1) Brad J. Ward is one week into an interesting experiment. The co-founder of BlueFuego hasn’t tweeted from his @BradJWard account since February 9 and is instead investing his online social networking into Buzz. I’ve started  a Buzz interview thread with Brad about the project.

2) Google’s decision to integrate Buzz with Gmail was smart. So was its subsequent decision to acknowledge and address privacy concerns. At least we know Google is listening.

3) Buzz’s approach to moderation? You can delete posts and “report spam” in your Buzz threads from users you aren’t following but not from users that you are.

4) Yes, there’s plenty of meta buzzing about Buzz itself. But isn’t that always the case with a new tool or technology?

5) Liking the elegant way that Buzz displays images from a linked/shared blog post or Flickr photoset.

6) I’m compiling a set of Delicious links on Google Buzz.

7) Early adopters I. First out of the gate with an effective B2B Buzz presence: the inbound marketing specialists at HubSpot.

8 ) Early adopters II. On the media side: Rob Quigley and the Austin Statesman. Also, Rob has published a step-by-step guide for media organizations wanting to set up a Buzz account.

9) Early adopters III. Brands: Samsung USA.

10) Early adopters IV. Radian6 announced this afternoon that it is now tracking and incorporating Buzz posts in its social media monitoring package. (Update: Mashable reports that Viralheat rolled out Buzz monitoring last night).

Curious: What’s your take on Buzz?

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* In making the case that Facebook could become the world’s leading news reader, Marshall Kirkpatrick includes and explains this nugget: “Partial feeds are good for readers.”  On Facebook? Agreed. In an RSS reader? No way.

* Marcel Santilli is a talented social media and design guy here in Austin whom I’ve just started working with on some visual projects for the Social Media Breakfast series. Using some of Callie Richmond’s brilliant shots from our event in Austin last week, Marcel put together a collage and video (also below). Great stuff!

[RSS and e-mail readers: You may need to click through to the original post to see the embedded video]

[RSS and e-mail readers: You may need to click through to this original post to see the embedded video above.]

* Speaking of the Social Media Breakfast, the mega SMB during SXSW Interactive that I whispered about a few weeks ago is ON.  If you’ll be in Austin for “South by,” please mark down late morning/early afternoon of Sunday, February March 14. Venue, time, and program still to come.

* So the iPad won’t serve as the ultimate device for creating content. I’m OK with that. It’s still going to disrupt the heck out of how we consume media, and present “legendary” opportunities for sales and marketing. I can’t wait.

* Like Dan York, I’m stuck on the Foursquare fence. Yes, it’s fun having an ambient awareness of my social media pals and trying to unseat them as mayors (my current quest is to knock Terry Melle from his mayoral perch at Hill Country Bible Church Northwest). But … I don’t know that the gameplay is enduringly compelling (following “Bravolebrities” isn’t exactly my thing, for example). There has to be something more, right?

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“Every day for 365 days, a different person will write an entry about their experience that day. It doesn’t have to be about a specific topic, the key is that it somehow relates to what is happening in the world that day and how it relates to them.”

There are still some open dates for contributors later in the year, and I hope to snag one.

* The imaginative Pepsi Refresh Project starts accepting submissions tomorrow. If you have an idea to help your community, it could be worth as much as $250,000. Certainly worth brainstorming about.

* Speaking of brainstorming, that’s what I’m doing this week and next for a possible mega Social Media Breakfast gathering at this March’s SXSW Interactive. For one of the world’s biggest gatherings of innovators, geeks, entrepreneurs, and practitioners, I’d like to think we can organize a thought-provoking event to move the social media industry forward. Stay tuned.

* I’m not the only one dreaming big for SXSWi. Austin pal Tim Walker is considering a pep rally–a pep rally!–for his session on social media and sports. I’ll bring the bullhorn.

* Is open online collaboration and crowdsourcing putting a damper on innovation and turning our brains into “World Wide Mush“? Mitch Joel considers the question.

* Just how drastic was the digital advance for consumers in the recently concluded decade? Forrester’s Josh Bernoff has the numbers. (Disclosure: My employer, LiveWorld, is a former Forrester client).

* If 2010 is indeed the Year of Mobile, then ensuring your website is mobile-friendly should be near or at the top of your to-do list. Stumped on how to get started down that path? The Online Marketing Blog has a post with 9 good tips.

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* Hard to miss the Apple Tablet fever these days. And hard to bet against it.

* Todd Defren is already delivering plenty of attitude on his blog–in a good way–in 2010. Exhibit A: today’s post on “no guarantees” in social media marketing.

* Chris Christensen (in photo at right), my LiveWorld co-worker for 10 more days, was one of the lucky ones testing out Google’s Nexus One before its official release today. His balanced review indicates there’s plenty to like about the smartphone out of the gate. 

* Speaking of smartphones, just how up to speed are you on mobile marketing? Creating a mobile version of your website and blog is good first step.  But there’s plenty more to come in what could emerge as”the year of mobile.” 

* Podcasting is far from dead.

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