So, how can I get away with not talking about “G,” or “Y,” or “M?”

It’s really hard. I see so much I want to talk about.

But, I’ll keep going. It’s a good exercise. It’s making me look elsewhere for patterns. And, anyway, we’ve been putting up some interesting videos over on Channel 9:

Coding for Fun.
Meet the Windows Vista Print Team. (This is my favorite, look at all those printers!)
First Look at Exchange 12.
CRM 3.0 Preview.

OK, back to no GYM.

How do you know that John Furrier is going big time? Well, he passed two million downloads and now he has Jason Lopez helping him out (he’s a seasoned radio pro who has been heard on NPR).

By the way, is podcasting’s quality going up? Listen to PodTech.net. It’s as good as anything you’ll hear on commercial radio. Add in IT Conversations and you have two really great audio resources to listen on your portable media player.

What tech podcasts do you listen to?

Shel is writing up a storm over on our book blog, Naked Conversations.

He and I met the other day and he told me that he is hearing lots of companies thinking about integrating blogging into their marketing plans. You know, treating it as yet another marketing “chore” that teams need to do to be able to ship. He thought that idea is lame and will end in failure for those who approach blogs that way. I agree.

Anyway, here’s the three part rant titled “Why Blogging Doesn’t Integrate:”

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

He makes an interesting point for entrepreneurs in his “Launch Small” post. If you don’t know who Shel is he’s helped lots of small companies launch. The latest? He was doing PR for Riya, which is rumored to have been sold even before it could totally launch (I’ll be attending the launch party tomorrow night, albeit I’ll be there toward the tail end of the party).

Oh, and we’ll soon have our own launch party. Shel and I are talking with Michael Arrington about doing a TechCrunch/Naked Conversations launch event in January (our book is available on store shelves January 9). If you haven’t heard about our book, we interviewed dozens of businesses about how they are using blogs to improve the relationship they are having with their customers.

Other book stuff?

Marc E. Babej has an interview he did with Shel.
Nicole Simon has a “not so naked conversation” with Shel and me in preparation for the Les Blogs conference in Paris, France, where Shel and I are speaking.
Robin Stavinsky has a review of three great new books for the Entprepreneur (we’re one of the three books she recommends). Funny enough, I really like the other two books on her list and highly recommend those.
We’d love you to review our book on Amazon, here’s how.
We’ve gotten to know our editor, Jim Minatel pretty well, and would recommend him to other aspiring authors in a minute. His little trip to help New Orleans demonstrates what kind of guy he is.
The company that hosts our book blog, Six Apart, got a customer service award from Shel.
Jeff Clavier, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, reviews our book.
Neville Hobson says Naked Conversations is a “cracking read.”

Keep the reviews and mail coming! Oh, and order our book darn it!