I wonder if years down the road we’ll refer to this type of act as “pulling a De Kort,” and whether the same might also refer to the subsequent repercussions for both accuser and accused.

Keeping in mind that this new era of transparency is redefining privacy as we know it (both personal and organizational), read the Washington Post article and give us your opinion on how the Coast Guard and Lockheed Martin should respond to the allegations.

Turn your video iPod into the ultimate presentation cheat-sheet.

The integration of advertisement and amusement continues. TBS, which has been using the slogan “We Know Funny,” has spun off a new website dedicated to only the humorous…in adverstising, that is. For free, TBS is putting up the funniest ads from around the world (submitted by users) and letting cyberspace rate them.

It all leads into a TV special to air later this fall.

Imagine your product was the impetus for one of these ads. Think about how many times one of your advertisements will be watched without you having to pay a dime. Mind-boggling. As of midday August 24, the top ads have already been viewed over 50,000 times. The funnier it is, the more often people view it, vote for it, and share it.

Which brings us to the viral component. People (like me) learn of the site, watch it, and then tell their friends and acquaintances…like me. This will only increase traffic as the days pass. A very effective and low-cost marketing strategy. The only discriminator is humor. You could submit one of your own ads, but if it is not funny, it gets low ratings and slides out of sight, never to be heard from again.

Spare me the bedside manner. Looking for healthcare advice? Fire up your iPod. The little white box might just replace the little black bag.

Such are the advantages of attending a completely virtual concert. You take in the tunes courtesy of your computer. The performer’s avatar plays from the cyber-stage; your own digital doppelgänger is in the crowd, digging the scene and the sound with fellow fans. Example thus:

Marketing and record label executives say Web sites that put users into video-game-like virtual worlds are a unique way to reach out to audiences, who are increasingly spending their time and money on the computer instead of at concerts and music stores. Although still experimental, such sites offer fans more ways to interact with one another and band members directly.

Read more in this front-page Washington Post article.

According to a new survey by PR Week, new media expertise isn’t as important as being able to deliver “company messaging to all target audiences.” Hey, if you can’t trust an entrenched, nearsighted trade publication, then who can you trust?

The folks at Media Guerrilla arched an eyebrow in response to this “industry insight” as well. Is PR Week suggesting that target audiences don’t know new media? Puh-leez.

Blogpulse, a Nielsen-sponsored site contending with all things blog, offers this daily evaluation of who is generating the most buzz in the blogosphere. There’s a straightforward ranking based on overall citations, and a list of those who have become overnight sensations (known in blog-speak as being bursty). Raul Castro takes today’s bursty prize.

This very entertaining introduction to podcasting for marketers is delivered via . . . a virtual iPod.

In line with Jay’s previous post (blogs do not have to have massive audiences to be effective), here’s an article about another small business’ effective use of blogging.

I was immediately captivated by the near-immediacy of this information and the fact it chronicled the spontaneous nature of whale watching. The “Sightings and Updates” blog also demonstrated to me that Quoddy Link Marine really cared about whales and the environment, not just selling whale tour tickets. Thanks to their blog, I also felt one degree closer to the people behind this tour company than with those from any of their competitors.

As I mention in a previous post, this kind of openness goes much further toward establishing the trust of potential customers than traditional marketing techniques.

In this piece from The New Yorker, Nicholas Lemann completes the blogger-reporter circle arguably first ascribed by the Dan Rather takedown. He’s stumping for the professional journalists, but don’t worry, his stance is more Obi-Wan Kenobi than Darth Vader. Of relevance to M&M is the reconceptualization of classic Warholia, as explained below:

Most citizen journalism reaches very small and specialized audiences and is proudly minor in its concerns. David Weinberger, another advocate of new-media journalism, has summarized the situation with a witty play on Andy Warhol’s maxim: “On the Web, everyone will be famous to fifteen people.”

Who are the 15 entities/organizations/individuals to whom we will become indispensable? Perhaps if we start from that narrow point of departure, expansion will take care of itself. Viral marketing meets blogging meets new media.

May the force be with you.