Twitter-licious?
What Is Twitter?
Twitter is the newest craze to hit the blogging and social networking world. It is a social networking site that allows users to send messages 140 characters long to friends who are on their Twitter friends list. Twitter resembles messaging applications like Yahoo! messenger because it allows users to communicate using short texts, called ‘tweets’.
Users can create a profile on the twitter website, invite friends to their friends list, and start sending their messages to the website via SMS and sending it to 40404. These messages will then be relayed to the people on their friends list. It is entirely up to you if you want to send a message to a hundred other people, or to ten.
If you are on somebody else’s friends list here’s the low-down on what you’ll be seeing (and often!). Every time your friend decides to send an update, these updates are instantly displayed on his site, and is sent to you, if your phone, email, browser, or IM service if you are one of the people who have signed up to receive his updates.
If you want to stop receiving updates on your phone, you can do this by keying in OFF and sending the message to 40404. You can turn Twitter ‘off’ if you are in habit of doing some messaging at specific hours of the day. Some people like to send messages at night, as a way to relax and unwind.
Twitter is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey. It was originally a research and development project of his start-up company Obvious LL in 2006. The service rose to popularity when it received the South by SouthWest Web Award in the blog category. By 2007, Twitter Inc., a separate entity from Obvious LLC, was born, with Jack Dorsey as its CEO.
What made Twitter so popular in so short a time is that it is a very simple and easy way to broadcast anything to your friends (and stalkers). It has often been referred to as micro blogging since you can only so much with 140 characters. Despite this, more and more users are seeing Twitter’s potential not only as a way to inform others about what you are up to, but also as a great marketing tool.
Twitter has been greeted by many with mixed reactions. Those who have been using social networking and messaging services see Twitter as one of the many start-up services that work exactly like the others before it. As of May 2007 there were 111 other sites that looked and worked like Twitter online.
Others say that Twitter is but another addition to the ties that are pulling us all closer together, which may be a good thing for some. Some people, however, think that services like this are already too much of a good thing, and that they can easily make us feel ‘too connected’ for our own good.
But despite this Twitter has a host of fans. Many blogs and social sites now have twitter plugins.
One could say it’s twitter-ific!
Game Time: Casual Games
Casual games are computer games designed for the vast majority of people of all ages and interests. Unlike Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORG), casual games do not involve complicated rules, high-end computer graphics, and heavy game set-up. The primary goal of MMORPG is to develop your character and interact with players. With casual games, goals are simpler and the graphics are mostly two-dimensional. Casual games do not require a lot of keys and functions to remember and majority of these games may be played with only the left button of your mouse.
You an see that casual computer games are computer simulations of games that we are already playing in the physical world: chess, Mahjong, Chinese checkers, sudoku, solitaire, pool, billiards, etc.
Casual games are divided in several genres: board games, puzzle games, action games, arcade games, strategy, word games, card games, and many more.
Common games that people know are snakes and ladders, chess, backgammon, scrabble, checkers, dominoes, solitaire, etc. One of the most familiar casual games portals is yahoo games. Many are familiar with iwin.com and bigfish which are other large casual game portal sites.
Goals for each type of game differ: solve a puzzle for puzzle games; form words for word games; complete a required action for action games like Dance, Dance Revolution.
It is widely accepted that the grandfather of all casual games is Solitaire released by Microsoft and this came free with their software Microsoft Windows in 1999. In the years that followed, Microsoft added new casual games like Spider Solitaire, Free Cell, and Minesweeper.
To date, there are thousands of casual games which you can download online. Many of these casual games are free for several minutes of trial and consumers are given the option to purchase the complete package if the game appealed to them. Many companies do not require any obligation for consumers to purchase the game for downloading the free trial version.
Pop Cap Games, a leading computer game developer, has made several casual games readily downloadable. The games are simple and are available in many different platforms and console. Casual games are usually played on a PC with a web browser. But with the advent of different consoles, it is now available for Mac, Xbox, Xbox 360, cell-phones, and even PDAs.
GDC (the Game developers conference) is an annual affair that involves top game industry professionals. It serves as the Mecca of game developers worldwide. Several sessions were held for this week-long activity in San Francisco last week and keynote speakers of leading game developers were present to share their ideas on the future of computer games.
Round table discussions were also part of GDC. There were expos, awards, lecture, and tutorials focused heavily on business management, computer programming, computer game design, and others.
Among the keynote speakers were: John Schappert, Microsoft Corporate Vice President. His session’s topic was A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community another was Ray Kurzweil, inventor & futurist with The Next 20 Years of Gaming. His session was held last February 21st, 10:30AM - 11:30AM in the same hall with John Schappert. Both speakers focused on the growth and importanct of Casual Games.
Most experts predict that casual game will eclipse the popularity of today’s MMO’s within a few years. The games are easier to play, cheaper and are geared towards those with less time to play per session.
Although it is hard to believe by the prices (often 2-3 bucks a game) when you look at the volumes of users big money is riding on the casual game market – and it is definitely a trend to keep an eye on in the coming years.
Online Movies - Are we there yet?
The recent surrender of HD-DVD in the latest format war has got us thinking about online video rentals - so we thought we’d review the options available today.
Streaming or downloading full movies instead of renting or buying physical media is nothing new. As happens time after time in the world of technology the real first adopters are the adult industry and the hackers/pirates. The adult movie folks have been providing video content only for years now. And we all know well that hacker-kids have distributed full dvds in online format for some time as well. If both these groups can handle it successfully why not the movie studios?
With the rise in popularity of Youtube consumers have grown familiar with online videos and the entire medium has gained market acceptance. Fears that studios once had over the customer acceptance of less-then-highest quality video have disappeared. Consumers bandwidth will only increase in the future allowing for higher quality.
Netflix: As part of the base netflix subscription all customers can watch unlimited movies online - free. Tough to argue with that deal. The biggest downside is the selection, of course the online library of movies are limited. Quality is above average and the program is very easy to use. As netflix offers more movies into this category it will have an even bigger market impact. We have to wonder when/if they will start charging for the service. Another challenge for Netflix is getting onto the TV and into the living room - not everyone is willing to watch movies on the PC or laptop. Watch for a partnership with Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony in the future. But right now it is the market leader for cost and ease of use.
Amazon Unbox: Amazon has been at this market for quite some time (opened in 2006). Unbox offers a wide selection of newly released and classics at near DVD prices ($14.99 for most movies) and rentals for lower cost (4.99 in most cases). Although the service received mixed reviews when it was released it has improved over time.
The videos can be played on about 20 handheld devices (again - big drawback if you can’t connect the PC to the TV). They’ve since partnered with Tivo to allow purchase of videos which can be sent directly to your living room Tivo system for review. Of course Tv shows are also available for those into that type of thing (who really buys and watches old tv episodes?!)
Apple - iTunes: When it comes to online media - iTunes is still the name we all think of first. Apple has made available movies for download since 2006. Of course they use the itunes market place and application to support the download service. The move catalog matches the size of Amazon’s and most physical rental stores. Pricing is equivalent to Amazon (about $14 a pop) with the edge going to Apple for ease of use. Naturally the advantage is apple’s in the device category as legions of iPod Video’s and Nano’s can show movies and tv shows purchased through itunes. Recently Apple released the AppleTV device (getting into your living room.. sound like a familiar theme?). It allows for move rentals (HD content too) as well as the rest of the itunes HTPC functionality - plugged into your TV of course. So far its received a bit of a lackluster response (for an Apple product that is) and we’ll hold our breath before we tell anyone to run out and buy one.
Comcast (ondemand): The biggest name in the video on demand cable industry - comcast leads the pack. One of the first cable companies to roll out on demand video (which comes free with their digital cable package). This competes with downloadable purchases and rentals head to head. Comcast has the advantage in many areas since they are already entrenched in the consumers living room, have market share and control much of the delivery. The ease-of-use factor cannot be dismissed either. Consumers have embraced the video on demand service in a surprising fashion and other cable vendors have been struggling to catch up.
Directv on demand: Directv is fighting to catch up to Comcast on the movie delivery/video on demand front. Their vod service is still in beta. The distinct disadvantage for Directv is not controlling the consumers broadband as Comcast does, meaning Directv VOD users must rely on their existing dsl/broadband to download video content to their DVR system.
Slingbox & Orb: Both worth a mention here as similar software packages and devices which allow for ‘place-shifting’ of video content. You can pull your recorded TV episodes from the living room and watch them on the cell phone, in the hotel room, or at work. Not mounting any big-time competition with the video rental/download services yet - but keep an eye on them. Either could provide a medium or means of easy distribution in the future.
None of these are set to overtake Blu-ray or DVD sales in 2008 - but with the delay in adoption of hidef movies caused by the format wars you can bet that they’ve gained traction.
You can bet your gold-plated dvd’s that downloads will overtake physical disc purchases by 2011.
Any comments or additions are welcome. We’ll be glad to update this as they come in.
Windows Home Server - Will consumers bite?
What Is Windows Home Server?
Once again the creative team at Microsoft sees a need and moves to fill it. The Windows Home Server system is the newest product in Microsoft’s attempt to further saturate the consumer market. Windows Home Server is a customized OS (built on the Windows 2003 Server Base) which runs on as a standalone (and headless) server.
The WHS system is marketed towards the non-technical user as a one stop solution to consumer needs such as nightly backups, file sharing and remote access. WHS was created to run autonomously and with very little end-user configuration. Install and go. The headless comment above refers to the fact that WHS does not require any keyboard or mouse input. All system management is done via a web browser to the pre-installed management console. It allows you to connect all of your home’s computers to one single computer functions as the main server for gathering data, virus checks, and backup duties.
Microsoft hopes to bring many of the functions of a small business or datacenter into the consumer home, with no knowledge or effort required. Microsoft has tried (with some success) to get into the consumers living room and out of their computer desk in the past (remember the WebPC) and of course the Xbox. Most of the big technology firms forecast large market share developing in home networked ‘appliances’ (sounds fancier then PC right?). Most see WHS as Microsoft’s latest attempt at winning a chunk of that market.
We’ll see if the consumers bite.
Who Can Benefit From It?
Anyone who has multiple PC’s in the home can benefit from Windows Home Server. Trying to share files, back files up or monitor virus activity across 4 or 5 different computers can be a chore if they don’t share the same network. WHS runs automatically and without user intervention. End-User Friendly (at least that is what we’re are told).
What Are It’s Features?
* File Sharing - now you can move files effortlessly throughout your home from computer to computer without using E-mail or some other clunky way of doing it.
* BackUp Files/Programs - Backing up files is a snap now because the Windows Home Server takes a ’snapshot’ of each connected computer’s hard drive and stores it; if that data is subsequently lost it can be quickly restored. Since this feature is automatic, you do not have to constantly back up your files manually. This is one of the main selling points of the WHS system.
* Recovery of mistakenly erased files/media via the Volume Shadow Copy Service - if you’ve ever mistakenly erased something and then wanted it back, you can recover it quickly with Windows Home Server.
* Remote Access from Inside the Home Or Outside - Not only can you access any computer on the network that is inside the home, you can access all the computers on the network from outside the home as well. Windows Home Server offers a SSL based interface that functions like a web browser. Just like logging onto a webpage on the world wide web, you can access your home’s computers from anywhere and download or upload data.
* Security Awareness - Windows Home Server can track the health of all the PC’s on the network, monitoring each PC’s virus status and the functionality of the firewall. It will alert you of any virus threat on any of the computers, or any attempts to compromise the firewalls.
* Centralized Printing/Fax/E-Mail services - With Windows Home Server, fitting files on a disk in one part of the house to take it to another part of the house to the PC connected to the printer/fax machine is a thing of the past. Now every PC in the house can send and receive printing jobs, faxes, and email all to one central location.
How Much Does It Cost?
That depends on if you want to buy just the Windows Home Server software, or buy it already loaded onto a central hub computer. Buying just the program on CD-Rom will cost you from $150 to $200 (depending on which retailer of course). When you go to Microsoft’s homepage regarding Windows Home Server and look to purchase it, they take you to this page:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/buy.mspx
There, they give you a list of 8 retailers who are mostly selling computers (ie. Appliances) to function as the central server with the Windows Home Server software already loaded onto it. You can buy the program separately, but you have to hunt for it. Microsoft seems to prefer you buy it already loaded onto a computer from one of their partner retailers.
Do I Have To Update/Upgrade All My Home’s Computer’s To Use Windows Home Server?
Nope. It’s built on the same codebase as Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. It will run on both Windows XP and Windows Vista OS’s. Windows Home Server requires no extra upgrades or purchases to run on your PC as long as you have a current XP or Vista installation.
What Are The Requirements To Run Windows Home Server?
You need to have the following minimum specifications to run the program:
* 1.0 GHz Intel Pentium 3 (or equivalent) processor
* 512 MB RAM
* 80 GB internal hard drive as primary drive
* 100 Mbit/s wired Ethernet
An Overview of Social Platforms and the OpenSocial Initiative
It seems that everyone today webpage that ends up being their own persona to the world. Be it a superstar athlete, a musician, an actress, or just some guy down the block, everyone seems to be connected and blogging on-line.
And anyone who is anyone has a Myspace or Facebook page these days to connect with their fans, their friends, or even nobody in particular. (60 Million active facebook users vs. 110 Million for myspace)
For the purposes of this article we’ll keep it simple and leave the discussion with the two giants in the industry.
Facebook made waves last year by opening their API to allow for user created 
facebook apps. This created a surge in popularity for Facebook, as well as a mini virtual market for small casual applications that run the gamut from trivia games to trivial time-wasters.
Myspace is rumored to announce their own custom application system in the very near future.
These changes have transitioned both myspace an facebook into more of a platform then just websites. The user base already existed in large (large) numbers, but now the content is much more engaging, customizable and dynamic. The social platform tempts advertisers as the holy grail of marketing, and users were hooked before they even knew it.
Of course Google couldn’t stand on the sidelines very long. Google’s OpenSocial is just the latest attempt to join in the fray of the white-hot social platform development trend. Launched in November 2007, Google released a collection of API’s built to work together and to standard the core and method which websites and services work and speak together.
You can think of Open Social as a similar initiative for social platforms as Open ID is for User IDS. While Facebook and MySpace got an initial headstart in launching the Social Networking revolution, Google has actually made large strides into the medium in just a few short months.
Since the launch, OpenSocial has gathered support from the likes of LinkedIn, hi5, XING, Friendster, Plaxo and Ning, among others to create a huge conglomerate of social networking sites and applications that are all now linking together to form one community that uses one standard for all the software applications used across it.
Facebook, with a reported 60 million users, doesn’t seem to be that worried yet since they believe their users are satisfied with the service and the applications and netware that run over it. Sooner or later, however, as OpenSocial and the network it is creating across the internet continues to build and gain size, the two will almost inevitably be forced to join together or clash over user bases that will be huge.
Google has already extended an olive branch according to some reports, and Microsoft, which owns Facebook, rebuffed their offer at a partnership.
As the recent Open ID initiative demonstrated last year, there is strong movement in the internet community to bring barriers down and let users bring a distinct digital identity with them wherever they go electronically. It remains to be seen if while users are beginning to enjoy seamlessly moving about the internet with one sole digital identity, if they will have any enthusiasm for a protracted trade war between two conglomerates determined to rule the internet social networking community.
Top Home Theater PC (HTPC) Options in 2008
For years now I’ve run a home theater system of my own to comfortable serve up movies, tv and music in the living room. I thought it would be a good idea to round-up of options for those of us looking to upgrade in 2008.
Note that I’m going to focus on the software solutions in this piece mainly - hardware can vary widely for each.
Let’s start with the basics - what is an htpc (home theater pc)? Basically any box that you can connect to a monitor/tv and use to listen to music, watch movies and tv shows. HTPC’s can be simple off the shelf units or highly customized systems. Most all htpc systems can be controlled via remote (who wants to get the keyboard out in the middle of the living room) and are powerful enough to play today’s mp3’s and compressed video.
The requirements for an htpc system can vary widely based on the users requirements. Personally mine is primarily used for movies and music. Many use the PVR functionality. Anything beyond those 3 focals is gravy. Many systems allow for checking weather, stocks, email, for showing movie listings, previews, etc.
But at the core if they can’t watch movies, play music and PVR .. they aren’t worth the time.
All of that needs to be simple enough to be controlled by a non-technical person and a remote control.
The litmus test for me is to have a group of non techie friends over - toss the remote to one and see how easy it is for them to flip thru my music collection or queue up a movie.
- Xbox (XBMC): The Microsoft Xbox is one of the most prevalent and common home theater systems. Openly developed software (XBMC) can be installed on the game system to transform it into a powerful htpc. Features include support for all major audio and video codecs, remote control, highly customizable, very easy to use. The biggest beneft to the Xbox Htpc is the prevelance of the Xbox system itself and the low cost. Very affordable and easy to find! PVR functions are a bit lacking.
- Vista/XP Media Center: The most common software package - especially on newer high end laptops (vista ultimate includes Vista Media Center). Many hardware vendors sell pre-installed systems that run XP or Vista Media Center OS. MCE can handle about any file type you throw at it. Windows Media player hanldes the audio and video library. Photo slides are a breeze to show in MCE as well. A pretty healthy community exists where you can find plenty of plugins and advice. Major drawbacks include no support for ogg vorbis, awkward musc interface and very little in the way of updates/changes (always waiting for Microsoft to update).
- Myth : Myth is an open source Linux package most often prebuilt with an OS customized to be used exclusively for htpc. Myth’s strength was originally PVR functionality but has grown over the years into a full fledged htpc system. The open source community is very active and it is easy to find support and asssistance when using. Since the active user base is so large there are plenty of customizations to be found as well. Negatives include some knowledge of linux, hardware support isn’t quite as easy to come by as some of the other systems.
- MediaPortal: The small guy in the group. Media Portal is a windows based Open Source htpc engine. The effort started out rather small with limited support and has picked up momentum in the last year. A moderately active community help in setup and plugin/customizations. New Media Portal II version should be released later in 2008. Main advantage Media Portal has over the others - free and easy to use.
- Meedio/Meedios: Meedio was the engine for my personal htpc system before Yahoo acquired them. It was similar to Media Portal above - with plenty of plugins and helpful users. After the yahoo purchase the product was killed off. A small community began talk of launching a replacement - Meedios - it seems yet to be released.
- Others: Xlobby, Freevo, SageTV, BeyondTV, GB-PVR. All range from non-free products to dedicated pvr systems. Worth a look if you don’t mind spending some time tweaking and customizing.
| System |
Cost |
OS |
PVR |
Notes |
| Xbox (XBMC) |
Free |
Xbox |
NO |
|
| Vista/MCE |
99.00+ |
Windows |
YES |
|
| Media-Portal |
Free |
Windows |
YES |
|
| Meedio |
69.00 |
Windows |
YES |
Off the market |
| Xlobby |
Free |
Windows |
YES |
|
| Freevo |
Free |
Linux |
YES |
|
| SageTV |
79.95 |
Linux/Windows |
YES |
|
| BeyondTV |
69.99 |
Windows |
YES |
|
| GB-PVR |
Free |
Windows | YES |
|
Technology: How has it affected the 2008 Election
For the first time ever, all of the major candidates have teams in their respective camps who’s sole job is to reach voters through the internet and other emerging technologies.
The vital key for any major is name and face recognition. That’s why whenever election time rolled around you ended up driving or walking by countless signs that said “Vote for [Insert Name Here}!!!” in big bright letters, often accompanied by a picture of the candidate.
The theory being even if you know nothing about that candidate or where he stands on the issues, if you recognize his name and his face, but his opponent is a stranger to you, you are more likely to give your vote to the recognized candidate.
Politics is the ultimate people person job. To get the job you have to make a large amount of people in the county, state, or country think favorably of you. That means making personal contact with them. Or at least looking like you’re trying to.
During the past century developments in mass communication technology had a direct impact on the American political process in many ways. The advent of radio and television meant that public figures could suddenly have audiences in the millions, not just the thousands. This drastically changed the manner in which candidates ran for office. Instead of variety of ‘whistle stops’ along a campaign trail where people had to be interested enough to travel to where the candidate was speaking, now they could hear and see the candidate talking about his views right in the comfort of their own home.
Political handlers and power brokers immediately seized on the advantage that TV and Radio could give them in presenting their candidates to the public. Especially live television, seeing and hearing the person in real-time, giving statements and answering questions, was far better than meeting with mass crowds and attempting to shake a few hands and pat a few backs. Meeting a candidate in person was often a chore, involving travel, and even then most people could only directly see the candidate for a few moments. With TV and Radio, now they could see the candidate up close, and hear him or her talk at length. This exponitially increased both name and face recognition with potential voters.
As the new century has dawned, technological innovation has continued at a rapid rate. In just the last 8 years the internet has come to play a key role in elections in this country. Just in the area of political discourse, the internet has made great contributions; organizations such as MoveOn.org and RealClearPolitics.com have provided a forum for people to discuss their ideas and strategies. Political sites such as The Daily Kos and Free Republic can get over a million visits from readers in a day, many of whom engage in debate and the sharing of ideas.
It used to be that town hall style meetings would have to be held to get together like-minded citizens to organize a political effort. Today all you need is a website and an e-mail address and you can organize an internet ‘town hall’ meeting that spans the country in the thousands, if not the millions.
In this year’s Presidential Elections, each candidate is well aware of the impact successfully conveying their ideas and personality across mass media is going to affect their chances of getting elected. Now they not only have to craft messages for the TV and the Radio; they also must construct ads and make appearances for interviews on websites that appear only on-line.
The speed of information plays such a dramatic factor in the present day elections that each and every statement made by a candidate must be carefully weighed. Within a matter of minutes a picture or soundbite from even the smallest town, college or remote location can be picked up and seen by millions online. Every debate and conversation analyzed by thousands of bloggers, and every nuanced guesture critiqued by the masses.
Many would say that this truly does bring the elections towards a truer form of democracy - where the ’every-man’ gets a chance to weigh in and make a fact based decision on each candidate (if they desire to do so).
Others believe that the parity seen in recent elections (2000-2004) is a result of the mass of information which is readily available and will continue to be the trend. Perhaps in past years whistle-stops, name recognition and/or a debate or two were enough to insure a landslide. Now millions of Americans watch every move and listen to every word. No matter the policitcal stances taken the pure amount of communicatino and information available may be bound to create a close election result.
Whoever wins in the elections this year, you can be sure they will give lots of credit for their victory to those campaign workers who dealt with internet media presentations and advertisements, their PR management team who handled the constant barrage of critisicm from the bloggers and their writers for keeping each and every campaing stump clear from danger.
Open ID: the basics explained
Yahoo Moves To Support The Open ID Initiative - What Does It Mean For Internet Users?
With more people accessing the internet now while away from home and their PC’s via laptops, cell phones, and other emerging technologies, someone has figured out a way to streamline and speed up the sharing of information even further.
With the new ‘Open ID Initiative’, consumers can now log onto all their favorite websites without having to use a bunch of different user names and a bunch of different passwords.
This speeds up the transfer of information even for those users who use the same screen name and password for all their websites and still have to pause to type in the information and wait for it to be acknowledged.
What Is Open ID?
Open ID is the creation of a single digital identity for a user on line that is used across all websites and across all platforms. Be it a tabletop PC, a laptop, a phone or wireless device, anything it can access it can access without having to officially log in with the user having to type out a name and a password. All the websites and services will recognize the Open ID user instantly without requiring any more information.
You simply type in a single universal user name and password through an Open ID Initiative Provider such as Yahoo, and the feature will automatically log you into any website that you have visited in the past that required a screen name, a password, or both. You don’t have to pause and type in different or the same information over and over again.
Still in the process of being adopted across the internet, the Open ID Initiative got a huge boost when Yahoo announced it is adding Open ID to it’s service.
The best thing about Open ID is that it never goes out of date and it never expires. Many websites and services will allow you to be logged in automatically for a week or more, but then the term expires and you have to enter the information again.
Not with Open ID. The moment the website comes up it recognizes you instantly and you’ll never be confronted with another ‘Please Log In’ page.
Who Needs Open ID?
Someone who hardly ever goes on-line or only visits a handful of websites probably doesn’t. But anybody who is frequently on-line and visits many different sites and shares or retrieves information often could certainly use it.
Without Open ID, if you wanted to send an e-mail of a picture to a friend’s cell phone from your own cell phone, you would have to:
Log on to your phone service’s internet access feature
Log on to the photo-sharing site where you stored the picture;
Log on to your e-mail service’s website
Send the picture.
That’s 3 times you had to pause and type in a user name and a password.
With the Open ID feature, you open up your phone service’s internet access feature and it instantly recognizes your identity, so there’s no pause to enter any information. You click to go to the photo-sharing site and it also instantly allows you access. Finally you click onto your e-mail service and it too instantly allows you in. You didn’t have to pause and type anything, and the entire process is speeded up dramatically.
Who Owns Or Profits From Open ID?
Nobody and no one. To quote the founder of the Open ID Initiative, Brad Fitzpatrick:
“Nobody should own this. Nobody’s planning on making any money from this. The goal is to release every part of this under the most liberal licenses possible, so there’s no money or licensing or registering required to play. It benefits the community as a whole if something like this exists, and we’re all a part of the community.”
Open ID was created to meet a need that was seen in the internet community, and as such it’s creators want that community to have full access to it. To allow any particular service to charge for the feature or for one entity to claim ownership of it would by nature raise restrictions, which is what the founders of the Open ID Initiative are working diligently to avoid.
Who Supports Open ID?
At present there are over 10,000 websites that respond to this feature.
You can quickly see which internet sites are presently Open ID enabled by checking out the directories found here:
https://www.myopenid.com/directory
The list of websites that are Open ID enabled is growing by the day, so check the directories often.
How Can I Get An Open ID?
Getting an Open ID is fast and easy. Simply log on at the following link to find a list of Open ID providers:
Get an Open ID today and enjoy the benefits of never having to stop and type another password to get into your favorite sites!
Music Download Services Choices for 2008 (follow-up)
In the news this morning Yahoo announced they would be selling the yahoo unlimited music service to Rhapsody.
Since we just did the 2008 Round-Up of Download services I thought we’d let everyone know.
Mid-year 2008 existing Yahoo users will be allowed to migrate their music collections to Rhapsody.
No word yet if existing users will continue to pay the lower 8.99 / month pricing or if they will immediately be upped to 12.99.
I’m also a bit curious how Yahoo will handle the 1 and 2 year commitments (I signed up for the 2 years for 75 promo last year - we’ll cross our fingers and hope they hold to their bargain).
We’ll update as we hear more - I’ve always heard good things about the rhapsody service but its a shame for consumers anytime we lose an option.
I have to think some of this is based on the profitability in question fo the music services - as competition mounts from fee-free services (pandora, last.fm, etc) the subscription services will have a tougher time.
Are Big Changes Coming To EBay?
January 23rd was a big day at EBay; Whitman publicly announced her coming departure, and the EBay Board of Directors voted unanimously to appoint John Donahoe to replace her.
Donahoe has been in charge of EBay’s Marketplace Business Unit since March 2005. In the 3 years since he arrived the revenue and profit of the unit, which accounts for more than 60% of the service’s total earnings, has more than doubled.
No stranger to management, he sits on the Board of Trustees for both the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Dartmouth College.
He’ll need to hit the ground running, as Whitman doesn’t leave small shoes to fill. How effective has she been at what she does? Time Magazine called her one of the world’s most influential people, which isn’t surprising when you take into account Forbes Magazine listing her estimated worth at $1.4 billion last year.
Since becoming CEO of EBay in March of 1998, Whitman guided a small company headquartered in San Jose California with less than 50 employees into an international phenomenon that today runs a global business consisting of over 11,000 employees and earned net revenues of $7.67 billion in 2007.
Talk about having a full plate. Not only has Whitman been managing EBay into an international corporate giant the past decade, she’s also on the Board of Directors for Proctor & Gamble as well as DreamWorks Animation, the movie studio responsible for such hits as Shrek and it’s sequels, Over The Hedge, Madagascar, The Prince of Egypt, and Chicken Run. In fact, before she ever worked at EBay she made her way up to management through both Proctor & Gamble and the Walt Disney Company.
Whitman will remain as a member of EBay’s Board of Directors.
Seeking to allay concerns over the change of management, Whitman released a statement to the press, in which she commented: “During
the last three years, John and I have worked very closely together to arrive at this day, and we’ll continue to work together through the transition. I’m extremely confident in John’s skills and the abilities of John’s veteran management team. eBay and its millions of users are in great hands as they head into the future.”
Why would the highly successful CEO of a company that earned gross revenues of over $7,000,000,000 in the last year suddenly decide to step down?
Such a move makes sense now because it’s hard to see how EBay could go anywhere but down from the plateau to where Whitman has guided it. Several sources mention rumors that the reason Whitman is stepping down now instead of later is because she intends to run for Governor of California in 2010. Two years would give her plenty of time to build up her political machine and prepare to run as a candidate.
What does all this mean for people who depend on EBay’s services? Can EBay buyers and sellers expect any changes to the on-line auction house giant now that there has been a change of CEO’s?
The only changes Donahoe has discussed publicly thus far were experimenting with new pricing frameworks that would cause more of the items listed on EBay to be purchased for a fixed price rather than from bidding on auctions. He also mentioned dropping the rates charged to to the sellers for listing their items on EBay’s website.
These changes may not be welcomed by Ebay investors as warmly as sellers. But in the eyes of the users they should be welcome. In recent years ebay consumers (both buyers and sellers) have bridled over cost increases and fees. The user base has degraded a bit due to these increases. Combine these losses with the missteps made by management in buying Skpye (which Ebay is rumored to be shopping to buyers) and it becomes clear that some change is needed.
Both moves seem geared to increase consumer use of the service, as buyers can be confident in obtaining an item being offered for a fixed price since no one can log in at the last minute and outbid them as the auction is expiring, and lowering the rates for listing items for sale will encourage regular sellers to post even more items with the service.
Several market watchers noted that EBay didn’t show the same robust growth after the aqquisition of Skype, an internet telephone service for which there were high expectations.
Looking at the growth the company has enjoyed the past 10 years, other market observers think after such long, dramatic growth such a dip in profit is nothing to be concerned about.
Taken as a whole, Whitman has handed off a company to her successor that has been outstandingly successful, and based on what he’s done in the short time he’s been there, there’s no reason to expect any major changes or negative impact from this development.
-
Recent Posts
- And pigs flew too: DRM-free songs from iTunes soon?
- Yahoo! CEO to step down, and leave a big mess behind
- Black Friday is coming, but are the deals what people are hoping for?
- Seven years for a patch? Say it isn’t so, Microsoft
- PC Makers, the Economy, and who will survive (and thrive)
- “Vista Capable”? Well, not quite…
- Reports: Windows 7 may not improve performance much
- iPhone 2.2 Firmware Update may be out on the 21st of November?
- Circuit City files for bankruptcy: And so the wheel turns
- MGM first to post feature-length films to YouTube
-
-
-