I think I’ve just been handed a whole new image, thanks to Lee Hopkins and his creative genius.

To return the favour after his flattering post following our yarn over Skype today and hand out a bit of link love, check out Lee and Trevor Cook‘s latest Social Media whitepaper.

These guys are contributing to an important global discussion in a meaningful way, so they deserve all the kudos (and speaking fees!) that come their way.

We’re quite partial to the Wii here at filtered. We like the funny videos of Japanese seniors playing games. We’re even more amused that people are throwing the thing and breaking TVs. Maybe Nintendo should add a home contents insurance policy to its list of accessories?

Here’s one for the geeks. CSIRO has developed a wearable shirt that lets you play air guitar. I’m not kidding. I even called the PR to check it wasn’t April Fools Day (in November).

Check out this video of live air guitar action. I’ve got no idea if anyone would ever pay for this thing.

Update: SMH picked up the press release and ran with the story here.

Silly me. For a moment there I believed the hype and thought Google was a verb. Wrong. Dubya knows it’s a noun, as ThinkProgress reports. CNBC Transcript:

HOST: I’m curious, have you ever googled anybody? Do you use Google?

BUSH: Occasionally. One of the things I’ve used on the Google is to pull up maps. It’s very interesting to see — I’ve forgot the name of the program — but you get the satellite, and you can — like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It remind me of where I wanna be sometimes.

It’s classic Bush-ism material: hilarious and bewildering at the same time. Steve Gillmor nails that idea in passing during this (classic Gillmor-ism) TV is Dead missive:

Imagine a comedian becomes President, not the bonehead we’d be laughing at if we weren’t so damned angry.

Oh, this is great. Every now and then, someone has a brainwave to the effect of "hey, we might be getting carried away with this whole Internet thing." It’s also known as the Web 2.0 bubble story.

Robert Scoble has entered this fray, check out the post here. Choice quotes:

I’m noticing something in the valley. The newer companies are struggling to get noticed. Are struggling to figure out how to get outside the TechCrunch/TailRank/TechMeme/Reddit/Digg/Slashdot/Om/Scoble bubble.

***

Web 2.0 is largely funded by advertising. Advertising is an AUDIENCE business. So, when Paul Graham is telling his companies to worry about building audience first, that’s actually a good point of view to take. It’s like building a magazine. If you don’t have any readers you won’t get any advertisers.

Of course, that’s why they also call it the new media business.

Dead 2.0 is all over this story too. And it’s familar stomping ground for Squash (time for you to fire up the blog again Phil?)

Finally, one last cheeky observation. Personally, I’m a big fan of TechCrunch (the spark for this discussion) but I wonder if this is a shark jumping moment. Is TC on track to become The Industry Standard of Web 2.0? ie drinking a shade too much kool aid?

Rupert, the great white hope of traditional media, finally let’s it slip that he really doesn’t have any idea about the internet in this story:

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHAT HAS SURPRISED YOU THE MOST ABOUT THE MYSPACE EXPERIENCE?

Rupert Murdoch: The speed at which it has grown. It has had no marketing. Not a penny has been spent marketing it before or after the purchase, and it just grows faster and faster every week. Now we’re taking it out to other countries.

News flash: you never needed to spend marketing money on MySpace. It’s called 2.0 for a reason…

(Lateness disclosure: this story’s been floating around for a couple of days, but I’ve only just surfaced after being laid out flat by the flu for two days…)

Phil Sim, of Squash infamy, is top of the WordPress pops at number 8 (for now).

He’s employed all the classic traffic-grabbing strategies. Liberally linked to A-list bloggers in the States, liberally mentioned the words "poo" and "wank," insulted the technorati by daring to suggest RSS is a waste of time, and indulged in plenty of Google/Yahoo/eBay quotations. It’s the blog equivalent of online news journalism where you keep up a healthy quota of Linux/Apple/Google/Microsoft/spam/virus stories to keep the ad impressions ticking along.

Just got this email from him about his blog stardom (which I republish with permission), which of course I interpret as part of his campaign to blame me for his new found obsession:

Went to sleep last night at like 4:30am. Addicited to posting. Addicteed to traffic. Must beat Scoble. Can’t stop. More conversation. More comments. More trackbacks. Blogging taking over life… Sucking me in… Powerless… arrrghhhhhhh 

It’s like watching a bug circle a bright light, getting faster and faster, until… BAM! It’s all over.

Just finished writing a feature/book review for AFR’s Boss Magazine on John Battelle’s book "The Search." I finally caught up with him for a half-hour phoner – we’d been trying to connect for two weeks but stuff like book readings at Google, Yahoo and eBay kept getting in the way.

So naturally enough I asked him about the AOL/Google deal, and comments on his blog questioning whether in fact Google had jumped the shark. His response:

They have yet to say to me there is no way they would change their paid results, so I think they might at least be jumping a tuna, not a shark, if you change your paid results.

That comment led to a few of us here amusing ourselves over at jumptheshark for a little while (because that’s what you do on your last day of work before the holidays) searching out a few classics like Dallas and West Wing.

So has Google jumped the shark? John’s latest set of predictions (see prediction #2) seem more in line with his tuna jumping comment.

And so with that, I’m outta here. Not jumping any form of fish (I hope!), but taking a three week holiday over Christmas. Y’know it’s one thing I love at about Christmas in Australia – unlike the US which keeps on working, everybody around here clears out until some time in January to enjoy the summer. See you mid January 06.

Trevor Sykes, author and creator of the famous Pierpont, finishes up at the Fin today after a legendary career in journalism. Do yourself a favour and go buy a copy of the paper today and read his annual dubious distinction awards for an amusing insight into the best crooks and shonks Australia has to offer. And get a copy of tomorrow’s paper too.

Trevor’s desk, just behind mine, is a sea of balloons and streamers. He’s been getting calls all week, eating and drinking day & night in celebration, and still turning up bright and early every day with a cheery "good morning!" for everyone.

Trevor, you’re an inspiration, and will be sorely missed. Enjoy your retirement, you’ve earned it.

Check out his site here.

I saw him again at lunch today. That Segway guy. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – George Bush made them famous by proving even your Average Joe President can fall off one.

I don’t know where Mr Segway works, or what he does. But he loves to take his Segway out for a spin at lunch in The Forum mall here in sunny St Leonards. I’ve seen him buying a sandwich on the Segway, browsing aisles in the pharmacy on the Segway (it’s not a big shop either), and cruising the footpaths of St Leonards.

I guess it makes sense that a Segway user should be in St Leonards. After all, this thriving little metropolis is home to offices occupied by Cisco, IBM, Hutchison, and many other notable companies. But here’s the thing: he’s always Segway-ing solo. You see, not only do I like to walk at lunch, I like to walk with other people.

Bold, brave, trend-setting Mr Segway clearly doesn’t share my interest in social interaction. As a result, he’s attracting the sort of “what the…?” stares you get from non-tech people who were not even aware such a device existed.

One day I really should go and say hello. On one hand I’m really impressed by the public display of geek-ness. On the other, it might also be a cry for help.