Google is adding Sun Microsystems' StarOffice suite to Google Pack, its freely downloadable collection of productivity software. The software is available immediately.
Google Pack is quite a collection that includes Google Earth, Norton Security Scan, Google Desktop, Firefox with Google Toolbar, Adobe Reader, Skype, RealPlayer and other Google products.
StarOffice is Sun's commercial version of OpenOffice, the open source office suite that is available from Sun for $69. The $69 fee gets you product and technical support from Sun along with indemnification from any legal action.
"That's really what you're paying for," Mark Herring, senior director of marketing for Sun, told Internetnews.com. "If you couldn't care less about support, then Google has a distribution for you."
He added StarOffice also has a few extra features OpenOffice does not have, like an extra spell checker, Web search and some conversion filters. Both support Open Document Format (ODF) and can read Microsoft Office documents.
Rob Helm, director of research for Directions on Microsoft, thinks this is more of an effort to get the low-hanging fruit than a real effort to take a chunk out of Microsoft's bread-and-butter Office business.
"Google has been competing with Microsoft at the low end of Office for some time, so this is a further expansion of Google's strategy," he told internetnews.com. He said StarOffice has some shortcomings and is not a worthy replacement for Office in a business/enterprise market, but it's perfect for users with fewer demands.
"I'd say [StarOffice] is not so much a competitor to Office today as Works, the free software a lot of people get with their PCs," said Helm. "Of course, they would love to sneak into the enterprise market, but considering the functionality StarOffice is offering, I don't think most enterprises would look at it seriously."
Mostly, he sees StarOffice as a way for Google to get into the desktop, and perhaps extend its Web-based application offerings, Docs and Spreadsheets, or perhaps create some connection between StarOffice and the online applications.
Source:www.internetnews.com
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Mobile Social Networking on the Rise
Mobile media authority M:Metrics today released its first ever measurement of mobile social networking, revealing that 12.3 million consumers in the United States and Western Europe accessed a social networking site with their mobile device in the month of June.
Not unexpectedly, America had the largest audience for mobile social networking sites with 7.5 million (3.5% of all subscribers) accessing a social networking site from their device at least once in June. The U.S. was followed by Italy (2.8%), the United Kingdom (2.5%), Spain (2.3%), Germany (1.9%), and France (1.7%). MySpace and Facebook were the most popular sites accessed in the United States and United Kingdom, while MSN reigned in the rest of the countries surveyed. MySpace’s U.S. and UK numbers were 3.7 million and 440,000 respectively, while Facebook came out to 2 million and 307,000 users, respectively. YouTube was third the United States with 901,000 mobile visitors, and Bebo rounded out the top three in the UK with 288,000 mobile users. Unsurprisingly, those under 25 are the most active users - the 13 to 17 demographic reigned in France, German, Italy, and Spain while the 18 to 24 college crowd were the most active in the U.S. and UK.
Of course, a lot of these numbers are dependent on the availability of these social networks across operator portals. MySpace had strong distribution, appearing on the Amo’d, AT&T, Helio, and NExtel decks. Facebook was distributed on Spting, AT&T, Virgin, and Amp’d decks and YouTube was available on the Verizon deck. YouTube’s numbers are likely to go up because of its inclusion in the iPhone deck, which was not released at the time of the survey. In the UK, MySpace has distribution on Vodafone and Bebo on 3, but interestingly MSN is not offered on-portal anywhere. This shows that while there is strong correlation between popularity and being on-portal, off-portal activity is emerging as well.
It’s clear that the industry is noticing the compatibility between mobile devices and social networking sites. Some more on this from Mark Sullivan at PC World:
“Still, a lot of people believe that mobile social networking is going to be huge, especially as faster wireless networks become available. Meanwhile, mucho venture capital continues to flow into mobile social networking tech in its many forms.
What is it about mobile devices and social networking that make them a match made in heaven? Is the urge to social-network so strong that we simply can’t wait to get home to do it? Or will new mobile social networking services simply do things that static, desktop-based sites cannot? Will mobile devices take social networking to a whole new level? If the future is really ‘unwired’ and ‘always on’ as they tell us, then people will demand it.”
We’ll have to keep our eyes open for the next advances in mobile social networking. Pretty soon we may see contact lists consolidated between Facebook and your phone book, for example. Either way, if you’ve ever felt that getting home to check who just posted on your wall takes too long to bear, rest assured that you’re not alone.
Source:www.searchviews.com
Not unexpectedly, America had the largest audience for mobile social networking sites with 7.5 million (3.5% of all subscribers) accessing a social networking site from their device at least once in June. The U.S. was followed by Italy (2.8%), the United Kingdom (2.5%), Spain (2.3%), Germany (1.9%), and France (1.7%). MySpace and Facebook were the most popular sites accessed in the United States and United Kingdom, while MSN reigned in the rest of the countries surveyed. MySpace’s U.S. and UK numbers were 3.7 million and 440,000 respectively, while Facebook came out to 2 million and 307,000 users, respectively. YouTube was third the United States with 901,000 mobile visitors, and Bebo rounded out the top three in the UK with 288,000 mobile users. Unsurprisingly, those under 25 are the most active users - the 13 to 17 demographic reigned in France, German, Italy, and Spain while the 18 to 24 college crowd were the most active in the U.S. and UK.
Of course, a lot of these numbers are dependent on the availability of these social networks across operator portals. MySpace had strong distribution, appearing on the Amo’d, AT&T, Helio, and NExtel decks. Facebook was distributed on Spting, AT&T, Virgin, and Amp’d decks and YouTube was available on the Verizon deck. YouTube’s numbers are likely to go up because of its inclusion in the iPhone deck, which was not released at the time of the survey. In the UK, MySpace has distribution on Vodafone and Bebo on 3, but interestingly MSN is not offered on-portal anywhere. This shows that while there is strong correlation between popularity and being on-portal, off-portal activity is emerging as well.
It’s clear that the industry is noticing the compatibility between mobile devices and social networking sites. Some more on this from Mark Sullivan at PC World:
“Still, a lot of people believe that mobile social networking is going to be huge, especially as faster wireless networks become available. Meanwhile, mucho venture capital continues to flow into mobile social networking tech in its many forms.
What is it about mobile devices and social networking that make them a match made in heaven? Is the urge to social-network so strong that we simply can’t wait to get home to do it? Or will new mobile social networking services simply do things that static, desktop-based sites cannot? Will mobile devices take social networking to a whole new level? If the future is really ‘unwired’ and ‘always on’ as they tell us, then people will demand it.”
We’ll have to keep our eyes open for the next advances in mobile social networking. Pretty soon we may see contact lists consolidated between Facebook and your phone book, for example. Either way, if you’ve ever felt that getting home to check who just posted on your wall takes too long to bear, rest assured that you’re not alone.
Source:www.searchviews.com
Social networking evolves
"Evolution is fascinating to watch"
Shana Alexander
We are an electronic civilization and as it spreads deeper our family, professional and social lives are getting increasingly electronic. While sms today speaks the language of our personal and professional relationships, the web and internet are increasingly driving our personal and professional lives. Consider the case of social networking. Orkut probably has been the largest facilitator of getting old friends and family together in the recent history. Perhaps Google itself didn't anticipate the revolution Orkut would bring about and has only recently started taking the "Orkut business" seriously. Social networking has become such a huge revolution that by the time I write this there must be atleast a good triple figure clone of social networking sites on the web. It isn't any longer about just a forum where millions of Internet users connect, express themselves and communicate. Social networking is now evolving to another level and getting into areas as interesting as jobs to food and much more. Revenue models unknown before are evolving around social networking sites.
Food on your network - iFood.TV
How about a site where you can connect with other people with diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and countries, make friends, chat about shared interests etc. All this sounds quite mundane for a social networking site, right? Ok then how adding an ingredient of culinary traditions and culinary curiosity. IFood.tv does exactly that. It's probably the only site that focuses on connecting people through food. What's more you can load and create your own videos, you can use text (blogs, comments) or pictures or video to interact with other foodies. Hence people who love food can create their own online food channel, it could be either textual (blogs, comments), pictures or video. There is more you can upload your own recipes along with learning and sharing with others foodies. iFood.tv goes further you can even view multiple channels or simply decide which cuisine you want to focus on. According to the iFood.tv founders Nitin Agarwal, Sharib Khan and Alok Ranjan "The common thread is simple- share and spread your love for food."
Online Recruitment gets a social networking twist
The growth of social networking can be gauged by the fact how it is spreading into our social and professional lives. If iFood.tv was about taking food on the network and a bit on the personal front then on the professional front sites like techtribe.com and yellojobs.com are adding a twist to online recruitment by combining a social networking angle to it.
We all have heard about job sites. Techtribe.com and yellojobs.com have brought the power of personal referrals in recruitment. While techtribe.com has a program called 'frontfoot' which they claim is the world's first referral recruiting service of its kind. A simple successful referral could earn Rs 10,000 plus more for other referrals. Plus they have a quality control mechanism to keep the weed out.
Yellojobs.com on the other hand recently introduced a referral driven online recruitment service, called YelloRewards, under which employers can offer cash rewards to those who refer their friends to the posted jobs. The company hopes to place over 50,000 candidates annually by this model. The revenue model is also a bit different in terms of subscription. While other job portals charge a subscription fee from companies, yellojobs.com allows them to place ads for free, provided they pledge to pay cash reward to the referrer when they hire a candidate. The reward amount could be Rs 5000 or more.
Taking social networking seriously
Social networking is about serious business now. Consider the case of Google renewed emphasis on Orkut and the activities it is conducting there now. Earlier this month Google conducted an opinion poll on the Orkut site to celebrate India's 60th Independence along with its users. The seriousness can be gauged from the fact none other than Google India's Managing Director, Shailesh Rao sent a message to its users saying, " We are proud to be a part of India's 60th Independence celebrations and know that the energy, enthusiasm and conviction so apparent throughout Orkut communities will be on display as we ask users for their opinions through this poll. Orkut has always been associated with youthfulness and zeal and w e are very pleased with the response and affection that Indian users have shown towards Orkut."
On the other hand the success of these sites can be seen from the fact iFood.tv is about to launch a new feature called the ifood explorer based on a p2f2p (person-to-food-to-person) concept. According to the founders "The purpose of this is to simply reflect the interconnections or the links between multiple individuals in the network, a host of foods, food products, restaurants and relevant information."
The Last Word
Social networking with a twist is the new mantra in the world of ecommerce. As our friends, jobs, foods get transformed into their electronic avatar one wonders what's next on the agenda.
Source:www.hindustantimes.com
Shana Alexander
We are an electronic civilization and as it spreads deeper our family, professional and social lives are getting increasingly electronic. While sms today speaks the language of our personal and professional relationships, the web and internet are increasingly driving our personal and professional lives. Consider the case of social networking. Orkut probably has been the largest facilitator of getting old friends and family together in the recent history. Perhaps Google itself didn't anticipate the revolution Orkut would bring about and has only recently started taking the "Orkut business" seriously. Social networking has become such a huge revolution that by the time I write this there must be atleast a good triple figure clone of social networking sites on the web. It isn't any longer about just a forum where millions of Internet users connect, express themselves and communicate. Social networking is now evolving to another level and getting into areas as interesting as jobs to food and much more. Revenue models unknown before are evolving around social networking sites.
Food on your network - iFood.TV
How about a site where you can connect with other people with diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and countries, make friends, chat about shared interests etc. All this sounds quite mundane for a social networking site, right? Ok then how adding an ingredient of culinary traditions and culinary curiosity. IFood.tv does exactly that. It's probably the only site that focuses on connecting people through food. What's more you can load and create your own videos, you can use text (blogs, comments) or pictures or video to interact with other foodies. Hence people who love food can create their own online food channel, it could be either textual (blogs, comments), pictures or video. There is more you can upload your own recipes along with learning and sharing with others foodies. iFood.tv goes further you can even view multiple channels or simply decide which cuisine you want to focus on. According to the iFood.tv founders Nitin Agarwal, Sharib Khan and Alok Ranjan "The common thread is simple- share and spread your love for food."
Online Recruitment gets a social networking twist
The growth of social networking can be gauged by the fact how it is spreading into our social and professional lives. If iFood.tv was about taking food on the network and a bit on the personal front then on the professional front sites like techtribe.com and yellojobs.com are adding a twist to online recruitment by combining a social networking angle to it.
We all have heard about job sites. Techtribe.com and yellojobs.com have brought the power of personal referrals in recruitment. While techtribe.com has a program called 'frontfoot' which they claim is the world's first referral recruiting service of its kind. A simple successful referral could earn Rs 10,000 plus more for other referrals. Plus they have a quality control mechanism to keep the weed out.
Yellojobs.com on the other hand recently introduced a referral driven online recruitment service, called YelloRewards, under which employers can offer cash rewards to those who refer their friends to the posted jobs. The company hopes to place over 50,000 candidates annually by this model. The revenue model is also a bit different in terms of subscription. While other job portals charge a subscription fee from companies, yellojobs.com allows them to place ads for free, provided they pledge to pay cash reward to the referrer when they hire a candidate. The reward amount could be Rs 5000 or more.
Taking social networking seriously
Social networking is about serious business now. Consider the case of Google renewed emphasis on Orkut and the activities it is conducting there now. Earlier this month Google conducted an opinion poll on the Orkut site to celebrate India's 60th Independence along with its users. The seriousness can be gauged from the fact none other than Google India's Managing Director, Shailesh Rao sent a message to its users saying, " We are proud to be a part of India's 60th Independence celebrations and know that the energy, enthusiasm and conviction so apparent throughout Orkut communities will be on display as we ask users for their opinions through this poll. Orkut has always been associated with youthfulness and zeal and w e are very pleased with the response and affection that Indian users have shown towards Orkut."
On the other hand the success of these sites can be seen from the fact iFood.tv is about to launch a new feature called the ifood explorer based on a p2f2p (person-to-food-to-person) concept. According to the founders "The purpose of this is to simply reflect the interconnections or the links between multiple individuals in the network, a host of foods, food products, restaurants and relevant information."
The Last Word
Social networking with a twist is the new mantra in the world of ecommerce. As our friends, jobs, foods get transformed into their electronic avatar one wonders what's next on the agenda.
Source:www.hindustantimes.com
Google is Being Hacked Using this Technique
According to a fascinating release from search marketer Dan Thies, Google has been aware over a year now (that he knows of) of a method to destroy a website's ranking. The method is called proxy hacking.
What is a Web Proxy?
First, it is important to understand that in their simplest form proxies are servers that act as a relay for Internet requests. Web proxies are often used to allow people to surf the net anonymously by forwarding their requests for content and then delivering the content to the users. This is similar to sending mail to a person through the post office except that in this case there is no return address or any identifying information. For a more detailed explanation here is Wikipedia's definition.
Here is essentially how this Google hack works:
1. All is well; your website is www.xyzname.com and it is currently listed in the top 10 in Google for 'xyz'.
2. A hacker comes along and decides that your listing for 'xyz' needs to be removed (perhaps for competitive reasons or out of spite). So the hacker gets Google to spider your website through a proxy. The address that Google would be given to index might look like this:
www.proxysrus.au/proxy/www.xyzname.com/
3. When Google indexes this new URL it looks legitimate and Google's filters will soon recognize that the content being indexed is exactly the same as www.xyzname.com. As a result, in the cases that have arisen so far www.xyzname.com loses its ranking and the freshly indexed proxy URL has effectively eradicated the competition.
So how is this hack technically accomplished?
Well I am with Dan Thies on this one, I have no interest at all in sharing the specifics because the last thing I want to do is enable more evil in the world. In addition, since I have never seen such a thing done I can only postulate how it would be accomplished. That said, I think it is reasonable to share the problems that would need to be surmounted to make such a thing work:
1. When the proxy URL is requested the server would have to provide the search engines with zero suspicion that a proxy was delivering the information. This includes URL syntax, URL length, server header information and latency.
2. The proxy URL would have to appear authoritative.
3. The proxy would need to be able to thwart the proxy hacking prevention measures that Dan has laid out within his informative article. At this time it appears the only proxies that are having some success are the ones that strip all browsing information so that the 'hack proof' sites cannot tell whether the traffic is legitimate or not. If they can't tell then they will not know to block Google from spidering their site through the wrong URL. Again even that attack has been rebuffed by Dan and his team by enabling noindex and nofollow tags on his client's sites UNLESS a verified search engine is visiting.
Source:www.stepforth.com
What is a Web Proxy?
First, it is important to understand that in their simplest form proxies are servers that act as a relay for Internet requests. Web proxies are often used to allow people to surf the net anonymously by forwarding their requests for content and then delivering the content to the users. This is similar to sending mail to a person through the post office except that in this case there is no return address or any identifying information. For a more detailed explanation here is Wikipedia's definition.
Here is essentially how this Google hack works:
1. All is well; your website is www.xyzname.com and it is currently listed in the top 10 in Google for 'xyz'.
2. A hacker comes along and decides that your listing for 'xyz' needs to be removed (perhaps for competitive reasons or out of spite). So the hacker gets Google to spider your website through a proxy. The address that Google would be given to index might look like this:
www.proxysrus.au/proxy/www.xyzname.com/
3. When Google indexes this new URL it looks legitimate and Google's filters will soon recognize that the content being indexed is exactly the same as www.xyzname.com. As a result, in the cases that have arisen so far www.xyzname.com loses its ranking and the freshly indexed proxy URL has effectively eradicated the competition.
So how is this hack technically accomplished?
Well I am with Dan Thies on this one, I have no interest at all in sharing the specifics because the last thing I want to do is enable more evil in the world. In addition, since I have never seen such a thing done I can only postulate how it would be accomplished. That said, I think it is reasonable to share the problems that would need to be surmounted to make such a thing work:
1. When the proxy URL is requested the server would have to provide the search engines with zero suspicion that a proxy was delivering the information. This includes URL syntax, URL length, server header information and latency.
2. The proxy URL would have to appear authoritative.
3. The proxy would need to be able to thwart the proxy hacking prevention measures that Dan has laid out within his informative article. At this time it appears the only proxies that are having some success are the ones that strip all browsing information so that the 'hack proof' sites cannot tell whether the traffic is legitimate or not. If they can't tell then they will not know to block Google from spidering their site through the wrong URL. Again even that attack has been rebuffed by Dan and his team by enabling noindex and nofollow tags on his client's sites UNLESS a verified search engine is visiting.
Source:www.stepforth.com
Esther Dyson: If Google Is the New Microsoft, Facebook Is the New Google
Well known Silicon Valley start-up investor Esther Dyson appeared on Charlie Rose a few days ago to give her reading of the current tech space. It turns out that Dyson is actually more interested in space and biotech these days, but she did offer an interesting comment regarding the social media business. Asked if Facebook is the new Google, Dyson said, “[It is] if you think Google is the next Microsoft.” So, is Google the new Microsoft? Dyson said, “It could well be.” I’m one of Dyson’s biggest fans from way back, so I always find her insights valuable. But in this case, I think she got part of the equation right.
There is no doubt that Google is the new Microsoft. The company's global reach, revenue and cash war chest prove that to anyone paying attention. I also agree with Dyson that what Google really wants to do is make search so highly personalized that the company will be able to “predict” what you want to: find, buy, watch, etc. But due to privacy concerns, Google is waiting for smaller companies to normalize the idea of personalized search and let others bear the initial brunt of privacy concerns highlighted by special interest groups. Where Dyson, in my view, gets it wrong is with Facebook. As one of the Wired team accurately pointed out weeks ago, unless Facebook becomes truly open, it’s really just the latest hot online club until the next one comes along.
Possibly the strangest moment during her appearance came when Rose took the opportunity to tap into Dyson’s mind as a tech consultant and asked how he could use the Web to raise money for his show. Her answer, in short: Put a PayPal donate button on your website. And—bang!—just like that, Rose saved a $50k Web consultant fee.
Source:www.wired.com
There is no doubt that Google is the new Microsoft. The company's global reach, revenue and cash war chest prove that to anyone paying attention. I also agree with Dyson that what Google really wants to do is make search so highly personalized that the company will be able to “predict” what you want to: find, buy, watch, etc. But due to privacy concerns, Google is waiting for smaller companies to normalize the idea of personalized search and let others bear the initial brunt of privacy concerns highlighted by special interest groups. Where Dyson, in my view, gets it wrong is with Facebook. As one of the Wired team accurately pointed out weeks ago, unless Facebook becomes truly open, it’s really just the latest hot online club until the next one comes along.
Possibly the strangest moment during her appearance came when Rose took the opportunity to tap into Dyson’s mind as a tech consultant and asked how he could use the Web to raise money for his show. Her answer, in short: Put a PayPal donate button on your website. And—bang!—just like that, Rose saved a $50k Web consultant fee.
Source:www.wired.com
Google's AdSense to distribute videos
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Short Internet videos from the creator of the animated TV show 'Family Guy' and Raven-Symone, star of the Disney Channel show 'That's So Raven,' will be distributed over Google Inc.'s AdSense network, it was announced Thursday.
Media Rights Capital, the financing company that backed last year's film 'Babel,' is supporting the two projects. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The programs will appear in a video box that a user would click on to start. The box will be packaged with banner advertising and video ads that will appear either before or after the programming.
The videos will be distributed to numerous Web sites served by AdSense, which places targeted advertising across the Internet. AdSense signed a similar distribution deal last year with Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks.
Media Rights Capital will work with Google to target Web sites most appropriate for its content, the company said.
'We feel this partnership answers the question of how best to reach viewers online, because the Web is fragmented into millions and millions of viewing destinations,' said Asif Satchu, co-chief executive of Media Rights Capital.
Seth MacFarlane, creator of 'Family Guy,' will produce short videos featuring new characters, while Raven-Symone will be in a 'how-to' show, the company said.
The company said the distribution deal was preferable to aggregating content on one site. Distributing content through AdSense means the videos reach a broader audience, which would include new sites as they pop up.
Source:www.abcmoney.co.uk
Media Rights Capital, the financing company that backed last year's film 'Babel,' is supporting the two projects. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The programs will appear in a video box that a user would click on to start. The box will be packaged with banner advertising and video ads that will appear either before or after the programming.
The videos will be distributed to numerous Web sites served by AdSense, which places targeted advertising across the Internet. AdSense signed a similar distribution deal last year with Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks.
Media Rights Capital will work with Google to target Web sites most appropriate for its content, the company said.
'We feel this partnership answers the question of how best to reach viewers online, because the Web is fragmented into millions and millions of viewing destinations,' said Asif Satchu, co-chief executive of Media Rights Capital.
Seth MacFarlane, creator of 'Family Guy,' will produce short videos featuring new characters, while Raven-Symone will be in a 'how-to' show, the company said.
The company said the distribution deal was preferable to aggregating content on one site. Distributing content through AdSense means the videos reach a broader audience, which would include new sites as they pop up.
Source:www.abcmoney.co.uk
Facebook DMCA Notices Silence Digg and Google
Google has shut down Facebook Secrets, the Blogger blog that gained notoriety when the anonymous author posted code from the recent Facebook server snafu. The mysterious owner of Facebook Secrets is not going down without a fight, however. S/he has posted a new site called Facebook Secrets Again, though the Facebook code is not included.
Instead there are two DMCA notices from Google. The second, which appears to be a response to some sort of challenge about the site removal, reads:
As mentioned in our previous email, we work with a third party to post DMCA notices we receive. The notice we received because of the content on your site can be found here (once the notice has been posted):
http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=3836
We have had to remove the content mentioned in the complaint from your blog. If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits.
The link above leads to a page on Chilling Effect, a site which tracks DMCA notices. The page reads: “DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google. The notice is not available.”
But Facebook Secrets isn’t the only site that’s been served with a DMCA takedown. Digg also received a takedown notice and complied. So far, the Digg community has remained oddly silent. Apparently Digg users aren’t as interested in Facebook code as they are in DVD unlocking codes.
Earlier this week, Facebook contacted Wired News to give an official statement about the code leak, which read:
A small fraction of the code that displays Facebook web pages was exposed to a small number of users due to a single misconfigured web server that was fixed immediately. It was not a security breach and did not compromise user data in any way. Because the code that was released only powers the Facebook user interface, it offers no useful insight into the inner workings of Facebook. The reprinting of this code violates several laws and we ask that people not distribute it further. (emphasis mine)
Requests made by Wired News for clarification from Facebook regarding what specific laws were broken have gone unanswered. The complaint filed against Digg cites copyright violations, which isn’t exactly “several laws,” though it is enough to file a DMCA complaint.
Source:www.wired.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Well Matched: Facebook on the iPhone
Developers around the world have been building new sites and retrofitting existing ones for use on the iPhone, and the social networking site Facebookslide show posted to Flickr by Citizen Agency's Chris Messina. joined the fun yesterday. To see what Facebook on the iPhone (http://iphone.facebook.com) looks like, check out this
Facebook for iPhone is smartly designed because it keeps things simple. I found that you can perform most of the tasks you'd normally do during a normal Facebook visit (checking mail, checking up on friends, approving new friends, etc.) easily on the iPhone. The four parts of Facebook you use most--the Home, Profile, Friends, and Inbox pages--are organized in tabs across the top of the page. This helps you get to the stuff you need with just a touch or two; this is important because mobile bandwidth isn't always predictable. On a purely aesthetic level, Facebook for iPhone manages to retain much of the clean, uncluttered look you notice at the desktop browser version of Facebook.
Response from tech bloggers and discussion board posters today has been almost completely positive--Michael Arrington at TechCrunch called Facebook the best iPhone-optimized app yet.
The buzz over mobile social networking has been going on for awhile now, but actual user numbers remain low. M:Metrics released new research today saying that only 3.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (7.5 million) accessed social networking sites during June. The firm says Facebook’s mobile U.S. audience is about 2 million, and is made up of mainly college-age users.
Still, a lot of people believe that mobile social networking is going to be huge, especially as faster wireless networks become available. Meanwhile, mucho venture capital continues to flow into mobile social networking tech in its many forms.
What is it about mobile devices and social networking that make them a match made in heaven? Is the urge to social-network so strong that we simply can't wait to get home to do it? Or will new mobile social networking services simply do things that static, desktop-based sites cannot? Will mobile devices take social networking to a whole new level? If the future is really "unwired" and "always on" as they tell us, then people will demand it.
Source:www.pcworld.com
iRovr Launches Social Networking Site for the iPhone
We've seen a lot of new sites popping up designed specifically for the iPhone. What's more, many existing sites have designed iPhone-sized interfaces to make the iPhone user experience of their services more welcoming. The latest of these offerings, iRovr, is a full fledged social network designed specifically for the iPhone.
iRovr offers blogging, photo sharing, video sharing, bookmarking and user profiles - but all sized to fit the iPhone's screen. Media sharing is accomplished through POP email aliases.
Sites such as Digg and Del.icio.us have already offered iPhone an iPhone sized interface. However, the largest sites in social networking land - such as MySpace, Facebook, and Orkut - have not.
Source:http://iphonefaq.org
Orkut faces Facebook challenge
Social networking site Facebook is growing rapidly in India according to a report by comScore. From 238,000 users in January 2007, Facebook has grown by 230 per cent to 785,000 users from India in June 2007. According to the report, Facebook's growth in India was remarkable between April and June 2007, when it added 323,000 users.
I created my Facebook profile in the same period and I find that Facebook is a much better product that Orkut.
But Orkut is still ten times larger than Facebook, with 7.2 million Indian users as of June 2007. It added nearly a million new users during April-June 2007.
Among social networking websites - Orkut, Facebook and Linkedin are very popular in India. While the world leader MySpace does not have much traction here, slugging with 399,000 Indian users.
Here are the Alexa rankings of popular social networking sites in India.
* Orkut = 2
* Facebook = 21
* Hi5 = 53
* Myspace = 65
* Linkedin = 75
About 40 per cent of Indian Facebook users are women, while they constitute 28 per cent in Orkut. Indian companies like NDTV, Info Edge, SBI and Indiatimes are already advertising on Facebook. (Source: Agencyfaqs)
Orkut's popularity is also landing the site in trouble with Indian authorities. It was involved in quite a few controversies, most of which are cases of obscene or defamatory fake profiles and hate communities.
Homegrown social networking sites like BigAdda, Rediff iShare, Fropper, Yaari and Minglebox are gearing up to challenge the international heavy weights. Their success will depend on whether they are able to leverage their local knowledge and understanding of Indian sensibilities to differentiate their offering. The global social networking giants start with a huge advantage - that of a large exisiting userbase - which helps in creating the network-effect and boosting viral growth.
Source:www.cnet.com
I created my Facebook profile in the same period and I find that Facebook is a much better product that Orkut.
But Orkut is still ten times larger than Facebook, with 7.2 million Indian users as of June 2007. It added nearly a million new users during April-June 2007.
Among social networking websites - Orkut, Facebook and Linkedin are very popular in India. While the world leader MySpace does not have much traction here, slugging with 399,000 Indian users.
Here are the Alexa rankings of popular social networking sites in India.
* Orkut = 2
* Facebook = 21
* Hi5 = 53
* Myspace = 65
* Linkedin = 75
About 40 per cent of Indian Facebook users are women, while they constitute 28 per cent in Orkut. Indian companies like NDTV, Info Edge, SBI and Indiatimes are already advertising on Facebook. (Source: Agencyfaqs)
Orkut's popularity is also landing the site in trouble with Indian authorities. It was involved in quite a few controversies, most of which are cases of obscene or defamatory fake profiles and hate communities.
Homegrown social networking sites like BigAdda, Rediff iShare, Fropper, Yaari and Minglebox are gearing up to challenge the international heavy weights. Their success will depend on whether they are able to leverage their local knowledge and understanding of Indian sensibilities to differentiate their offering. The global social networking giants start with a huge advantage - that of a large exisiting userbase - which helps in creating the network-effect and boosting viral growth.
Source:www.cnet.com
Get paid to refer businesses to Google
Google is using contractors to visit, collect information about local companies.
Google Inc. has launched a program called Google Local Business Referrals to get up-to-date information about businesses across the country.
The company said it is paying independent contractors, called business referral representatives, to visit local businesses to collect information about them -- including their addresses, hours of operation and the types of payment they accept -- so it can be added to Google Maps. While at the businesses, the representatives also will tell the companies about Google Maps and the AdWords advertising program.
The representatives will take digital photos of the businesses or their products for posting on Google Maps. They will submit the information to the Google Maps Local Business Center.
Google said it will pay up to $10 for each referral that it approves and verifies. The company said it won't reimburse the representatives for the money they spend on things like gas, computers and digital cameras, but it will cover the costs of printing handouts given to the businesses.
According to Google, the representatives will be helping businesses attract new customers as well as making it easier for consumers to find products and services.
"In keeping with our mission to organize the world's information, we're always looking for new ways to make that information more universally accessible and useful," Google said in an FAQ page about the program. "With the Google Local Business Referrals program, we're focusing our efforts on small businesses across the United States, helping connect them with potential customers in their communities."
To be eligible to work as business referral representatives, individuals must be 18 or older and able to complete an IRS Form W-9, and they need to be authorized to work as contractors in the U.S. They also must have access to a computer and a digital camera.
Source:www.computerworld.com
Google Inc. has launched a program called Google Local Business Referrals to get up-to-date information about businesses across the country.
The company said it is paying independent contractors, called business referral representatives, to visit local businesses to collect information about them -- including their addresses, hours of operation and the types of payment they accept -- so it can be added to Google Maps. While at the businesses, the representatives also will tell the companies about Google Maps and the AdWords advertising program.
The representatives will take digital photos of the businesses or their products for posting on Google Maps. They will submit the information to the Google Maps Local Business Center.
Google said it will pay up to $10 for each referral that it approves and verifies. The company said it won't reimburse the representatives for the money they spend on things like gas, computers and digital cameras, but it will cover the costs of printing handouts given to the businesses.
According to Google, the representatives will be helping businesses attract new customers as well as making it easier for consumers to find products and services.
"In keeping with our mission to organize the world's information, we're always looking for new ways to make that information more universally accessible and useful," Google said in an FAQ page about the program. "With the Google Local Business Referrals program, we're focusing our efforts on small businesses across the United States, helping connect them with potential customers in their communities."
To be eligible to work as business referral representatives, individuals must be 18 or older and able to complete an IRS Form W-9, and they need to be authorized to work as contractors in the U.S. They also must have access to a computer and a digital camera.
Source:www.computerworld.com
Does Google Really Hate SEO's?
After reading a couple of recent articles, some directly saying that Google hates SEO's and others being more stealthy in their aspersions, the question has to be asked. Does Google really hate SEO's?
Well in this authors humble opinion, No! Google does not hate SEO's, or at least search engine optimisation performed by ethical SEO companies - what would be the point?
Sure make life difficult for people trying to manipulate the search engine results, but in terms of hating an industry, I would have to draw the line short of that (although perhaps some of our less industrious spam-friendly friends may need their wings clipping somewhat).
To be brutally honest, I can see no reason for Google, or any other search engine, to hate SEO's. Search engine optimisation, I would suggest, is one of the key reasons why search engines have become as effective as they currently are in refining their results.
We search engine marketeers, at the end of the day, want our campaigns to work and rely heavily on a ROI focussed service. For this reason, all aspects of the marketing mix have to be working in synergy, so relevance and targeting are fundamental aspects of all our campaigns. Essentially, this is what Google wants - good quality, relevant results.
Google have also provided a wealth of tools, aimed at providing marketeers and potential marketeers with sufficient information to promote their sites - whether it be guidelines, webmaster tools, API access or blogs. Surely such activity is a clear indication of support and not a case of trying to minimise the effect of would be search engine marketeers.
Above all, most search engine marketing agencies don't just offer SEO, they offer paid search (PPC) as well. Surely if the search engines annoy these agencies by attacking SEO, they run the risk of affecting paid search spend. Google, Yahoo and MSN work very closely with agencies as regards their paid search campaigns, so it is logical to assume that to alienate the SEO activity of an agency would surely impact on paid search as well. Too much of a financial risk I would have thought!
Ultimately, the question "Does Google really hate SEO's?" boils down to one key factor. What commercial benefits could there possibly be in curtailing SEO activity?
Source:www.zdnet.co.uk
Well in this authors humble opinion, No! Google does not hate SEO's, or at least search engine optimisation performed by ethical SEO companies - what would be the point?
Sure make life difficult for people trying to manipulate the search engine results, but in terms of hating an industry, I would have to draw the line short of that (although perhaps some of our less industrious spam-friendly friends may need their wings clipping somewhat).
To be brutally honest, I can see no reason for Google, or any other search engine, to hate SEO's. Search engine optimisation, I would suggest, is one of the key reasons why search engines have become as effective as they currently are in refining their results.
We search engine marketeers, at the end of the day, want our campaigns to work and rely heavily on a ROI focussed service. For this reason, all aspects of the marketing mix have to be working in synergy, so relevance and targeting are fundamental aspects of all our campaigns. Essentially, this is what Google wants - good quality, relevant results.
Google have also provided a wealth of tools, aimed at providing marketeers and potential marketeers with sufficient information to promote their sites - whether it be guidelines, webmaster tools, API access or blogs. Surely such activity is a clear indication of support and not a case of trying to minimise the effect of would be search engine marketeers.
Above all, most search engine marketing agencies don't just offer SEO, they offer paid search (PPC) as well. Surely if the search engines annoy these agencies by attacking SEO, they run the risk of affecting paid search spend. Google, Yahoo and MSN work very closely with agencies as regards their paid search campaigns, so it is logical to assume that to alienate the SEO activity of an agency would surely impact on paid search as well. Too much of a financial risk I would have thought!
Ultimately, the question "Does Google really hate SEO's?" boils down to one key factor. What commercial benefits could there possibly be in curtailing SEO activity?
Source:www.zdnet.co.uk
Google Hacks: Please Do Not Use This Program For Illegal Uses
"This program is for educational purposed only." That's the disclaimer I see whenever I visit a warez site (which is the, cough, primary reason I'm there).
I don't know what Google was thinking when they released Google Hacks, but it's a sure bet most people won't abide by the "Please do not use this program for illegal uses" disclaimer you'll find on their download site.
Google Hacks is a front-end GUI you can use as a standalone app (see image below) or as a browser toolbar. It performs searches you can already do -- if you know the syntax. For instance, if I wanted to search for Dave Brubeck, I could pop the following into Google's search field.
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(.mp3|.wma) "Dave Brubeck"
But it's obviously a heck of a lot easier to type "Dave Brubeck" into Google Hacks and choose the music category.
Search for videos, music and more with Google Hacks
Hacking with Google
Google Hacks lets you search in any one of 12 categories -- music, applications, video, books, lyrics, and others. But there's a catch. The searches are indexes -- Web site directories that haven't been protected. Translation: You have to sort through lists of files and some, if not most, could be unrelated to what you're searching for.
Here are the results of a Google Hacks search
At the same time, you might hit the jackpot -- loads of files with just the content you're looking for. The showstopper is that the content belongs to someone else who doesn't know how to hide it from prying eyes. (And yes, I know, that person may have downloaded the music illegally as well.)
Here's plenty of music downloads for Stan Getz fans
Source:www.pcworld.com
Microsoft One-Ups Google with Hotmail Makeover
Over the next few weeks, Microsoft will be pushing out its new Hotmail offering to e-mail users in waves, so anyone who hasn't yet seen the new version can rest assured it will soon be coming. One nice touch, in addition to the bump in storage capacity, is Hotmail's new dashboard, which allows more e-mails to be displayed on the page.
Microsoft Relevant Products/Services is boosting the amount of free storage space that Hotmail users receive to 5 GB. Paying Hotmail users will see their e-mail storage capacity, which costs $15 per year, grow from 4 GB to 10 GB. In contrast, Google currently provides 2.8 GB of free Gmail storage space and sells 6 GB of extra capacity for $20 per year.
When it comes to storage alone, Yahoo remains on top with its unlimited storage offering. But Microsoft is banking that its latest moves to rev-up the Windows Live Hotmail engine and give the service an edgy new dashboard will be enough to keep it ahead of the pack.
"Speed is one of the most important aspects of a Web-based e-mail service," wrote Microsoft Live Hotmail program manager Ellie Powers-Boyle in a recent blog. "We've spent more time in this release identifying what parts of the product are slowest and fixing those."
Makeover Highlights
Over the next few weeks, Microsoft will be pushing out its new Windows Live Hotmail offering to e-mail users in waves, so anyone who hasn't yet seen the new version can rest assured it will soon be coming their way.
One nice touch is Hotmail's new streamlined dashboard, which compresses the header so that more e-mails can be displayed on the page. The new format gives users the ability to automatically tell friends when they will be away on vacation, which has long been a prized feature of Outlook.
Hotmail now blocks images and links in e-mail messages from unknown senders, and provides a one-click way for users to report suspected phishing attacks. Moreover, a contacts de-duplication function is on tap to give users a one-click way to update information for anyone already listed as a contact.
Hotmail subscribers will be able to view their e-mail in either the new or classic versions of Windows Live Hotmail, with the classic version perhaps more appropriate for users with less speedy Internet connections who need a simple way to read and manage e-mail. Moreover, Hotmail users who would prefer to go straight to their e-mail inboxes upon login now have the option of turning off the MSN Today page, Powers-Boyle said.
Looking for the Best Deal
Yankee Group research fellow Laura DiDio said she thinks that Microsoft will have to ensure that Hotmail continues to evolve. "If you are Microsoft, it's not enough to just keep up with the Joneses when Mr. Jones is really Google and he's going after your businesses," DiDio said.
These days, the averagjust as likely to have a Gmail account as a Hotmail account, DiDio noted. However, many consumers no longer believe in customer brand loyalty and will go to the vendor that gives them the best deal and the best support, she said.e consumer is
So Microsoft not only has to do everything it can to keep the customers it already has, but also must continue to play one-up with Google, DiDio explained. The happy result is that consumers will continue to benefit from the contest, she concluded.
Source:www.newsfactor.com
Microsoft Relevant Products/Services is boosting the amount of free storage space that Hotmail users receive to 5 GB. Paying Hotmail users will see their e-mail storage capacity, which costs $15 per year, grow from 4 GB to 10 GB. In contrast, Google currently provides 2.8 GB of free Gmail storage space and sells 6 GB of extra capacity for $20 per year.
When it comes to storage alone, Yahoo remains on top with its unlimited storage offering. But Microsoft is banking that its latest moves to rev-up the Windows Live Hotmail engine and give the service an edgy new dashboard will be enough to keep it ahead of the pack.
"Speed is one of the most important aspects of a Web-based e-mail service," wrote Microsoft Live Hotmail program manager Ellie Powers-Boyle in a recent blog. "We've spent more time in this release identifying what parts of the product are slowest and fixing those."
Makeover Highlights
Over the next few weeks, Microsoft will be pushing out its new Windows Live Hotmail offering to e-mail users in waves, so anyone who hasn't yet seen the new version can rest assured it will soon be coming their way.
One nice touch is Hotmail's new streamlined dashboard, which compresses the header so that more e-mails can be displayed on the page. The new format gives users the ability to automatically tell friends when they will be away on vacation, which has long been a prized feature of Outlook.
Hotmail now blocks images and links in e-mail messages from unknown senders, and provides a one-click way for users to report suspected phishing attacks. Moreover, a contacts de-duplication function is on tap to give users a one-click way to update information for anyone already listed as a contact.
Hotmail subscribers will be able to view their e-mail in either the new or classic versions of Windows Live Hotmail, with the classic version perhaps more appropriate for users with less speedy Internet connections who need a simple way to read and manage e-mail. Moreover, Hotmail users who would prefer to go straight to their e-mail inboxes upon login now have the option of turning off the MSN Today page, Powers-Boyle said.
Looking for the Best Deal
Yankee Group research fellow Laura DiDio said she thinks that Microsoft will have to ensure that Hotmail continues to evolve. "If you are Microsoft, it's not enough to just keep up with the Joneses when Mr. Jones is really Google and he's going after your businesses," DiDio said.
These days, the averagjust as likely to have a Gmail account as a Hotmail account, DiDio noted. However, many consumers no longer believe in customer brand loyalty and will go to the vendor that gives them the best deal and the best support, she said.e consumer is
So Microsoft not only has to do everything it can to keep the customers it already has, but also must continue to play one-up with Google, DiDio explained. The happy result is that consumers will continue to benefit from the contest, she concluded.
Source:www.newsfactor.com
TheStreet.com TV Recap: Google Still Good
About a month ago, Google reported what the shorts called a bad quarter, Jim Cramer said on TheStreet.com TV's Wall Street Confidential Web video Wednesday. Yet, when he looks at the stock, Cramer sees that it's very close percentagewise to where it had been.
"Obviously, it wasn't a bad quarter at all," Cramer said. He asked TheStreet.com's Internet reporter Vishesh Kumar to give market players a sense of what's going right at Google and why the stock is holding up better than much of the market.
"What is going right is their search business, which is just a juggernaut and which is actually kind of recession-proof also because it's seen by advertisers as more of a cost-of-sales expense rather than a marketing expense," Kumar replied. "So even if things turn down, you continue buying those ads because you see that on your bottom line right away."
Kumar also said he has continued to see advertisers gravitating from print to Google. "There's a big trend online," he said. "Accountability is something that's just going to change this $600 billion market completely."
Right now, Google, said Kumar, has about $12 billion in revenue expected this year from advertising, so at this point it still constitutes quite a small percentage of this $600 billion market. However, chief marketing officers "go with what works," he said. Right now they are buying TV ads, but that's eventually going to stop working as DVR penetration rates rise.
When asked about Google's rates, Kumar mentioned that the Internet goliath did something last week that is just getting noticed on Wall Street today, and consequently people are seeing their revenue numbers being moved up about 4% by JPMorgan and 2% by Merrill Lynch.
"What they did is, previously if you got that top spot on Google, the advertiser would have to pay a penny more than the guy that got the second spot," Kumar explained. "Well Google is saying now, it's not going to be that. You're going to pay what you bid and that's going to be huge."
For example, say a mortgage company wanted to advertise with Google and wanted to be at the top, the company would be paying more now. "What they're going to do is take what they see as the highest-quality ad and move it not to the side, but the top," Kumar said. "So you'll get great placement, you'll get great volume ... and instead of having to pay only a little bit more than the guy that got the second spot, now you're going to pay what you bid."
Judging on this, Cramer believes Google is a buy, he said.
Source:www.thestreet.com
"Obviously, it wasn't a bad quarter at all," Cramer said. He asked TheStreet.com's Internet reporter Vishesh Kumar to give market players a sense of what's going right at Google and why the stock is holding up better than much of the market.
"What is going right is their search business, which is just a juggernaut and which is actually kind of recession-proof also because it's seen by advertisers as more of a cost-of-sales expense rather than a marketing expense," Kumar replied. "So even if things turn down, you continue buying those ads because you see that on your bottom line right away."
Kumar also said he has continued to see advertisers gravitating from print to Google. "There's a big trend online," he said. "Accountability is something that's just going to change this $600 billion market completely."
Right now, Google, said Kumar, has about $12 billion in revenue expected this year from advertising, so at this point it still constitutes quite a small percentage of this $600 billion market. However, chief marketing officers "go with what works," he said. Right now they are buying TV ads, but that's eventually going to stop working as DVR penetration rates rise.
When asked about Google's rates, Kumar mentioned that the Internet goliath did something last week that is just getting noticed on Wall Street today, and consequently people are seeing their revenue numbers being moved up about 4% by JPMorgan and 2% by Merrill Lynch.
"What they did is, previously if you got that top spot on Google, the advertiser would have to pay a penny more than the guy that got the second spot," Kumar explained. "Well Google is saying now, it's not going to be that. You're going to pay what you bid and that's going to be huge."
For example, say a mortgage company wanted to advertise with Google and wanted to be at the top, the company would be paying more now. "What they're going to do is take what they see as the highest-quality ad and move it not to the side, but the top," Kumar said. "So you'll get great placement, you'll get great volume ... and instead of having to pay only a little bit more than the guy that got the second spot, now you're going to pay what you bid."
Judging on this, Cramer believes Google is a buy, he said.
Source:www.thestreet.com
Virtualization firm VMware has biggest tech stock IPO since Google
In one of the tech sector's most anticipated initial public offerings since Google, shares of VMware of Palo Alto rocketed 76 percent in their first day of trading Tuesday.
After expenses, VMware was expected to take away $957 million, the largest technology stock premiere since Google raised $1.2 billion in 2004.
The one-day gain was the largest for an IPO this year, according to Renaissance Capital's IPOhome.com. Renaissance Capital analyst Paul Bard said VMware is "one of the most compelling high-tech companies to go public since Google."
The IPO spotlights the fast-growing virtualization market, which VMware has largely had to itself until recently. The technology allows computers and servers to perform the work of multiple machines - running several operating systems and applications at the same time - eliminating the need for excess hardware and lowering energy and cooling costs.
Shares in the firm began selling at $52, far above the offering price of $29 per share. The stock peaked at $55.50 before finishing Tuesday at $51.
The company sold 33 million shares, which represents just 10 percent of the available stock. The rest is held mostly by parent company EMC, an information-storage business, which bought VMware in 2004 for $625 million. Based on Tuesday's market performance, the company was valued at a little more than $19 billion.
VMware officials were delighted with the initial performance of the company's stock.
"We think this is just extra energy and visibility for the company and very helpful in attracting even more talented people," said VMware CEO Diane Greene.
The software has won customers with large data centers, which use hundreds to thousands of servers. The company also sells desktop virtualization products that appeal to smaller companies and individual developers.
International Data Corp. is forecasting rapid growth for the category, from $1 billion this year to about $3.4 billion by 2011.
In the first half of this year, VMware recorded revenue of $555 million and is on pace to take in more than $1 billion for the first time. The company's revenue has grown quickly from $219 million in 2004.
Greene said the stock offering should help the company maintain its lead in the field and convince potential buyout targets to come on board with VMware. She said the company continues to push more features into its products, which should keep VMware at the head of the virtualization market.
"We've developed an amazing track record for bringing out, on a regular basis, innovative functionality that moves the bar up again and again," Greene said.
Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert said the performance of VMware on its first day, especially during a time of market volatility, showed that investors are bullish.
"It tells you that even in a market where stocks are selling off and investors have a negative view, that VMware stands out as a stock to own," said Egbert.
She said in a follow-up research note to investors that the company, "is on a trajectory that mirrors Microsoft, Oracle and Veritas in the early days."
VMware, founded in 1998, boasts a customer base that includes all of the Fortune 100 companies and more than 840 of the Fortune 1000 companies. Thomas Bittman, an analyst with Gartner Research, said VMware is still only addressing about 6 percent of the market, which gives the company plenty of room to grow.
But he said while VMware has surged ahead in the market, competitors could eat into VMware's lead very soon. XenSource and Virtual Iron Software, which use nonproprietary free source codes, are expected to challenge VMware next year. Microsoft also has a virtualization product that could give VMware a run for its money by late next year, Bittman said.
"We do think VMware deserves the excitement, but they don't have any real competition yet," he said. "Their future is not a given; they have real serious competition coming."
Bittman said EMC's nearly 90 percent ownership could also hinder VMware and concern investors. EMC could be in the position of rejecting aggressive pricing moves by VMware or even competing with its subsidiary for acquisition targets.
Intel and Cisco own minority shares of VMware, totaling about 4 percent between the two companies.
Greene said EMC has treated VMware as an independent subsidiary and she does not see that changing.
Source:www.sfgate.comMonday, August 13, 2007
Mobile operators see 10 times more potential in social networking
The success of social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and even YouTube could represent the next boom for the mobile phone operators.
Revenues from putting so-called user-generated content - meaning content such as videos and blogs created by consumers rather than media organisations - onto mobile phones is expected to rise more than tenfold over the next five years, according to estimates by Juniper Research published yesterday.
Allowing the legion of bloggers, Facebook posters and comedy clip makers to upload and view each other's every movement on their mobile phone could be worth $5.74bn (£2.87bn) by 2012, according to Juniper, from just $576m this year.
"One of the most attractive elements of social networking on a mobile phone is that it's universally accessible so people can look up their friends, update their status or whatever on the move, which for the young demographic is particularly appealing," according to the study's author, Dr Windsor Holden.
Social networking has become one of the fastest-growing internet trends of the past two years. According to internet metrics firm Comscore, Facebook saw users increase 270% from June last year to June this year. It now has more than 52 million users worldwide. MySpace registered lower growth of 72% but still leads the market with 114 million users. Bebo, with a majority of users in Europe, grew 172% to more than 18 million users. The mobile phone companies reckon the people who are using sites like Facebook are exactly the sort of people likely to be interested in using the internet on a mobile phone.
Further research by Comscore shows that people who are already experimenting with the internet on a mobile phone are younger than users who access the web only on a computer. In Britain, more than 25% of mobile internet users are aged 15 to 24, compared with 20% who go online using a computer; a further 41% of mobile internet users are 25 to 34 compared with less than 20% using a computer.
The concern for the mobile phone companies, however, has always been that offering the sort of flat-rate mobile internet access packages likely to lead to an explosion of usage would leave them as little more than big dumb pipes in the air. Their worry has been that once they offer fixed-rate packages, all they can compete on is price and over time they will end up as sidelined as internet service providers (ISPs) have become in the fixed-line internet world.
Some mobile phone companies have tried to retain their position in the value chain by setting up their own UGC services. For instance 3 has scored with its SeeMeTV portal, which lets users upload clips and share them with other 3 customers. SeeMeTV has also created its own social networking service called Moko (formerly Kink Kommunity) with users paying £2.50 a month to keep in touch.
But Frédéric Huet, director at Greenwich Consulting, says that the mobile operators have a real opportunity to persuade more customers to use their mobiles to access the internet by "mobilising" sites such as Facebook.
"I would not be too dismissive of data revenues. If the mobile operators can start increasing take-up of data services they will increase revenues for quite a few years before commoditisation and price competition sees those revenues erode again," he said. "By then the operators will be in a position to offer other services such as mobile advertising.
"The trick is to start building an audience now and the mobile phone operators are starting to understand that."
Sensing this opportunity, several mobile phone companies - such as T-Mobile, 3 and Vodafone in Britain - have launched flat-rate mobile internet tariffs.
Facebook, in fact, is already available on mobile phones in the US through the AT&T, Verizon and Sprint/Nextel networks, with users able to update their profiles and check on their friends. Several of the UK's mobile phone networks are understood to be eagerly chasing deals to add Facebook to their mobile web offerings. In addition, Vodafone has signed an exclusive deal to put YouTube clips on its mobile internet service.
Juniper Research's Dr Windsor, meanwhile, points out that the transition from social networking on the fixed-line internet to the mobile internet could allow new entrants to muscle in.
One such new entrant is Itsmy.com, owned by German tech company Gofresh, which has already signed up more than half a million users.
But these new entrants are going to have a fight on their hands once people can easily update their Facebook status to "I'm on the train" using their mobile.
Source:www.guardianweekly.co.uk
Revenues from putting so-called user-generated content - meaning content such as videos and blogs created by consumers rather than media organisations - onto mobile phones is expected to rise more than tenfold over the next five years, according to estimates by Juniper Research published yesterday.
Allowing the legion of bloggers, Facebook posters and comedy clip makers to upload and view each other's every movement on their mobile phone could be worth $5.74bn (£2.87bn) by 2012, according to Juniper, from just $576m this year.
"One of the most attractive elements of social networking on a mobile phone is that it's universally accessible so people can look up their friends, update their status or whatever on the move, which for the young demographic is particularly appealing," according to the study's author, Dr Windsor Holden.
Social networking has become one of the fastest-growing internet trends of the past two years. According to internet metrics firm Comscore, Facebook saw users increase 270% from June last year to June this year. It now has more than 52 million users worldwide. MySpace registered lower growth of 72% but still leads the market with 114 million users. Bebo, with a majority of users in Europe, grew 172% to more than 18 million users. The mobile phone companies reckon the people who are using sites like Facebook are exactly the sort of people likely to be interested in using the internet on a mobile phone.
Further research by Comscore shows that people who are already experimenting with the internet on a mobile phone are younger than users who access the web only on a computer. In Britain, more than 25% of mobile internet users are aged 15 to 24, compared with 20% who go online using a computer; a further 41% of mobile internet users are 25 to 34 compared with less than 20% using a computer.
The concern for the mobile phone companies, however, has always been that offering the sort of flat-rate mobile internet access packages likely to lead to an explosion of usage would leave them as little more than big dumb pipes in the air. Their worry has been that once they offer fixed-rate packages, all they can compete on is price and over time they will end up as sidelined as internet service providers (ISPs) have become in the fixed-line internet world.
Some mobile phone companies have tried to retain their position in the value chain by setting up their own UGC services. For instance 3 has scored with its SeeMeTV portal, which lets users upload clips and share them with other 3 customers. SeeMeTV has also created its own social networking service called Moko (formerly Kink Kommunity) with users paying £2.50 a month to keep in touch.
But Frédéric Huet, director at Greenwich Consulting, says that the mobile operators have a real opportunity to persuade more customers to use their mobiles to access the internet by "mobilising" sites such as Facebook.
"I would not be too dismissive of data revenues. If the mobile operators can start increasing take-up of data services they will increase revenues for quite a few years before commoditisation and price competition sees those revenues erode again," he said. "By then the operators will be in a position to offer other services such as mobile advertising.
"The trick is to start building an audience now and the mobile phone operators are starting to understand that."
Sensing this opportunity, several mobile phone companies - such as T-Mobile, 3 and Vodafone in Britain - have launched flat-rate mobile internet tariffs.
Facebook, in fact, is already available on mobile phones in the US through the AT&T, Verizon and Sprint/Nextel networks, with users able to update their profiles and check on their friends. Several of the UK's mobile phone networks are understood to be eagerly chasing deals to add Facebook to their mobile web offerings. In addition, Vodafone has signed an exclusive deal to put YouTube clips on its mobile internet service.
Juniper Research's Dr Windsor, meanwhile, points out that the transition from social networking on the fixed-line internet to the mobile internet could allow new entrants to muscle in.
One such new entrant is Itsmy.com, owned by German tech company Gofresh, which has already signed up more than half a million users.
But these new entrants are going to have a fight on their hands once people can easily update their Facebook status to "I'm on the train" using their mobile.
Source:www.guardianweekly.co.uk
Top 5 new Facebook applications: Buffy, Beer Diary, Heat and more...
You can't beat a good Facebook application, although you can bury it with hundreds of rubbish ones - something that due to the popularity of Facebook's development platform, is in danger of happening.
I wonder if the site will introduce proper five-star ratings for apps, so you can sort through them that way. In the meantime, I've been combing through the list of recent new apps to find five worth putting on your profile. Starting with...
1. Buffy Photos, Quotes and Trivia (pictured). It's new, but has already sailed past the 2,500-user mark. Show your Buffy fandom by adding it, and you can even chat to other fans from within the app.
2. Interactive Friends Graph. Another neat app that plots your friends and their interconnections, but the big selling point here is the way you can actually interact with it, sending messages, pokes and add people from within the graph.
3. Beer Diary. Keep an accurate record of just how many units you've drunk, and then show it off to the world (and, er, your boss / mother / AA counsellor).
4. Heat RSS. Simple way to get the latest gossip from Heat magazine's website on your profile. You didn't know Heat had a website? Join the club!
5. Social Chat. The latest Facebook chat app to set up private rooms for friends, or meet random strangers for red hot cyberlove stimulating interaction.
Source:www.techdigest.tv
I wonder if the site will introduce proper five-star ratings for apps, so you can sort through them that way. In the meantime, I've been combing through the list of recent new apps to find five worth putting on your profile. Starting with...
1. Buffy Photos, Quotes and Trivia (pictured). It's new, but has already sailed past the 2,500-user mark. Show your Buffy fandom by adding it, and you can even chat to other fans from within the app.
2. Interactive Friends Graph. Another neat app that plots your friends and their interconnections, but the big selling point here is the way you can actually interact with it, sending messages, pokes and add people from within the graph.
3. Beer Diary. Keep an accurate record of just how many units you've drunk, and then show it off to the world (and, er, your boss / mother / AA counsellor).
4. Heat RSS. Simple way to get the latest gossip from Heat magazine's website on your profile. You didn't know Heat had a website? Join the club!
5. Social Chat. The latest Facebook chat app to set up private rooms for friends, or meet random strangers for red hot cyberlove stimulating interaction.
Source:www.techdigest.tv
BigAdda, an Indian Youth Networking Site launched by Reliance ADA Group
Social networking sites are the fad of the present day. They offer entertainment, interaction and a lot more. But somewhere they are becoming so common that one cannot go wrong if they are literally compared to the stereotype reality shows too. Both equally hyped but eventually fizz out as time passes by. And there’s yet another social networking site adding to the bandwagon.
Monday, the 13th of August 2007, saw the launch of Reliance ADA group’s ‘BigAdda.com’ which touts itself to apparently be the ‘Indian Youth Networking Site’. BigAdda.com makes possible networking and self-expression by creating, uploading and sharing of videos, photos in a public, yet private, space. Some of the interesting features of this networking platform includes blogs and scribbles, which help the users express, comment and connect, Addas(communities) and forums - all of these catering to one of the most important needs of the youth today - ‘Self Expression’.
Indian social networking site BigAdda.com, plans to gather a user base of 10 million users by 2010 they have already taken a significant step in this direction by acquiring over a 100,000 customers in the last 6 weeks. The company plans to introduce a Music vertical for uploading, streaming and sharing of user playlists. Web Instant Messenger (IM) and wireless interface would also be introduced shortly, which acknowledges the youth’s asynchronous messaging habits and need for connectivity.
Since BigAdda.com has been made with the prime intention of catering to the youth, the panel of speakers too was celebs that are highly popular in their own respective fields amidst the Indian youth community. Present at the event were 5 youth icons to drive their communities online, namely popular glamour photographer Atul Kasbekar, music maestro Shankar Mahadevan, leading Indian female golfer Irnina Brar, top filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and stunning Bollywood actress Diya Mirza.
So what exactly are these youth icons going to do on BigAdda.com? As communities are a key driver for growth in the networking business BigAdda has these 5 youth icons joining them for the initiative.
To begin with, Kasbekar will be offering a sneak peak into his shoots and would head a Mobile Photo Contest where users would be induced to shoot and upload photos from their mobiles of which Kasbekar would shortlist the best. And this lucky member would get a chance to work on an assignment with the man himself.
If music is your passion then you can head to Shankar Mahadevan’s Music Adda, who will be encouraging the youth to compose and share their original music. One short-listed member would then get a chance to meet with Shankar and release an album through Big Music Label.
If you prefer being on the golf course, then Irina Brar’s Sports Adda is where you need to be, where she drives a community specially focusing on Girls in Sports. Now this is surely interesting keeping in mind how stereotyped somewhere India is with regards to its choice of sports, sport stars and of course gender too.
Ever dreamt of being Spielberg? If yes, then you can kick start here, not with Spielberg of course, but the Indian directing genius Madhur Bhandarkar, who would steer the Video Category and promote youngsters to share original scripts and video stories.
And if you are simply in awe (just the way our videographer was after seeing the ethereal beauty) of the lovely Dia Mirza, join her Adda, which would steer the Movies category and promote her fan club.
Also present at the event were two leading men from the Reliance ADA Group, namely Rajesh Sawhney, President, Reliance Entertainment and Siddhartha Roy, Chief Operating Officer, BigAdda.
Speaking about BigAdda.com, Sawhney said, “According to the 2007 NASSCOM Report, it is estimated that by 2010 there will be 20 million Broadband subscribers, up from 1 million and 100 million Internet users, as compared to 40 million today. The number of Internet users has witnessed an upswing, and so has their need to socialize online and gain acceptance in the virtual world. Virtual hang-out plays a key role, because it gives them the space to be amongst friends and peers, while sharing an image of their own, which they would like to project. BigAdda.com aims to evolve a youth community, inclusive and aspirational and create a youth culture that will be cool and aspirational for them.”
“Music, Fashion, Movies and Sports are something that cuts across all segments and age groups. The idea was to create a platform where the fans/users can talk/share with their icon. Going forward, we plan to increase our community drivers and supplement it with innovative marketing and promotional activities,” continued Mr. Sawhney.
Giving his take on BigAdda.com Siddhartha Roy, Chief Operating Officer, BigAdda said, “As a society, we are at a moment of transition when social relationships may no longer be restricted to face-to-face interactions in our own immediate surroundings, but also include a large number of relationships conducted over vast geographic distances. Photos, Videos and Music are the key drivers of online consumption today. Hence, we wanted to let our users upload content of their choice, as one of the many features on BigAdda.com, as it gets to showcase and express their personality. Till date, there has not been one particular destination for Indian and International video content, a void which BigAdda will fill. In just 6 weeks of the site being in the test phase, BigAdda.com has over 12000 videos with over 5,000 television advertisements.”
One really wonders that with the likes of highly renowned social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace and zillions more, where does BigAdda.com actually stand? Perhaps as the site is banking on the power of the youth, especially keeping in mind the fact that around 54 percent of the present Indian population is below 25 years of age, there may be a bleak possibility that this very youth may consider BigAdda.com as their haven. A place to express, learn and share.
Source:www.techshout.com
Monday, the 13th of August 2007, saw the launch of Reliance ADA group’s ‘BigAdda.com’ which touts itself to apparently be the ‘Indian Youth Networking Site’. BigAdda.com makes possible networking and self-expression by creating, uploading and sharing of videos, photos in a public, yet private, space. Some of the interesting features of this networking platform includes blogs and scribbles, which help the users express, comment and connect, Addas(communities) and forums - all of these catering to one of the most important needs of the youth today - ‘Self Expression’.
Indian social networking site BigAdda.com, plans to gather a user base of 10 million users by 2010 they have already taken a significant step in this direction by acquiring over a 100,000 customers in the last 6 weeks. The company plans to introduce a Music vertical for uploading, streaming and sharing of user playlists. Web Instant Messenger (IM) and wireless interface would also be introduced shortly, which acknowledges the youth’s asynchronous messaging habits and need for connectivity.
Since BigAdda.com has been made with the prime intention of catering to the youth, the panel of speakers too was celebs that are highly popular in their own respective fields amidst the Indian youth community. Present at the event were 5 youth icons to drive their communities online, namely popular glamour photographer Atul Kasbekar, music maestro Shankar Mahadevan, leading Indian female golfer Irnina Brar, top filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and stunning Bollywood actress Diya Mirza.
So what exactly are these youth icons going to do on BigAdda.com? As communities are a key driver for growth in the networking business BigAdda has these 5 youth icons joining them for the initiative.
To begin with, Kasbekar will be offering a sneak peak into his shoots and would head a Mobile Photo Contest where users would be induced to shoot and upload photos from their mobiles of which Kasbekar would shortlist the best. And this lucky member would get a chance to work on an assignment with the man himself.
If music is your passion then you can head to Shankar Mahadevan’s Music Adda, who will be encouraging the youth to compose and share their original music. One short-listed member would then get a chance to meet with Shankar and release an album through Big Music Label.
If you prefer being on the golf course, then Irina Brar’s Sports Adda is where you need to be, where she drives a community specially focusing on Girls in Sports. Now this is surely interesting keeping in mind how stereotyped somewhere India is with regards to its choice of sports, sport stars and of course gender too.
Ever dreamt of being Spielberg? If yes, then you can kick start here, not with Spielberg of course, but the Indian directing genius Madhur Bhandarkar, who would steer the Video Category and promote youngsters to share original scripts and video stories.
And if you are simply in awe (just the way our videographer was after seeing the ethereal beauty) of the lovely Dia Mirza, join her Adda, which would steer the Movies category and promote her fan club.
Also present at the event were two leading men from the Reliance ADA Group, namely Rajesh Sawhney, President, Reliance Entertainment and Siddhartha Roy, Chief Operating Officer, BigAdda.
Speaking about BigAdda.com, Sawhney said, “According to the 2007 NASSCOM Report, it is estimated that by 2010 there will be 20 million Broadband subscribers, up from 1 million and 100 million Internet users, as compared to 40 million today. The number of Internet users has witnessed an upswing, and so has their need to socialize online and gain acceptance in the virtual world. Virtual hang-out plays a key role, because it gives them the space to be amongst friends and peers, while sharing an image of their own, which they would like to project. BigAdda.com aims to evolve a youth community, inclusive and aspirational and create a youth culture that will be cool and aspirational for them.”
“Music, Fashion, Movies and Sports are something that cuts across all segments and age groups. The idea was to create a platform where the fans/users can talk/share with their icon. Going forward, we plan to increase our community drivers and supplement it with innovative marketing and promotional activities,” continued Mr. Sawhney.
Giving his take on BigAdda.com Siddhartha Roy, Chief Operating Officer, BigAdda said, “As a society, we are at a moment of transition when social relationships may no longer be restricted to face-to-face interactions in our own immediate surroundings, but also include a large number of relationships conducted over vast geographic distances. Photos, Videos and Music are the key drivers of online consumption today. Hence, we wanted to let our users upload content of their choice, as one of the many features on BigAdda.com, as it gets to showcase and express their personality. Till date, there has not been one particular destination for Indian and International video content, a void which BigAdda will fill. In just 6 weeks of the site being in the test phase, BigAdda.com has over 12000 videos with over 5,000 television advertisements.”
One really wonders that with the likes of highly renowned social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace and zillions more, where does BigAdda.com actually stand? Perhaps as the site is banking on the power of the youth, especially keeping in mind the fact that around 54 percent of the present Indian population is below 25 years of age, there may be a bleak possibility that this very youth may consider BigAdda.com as their haven. A place to express, learn and share.
Source:www.techshout.com
Facebook and social networking sites drive web filtering technology
The latest internet phenomenon, social networking websites offer an interactive network of photos, user profiles, email and chatrooms.
Unlike MySpace, Bebo, Faceparty, YouTube and most other mainstream social networking websites, Facebook is currently favoured amongst young professionals and consequently take-up of the service within the corporate environment has been extremely swift, with many companies creating their own groups on the site.
Although there are undoubtedly some commercial benefits for using the service, particularly for smaller businesses, Facebook in particular relies heavily on email to inform users of new messages received and other activities taking place on site, thereby incentivising users to return to the site again and again for activity updates. With 40%+ of emails at work being non-business related already (IDC research) this adds significantly to un-required traffic.
The sites represents a number of other risks to business, with many staff choosing to use their time online to discuss their employer and air grievances in the public domain. Moreover, with users of social networking sites freely offering personal details to many, there is also an increased risk of identity theft.
As a result, adoption of web filtering technology is currently being largely driven by the phenomenal take up of social networking sites such as Facebook.
Indeed CTOs and IT administrators are increasingly choosing to specifically block access to Facebook, alongside the other chief time-sapping websites – hotmail and gmail. 47% of Email Systems’ web filtering customers have already blocked Facebook as an implicitly selected site and 83% have blocked it by category (social networking). Additionally, Email Systems has identified a trend for blocking viral video sites, such as YouTube, with over 53% of its customers choosing to block this site during work hours and 64% of customers blocking streaming and download video content from its users.
According to a recent survey, nearly one in five companies has disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies in the past year, while 7.1% of companies fired an employee for such infractions and 10% investigated the exposure of financial information via a blog or message board posting in the past year.
With several city firms – including Credit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort - having announced a ban on the site earlier this week and many of Email Systems new web filtering customers citing Facebook explicitly as one of the key catalysts for adopting web filtering, the issue is fast becoming a top concern.
It is estimated that over 60% of UK companies have no web filtering in place today. These social sites pose a real threat to business productivity, confidentiality and possibly reputation with many staff often discussing company issues and opinions in public.
According to the DTI: “Inappropriate web and e-mail usage is the second largest cause of reported security incidents”. The same report indicated that 52% of organisations have reported misuse of internet resources with the two most common being access to inappropriate websites (41%) and excessive web surfing (36%).
With child violence sites currently in the headlines as another example of undesirable web-content, Email Systems web filtering service allows customers to block internet access for specific sites, types of sites or users, whilst providing detailed real-time reporting.
Neil Hammerton, CEO of Email Systems commented: “Facebook is a growing concern for many of our customers, mainly because the site is so addictive and encourages constant, repeat usage throughout the day. Clearly many businesses have long considered webmail services to be a significant risk in terms of time, productivity and security – but Facebook is the latest incarnation to really get the industry stirred up.”
Source:www.securitypark.co.uk
Unlike MySpace, Bebo, Faceparty, YouTube and most other mainstream social networking websites, Facebook is currently favoured amongst young professionals and consequently take-up of the service within the corporate environment has been extremely swift, with many companies creating their own groups on the site.
Although there are undoubtedly some commercial benefits for using the service, particularly for smaller businesses, Facebook in particular relies heavily on email to inform users of new messages received and other activities taking place on site, thereby incentivising users to return to the site again and again for activity updates. With 40%+ of emails at work being non-business related already (IDC research) this adds significantly to un-required traffic.
The sites represents a number of other risks to business, with many staff choosing to use their time online to discuss their employer and air grievances in the public domain. Moreover, with users of social networking sites freely offering personal details to many, there is also an increased risk of identity theft.
As a result, adoption of web filtering technology is currently being largely driven by the phenomenal take up of social networking sites such as Facebook.
Indeed CTOs and IT administrators are increasingly choosing to specifically block access to Facebook, alongside the other chief time-sapping websites – hotmail and gmail. 47% of Email Systems’ web filtering customers have already blocked Facebook as an implicitly selected site and 83% have blocked it by category (social networking). Additionally, Email Systems has identified a trend for blocking viral video sites, such as YouTube, with over 53% of its customers choosing to block this site during work hours and 64% of customers blocking streaming and download video content from its users.
According to a recent survey, nearly one in five companies has disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies in the past year, while 7.1% of companies fired an employee for such infractions and 10% investigated the exposure of financial information via a blog or message board posting in the past year.
With several city firms – including Credit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort - having announced a ban on the site earlier this week and many of Email Systems new web filtering customers citing Facebook explicitly as one of the key catalysts for adopting web filtering, the issue is fast becoming a top concern.
It is estimated that over 60% of UK companies have no web filtering in place today. These social sites pose a real threat to business productivity, confidentiality and possibly reputation with many staff often discussing company issues and opinions in public.
According to the DTI: “Inappropriate web and e-mail usage is the second largest cause of reported security incidents”. The same report indicated that 52% of organisations have reported misuse of internet resources with the two most common being access to inappropriate websites (41%) and excessive web surfing (36%).
With child violence sites currently in the headlines as another example of undesirable web-content, Email Systems web filtering service allows customers to block internet access for specific sites, types of sites or users, whilst providing detailed real-time reporting.
Neil Hammerton, CEO of Email Systems commented: “Facebook is a growing concern for many of our customers, mainly because the site is so addictive and encourages constant, repeat usage throughout the day. Clearly many businesses have long considered webmail services to be a significant risk in terms of time, productivity and security – but Facebook is the latest incarnation to really get the industry stirred up.”
Source:www.securitypark.co.uk
Facebook Source Code Leaked to Internet
Social networking site says the leak didn't compromise user data.
The source code that powers the user interface for popular social networking site Facebook was inadvertently exposed over the weekend due to a misconfigured Web server.
The source code, which was posted Saturday to a blog called Facebook Secrets, was still posted Monday on the blog.
A spokeswoman for Facebook said in a statement e-mailed to Computerworld that "a small fraction of the code that displays Facebook Web pages was exposed to a small number of users" because of a misconfigured Web server that was fixed "immediately."
The incident was not a security breach "and did not compromise user data in any way," the spokeswoman said. "Because the code that was released only powers the Facebook [user interface], it offers no useful insight into the inner workings of Facebook," she added.
However, Pete Lindstrom, a senior security analyst at Burton Group, said that anytime source code is accidentally revealed, "there is potential for an increase in risk." He added that when a company dismisses the security implications of such an incident, there likely really are security issues.
"There are enough folks out there trolling the Web sites and pull that code who will be perfectly happy to try to identify vulnerable areas that could be exploited," Lindstrom said. "If you're release source code to the wild, you're going to have some level of increased risk associated with it. I can't think of a case where you wouldn't."
Nik Cubrilovic, a developer and contributor to TechCrunch, which originally reported the source code leak, blogged that the code could be used by outsiders to better understand how the Facebook application works. With that knowledge, Cubrilovic said, those outsiders can find additional security holes or bugs.
"From just this single page of source code, a lot can be said and extrapolated about the rest of the Facebook application and platform," he wrote. "At a quick glance, I know that I can see some obvious things in the code that both reveal certain hidden aspects of the platform and give a potential attacker a good head start.
"[Facebook] will also need to take some very quick short-term measures to mitigate the risk to users since you can bet that right this minute there are hundreds of potential attackers pouring through the leaked code and probing their systems," he added.
Source:www.pcworld.com
The source code that powers the user interface for popular social networking site Facebook was inadvertently exposed over the weekend due to a misconfigured Web server.
The source code, which was posted Saturday to a blog called Facebook Secrets, was still posted Monday on the blog.
A spokeswoman for Facebook said in a statement e-mailed to Computerworld that "a small fraction of the code that displays Facebook Web pages was exposed to a small number of users" because of a misconfigured Web server that was fixed "immediately."
The incident was not a security breach "and did not compromise user data in any way," the spokeswoman said. "Because the code that was released only powers the Facebook [user interface], it offers no useful insight into the inner workings of Facebook," she added.
However, Pete Lindstrom, a senior security analyst at Burton Group, said that anytime source code is accidentally revealed, "there is potential for an increase in risk." He added that when a company dismisses the security implications of such an incident, there likely really are security issues.
"There are enough folks out there trolling the Web sites and pull that code who will be perfectly happy to try to identify vulnerable areas that could be exploited," Lindstrom said. "If you're release source code to the wild, you're going to have some level of increased risk associated with it. I can't think of a case where you wouldn't."
Nik Cubrilovic, a developer and contributor to TechCrunch, which originally reported the source code leak, blogged that the code could be used by outsiders to better understand how the Facebook application works. With that knowledge, Cubrilovic said, those outsiders can find additional security holes or bugs.
"From just this single page of source code, a lot can be said and extrapolated about the rest of the Facebook application and platform," he wrote. "At a quick glance, I know that I can see some obvious things in the code that both reveal certain hidden aspects of the platform and give a potential attacker a good head start.
"[Facebook] will also need to take some very quick short-term measures to mitigate the risk to users since you can bet that right this minute there are hundreds of potential attackers pouring through the leaked code and probing their systems," he added.
Source:www.pcworld.com
Yahoo Edges Out Google In User Satisfaction Poll
Is Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) gaining ground on Google?
For the first time ever, Yahoo
According to the survey, released Aug. 14, Yahoo replaced Google as the top Web portal with a customer satisfaction score of 79, up nearly 4% over last year. Google's score slipped by 3.7% to 78. It's the second straight decline for the Web's top search site.
"With a 78 and 79 score, you don't declare a clear winner," said Larry Freed, chief executive of ForeSee Results, which sponsored the survey. "Yahoo has seen a great resurgence, and for Google the message here is that the competition is getting stronger."
The online survey polled 250 users in the second quarter of the year, then graded the results on a 100-point 19cale. Participants rated all of Yahoo's and Google's services -- such as maps, e-mail, information and entertainment features -- not just Web search.
Freed says Yahoo's jump is likely due to its home page redesign last year. The makeover created a one-stop shop that made it easier for consumers to find services such as weather, finance and videos.
"They are making solid incremental improvements," he said.
Unlike Yahoo, Google has resisted becoming a portal. Though it offers portal-like services through its personalized iGoogle page, Google's main home page consists of only a few links to services such as Google News and its Gmail e-mail service.
This spartan approach has worked well for Google. But that could be changing, Freed says.
"One of the reasons why Google's score went down is the consumer perception that nothing has really changed with Google over the years," he said. "The reality is that consumers expect change, they expect improvement especially when they see other sites like Yahoo making improvements."
That might be more perception than reality. Google continues to tweak its search service and has made several improvements to its stable of services. It recently added street-level views to its mapping service, for instance, along with 3-D outlines of buildings in cities.
Google's latest move is universal search. Launched in July, universal search allows consumers to search through text, photos, videos and other sources -- all at once.
Google wouldn't comment publicly on the survey results. But a spokeswoman said the company is always working to improve the service.
"The statement that nothing is changed on Google is not correct," said Greg Sterling, analyst for Sterling Market Intelligence, a research firm. "It's just that they have done a lot of subtle things."
Analysts say that subtlety could be part of its problem.
As a portal, Yahoo places links to all of its services on its home page, many of them prominently.
Google takes the opposite approach. It launches new services with little fanfare, then waits for user feedback to trickle in.
Google doesn't promote new services such as Google Finance or Google Base. Consumers have to hunt for them, says Freed.
"When you go to Google's home page you don't know about these other things," he said. "All you know is Google.com, the company's search service."
According to Web traffic research firm Hitwise, some 70% of visitors to Google went to use the company's search service in July. About 11% went for Google's YouTube video Web site. Nearly 6% visited Gmail. Google Video and Google Maps both received less than 2% of Google's total traffic. Google News got less than 1%.
Despite lower results in the satisfaction survey, Google continues to dominate search.
It accounted for 52.7% of all U.S. searches in June with 3.9 million searches, says market researcher Nielsen/NetRatings. That was up more than 46% over last year.
Yahoo ranked second with 1.49 million searches, up 46.3% over last year, and 20.2% of overall search traffic.
Another search service, Ask.com fared well in the University of Michigan survey. Consumers gave it a 75 score, up 5.6% from last year. The IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) (OTCBB:IACPP)
"It does suggest some vulnerability on Google's part and some opportunity on the part of its competitors," said analyst Sterling.
Source:www.cnn.com
Google launches YouTube-style embeddable maps
Google Australia this morning showed a new iteration of Google Maps, launching about a week from now.
First up, if you know how to embed a YouTube video in your blog, you'll be able to embed Google Maps in your website, Google promises.
It'll be as simple as cutting and pasting a bit of HTML code into your website, just like a YouTube video.
The embedded maps have the full functionality of Google Maps -- they provide satellite view, map view or hybrid view, and users can click and drag the maps around.
The development has substantial ramifications for the web: any business will now be able to include a map of their location (or locations), and users going to their website will be able to get driving directions to the business in a couple of clicks.
Petrol prices plotted onto Google Maps
Find cheaper petrol via Google Maps: any third party data provider such as a petrol prices website can plot their data onto Google Maps using Mapplets
Google also showed how people can now integrate data such as petrol prices with maps. Google showed a Google Mapplet provided by a petrol prices website which shows the cheapest petrol stations and their locations in your area.
Mapplets can also be combined together. For example, a website that provides vineyard listings has the results plotted onto Google Maps, and this can then be combined with another Mapplet from a website called Panoramio, which shows photos from different places. Result? You can see photos from vineyards in a region to plan a scenic weekend away.
Paid listings for maps
Google also revealed that it is now be accepting paid listings for maps. Businesses will be able to go to the Google "Local Business Centre" and bulk-upload all their locations in an Excel spreadsheet.
Paid results will appear in mapping search and are clearly differentiated with a blue background, different icon and "sponsored links" label -- just like web search. However, the sponsored results do appear at the top of the list of map search results.
"The key thing here is you control your messaging," said a Google spokesman. "You get a huge branding opportunity, you get a great location element... at least 50% of search queries are of a local nature. You can take advantage of this and also stand out."
Google showed an example of Hertz located on a search for "car rental Melbourne", which included a Hertz special offer and logo appearing on the search result.
Paid results on Google Maps: Hertz has marked its territory in trademark yellow.
Google says it has already seen significant uptake of this kind of ad from advertisers. "Companies are taking this up at a very quick rate," he said.
Google working on integrating Australian public transport info
According to Google Maps' Carl Sjogreen, Google Australia is "actively looking for data in Australia" for Google Transit, which is a Google Labs product that provides public transport-based routing.
"We're somewhat dependent with local government agencies," he said.
"Some of them have expressed concerns about how frequently they can provide information to us so that it's accurate, so we're working on those issues."
However, Sjogreen said there were various websites that already provide public transport routing and that "mapplets is another great way to expose some of the existing transit routing sites in Google Maps."
Write reviews on businesses on Google Maps
Restaurant review: reviews have to be longer than a certain length as an anti-spam measure, according to Google.
Google is now allowing users to add reviews to any business or location listed on Google Maps.
However, it admitted that there is a challenge around defamation laws. Restaurants have been particualrly litigious
The challenge with reviews in general is it's hard for us to know in a one-off case whether it's a legitimate user or a competing business.
We have systems in place to stop widespread spamming of reviews, but we'll also look into complaints on individual reviews.
Google maps in cars and planes
According to Google Australia, BMW and Volkswagen are installing Google Maps and Google Earth into their cars, and Virgin America and JetBlue are also installing it into the back of their planes so that people can zoom in on the ground and see what exactly they're flying over.
Hi-res satellite imagery coming back to Australia: no APEC conspiracy
Google claims the disappearance of hi-res satellite imagery in Australia is not a conspiracy with the Australian government to protect the 21 world leaders, including US President George W. Bush, visiting Australia in September.
"It's a commercial issue with one of our photography suppliers," says Google Australia's Rob Shilkin. "We're really hopeful of getting high-res imagery for Sydney and other cities in Australia back up as soon as possible. I hate to ruin a good conspiracy theory, but that's the boring reality."
Source:www.apcmag.com
Google's Secret Formula
In the past 12 months, Google doubled its staff, tinkered with its search engine to speed up results, and now answers more queries than Microsoft and Yahoo combined. But there’s one query we had to answer ourselves: How does Google work?
Blame spell-check. Ten years ago this September, so the story goes, some Stanford grad students were helping Larry Page choose a name for his search engine. “Googolplex,” said Sean Anderson. (It means 1010100—they’d already sensed how big this could become.) “Googol,” Page replied. Anderson, checking to see if the name was taken, typed g-o-o-g-l-e into his browser and made the most famous spelling mistake since p-o-t-a-t-o-e. Page registered the name within hours, and today, Google isn’t a typo, it’s a verb, one with a market cap of about $160 billion. Here, then, is a guide to what happens during a typical Google search—now, of course, with automatic spell-check.
1. Query Box
It all starts with somebody typing in a request for information about the safest dog food, what time the D.M.V. closes, or what the prime rate is in China.
2. Domain-Name Servers
“Hello, this is your operator . . . ”
The software for Google’s domain-name servers runs on computers in leased or company-owned data centers all over the world, including one in the old Port Authority headquarters in Manhattan. Their sole purpose is to shepherd searches into one of Google’s clusters as efficiently as possible, taking into account which clusters are nearest to the searcher and which are least busy at that instant.
3. The Cluster
The request continues into one of at least 200 clusters, which sit in Google-owned data centers worldwide.
4. Google Web Server
This program splits a query among hundreds or thousands of machines so that they can all work on it at the same time. It’s the difference between doing your grocery shopping all by yourself and having 100 people simultaneously find one item and toss it into your cart.
5. Index Server
Everything Google knows is stored in a massive database. But rather than waiting for one computer to sift through those gigabytes of data, Google has hundreds of computers scan its “card catalog” at the same time to find every relevant entry. Popular searches are cached—held in memory—for a few hours rather than run all over again. That means you, Britney.
6. Document Server
After the index server compiles its results, the document server pulls all the relevant documents—the links and snippets of text from its massive database. How does Google search the Web so quickly? It doesn’t. It keeps three copies of all the information from the internet that it has indexed in its own document servers, and all those data have already been prepped and sorted.
7. Spelling Server
Google doesn’t read words; it looks for patterns of characters, be they in English or Sanskrit. If it sees your requested pattern a thousand times but finds a million hits for a similar pattern that’s off by one character, it connects the dots and politely suggests what you probably meant, even while it provides you the results, if any, for your fat-fingered query for “hwedge funds.”
8. Ad Server
Each query is simultaneously run through an ad database, and matches are fed to the Web server so that they’re placed on the results page. The ad team is in a race with the search team. Google vows to deliver all searches as quickly as possible; if ad results take longer to pull up than search results, they won’t make it onto the page—and Google won’t make money on that search.
9. Page Builder
The Google Web server collects the results of the thousands of operations it runs for a query, organizes all the data, and draws Google’s cunningly simple results page on your browser window, all in less time than it took to read this sentence.
10. Results Displayed
Often in 0.25 seconds or less.
Cluster Control
Google’s genius lies in its networking software, which helps thousands of cheap computers in a cluster act like one huge hard drive. Those inexpensive computers allow Google to replace parts without stopping the whole show: If a computer drops dead, there are at least two others ready to take its place while an engineer swaps out the busted machine.
Power Power
Just about the only thing limiting Google’s performance is how much electricity the company can buy. One of its newest data centers (code name: Project 02) is near the Columbia River in The Dalles, Oregon, which has access to 1.8 gigawatts of cheap hydroelectric power; not coincidentally, this is where major internet hookups from Asia connect to U.S. networks. The byte factory has two computing centers, each the size of a football field.
Petabytes
Based on the few numbers Google releases, experts guess that at least 20 petabytes of data are stored on its servers. But Googleytes are famous for understatement; Wired says Google may have 200 petabytes of capacity. So how much is that? If your iPod were just 1 petabyte (one million gigabytes), you’d have about 200 million songs to shuffle. And if you started downloading a petabyte over your high-speed internet connection, your great-great-great-great-grandchild might still be around when the last few bytes get transferred, in 2514.
Page Rank
Google decides how reliable a site is—and thus how important the site’s content will be when Google forms a list of search results—by considering more than 200 factors as it analyzes content. But the secret sauce is Google’s patented formula for following and scoring every link on a page to learn how different sites connect, which means a site is deemed reliable based largely on the quality of the sites that link to it.
Googlebots
Google deploys programs called spiders to build its copies of the internet. On popular sites, Googlebots may follow every link several times an hour. As they scour the pages, the spiders save every bit of text or code. The raw data are pulled back into the cluster, run through the mill, and scheduled to incrementally replace the older data already on the index and doc servers, ensuring that results are fresh, never frozen.
Source:www.portfolio.com
Blame spell-check. Ten years ago this September, so the story goes, some Stanford grad students were helping Larry Page choose a name for his search engine. “Googolplex,” said Sean Anderson. (It means 1010100—they’d already sensed how big this could become.) “Googol,” Page replied. Anderson, checking to see if the name was taken, typed g-o-o-g-l-e into his browser and made the most famous spelling mistake since p-o-t-a-t-o-e. Page registered the name within hours, and today, Google isn’t a typo, it’s a verb, one with a market cap of about $160 billion. Here, then, is a guide to what happens during a typical Google search—now, of course, with automatic spell-check.
1. Query Box
It all starts with somebody typing in a request for information about the safest dog food, what time the D.M.V. closes, or what the prime rate is in China.
2. Domain-Name Servers
“Hello, this is your operator . . . ”
The software for Google’s domain-name servers runs on computers in leased or company-owned data centers all over the world, including one in the old Port Authority headquarters in Manhattan. Their sole purpose is to shepherd searches into one of Google’s clusters as efficiently as possible, taking into account which clusters are nearest to the searcher and which are least busy at that instant.
3. The Cluster
The request continues into one of at least 200 clusters, which sit in Google-owned data centers worldwide.
4. Google Web Server
This program splits a query among hundreds or thousands of machines so that they can all work on it at the same time. It’s the difference between doing your grocery shopping all by yourself and having 100 people simultaneously find one item and toss it into your cart.
5. Index Server
Everything Google knows is stored in a massive database. But rather than waiting for one computer to sift through those gigabytes of data, Google has hundreds of computers scan its “card catalog” at the same time to find every relevant entry. Popular searches are cached—held in memory—for a few hours rather than run all over again. That means you, Britney.
6. Document Server
After the index server compiles its results, the document server pulls all the relevant documents—the links and snippets of text from its massive database. How does Google search the Web so quickly? It doesn’t. It keeps three copies of all the information from the internet that it has indexed in its own document servers, and all those data have already been prepped and sorted.
7. Spelling Server
Google doesn’t read words; it looks for patterns of characters, be they in English or Sanskrit. If it sees your requested pattern a thousand times but finds a million hits for a similar pattern that’s off by one character, it connects the dots and politely suggests what you probably meant, even while it provides you the results, if any, for your fat-fingered query for “hwedge funds.”
8. Ad Server
Each query is simultaneously run through an ad database, and matches are fed to the Web server so that they’re placed on the results page. The ad team is in a race with the search team. Google vows to deliver all searches as quickly as possible; if ad results take longer to pull up than search results, they won’t make it onto the page—and Google won’t make money on that search.
9. Page Builder
The Google Web server collects the results of the thousands of operations it runs for a query, organizes all the data, and draws Google’s cunningly simple results page on your browser window, all in less time than it took to read this sentence.
10. Results Displayed
Often in 0.25 seconds or less.
Cluster Control
Google’s genius lies in its networking software, which helps thousands of cheap computers in a cluster act like one huge hard drive. Those inexpensive computers allow Google to replace parts without stopping the whole show: If a computer drops dead, there are at least two others ready to take its place while an engineer swaps out the busted machine.
Power Power
Just about the only thing limiting Google’s performance is how much electricity the company can buy. One of its newest data centers (code name: Project 02) is near the Columbia River in The Dalles, Oregon, which has access to 1.8 gigawatts of cheap hydroelectric power; not coincidentally, this is where major internet hookups from Asia connect to U.S. networks. The byte factory has two computing centers, each the size of a football field.
Petabytes
Based on the few numbers Google releases, experts guess that at least 20 petabytes of data are stored on its servers. But Googleytes are famous for understatement; Wired says Google may have 200 petabytes of capacity. So how much is that? If your iPod were just 1 petabyte (one million gigabytes), you’d have about 200 million songs to shuffle. And if you started downloading a petabyte over your high-speed internet connection, your great-great-great-great-grandchild might still be around when the last few bytes get transferred, in 2514.
Page Rank
Google decides how reliable a site is—and thus how important the site’s content will be when Google forms a list of search results—by considering more than 200 factors as it analyzes content. But the secret sauce is Google’s patented formula for following and scoring every link on a page to learn how different sites connect, which means a site is deemed reliable based largely on the quality of the sites that link to it.
Googlebots
Google deploys programs called spiders to build its copies of the internet. On popular sites, Googlebots may follow every link several times an hour. As they scour the pages, the spiders save every bit of text or code. The raw data are pulled back into the cluster, run through the mill, and scheduled to incrementally replace the older data already on the index and doc servers, ensuring that results are fresh, never frozen.
Source:www.portfolio.com
VMware IPO to be biggest in sector since Google
US investors are preparing for what is likely to be the biggest technology listing since Google came to market, as VMware gears up to float 10pc of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company is one of the hottest software businesses in the world. It makes server virtualisation software, which lets users run a number of functions on a single server, improving its efficiency, meaning businesses require less hardware to do the same amount of work.
Data storage equipment company EMC, which bought VMware for $625m (£310m) last year, is selling 33m shares in the company. Last week, despite volatility in the global financial markets, it raised the projected price range for the IPO to $27-$29 a share, up from $23-$25.
At the mid-point, VMware would have an implied market value of around $10bn, putting it among the world's largest listed software companies.
Brent Bracelin, an analyst at technology-focused investment bank Pacific Crest Securities, said: "They will definitely achieve [the projected range]. It's a highly anticipated offering. This is one of the fastest growing companies in technology."
VMware has around an 80pc market share but the market itself is still small. Mr Bracelin estimates VMware software is installed on just 5pc of the world's 25m standardised servers, but says that could increase to 80pc.
It is thought virtualisation will become mainstream in 2009 and there are fears that its widespread adoption could hit server sales.
A number of major technology companies have already shown their interest in the company's growth prospects. Chip-maker Intel bought a 2.5pc stake in for $219m last month, and networking company Cisco Systems paid $150m for a 1.6pc stake.
Last month, VMware posted a 33pc increase in second-quarter net income to $334m on revenues up 21pc at $3bn. Its rivals include Microsoft and some smaller privately-owned companies.
The flotation comes in a period of extreme market turbulence. The Dow Jones fluctuated by almost 300 points last week. Yesterday it was up 44 points in afternoon trade at 13284.
Source:www.telegraph.co.uk
The company is one of the hottest software businesses in the world. It makes server virtualisation software, which lets users run a number of functions on a single server, improving its efficiency, meaning businesses require less hardware to do the same amount of work.
Data storage equipment company EMC, which bought VMware for $625m (£310m) last year, is selling 33m shares in the company. Last week, despite volatility in the global financial markets, it raised the projected price range for the IPO to $27-$29 a share, up from $23-$25.
At the mid-point, VMware would have an implied market value of around $10bn, putting it among the world's largest listed software companies.
Brent Bracelin, an analyst at technology-focused investment bank Pacific Crest Securities, said: "They will definitely achieve [the projected range]. It's a highly anticipated offering. This is one of the fastest growing companies in technology."
VMware has around an 80pc market share but the market itself is still small. Mr Bracelin estimates VMware software is installed on just 5pc of the world's 25m standardised servers, but says that could increase to 80pc.
It is thought virtualisation will become mainstream in 2009 and there are fears that its widespread adoption could hit server sales.
A number of major technology companies have already shown their interest in the company's growth prospects. Chip-maker Intel bought a 2.5pc stake in for $219m last month, and networking company Cisco Systems paid $150m for a 1.6pc stake.
Last month, VMware posted a 33pc increase in second-quarter net income to $334m on revenues up 21pc at $3bn. Its rivals include Microsoft and some smaller privately-owned companies.
The flotation comes in a period of extreme market turbulence. The Dow Jones fluctuated by almost 300 points last week. Yesterday it was up 44 points in afternoon trade at 13284.
Source:www.telegraph.co.uk
Google’s nine points of innovation
When you think about innovative companies, you’d be hard pressed to find one more notable than Google. On the outside, they are one of the leaders of search and advertising on the Internet. Behind the scenes, they are fueled by innovation.
While most companies keep their trade secrets, well, secret, Google is willing to broadcast its findings. The second day of Digital Signage Expo 2007 in May began with a power breakfast focused not on digital signage, but innovation. The speaker was Jim Lecinski, managing director for Google.
I can imagine the information was both eye-opening and welcomed by the digital signage professionals in attendance, most of who represented companies considerably smaller than Google. The presentation was comforting as it was informative, like a big brother giving his little brother advice as he enters high school.
Google’s innovations are seemingly endless, and obviously they’re doing something right. Lecinski broke down his company’s innovation strategy into nine notions. Each notion contains an important lesson that professionals from all parts of the digital signage and self-service spaces can learn from.
- Innovation, not instant perfection. Google believes in launching new products and ideas early and often, rather than trying to perfect those ideas behind closed doors before releasing them to the public. Then, customer feedback and popularity prove which projects are most successful.
- Share everything you can. Small teams that communicate openly have proved the best results for Google. They believe in transparency in the workplace so that everyone knows what everyone else is working on. (Scary, right?) They have a computer program where employees can look up names and see what others are working on, so if they have an idea to contribute they know who to talk to.
- You’re brilliant, we’re hiring. When Google interviews employees, Lecinski said they set the bar very high. They focus more on hiring generalists rather than specialists, as they have found generalists are more valuable and can contribute ideas to different parts of the company.
- Allow employees to pursue their dreams. Lecinski said Google allows its employees’ time in a 70/20/10 model. Seventy percent of the time they work on Google’s search and ad flagships; they develop new programs like Images, Desktop and Finance 20 percent of the time; and 10 percent of the time employees are allowed to pursue their own high risk/high reward projects. Lecinski said Google Earth is a result of one of those projects.
- Ideas come from everywhere. Sometimes Google turns to the public for new ideas. The Google mastheads, which are customized for holidays and events, are taken from non-employee submissions. One of the mastheads was designed by a 12-year-old girl.
- Don’t politic – use data. With all the ideas floating around Google, the best way to determine which may work is to use supportive data. As Lecinski said, “Data beats opinion.”
- Creativity loves restraint. Again, Google has to have some way to keep all of the employee-generated ideas streamlined towards the company’s goals. “Let people explore, but set clear boundaries for that exploration,” Lecinski said.
- Get users and usage – the money will follow. This goes back to one of Lecinski’s larger points, “respect for end users,” but is a principle to follow in any form of business. He says to focus on creating things that are innovative and useful for people, not something you can sell.
- Don’t kill projects, morph them. Google doesn’t waste ideas. Instead, they try to change and transform them into something the company finds useful.
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