", "HotWired Style") and a speaker who believes PPT presentations don't have to be bad to be good. He put together 7 steps to better presentations.

• 7 Steps to better presentations by Jeffrey Veen

The List:

(be sure to visit his page to get the full story behind each step)

1. Tell stories: Summarize key findings in easy to digest ways
2. Show pictures: Illustrate your metaphors with colorful, fun pictures.
3. Don't apologize: Commisserating is okay.
4. Start strong: Introduce yourself, thank audience for coming and tell them what you're going to talk about.
5. End strong too: Wrap up "and that's why I think social media is a powerful business tool", thank the audience for their attention.
6. Stand away from the podium
7. Pause after key points

The Power of the Link

Jason Calacanis wrote this detailed diagram of how to make him happy via a link to his blog. They include quotes, references, descriptions, and/or inclusions of the varied places he's got content throughout the web. These principles will probably work for most people as long as they're keeping track.

Calacanis link-baiting rules

I've developed some deep relationships over the past couple of years blogging and I realize that those relationships manifest themselves in the links I find when I do my 28x a daily ego search over at Technorati. The quickest way to develop a relationship with me isn't to twitter me, call me, email me, or skype me. Heck, even posting a comment here--the second best way to develop a relationship with me--is weak when compared to the power of the link.

• The Rules (from April 27, 2007)

• Feedback on The Rules*

*PLEASE NOTE: This does not refer to the single woman's guide to getting married which was popular in the late 1990's.

Top 20 Blog Usability Tips

Tom Johnson, the blogger behind the cool blog, I'd Rather Be Writing (great name!). Johnson researched dozens of blogs and came up with a list of the top 20 tips for bloggers. Be sure to read his original column with specific software suggestions and illustrations of each tip.

In summation they are:

1. Pick a topic for your blog
2. Encourage comments
3. Make it easy to subscribe
4. Include an About page
5. Present your ideas visually
6. Keep posts short and to the point
7. Use subheadings for long posts
8. Link abundantly
9. Make headlines descriptive.
10. Archive by topic
11. Include a list of related posts under each post
12. Allow users to contact you offline
13. Present your real viewpoint
14. Write for your future employer
15. Include a top posts section
16. Provide an index
17. Get your own URL and match it to your blog's title
    
18. Include a recent posts section in your sidebar
19. Reward commenters for commenting
20. Post often

Timely Marketing Info From Around the Web

• Wikipedia has a suprisingly rich and deep definition / description of marketing plans and related terms. Surprisingly it doesn't have any external links.
  

• In his blog, Geoff Livingston, author of the new book, Now is Gone (the title stresses me out as it highlights just how transitory and fast media has become), discusses measurement of social media tools, ROI, etc.
  

• iMedia Connection has a column describing how to engage "Prosumers" ('Professional consumers = early adopters, influencers)