Completely Mashable

meOwns Shares What You Have and What You Want

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:21:45 -0700

meOwns is a new wish list creation site that lets you add items you own or would like to own. As with most other wish list sites such as Wishpot, you can add items you’re interested in, and use this expression of your taste in order to find like-minded people.

The site itself is basic, but there is a Facebook application so you’ll be able to tap into that existing social network in order to find even more like-minded people based on your preferences. I was surprised to find that meOwns doesn’t have a Web bookmarking tool, or even a mechanism to help others purchase wish list items on your behalf. Just about everything on meOwns can be shared via RSS, however, making it easy to keep up with friends’ owned and wish lists if you subscribe to their activity streams.

The space happens to be quite crowded for this particular type of application, so I was hoping to find some differentiating factors with meOwns that could help it stand out. The most I could come up with is the customization options for items you add to your owned and wish list collections. You can rate items, add your own images and descriptions.

However, this feature is also a hindrance for meOwns, as it allows users to add items from their computer and not from the Web. This means that the circular usefulness of meOwns is limited, in that it can’t provide any further steps towards connecting you with those particular items. As meOwns activity can be broadcast via RSS, I can see that there’s potential for a third party application to turn that streaming data into direct links connecting to retailers, as well as recommendations for other users.

meOwns is essentially collecting purchase data, and if put into a more comprehensive format that’s combined with other data from across the Web, meOwns could lend itself to some easily distributed recommendations that other developers could leverage. Before that happens, however, I think an easier process for users to create that data (i.e. browser bookmarking tool) is necessary.

Personalized Mobile Content Provider HooQs Sees Global Growth [Israel Media Tour]

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:43:15 -0700

Company Name: HooQs
Founded in: 2007
Location: Tel Aviv

HooQs, an Israeli startup launched in 2007, brings personalized mobile content to users with a unique mobile media recommendation system. Based in Tel Aviv, HooQs was co-founded by Aner Ravon and Itay Gissin. HooQs’ partners and distributors are spread globally and as a result the founders plan to open European and North American headquarters in 2009 in order to grow their business and become more easily accessible to partners. However for the creators, there was no better place to start than Israel.

HooQs’ concept came about when its creators noticed a lack of personalized mobile media and decided to make it easier for users to find music and videos that interest them by incorporating a prediction engine for recommendations into their site. When searching for video and music from a mobile device it can be difficult to find content that interests you quickly. There is so much content to choose from that you sometimes don’t even know what you’re looking for. HooQs created a way to make mobile content find you instead.

Once a user watches a video, HooQs gives them a personalized homepage with 5 to 30 recommended clips based on what other users with similar tastes are watching and listening to. Each time that the user watches, downloads or shares a video on HooQs, they are, in essence, creating recommendation statistics for users with similar interests. HooQs creates recommendations based purely on user behavior. Recommendations take into account how long a user views a clip, as well as whether he downloaded or shared the clip. Users are not required to answer any questions or give any information in order to receive recommendations. In fact, anyone can receive recommendations based on his behavior on the site without even registering.

According to Aner, the service picked up quickly, with over 300,000 mobile downloads a month in the beginning. The first version did not include the recommendation system and was intended purely for learning purposes to create a better model. The second version of HooQs, which was released a few weeks ago, has much more functionality, including the recommendation system which allows for collaborative media filtering, making it much easier for users to find desirable mobile content quickly and efficiently. This recommendation engine was developed by Nimrod Steinbock, CTO of the company.

The addition of this unique recommendation engine has aided in the growth of HooQs. The service currently has over 250,000 users that account for over 500,000 mobile downloads a month. HooQs distributes video content on virtually every subject—users are downloading niche content from pizza recipes to kite boarding lessons and everything in between.

HooQs channels cover a range of subject matter including music, animation, animals, TV, tech, sports, games, politics and “hotties.” The site even has a “whatever” category which features channels such as Best UFO Clips. “How to” videos are also popular, as well as videos about the iPhone and, of course, videos made by gorgeous women (surprise, surprise).

The improvement of mobile devices, with the introduction of mobile handsets such as the iPhone, has only served to raise the consumption of mobile media and HooQs’ mission is to serve this increased need. HooQs can be used on any mobile device that is media enabled and has an Internet connection. Additionally, the company is currently working on an iPhone application.

Itay tells me that unlike other mobile media distributors, HooQs has decided to remain an independent service, managing and developing everything on their own. Mobile operators may partner with them to incorporate the HooQs recommendation engine into their own portals. In fact, two operators already signed agreements with them for distribution and integration of their recommendation engine.

HooQs’ revenue model is based on the distribution of their mobile media and on partnerships with mobile operators that are incorporating their service. The company recently raised over $1 million from Zohar Gilon, Eilon Tirosh of GingerBit, Yigal Ahuvi of Partam, and Yaron Gissin on behalf of BEC. Hooqs is still on the lookout for further investments.

Disclosure: HooQs is a past sponsor of Mashable events

Ayelet Noff, also known as blogger Blonde 2.0, is a social marketing strategist and consultant who has been an influential force in the Israeli tech scene for many years. Noff specializes in helping companies strategically market their brands online on all relevant platforms and enhance their product/site to its maximum capability.

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AOL Offers “Guaranteed” Ad Rates for Facebook and Bebo Apps

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:44:29 -0700

AOL is upping the ante in an effort to get more application developers on Facebook and Bebo using its WIDGNET advertising network. The company has announced that it will be offering developers a “guaranteed CPM” on ads served across their applications.

While on the surface this sounds like a great thing for developers that will allow them to accurately forecast their revenue, the devil is in the details. According to AOL, “The guaranteed CPM rates will apply to the first three impressions for each unique U.S. visitor who visits an approved developer’s application.”

In other words, if a user loads 15 different pages from within your app, AOL is only guaranteeing that 3 of them will be paid at the pre-established ad rate. What will the rest be paid at? Most likely at the low rates that remnant advertising on social networks are typically paid at – often times pennies per thousand ads.

Of course, it’s not all just a marketing gimmick from AOL. Since they now own Bebo and have massive advertiser reach with Platform-A, they are in a position to both push application usage on one hand and sell inventory on the other. And while there are dozens of ad networks for application developers already in operation, few if any have the scale of AOL.

In related news, Lookery announced a similar promotion back in January, while VideoEgg reported $1.5 million in revenue paid out to Facebook developers earlier this year.

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10 Essential Sites for Tips and How-To’s

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:39:51 -0700

The advent of the Internet and social media have spawned a number of how-to sites, which has made finding tips and resources easier than ever before. We’ve put together a list of 10 essential sites where you can find or in some cases contribute tips and how-to’s on a wide range of topics.

No matter what your interest, these sites will connect you with the information that you’re looking for. What are your favorites?

instructables

instructables, “the world’s biggest show and tell,” is a how-to tips and video sharing site that is quite popular, judging from its 3.5 million visitors a month. The instructables community shares projects, recipes, and hacks among one another. There are groups, forums, and scores of contests you can participate in to win prizes. You can share your instructables in slideshows or videos.

About

About, owned by the New York Times Company, is one of the most popular and credible resource sites today with more than 53 million visitors a month. The site has around 2 million articles, videos, and tutorials on subjects including health care, parenting issues, advice on travel, cooking, technology, and hobbies, among others. We did a simple search on the site with the keyword ‘how to’, and saw more than 597,000 search results. That is more than any how-to site on this list.

About is fueled by more than 650 About.com Guides who mass-produce around 6,000 pieces of new content every week. You can apply to become an About.com Guide if you have the expertise to write in a particular area and the time to share.

eHow

eHow has more than 100,000 articles and claims to have over 8 million people visiting the site every month. From a quick Alexa check, it is seemingly the most popular site among this lot, besides About. There are how-to videos and articles on a variety of topics ranging from cars to business, career, travel and pets, wedding and parenting. You can create your profile in eHow and contribute articles. There are forums where you can request specific tips to be written by other members.

WikiHow

Wikihow is the Wikipedia of how-to articles with more than 37,000 pieces written by volunteers. Like eHow, its range of article categories are vast and include everything from arts & entertainment, health, and relationships, to cars, hobbies, sports , computers, and more. Active WikiHow members take on the task of patrolling recent changes on the site, participate in various projects, keep contact through chat, forums and conference calls, and meet in person once or twice a year. Anybody can contribute to Wikihow.

HowStuffWorks

HowStuffWorks features articles, videos, and product reviews on a variety of topics including animals, auto, business & money, communications, computers, electronics, entertainment, food & recipes, geography, health, history, home & garden, people, science, and travel. Members can upload short how-to videos on the site. HowStuffWorks is owned by Discovery Communications.

ExpertVillage

ExpertVillage calls itself the world’s largest how-to video site and has thousands of them recorded by experts. These are all available free of cost to watch or download. Becoming a member allows you to rate the articles, bookmark your favorite entries, and make comments on the site. Some of the top rated videos we checked out were on how to do a snap kick for a martial arts fitness workout, how to sandpaper decorative picture frames to use for home decor, and how to iron under the buttons of a dress shirt.

You can contribute to the site if you have a license from a legitimate authority or extensive experience in your field. This is one site that has this particular differentiator from the rest in this lot, as the rest accept tips from one and all. You can also apply as a filmmaker if you are good at photography, and send your pre-recorded videos.

VideoJug

VideoJug was launched in 2006 and in the last two years has scored well above many of its competitors. It provides videos in formats like ‘How To’ and ‘Ask The Expert’ on a variety of subjects like food & drink, love & sex, beauty & style, sports & fitness, health, leisure & hobbies, technology, home, pets, parenting, cars, jobs, career, travel, cars, and many more. You can upload your videos on VideoJug. There is also a forum on VideoJug where you can post questions.

5Min

5Min describes itself as the life videopedia where people share tips and how-to’s in videos that are no longer than 5 minutes. Videos are available in categories like arts, business, extreme, fashion, fitness, food, games, health, home, music, parenting, people, pets, spiritual, sports, tech, travel, wheels, life tips, and knowledge.

You can register at the site as a member and create your studio, which is your personal space to save your favorite videos. You can share your own videos at 5Min and even smarten them up with tools from the site.

5Min has a Smart Player that allows the community to watch these videos in slow motion, or frame by frame, zoom in and out, etc. There is also a Speedbit Video Accelerator to speed up the buffering for any video at 5Min.

Sclipo

Sclipo describes itself as a social learning network for teaching through video and webcam, and meeting people of common interests. Here not only can you upload your educational and how-to videos, but also choose to teach other people through webcams. You can charge for such webcam lessons, which is one aspect of Sclipo that distinguishes it from the rest on this list.

Your videos on Sclipo can be on a variety of topics like business and finance, cars, hobbies, fashion, beauty, food, home, music, technology, and more.

Tipstrs

Tipstrs is another tip-sharing site with articles on a variety of subjects including tips/cheats for video games, stock picks, household cleaning tips, specials at bars and restaurants in your hometown, ebay tips, coupon codes for online retailers,upcoming band gigs, contests and sweepstakes, fantasy sports leagues, and gardening, among others. Users can write their own tips or bookmark a site on Tipster. Every week, a random tipster is chosen and awarded $15.

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Mashable’s Guide to Conferences and Events

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:25:01 -0700

Here’s Mashable’s latest round-up of upcoming Web 2.0 events, parties, and conferences. Not on this list? Contact us and let’s establish a media sponsorship.

July 2, 2008: We’re right smack in the middle of summer in San Francisco. It’s the perfect time for an old-fashioned Big Summer Geek Out!
Come on down and grab a drink, meet cool people, see live 5-minute tech demos, ask questions, grab the mic, have fun… and geek out! Demos on tap: SnappyStuff, MyDogSpace, Govit, Lefora, Spongecell, and BackBlaze. Free Haamonii Smooth, the world’s smoothest shochufor all. Mashable readers receive a 20% discount with the code: “mashabletwenty” by registering here.

July 2-4, 2008: IIR’s Mobile Social Networks & UGC has been specifically designed for mobile operators, mobile community platform firms, software & technology providers and content/media companies to share ideas, discuss future trends and establish a common view of getting the most value out of mobile communities and User Generated Content strategies. Delegates will benefit from best-practice perspectives over a three day period offering a programme packed with case studies, roundtable discussions, an interactive pre-summit workshop as well as numerous networking and information-sharing opportunities. Save 10% if you use the information provided in Mashable’s IIR Mobile Social Networks & UGC announcement post.

July 9, 2008: SF New Tech “Belly Up” is shaken, not Stirred. It’s more SF Alpha than SF Beta; more TechCream than TechCrunch. Some Valleywags think it’s Bub.blicio.us! Instantly find yourself in a bar, right smack in the center of the SF tech scene. It’s true — just RSVP and show up. No MC. No name tags. No presentations. No pressure. (And no real help for those who have trouble introducing themselves to strangers. Sorry!) Just belly up to the bar, hangin’, talkin’, drinkin’, and maybe playing pool. And no ticket price — it’s free to RSVP!

July 10, 2008Social Networking Conference is the largest event for the business, enterprise and mobile Social Networking Industry. The event will discuss: business strategies, mobile technologies, business social networking, venture capital, the Asian social networking market, the European mobile social media market, software, partnerships, enterprise social networking, legal issues, background search and mobile payment systems. Steve Wozniak of Apple will speak, so hop on over to our post and get the details on how to register.

July 12, 2008: Mashable arrives in Seattle to kick off the U.S. Summer Tour. If you didn’t know, Pete Cashmore, Sean Aune and Karen Hartline all love coffee, which is why we’ll be ready to keep the party going all night long in Seattle where the coffee flows like water. It’s our first time in Seattle and we need to be shown how it’s done. Join us at Showbox where we’ll have food and drink, and DJ El Toro mixing things up. And don’t worry, we have a few surprises in store too. Get more information at Mashable’s official SummerMash Seattle page.

July 15, 2008: Plans are in full swing for Mashable’s second stop on the U.S. Summer Tour in San Francisco. Mashable’s Pete Cashmore will probably take a cab to the event, but will be there ready to meet you. The rest of the San Francisco Mashable team will be in full force too, including Kristen Nicole, Alicia Lin and Karen Hartline. Surprises and fun are on the agenda and your name is at the top of the guest list. There are just a few tickets remaining, so get yours now. The official announcement for SummerMash SF is here.

July 17, 2008: SWAT Summit is the premier conference focused on advertising and marketing on social networks.

The conference looks at how agencies and brands can harness the power of social networks. This conference ideal for anyone who wants to be a leader in the next generation of marketing and advertising — and for the publishers, developers, and ad networks who will work with them hand in hand. More information can be found in the SWAT Summit announcement post— especially with how to save $100 off the ticket price!

July 17, 2008: At Twiistup, connect with the LA tech & media communities, check out some hot start-ups, and enjoy this huge summer evening event. Tickets are now on sale! The Twiistup event will be held on the evening of July 17th in Santa Monica. It’s expected to have a huge turnout, so sign up today!

July 18, 2008: Mashable takes the show on the road for our third stop on the U.S. Summer Tour in Los Angeles. This is Mashable’s third time in L.A. so you’ve got some big shoes to fill as the past times have produced great stories. Paparazzi be warned that celebrities will be on hand, including Mashable’s Pete Cashmore, Adam Hirsch and Karen Hartline and many more. Food, drinks and good times are on the agenda and your name is on the guest list. We’re partying outdoors in the Rubicon Project’s HQ Courtyard.

July 30, 2008: Mashable is ready to rock out at our fourth stop on the U.S. Summer Tour, as well as our first time in Austin, TX. With finger-lickin’ food, cold drinks and Mashable’s Pete Cashmore, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and Karen Hartline, it’s the event you won’t want to miss. We promise not to mess with Texas while we’re in town and guarantee to accept any challenge to Billiards, Rock Band, Wii, or Shuffleboard. Yee haw!

August 2, 2008: Mashable makes our first trip to Miami for the forth stop on the U.S. Summer Tour. Party the night away at The Opium Garden, where we may forget we’re in Miami with the amazing Asian outdoor architecture. Everyone is a VIP as we have a private room just for the Summer MashBash. The temperature will rise when Mashable’s Pete Cashmore and Karen Hartline arrive, but we need you there to keep the roof blazing. We’ll provide drink tickets, appetizers and music if you bring the moves. Miami is extra special as we’re partying with DailyMe and celebrating their launch!

August 5, 2008: Mashable makes it’s first trip to Boston, MA for the sixth stop on the U.S. Summer Tour. You won’t see Paul Revere, but you will have the chance to hang out with Mashable’s Pete Cashmore, Brett Petersel and Karen Hartline. Join us for food (no Boston baked beans, sorry), drinks and a DJ. We want to see the “Mashable Nation” in full force! We’re partying at The Roxy Nightclub, which has many areas for you to see and be seen. Get more information and RSVP here.

August 7, 2008: Mashable finish’s the U.S. Summer Tour in the only city big enough to handle it, New York City! Mashable’s back for our second time in NYC and will have a repeat performance at Touch with the Mashable All-Stars, including Pete Cashmore, Adam Hirsch, Adam Ostrow, Brett Petersel, Tamar Weinberg, and Karen Hartline. Frank Sinatra did it his way, but we’re ready to rock out our final stop with the city that never sleeps. We’re going out with a bang and have a big surprise in store for the big finale. You won’t want to miss out on this!

August 10-12, 2008: Mashable is pleased to announce that we are a sponsor of Affiliate Summit 2008 East, which is taking place August 10-12 in Boston and expects about 2,500 attendees. The keynote speaker will be Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, NJ. Affiliate Summit Inc. is the premier affiliate marketing conference and was founded in 2003 by affiliate marketing industry veterans, Shawn Collins and Missy Ward to serves the affiliate marketing professional community. Affiliate marketers know not to miss this event. Find out how to save 15% off.

August 14-16, 2008: The New Media Expo is the world’s most popular convention for online audio and video creators and will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Expo is a hands-on, exciting, “how-to” event with practical conference sessions about how to produce high-quality online audio and video content, grow a loyal audience, and market or monetize that content in creative ways. Want to win a ticket? A contest is being held right now, but if you don’t answer our question soon, the ticket will go to another lucky reader!

October 6-8, 2008: Back for the second year, Virtual Worlds Forum Europe 2008 (VWF) isproduced by the Virtual Economic Forum, Europe’s leading virtual worlds media company. Three days of congress, expo and workshops covering entertainment, enterprise, community, education, marketing, regulation, and finance… plus lots more. VWF is the place to make connections, be inspired and have fun.

November 11-14, 2008: For anyone involved in the production, marketing, or management of an Internet web site - this is a must attend event to be held in Las Vegas, NV. PubCon covers search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), web hosting issues, domains & the domaining business, Internet video, podcasting, multimedia, and special sessions of interactive attendee site reviews. In addition, there are tracks on new marketing techniques, linking strategies, social media, and online advertising.

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In Copper Project, Basecamp Has Some Competition

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:20:52 -0700

When most people think online project management and collaboration tools, they automatically think of Basecamp from 37signals. As a company they have helped define online project management as a serious contender in what has traditionally been an offline, software driven enterprise utility. But markets are always richer with choice, and the Copper Project from Melbourne based Element Software, offers worthy competition.

Copper Project is an online project management and collaboration tool used to share projects, tasks, files, contacts and events anywhere and at anytime. Teams create detailed project plans, then review progress while staff, clients, and subcontractors can log in and actively contribute. Other features include the ability to drag and drop timelines, send out email alerts and even import an MS Project MFL file.

The interface is visually pleasing and surprisingly easy to pick up, even for those with only a basic understanding of project management.

You may not have heard of Copper Project previously, but Element has been quietly growing an impressive list of enterprise customers. Names on the client list you may recognize: Coca Cola, Pennsylvania State University, OgilvyOne Worldwide, Ignition Interactive and the Royal Surf Lifesaving Association. Copper Project is offered as a hosted service or as a client hosted download, with plans ranging from $9/mo for personal use through to $199/mo for an enterprise license. Downloads range from $499 to $2999.

Copper Project will never be able to compete with Basecamp for the hearts of first adopters who may have used the free version of Basecamp in the past, but as an enterprise project management solution it offers a strong alternative.

Duncan Riley edits The Inquisitr, a daily dose of tech, pop and penguins, and will be contributing occasional posts on Australian startups for Mashable in the coming months.

Copper Project

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Apture Simplifies the Search for Content with Cool Tool for Bloggers

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:58:19 -0700

There’s a new company called Apture launching a new product today with one major objective in mind: make content-sharing easier on the Web. I spoke at length with Apture co-founder Tristan Harris, who found that the Web in its current state is still a reflection of our mental projection of communicative content. It still operates as a collection of sheets of paper that happen to be in an environment that supports the ability to link to each other and embed content.

That may sound pretty rich to a lot of you–it’s way more than you can do with a sheet of paper already. But Apture really wants to make it even easier to have an enhanced experience online, which is the only place you can take advantage of rich media available on the Web. So how do you tackle such a feat?

Apture’s product is targeted at bloggers and content publishers with a Web presence. By embedding content onto your website, you’re already improving the experience for the end user. But what about your experience as a content producer and publisher? What if the process of finding supplementary content for your blog were simplified and made far more efficient, so that it could be done with just one click?

There are a few blogging platform plugins that let you do media search and insert content into your blog, and others that operate as a bookmarking tool which aggregates content for you but doesn’t make it easy to share in a well-formatted manner (at least not for online publications). What Apture does is allow you to perform a search from your live website and immediately insert content from across the Web, similar to Magnify’s blogging search tool from a theoretical perspective.

This is mostly embeddable content coming from sources like YouTube, Google Maps, Flickr, Imeem, Scribd, and more. There’s also support for some sites’ content that’s not directly embeddable, such as Wikipedia, but becomes so with Apture’s application. What’s more is that you can reference specific portions of some supported media, such as Vimeo videos that can be referenced at specific times in the clip, or particular pages in a Scribd document. Thanks to the imeem platform, Apture can also enable you to provide embedded songs from the 4 major record labels.

What impressed me the most about Apture was its search tool, which opens from a tiny dashboard on the top right-hand corner of your screen. Provide your search term and you’ll get a wealth of media that’s related to the topic. Build from there and continue your search in order to find related content across a host of other supported sites. The result is a screen full of tiny windows, each providing a bit of media that contributes to your story–a scene right out of Minority Report, as Harris noted during the demo of Apture. Pick and choose which media you’d like to include in your publication, and it will become immediately available for your readers.

As search was a major factor for my particular interest with Apture, I asked about recommendation tools that Apture could offer as a result. Apture will be working towards a more direct approach to recommendations in the future, but already there’s a cross-link feature to Apture that provides suggested links for you based on your previous behavior and the pages others have linked to as well.

So far you can only use Apture with a live (published) site. This isn’t a plugin that needs to be installed, and this is part of the simplicity that’s involved with Apture as a product. It works with live sites, which is good from a business perspective, as it doesn’t need to create custom versions for various blogging platforms and other content management systems that larger publications, such as existing client The Washington Post, already use. This may be a downfall for some users, but I don’t think it will hinder the overall ability for Apture to appeal to a number of content publishers that have chosen to use the Web as their medium for “enhanced” communication.

Google Search Comes to Netvibes

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:37:48 -0700

Personalized start page Netvibes has added an often sought feature: Google Search. If it doesn’t show for you yet, close Netvibes and reopen it. This is how it looks:

The settings for Google Search can be found in the Settings - General dialog, accessible from the upper right corner in your Netvibes page. You can hide the search or move it above/below the title, and you can have the search results open in a new tab or the same one you’re currently in.

As for the search itself, it’s a slightly customized version of the standard Google Search, with Video, Blog, News, Images, Books searches available as tabs. Although it opens within Netvibes, it’s blazing fast, which is a pleasant surprise. If you set searches to open in a new tab, they’ll stay open in that tab, which means you can use this feature to always have a couple of often conducted searches handy.

Netvibes

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Soceeo: Social Network for the Rest of Us [video]

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:20:35 -0700

Soceeo is one of those interesting Web 2.0 startup projects that is easy to stereotype, but is hard to describe succinctly (or at least to accurately describe succinctly). If you take a step back and look at others that it most closely competes with, you could say it’d be services like Ning or Canter’s Broadband Mechanics in the whitelabel social networking space, but to do so would sell short the vision behind what the service tries to offer.

In their present form, though, that’s exactly what they are. I had a chance to sit down with one of the site founders, Emile Cambry, and talk about where they see things going and what their vision is for the future. Given all the competition presently in the whitelabel socnet world, they have an amazingly solid userbase from the non-conventional sources (no early typical adopter types here), but they themselves are particularly grounded in the Web 2.0 world, and want to bring their seasoned userbase back some of the better parts of what they see the social media world offering.

What sorts of things? Data portability, RSS and APIs, for a few. They’re particularly enamoured with the idea behind services like Twitter and FriendFeed, and have taken not only their service models to heart, but their philosophy of user-driven feature development as well.

Beyond that, they’re centrally focused on making this a site so simple that their grandmothers can use it - a laudable goal for a site with advanced social-network generating capabilities.

For the full story (in more detail), sit in on my conversation with Emile.

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Soceeo.com

Cascada Breeze: Create, Test and Launch Mobile Applications

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:50:46 -0700

As the pressure builds for useful mobile applications on both the device manufacturer and wireless provider ends, the need for platforms that publish content across a wide array of mobile phones also increases. Cascada Mobile, a mobile application publishing service, has just launched its new development platform called Breeze. This platform supports a variety of programming languages and automates a good portion of the application-creation process so there’s a minimized amount of knowledge for such languages that’s necessary for the publisher.

There are three main aspects to the Breeze platform, which include the application creation process, testing, and distribution. Cascada handles all of these attributes, with a simplified application editor, a mobile application simulator, and the distribution tools that will make it easier for your end users to get your application on their phone. The simulator lets you see how well your phone will work across a variety of handset models, enabling you to make the necessary tweaks in a more efficient manner.

In terms of distribution, Cascada gives you a link that can be placed on your site that allows end users to download your mobile application by providing their phone number (no extra registration necessary). This process seems to work best for gaming and other casual applications, and those that aren’t heavily integrated into your existing content. Cascada’s Breeze applications are also ad-supported, which allows the company to provide the application-creation program to publishers for free.

Combine casual mobile apps with advertising on mobile distribution, and Cascada has a decent set of demographics to work with. I imagine that building this aspect of its service alongside the Breeze publishing platform could grow in a number of directions, given the delivery and reporting options that are also included with Breeze. See here for a handful of applications that have been built with Breeze.

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Rhapsody Does DRM-Free Music, Teams With Yahoo and Verizon

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:01:47 -0700

Earlier this year we caught wind of Rhapsody’s plans to extend its reach as far as it can go wen it comes to digital music. From wifi-enabled devices to online social networks, it became quie clear that Rhapsody was really beginning to tap into its newly established relationship with RealNetworks. Now, Rhapsody is taking that relationship even further, with more partnerships across more companies in order to become more accessible to a wide range of consumers. The new initiative is called “Music Without Limits,” and encompasses Rhapsody’s relationship with RealNetworks and MTV Networks.

The foundation of this new initiative seems to be the fact that Rhapsody is taking the big leap into DRM-free music sales, converting its entire catalog to DRM-free music. The prices are pretty much what you’d expect– 99 cents for a song and about $10 for an album. If you catch one of the new accounts for Rhapsody’s online store, you’ll even get credits for a free album.

But in true Rhapsody form, the end goal here is to make music available to everyone, everywhere. So if you head over to Yahoo Music, you’ll find that it’s powered by the new Rhapsody store. Last year, Yahoo Music underwent some major changes that were reflective of Yahoo’s underlying problems as a company. However, a partnership with RealNetworks earlier this year gave us some insight as to Yahoo’s plans for its music portal, and it’s now come to fruition.

Another feature you’ll appreciate from Rhapsody is the full-length music previews for non-members, which you’ll begin to find in many online that already have working deals with Rhapsody, and others, such as iLike, that are forging new relationships with the music company.

Lastly, there’s a new deal that Rhapsody has worked out with Verizon VCast’s mobile service. As Verizon has become rather media-centric with its newer devices and extra subscription services, the wireless provider has teamed up with broadcast networks like NBC and others in order to offer a variety of media through handhelds.

So some Verizon customers out there may be happy to learn that a partnership with Rhapsody includes a synced account and the ability to purchase items through your phone. You’ll get two songs for the price of one–a version that lives on your phone, and another that’s found in your associated Rhapsody account. Even the billing has been synced so any Verizon customers (even those with existing Rhapsody accounts) can just pay for their Rhapsody subscription as an included option on their Verizon phone bill. Handy.

The biggest downfall so far, however, is that the songs on yur mobile phones can’t be used for ringtones. Bummer. Hopefully that will change soon. Now that mp3s and their usable devices are becoming freed from incompatibility constraints, hopefully this attitude will carry over into the ways in which more of these devices can celebrate the fact that they’re multi-functional capabilities can help us more effectively personalize with the presence of music.

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AdSense Becomes a Video Distribution Network with Help from Family Guy

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:35:03 -0700

What do you do for an encore once you’ve built the largest contextual advertising network on the Web? Apparently in Google’s case, use it to air cartoons. According to The New York Times, the Google Content Network will soon launch, debuting with short webisodes of a show called “Cavalcade” developed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

The shows will be distributed via the thousands of web sites that run Google AdSense code, featuring pre-roll advertising and a few other formats so the publisher still earns revenue. Here’s the really interesting part though: the web sites where Cavalcade will be shown are being selected by Google’s existing contextual algorithms. That means that Google will be able to display the show only to those likely to be interested – in Cavalcade’s case “typically young men” according to the Times.

The potential for this type of system is pretty massive because everyone wins. Publishers serve something way more interesting than a typical banner or text ad, advertisers get to reach their target audience with video, and Google gets more data based on how the shows perform on different web sites. Also, video ads traditionally have much higher CPMs than text or display ads, meaning it’s potentially a lot more money that can be pumped through the AdSense ecosystem if the format proves successful.

As for Cavalcade, the show will have 50 different two-minute episodes. Presumably, short enough so people will watch the whole thing, but long enough to squeeze in a few ads. It will certainly be an interesting experiment to watch.

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Quick And Easy Questions And Answers With Defuddle

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:11:03 -0700

The volume of sites and services on the Web doing their thing on the Q&A circuit is quite extensive. There is Yahoo Answers of course. Yedda is another. TickerHound is one which is geared exclusively to financial queries. LinkedIn Answers is a quality forum, too. (Let’s not forget Shouldi, either.) But say you want to simplify the whole question-answer process. You’ve got a quick question, whose subject is perhaps best described as miscellaneous. And you ideally want answers delivered quick.

Enter, Defuddle. A site started by Oliver Bolton and Edward Dowling of Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, it has been around for a few months now, and it’s already showing to be a real treat to use - and aesthetically pleasing to boot.

Defuddle works completely intuitively. After you’ve registered an account, you have several options on tap. You can offer your wisdom to those in need. You can post your own questions for consideration by the crowd. You can browse the growing archive of data nuggets. Or you can refer to your account for your activity history at the “your stuff” section.

If you’re starting out, your account’s largely barren. So maybe you’re curious about something to do with business, fashion, science, sport, travel, or topics to fit any of 8 other listed categories. Click ‘ask something,’ and you’re given a window in which to write anything question that can be delivered in 200 characters or less. In addition to a chosen category, tags can be administered to your post-in-progress as well.

Next, you’re given the option to allow others free reign for answers they provide, or your can specify set options to be chosen by readers. To bring popular opinion to your comparison, for example. Then you’re allowed to specify a time by which you wish to receive an answer. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, or 24 hours, or as much as 7 days. You decide.

New users will find there’s nothing at all complex to Defuddle. It’s meant to be easy, and relatively quick to satisfy. As the site copy explains, it is “a place to ask questions and make up your mind.” It’s very linear both function and presentation. And that, I think, is what really makes it an enjoyable service to use.

Shel Israel (The Puppet) Goes Out On A Sour Note

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:22:43 -0700

The puppet will live, but the dream will die. So says Loren Feldman of 1938 Media and the technorati favorite, ShelIsrael.com, a domain now purported to be in transfer to the man who inspired the spoof.

If Feldman’s blog post yesterday, written to the effect of an angered end to the real Shel Israel’s clash with the puppet master, is to be taken at face value, the message is quite clear: “It’s over.”

I’m of two minds about this. For one, the journey was quite a laugh, at least for the first several clips. Feldman’s portrayal, whether accurate at points or unusual at others, was a hoot for some time. But it seemed to have lost its zing along the way. It was no longer fresh. It grew a little tired. Perhaps an ongoing joke dealt at the expense of an individual whose outrage at the effort was very noticeable can only be pushed so far before the viewership starts to show disinterest and begins to fall off and move to something new.

The plush toy won’t be given up, however. As Feldman tells it, “The puppet will live on forever…I just like the little bastard, he makes me and a lot of people smile.”

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Start Page MySurfPad Attempts To Swim With Big Fish

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:05:29 -0700

Start pages come in all shapes and sizes. There is the very simple and straightforward Google.com that many Web users maintain. Others prefer the more general-purpose Yahoo.com domain. Some segments, though, enjoy customizable, widgeted palettes like Netvibes, PageFlakes, iGoogle. That last pick was especially popular with the Mashable crowd, in fact, winning top honors at the inaugural Open Web Awards, held in January.

Alas, another party enters the fold. MySurfPad is its name, and while it is not the most visually appealing item to come about as of late, it is useful. If the color wheel suits, and you’re a fan of tabbed categorization, this one might make you stick.

By default, MySurfPad presents you with a variety of components, including a calendar, Google, Yahoo, YouTube, and Wikipedia search options, a mixed news feed, Weather Channel widget, notepad and calculator. Plus Google Maps and a simple app for bookmarks to finish the front page. Across the top of this set of devices are seven tabs, each with their own purpose. The ‘News’ option displays - you guessed it - lots of news headlines. ‘Email+’ runs the gamut of email, instant messaging, as well as MySpace and Facebook connections.

‘Tools’ will likely go into relative disuse, because, well, how often do you require a currency converter, a stop watch, or a global time tracker? Or for that matter a widget-bound spell checker? Also, the ‘Music/TV’ section is a bit lacking in real utility as well. The same goes for the ‘Fun’ tab, in my view. The last option, ‘Travel,’ might be worth a look, if only for its flight tracker apps.

The site could use some extra refinement, for sure. Attention to detail is requirement in this business, with browser real estate being a precious commodity. MySurfPad’s competition vastly exceeds it on that count. Still, according to Waleed B, the site’s self-described “chief surf officer,” the strength of MySurfPad is its out-of-box variety. Users can edit their own SurfPad, too, so if you don’t like the standard setup, you can always pick and choose to suit your preferences. There are north of 200 widgets listed in the site’s ranks.

The YouTube Election Is Happening And It’s Not Just For Show

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:14:35 -0700

Conventional wisdom says politics is ugly, politics is blood sport. And conventional wisdom is spot on. But the field of play is no longer reserved only for the Washington Beltway. Nor is it the sole domain of London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow or Beijing. Now the YouTube set have ample ammunition as well. Just how much they have in store is key to determining whether we’ve reached a tipping point in favor of the populist power bequeathed by Google, et al. I’ll posit that we have. The table has most definitely turned.

Not entirely, mind you. The lobbyist class is in no way a vanishing breed. They’re still very much ingrained in legislative organization and debate. And political power unchecked will inevitably corrupt. So on the whole, if any “change” is to occur, it will likely move at snail’s pace. But we are in a very interesting position here today. We now see Google, and other technology companies of similar making, holding substantial weight when it comes to influencing the campaign season. And it is the portfolio billions of dollars large that is the most outstanding indication of Google’s heft. That, for all intents and purposes, makes Google - in particular its increasingly powerful video service - a platform virtually unchallengeable by government and those associated with government.

Published today in The New York Times is a piece by Jim Rutenberg, in which he describes independent video producers as having effectively supplanted some advocacy groups, many known by the now infamous “527” moniker, to take the reigns as the drafters and manipulators of deeply impactful messages tossed about the campaign trail in the US, and beyond.

Indeed, the negative connotation of the term “manipulators” (which, just to note is my own, not Rutenberg’s) is important to highlight here, because, as with the Web’s truth seekers, evasions from fact and the viral promotion of fictions also employ YouTube to great effect. YouTube brings the good with the bad, as it were.

But the mere establishment of YouTube (and its competitors) as a channel by which civilians can learn for themselves very quickly and easily the ways of political practice and discover up close the two-sided monster electioneering has become, surely indicates a shifting of the tide. The ingenious craftwork by professional video producers and amateurs alike has proven with ever greater punch that the virtual democratization of media access on the Web, coupled with the very active trend toward ubiquity of Web services, is now a more or less insurmountable and irreversible reality.

The movement toward the tipping point, specifically here in the U.S., began roughly around the time of the 2004 and 2006 elections. And it generally all began with scandalous captures. One recording, taken by a member of Virginia state senator Jim Webb’s 2006 campaign of then incumbent George Allen denigrating loosely the man with the camera, was subsequently pushed to YouTube, where it took on a life of its own.

That is only one of the many videos to get this ball rolling, of course. And while the recipe for the creation of a viral video is not precise and is somewhat amorphous, the fact is that such clips do grow legs and do manage, with an able social networking effort, to surface and flow into the mainstream, where they now have ample opportunity to help direct popular opinion one way or another.

The reason Web video has transformed from a political nuisance to something which requires of candidates and elected officials to dust off the damage control alarm is, as I said earlier, because of the trend toward ubiquitous access of Web services. That is obvious enough. The cat is out of the bag.

But what’s critical to point out here is that the non-lobbyist crowd can now compete for eyes and ears with historically vested interests involved in the political situation in and around D.C. That wasn’t the case pre-2000. Or even pre-2004.

YouTube has risen to become not just a message box complementary to one-way street that is television. It has become something akin to “Fact-Check Central.” Video producers may of course propagate lies and distortions on YouTube just as quickly as the so-called change agents. But one would presume the consumer crowd is not looking for misinformation - unless it is to blacklist the slander. Anyone dealing trash is labeled accordingly. This goes for elements on all sides of the division segmenting Democrats from Republicans from Independents and others.

Internet users instead seem to be latch onto things to which tags of reason and accuracy can sensibly be affixed. And preferably with as little varnish as possible. Call it a simple eagerness to know, if nothing else.

So I’m one to believe that the era of gamesmanship for gamesmanship’s sake is all but finished. Yes our heavily filtered ignorance-is-bliss lifestyle as a society is little more than something left for scavengers to pick over and for historians to document and embellish. And that past had its benefits, even if it was something of a dead-end fantasy. What’s more, there is a bit of a downside to this feverish drive for “gotcha”-style investigations. Mistakes are made. In spades. Reputations can be irrevocably tarnished if maligned messages manage to flourish in the cloud.

But the free-use platform of YouTube and those of similar ilk acts as an open correctant as well. YouTube has no allegiance to one vantage or another. It’s a sparring ground for all sides. Most importantly, it’s a sparring ground with no concern for the financial details of its users. Have a thick purse? A thin one? It’s all the same. One’s content is judged almost entirely by the size of one’s audience. With a pool of viewers many millions strong stretched across the globe, there seems to be little room left for the old-style tactics of silence, secrecy, and deception. Which I happen to welcome wholeheartedly. How about you?

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Why Less Is More And How To Unlock the Web

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:32:13 -0700

Features, I’ve recently come to realize, can be obstacles. Problems. The more powerful an application is, the more specialized it is, and thus with increased power its intended audience shrinks, and ironically, it becomes more, not less, vulnerable to competition.

Specialization, traditionally, is a good thing. But, as Alexander Bard and Jan Söderqvist argue in their Netocracy, those who overspecialize will not do very well in the age of the Internet. Want to succeed? Be influential in as many important networks as possible, they argue.

Even in this fast moving age specialization can be ok if you’re a person, but what if you’re a service, catering to thousands or millions of people? Sure, if the conditions around you don’t change much, you can satisfy the needs of a certain group very well, but if you exist in a fluid, everchanging medium such as the Internet, where everything shrinks and expands and overlaps all the time, the power that you offer might work against you in the end.

From this notion a new paradigm has arisen. Less is more. Simplicity is power. Create a solid foundation, and let others build a thousand different houses, each catering to a different need, and you’ll never go out of fashion. Simplicity is the key that unlocks the web. Bear with me.

The Twitter Dilemma

I, as many other authors, have bashed my head against the wall thinking: how is it possible that Twitter remains popular despite their frequent technical problems and the fact that there are other similar services out there which offer more? It is an unprecedented situation: normally, a service with solid competition which has the advantage of not having technical difficulties that prevent their user base from using the service (whether or not Twitter’s competition is better with this regard is debatable, but based on current data anything seems to be more reliable than Twitter) would have been dead and buried ages ago. Twitter, however, endures. Why?

The answer is simple: Twitter belongs to a new breed of services, perhaps accidentally discovered, that win by doing less, not more. It’s a foundation upon which hundreds of new applications were built, yet, in itself, it is little more than an API for a simple one-to-many short message broadcast system. I, myself, have thrown my hands up in frustration and tried to find an alternative I can stick with - Pownce, Plurk, and countless others. Unfortunately, it seems, all these services are too good to be a viable alternative.

Unlocking The Web

How can this be? The web, most experts agree, is a platform - a platform for any service that has to do with information of any kind. Unfortunately for developers, as far as platforms go, it’s a very undefined one; there is no universal API for the Internet. Furthermore, the damn thing changes all the time. Web portals were once huge; now they seem clumsy and cluttered, because many new applications have created more elegant ways to start your online day. If you want to develop an application for the Internet, you must first find a way to channel and organize the information that’ll flow through; if you jump on the wrong train here in the very beginning, your application might be doomed.

Some smart developers have thus began to understand that it’s better to build a very simple service that caters to a very basic need, and slap an API on top, than to try and create a specific, complex service that does a lot right from the start. The first type of service, if executed well, has shown to be very resilient: once it breaks the initial attention barrier, competing against it is practically impossible.

By catering to a basic need, creating a service that satisfies it in a simple way and opening it up through an API, you’ve unlocked, or perhaps deciphered, a small part of the web as a platform. You’ve created a mini platform which everyone is going to use because it’s, simply put, good enough. As long as people have a need to send short messages to other people from wherever they are, Twitter is going to be a highly sought for commodity. Unless someone else makes it even more simple.

Less Is More

Add a couple of features to Twitter and it’s Wordpress. Why is a Wordpress minus a couple of features so popular? You have to stop thinking in the traditional way and adopt the new “less is more” philosophy to understand that.

By far the most popular application that thrives from being simpler than its competitors is Google Search. Remember the way search engines looked before Google? Yahoo, with its unbelievably crowded homepage at the time of Google’s advent was probably the worst offender, but Lycos and others were no better. Google Search was very, very good at what it did, and that’s the reason it became so popular, but even beyond the inner workings of its algorithm it was very difficult to compete with it because the site consisted of almost nothing, sans a text form, a logo and some text. How do you top that? Apparently, no one has come up with the answer to that one, yet.

Another such application is FriendFeed. Having come to the game of lifestream aggregators late, it swept everyone off their feet and competitors like Profilactic and Second Brain have received very little press ever since. This is because, again, it does very little: it takes data from your various social profiles, creates a stream out of it and lets users comment and “like” single items. In fact, it’s eerily similar to Twitter, and now - just like in Twitter’s case - applications that bring new functionality to FriendFeed, like NoiseRiver, have started to appear. Would FriendFeed have done better if they provided this exact functionality from the start? I’m betting no, and here’s why.

Distribution Vs. Complexity

Once upon a time, if you wanted to create a successful application, one of the keys to success was to offer a lot of features your competitors don’t have. Adobe’s Photoshop is one such application. If you need to edit some photos, it’s the best, period, because it has every tool you could possibly need.

But this is the disconnected world we’re talking about. On the web, things change. It’s not only important what you can do; you also want to be able to do it from wherever you want; you want to plug in into other services, you want to work together with other people. Furthermore - and this goes even more for mobile applications and services - on the Internet, complexity is looked down upon. People don’t want big applications that can do everything; they want simple, widgety applications that cater to a specific service.

Partly, this is because complexity makes web applications slow and clumsy. Partly, it is because the attention span of an average Internet user has shortened, and partly, it is because his willingness to learn the nuts and bolts of a complex application has diminished. Most importantly, it is because the Internet constantly changes and it’s really hard to build something big and complex on such shaky grounds.

Is it thus smart to create a lot of small apps, each aimed at a different niche? It’s definitely a sound approach. But I think an even better one is to find the lowest common denominator, an underlying basic need that connects all these various niches, cater to that, open it up and let mashups do the rest. This way, people can choose exactly which features they want to use, and your application becomes a fluid, modular service that can be as simple or as complex as the use wants it to be.

The Magic Formula

Determine a basic need -> Create a service that satisfies it in the simplest way possible -> Open it up.

It sounds simple, but it’s not; determining a basic human need, like the need to share photos or the need to communicate with short text messages is a hit and miss affair. A service like FriendFeed could not have existed 15 years ago; explaining it to someone 30 years ago would sound like science fiction. Yet, today, the need to aggregate all your social networking data in one place seems to be a very important need for many humans. Will it ever be a basic human need, like the need to communicate? I can see the naysayers shake their heads in disgust, but it’s hard to predict what the future will bring. Aggregation and organization of data might play a very big part in our lives really soon.

The other part of the equation is equally elusive. How much is too much? Would Twitter be as successful as it is if it had looked more like Twhirl from the very beginning? Who knows. But I believe now that in many cases it is better to reduce the number of features to a minimum, open the application up via an API, and let the community build on what you have started. This synergy will make your application far more valuable than it would be if it had all these extra features itself.

The few that manage to get this formula right will build mini platforms upon which everything else on the web will be built. By unlocking little parts of the web they will each cater to a different need, and as long as that need is shared by a large number of people, it will be impossible to compete against them. And I’m sure that’s a position everyone wants to be in.

[All images courtesy of sxc.hu]

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Watch The Euro 2008 Championship Match Online!

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:35:07 -0700

Today’s the day. Spain v. Germany. Vienna, Austria. Are you ready? After weeks of footwork by national football teams competing in the Euro 2008 tourney, but two forces remain. They begin their battle for top honors at 2:30 EST.

If you live in the United States, you could turn your telly to ABC or ESPN’s Desportes channel to watch the game happen in real time. Or you can spring for some Web video coverage. Choose the latter, and your options are several.

SAI’s Michael Learmonth has a fairly solid compendium of links to services broadcasting the game over the Net, with nine URLs to try, including ESPN 360, a media hotspot for sports fans that delivers streams freely to U.S.-based viewers for a variety of national and international events.

Unfortunately, all American viewers won’t benefit from ESPN’s Web-based coverage, as the network only grants access to certain ISPs. (Some cable companies, as well as Verizon.) So those denied entry will have to go elsewhere.

Some of these sites may not be the most beautifully appointed sources for video. But they’ll get the job done. Probably. A few might perform better than others. A number of the most promising looking venues are:

- RAI’s Euro 2008 site. (Silverlight install required. And it’s in Italian. Need direction on what to click? The “La Diretta” link is where you need to go.)
- Channelsurfing.net. (Works on PC and Mac.)
- MyP2P.eu. (Mac users can watch in browser with Flip4Mac video converter.)
- LiveSats.com.

There are sites like Live Footy and Veetle as well, which require Sopcast, a Windows/Mac/Linux download. Or, if you’re familiar with Cyrillic, LiveTV can give you what you need.

Wagers on today’s champion, anyone?

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Why MOO Cards Look Stupid in a Suit [Video]

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:48:19 -0700

MOO.com, maker of the unique and stylish “MiniCards” that hit it big with the Flickr crowd, is going corporate: the company is set to launch standard sized Business Cards.

There’s high demand for the product, the company says; but isn’t bigger…kinda boring? I discuss with the aid of a small horse.

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@mashable, Twitter Replies Are WORKING!!

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:43:12 -0700

This is a public service announcement:Twitter replies are working! The popular messaging service has brought its core “replies” feature back to life after days of downtime.

Will this be enough to resuscitate the maligned startup and keep you away from the temptations of FriendFeed? Why don’t you head over to Twitter and Tweet your opinion to @mashable…while you still can?!

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NBC’s Web Coverage Of Olympics To Clash With TV

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:20:58 -0700

NBC’s online coverage of the Summer Olympic Games is expected to be immense in both the quantity of live and on-demand video. But it appears there will be exceptions made for watching August’s events in Beijing through a Web browser.

As David Bauder of the AP describes it, NBC will be offering roughly 2,200+ hours of live competition online. That in addition to live blogging services, as well as 3,000 hours of replays. Quite a lot of of material, yes? Absolutely. More than you could possibly view while maintaining a semi-normal lifestyle.

There is a particularity some sport fans might should be aware of, however. NBC will not offer for computer users live video of any events also delivered live via traditional TV broadcast methods.

So, say you look upon the Olympic schedule and see that cycling or track and field events are occurring in real-time. And they get shown on NBC stations. That means you with your Web browser and requisite Microsoft Silverlight plugin will need to wait until after the statistics come in. Because NBC doesn’t want to encroach on its decades-old territory, evidently.

Not to call this inconsistency substandard to NBC’s televised coverage, since it’s only logical to think NBCOlympics.com will provide a much broader view of competition in China later this summer. But the disallowance of continuous live coverage on the Web, regardless of what is and what is not shown on television in the US, is patently absurd.

Are NBC and its affiliates somehow convinced that a shut-off of live broadcasts over the Web will drive those viewers to turn on their televisions - if they even have them within reasonable distance - to continue consuming the network’s feed? A very peculiar assessment of viewers’ inclinations indeed.

Of course, viewers aren’t likely show popular frustration with NBC for this, unless it is brought to very public attention in the final weeks preceding the games. The sheer volume of video offered via the Web, I suspect, will diminish the impact of any disruptions to Web feeds. Which is quite unfortunate for Olympic fans eager to consume live events by way of their computers.

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Streamline Facebook Status Updates With Automatous

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:27:47 -0700

Say you’ve gotten into the routine of changing your Facebook status as you go about your day. It’s information that you’d like to keep your friends abreast of. And perhaps they appreciate you for it, too. But manually making the switch is costing you clicks of the cursor better used for other stuff. Like chomping through your email inbox. Really, it seems like time wasted.

If that’s the case, and you would simply like to automate your status updates to correspond to a schedule, a developer by the name of Ross Squires has released an application called Automatous to make your Facebook account adhere to the timeline you specify.

Automatous is in “public testing” mode, which requires that, following the application’s installation, you will need to submit your email address for approval for the beta trial. My own experience is that approval takes only a short while to complete, so you’ll be ready to give it a try in short time. After you’ve made your way through the confirmation process, scheduling a status update, is as simple as clicking the ‘Add New Status’ button. Options to pause and remove entries are presented as well.

That’s basically the extent of the application’s utility. It’s entirely intuitive, and it of course recognizes current time, so if you’re looking to quickly schedule a status update to activate the very moment you press ‘Add’, you may. Visually speaking, it as elementary as can be. Apart from it’s interactive option icons and the Ads by Google bar alongside the main menu, it is completely no-nonsense.

Why does this particular application get a mention? The supply of Facebook applications released in a given week or month is pretty substantial, so the discretion given to such items is of course strict. But Automatous seems less an application, per se, and almost a natural extension of the network’s own options. This is really something I can imagine seeing spring from Facebook’s own in-house development team at some point in the future. There are others like Automatous that do considerably more, like Super Status and Status Shuffle. The bareboned construction of Automatous is much more subliminal in function. It more directly competes with Scheduled Status Updater, albeit with an extra touch or two of elegance.

Hit With Social Media Bug, Ex-Fugee Pras Michel Takes Up Vlogging

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:05:18 -0700

Musicians starring in Web videos is nothing new. John Mayer’s comedic attempt on Funny or Die comes immediately to mind. And as far as general Internet startups go, M.C. Hammer is only one of many players. 50 Cent, Nick Lachey, and Kylie Minogue are in the fold as well.

Perhaps the newest name to arrive on the scene, with his own video blog, is the Grammy-winning former Fugee Pras Michel. Topics to be discussed with viewers? Anything on the artist’s mind. Music, movies, politics. No gossip, though. That’s out. So world news with some hip-hop flavor rolled in?

For the moment Pras is merely giving an introduction to the weekly production, held under the name Platinum Brand. We’ll see what comes this new effort. It almost seems normal now to have famous folk of various levels of success experiment with the cloud-based devices - some of course to better effect than others. The Will Farrell-infused Funny or Die venture being perhaps the most viral of all.

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Zenbe Webmail Service Now Packing Google Talk And Twitter

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:37:28 -0700

Incremental improvement is the way by which many Internet startups operate. Updates can be week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter, or any mix of the three really. So the news this week that Zenbe, a webmail service now in public beta, which brings multiple inboxes together from many major names, including Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and AOL, has introduced several additions came as a welcome development.

When we reviewed the startup in early May, it already boasted quite an impressive array of features. It even sported Facebook news feed integration. Now it supports Google Talk and Twitter. (Other advances include the capability to pool contacts into unique networks for more convenient correspondence, as well as calendar support for ‘webcal://’ and ‘https://’ URL prefixes.)

Zenbe’s inclusion this week of support for Google Talk and Twitter is definitely the biggest headline to glean from the service’s development. The ability for users to now instant message one another and correspond with friends and followers through Twitter from within the Zenbe environment is a big convenience, and with no advertisements to speak of, Zenbe seems to provide one of the best webmail experiences of any data aggregator of its kind.

The cloud-based clients offered by the giant webmail services are more or less the default choices taken by users. And that won’t change much, even taking Zenbe’s well-rounded evolutioninto account. Habits are habits. But if anything convinces anyone to switch, it’s this new extension group.

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Give P2P Some Respect, Will You Mr Man?

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:18:31 -0700

If Rodney Dangerfield were to have left this world prior to BitTorrent’s debut, I suspect it might be plausible to assume the man had been reincarnated to consist of code and a mission to peer. Or something less ridiculous sounding, maybe.

BitTorrent is hardly the technical target of governments and copyright-owning corporations and ISPs. But it has played the victim of their data filtration and server disconnection exercises again and again, and to ill effect. Just this past week a story by TorrentFreak emerged describing Malaysia’s government as playing part to suspensions of BitTorrent trackers hosted within the country’s jurisdiction. BitTorrent truly gets no respect. At least among authorities and big business groups.

You have of course heard these lines repeatedly. To exhaustive degree, I’m sure. Yes, these stories have surfaced far too often for most anybody’s liking. Even some of those doing the shafting aren’t likely to enjoy a number of their actions’ aftereffects. The negatives can in some ways be even more extraordinary than the positives. (Positives being a relative term. Many creative commons proponents, for instance, consider copyright law as its written today more a hindrance for Big Media than a safety valve of sorts.)

What’s particularly unappealing about the clash today between advocates of unfettered P2P access and hesitant and mistrustful parties within the anti-P2P circle, is that the technology is moving at a fairly fast-paced motion, while regulators are more or less stagnant. In some ways even counterproductive as far as network related legislation.

For one, burdensome network controls can stifle innovation, possibly delaying the arrival of the moment at which media providers and associate industries can see the financial paradigm of Web-based systems and services turn in their favor, so as to replace old, less efficient production and delivery methods. (Sustaining the infrastructure for CD and DVD releases is not in the interest of studios anywhere in the world.)

Also, having one’s name placed opposite that of a popular technology, be it a portable media playing device, like the iPod, or BitTorrent, a facilitator of file transfers that helps to maintain a relatively safe dispersion of Internet traffic in an increasingly media-hungry consumer reality, doesn’t gain the good graces of those consumers. It simply triggers disillusionment. Which I imagine results in greatly diminished care among consumers for the long-term heath of music and film studio executives, driving many to pursue of free digital copies with ever greater abandon.

Of course, some abuse leveled against BitTorrent isn’t in the sole interest of copyright owners. The technology, after all, makes available a multitude of file types over most any open network on the Web. Some regimes have the basic intent to cease the free flow of information. And that’s not necessarily a slap at BitTorrent, per se. Such censorship has more to do with authoritarian paranoia than anything else.

But the majority of practitioners of anti-torrent methods are especially mindful of damage dealt present-day copyright law, and think P2P it must be stopped, so as to give them room to contemplate how to reverse their losses without relinquishing technological control. (One of those ideas, if you recall, has been to require music distributors to offer DRM-free tracks fixed with watermarks. In fact, Apple’s iTunes Store was reported to place such stamps on select tracks sold.)

So it bears repeating, even if it entails beating the dead horse deader still, that action against users of BitTorrent is not any way to make progress in the media distribution industry. Instead, employing the protocol to try to play the game better than the non-legal crowd is the way make a qualitative, and thus quantitative impact. Otherwise the market will go nowhere.

Or, to posit an even worse outcome, we might turn to a future yet more saturated with illicit activity. At which point - and this goes for musicians in particular - will have no choice but to attempt more independent promotion and compete for a mostly consumer-managed money pool. Granted, that route is currently proving lucrative for some popular artists. But speaking macro-economically, it would surely be a bumpy road to travel for all involved.

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KateModern’s 12-Hour Finale Binger

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:49:09 -0700

We told you last month about the planned wrap-up of KateModern, the very successful Internet television show exclusive to the AOL-owned Bebo social network. Well, today’s the day that all is put to pasture. KateModern is having its finale, and it’s going out with 12 episodes in 12 hours. The countdown to the series close began earlier this morning and will stretch to 7PM EST, with hourly videos releases complemented by live chats with and among the fanbase.

The program’s following has been an extensive one. Its production company, EQAL, claims for KateModern an average weekly viewership of about 1m, surpassing the popularity of virtually all other original Web-based programs, including LonelyGirl15, a show also produced by EQAL. While that number has been argued by some to be an overestimate of KateModern’s sustained reach, the impact the show has had on the Web media space is certainly a lasting one.

In fact, due to its viral achievements EQAL was able to secure both a $5 million Series A funding round and CBS partnership in the space of a single month.

Today’s KateModern conclusion, after its 300 episode run, is one which its producers have clearly wished to make absolute this time around. It’s been said that the murder mystery has effectively run its course, and to exit on a relatively high note with respect to viewer numbers helps EQAL to see that the show maintains its status as a major hit, start to finish. Studio co-founder Miles Beckett said, “KateModern has reached a critical peak in the storyline and as we complete the cycle, the many threads and mysterious elements will come together with an amazing conclusion.”

If you’ve kept your eyes peeled for new KateModern developments since the start of the season or even the show’s debut, you’ve likely already been made full aware of the day’s schedule. But for you casual viewers who’ve strayed or skipped over the episodic reel, you’ll see pressing questions answered, hour by hour this morning, afternoon, and evening.

I can’t say I’ve kept an eye on the KateModern storyline. But if its finale is anything like those provided by the arresting yet frustratingly open-ended ABC program “Lost”, well, I would hope it’s not, and that all pieces to the puzzle will be revealed. Share your thoughts of KateModern’s last broadcasts in the comments!

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Learn NYC’s Street Parking Landscape With PrimoSpot

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:36:28 -0700

So you live in New York City, or perhaps travel Manhattan and outer boroughs frequently. And maybe you’re one to buck the mass-transit trend and drive around in your own vehicle. If so, you know how precious a commodity street-side parking spaces can be. If you’re in need of guidance as to rules and regulations for various points on various avenues, PrimoSpot can help.

A mash-up involving Google Maps and lots and lots of colored pins, PrimoSpot is only applicable to NYC at the moment, and even then only to Manhattan and Brooklyn. So it can only prove useful to a certain number of American drivers. But even so, it is something which can hold considerable utility for those who would like to know what they’re going to find when they get there. Whatever and wherever “there” might be.

We’ve shared a number of services similar to PrimoSpot in the past, including ParkingSpots, ParkingHunter, and ParkWhiz.

Very easily operable, PrimoSpot gives the user an address bar at the top of the window. Input a desired location, and the user is returned a map of the point of reference and any streets in relative vicinity. No paid parking garages are represented. Instead, the service lists street-side spaces only, and only standard parking time information is given. As described by the service, “Alternate side of the street parking suspensions suspensions and holidays are currently not reflected in the times left on a spot.” And of course, the availability of spots is not offered either. But even taking all those missing bits and pieces into account, PrimoSpot can help the average driver get a quick look at what’s out there. Arriving without a grasp of neighborhood restrictions can make for a hellish search.

PrimoSpot is not new. It was first launched in June 2007. It recently had its re-launch, however, with some 13,665 spots marked, and counting. More are being added continually. And in addition to Manhattan and Brooklyn listings, the service is expected to soon bring into the fold detailed maps for Queens as well as the cities of Philadelphia and Boston. If you’re on the go and in need of assistance, a generic mobile site (http://m.primospot.com/) as well as one fitted for use with an iPhone have been launched.

My Last Post About Twitter, Ever

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:39:51 -0700

Obviously I can’t possibly keep the promise I make in the title, but with all the end of week hyperbole being bandied in the name of Twitter-bashing, I couldn’t say something else reasonable like “Twitter is still having problems,” and “A Few A-Listers Are Still Upset About Twitter.” All of this seems to stem from the fact that the replies tab has been disengaged for going on a week now.

Some folks have today very loudly proclaimed Twitter dead and that FriendFeed is the new reigning champion. As much as I’d love to see FriendFeed the new “it” thing (as I spend a lot of my days there recently), I don’t think we can quite proclaim the lifecycle of Twitter finished. As I said today (right after I shared the article to FriendFeed):

Look, I love FriendFeed as much as the next guy, but most folks aren’t power users to the extent that they rely on Twitter as a conversations channel. Beyond that, only a fraction of those are even aware of FriendFeed. This sounds good in theory, but when you look outside our little bubble, it simply ain’t true.

Folks are vacating Twitter. They just aren’t leaving for FriendFeed (at least not in the droves that are being purported). Twitter’s traffic and unique visitor counts aren’t just leveling off… they’re dropping. All the major metrics point to an evacuation: Alexa, Google Trends, and Quantcast. Compete’s analysis doesn’t show up to the day stats for people counts, but the following velocity trend graph shows some very negative numbers:

I’ve expressed my displeasure with the decline service here and there over the last couple weeks, most recently in response to an Google Share by MG Siegler (I responded on FriendFeed, of course). MG had noted that, after a week, Twitter seemed to realize that it was a problem that the replies still weren’t working, and was pointing people to Summize for a workaround. I said “I hate having to rely on the web version of Twitter, first of all, then having the reply tab bork, and THEN having to go to summize, and hit reply there and pray that twitter works. It’s why I only check Twitter once or twice a day now.”

It seems that I’m not alone. This time it isn’t just hype - Twitter is in trouble. The point was made earlier today that Jon Stewart’s brief mention of Twitter could be the height of its existence. I certainly hope that they get on the right track soon, because it would be a shame to lose an otherwise great service.

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Sell Out Your YouTube Clips, Win $10k from Sprint

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:44:38 -0700

We’ve seen video promotions where participants get to put their own spin on marketing material. But it’s not too often you see things work the other way around. Sprint’s upcoming promo for the Samsung Instinct handset will pay you to put blatant product placement in your YouTube content. See YouTube video content to participate in the contest. Just use the provided editing tool to select when and where you’d like to insert a prominent “Add Instinct” button into their video, which is pure marketing fodder for Sprint. It’s beyond product placement–it’s a sell out.

And that’s the idea. Seeing as YouTube is limiting the number of direct marketing material that can be promoted through its video-sharing site without finding some way to collect ad revenue, this particular promotion is one way in which YouTube, Sprint and the users get something out of the deal. And for $10,000, I wouldn’t mind putting an “Add Instinct” button in one of my random videos either.

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Digg the Candidates Updated for the Final Showdown

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:29:42 -0700

Digg has just released a new version of Digg the Candidates today. This portion of Digg is a dedicated segment for candidate-related news items, and has become a hub for aggregated political content and crossfire.

The updated version isn’t very different from the previous one, but it does boast a cleaner look. Introduced some months ago, Digg the Candidates takes full advantage of this historic election year as well as its own social news and bookmarking utilities, such as the ability for Digg users to submit relevant content from across the Web.

Digg the Candidates provides a self-promotional marketing platform that the candidates themselves can take advantage of, with subsequent participation from members of the Digg community. This has its inherent issues in terms of potential gaming, but the Digg community has seemingly taken to the new candidate-specific section. Constant tweaking and updates to this portion of Digg will result in a blueprint for more dedicated segments to come in the future. Digg has already released another topic for the Olympics, which was also announced today.

In Kevin Rose’s announcement regarding the upgraded version of Digg the Candidates, he also mentioned that the team is working on some other projects that are related to the political party conventions that will be taking place this summer. Whether these plans reflect intentions to be involved in the physical or virtual sense, it seems as if it could be something that other news partners, such as CBS, could take advantage of as well.

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