VeriSign sues ICANN to restore Site Finder | CNET News.com --- I was at Overture when they developed this functionality for VeriSign (though wasn't directly involved). Both companies saw significant revenue potential given the number of failed consumer domain requests... and both anticipated strong pushback. But VeriSign is right -- is ICANN really the sanctioning body for these things?!
USATODAY.com - Toymakers high-five tech to drive sales: "Warner Bros. and Mattel, for instance, are teaming on a Batwave line of Batman toys programmed with features activated by 'video-encoded invisible light' to be encrypted in this fall's new The Batman TV series. 'Kids today can get bored quickly,' says Dan Romanelli, president of Warner Bros. Worldwide consumer products. 'You need to challenge them, engage them and empower them. This technology helps.'" ----- A little freaky, but very interesting technology... being able to activate behaviors in a remote device through invisibly encoded information in a broadcast stream... perhaps Dr. Phil will be able to lock and unlock your fridge in the future...
Yahoo! News - Greenspan Urges Social Security Cuts: "WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) urged Congress on Wednesday to deal with the country's escalating budget deficit by cutting benefits for future Social Security (news - web sites) retirees rather than raising taxes. " --- Fellow Gen-Xers, break out the lube, we're about to get hosed. Not only will we get to pay for the Baby Boomer's retirement through higher taxes (gov't cut spending?!), but we'll have to live to 80 to get 50% of what we were promised.
Social Security was a good idea poorly implemented. We need a major overhaul and soon.
The Blog Herald: More blog news more often: "NTT Data's Blog Service to Feature GPS Location Data Japanese telco NTT Data has announced that it will launch a new form of its free blog service, Doblog, for users of GPS-enabled cellphones on March 1. The two-week limited trial service will enable users to associate their blog entries with relevant location information. If, for instance, the user posts a message about a shop, the blog system will add the shop's location information. " --- Very interesting. The GPS trend continues to march on; a critical piece of meta data for all self-published content, be it photos or blog entries...
Danger to unveil prototype device | CNET News.com Hiptop is Danger's reference design for a combination cell phone and Web-browsing handheld device. --- I'd almost forgotten that Danger is predominantly focused on the backend and is building devices from a reference design perspective. That begs the question... is anyone else building off of their software/service backend?! Does the industry need a third solution (beyond MSFT and Symbian)?
The truth about offshoring | CNET News.com: "It is true that America has lost jobs in the last three years, and the technology sector has been harder-hit than many others. But the job loss has not been as huge as some politicians and news reports would have you believe. America's unemployment rate currently is around 5.7 percent, not especially high by historical standards, and among the lowest in the world. It's certainly the envy of France (9.3 percent), Germany (9 percent), and Canada (6.8 percent). Just as candlemakers and farriers lost their jobs a century ago, free trade results in temporary disruptions. But in the long run, free trade is vital to a society's overall health. In the 1990s, developing countries hostile to foreign trade experienced average growth rates of negative 1.1 percent per year, while developing countries that embraced freer trade enjoyed growth of positive 5 percent annually. " --- I'm heartened to see popular press outlets carrying more enlightened stories about the realities of job loss, free trade and the U.S. economy. I'm no longer naive enough to believe that the average U.S. citizen will read and understand what's being said... but at least there's some balance in the madness & spin.
Fed Officials Say Jobs on Way Eventually A chorus of Federal Reserve officials tried on Friday to reassure Americans that new jobs will emerge to replace the millions of jobs lost in recent years, but warned workers must add skills to stay competitive. --- I imagine it is extremely difficult to be on the receiving side of a statement like this... but THANK YOU Alan Greenspan for saying what the politicians won't -- you can't expect to be a widget maker forever. Eventually, the widgets will change or the technologies used to make the widgets will change. Either way, you must be prepared. Everyone's future lies in continuing education, be it formal, experiential or otherwise.
This is one of many reasons why President Bush is in trouble. On fiscal policy, he has not simply lost all credibility. With claims like these, he is right on his way to becoming the butt of jokes. And laughter and derision are in many ways the deadliest bogies in politics.
When the president came into office the budget surplus was over $200 billion. Now the deficit is over $500 billion.
Even my frail grasp of mathematics tells me that's a deterioration in the nation's fiscal health of roughly three-quarters of a trillion dollars in the three years he's been in office. And for almost all of that time the president's party controlled both houses of congress. --- First, let me state that I am not, nor do I intend to become, a Busy apologist. Like any other politician, his motivation is Power, and he's doing what he thinks is necessary to retain and grow his and his party's Power. Kerry, Edwards, Dean... will all do the same (though they may be able to do so with more grace than Bush has shown).
Second, let me remind you that the surplus you speak of came through the complete lack of business ethics that were allowed under the Clinton administration. This led to a significant governmental surplus... and an incredible decrease in many American's 401K plans. We're still cleaning up the Enrons, Worldcoms, Trust Funds, etc.
Third, GDP = C + I + G + XP, where:
C = consumer spending; Bush gave consumer's a tax cut so that they'd have money to spend. That, coupled with the multiplier effect, helps all of us
I = business investment, which Bush has stimulated by "encouraging" the Fed to hold the line on interest rates
G = government spending, which Bush has stimulated through foreign policy (i.e., Iraq war)
XP = net difference in foreign imports/exports, which Bush has stimulated by allowing the dollar to be devalued, making U.S. goods cheaper internationally (and making the U.S. a more desirable tourist destination, etc)
Yes, the deficit is big, and that's not a good thing. The alternative, however, may well have been a much harder landing, stagflation/disinflation (ala Japan), etc.
The U.S. learned a hard lesson during the Great Depression; our economy will not automatically right itself. Sometimes stimulus is necessary.
If you have a better economic plan, present it (and run for President).
Yahoo! News - Artificial Blood Tested Without Consent: "The study 'is another one along that slippery slope that's essentially demolishing your individual right not to become experimental subjects unless we give prior, voluntary, informed, comprehending consent,' said Vera Sharav, president of the New York-based Alliance for Human Research Protection, a group concerned with the safety of the millions of Americans who participate in medical research each year. " --- Of course, it would be an amazing thing to find a stable, universal blood substitute... but forcing seriously injured people into medical experimentation without their consent is WRONG. Is there no other way to evaluate this tech?
Knight Ridder Corporate Web site Recent promotions, reassignments and growth has created a slew of openings at Knight Ridder Digital (and our local affiliate sites). Jobs include:
VP - Real Cities Chief Technology Officer Director, Sales - Automotive & Real Estate (location TBD) Marketing Program Manager - Oversees KRD's Email Programs (San Jose) Creative Director (San Jose) Product Manager - Tools/Platform (San Jose) Project Manager - 2 positions (San Jose) Sr. Product Manager - Web Services Team (San Jose) MercuryNews.com Online Producer (San Jose) TwinCities.com Online Producer (St. Paul) Charlotte.com Sales Manager ContraCostaTimes.com Online Advertising Account Executive - Real Estate (Walnut Creek, CA) Star-Telegram.com Online Advertising Account Executive (Ft. Worth, TX) Herald.com Online Advertising Account Executive - Apartments.com (Miami)
Had a debate with a senior person in our org the other day around search and coverage. IMO, here's yet more proof that a) being indispensible is key, and b) coverage matters.
Ah, ya gotta love the Internet community. They discovered how to hack Pepsi and published it. Good thing Pepsi handled the "$1 Billion Dollar Giveaway" with more care.
Pioneer Press | 02/18/2004 | It's official: Barbie and Ken are Splitsville: "But Barbie and Ken really are splitting, says Russell Arons, vice president of marketing at Mattel. 'It wasn't that they had some screaming fight or anything,' Arons says. 'But Barbie felt maybe, after 43 years, it was time.'"
--- It'll be interesting to see where they take this brand, and how frequently they change out Barbie's male companions. Do little girls want multiple guy dolls for interacting with Barbie... or do they just want a variety to choose from?
Congrats to Apple on what looks like a successful product launch. I'll wait for 20GB for < $300 in the iPod Mini form-factor before jumping in though. Just not enough value in the equation for me... yet.
Innovation alive and well at Demo | CNET News.com: "Among the most impressive products was KeyComputing's Xkey, a USB-based device that turns any PC into a Microsoft Exchange client. Instead of carrying a laptop around, you could plug an Xkey into a home computer or a branch office and have a secure replica of your Outlook application. The Xkey is insulated from the client system, and has its own processor, database, applications server, Exchange client, security, storage, and SSL VPN. It's expected to ship in May for $300, with 256MB of flash storage. " ---
While all the bloggers are busy blogging about new blog tech (imagine that), there seem to be a number of other cool developments at this year's Demo. (Boy do I ever want to go to one of these shows.)
The xKey sounds very cool (I wish I knew what it looked like). I can imagine a variety of turnkey applications that I'd love to have keyring sized access to.
AP: Appeals court upholds do not call list. 'As a general rule, the First Amendment does not require that the government regulate all aspects of a problem before it can make progress on any front,' the appeals court said. The court also said there was no evidence suggesting charitable or political callers were as troublesome as general telemarketing calls. Maybe, but the law still seems to unfairly give political and charitable junk calls a leg up. Make all telemarketing opt-in, not just some of it. Meanwhile, the current law is rife with exceptions, and telemarketers are looking for ways to exploit the loopholes. In the end, Congress will have to revisit this law -- and make it a bit more bulletproof." --- It's interesting that so little seems to be written on the alternatives that businesses will undertake in order to continue to satisfy their customer acqusition needs.
Personally and high level, I suspect we'll see more self-service web interfaces, more SPAM and more search engine marketing as a result.
deeje @ BloggerJack: "Russell Beattie: Personalized Search ideas Russell's got a post about putting a registration-driven, personalized front end on the Google search API to build a service that takes your profile data--akin to FOAF--and then makes your search more 'relevant' in contextualizing it. In addition, the se [Susan Mernit's Blog: Navigating the Info Jungle] What if it took my weblog and personalized my search results based on that? Then I wouldn't need to fill out yet another registration form, and it woudl continue to be personalized as my interests morph over time :-)" --- It's interesting to see the initial struggles in identifying the "right" way to personalize search results.
It's important to recognize that the driver behind this (excluding search advertising economics), should be focused first on relevance, and perhaps second on coverage.
While I'm fully open to using collaborative filtering + social networking as a potential indicator of my interests, it seems like the initial feedback on Eurekster (social network collaborative front-end to search launched a couple weeks back) will hold for some time... that is, that group affinity and size will have a substantial impact on the currently implemented algorithms.
Let's use Deeje and I (whom one would assume would be good proxies given that we've been friends for a decade and are both deeply involved in tech) as a quick example. Deeje's searches on "Java", being more skewed to the development side, would likely focus on the development language or coffee (i.e., development fuel), whereas mine would lean toward vacation islands. In other words, social group affinity is not a clear filter for ambiguity.
Even the above doesn't hold. My daytime searches /would/ probably be about java development, web app servers, etc... whereas my night time searches might be vacation oriented. No wait, my daytime *weekday* searches would be development, whereas weekend searches... well, you get the point.
Determining a user's state of mind is a difficult thing. Blogs, registration data, purchasing data, social networks... all possibly important components, but none are *the* answer.
deeje.com: "It's time to buy a new car. The commute to Redwood City is taking its toll on the Jeep, and I don't need to be wasting the gas or the engine on it any longer. The requirements for this new car include: good gas mileage fit in garage easy to get J in and out of car seat automatic transmission Given these requirements, I'm looking at a small-body 4-door sedan, and definitely not looking at any kind of SUV/truck. My first choice would be a beemer, but the 3 series doesn't offer an automatic transmission. I hate commuting as it is, and I think having to drive stick in rush-hour traffic will make it less fun, not more. The Volvos look good, but they're actually too wide for my garage door. So now I'm seriously considering the Acura TSX, which seems to offer a nice balance of sporty performance with family functionality." ---- Ah, color me a tad green. I'm in a serious new car buying mood, but am holding off until the end of the year and calling it a graduation gift to myself! OF COURSE BMW 3 series cars have automatics -- they sell more of those than manuals, by a wide margin. Check out Edmunds.com (still my fav car site).
The Acrua TSX is nice; affordable, four seats, 200 horsepower. But as the owner of a 4 banger Honda (Prelude VTEC w/ 190HP), I can tell you that the power is peaky -- a very different ride than the BMW. Take a look at the TL while you're at the Acura dealer; 270HP, built-in bluetooth, excellent handling, and still in the $30K range -- currently my top choice...
Mars Internet Network is Successful the Search Engine Journal NASA and the European Space Agency released the news yesterday that they used an Interplanetary form of the Internet to send commands back and forth via their Mars network earlier in February. NASA added that “The communication sessions between Mars Express and Spirit were pristine. Not a single bit of data was missing or added, and there were no duplications.” --- I'll need to track down more details about this (hard for me to believe that they're using the TCP/IP standard we use here on Earth), but this is indeed great news... and seemingly a strong endoresement of open standards and loosely coupled systems architecture.
NewsFactor Network - - Onyx Lands Starbucks Deal --- KRD is constantly evaluating a number of vendors, and I must agree, vendor viability is a huge concern right now. It's tough to place a bet, even on a solution you love, if you think you're *actually* going to be digging through the code in the escrow account. It seems like this, more so than ROI positive opportunities, may be creating drag in the valley's economy.
SanDisk pictures memory cards for less | CNET News.com: "To date, many consumers buying new digital cameras have opted for single, higher-capacity memory cards. But by offering inexpensive memory cards at the stores consumers frequent and where they might already shop for film or process pictures, SanDisk hopes that it can inspire them to take large numbers of photos--using Shoot and Store cards. Then, as the product's name suggests, the company would like to see people using the cards as digital negatives of sorts, to permanently store images instead of downloading them to a PC." --- I don't know their market, but I simply don't see this as a product with a future. Why would I pay $15 for 50 pictures (at current rez) when I can burn a CD (commodity inclusion on PCs now) for < $1 (and 20 times the capacity)?!
Sony Ericsson: P900 --- Now we're talking integrated devices! While I'd prefer a Windows based machine, and would DEFINITELY prefer not to support Sony's misguided efforts in trying to make it's propriterary Memory Sticks a success... this is ONE HOT PHONE.
Google spurns RSS for rising blog format | CNET News.com: "'A good way to provide feedback to the Google people is to switch away from them,' Winer wrote on his site, citing a blogger who had suggested RSS supporters bolt from Blogger. 'Let them make the connection that the day they started playing unfair, is the day the users started moving away.'" --- Dave, I've read your musings for quite some time... from my PointCast days, and then on at Diffusion (where I worked and whose server software you used to distribute your newsletter for some time). And I must say... I think you've lost it here. The people who use Blogger, by and large, are unlikely to care and are unlikey to participate in a revolt. That's true because:
- Of who they are (not hard core techies, but people satisfied with a hosted solution) - Their data is logged in Blogger (with no easy way to export content) - Vendors like you have failed to provide a compelling alternative to the mainstream, non-techie audience
If you want to break Google's lock-in on Blogger users, you're going to need to do a lot more then simply firing off a call to arms. If you want their users, you best be prepared to fight for them.
Ultimately, I, and most other people, couldn't give a rats ass about RSS vs. Atom, provided that my needs are met; as a consumer app, it should be transparent to me.
P.S. I'm writing and hosting this through Blogger and will feed it to friends via Atom. I'd be nice to have RSS too, but not enough that I'd pay for it or ask my readers to. Still want me as a customer?
W3C recommends Semantic Web specs | CNET News.com: "'The Semantic Web is no longer a research project,' W3C representative Janet Daly said in an interview. 'With two foundational technologies becoming standards, and with testimonials from major industry players who are implementing RDF and OWL in enterprise-level applications, it's ready for prime time.'" --- Looks like it's time to start paying attention to the semantic web efforts now that the children have decided how to play together... the next big piece is FOF. Will the network be the medium? Will this kill aggregation as we know it? Time will tell...
Well, for the first time in a long, long time, I've taken a new job, without leaving my present employer! After 2.5 mths as a Business Mgr at Knight Ridder Digital, I've been asked to move to a Director, Strategic Marketing position full-time in order to concentrate on building out KRD's strategy 2-3 years out (across all existing and potential lines of business). Short of working at a VC firm, this is about the best possible outcome I could have wanted/expected from my transition out of Product Mgmt/Marketing. I'm stoked, scared, stressed, excited... well, you get the picture. At least now I'll get paid for keeping up with the Internet! ;)
While visiting Susan Mernit's blog today, I noticed that she was running Site Meter. I've often wondered how much traffic my blog actually gets (and where the heck it comes from), given that I get ~100-150 clicks a month to my consulting website (buzzhit) from my blog (shocking, I know). I've committed to blogging as a way to express my thoughts (more stream of conciousness than well considered most of the time), despite the fact that I figured no more than two or three people were reading it. That may turn out to be the case (yikes), but it'll be interesting to see what the numbers say.
Susan Mernit was kind enough to send me a personal invite to the SF Blogger dinner that she, my buddy Deeje Cooley and some other hip blog/media/search folks are pulling together in SF next week. I've been looking forward to meeting Susan for quite some time, and this seems like the perfect opportunity.
Tribe.net: View a Listing: "Title Knight Ridder Digital is in search of a MarCom Manager who can oversee Email Programs Message This position will be responsible for leading, training and supporting all local properties and sales teams to implement, maintain and execute email programs and campaigns. They will partner with Online Producers, Sales Reps, and the Ad Operations team to ensure top quality execution and the use of best practices to manage inventory and enforce business rules related to email. In addition, the MarCom Manager will have input on the development of optimization strategies for remnant inventory and future product enhancements. "
If you are interested in being part of a dynamic and hard working team, please forward your cover letter with salary requirements, and a current resume as a Word attachment to marketingjobs@knightridder.com for our review. Please include the job title AND location in the subject line. MENTION TRIBE & BUZZHIT!
TiVo watchers uneasy after post-Super Bowl reports | CNET News.com --- We all saw this one coming, didn't we? Tough spot for Tivo... they are sitting on a huge asset (customer behavior, trends, etc) that I'm sure they are hungry to monetize... but consumers hate this kind of stuff.
If they truly understood what personalization & data warehouses were saying about their overall online and credit card behaviors, they'd freak...
Yahoo! News - Mac, AOL PC Users Allowed Video Chats: "Apple users already can do instant messaging with AOL users, but using only text. The new iChat AV 2.1 version adds video conferencing support for AOL's latest version of its instant-messaging program, AIM 5.5, also launched Thursday. " --- Good for Apple (and AOL)! Interoperability is a key to Apple's future (as it has been for so long for its survival). Deeje, I'd be interested in giving this a shot to see how it compares to the MSN test I ran previously.
Crank it! iTunes sells sounds of silence--for real | CNET News.com: "Batt had initially vowed to fight the copyright claims and was quoted in press reports saying, 'Mine is a much better silent piece. I have been able to say in one minute what Cage could only say in four minutes and 33 seconds.' " ---
I haven't had a chance to talk with him about Good yet, but I think it's interesting that they are democratizing RIM's solution entirely through software. This seems like an obvious acqusition target by Palm or MSFT (leave it to Lev to find another quick path to cash).
NewsFactor Network - Apple - Controversy Erupts over Apple Safari Update --- Well, I certainly don't disagree that Apple has limited resources and can't guarentee compatibility with all previous versions of its software... but it sure does seem like they want their customers on the OS upgrade treadmill in a bad way if they can't support the OS they release **1** year ago.
Why 802.11 is underhyped | CNET News.com ---- Assuming Intel builds 802.16 (WiMax) chipsets with backward compatibility with 802.11b/g, I imagine that it will in fact become the standard. Moreover, with a 25 mile non-line-of-site range, it may, coupled with VOIP, be a disruptive technology to CDMA et al. (It may not replace cellphones near term, but the potential is out there.)
QRS - Job Listing --- Julie Schoenweiler at QRS emailed me today about a Sr Product Mgr (negotiable up to Director level) supply-chain-management product management position in Richmond. Looks quite interesting.
I've been getting ~2 recruiter contacts a week for the past month or so since relocating to SJ (though all my online resume listings, bios, etc have me as a consultant @ Overture). I've been ignoring them (not good from a networking perspective), as I've simply been too busy to deal with them.
Going forward, however, I think I'm going to post them to my blog for everyone else to enjoy - it'll help a friend (or friend of a friend) and the recruiter... and well, that's a start.
If FOF takes off, and RSS gets some structure, it may be possible to completely bypass aggregators (HotJobs, Monster, CareerBuilder et al) and use social networks & blogs as the direct medium for classifieds of all sorts. Jobs seem ripe for this.
Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Health / Science / Researchers identify a SARS antibody: "'This is really a proof of principle for responding to emerging infectious diseases,' said Dr. Wayne Marasco of the Dana-Farber, senior author of the paper, which appeared yesterday in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 'If the international community works together, it can make a serious dent in the [amount of] time it takes to develop protective treatments against these threats.'"
Deeje will be pleased... RSS/Atom finally comes to the BuzzHit blog, thanks to a recent upgrade of Blogger.
Personally, I'm mixed on this development, as it means no one will see the various links/resources that I hope to build out over the next several months... but I suppose it's better to be heard and not seen if the alternative is neither! ;)
: Martin Nisenholtz, the very smart and focused head of New York Times Digital, gave a visionary speech this week to the Information Industry Summit [via PaidContent] in which he says that media is awaiting its Pong, its application that unleashes something wholly new and with it a new creative class and a new industry. " ----- Deeje, would love your thoughts on this. Dan Gillmor covered it in his blog yesterday (didn't he take a break to watch the game)?
I agree with many of the comments on presentation architecture; "news" (and information in general) will become far richer in the future, not just through the integration of multiple medias (video, sound, text, pictures, etc), but also through the beginnings of annotation that we're seeing today (links w/ additional analysis, comments, etc), all of which is made richer by the multitudes of perspectives that people of various backgrounds might hold.
New creation, is, however, a different beast. We have an insatiable appetite for up-to-the-minute information on anything and everything. And while the multitudes can surely provide valuable first-person writing... if it is not their job to do so, they are unlikely to provide the continuity of coverage that your local professional media outlet does. That seems pretty key to me.
Analysis of online business and technology trends, including: Search and Directory, Digital Media, Social Networking, RSS, and E-commerce. Written by buzzhit!'sTony Gentile.
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