[Via Cybersoc]

NM 35_RR, originally uploaded by MystikMusicRobinRheins.

It hurts so good. Warrel Dane, lead singer of Seattle metal band Nevermore, is seen here squeezing out the sparks at a 2006 gig at Cincinnati music club Bogarts.

Photograph by Robin Rheins

NEVERMORE ~ Live in Cincinnati, Ohio

Bogart’s – Cincinnati, Ohio
Thursday 05/11/2006

© by: Robin Rheins/Mystik~Music
In Flames
ThrowDown
Nevermore (Century Media Records)
EverGrey

Bogart’s here in Cincinnati, Ohio hosted a great night of metal on Thursday. The venue wasn’t quite sold out but it was a packed house. Opening the show was EVERGREY from Sweden, next was NEVERMORE, then THROWDOWN then headliners IN FLAMES.
I’m here to tell you about the show that legendary metal rockers NEVERMORE did. First of all, major congrats to the Loud-N-Clear production team. The sound was outstanding for all the bands.
On with the show….. With a calmness, rawness and aggression, vocalist Warrel Dane sings from his heart and his emotions show thru each song he sings. He has a good rapport with the fans even making a joke about a certain repeated request for a song that had everyone laughing. Speed metal drumming from Van Williams just never lets up. His constantly pounding the skins gives each song a strong statement. Fantastic bass work provided the strong backbone of the songs was performed flawlessly by guest bassist and friend James MacDonough who graciously is filling in for Jim Sheppard (Get Well soon Jim!). Two phenomenal guitarists, Jeff Loomis never fails to shock-n-awe the crowd with his brutal but rhythmical leads. Jeff Loomis is published monthly in Guitar World magazine. Trading kick~ass guitar riffs with Jeff Loomis was Chris Broderick filling in for Steve Smyth (Get Well soon Steve!) Chris is a first class shred master and to see Jeff and Chris duel it out on guitars is show within a show!!
On the internet you can check out more details of Nevermore and Jeff Loomis: Jeff Loomis has a website: www.jeffloomis.com and a myspace page: www.myspace.com/jeffloomis and Nevermore has a myspace page: www.myspace.com/nevermorefans where you can see some pics, hear some clips and leave comments for the band if you’re on their friend list.Their official website is: www.nevermore.tv
Their current cd is called “This Godless Endeavor” on Century Media Records and is probably their best selling cd yet. NEVERMORE is currently out touring the rest of the USA and will be heading off to Europe for the summer. Hopefully, Jim Shepperd and Steve Smyth will be joining the rest of NEVEMORE in Europe. If you like traditional metal with a bit of modernization, go see NEVERMORE at a venue near you.
Until the next full moon……keep your lyrics dark and your music aggressively brutal. \m/ \m/ And so speaks the raven….NEVERMORE!

NM 131_RR, originally uploaded by MystikMusicRobinRheins.

Nevermore crowd shot, taken at Bogarts in Cincinnati, May 20th, 2006.

Photograph by Robin Rheins

Jimmy Eat World Jim Adkins, originally uploaded by corey_bayless.

Jimmy Eat World at the Showbox Sodo

Indie rock stalwarts Jimmy Eat World first came to the scene way back in 1993, and through their long circuitous career, they have had it all: chart hits, major label deals with Capitol, DreamWorks and now Interscope, and while superstardom has so far eluded them, the band does enjoy a steady and enduring popularity that has earned them the status of Indie Rock Icons.
J.E.W. has released six albums, including best-known, Bleed American, and most-recently 2007’s Chase This Light, all of which I own, so I was really looking forward to their performance at the Showbox Sodo.
I came to the show without knowing much about opening act Dear and the Headlights, so I was excited to check them out. As Dear began their first song, I immediately knew how I felt about them. Their music was a mish-mash of sounds from other bands, all mixed into one. Nonetheless, they did show some moments of brilliance where the cacophony came together as one, and by the end they had earned the respect, if not the undying fealty, of the crowd. Their set did include on thing that I had never seen before in a concert: the guitar and bass player each picked up a set of drum sticks and beat the drums in unison for an extra gangbang omph to end their final song. This was inventive and really seemed to get the crowd over the emotional hump. After Dear and the Headlights left the stage, I asked several people in the pit around me what they thought of the performance. Most agreed that the band a good solid opener, with some real potential.
The introduction of the headliner came with customary loud screams and applause from the crowd. Jimmy Eat World rushed out on stage with the flare they are known for, and Jim Adkin, Tom Linton, Rick Burch, and Zach Lind went right to work to win over the crowd.

I was standing in the 2nd row from the stage, snapping pics in the pit. This is one of my favorite vantage points. I like the fact that from this spot, I had a front row seat to Jimmy’s power pop vocals. As those first chords rang out, and Atkins vocals came through the speakers, it caused more of a flurry of jumping and crowd surfing and especially group singing. It sent a power surge through the crowd, and everyone in unison started jumping to the beat.
I have been a Jimmy Eat World fan since their beginning, so I was hoping that lead singer Jim Atkins would include some of my favorite’s songs from their back catalog, and I was not disappointed. The set was a good mix, including songs from their new CD, Chase the Light, some from Futures, and of course, a healthy helping from Bleed American. This show packed a punch, but left me still wanting more. As the set came to a close, the one song I really wanted to hear (and also the first one I learned to play on guitar), “Hear You Me,” was sadly not played.
But, the Rock Gods were smiling last night, for as the band took the stage for their customary encore, sure enough Jim Adkins came out on stage, acoustic in hand, and dazzled the crowd with, yep you guessed it, that very song. I heard people around me saying, “Is this really happening right now? Are we actually hearing this song?” To our great pleasure, it was one of four encore songs that closed out a fantastic Jimmy Eat World performance.
By: Corey Bayless

Jimmy Eat World Rick Burch, originally uploaded by corey_bayless. ]]> http://contentninja.wordpress.com/?p=60 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:58:25 +0000 contentninja http://contentninja.wordpress.com/?p=60 Image by Will Lion via Flickr

I have wrung my hands here, repeatedly in fact, over whether I'm adding value to the conversation.

Yes, says Umair Haque and his colleagues at Havas Media Lab. They've put out a paper called "The New Economics of Consumption: User Generated Context." In it, they argue that user-generated content is in short supply, but what the market has lots of is user-generated context. Huh?

Take Content Ninja's blog. A lot of what I offer here is my riff on the stuff I read in my feeds -- good points made by bright minds in the field and then I analyze and expand (or try to) on them. What I'm doing is adding context to someone else's content.

Haque et al. suggest that media's future lies not in figuring out how to get user-generated content and use it for little or nothing.  The key is to put content out there that generates a contextual discussion. That discussion is important for two reasons: 1) It's proof that your content is of value to users, and 2) the value of the context comes not from individual users but from the collective discussion.

"A naked rating, ranking, or review on its own has little value or meaning – but millions of them, in
the aggregate, weave complex and multilayered webs of meaning. Put another way, context is the result of the complex, multilevel, network effects that happen when millions of consumers connect," they write.

And the context is specific to a community or network. Outsiders won't get it. Think of it as a circle. Give the community content of value to members, and they'll want to provide context of value to the community.

The white paper goes on to discuss how this viewpoint can be used to change the way advertising, business models and media strategy are done. How that works is less clear to me, but I'm sure Haque and his folks will have more to say.

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Dear and The Headlights, originally uploaded by corey_bayless. ]]> http://ferrar.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/links-for-2008-07-16/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:33:11 +0000 ferrar http://ferrar.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/links-for-2008-07-16/

Carver One: Three-Wheeled Automobile [Cool humting]

The Carver One's hybrid car-motorcycle.

(tags: cars design innovation)

I'm at Wiggin LLP's offices with my client, Tempero, for their jointly hosted 'User Generated Content Forum'. The event discusses the legal and practical implications of allowing UGC on your web property.

Wiggin are media law experts and opening the session, then Tempero [Founder Dominic Sparkes] will take over and tell attendees how community moderation can help brands protect their image and meet their legal obligations.

Some good brand names here: M&S, Grazia, Hiscox to name a few.

First up is Wiggin [I didn't catch the name of the speaker, apologies!]

How do you manage liability?

• It all starts with the platform: what do you want to achieve? how is the User bound to your T&Cs?
• You can't hide behind small print, you have an obligation to make sure your users actually *read* the T&Cs [cripes, no more dodgy online competitions or surveys my PR friends]
• Explain clearly what is and isn't acceptable, outline the consequence of a breach, and ensure your audience sees and consents to those terms
• Ensure you retain the right to monitor and moderate [Dominic is smiling. What a great room to be in when you run a moderation company!]

Dominic is now up. He starts by asking who's thinking about starting a community - no show of hands... Luckily a few people here already run communities, phew.

What is moderation?

I love how Dom explains moderation is *more* than edit/delete; managing community, set editorial tone of voice, protect users, support issues and, if nothing else, monitoring and responding to 3rd party notifications.

What types are there?

• Pre
• Post
• Reactive

Dom now moves on to his 'Pearls of Wisdom' stuff [a proven crowd pleaser]

1. How do you make your users bother?
2. What's your duty of care and how do you get a community to accept you?
3. By creating a social space you are creating a customer service channel (so, do you really want loads of users griping there? How will you manage it?) [this is my personal fave]

Question time:

Are you supposed to feel the moderator is 'behind the scenes'?

Dom: It all depends on the community. Some sites don't want to hear from the brand and some demand it

Can you rely and trust automated tools to help with moderation?

Dom: there's some brilliant tools out there, however when it comes to liability you'll always need a human moderation element

Where's it gonna go long term? Pre or post moderation?

Dom: Personally thinks post is better for the user experience, but it's a question of risk for brands

What's the time difference between pre and post moderation?

Dom: Depends on the investment, could be seconds if you have enough moderation resource on it. Some clients only want moderation once or twice a week

Wiggin: As quickly as practically possible is ideal. Legally, the police give a 2 day window for removal of potential terrorist activity you didn't know about, but you couldn't use that as a definitive guide [Not sure I heard/understood this correctly. Apologies if I've got it wrong, it's important stuff]

Dom: technology can help. Get consultancy sooner rather than later when starting a community site to make sure you pick the best platform solution

If you put too many barriers to sites won't people just stop contributing?

Dom: Absolutely, you've got to pick the right terms for the right community based on potential risk

How do you assess & manage risk and come up with an insurance policy which then works for customers? [Hiscox]

General discussion about limited liability and how much risk is acceptable

General consensus is there's no one answer; it's different for all

What about the issue of disclosing user data? How far should you go to protect the information that your community provides to you?

Wiggin: You don't volunteer the material, after all there's the Data Protection Act, but of course you should provide when someone applies to the court and it's ordered. If you're actively opposed to revealing the names you are, effectively, allying yourself with the 'wrong doer' and potentially taking on liability

How common is it for websites to be taken to court due to liability of what others have said/done/posted online?

Wiggin: It's happening increasingly

Wiggin: Particularly when an individual has been libellous and obviously aren't financially able to recompensate, the web company may be the obvious choice to go to next

Who's libel for P2P content sharing?

Another Wiggin lawyer in the audience: Basically everybody [Lots of conversation; Wiggin declares their interest as representatives for some music companies in this space. I generally fight urge to stand up and say "I object". All very exciting]

This lot are great. The Q&A session ends on "let's just take the rest of this chat to an informal drink". [Wiggin have their own label beer. Genius]

--

[My own personal disclaimer: None of the content here can be relied on as perfectly recounted or constitute formal legal advice. The writer acknowledges this is simply my interpretation of conversation at the event] - is that the way to do it Wggin?

Corey Taylor , originally uploaded by corey_bayless.

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival

If you went to the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival for Hard rocking death metal and some blow your mind guitar licks, crowd surfing, and violent circle mosh pits, this festival brought exactly that, Mayhem!

From the opening set of the Jager Band Drown Mary, to the hard Rock and Roll of Airbourne to the Lady screaming Walls of Jericho Candace Kucsulain, the festival started off with a hard hitting bang.

As 5:45 began to roll around the intensity of the hard moshing and 85 degree temperatures being almost unbearable already, it was time to hit the main stage for the opening progressive metal band Mastodon. The main stage stood exactly for the shows that it was going to bestow on the crowd.

Since I did not have a press pass, I knew that getting pictures of the following acts Dragonforce, Disturbed, and the world renowned hard hitting nu metal band Slipknot, I knew this to be no simple task.

My ticket placed me center stage in the midst of the chaos. As Dragonforce came center stage I knew that these guitar solos would leave almost anyone in the dust, the fast paced rock would leave nothing but a good taste in your mouth for the next act of some could say the equivalent of rock gods.

One word, Disturbed, having three number one records, the crowd would expect nothing less than to see the spectacular David Draiman take center stage. With hits like Down with Sickness, Land of Confusion, Ten Thousand Fists, and their new hit Inside the Fire off their new album Indestructible, the crowd knew they were in for a hell of a set. Disturbed immediately demonstrated what it takes to have three number one albums and immediately stole the show. With this amazing display of musical prowess they really set the stage for what could be considered one of the best performances I had ever seen.

With Disturbed set coming to a close, the anticipation for Slipknot was now becoming a reality. As I stood my ground holding my spot 2nd row in the pit from the stage, I knew that this was going to be anything but easy to hold my amazing position.

As 10:05 rolled around discussion of the chaos that was going to unfold was now circling like a telephone game through the pit. I had planned for this, so I befriended some people to help hold our position, this would prove to be a worthy use of my time.

The lights went off; the smoke rolled out like the gates of hell had opened, Slipknot was now here to show us their power of rock. Slipknot had not toured for two years, this was their first show, and I knew that it was going to be nothing less than Phenomenal. The explosion from the pyrotechnics startled the crowd into a frenzy of moshing and crowd surfing; the next hour was going to be the most amazing experience of my life. Like every worldly known band, people knew that the show was going to be nothing less than amazing, like disturbed, Slipknot became subject to no less justification. As each power chord rang out the crowd became more and more intense, holding my position became a battle of the strongest surviving. On top of the fight was my hand sticking up with a camera trying to get shots of the illusive lead singer Corey Taylor. The struggle to get shots and hold my position was no easy one, but with the help of my newly acquired friends, it was accomplishable.

The show ended with cheers from the crowd and hands in the air after their heart pounding encore, I turned to my friend next to me and said, “We lived through that.” An experience I will never forget.

By Corey Bayless

Slipknot Guitarist James "4" Root, originally uploaded by corey_bayless. ]]> http://citizenimage.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/sinister-mick-7-thomson-eyes-glowing-red/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:19:45 +0000 David Rheins http://citizenimage.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/sinister-mick-7-thomson-eyes-glowing-red/

Sinister Mick "7" Thomson, Eyes glowing Red, originally uploaded by corey_bayless. ]]> http://francodispalle.wordpress.com/?p=16 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:08:22 +0000 martikezti http://francodispalle.wordpress.com/?p=16 Smetti di Guardare, è il contest videomusicale di TBTV. La prima società in Europa
di produzione televisiva interamente User Generated ha seminato vari spazi sociali per lanciare un contest che Ninja Marketing ha definito La mission cantata: ha chiesto alla propria community di creare dei videoclip musicali "completi" (trattandosi di realizzare tanto la musica che il video) che raccontassero lo spirito che anima il progetto. Il monito che dà titolo alla campagna è chiaro: se in casa hai per caso una videocamera o una webcam, spegni la TV e comincia a farla. Non servono mezzi potenti: bastano buone idee ed iscriversi alla community di TBTV.
Ecco i risultati nella webtv del concorso, creata con i video in concorso grazie a Mogulus.

Five months since we launched Bookgeeks, Simon A describes our first experience of being on the wrong end of plagiarism.

Something happened this week that has made me start thinking about some of the unintended consequences that may attend the growth of User Generated Content around the publishing industry, especially where there is a link between status and rewards. The event in question was plagiarism - an Amazon Vine programme member, Kinkazzo, posted a review on Amazon that was substantially based on my own review of The Gone-Away World, by Nick Harkaway. When I say substantially, it was probably about half of what I wrote, making up about two thirds of what he uploaded. Who knows whether he wrote the other bits himself or not, but he certainly seems to be a serial offender on Amazon (and who knows where else), adapting reviews from sites a great deal more august and established than your humble Bookgeeks.

I suppose I should have expected this at some point, but my experiences of the web have so far been unmarred by plagiarism of my work (my entire degree dissertation, has been on-line for ten years!). Thanks to the zeal of an eagle-eyed copycat-hunter calling himself The Cleaner, both myself and Nick Harkaway were notified about this fairly quickly, and Amazon today appear to have removed the offending review. Thanks to the wonders of Google's cache, I have preserved it for posterity (click the image to enlarge).

Surprised not so much by the plagiarism as by the existence of someone giving up their free time to try and eradicate it, I asked The Cleaner a bit more about what's involved in policing Amazon:

How you prove plagiarism in an Amazon review?

Not difficult. If I come across a review that is merely 'suspicious', I take a sentence, or part-sentence, and Google it. I usually look for unusual text or anything else that will make that extract as near to unique as possible, particularly with author names or book titles. The Google result, if done properly, will show two different sources - one will be the Amazon page that I copied it from, and the other/s will show the original source. That's when I whisper "Gotcha". I then send the two URLs and the book's ISBN to a specific department at Amazon who, if they are are satisfied that my allegation is correct, will send me an email with a letter of thanks and confirmation that the offending review has been deleted.

How responsive are Amazon?

I learned within a few days that you have to get your facts right. If you just make unfounded allegations you won't hear a thing. Provide all the detail they need however, and they are quite prompt - often the same day or within 24 hours.

I don't really know. I work quite hard at doing my own reviews and my original 'campaign' targeted those who I perceived as cheats - one guy, for example, who I have yet to nail, and who is ranked in the Top 20, is a pathological 'dust-jacket synopsis' copier - he doesn't really review at all and as far as I can tell doesn't even read or possibly own the books he reviews.

I hate cheats, basically, and I like getting under their skin and publicly exposing them. Most respond very spitefully if they get the wrong kind of attention.

It's all about vanity, a desire to be respected and the rather sad belief that a high Amazon Reviewer ranking somehow has meaningful kudos attached to it. I've been grateful to Peter Harris, the Amazon No.1, who shares my dislike for cheats, fake reviewers and plagiarists because he is a great source of 'information' about the more loathesome side of the reviewing business. He's taught me that despite his lofty status he's just an ordinary guy with similar outlooks on these issues to my own. Plagiarists are attention seekers with no literary talent or creative ability who want to fool the public into believing that they are clever, erudite and wise.

For the average book, music or film buyer, the opportunity to get free stuff before its release date, through programmes such as Amazon Vine and LibraryThing Early Reviewer Programme, could also seen as a fairly powerful incentive to cheat. I know how chuffed I was when my publishing clients started giving me Advanced Reading Copies of books, and it makes you feel like you have gained admission to a club normally reserved for journos and 'opinion formers'. In that context, passing the work of others off as your own may be seen as a passport to freebies, and a victimless crime. Thanks to the technology of Amazon Web Services, Amazon reviews have the potential to be included in hundreds of other websites that source bibliographic data from Amazon through that channel, so this could be seen as a big deal for the victim.

It's been a bit of an eye-opener for me going through this process, but it's very reassuring to know that there are people are keeping an eye on the cheats!

What do you think?

Il progetto di JoeFelice funziona così: registra un amico, te stesso, uno sconosciuto, chiunque non sia ancora registrato; invia il form compilato all'ufficio competente; fai un video in cui racconti il progetto; tagga un altro utente di YouTube (possibilmente con molte views!) e invitalo a fare lo stesso. In breve il messaggio si dovrebbe propagare tanto da riuscire a "recuperare" una parte di elettori dal pericolo dell'astensionismo.

La community ha risposto in maniera positiva e il "gioco" sta contiunando a diffondersi

Sono sempre affascinata dalle capacità creative degli americani e dal loro spirito: "non ti lamentare, fai qualcosa!"....

You can debate about the future of user-generated content all you want.

Whatever makes you happy.

But seriously, how cool is Yojimbo with a lightsaber? See the rest of the 10 Best Lightsaber Mashups @ Videogum.

Growing up I used to eat Oreo's all the time and now in my "older" age I eat the 100-calorie snack Oreo's.  I'm more of a spliter - where I split the Oreo in half and lick the white frosting - oh so good!  Well, lucky me (and you), Oreo (parent company Kraft Foods Global Inc., Northfield, IL 60093.) has paired up with YouTube in getting users to submit a video of their favorite Oreo and milk moment.  Winner gets featured on the YouTube homepage for a day -- pretty cool!  I checked the rules and I don't need to pay taxes on the estimated value of the YouTube homepage presence. Although while viewing the size 1 font I did notice the following:

Entries will be judged by a panel of experts under the supervision of an independent judging organization ("Judges"), whose decisions are final in all matters relating to the Contest. Entries will be judged on the following criteria: Originality (1 - 25 points), Creativity (1 - 25 points), Positive Brand Imagery (1 - 25 points); and Depiction of Theme defined as "Tell a story of an OREO & Milk Moment" (1 to 25 points).

hmm.."panel of experts" - how are those determined?  Who knows but make sure the video you submit is worthy of being on the YouTube homepage and portrays the Oreo brand in a positive, fun, and youthful way.  Oh and based on the "helpful tips" section, make sure you are respectful of the Oreo Cookie and the serving size on the Oreo cookie packages of 3 regular Oreo or 2 Double Stuf cookies per person (not kidding go to the site and read the tips.). 

Too many big, ordinarily smart newspapers still refuse to involve high-quality local bloggers and vloggers on their websites and in the pages of their paper in any significant way beyond a lame, well-hidden, token local blogger index page (if that).

Now the thieves are at the door, about to make off with the family jewels (audience and advertising) and newspapers are leaving the doors unlocked and the valuables in plain sight.

Arianna Huffington’s announcement last week that she will be launching 12 local Huffington Posts with aggregated news and local bloggers is only the tip of the iceberg, the flashiest fox in the henhouse. The chairman of the board of one of the top U.S. dailies told me last week that he is seeing a lot of other crafty characters coming into his market looking to steal market share in exactly the same way, and he’s finally ready to act.

It’s time for editors to drop their tired excuses: “Bloggers aren’t journalists,” and “they’re just loonies in jammies,” and “my paper’s reputation will be sullied” (hey, guys, YOU choose which ones to publish!).

Pull in the best local bloggers and vloggers now or lose them and the thousands of folks who follow them, going where they can find the best local content and communities of shared interests.

So, in the spirit of your mom’s classic “I’m only going to tell you once more” warning, here’s a whack upside the head for what I’m calling:

THE BLIND PEWS: AMERICA’S TOP 10 MOST PURBLIND PAPERS
The biggest papers in the biggest markets with the biggest collections of local bloggers…that don’t have a single non-staff blogger on their website or in their paper. (Psst: Blind Pew was a blind pirate in Robert Louis Stevensen's "Treasure Island"; the photo is of Blind Pew from "The Muppets Treasure Island.")

1.  New York Times: (All the news that’s fit to print but none of the local blogs)
2.  Chicago Tribune (TribLocal is a great hyperlocal site, but it ain’t tribune.com and thus keeps the bloggers where they belong)
3.  Washington Post (Local bloggers are merely indexed and place on a non-intuitive, hard-to-find site called “projects.washingtonpost.com/local-blogs-directory”)
4.  New York Daily News (Daily News to Bloggers: Drop Dead)
5.  New York Post (Blog-less Website In Clueless Paper)
6.  Philadelphia Inquirer (“Yo, Adrian, where are the blogs?”)
7.  Boston Globe (Just two index pages, the biggest at boston-online.com, not boston.com.)
8.  Atlanta Journal-Constitution (“Frankly, my dear bloggers, we don’t give a damn…!”)
9.  Newsday (Local bloggers are phantoms like so many readers were.)
10. San Francisco Chronicle (sfgate: From leaders to laggers)

Next post: "The Blind Pews, Members 11-20"

It's been a long time belief in business that "the customer is king" because they are the lifeblood of the company.  If that's the case, than it can be said that in this Web 2.0 world, the User is the Monarch.  Whatever the nature of your website, whether it's a blog, a company site, a niche portal, users should be taken care of, listened to and engaged.  After all, you weren't Person of the Year 2006 for nothing.

However, not many really believe in this.  A lot of website owners, especially big companies, still insist to control everything, not providing a venue for users to contribute and be heard.  Why?  Because dealing with users is tough.  Users reject marketing pitches, they have high expectations, they can make harsh comments, they can be fickle, and more often than not they tell the truth.

If you have a website, you should learn to deal with your users.  Remember, users provide the ideas for new products and services.  They can also warn you if your products and services still needs fine tuning to meet your market's needs.  Users talk to other users and you certainly want them to talk about you.  And never forget that your users know your competitors.  To know your user is to know your future.

Italy, originally uploaded by CitizenIMG.

From the Vatican, with Love. Citizen photog Corey Bayless shares this pic of the 'most famous church in all of Christendom,' St. Peter's Basilica.

Photograph by Corey Bayless

Take photos of Waldo-esque red and white striped fashion that you might see people wearing in your daily life. Extra points for stripes with glasses, hats or backpacks. 

There were many, many great entries (check out the Flickr Photo Pool to see them all), but as always a few stood out - sometimes for the quality of the photo, other times for just how much it captured the ssence of Where's Waldo?

And so, without further adieu, we present a few choice results, though as the rules state, everyone who enters is a winner, so please, keep submitting your photos and check out Challenge #2 "A Little Woof In Your Life".

Challenge #1 Highlights

Thanks to Brandon Rhodes
 

Thanks to Jaime Monfort

Thanks to Spotty Logic

Thanks to Dylan Winkler

Thanks to Mikette Miller