Innovation Technology

Google Favicon

2008-06-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
6/06/2008 05:48:00 PM
Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience, and Micheal Lopez, Web Designer

You may have noticed that Google has a new favicon, the small icon you see in your browser next to the URL or in your bookmarks list. Some people have wondered why we changed our favicon -- after all, we hadn't in 8.5 years(!). The reason is that we wanted to develop a set of icons that would scale better to some new platforms like the iPhone and other mobile devices. So the new favicon is one of those, but we've also developed a group of logo-based icons that all hang together as a unified set. Here's the full set:

The design process we went through was rigorous and interesting, so we thought we would share more of it here. We tried in total more than 300 permutations. It was much harder than we thought at first. We wanted something distinctive and noticeable, so we aimed toward transparency or semi-transparency, so the image would have a more distinctive noticeable shape than just a block. We wanted something that embraced the colorfulness of the logo, yet wouldn't date itself. Since we don't really have a symbol that means Google, we felt it best to work with the logo and letters within it. Our design team tried literally hundreds of approaches. You can see some of our explorations here.

By no means is the one you're seeing our favicon final; it was a first step to a more
unified set of icons. However, we really value feedback from users and want to hear your ideas that we may have missed. If you have your own notions about the Google favicon, please send them to us. We'll do our best to work them in, and maybe your idea will be the one that people see billions of times per day.

MS TouchWall

2008-05-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is keeping sure that their revenues never goes down in near future, as young dudes (google) are hogging the llimelite every time and money speedingly. Bill and Steve are making thier bets on the area where huge money needs to put in Rnd and which the young guys not afford to spend money at time right now. In simple words Google tries to find out the new breakthrough in internet where as Microsoft trying to sweep new obvious markets.
If you have MS stock you can safely hold this for next 10 years :).

Third Time Lucky

2008-05-09T00:21:00.000-07:00

Swan Fanning's "Rupture", a High end Computer gamers Social Networking web site, is acquired by Electronic Arts for $30Million. Now this is the same who created "Napster" the online music files sharing application which changed the whole music industry . On his third attempt he got money as first two attempt fails to create money for him and led to Bankruptcy.
Fanning's friend and confounder of Napster Max Levchin also founded couple of firms later on which the most successful PayPal and Slide are the ones.

Adobe’s Open Screen Project: This is we all all devs wanted!

2008-05-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Adobe is making Flash a viewing environment not only for Web apps on your PC, but also on mobile phone, your TV, and any other screen you can think of. Adobe Announces the Open Screen Project to make it easier to develop applications across devices—using Flash, of course. David Wadhwani, general manager of Adobe’s platform business (which includes Flash/Flex, AIR, and Cold Fusion), says:

We believe it is time for an industry-wide movement for a consistent way to develop across the Web for PCs, mobile devices, and TVs.

To help the project along, Adobe is:

1. Opening up the runtime to its Flash player for the first time so that anybody can create their own customized player. Specifically, it is going to open up the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications.

2. Removing licensing fees for Flash on mobile devices. While Flash is free on PCs, cell phone makers and other device manufacturers must pay a royalty fee.

3. Publishing the APIs for porting Flash to other devices. This currently also incurs a royalty fee. By opening it up, there is no reason why every device shouldn’t come with Flash pre-installed.

4. Publishing Adobe protocols for pushing content to devices like Flash Cast and AMF.

Read This
http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/

Is Keyword Search About To Hit Its Breaking Point?

2008-04-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

Is the Web swells with more and more data, the predominant way of sifting through all of that data—keyword search—will one day break down in its ability to deliver the exact information we want at our fingertips. In fact, some argue that keyword search is already delivering diminishing returns—as the slide above by Nova Spivack implies. Spivack is the CEO and founder of semantic Web startup Radar Networks and is pushing his view that semantic search will help solve these problems. But anyone frustrated by the sense that it takes longer to find something on Google today than it did even a year ago knows there is some truth to his argument.

internet-user-chart-tiny.png“Keyword search is okay,” he says, “but if the information explosion continues we need something better.” Today, there are about 1.3 billion people on the Web, and more than 100 million active Websites. As more people pile on, the amount of information on the Web keeps growing exponentially to accommodate all those seekers, and they themselves feel compelled to put their own personal and social information onto the Web as well.

At a certain point, with billions and billions of Web pages to sift through, keyword search just won’t cut it anymore. It’s a needle-in-the-haystack problem, with the haystacks just getting bigger and bigger every second.

Spivack explains:

Keyword search engines return haystacks, but what we really are looking for are the needles . The problem with keyword search such as Google’s approach is that only highly cited pages make it into the top results. You get a huge pile of results, but the page you want—the “needle” you are looking for—may not be highly cited by other pages and so it does not appear on the first page. This is because keyword search engines don’t understand your question, they just find pages that match the words in your question.

So how do we get beyond keyword search and Google’s PageRank? There are many approaches being tried: social search, tagging, guided search, natural-language search, statistical methods, open search, semantic search, and (way out there) artificial intelligence. They all have their problems. Tags are too messy and inconsistent. Natural-language requires too much computing power, is difficult to scale, and doesn’t deal with structured data well. Semantic search is perhaps the most promising, but it essentially requires every single Webpage to be re-written.

Domain Names owned by Google

2008-04-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Below doc shows the Domain Names owned by Google, I think mostof them are for future but some of them might related to the Past like
* ebay-google.com
* googlewarnerbros.com

Google stats about "Britny Spreas" :)

2008-04-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

The data below shows some of the misspellings detected by Google's spelling correction system for the query [ britney spears ], and the count of how many different users spelled her name that way. Each of these variations was entered by at least two different unique users within a three month period, and was corrected to [ britney spears ] by Google's spelling correction system (data for the correctly spelled query is shown for comparison).

488941 britney spears
40134 brittany spears
36315 brittney spears
24342 britany spears
7331 britny spears
6633 briteny spears
2696 britteny spears
1807 briney spears
1635 brittny spears
1479 brintey spears
1479 britanny spears
1338 britiny spears
1211 britnet spears
1096 britiney spears
991 britaney spears
991 britnay spears
811 brithney spears
811 brtiney spears
664 birtney spears
664 brintney spears
664 briteney spears
601 bitney spears
601 brinty spears
544 brittaney spears
544 brittnay spears
364 britey spears
364 brittiny spears
329 brtney spears
269 bretney spears
269 britneys spears
244 britne spears
244 brytney spears
220 breatney spears
220 britiany spears
199 britnney spears
163 britnry spears
147 breatny spears
147 brittiney spears
147 britty spears
147 brotney spears
147 brutney spears
133 britteney spears
133 briyney spears
121 bittany spears
121 bridney spears
121 britainy spears
121 britmey spears
109 brietney spears
109 brithny spears
109 britni spears
109 brittant spears
98 bittney spears
98 brithey spears
98 brittiany spears
98 btitney spears
89 brietny spears
89 brinety spears
89 brintny spears
89 britnie spears
89 brittey spears
89 brittnet spears
89 brity spears
89 ritney spears
80 bretny spears
80 britnany spears
73 brinteny spears
73 brittainy spears
73 pritney spears
66 brintany spears
66 britnery spears
59 briitney spears
59 britinay spears
54 britneay spears
54 britner spears
54 britney's spears
54 britnye spears
54 britt spears
54 brttany spears
48 bitany spears
48 briny spears
48 brirney spears
48 britant spears
48 britnety spears
48 brittanny spears
48 brttney spears
44 birttany spears
44 brittani spears
44 brityney spears
44 brtitney spears
39 brienty spears
39 brritney spears
36 bbritney spears
36 briitany spears
36 britanney spears
36 briterny spears
36 britneey spears
36 britnei spears
36 britniy spears
32 britbey spears
32 britneu spears
29 britent spears
29 brittnany spears
29 britttany spears
29 btiney spears
26 birttney spears
26 breitney spears
26 brinity spears
26 britenay spears
26 britneyt spears
26 brittan spears
26 brittne spears
26 btittany spears
24 beitney spears
24 birteny spears
24 brightney spears
24 brintiny spears
24 britanty spears
24 britenny spears
24 britini spears
24 britnwy spears
24 brittni spears
24 brittnie spears
21 biritney spears
21 birtany spears
21 biteny spears
21 bratney spears
21 britani spears
21 britanie spears
21 briteany spears
21 brittay spears
21 brittinay spears
21 brtany spears
21 brtiany spears
19 birney spears
19 brirtney spears
19 britnaey spears
19 britnee spears
19 britony spears
19 brittanty spears
19 britttney spears
17 birtny spears
17 brieny spears
17 brintty spears
17 brithy spears
17 brittanie spears
15 brinney spears
15 briten spears
15 briterney spears
15 britheny spears
15 britneny spears
15 brittamy spears
15 brittmey spears
15 brytnei spears
15 btirney spears
15 rittney spears
14 brinet spears
14 britneyy spears
14 britten spears
12 beritney spears
12 bretiny spears
12 briatny spears
12 brieney spears
12 brinany spears
12 britaany spears
12 britan spears
12 britine spears
12 britnea spears
12 britnes spears
12 britnez spears
12 britnny spears
12 brittenay spears
12 brittneys spears
12 brittony spears
12 brteny spears
12 btitany spears
12 btittney spears
12 btriney spears
12 btritney spears
12 rittany spears
11 braitney spears
11 brettney spears
11 britamy spears
11 britery spears
11 britnary spears
11 brittent spears
11 bruttney spears
11 pritny spears
10 bitaney spears
10 brenty spears
10 bristney spears
10 britay spears
10 britinny spears
10 brittaany spears
10 brittanys spears
10 brittini spears
10 brittniy spears
10 brtieny spears
10 brutany spears
9 bitteny spears
9 brinttany spears
9 britanay spears
9 britinany spears
9 britn spears
9 britnew spears
9 britneyn spears
9 britrney spears
9 brtiny spears
9 brtittney spears
9 brtny spears
9 brytny spears
9 rbitney spears
8 birtiny spears
8 bithney spears
8 brattany spears
8 breitny spears
8 breteny spears
8 brightny spears
8 brintay spears
8 brinttey spears
8 briotney spears
8 britanys spears
8 britley spears
8 britneyb spears
8 britnrey spears
8 britnty spears
8 brittner spears
8 brottany spears
7 baritney spears
7 birntey spears
7 biteney spears
7 bitiny spears
7 breateny spears
7 brianty spears
7 brintye spears
7 britianny spears
7 britly spears
7 britnej spears
7 britneyu spears
7 britniey spears
7 britnnay spears
7 brittian spears
7 briyny spears
7 brrittany spears
7 brttiney spears
7 btiteny spears
7 btrittany spears
6 beritny spears
6 bhritney spears
6 birthney spears
6 breathney spears
6 breaty spears
6 bretany spears
6 briatany spears
6 brint spears
6 britenney spears
6 britian spears
6 britinty spears
6 brititney spears
6 britnsy spears
6 britrey spears
6 britsny spears
6 brittine spears
6 brittnry spears
6 brittsny spears
6 brtanny spears
6 brtittany spears
6 bruttany spears
6 brytany spears
6 btitny spears
6 pretny spears
6 ritany spears
5 bbritany spears
5 bbrittney spears
5 biitney spears
5 bitny spears
5 breathny spears
5 breney spears
5 brethney spears
5 brettny spears
5 bridny spears
5 brigney spears
5 briittney spears
5 brinaty spears
5 brinay spears
5 brinetty spears
5 brinitty spears
5 brinny spears
5 brintery spears
5 britary spears
5 britbney spears
5 brithany spears
5 britieny spears
5 britiey spears
5 britnt spears
5 britnys spears
5 britrny spears
5 brittenny spears
5 brittnee spears
5 brittnt spears
5 brney spears
5 broitney spears
5 brotny spears
5 bruteny spears
5 btiyney spears
5 btrittney spears
5 gritney spears
5 spritney spears
4 bittny spears
4 bnritney spears
4 brandy spears
4 brbritney spears
4 breatiny spears
4 breetney spears
4 bretiney spears
4 brfitney spears
4 briattany spears
4 brieteny spears
4 briety spears
4 briitny spears
4 briittany spears
4 brinie spears
4 brinteney spears
4 brintne spears
4 britaby spears
4 britaey spears
4 britainey spears
4 britinie spears
4 britinney spears
4 britmney spears
4 britnear spears
4 britnel spears
4 britneuy spears
4 britnewy spears
4 britnmey spears
4 brittaby spears
4 brittery spears
4 britthey spears
4 brittnaey spears
4 brittnat spears
4 brittneny spears
4 brittnye spears
4 brittteny spears
4 briutney spears
4 briyeny spears
4 brnity spears
4 brtteny spears
4 brttiany spears
4 bryney spears
4 brythney spears
4 brytne spears
4 brytni spears
4 brytnie spears
4 bvritney spears
4 dritney spears
4 priteny spears
3 beittany spears
3 bichney spears
3 biritny spears
3 birnety spears
3 birny spears
3 birteney spears
3 birthny spears
3 birtiney spears
3 birtteny spears
3 birttny spears
3 bitanny spears
3 bitheay spears
3 bithey spears
3 bitrney spears
3 breinty spears
3 brethny spears
3 bretne spears
3 bretniy spears
3 brettine spears
3 brighty spears
3 brihney spears
3 brihtney spears
3 briiney spears
3 briitnay spears
3 brineny spears
3 brinte spears
3 brintiney spears
3 brintneey spears
3 brinttney spears
3 brirany spears
3 brirtny spears
3 brisney spears
3 britainny spears
3 britaniy spears
3 britanu spears
3 britanyy spears
3 britatny spears
3 britdney spears
3 britemy spears
3 britenty spears
3 brither spears
3 brithne spears
3 brititany spears
3 brititny spears
3 britiy spears
3 britmeny spears
3 britneeey spears
3 britnehy spears
3 britnely spears
3 britnesy spears
3 britnetty spears
3 britnex spears
3 britneyxxx spears
3 britnity spears
3 britntey spears
3 britnyey spears
3 britterny spears
3 brittneey spears
3 brittnney spears
3 brittnyey spears
3 brityen spears
3 briytney spears
3 brltney spears
3 broteny spears
3 brtaney spears
3 brtiiany spears
3 brtinay spears
3 brtinney spears
3 brtitany spears
3 brtiteny spears
3 brtnet spears
3 brytiny spears
3 btney spears
3 drittney spears
3 pretney spears
3 rbritney spears
2 barittany spears
2 bbbritney spears
2 bbitney spears
2 bbritny spears
2 bbrittany spears
2 beitany spears
2 beitny spears
2 bertney spears
2 bertny spears
2 betney spears
2 betny spears
2 bhriney spears
2 biney spears
2 bintey spears
2 biretny spears
2 biritany spears
2 birittany spears
2 birittny spears
2 birnty spears
2 birtey spears
2 birtheny spears
2 birtieny spears
2 birtnay spears
2 birtnet spears
2 bitnet spears
2 bitttany spears
2 bnrittany spears
2 bntney spears
2 bpitney spears
2 brandi spears
2 brattney spears
2 breanty spears
2 breany spears
2 breittany spears
2 brently spears
2 brentney spears
2 brethany spears
2 brethine spears
2 bretnty spears
2 bretty spears
2 brianey spears
2 briatney spears
2 brickney spears
2 bridnea spears
2 brieatney spears
2 brientny spears
2 brietnet spears
2 briettny spears
2 briey spears
2 brighney spears
2 brigtney spears
2 brigtny spears
2 briiny spears
2 brindey spears
2 brindy spears
2 bringney spears
2 brininy spears
2 brinitey spears
2 brinsley spears
2 brinthey spears
2 brinthy spears
2 brintiy spears
2 brintneys spears
2 brintry spears
2 brinyey spears
2 briottany spears
2 brirrany spears
2 brirreny spears
2 brirtany spears
2 brirttany spears
2 brirttney spears
2 britain spears
2 britane spears
2 britaneny spears
2 britania spears
2 britann spears
2 britanna spears
2 britannie spears
2 britannt spears
2 britannu spears
2 britanyl spears
2 britanyt spears
2 briteeny spears
2 britenany spears
2 britenet spears
2 briteniy spears
2 britenys spears
2 britianey spears
2 britin spears
2 britinary spears
2 britmy spears
2 britnaney spears
2 britnat spears
2 britnbey spears
2 britndy spears
2 britneh spears
2 britneney spears
2 britney6 spears
2 britneye spears
2 britneyh spears
2 britneym spears
2 britneyyy spears
2 britnhey spears
2 britnjey spears
2 britnne spears
2 britnu spears
2 britoney spears
2 britrany spears
2 britreny spears
2 britry spears
2 britsany spears
2 brittanay spears
2 brittang spears
2 brittans spears
2 brittanyh spears
2 brittanyn spears
2 brittany's spears
2 brittanyt spears
2 brittanyy spears
2 brittary spears
2 brittenie spears
2 brittenty spears
2 brittinney spears
2 brittley spears
2 brittn spears
2 brittnery spears
2 brittnety spears
2 brittney's spears
2 brittneyu spears
2 brittnsey spears
2 britttaney spears
2 britttny spears
2 brittyney spears
2 brityne spears
2 briyany spears
2 brlttney spears
2 brotaney spears
2 brotany spears
2 brottney spears
2 brriney spears
2 brrittney spears
2 brrtney spears
2 brthney spears
2 brtianny spears
2 brtineys spears
2 brtittny spears
2 brttiny spears
2 brtttany spears
2 brydney spears
2 brynty spears
2 brythey spears
2 bryttney spears
2 btiany spears
2 btirtney spears
2 btitiney spears
2 btittny spears
2 btritany spears
2 buttney spears
2 grittney spears
2 prietny spears
2 pritany spears
2 prittany spears

Google Jumps Head First Into Web Services With Google App Engine

2008-04-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

Google isn’t just talking about hosting applications in the cloud any more. Tonight at 9pm PT they’re launching Google App Engine (Update: The site is live), an ambitious new project that offers a full-stack, hosted, automatically scalable web application platform. It consists of Python application servers, BigTable database access (anticipated here and here) and GFS data store services.

At first blush this is a full on competitor to the suite of web services offered by Amazon, including S3 (storage), EC2 (virtual servers) and SimpleDB (database).

Unlike Amazon Web Services’ loosely coupled architecture, which consists of several essentially independent services that can optionally be tied together by developers, Google’s architecture is more unified but less flexible. For example, it is possible with Amazon to use their storage service S3 independently of any other services, while with Google using their BigTable service will require writing and deploying a Python script to their app servers, one that creates a web-accessible interface to BigTable.

What this all means: Google App Engine is designed for developers who want to run their entire application stack, soup to nuts, on Google resources. Amazon, by contrast, offers more of an a la carte offering with which developers can pick and choose what resources they want to use.

Google Product Manager Tom Stocky described the new service to me in an interview today. Developers simply upload their Python code to Google, launch the application, and can monitor usage and other metrics via a multi-platform desktop application.

More details from Google:

Today we’re announcing a preview release of Google App Engine, an application-hosting tool that developers can use to build scalable web apps on top of Google’s infrastructure. The goal is to make it easier for web developers to build and scale applications, instead of focusing on system administration and maintenance.

Leveraging Google App Engine, developers can:

* Write code once and deploy. Provisioning and configuring multiple machines for web serving and data storage can be expensive and time consuming. Google App Engine makes it easier to deploy web applications by dynamically providing computing resources as they are needed. Developers write the code, and Google App Engine takes care of the rest.
* Absorb spikes in traffic. When a web app surges in popularity, the sudden increase in traffic can be overwhelming for applications of all sizes, from startups to large companies that find themselves rearchitecting their databases and entire systems several times a year. With automatic replication and load balancing, Google App Engine makes it easier to scale from one user to one million by taking advantage of Bigtable and other components of Google’s scalable infrastructure.
* Easily integrate with other Google services. It’s unnecessary and inefficient for developers to write components like authentication and e-mail from scratch for each new application. Developers using Google App Engine can make use of built-in components and Google’s broader library of APIs that provide plug-and-play functionality for simple but important features.

Google App Engine: The Limitations
The service is launching in beta and has a number of limitations.
First, only the first 10,000 developers to sign up for the beta will be allowed to deploy applications.

The service is completely free during the beta period, but there are ceilings on usage. Applications cannot use more than 500 MB of total storage, 200 million megacycles/day CPU time, and 10 GB bandwidth (both ways) per day. We’re told this equates to about 5M pageviews/mo for the typical web app. After the beta period, those ceilings will be removed, but developers will need to pay for any overage. Google has not yet set pricing for the service.

One current limitation is a requirement that applications be written in Python, a popular scripting language for building modern web apps (Ruby and PHP are among others widely used). Google says that Python is just the first supported language, and that the entire infrastructure is designed to be language neutral. Google’s initial focus on Python makes sense because they use Python internally as their scripting language (and they hired Python creator Guido van Rossum in 2005).

Google's April Fool

2008-04-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

Google April Fools

If you create a new document in Google Docs, you’ll see a number of options in the “File” pull down menu. One of those options, which as far as I can tell wasn’t there yesterday, is “New airplane.” It’s right there after “New document.”

Choosing it opens a new file with folding instructions to build a paper airplane.

Why? Dunno. This is strange even for Google. Even on April Fools.

First reader to print it out, fold it properly, video it actually flying, upload the video on YouTube or any other video sharing service and post a link in the comments below gets a 2GB iPod Shuffle in the color of your choice. And we’ll give a second one to whoever can get the most distance from their plane (this is going to be somewhat subjective, I’ll make the final decision) (this is always entertaining).
History of Google April Fools Craziness:

* Google And Virgin Team For Human Settlement On Mars
* Google Wake Up Kit
* YouTube RickRolls Users
* Gmail April Fools Not Very Funny. On the Upside, They Started A Wikipedia War
* Google Launches Future Search

Webification of Desktops.

2008-03-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Many web players in the market are running for taking early lead in the Desktop share as they have on web. o name few there are Adobe, Google, Mozilla, Fluid, MS. The concept of Desktop presence always fascinate the developers nad for commercial use as user would always have the app/site right on his Desktop, otherwise he has to open a browser and pull down the site to check his mails,videos. "A web browser is only good for Web browsing" and not for your important, daily, must do stuffs like mail, Social networking, Work etc. For all this you always want a desktop App that sits right in front of your eyes. AIR, Prism, Google Gears, Fluid are some of the new techs which helps user to shift his key interest websites from web to his desktop. but out of all these I only think AIR has all the possible capabilities which a desktop app would have and other solutions are more of like answers to some useful ideas and not the complete package. Lets take one by one
Adobe AIR
Adobe AIR is complete solution for desktop versions of your web sites/app as it has all the features of a desktop app from installer to native file access. An AIR app can have a jazzy look n feel as flex can be very easily used in an air app and thats too with added functionalities of Drag n Drop, File systems Access, context menus, integrated web browser(webkit), Multiple windows support, HTML controls etc.

1. It provide a complete installer to user with all the installer options from Licence agreement to Shortcut options to custom installation paths.
2. AIR applications can be built on plane HTML/JavaScript only and not necessarily with MXML/AS(Flex).
3. AIR applications ahve Drag n drop support natively. It allows developer to bundle the dragged data and pass it on the OS native drag manager to handle it OS way, it gives a consistent behavior.
4. Also allows the internal Drag n Drop powered by Flex.
5. AIR apps can have multiple windows which allows user to do things parallaley.
6. It also has a Browser integrated which is the open source webkit.
7. Allows to add custom context menus.
8. Wide variety of HTML controls.
9. Taskbar, System tray presence , tooltips, unistallation via Add/Remove Panel.
10. App would have native file system access.
11. Print Support

Mozilla Prism
Prism is based on a concept called Site Specific Browsers (SSB). An SSB is an application with an embedded browser designed to work exclusively with a single web application. It doesn’t have the menus, toolbars and accoutrements of a normal web browser. Some people have called it a "distraction free browser" because none of the typical browser chrome is used. An SSB also has a tighter integration with the OS and desktop than a typical web application running through a web browser.

1. You can have only shortcut on your Desktop. To Uninstall webapps simply delete the sortcut.
2. Its only your website running in a browser with no chrome and no extra buttons, toolbars.
3. No Native filesystem access.
4. Print support

Google Gears
Google Gears Beta is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using the following JavaScript APIs.There are three major API components to Google Gears

1.A local server that caches and serves application resources (HTML, JavaScript, images, etc).
2.A database (powered by SQLite) that stores the data offline.
3.A worker thread pool that synchronizes data in the background.

TechCrunch

2008-03-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

TechCrunch: "Y Combinator Demo Day Roundup for Spring 2008
Mark Hendrickson
41 comments »

The fledgling startups listed below will present their ideas and initial products to investors at this spring’s Y Combinator Demo Day on March 18. Of the 19 companies in this batch, 10 have already launched and only one remains in stealth mode. Most of them have been in development for only three months."

Ten Rules For Startup Success

2008-03-13T02:19:00.000-07:00

Loic Le Meur’s Ten Rules For Startup Success: "Loic Le Meur’s Ten Rules For Startup Success

The Financial Times has a profile of French (now Silicon Valley) entrepreneur Loic Le Meur today.
Loic is an accomplished entrepreneur - he founded uBlog (merged with Six Apart), organizes the annual Le Web conference and has now created Seesmic (note that I’m an investor in Seesmic). So even though he’s French, his advice, when given, is worth listening to.

Included in the article are his ten rules for startup success. Reprinted below.

1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
6. Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
7. Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

So What are you thinking!!!!! GO and start up!!!!!!!

YouTube is now a Platform

2008-03-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Google has exposed his YouTube APIs for the developers for having there own Websites to let user upload their videos and in different environments. BUT all those videos would upload on Google Servers so that Google can easily index them.
This brings Google back full circle to the initial strategy for Google Video, which originally required videos to be uploaded directly to Google in order to become indexed. YouTube is gradually replacing Google Video—that is where most people upload videos anyway—but getting as much video from the rest of the Web onto its servers allows it to do many more things with it than if it simply indexed the videos elsewhere. It can search them better and throw up ads against them.

Specifically, the new APIs allow Web developers to:

* Upload videos and video responses to YouTube
* Add/Edit user and video metadata (titles, descriptions, ratings, comments, favorites, contacts, etc)
* Fetch localized standard feeds (most viewed, top rated, etc.) for 18 international locales
* Perform custom queries optimized for 18 international locales
* Customize player UI and control video playback (pause, play, stop, etc.) through software

Of course, it is not exactly free. The videos will also be available on YouTube, where Google will make money from any associated ads. It is not clear how the ad revenue will be split, or even if it will be. There is nothing in the API that allows for a Website to insert their own ads. So that is a big question mark. (More on that after I speak with a YouTube exec later in today).
http://www.techcrunch.com/

Start of Visual Search

2008-03-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

The main difference between SearchMe and other search engines is that it returns results primarily in a visual format, via an image of the result site. The results are displayed in a way that is similar to browsing through albums in iTunes - see the following videos to get an idea of how it looks:

Its backed by Sequoia, DAG Ventures and Lehman Brothers.

10 useful AIR Applications

2008-03-11T02:12:00.001-07:00

Here they are for you,

10 useful AIR Applications

AIR Rocks

AIR is Adobe's 4th Plaform, After Postscript, PDF and Flash

2008-03-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

Adobe "AIR" - You need AIR to survive!

Is it the lull before the strom?

2008-03-01T00:00:00.001-08:00

From last couple of days no big news from any big players in the IT/WEB sector (apart from Adobe AIR launch). Also no news from MS-YAHOO tussle. I think this indicates something big to happen apart from IT slowdown. Google is busy growing and its hard for a big company to remain innovative and growing at the same time. But till now Google did managed this pretty well. From Google official blog it seems Google will be launching Google health soon. Also MS launches its Virtual Earth Beta couple of weeks back but it didn't create mush news. I had gave a try to MS virtual Earth and didn't seem that standard as Google earth is. Also you need to download a browser plugin to view MS maps.

Lets waits if Yahoo investors woos their board members for MS Bid.

Its in the "AIR"

2008-02-29T00:09:00.000-08:00

Adobe recently launches their New Technoloy called Adobe AIR. AIR stands for "Adobe Integrated Runtime". AIR is the runtime for all the platforms(windows, Mac and linux) and it let user use the RIA's as desktop Apps. Adobe Air's runtime environment allows developers with access to API (application programming interface) kits from companies to create customized versions of the Web experience -- without the browser. Developers with Flash and HTML abilities can take the information structures of a Web site and create an application that users can download to their desktop, which would then operate just like any other desktop application. This would allow -- among other actions -- users to drag and drop information from any Web site onto their desktop.

Websites such as auctioneer eBay have already developed applications that use the new technology. After a quick download, the eBay users can click the company's logo on their desktop and launch an application that will allow them to do their business directly no browser required. The software is part of a growing number of technologies that aim to make the transition between the on and offline worlds seamless.

Meet Adobe Illustrator (1987)

2008-02-19T05:16:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Just Made Google's Year

2008-02-14T02:11:00.000-08:00

At this point Yahoo! (YHOO) is dead man walking. Let's see - a $31 per share sword of Damocles hanging over their head, losing top employees amidst a sea of disappointment and uncertainty (see Horwitz, Brad) and no real plan except to say "Go away." Not a formula for success. Microsoft (MSFT) itself has opened itself up to a Pandora's Box of uncertainty, from both the perspective of "What are you doing spending $40 billion on Yahoo!" and "Sheesh, what is this going to mean for our culture and my job?" It seems to me that the Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google (GOOG) dynamic can best be characterized by the following metaphor: three brothers, one which is 5-years old, one which is 10 and the oldest that is 15. 5, 10, 15. Yahoo! Microsoft. Google.

Yahoo! is 5. Hippy dippy, Silicon Valley circa 1999 culture, never having made the transition to economic powerhouse like its older brothers. And this free-loving eco-chamber is now coming crashing down in the face of harsh market realities. Advertising share down. Search share down. Transition to a de-facto media company a failure. Now what? A plunging share price has made both employee retention difficult and rendered it a sitting duck for a potential buyer. And now its older brother, the big meanie Microsoft, is beating on it yet again. But this time it is an all-out scrap. The 5-year old is swinging but the long, powerful arms of the 10-year old are keeping it at bay. And this beating is causing a bunch of collateral damage - like losing friends, losing respect and losing its future. The 5-year old has and will continue to suffer badly from this encounter, no matter what happens from this point forward. His only hope for survival is by begging for protection and support from its tormentor, Microsoft.

Microsoft is 10. Graduated to middle school, feeling important, feeling like using some new tricks to impress the older kids. But still somewhat rooted to the past, in this case the heavy, software-based desktop franchise that is still the lifeblood of the company. And while Microsoft is picking on Yahoo! it is getting trounced in the most rapidly-growing markets by its older brother, Google. And it isn't pretty. MSN and Microsoft Live are just shadows of the Google search and advertising empire, and it appears that Microsoft has concluded that to make a run at its mighty brother it needs to impose a reign of terror on its younger brother. But this fight has left the 10-year old weakened as well. Looking desperate - why beat up on someone half your age? Clearly not a fair fight. Can't you go it alone with all those resources? Looking stodgy - do you really need those Yahoo! hipsters to breathe some life into that software-heavy culture? Looking financially irresponsible - just because you have $40 billion to spend is this really the best way to enhance shareholder value? All good questions. But in this case 5+10 doesn't equal 15, because this fight has taken years off both of their lives and the big brother remains above the fray, thinking about love, college and the future. What his younger brothers do is of little consequence, except insofar as their might be some good toys and friends to pick up after the fighting is over.

Google is 15. He is laughing - hard. "Boy, are my kid brothers dopes! I'm looking forward, living large, walking tall. I'm in high school but college is around the corner. I'm going to start my own company. And if my idiot brothers lose some of their friends because of the fight, they can come work with me on my company. And if my younger brother falls ill, very ill, I'll come and visit him and send my best but there is little I can do to help." Google must be thinking "Does Microsoft really want Yahoo! or are they simply trying to kill Yahoo! Either way, I win." Google will pick up top pros from both Microsoft and Yahoo!, who no longer want to deal with uncertainty and questionable business strategy, and for this Google will pay precisely nothing. Microsoft may end up spending $40 billion for something that has precious little value, as top human capital which is the real engine of growth will simply walk. Is the advertising engine and the other Yahoo! assets really worth buying the company, much less paying the control premium? And this doesn't even take into account the disruption and value destruction arising from the integration process, which is at any time and always a hairball.

And the end of the day those at Google must be shaking their heads. I think Larry, Sergey and Eric should send Steve a really expensive bouquet of flowers. He has simply made their year.

Microsoft’s Acquisition Of Yahoo: Not As Bad As Some Think

2008-02-05T06:31:00.000-08:00

Microsoft’s Acquisition Of Yahoo: Not As Bad As Some Think: "Microsoft’s Acquisition Of Yahoo: Not As Bad As Some Think

The Microsoft is evil meme is alive and well this week as many digest Microsoft’s $44.6 billion takeover offer for Yahoo. There’s Flickr users protesting, talk of Yahoo teaming up with Google to block Microsoft’s bid, and general Microsoft is bad sentiment everywhere, even from Google itself. While Microsoft acquiring Yahoo may not provide the ultimate in happy endings to many, it’s really not as bad as some would have you believe.

Google’s response to the acquisition over the weekend was amazing in its veracity. Google and Microsoft have never been friends, but for Google to come out and attack the acquisition as it did can only mean one thing: Google is afraid, and that’s a very good thing. Internally Google believes that a combined Microsoft/ Yahoo will provide real competition to its dominant market position in search and text advertising, the very same position it has depended on to build its until recently huge share price and market cap. Google can preach about open access and open markets all it wants, but Google’s idea of open is only where users access it from one of its many web properties.

New iOS is arriving.

2008-02-05T03:57:00.000-08:00

Xcerion is a company providing an Internet OS as a free service over the Internet.

The OS called, Xcerion XML Internet OS/3 (XIOS/3) enables a networked and collaborative experience with applications utilizing the potential of the Internet.

Applications may be developed in weeks instead of years using Xcerions new XML languages for development. The OS is created for desktop applications for both consumers and businesses.

http://www.youtube.com/Xcerion

FT.com / Comment & analysis / Letters - Don’t rule out Microsoft’s chances in Google battle

2008-02-05T03:55:00.000-08:00

FT.com / Comment & analysis / Letters - Don’t rule out Microsoft’s chances in Google battle: "Don’t rule out Microsoft’s chances in Google battle

Published: February 5 2008 02:00 | Last updated: February 5 2008 02:00

From Dr Andrew M. Wild.

Sir, Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo shows that it is finally willing to mount a significant challenge to Google, and not before time. Google totally dominates the search engine market and has a firm grip on online advertising.

Founded by two former Stanford University students, Google has seen its employee numbers grow to more than 10,000 within 10 years.

Google has been able to recruit a torrent of talented software engineers and is famed for keeping them happy by supplementing generous salaries with a wealth of perks, from free transport to exquisite food.

It ensures that employees are given the freedom to innovate and allows 20 per cent of their time to be

devoted on projects of their choosing, with little interference from the corporate machine. The company seems to be a hotbed of new ideas and makes competitors look relatively snail-like in their development process.

Microsoft has simply not been in the game, but this is not the first time it has moved from the sidelines to the centre of battle – and ultimately won.

San Jose Mercury News - Takahashi: Google, Microsoft's next battle in cloud computing

2008-02-05T03:53:00.000-08:00

San Jose Mercury News - Takahashi: Google, Microsoft's next battle in cloud computing: "The real battle between Microsoft and Google - now in conflict over Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo - ultimately isn't over search. Search is the source of Google's revenue and its growth. But it's pouring that money into things that scare Microsoft even more.

The Android cell phone operating system is one of those. It represents a threat to Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system. But a bigger threat is Google's push toward 'cloud computing,' which could dislodge Microsoft's position on the desktop computer.

Cloud computing is computation done not in the desktop but in the Internet-connected 'cloud,' or the heavy-duty computers known as servers in a big company's data center. Also referred to as the 'cloud operating system,' it has been talked about for years and is often dismissed as a minor sideshow. But it is a very real possibility today, and Microsoft should worry about a cloud OS in the hands of Google.

A primitive version of cloud computing already exists through Xcerion, a Swedish company that has created what it calls a 'cloud OS.' After six years of stealth design, it put its beta version out in September. Xcerion has done exactly what Google has reportedly been thinking about doing to undermine the Microsoft Windows monopoly.

The Xcerion OS is based on the XML"

Apple will buy Adobe

2008-01-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

In his weekly column, Robert X. Cringely laid out the case for Apple to acquire Adobe in 2008. Disney was crossed off the list.

"About 18 months ago an Apple employee at an internal meeting asked Steve Jobs about Apple's positioning in the enterprise market," Mr Cringely wrote. "Jobs told the employee that it wasn't really Apple's business and that he should go work at a company like IBM or HP if he wanted to pursue that line of work. Jobs said Apple was in the 'content creation' business with the consumer iLife applications as well as professional apps like Final Cut Pro."

With that starting point, Mr. Cringely analyzed Apple's business model and what they're really after. "Last year, for example, Apple bought an application called FinalTouch from Silicon Color that was essentially video color correction on steroids," Mr. Cringely noted. "They [Apple] changed the product name to Color, added a couple features, then rolled it into Final Cut Studio, Apple's top-end video application suite. Though FinalTouch sold for up to $25,000, Color is included in Final Cut Studio FOR FREE, which is a kick in the head to Apple competitors like Avid that don't have hardware sales to count on for profitability."

Recently, however, Apple has shifted its focus from mere content creation to content distribution with iTunes. Mr. Cringely's analysis led to this: "This shift from creation to distribution is vital to understanding Apple's current strategy and involves a counterintuitive feedback loop to those professional applications. Where Final Cut Pro was useful to Apple as a driver of hardware sales, it is now becoming more useful as a driver of content to be distributed through iTunes."

Based on that future for Apple, the acquisition of Adobe makes sense. Mr. Cringely pointed to Adobe's CEO, Bruce Chizen, suddenly stepping down without warning. That may be a early indicator. In addition, the acquisition of Adobe would allow the merger of Flash and QuickTime "would make any other video standards (like Windows Media) simply immaterial," Mr. Cringely concluded.

Timing is also important. The acquisition would go better in 2008 while Avid and Microsoft still present credible competition and the FTC would be unlikely to oppose the merger.

Many others have offered the same suggestion. However, Mr. Cringely [a pen name for Mark Stephens] filled in all the bits and pieces that explain why it's likely to happen.

John Battelle's Searchblog: An Experiment with PDF Ads Via Yahoo

2008-01-03T21:25:00.001-08:00

An Experiment with PDF Ads Via YahooTf 3.SamllcoverKevin Kelly is trying out a new ad insertion program with his book "True Films". His write up is interesting and Kevin's always thoughtful about these things.Earlier editions of this book have been available on Amazon, Lulu, and as a cheap download from my site. But with this new version 3.0 I am trying something new. I am offering this 200-page full-color guide (perfect as a companion if you have Netflix) as a FREE download. It's in PDF format, but with a twist. To help offset the significant bandwidth costs of these downloads (I hope my server can take the wave), I have appended advertisements to the PDF book. Here is how the ads work:If you choose to see the ads, they will appear in a gray sidebar on the right, adjacent to the pages of the book, just outside the frame of the page.....These ads are inserted into the PDF by Adobe (using the Yahoo ad network) when you open the file. Like Google Adsense ads, they are contextual.

John Battelle's Searchblog: An Experiment with PDF Ads Via Yahoo

Blogged with Flock

Adobe eyes on the Web

2007-12-06T06:16:00.001-08:00

Adobe's new CEO zeroes in on Web


"We want to marry the power of the desktop with the Web," Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen says. Products aimed at that goal go on sale soon.

ABOUT SHANTANU NARAYEN

• Age: 44. • Title: CEO of Adobe Systems. • Joined Adobe: 1998. • Previous positions: President and chief operating officer. • Grew up in: Hyderabad, India. • Degrees: Two in engineering, from Osmania University in India and Bowling Green State University; MBA from University of California, Berkeley. • Children: 2. • Dogs: 2. • Patents: Holds five in digital imaging.

Longtime Adobe Systems (ADBE) executive Shantanu Narayen on Dec. 1 became CEO of the software powerhouse. An engineer who had previously worked at Apple (AAPL) and Silicon Graphics (SGIC), he took over from mentor Bruce Chizen, who stepped down.

Narayen takes over as Adobe, best known for Photoshop photo software and Acrobat and PDF digital document tools, is shifting many of its wares from boxed software to online services.

Adobe, which celebrates its 25th anniversary on Dec. 13, is a Web powerhouse with its Adobe Reader and Flash software. Narayen spoke with USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham about Adobe's transition, and why he believes two new initiatives for 2008 — Adobe's Media Player and AIR, which connects desktop applications with the Web — have the potential to transform the $3 billion company.

Q: Let's start by talking about your background. I understand you grew up in India and are an engineer by training?

A: I have two engineering degrees and a business degree. I worked in the networking group at Apple and then joined Silicon Graphics. In 1995, everyone was doing start-ups. I wanted to help transfer analog photography to digital and co-founded a company called Pictra. We were a little ahead of our time and ended up partnering with Adobe. I joined Adobe in 1998, running the engineering technology group. Bruce started asking me to do more, and as he's grown, so have I.

Q: Do you still think of yourself as an engineer?

A: I've been running products and marketing since 2001, but building great products is my first love.

Q: Adobe is in an interesting place right now. The company is making a transition from boxed software to online, "cloud" computing. Can you talk about that?

A: We want to marry the power of the desktop with the Web.

Q: You're talking about AIR, Adobe's new desktop-meets-the-Internet application?

A: Yes. Look at what (Apple's) iTunes does, you never know when you're online or offline. For the user, it's a seamless experience. We want to overcome some of the barriers that exist with a browser, to let people access maps, recipes and sports scores, for instance, in an application that sits on your desktop.

Q: How does that work?

A: We have an example from eBay (EBAY) on our labs.adobe.com site. Offline, you get to specify what you're interested in — specific auctions — and they are constantly updated, without you having to go to eBay.com. The application has a richer, graphical look.

Q: When will AIR be available?

A: In the first quarter, along with the Adobe Media Player.

Q: This is your answer to Windows Media Player?

A: In a sense. It showcases our Flash video (tool) in DVD-like quality. Seventy percent of the video you see online today is Flash, and a number of our customers would like to be able to show Flash offline. They'd like to put branding in a player, so if you watch NBC's Heroes TV show, Heroes information and ads can be in the body of the player.

Q: How do you make money from these products?

A: To get the most out of them, companies will need to buy our software. If you look at the history of Adobe, we delivered PostScript, a technology platform, and monetized it through Illustrator (layout software) and Photoshop. We delivered PDF document technology and monetized it through Acrobat.

Q: Let's talk about cloud computing. Adobe now has Internet versions of Premiere Elements video-editing software on MTV.com and YouTube. A "lite" online version of Photoshop is coming next year. Why are you going in this direction?

A: This is a low-barrier way to try our software; it exposes people to try our products. We can do this now because broadband is better, and we've been able to re-engineer our products to work on a server.

Q: What Adobe software do you use on a daily basis?

A: Digital photography is one of my passions. I own a Sony Alpha digital camera and consider myself an advanced hobbyist. I spend time with Photoshop on image management and touchup. I like to use Creative Suite 3 to take multiple pictures and combine them into one. It's a lot of fun.

Blogged with Flock

Adobe introduces Ads in PDF Docs

2007-11-29T02:44:00.001-08:00

Adobe, Yahoo partner to put advertisements in PDF documents

Blogged with Flock

Gmail.Microsoft.com

2007-11-20T10:17:00.001-08:00

Read this interesting post by Lenssen......again I am pasting it as it is and stealing some page rank from him ..... :)

What If Gmail Had Been Designed by Microsoft?

from Google Blogoscoped by Philipp Lenssen

Today I want to ponder the question: what if Microsoft, not Google, had created Gmail? What would be the differences in that web mail client for users today? What if we apply some of the same design rules that brought us Hotmail, for instance?

To start, here’s the current Gmail homepage after you log-in:

First of all, we need to rebrand the application name to something longer. Let’s call this Windows Live Gmail, and add some of the visual elements connected with Windows. Also, as in Hotmail, there needs to be less space for the email subjects to make place for a reading pane, which is full of verbose explanatory help text*:

*Not shown in the screenshot, we’ll also throw in a security measurement that will prevent you from clicking on links in emails, unless you discovered the switch to mark a mail as safe. Another security measurement we’ll add is that you won’t be able to log-in with just username anymore but are required to enter the full username@gmail.com. Furthermore, we will change the browser URL from http://gmail.microsoft.com to the more professional looking http://by114w.bay114.gmail.live.com/mail/mail.aspx?rru=home.

For another design iteration in our inbox, we will need to camouflage the checkboxes next to the messages by putting a mail icon on top of them. Also, we need to break up messages from conversation threads into their individual parts. Furthermore, this version of Gmail needs to change from context-aware text ads to context-unaware graphic banners, which we’ll require to carry at least one clip art. Gmail currently has a chat box which I don’t use and thus find annoying, so I think we can build on that and expand it to a more full-featured chat widget, replacing the labels box. We’ll also adjust the spam filter slightly to show a couple of more bulk mails in the inbox:

There’s still not enough banner space available though, so let’s add a top row for ads and move the rest a bit more down. Also, to go back to the real Microsoft spirit, the inbox will now carry a maximum of 2 MB of messages – that was the amount Hotmail offered when Gmail was released with 1 GB in April 2004. Also, Microsoft-style, the actual start page of this service will not be the inbox, but a “welcome” splash screen. Please imagine the ads blinking at this point:

Somehow, this still misses part of the Microsoft feeling – the current design is just too bright & light, and it doesn’t have enough glamor. I’ll darken the colors a bit and add some smooth shades. Also, admittedly, Hotmail is a bit slower than Google’s competing service, so we’ll add some “loading” messages. Usually there’s less focus on unclutteredness with the Redmond guys, so we’ll add some MSN news bits and “special offers” where space is left. Plus, to increase user lock-in, let’s get rid of the “sign out” link. I’m also putting less emphasis on search, moving the box to the bottom right and replacing it with a dog:

Voila, we’re done... that was easy! Your potential, their passion. Coming up tomorrow: “What if Microsoft had designed Windows Vista.” Stay tuned!

[By Philipp Lenssen | Original post | Comments]

Blogged with Flock

How to program on Android

2007-11-19T05:42:00.001-08:00

This is awesome post and hence i am copy paste the original post here as it is.....

So you saw the Android announcement and decided you wanted a piece of that US$10million in prize money huh? In the week since the SDK was released more than 4,300 people have joined the Android support forum posting more than 4,000 messages between them. Robert Scoble doesn't know a single developer playing with Android – perhaps Scoble doesn't hang around with many developers?

I wanted to give the SDK a good work-out so my application uses the GPS, the address book, and has a map.

The only way to judge an SDK is getting in there and writing an application that does something cool, so I'll take you through the development process for my first Android application: Where Are My Friends?

WamF shows how far away you are right now from all the people in your address book, plots you and them on a map, and draws lines between you and any friends nearby.

WamF is pretty simple but it makes use of some of the more interesting features of Android – Location Based Information (GPS etc), maps, the contacts manager, and the phone dialer. Total development time from hitting Download on the SDK page was about 14 hours (spread over two mornings and evenings). My Android development is in Windows with Eclipse using the plugin, so I will assume you're doing the same.

Before I get started here's a bit on my background. I've mentioned before that I'm a C# .NET desktop applications developer in my real life. It's been almost 10 years since I've done anything with Java and I've never done any mobile phone development. With Android I develop in Windows with Eclipse using the Android plugin.

Let's start by downloading Eclipse and unzipping it into a new folder. Then download the Android SDK and unzip that into another new folder. Open Eclipse and create a new workspace for Android development.

Install the Android Plugin by selecting Help > Software Updates > Find and Install..., and in the dialog box choose Search for new Features to install. Select New Remote Site and enter https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/. into the dialog box. Hit OK and accept all the prompts until it's installed. Restart Eclipse and you're almost ready to rock.

Select Window > Preferences... and select Android, then put the folder where you unzipped the SDK into the SDK Location text box. Hit Apply then OK and you're done.

The tutorial and exercises are useful. Do them.

Let's make sure everything's installed right by creating the Hello Android demo. The Android team have a detailed description of how to do this so I won't repeat it here. It's worth checking out the known bugs if you encounter any problems.

The Android documentation is excellent; after you've finished the Hello Android project run through the exercises. They're easy to follow and give a good idea of how a 'real' application fits together.

Design a UI, leveraging one of the sample projects

Onto business. Step one should always be UI design. Figure out what it is you want to tell the user and what actions they'll need then develop an interface that will make this as intuitive as possible. To keep things simple I'm going to base my new project on the NotePad project used in the tutorial exercises.

I'll start by changing the resource strings to change the name of the app, and modifying the menu options .

Use the Location Based Services to figure out where we are and request updates when we move

Possibly the most enticing of the Android features are the Location Based Services that give your application geographical context through Location Providers (GPS etc). Android includes a mock provider called 'gps' that marches back and forth through San Fransisco. Alternatively you can create your own mock providers in XML.

You use the LocationManager to find your current position.

locationManager = (LocationManager)getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE); Location location = locationManager.getCurrentLocation("gps");

Iterate over the address book pulling out names, locations, and phone numbers

A less publicized feature of Android is the ability to share content between applications. We're going to use this feature to populate our List with our contacts' names and their current distance from our phone so we create an updateList method that we call after we've gotten our current location.

Use the ContentResolver to return a query that provides access to data shared using Content Providers. Queries are returned as cursors that provide access to the underlying data tables. The data we're interested in is accessed using the People content provider.

Cursor c = getContentResolver().query(People.CONTENT_URI, null, null, null, null); startManagingCursor(c);

The Cursor is a managed way of controlling your position (Row) in the underlying table. We get access to the data by specifying the column that holds the information we're after. Rather than memorising the column index for each Content Provider we can use constants from the People class as a shortcut.

int coordIdx = c.getColumnIndex(People.NOTES); int phoneIdx = c.getColumnIndex(People.PhonesColumns.NUMBER); int nameIdx = c.getColumnIndex(People.NAME);

Now iterate over the table using the cursor storing the results in arrays. You'll note that we're pulling our contacts' location from the Notes field. In reality we'd want to figure this out based on their address using a geocoding lookup.

List listItems = new ArrayList(); c.first(); do {

String name = c.getString(nameIdx); String coords = c.getString(coordIdx); String phone = c.getString(phoneIdx); ... [ Process the lat/long from the coordinates ] ... ... [ Storing their location under variable loc ] ... String distStr = String.valueOf(location.distanceTo(loc)/1000); name = name + " (" + distStr + "km)"; listItems.add(name); numbers.add("tel:" + phone);

} while(c.next());

Then we assign our list of strings to the array using an ArrayAdapter.

ArrayAdapter notes = new ArrayAdapter(this, R.layout.notes_row, items); setListAdapter(notes);

Refresh our list when we move

Given the location sensitive nature of WamF it makes sense to update the display whenever we move. Do this by asking the LocationManager to trigger a new Intent when our location provider notices we've moved.

List providers = locationManager.getProviders(); LocationProvider provider = providers.get(0); Intent intent = new Intent(LOCATION_CHANGED); locationManager.requestUpdates(provider, minTime, minDistance, intent);

Intents in Android are like events in traditional event driven programming, so we're triggering a LOCATION_CHANGED event/intent every time we move by a minimum distance after a minimum time. The next step is to create an IntentReceiver (event handler), so create a new internal class that extends IntentReceiver and override the ReceiveIntent event to call our update method.

public class myIntentReceiver extends IntentReceiver {

@Override public void onReceiveIntent(Context context, Intent intent) {

updateList();

}

We then have our activity listen for a LOCATION_CHANGED intent by registering the event handler and specifying the intent it should be listening for (LOCATION_CHANGED). Do this in the onCreate method or create a new menu option to start/stop the automatic updates.

filter = new IntentFilter(LOCATION_CHANGED); receiver = new myIntentReceiver(); registerReceiver(receiver, filter);

Keep your phone running light by registering / unregistering the receiver when the activity Pauses and Resumes – there's no point in listening for location changes if we can't see the list.

Set up a map activity and create an overlay to show where you are in relation to your friends

Half of the fun in having location sensitive information is drawing it on a map. Create a new activity class to display a map centered on our current location with markers at our friends locations. While we're at it we can draw a line from our position to each of our friends.

The map control itself is called a MapView, but we can only use a MapView in a MapActivity, so we'll change the inheritance of this activity to MapActivity.

public class MyMapViewActivity extends MapActivity

To display the map we need to create a new MapView and set it as the content for our activity in the OnCreate method.

MapView mapView = new MapView(this); setContentView(mapView);

This will make the MapView fill the entire screen, so use views like LinearLayout if we want to create a more complicated UI layout.

We'll want to get access to the OverlayController and MapController, so create global variables to store them and assign the references within the OnCreate method. We'll also be using the Location information, so get a reference to that too. With the references assigned set your map zoom and starting location using the MapController. When you're finished OnCreate should look something like this.

protected void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {

super.onCreate(icicle); MapView mapView = new MapView(this); mapController = mapView.getController(); overlayController = mapView.createOverlayController(); locationManager = (LocationManager)getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE); mapController.zoomTo(9); setContentView(mMapView); updateView();

}

updateView is where we do the work. Start by getting our current location and convert the Lat/Long to a map Point, then centre the map on our current location.

Double lat = location.getLatitude()*1E6; Double lng = location.getLongitude()*1E6; Point point = new Point(lat.intValue(), lng.intValue()); mapController.centerMapTo(point, false);

The only thing left to do on our map is draw markers and link them up with lines. To do this you need to create a new class that extends Overlay, and add this using the OverlayController.

MyLocationOverlay myLocationOverlay = new MyLocationOverlay(); overlayController.add(myLocationOverlay, true);

The work in the Overlay class is done by overriding the draw method.

protected class MyLocationOverlay extends Overlay {

@Override public void draw(Canvas canvas, PixelCalculator calculator, boolean shadow) {

... [ draw things here ] ...

}

I start by drawing a 'marker' on my current location. There doesn't seem to be support for 'traditional' Google Maps markers but you can achieve the same thing by drawing on the map canvas; I chose to draw small circles as markers. First you need to use the PixelCalculator to convert your Lat/Long points to screen coordinates, then create a Paint object to define the colours and settings for your brush. Then paint your markers.

int[] screenCoords = new int[2]; calculator.getPointXY(point, screenCoords); RectF oval = new RectF(...); Paint paint = new Paint(); paint.setARGB(200, 255, 0, 0); canvas.drawOval(oval, paint);

I add my friends locations the same way as before, iterating over my address book grabbing names and locations. I filter out anyone too far away (say 10km) and draw markers, names (drawText), and joining lines (drawLine) to those nearby.

Let's make a call

Now we know when we're close to our friends, what are we likely to want to do when we're close? Drop in! But we're polite so we'll call them first. Let's change our list item click function to call the friend we've clicked. We can do this by firing a DIAL_ACTION intent.

Intent i = new Intent(); i.setAction(DIAL_ACTION); i.setData(new ContentURI(numbers.get(position))); startActivity(i);

The phone dialer has registered an IntentReceiver filtered on DIAL_ACTION so it will react to this.

Android is an environment where the biggest limitation is your imagination

And that's it.

I've got a list of a dozen or so changes to make it a little more useful and a half dozen ideas for projects that might actually make it into the running for some of that prize money. My conclusion? Android is everything a development kit should be – an environment where the biggest limitation is what you can imagine.

[By Reto Meier | Original post | Comments]

Blogged with Flock

Link to Specific content from Gmail

2007-11-19T05:35:00.001-08:00

Google has made their web-based email client Gmail more accessible in their recent update. Now, the URL on top will change with your actions – meaning that if you switch to a certain conversation thread, or you switch to a label, or you perform a search, you can then actually copy the address on top as a kind of permalink (oldtimers among us may still remember this kind of feature from websites of the 1990s!).

Here’s why this can be useful:

Sometimes a conversation thread contains details for a certain event, an event which you now decide to add to e.g. Google Calendar. What’s easier than copying & pasting the conversation information into your event? Right, just linking to the Gmail thread from your calendar event is. (Your thread is password-protected with your Google account credentials of course, so you won’t create an additional privacy risk either – though I would probably not post such permalinks in public places, who knows what the permalink ID can be abused for with some hack!)
You can now share searches with a friend, e.g. tell them “Check out the previous mail I sent you at http://mail.google.com/mail/#search/grab+coffee+at+starbucks ...”.
You can now bookmark certain labels. In Firefox, you can also then create a shortcut for such a label bookmark. Say you bookmarked “http://mail.google.com/mail/#label/job” – right-click the bookmark and select properties; in the keyword field, enter “job”. Now, you can enter “job” in the Firefox address bar at any time to be taken straight to your Gmail job label/ folder and the conversations contained within it.

Blogged with Flock

Enclosing in a Google Circle

2007-11-17T12:11:00.001-08:00

I was thinking about how much time I spent on Google products in a day and I was just stunned by finding that this Logo keep showing in my browser about 30% of the tabs opened and about 80% of the time. And nobody is forcing me to do so. No penny spent. Also in all the workflows that Google provided has no hassles, they are straight, do only they designed to do and nothing else, have cleanlier user interface. I think we are all are using Google too much and its just starting. as per John Bettelle an average searcher searches about 5-10 queries per day in a search engine and expert may be around 20-35. In that way we software engineers are way ahead as we on an average searches more then 50 queries per day. I uses google search not only for finding information but also as a calculator and dictionary for checking spelling.

Stumble upon good link on the same http://www.redherring.com/Home/23165

Blogged with Flock

Google Trends Pridectibility

2007-11-16T10:15:00.001-08:00

Google Trends shows an interesting search popularity graph for the queries “turkey” (as in turkey the food, too) and “diet”:

On North-American Thanksgiving day, the searches for a traditional dish for the festivity peak. There’s still Xmas ahead with a second, milder peak for turkey queries... afterwards, searches for a diet are building up, peaking right ~~after~~ on New Year.

There’s an interesting other correlation... between depression and rain:

Blogged with Flock

Google is spreading

2007-11-13T12:42:00.000-08:00

Wanted to write about all this but not enough time.....

Google draggable directions and Fast inter continental path Finding -

Google style of working, what do agile folks thinking.....-

Google is calling all developers for $10 Million Challenge -

Interesting Numbers about online Ads

2007-11-12T01:22:00.000-08:00

That's interesting figures. Now the real question would be how will Google, Facebook, Yahoo divide the pie.

No GPhone, its Android

2007-11-06T01:24:00.000-08:00

Google launches Android: The new mobile platform with collaboration in 34 top mobile and computing companies. That's How Google shows how much it abide by his "Do No Evil" funda and also working for providing best solutions to end user rather then thinking towards the monopolizing the business.A group of 34 companies that will create a package of free software that includes everything needed to run a cell phone: an open-source, Linux-based operating system, a Web browser, and a slew of applications, including maps, e-mail, and video-sharing and -viewing tools.

This also allows third party developers to develop new application for this platform and this gives the platform numerous growth potential. he Alliance includes some of the biggest names in tech, including chipmakers Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM), handset maker Motorola (MOT), wireless carriers T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel (S), and e-commerce provider eBay (EBAY). Startups already are itching to contribute to the Alliance's efforts—and investors are eager to fund them. Unlike with other mobile-platform providers, developers working with Android pay no licensing or other fees. They also will be able to sell their applications through a Google-created online marketplace without sharing revenues with the search giant. Google will make money on the ads served through the phone's browser.

The idea of generating revenue only by the ads served and not by licensing will smart enough to keep Google a leader in the mobile game for coming years. Actually the revenue by ads idea has so mush potential that it can even provide the users all the hardware and software for free, if implemented in correct way.

Android and Open Handset Alliance will poses a great threat to Symbian and Windows mobile OS. Andy Rubin, head of the Android project at Google, hopes that within five years, "hundreds of millions" of Android-based phones will be sold per year. After five years of effort, Microsoft ships about 20 million phones based on Windows Mobile each year. And Microsoft already works with more than 160 operators and 48 handset makers and offers more than 18,000 applications for Windows Mobile.

So Again Google is here and Future is Open.

Hello World in Open Social.

2007-11-03T01:01:00.000-07:00

Check thin new video about how to make applications in Open Social

Google launches OpenSocial. Mark?

2007-10-31T05:31:00.000-07:00

That's why Google is different. That's why Google was not bothered when Microsoft bagged the FaceBook deal last week. Google with all his style and decorum and attitude, launches "OpenSocial", the Social Networking Platform that is not limited to orkut only but any social networking site site that supports OpenSocial can avail its features. That's big news and it also comes when every one was excited about Facebook and its social graph funda. As per the launching announcement

One of the most important benefits of OpenSocial is the vast distribution network that developers will have for their applications. The sites that have already committed to supporting OpenSocial -- Website Partner A, Website Partner B, Website Partner C, etc. –- represent an audience of well over 100 million users globally. Critical for time- and resource-strapped developers is being able to "learn once, write anywhere" -- learn the OpenSocial APIs once and then build applications that work with any OpenSocial-enabled websites.

Several developers, including Gadget Partner Z, Gadget Partner Y, Gadget Partner X, etc., have already built applications that use the OpenSocial APIs. Starting today, a developer sandbox is available at http://sandbox.orkut.com so developers can go in and start testing the OpenSocial APIs. The goal is to have developers build applications in the sandbox so they can deploy on Orkut and ultimately other OpenSocial sites.

The best thing about Open Social is that is in line with the Google philosophy "Do No evil" and hence every body has the chance to create the social network of their own type and features and have benefits of big already existing userabase starting from launch.

The APIs exposed by the Google are

The OpenSocial APIs give developers access to the data needed to build social applications: access to a user's profile, their friends, and the ability to let their friends know that activities have taken place. OpenSocial resources for developers and websites are available now at code.google.com/apis/opensocial.

Developers will have access to:
- Three JavaScript and Gdata APIs to access social functions
- A live developer sandbox on Orkut at sandbox.orkut.com

Websites will have access to:
- A tool to help OpenSocial-enable their websites
- A support forum for communicating with Google and other websites

All of these resources and the live developer sandbox are available now.

Developers already at work

Dozens of developers have helped test early iterations of the OpenSocial APIs and Google is grateful for the extensive feedback they have provided.

Links to these gadgets are available at http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial.

I think its Googles another big idea after Search and Earth and this has potential to make the Google winner in social networking wa which is still not started yet.

Who will buy Facebook ?

2007-10-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

Mark Zukerberg would be delighted after selling the 1.6% stake in facebook to Microsoft in USD 240 million. This lead to the estimation of facebook around USD 15 billion, which is huge amount. Now every body understand very well the future of social networking in coming years and hence web 2.0 development is also headed in
the direction guided by the rules of social networking. Imagine web after 10 years weher everybody(almost) has a web identity and all the transactions, admissions, intreactions, sharing would be done by social networking. This potential has alreday been dentified by Mark zukerberg and orkut couple of years back and hence created there gems.

Now big players in the game (MS, Yahoo, Google) are trying to acuire these new age entrprenuers dreams and convert them to revenue generating businesses. That's why when MS and Yahoo offered Mark USD 1 Billion some time back for buyout. Creator of FaceBook was smart enough to know the value of his assets and ideas and refuses. Now more then 100 thousand developer community has been build upon Facebook and people are really excited to use the new facebook applications.

Now the real question is, Who will buy Facebook? That's because not every one is as smart as Larry and Sergey (Mark?), who will save itself from big fish in the sea and dwell on its own in early years and then grown up with confidence. Google guys already set up the example and now we have to see weather Zukerberg has the that gut or increasing size of company force him to sell it out to biggies.

One major difference is that, Google came into business very silently and at that time nobody on biggies identified Google as possible threat, and also Google offered such high quality and that's why they created there own business. But here in case of Facebook its already been hyped much (as we saw in Web2.0 summit) and also such a service is need of the hour as broadband is ubiquitous and more and more peoples have started to spent more time on internet to collaborate with there friends. MS and Yahoo didn't want to loose a big share of possible business to a boy and also they didn't want to repeat there mistake again (The Google Fiasco - as seen by MS Guys).

Steve Ballmer , The Micorsoft Chairman, might estimate Google as a 3 year boy in the world but he very well understands the age of the Google and also when this kid growing really fast. Buck Up Mark! Do a Google.

Modest billion dollor Idea by Alex Linhares

2007-10-25T03:25:00.000-07:00

I was reading through the blogs and just stumble upon this nice proposal for Adobe, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others who are interested. This guy (Alex Linhares ) has done lots of research and also has good understanding g if the what is going on the web currently and what can impact the future. Any one out there in biggies to grab this oppotunity!!!

A Modest (billion-dollar) proposal

Imagine the following scenario. A secretive meeting, years ago, when Apple´s Steve Jobs, the benevolent dictator, put in place a strategy to get into the music business. It included not only a gadget, but also an online store, iTunes. I have no idea how that meeting went, but one thing is for sure: many people afterwards must have been back-stabbing Jobs, and mentioning "the music business? We´re going to sell music? This guy has totally lost it."

Fact of the matter was, technology had forever changed the economics of the music business, and Jobs could see it.

Having said that, I´d like to make a modest, billion-dollar, proposal, to the likes of Adobe, Yahoo, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and whomever else might be up to the task.

Cui Bono?

Think about science publishing. I publish papers for a living. My first paper came out in Biological Cybernetics, a journal which cost, in 1998, over US$2000 for a one year subscription. I live scared to death of Profa. Deborah, who reviews my scientific output. And there are others like me in this world. Oh yes, many others.

The economics of science publishing is completely crazy for this day and age. Authors give enormous effort to bring their work to light, editors and journal and conference referees also put in enormous effort. All of that is unpaid, of course (or at least indirectly paid, in the hopes of tenure and/or prestige). But then, our masterpieces go to a journal, which obliges me to transfer copyright to the likes of Elsevier, or Springer, or someone else. Then some money starts to show up! According to wikipedia, Springer had sales exceeding €900 million in 2006, while Elsevier upped the ante to a pre-tax profit (in the REED annual report) to a staggering €1 billion (on €7.9 Billion turnover). But for those who brought out the scientific results, for those that bring the content, and the fact checking by referees and editors, all that work goes unpaid. The money goes to those who typeset it, then store it in a server, then print it out and mail it to libraries worldwide. And let´s not forget those which actually pay for the research, the public, as most research is government-financed. In the words of Michael Geist, a law professor:

Cancer patients seeking information on new treatments or parents searching for the latest on childhood development issues were often denied access to the research they indirectly fund through their taxes

How did we get here? A better question is how could it have been otherwise? In the last decades, how could a different industrial organization appear? Cui Bono?

Lowly (and busy) professors or universities were obviously not up to the risky and costly task of printing and mailing thousands of journals worldwide, every month. A few societies emerged, and, mostly funded by their membership, they were up to the task. So, in time, the business of science publishing emerged and eventually consolidated in the hands of a few players. And these few players could focus on typesetting, printing, mailing much better than the equation-loving professors or the prestige & money-seeking universities.

The other day I tried to download my own paper published in the journal " Artificial Intelligence", and I was asked to pay USD30.00 for it. That´s the price of a book, and I was the author of the thing in the first place!

Now, if you ask me, technology has forever changed the economics of the scientific publishing business, and it´s high time for someone like Jobs to step forward.

Adobe Buzzword is specially suited to do this. Most scientific publishers (Elsevier, Springer) and societies (IEEE, ACM, APA, APS, INFORMS) have just one or two typesetting styles for papers. I imagine a version of Buzzword which carries only the particular typesetting style(s) of the final published document, and researchers would already prepare those manuscripts ready for publication (there are glitches today, of course, like high-quality images and tables and equations--but hey, we´re talking about Adobe here!). A submit button would submit the papers for evaluation, either to a journal or a conference. Referees could make comments and annotation on the electronic manuscript itself, or even suggest minor rewritings of a part here and there. The process would be much smoother than even the most modern of online submission processes. And, since Adobe has flash, this means that they´re especially positioned to bring up future papers with movies, sounds, screencasts and whole simulations embedded. Wouldn´t that be rich? Doesn´t that beautifully fit with what´s stated in their page?

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information .

But Buzzword is just my favorite option (because it enables beautiful typesetting, is backed by a large, credible, player, works on any platform, and enables worldwide collaboration between authors, editors, referees). Other options could be desktop processors (MsWord, Pages, OpenOffice, etc). There would be a productivity gain by using something the likes of Buzzword, but using desktop processors wouldn´t affect the overall idea.

Now, why would the people in Adobe, Yahoo, SUN, IBM, Microsoft, Google, or others actually want to do a thing like that?

There are two reasons. The first one is goodwill, the second one is money.

Goodwill

I recently had a paper outright rejected in the IBM Systems Journal. In retrospect, I now see that it was a very bad call to submit there. I had mentioned that choice to the editor of a very prestigious scientific journal, and he responded by saying: "They´re going to hate it. They´re not in the business of publishing great original science for a long time now. That´s just a marketing thing; they´re in the business of trying to impress customers." I responded that I thought that they´d be open-minded; that the journal had had some great contributions in the past and I thought it was just great. I was, of course, wrong. They didn´t even look at the thing; they didn´t even bother to send back a message. After a quick check, I felt enormously stupid: all papers, or maybe not all but something way above 90%, come from IBM authors. The IBM Systems Journal, it seems to me, is now a branch of IBM´s marketing department. And while it may impress less sophisticated customers, it´s definitely a huge loss for IBM.

The Systems Journal (and their R&D journal) used to be a fountain of goodwill for IBM. Scientists took pride in publishing there, and hordes of researchers (not customers) browsed it and studied it carefully. It was a fountain of goodwill--with a direct route to IBM´s bottom line: it attracted the best scientists to IBM. Now that it´s in the hands of marketing, you can hardly find any serious scientist considering it as a potential outlet. If I were in IBM, I´d be fighting to change things around. But I´m not there, I can speak the truth as I see it, and I can just submit somewhere else. The BELL LABS Technical Journal also seems to be meeting the same "marketing department" fate. Don´t expect to see nobel prizes coming from these journals any time soon.

When these journals didn´t belong to marketing, they brought, at least to this observer, a huge amount of goodwill and good publicity for their respective companies. The HR department must have loved choosing among the best PhDs dying to get into IBM. Sad to mention, I doubt that the best PhDs are now begging to work on these companies anymore.

Yet, IBM could change things around. As could Adobe, SUN, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and many others. What I feel they should do is establish a platform for online paper submission, review, and publication. This platform should be made openly available for all scientific societies, for free. From the prestigious journal "Cognitive Science" to the Asia-Pacific Medical Education Conference, this platform should be free (to societies, journals, and conferences) and the papers published online should be freely accessible to all, no login, no paywall, nothing in the way. Copyright should remain in the hands of authors. Gradually, one after another, journals and conferences would jump ship, as the platform gained credibility and respectability.

Now here´s the kicker. It´s not only about goodwill. There´s money to be made.

Money

One crucial point is for the platform to be freely accessible to all. But you can do that, and still block the googlebot, the yahoobot, and all others "bots", but your own. Let´s say, for instance, that Microsoft does something of the sort. In some years time, not only it gets the goodwill of graduate students who are studying papers published by science.microsoft.org (as opposed to hey-sucker-pay-thirty-bucks-for-your-own-paper-Elsevier), but also the way to search for such information would be only through that website. As we all know, advertising is moving online: according to a recent study, the last year saw "$24 billion spent on internet advertising and $450 billion spent on all advertising ". Soon we´ll reach US$100 Billion/year in advertising on the web. And imagine having a privileged position in the eyeballs of graduate-educated people, from medicine to science to economics to business to engineering to history.

I hope someone will pull something like this off. Maybe for the goodwill. Or maybe for the money.

Many companies could pull it off, but some seem specially suited to the task. My favorite would be Adobe--with buzzword and AIR and flash and pdfs, that´s definitely my choice. Google might want to do it just to preempt some other company from blocking the googlebot to get its hands on valuable scientific research. Microsoft, the Dracula of the day, certainly needs the goodwill, and it could help it to hang on to the MS-Word lock in. Maybe Amazon would find this interesting--fits nicely with their web storage and search dreams. Yahoo would have the same reason as Google.

I don´t see Apple doing it. I think it could actually hurt their market value, as investors might think that they would be over-stretching, ever expanding into new markets.

I don´t see IBM or SUN doing it either; in fact, if anyone in a board meeting ever proposed this, I can only see the exact same back-stabbing that must have gone through, years ago, in Apple: "Science-publishing? This guy has totally lost it. This is IBM, and that´s not the business we´re in." They´re to busy handling their own internal office politics, who´s getting promotion and pay packages. Innovation is hardly coming in from there (though both have been embracing open-source to a certain degree).

One thing is for sure. The open-access to research movement is getting momentum everyday. It´s time to sell that Elsevier stock.

Just a final note. If any player is willing to do this, use an org domain name. Don´t name it "Microsoft Science". That won´t work with intelligent, independent scientists. Use a domain name such as science.yahoo.org, science.adobe.org, and name it as "Open science", "World of Science", anything... but please don´t try to push your name too far. Let it grow slowly.

And just in case someone wants to pull this off, and is actually wondering... I´m right here.

Now Google Health - A reason to smile

2007-10-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

As I always speculate that Google might launch as many product as many types of services exists....and my speculation is now a reality with Google Health. Google will launch its Health service. Below are some screen shots of the product from official Google blog.

There are two tabs to be seen in Google Health: Profiles and Medical Contacts. The profiles tab has several sub-sections, including “Services and health guide,” “Conditions & symptoms,” “Medications,” “Age, sex, height...” and “Family history.”
A privacy policy at the bottom disclaims that “Any information you enter will remain private. Google will not share it with anyone without your permission.”

This “Conditions & symptoms” dialog includes an auto-completion feature, just like other input boxes in Google Health. You enter “head”, and Google suggests “Head and Neck Angioedema”, “Head Injury”, “Head Pain” and more.

The “Services and health guide” section reads: “Get the most out of Google Health - If your medical providers or pharmacy offer secure downloading of medical records, you can find and add your records to a profile. You can also browse for websites that connect securely to Google Health and provide services for managing your health care.”
Under the headline “Google health guide” this explanation follows: “When you add some information to your profile, Google Health will search trusted medical sources and create a health guide targeted for you. ... Google Health will check for relevant updates to your guide whenever you add new information to the profile.” You can use the health guide, Google writes, to learn about drug interactions, treatments, tests and preventive measures.
A side box warns, “Be sure to discuss questions about your medical care with your doctor or medical provider before making changes,” and a footnote reads, “Built in collaboration with www.safe-med.com”.

The “Allergies” tab. The “Add an Allergy” box suggests “e.g. penicillin.”

You can add a procedure or surgery on this page. As an example, Google provides “appendectomy.”

The “Test results” section. You can add e.g. “cholesterol LDL”.

The “Add an immunication” interface does not allow free-style text input, but restricts you to a selection box instead. Available entries include “Diphtheria, tetanus toxoids, acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP)” or “Hepatitis A vaccine.”

The “Age, sex, height...” page collects various personal information such as date of birth, gender, ethnicity, blood type, weight, or smoking habits. One of the questions asked is, “Do you drink alcoholic beverages?” Another question is, “Have you smoked more than 20 cigarettes in your lifetime?” Google explains that they ask for your date of birth to “keep your age up to date and show the most relevant guidance.”

The “Family history” dialog lets you add a relative and their respective conditions. The selection box includes entries like “Husband”, “Wife”, “Mother”, “Father”, “Son”, and Google provides the condition example “diabetes.

Microsoft would be on Buying Spree

2007-10-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is what Microsoft Chairman Steve Ballmer said in the recent Web 2.0 Summit in San Fransisco.

What are you interested in that Microsoft currently isn't doing?
"We'll probably buy 20 companies a year for the next five years. Most of them will be footnotes - we're talking about acquisitions of $50m, $100m, $200m. Those are good acquisitions and are important to us, and it's of strategic value. There aren't many things in the $6bn to $15bn price range, you're talking about a handful of things. In the meantime we'll probably buy a lot of companies from $50m to $1bn, so we'll continue to buy a lot of stuff. Email steveb@microsoft.com if you something to sell!"

Now Microsoft has started it again but this time MS is imitating Google by targeting only small ones. Yahoo hasn't declared the acquisitions strategy officially, but he is also in queue.

New Definition of information.

2007-10-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

Google Riddle : Its Simpsons

2007-10-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

The Following Riddle posts on Google Blogoscoped and many Google followers like me solved it quickly with Google Docs. Actually it can't be solved by MS Excel and that's the main point behind posting this Puzzle by Philipp Lenssen. You can't add more then three rules in MS Excel Conditional Formatting and that's what google wants to highlight.

3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,4,3,0,4,4,4,3,4,3,4,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,3,4,4,4,0,4,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,0,2,2,0,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,2,0,1,2,2,1,2,1,1,1,2,2,2,2,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,4,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,4,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,4,4,2,2,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3,3,4,2,4,3,3,3,3,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,3,3,3,3,3,4,4,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,2,1,1,2,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,2,3,3,4,4,3,3,3,4,4,3,3,3,3,3,4,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,2,3,3,2,4,3,3,3,4,0,0,2,2,4,3,4,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,2,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,1,1,1,1,2,4,2,2,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,1,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,4,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,4,4,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,0,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,3,3,4,0,0,0,0,2,1,1,1,1,1,2,0,0,2,4,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,3,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,4,3,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,3,3,3,3,3
3,3,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,4,3,3,3,3
3,3,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,2,4,3,3
3,3,4,2,1,1,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,1,1,2,4,3
3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,2,1,1,2,4
3,4,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,2,2,1,1,1,2
3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,0,0,0,0,1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2
3,4,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2

Do Yahoo! Yahoo again?

2007-10-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have just read the Jerry Yang's blog about the strategic changes which Yahoo will incorporate soon. This ends the much (or little...) speculation about "What is yahoo doing?". It was nice to read the "founder's" insight about the company and its plans for attempting revival of the internet giant(?). Jerry sounds reincarnated and also wrote about from ending up some services to narrowing down the 3 points agenda, rather trying to hit all over approach. Jerry's 3 point agenda on which company would concentrate in coming years are:

1. To concentrate on the Yahoo services which are the starting point of yahoo access such as mail, search etc. On this front Yahoo has large user base already(even it is diminishing every second and switching to Google).
2. To aggressively invest on Panama and increase the revenue from online ads. (Again there already Google sits at first place with AdSense but Yahoo is on 2nd place.)
3. To create the Platform for developers and publishers for creating application/gadgets for yahoo user base.

I think with this strategy in place and Jerry as a leader Yahoo can compensate some of its losses but not all because the Google ghost is there for all. Google's "Do no evil" motto sometimes paradoxes itself as it does lots of losses for other giants and they are now forced to think for their survival in the Web 2.0 world.

What about minternet!!!

2007-10-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

As the world turning to mobile devices connected to internet i thought internet needs to be redefined and thus coined the term "minternet". Obviously its Mobile Internet and should be used all over in place of internet/web wherever mobile devices talked about.

I think Minternet should be consist of the contents which recides only on mobile devices and shared with others over the network. the contents need not be loaded on to big servers or PC's. As the new age mobile applications are allowing the users to post directly on web through mobile and handheld computers. But there is data which is only residing on the users phone and just like currently sms's presents....

So be ready as minternet might be the coming years new buzzword :)