An informative interview with Rodney Walker, underscoring the common marketing mistakes businesses make and how to avoid them.

More scrutiny? More Power? More fun? Read what David Kirkpatrick thinks!

I post on Facebook so others know what I think. As a business owner then, it's not a stretch to call this a fundamental part of "brand building." Facebook, Twitter, blogging, these are our culture's most contemporary methods for direct brand-building. On the other hand, it's also an interface for brand-bashing. If you've followed some of the Facebook faux pas of late, you'll realize that social media is a two-way street, and sometimes cars come at you on your side of the road!

Like Noah, tween sensation Aria Wallace has pledged to spend 40 days aloft, navigating the seas--only Aria's seas are in cyber space, and instead of two of every sort of animal, she's bringing along her resolve to unplug from her cell phone.

In "Twitterville," Shel Israel figures out how to write a timeless book about a dynamically morphing platform.

Read the book to find out how CEOs, students, nonprofit activists, small business owners and others used Twitter to advance their agendas. Powerful stuff.

There's a new phone in town. Frankly, I'm a little skeptical. You see, I am a pocket-carrying member of the iPhone Lovers Society. Have been for several months. I heart my iPhone so much, I can't remember how I functioned without it. True, I make my living by being hooked up to the e-mail like an IV drip, but that's not the only reason my rubber-sleeved machine is my best friend. This phone allows me to best live the life I've chosen to live--time management-wise. Not to say that my life is the best life out there, but in charting a course towards maximizing economy of time, functionality and information, the iPhone frees me up--as long as I heed some caveats and rules:
1. No texting or email answering while driving
2. Try not to over-tweet when with the family
3. Experience comes first, communicating the experience, second

Although thoroughly convinced that the iPhone cannot be replaced, I'm intrigued by the new Android-based social networking tool: the Cliq. The premise of Motorola's stab at seizing the smart phone dollar is built around the "social skills" angle. It's email, Facebook, Twitter, phone, text and calendars all integrated, with both the touch screen AND a QWERTY keyboard. Despite the intriguing possibilities of this new kid in town, I'm still convinced that you'll have to pry my iPhone out of my cold, dead hands!

I haven't seen my daughter in six weeks. She's living the dream--taking a post-college trek through Europe with her backpack and an open mind. I'm thrilled for her, and yet.

As a mother of three (and stepmother of two), I always keep one eye open and one ear available for the middle-of-the-night phone call. The dreaded emergency. But I delight in the daylight hours, where I've been able to stalk my child via various web-based interfaces.

Charlie Rose in conversation with Marc Andreessen, co-founder and chairman of Ning and an investor in several startups including Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. Best known as co-author of Mosaic, and founder of Netscape. He is on the Board of Directors of Facebook and eBay.