There's interesting blog post about social media and consumer behavior over at Mashable.com that ponders the impact of companies plunging forward with web 2.0.  Do you consume social media or does social media consume you?  Here's a snipit:

At this point much of the traffic is being driven by the early adopters who have been using services like Twitter since it started but slowly more and more regular web users are discovering it – and others. As well, corporations are dipping their toes into this new social media sea; therein lies the one thing that could really push social media beyond just being a niche sector.

I buy the economic argument -- when companies realize the return on investment of marketing dollars spent on social media they will flock to it.  I'm not so sure that big corporations know how to get it right, however.  We've seen many attempts to jump on the user-generated-content bandwagon fail and even backfire.  It's still going to be the information service companies that will be most adept at throwing snowballs down the social media mountain.

Facebook just activated the redesign.  If you don't see it, it should automatically switch over for most users by tomorrow or you can go to new.facebook.com.
The new profile page is simplified with an integrated "wall" and tabs for applications.  So far, I like the new user interface.  The changes bring some standardization to pages so it's much easier to navigate and profiles load quickly regardless of how many apps a user has.  Check it out.

Two of my favorite web music applications are now on the iPhone platform: Pandora and Last.fm (hat-tip to Mashable). While I've been using Pandora mobile on my Sprint phone for over a year, I cannot use Last.fm. From the looks of the video, Last.fm is tightly integrated into Apple's stack. EDIT: Video Removed. Click here for video. Pairing the Last.fm with an iTunes device is genious. Perhaps I spoke too soon when I scoffed at the iPhone. Both Last.fm and Pandora are available free of charge. C'mon OHA, give me a killer soon phone so I can be as cool as the Apple fanboys.

This week, the CEOs of several large airlines co-authored an email urging the public to take action in the face of skyrocketing oil prices. Here's a snippet:

Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Click here for a pdf copy of the letter. Those familiar with the Enron story know all too well what happens when energy futures markets are manipulated by the same people supplying the energy. However I wonder if government regulation in the US will really make a dent in oil prices? It does seem a bit hypocritical and self-serving for the big airlines to be telling customers they should complain about speculation when the airlines themselves speculate the price of airfare. In fact, wasn't it Jet Blue's advanced purchase on planes and oil futures that enabled them to compete with low prices? While I agree with the spirit of the letter, I think it falls short of asking people to make the behavioral changes that would absolutely have a significant effect on the price of oil. They're not asking us to fly less, nor to curtail our consumption. They're not suggesting that we should invest in cleaner alternatives to flying and driving everyone. Asking congress to regulate can't surt, so I do agree that we should get involved, but it's really the least we could do.

Cnet askes the question,

Butterflies are free, so why aren't iPhone apps?

This is a question I've been asking for a while, ever since I first read about Google's entry into the cellphone space.

It turns out that Google never intended to make a gPhone, however they have been hard at work on something even better: an open source operating system for phones called Android. If you haven't seen what the excitement is about, watch this live video demo of Android on a touch phone. What I'm most excited about are the applications. A lot of Apple lovers assert that the iPhone has everything that 99% of users could ever want. So what value is there is tons and tons of free applications? It's simple. Unrestricted innovation. Apple can never keep up with the possibilities that will be available for Android. When Google invited developers to compete for funding, almost 1,800 entries were submitted. To see just how awesome some the potential of this platform is, check out this PDF of the top 50 applications chosen by Google that are being developed for Android.