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We all know that there are a lot of tools that allow you to easily create podcasts on the go with your mobile phone. Utterz, BlogTalkRadio, TalkShoe, and even several random free conference calling utilities are examples. However, few of them actually allow you to accomplish that task without at least a modicum of account setup first. But BlogTalkRadio have just released CinchCast which does just that.

Testing has showed that the files show up in your feed almost immediately after being left with the system, and they seem to be decent enough quality for a phone conversation. The address for the feed reflects the standard domain for the Cinch system, with the trailing directory being an alias based off the caller ID from the phone the podcast was made from.So, how is it useful? Maybe you’re at a conference and want to record a quick interview with someone, or perhaps you want to cover a live event you may be witness to, and you don’t happen to have your mobile podcasting rig with you? Perhaps you have an account set up with TalkShoe or another phone podcasting system but no access to a computer so as to schedule the episode. Or perhaps you’d like to record something, but don’t want it to immediately go live to your entire Utterz friend list.

Those are just a few use instances that have been suggested, which clearly show that it’s a valuable tool to have in a podcaster’s arsenal.

The Office of Fair Trading are sending out fake scam SMS messages to help raise awareness of text scams. The messages aer being sent to young people aged between 18 and 24, as it is estimated that six per cent of all victims of mass-marketed scams each year are aged between 15 and 24.

First of all, a text was sent reading “Urgent! U may have won £1k cash with ‘2 Good 2 B True’.” Another text then followed, explaining that the first message was a fake and that the OFT sent it to warn about mobile phone text scams. Mike Haley, director of consumer protection at the OFT, said the organisation hopes the fake scam texts will remind young people to be on their guard if they encounter dubious offers similar to this.

Our thought is: who do you contact to stop receiving these spam messages?

As we told you last week, WOM-UK are holding their next event “How To” Word of Mouth Marketing Workshop, on Tuesday 11th March.

The one-day workshop runs from 8.30am til 5.00pm and will be delivered by the UK’s leading word of mouth marketing practitioners. It will focus on teaching you how to produce a WOMM campaign, from budgeting to measurement, and look at the latest WOMM techniques with hands-on interactive sessions.

As a member of their leadership council, Benn will be there to answer any questions you guys may have, so make sure you come along to see us at The Courthouse Kempinski on Great Marlborough Street. To book, go to www.womuk.org/events.asp or get in touch for more info.

Microsoft’s free email service Hotmail is currently suffering from a bug that logs off users and prevents them from logging into the service again. Currently, this behavior is affecting only a fraction of the userbase, but the bug has not been fixed yet.

Microsoft spokeswoman Samantha McManus said the following in a statement: “The issue is purely impacting the login process for customers and largely does not impact customers who were already logged in. We have made significant progress in decreasing the number of customers currently affected since initial reports, but the issue has not yet been completely resolved.”

As a consolation, McManus added that Hotmail should be fully operational “shortly,” whatever that means.

Reminds me of a comment I heard earlier online; someone was discussing problems with their Yahoo! email account to which another user quipped “they must be getting ready for the merge with Hotmail!” lol.

Today was the launch of Quark’s global campaign site www.ilovedesign.com, which was devised and implemented by yours truly.

We developed the site around an interactive and accessible community concept that was inspired by both neoco and Quark’s love for design. The content of the site will be largely user generated with the aim being to create a platform where designers from all over the world can join the community, showcase their work, be inspired by the work of others, and discuss their love of design. Users can search, view, and rate designs uploaded by other members and even contact them in a secure way.

The site features the work and video testimonials of leading industry designers including David Carson, Peter Saville and Chip Kidd, providing inspiration for users, as they can watch and listen to their heroes tell their own stories, debate the relevance of design in today’s world, and contemplate its future. Designers can also learn how leading global brands, such as the Salvation Army, Metro International, Design Week , and many others, are using QuarkXPress 7 and view samples of some of their work.

The site is part of an overall campaign that we created, with the focus on harnessing the creativity of today’s designers. It comprises of a design of the week competition, seminars with leading designers, e-mail marketing, online and offline media, and a fun Facebook application called “What font are you?” - why not find out which font you are by clicking the link below:

(http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=22841955173)

The New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program Botanicalls group have been working on a project that allows your plants to talk to you over Twitter. Botanicall’s Twitter hack answers the question: “How is your plant doing?”. The main pieces of technology used are a Blackberry and assorted bits of Arduino boards - the wires detect the moisture levels in the plant’s soil, and when it drops to a pre-determined level, it will fire off a tweet and let you know what’s going on. So in theory you should always know when to water your plants - can’t really get any easier for you than that!

The great thing about this project is that the general principals involved could be applied in loads of ways. Whenever someone gets too close to my car, I could have it tweet my friends list. I could create a contraption that hangs from my cat’s collar and tweets me when it detects that there’s no more water left in the dish. Leave a comment and let us know what Twitter contraption you would find useful…

This morning I went to the WOM-UK’s first ever Espresso Breakfast Briefing. This members session focused on Brand Advocacy in Europe, and we heard all about the findings from recent research carried out into European Brand Advocacy. The research was really interesting and some useful points were brought up. Get in touch if you would like a full de-briefing.

LinkedIn have just announced the upgrade of their FireFox toolbar. And this weekend, they also announced the deployment of their Mobile version of the site. This will allow all mobile device users access to the LinkedIn, including Blackberry and iPhone users - Benn can confirm it looks great on his iPhone

To ensure your compatibility with your device, simply log in to m.linkedin.com.

The new Mobile LinkedIn also includes improved support for non-English languages, including French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. A LinkedIn engineer, Jerry Luk gives a demo of the new mobile service with this YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy1cTWXlF0c

This weekend, Benn was called by 15 people asking him why YouTube was down. If you are one of those people, here is your answer: (Plus, you really should get out more :-p)

Pakistan Telecom and internet service provider PCCW have been blamed for the YouTube blackout, which caused the site to be down for two hours on Sunday. ISPs were ordered to block the video-sharing site because it held content that was deemed offensive to Islam (Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad and the trailer for a forthcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, which portrays Islam in a negative light, are suggested reasons)

It is believed that in order to block Pakistan citizens from viewing the site, Pakistan Telecom ‘hijacked’ it’s web server address. These details were then passed on to the countries ISPs so that anyone in Pakistan attempting to visit the site would be re-directed elsewhere. But the details were leaked out into the wider internet from PCCW and as a result YouTube was mistakenly blocked by ISPs around the world. As soon as PCCW were told of the issue by YouTube engineers, the block was lifted.

It is thought that it was a simple mistake by an engineer, and there is nothing to suggest that it was malicious. Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority have announced that the ban will continue in Pakistan until further notice, despite uproar from users.

Adobe have lauched new software ‘Adobe Air’ which aims to make the transition between the on and offline worlds seamless. Users will be able to use online applications offline on their desktops, and developers will be able to build tools that still have some functionality even when a computer is no longer connected to the net.

The first programs that use the technology have been developed by a host of companies and web sites, and some have already been released. Ebay for example, have built a program that allows users to do much of the legwork required in setting up auctions offline. The next time that the user connects to the Internet, the listing is posted to the website. The BBC is also building prototypes with Air.

You can run any Air application on PCs, Macs and later this year Linux, after a free download. I’m sure they will come in pretty useful when travelling and on the move. Let us know how you get on with them.