What’s going on in new media marketing, pulled from social bookmarking site Creativing.com:

Ramparts Magazine: A Bomb in Every Issue – KCRW’s Politics of Culture

Fascinating podcast on 60s magazine Ramparts, which went from a Catholic literary quarterly to seminal left-wing publication. Jan Wenner worked there before launching Rolling Stone. So did the founder of Mother Jones. Great stories about Robert Sheer getting an interview with Fidel Castro (just after playing a basketball game) and their radical cover concepts.

On The Media – Books 2.0

A don’t-miss interview with Bob Stein, Director of the Instituted for the Future of the Book. Any doubts about the veracity of his title are quickly dispelled once he starts talking. It’s great to hear an industry insider — although I’m sure he’s considered an outsider by many — to be not only aware, but inviting to the inevitable changes hitting the industry.

Top searches on Yahoo for 2009

If you want to know what the general public is really interested in, check out what they’re searching for. The top searches are really no surprise. Celebrities, wrestling, car racing, and a TV show, and a video game. The surprise entry goes to Naruto, a Japanese Manga series. Obviously something the fans are quite, well, fanatic about.

RipDigital – CD to MP3 Conversion Service

I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of this service before, as it seems logical. It’s $.99 for basic 128kps mp3s. $1.19 for the full 320kbs. And if you think about the time it takes ripping, then this seems like a great deal. Especially in mass volume.

THE HIVE AWARDS

The Hive Awards are an alternative to the more traditional, let’s say “big budget” award shows (although I understand that not all entries require big budgets). At any rate, this is definitely worth checking out.

Yahoo To Integrate Properties With Facebook Connect

More steps towards Facebook’s goal to be the connector across anywhere on the web. This is big, as while Yahoo is certainly having their challenges, they’re still the number 3 site globally in terms of traffic.

A Closer Look at BuildABrand’s Closed Beta

Build-A-Brand feels you should be able to create a brand as quickly and easily as registering a domain. This type of thinking is fascinating, as the implication is that a machine/algorithm/formula can create a strong brand presence. I suppose if you’re a local dry cleaner this approach may work better than what many of them usually end up with. But given that most really successful small business ideas that grow to big companies are generally born out of the passion of the entrepreneur, I have to think a formulaic approach like this will never capture that sensibility. And I do think the difference will be noticeable.

The Buzzr Demo Video – Making Drupal Usable

If you’re at all familiar with Drupal, you know it’s a remarkably powerful CMS. You also probably know that CMS has terrible usability. This system is a great look into how to keep the former and ditch the later. In a drag and drop interface that is likely AJAX, thought I’m not certain (any techsperts, please correct me if I’m wrong).

Sport: Annenberg Space for Photography – Politics of Culture on KCRW

Love this interview with legendary sports photog Neil Leifer, who shot the famous 1958 NFL championship game shot of Alan Ameche going into the end zone for the winning score. He took that snap on his 16th birthday. It’s full of great anecdotes about what it’s like to stand inches from the ring where Ali just clocked Liston (his most iconic image). There’s a gallery exhibit at the Anneneberg Space for Photography, in Century City, which sounds like a must-see. I went to a different show there a couple of months ago, and it’s an exceptional place.

The Journalist’s Guide to Maximizing Personal Social Media ROI

I’m always curious how other people use the new media tools we all have at our disposal. Here’s an interesting look at how 5 journo’s use social media.