Meanwhile today, Andre Radke has a beta of an XSLT processor for Radio and Frontier. He says it's "for thrill seekers only." Okay, sounds like spicy noodles to me. [Scripting News]

internet.com's ServerWatch reports on surveys that examine the number and types of servers being used to power the Internet. Check the results of the monthly surveys right here. [CyberAtlas]

Google U Launches "Google U"

In the hopes of teaching advertisers the power of keyword advertising,

Google has launched Google U, a three-hour workshop on how the company's cost-per-click advertising can pay off.

The free workshop, slated to run on Nov. 14 in San Jose, hopes to lure potential customers by offering an advertising credit (and light refreshments) for their time. Google instructors will teach students how to design a search-based advertising campaign using Google's AdWords.

Is Google U right for you? Yes, if:

• You're interested in getting more traffic to your website
• You like to have total control of your advertising program
• You want your marketing to show measurable ROI
• You're in charge of advertising decisions in your company

Google has looked to steal the thunder of industry stalwart Overture with its AdWords Select program that allows advertisers to only pay for click-throughs. Google has replaced Overture on AOL, EarthLink and AskJeeves.

Pay-for-performance advertising has already established a solid foothold in the Internet advertising market, accounting for 25 percent of online ad spending this year, according to Jupiter Research, which is a division of internetnews' parent company. By 2007, pay-for-performance ad spending is forecast to take up 34 percent.

Got an email from a reader this morning — another polymath with a polyspecialized background, now sidetracked at midlife without any obvious career track. He wanted advice.

I wrote back: Start a blog.

I've been giving that advice for quite awhile now. A lot of people on the blogroll to the right are there because they took start-a-blog advice. This very blog was started at Dave's insistence (advice wasn't working, so he cranked it up a notch), back in October '99.

Anyway, I was responding to this guy's request by email when I decided to cut the last line and paste it over here.

You can be the pinball or you can be the pinball machine. With a blog you can create your own machine.

[The Doc Searls Weblog]

Are Weblogs (blogs) legitimate business tools?

"Yes" writes Bill Keaggy of Network World on 11/04/02.

Blogs have many uses in today's business environments.

Using Weblogs in your business environment can increase employee communication and knowledge, save time and resources, and build reputation and confidence. We're not talking server logs here; the Weblogs we're talking about are topical, frequently updated Web pages powered by knowledgeable contributors.

Drop the notion of blogs as vanity sites for high school diarists and time-wasting black holes made by wannabe writers. Blogs can be anything. It's up to you to make them useful.