I just finished the book Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Julien Smith and Chris Brogan. It is not being released until August 24, but I was able to get my paws on an advance copy last week at Affiliate Summit East 2009.

I’ve got to tell you… I loved Trust Agents.

While Julien and Chris were at Affiliate Summit, they had a book signing. And while I did go to the book signing, I ended up leaving my copy of Trust Agents in my hotel room. That was an exercise in fail.

But I got some pictures of the action, and lots of other people have signed copies of the future best seller. Foiled again!

Anyhow, it’s a quick read with lots of gems in there about leveraging social networks and social media overall, increasing your sphere of influence, and that sort of thing.

It’s a step by step guide on how to do it all. And I know – you’re as cynical as me. There are a lot of books that promise to teach you how to do it.

But they’re typically by pretenders. People that pretend to do and know the stuff that Brogan and Smith have experienced themselves.

Long story short – read Trust Agents. If you were lucky enough to snag a copy at Affiliate Summit, just reach into your still unpacked bag from the show. Otherwise, it’s available online and soon in your local store.

When Chris and Julien spoke at Affiliate Summit, they shared a topline view of the book with the crowd.

Check out their presentation: attention wars and the rise of the TRUST AGENT.

The presentation was a good primer, maybe even a study guide for the book. But it’s heavy on images, so you’re not going to get all of the concepts by the slides alone. In the very near future, I’ll be posting video of the who keynote (soon as I get it from our production company).

If you happen to be in the position where you have a need for a bulk order of Trust Agents, I just saw a post on Chris Brogan’s blog with a unique opportunity where you can get him to come to your office.

I’ll limit this to five total offers and you’ll have to show a screen cap of the confirmed order to prove it: If you purchase 200 copies of Trust Agents, I’ll fly out and spend a half day with your organization for free. I’ll let you know right now that my consulting rate is far more than the price of 200 books, so it’s a pretty darned good deal, so this might be the chance for a two-fer. You can give your group some books, and you can get specific consultation about how your organization can use online tools to be human at a distance and deliver business value.

Either way, I’d highly recommend the book, and I’m pretty picky about business books.

Video: Trust Agents

I’m so stoked. Just got my new AC/DC Black Ice CD and it rocks. It has all the famous riffs that AC/DC is famous for and Brian’s voice is still awesome.

My three favorite tracks are Rock N Roll Train, Skies on Fire and Big Jack.

This is the first CD that AC/DC has put out since 2000 and it was definitely worth the wait.

I’m fired up to go see them in concert in the upcoming weeks and really looking forward to hearing them play their new songs live.

Recently, I had a chance to play with the Nintendo Wii for the first time.

I thought about getting one, but I’ve already got a PSP and PS2. I play them here and there, but not so much anymore, so I was thinking I don’t really need another video game system.

But after playing with the Wii, I thought it was amazing. It was so much better than I anticipated.

I mostly played bowling in the Wii Sports package, and I thought it was great, so I’m going to get one for myself.

Also, I think I’ll pick up Wii Fit for my kids – I haven’t seen it in action, but some of their friends love it.

If you haven’t played the Nintendo Wii, it’s so much different from what you’re used to in the past with passive games from the couch.

It’s such an active, fun experience with the Wii.

Vicky of http://www.askthemama.com talks about the Flip Ultra video camera, a great video camera for moms to have at hand to capture magical moments.

Vicky of http://www.askthemama.com talks about Bravado Nursing Bras, an essential for the nursing mom.

Shawn Collins of http://www.101wines.info/ reviews Gary Vaynerchuk’s 101 Wines.

The book features wines for 2008 spanning many prices, regions, grapes, and styles to help wine novices and sophisticated oenophiles to expand their wine horizons.

Vicky of http://www.askthemama.com talks about one of her favorite breastfeeding tools, the Boppy Pillow. It’s a great baby nursing pillow and also helpful for the husband to bottle feed.

The popular Flip Video from Pure Digital Technologies now has a competitor in the Vado Pocket Video Cam from Creative. I filmed the same footage simultaneously from the Flip and Vado.

More details at http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/flip-video-vs-vado-pocket-video-cam/.

If you’re a cookie fanatic like me, you have to try my new favorite cookies — Geoff and Drew’s.

They’ve been featured in a number of periodicals and shows, such as the NY and LA Times, The Today Show, Family Circle, Inc, Modern Bride and more. Even Rachael Ray recently had some great things to say about them.

There are a number of ingredients in their recipe for success. Their dough is baked fresh daily and their recipes have been passed down through generations. They use the finest ingredients – definitely not the mass-produced kinds you find in the supermarket.

Their Signature Chocolate Blue with 8 cookies (including White Chocolate Cranberry (my favorite), Chocolate Chunk, Double Fudge and Oatmeal Raisin) makes a great Father’s Day or Birthday Gift and comes in at only $18.00. They are absolutely the best tasting cookies out there and totally “dunkworthy”.

If you’re an affiliate, Geoff and Drew’s recently launched their affiliate program on Performics and it’s being managed by GTOManagement – a great company to work with.

As of June 4, 2008, Geoff and Drew’s is running a “15% off any order, $30 or more” on all items (except sale items) through September 16th. Father’s day is June 15th, so order some cookies and make your Dad smile.

When I got my first laptop as my every day working machine years and years ago, I found that I could not stand using the keyboard on it all day.

I also found that my neck hurt when I was hunched over to look down at the screen. And trying to use the keypad mouse? Forget it, too hard.

All that changed when I finally found the Oyster Laptop Docking Station.

The Oyster Laptop Docking Station allows me to insert my laptop in an open position, making the screen go upright, so it’s just like having a monitor on my desk. I attach an external keyboard and mouse to my laptop when in use and it’s just like having a desktop machine, except at the end of the day I can easily disconnect everything and take it home with me.

The sturdy “shell” design supports my big Dell 17 inch laptop easily, with room to spare. There’s also plenty of space in the back for assorted cables and power supplies. It’s also very lightweight, so you can move it around easy enough, but it’s also perfectly balanced so it won’t fall over.

This product changed the way I work every day and I could not recommend it more. I have two of them. One at home and one at the office.