One of our clients was receiving a lot of 500 errors (5** errors are a variety of server errors) in their log files so we included an error trap so we would receive an email each time one occurred. Originally, it was setup because their XML file feeding their career search kept breaking and because it was coming from a third-party, we needed the heads-up. Now that that is fixed, we started getting some new ones.

These server errors were all happening on pages like this “/instmsg/aliases/*” where the asterisk was someone’s email alias. Turns out that when Microsoft Exchange opens an email sent by this site, it automatically looks to see if there is an instant messenger (IM) alias tied to the email address that sent it. Since Exchange isn’t on this server and there is no IM tied to the email address anyway, it resulted in an error. Thanks Microsoft.

No harm, no foul, but here are the details if you are interested: http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/information-technology/computers-software/TCH_ITS_CMP/164342-6857609

It is an ever-changing race to find statistics on online communication. While it is very helpful in deciding who is viewing what and what technologies you might want to use, the gathering of visitor data is not an exact science. Sure, it is better than using distribution number of a magazine, but there are so many variables, that you don’t always get them all. For example, Twitter publishes their user statistics, but doesn’t account for those that twitter using their cell phones or PDAs. This is probably a large percentage because of the short, text nature of Twitter communication.

That said, we are compiling useful statistics in a new category here for your viewing pleasure, our need to archive this stuff for reference, and because I love stats. Maybe it will be a widget someday.

Facebook

• More than 110 million active users (people who have accessed Facebook within the past month)
• Facebook is the 4th most-trafficked website in the world (comScore)
• Facebook is the most-trafficked social media site in the world (comScore)
• More than half of Facebook users are outside of college
• The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older

LinkedIn

• More than 25 million experienced professionals from around the world,
• More than 150 industries listed on LinkedIn

Twitter

(Only includes website users. Cell phone and Twitterrific users not included)

• Total Users: 1+ million
• Total Active Users: 200,000 per week
• Total Twitter Messages: 3 million/day

Source: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter respectively. Compiled by http://thebabyboomerentrepreneur.com/261/social-media-statistics/

Today there was a domestic dispute in my neighborhood resulting in a woman being shot and a police barricade surrounding the townhouse. We are still awaiting news of whether the SWAT team has captured the man yet (my daughter just said they were sent in 30 minutes ago) and whether the woman is alright. Hopefully, she is! Right now, I’m checking the status on Washington Post’s Police: Man Barricades Self in Va. Home After Shooting

Beyond the unexpected horror of it all, the thing that struck me is how people have reacted and how they spread the word about the incident. It is a neighborhood full of kids and the first I heard about it was from my sister-in-law via IM who heard about it from her boss who heard about it on WTOP and saw the online news video broadcast. I picked up my cell phone to find my au pair and kids who were heading to the park. While I was picking them up in our car and bringing them home, my husband was reaching out to his brother who was also in our neighborhood. He had already heard about it because Cameron Station had sent out a blast email to the residents who had joined its extranet.

Just a few minutes later, I got a call from our neighbor who has a child in the daycare center down the street from Waples and we were discussing the latest details and whether it was better to keep the kids in lockdown or pick them up. There was a wide variety of information going around at a very rapid speed using all forms of communication. This seemed to be working well to keep everyone informed and protecting their loved ones.

Meanwhile, TC Williams was announcing to its students that they were going to be bused to an alternate location and have a police escort drive them home. My oldest daughter informs me of this after she arrived home on foot because the bus driver somehow did not receive this message and instead dropped them off at the front of the neighborhood, only a few blocks from the ongoing barricade. The police told them to walk through the park to get home, and instead they all cut through the Home Depot parking lot which was actually the safer way to go since it was further away from the incident. They all had cell phones, but didn’t call to be picked up even though I was awaiting the call and our part of the neighborhood had access. This was because they were told that nobody could drive through the neighborhood anyway; which was not true.

So, to get to my point (other than being floored at the lack of coordination in a crisis on the part of the Alexandria school bus system), I think this illustrates how many forms of communication we have these days and how proper advance planning and a variety of dissemination options can provide useful, timely, and accurate information. Whereas, just the opposite can occur if poorly executed or if you are relying on the old-fashioned telephone game.

My new plastic rabbit, the Nabaztag

With all the news, social media, and individuals contributing to the glut of information generated each day, it is awfully hard to keep up with what is going on around us. Between work and the family, there isn’t much time or interest left at the end of the day to watch the evening news. I find that I am much more interested in niche topics (like most of us) that include technology (online and otherwise), rabbits, toddlers, and teenagers looking at college. Not something I plan on thumbing through the paper to find.

Of course, I bookmark a number of blogs, RSS feeds and podcasts that provide what I’m looking for, but I never take the time to sit and read or listen since I’m always on the computer working (needing my visual attention) and my commute is about five seconds (yes, I know all you DC-metro commuters hate me now.) So what does a wonderful husband get the gal that has every tech gadget get for an anniversary present? A Nabaztag.

This wonderful little creature looks like a plastic mod rabbit, but once hooked to our wi-fi, he will greet me every morning and read me the latest posts from my blog and rss subscriptions and relay my podcasts to me regardless of where I put him. Unfortunately, our home network is above my head and doesn’t work with the standard installation instructions, so Ken (hubby) will have to help. I can’t wait to keep in touch through my new toy. I’ll let you know if it works as promised.

I just returned from a small Web 2.0 Roundtable event sponsored by The New New Internet and Executive Biz. Unlike most Web Managers Roundtables (founded by Julie Perlmutter), which I think are wonderful BTW, this one was only fifteen people or so instead of 70. This gave us the opportunity to really discuss what we think about web 2.0, how we are using it for our companies and clients, and who is really gaining the advantage through these new technologies.

It was a lively discussion among the likes of Vishal Gupta from Cisco, Thomas Wallace from Ecofusion, and David Gorodetski from Sage Communications among others. An interesting mix of small startups and large established technology leaders, each person had a different viewpoint. The group consensus was that the individual user stands the most to benefit from web 2.0 because it puts the options in their hands instead of what is pushed out by companies online.

This brings up a difficult point that some companies have yet to overcome; putting control in the hands of their online consumer. Those that are embracing it—knowing that if they aren’t joining the conversation, it will go on without them—are fairing the best. In fact, the more innovative companies like Cisco are using their internal employee base to test social networking ideas before rolling them out to the public with great success. Other consulting companies are running into a mix of client responses, where some are still watching the waters before jumping in, and others are trying it out with various levels of moderated conversation.

The part I find most interesting, besides the obvious utility of connecting people, is how to track the success of the ideas you implement with web 2.0 technology. When you implement a podcast, blog, wiki, or anything else, how do you measure success. Ogilvy’s John Bell moderated a previous Web Managers Roundtable on exactly that topic. What we discovered is that the industry is figuring that out as we forge ahead. Using new tools like BuzzMonitor which the World Bank has so kindly provided for free to developers, it is becoming easier to monitor the reach of an online conversation and transform that into recommendations for improvement and conversion tracking.