WeSeePeople

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Zingku Mobile social networking site to be acquired by Google.

When I visited ZINGKU today I learned that they have entered in to an agreement to be acquired by Google. All new account activations are on hold and the existing users are given the following message;

"We're Moving to Google
We've entered into an agreement to have Google acquire our Zingku service. If you want to continue with our service, you don't need to do anything; your account and service will be transferred over to Google at the completion of the acquisition.

If you'd rather not maintain your account as a result of the acquisition, no problem. You can choose to discontinue your account any time before October 4, 2007 and your account won't be transferred over to Google. We will delete your account and all information connected to your account. Your user agreements with us will terminate. To discontinue your account, email support@zingku.com. We will contact you at your registered email address to confirm your deletion request before completing it."

Zingku is one of the series of mobile communication related social networks that Google have gone after in recent history. Dodgeball and Grand central were the others

Thursday, September 27, 2007

MEDDESKTOP: More Toy Recalls, this Time it is Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys (Images included)

MEDDESKTOP: More Toy Recalls, this Time it is Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys (Images included)

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Is movements like Pink Ribbon aid in reducing Breast Cancer Deaths

MEDDESKTOP: Breast Cancer Deaths are Falling Continuously.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

MEDDESKTOP: Encourage Flu shots, CDC advises

Flu season is coming, if you socialize,
MEDDESKTOP: Encourage Flu shots, CDC advises

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New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo goes after facebook

SAN FRANCISCO -- A year after goading MySpace into overhauling its safety practices, state law enforcement officials on Monday stepped up their criticism of how social network Facebook Inc. protects its young users from sexual predators.
New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo said his office was investigating whether Facebook made false claims about the safety of its social network. He issued subpoenas to gather more information about the Palo Alto company's policies and procedures after an undercover investigation found that Facebook was slow to respond to complaints about sexual solicitations of underage users.
"It does not have the right to represent that its site is safe and that it promptly responds to complaints when such statements are not accurate," Cuomo said.
Continue reading at "Facebook scrutinized on safety claims"

Monday, September 24, 2007

10000 Million Social Network, Facebook

For Mark Zuckerberg, it has to be hard not to gloat. When the 23-year-old turned down Yahoo's $1 billion offer for his social networking Web site Facebook, some Silicon Valley veterans openly questioned his sense. Was Zuckerberg really that egotistical—or childish—to think a site where kids post photos and shoutouts was really worth a third of, say, the New York Times Co. ? But now Facebook is seeking investment that would value the company at around $10 billion—more than twice the market cap of the Times.

So far, Zuckerberg is keeping any I-told-you-sos to himself. His company refused to comment about a Sept. 24 Wall Street Journal report that Microsoft is attempting to buy a 5% stake in Facebook for as much as $500 million. A person with knowledge of Facebook, however, confirmed that Facebook seeks investment at a minimum $10 billion valuation.

News source.

WordPress Version 2.3 “Dexter” is ready for the world.

One of the most popular social networking (Blogging) tools has released a new version. Version 2.3 “Dexter” of WordPress is ready for the world. This release includes native tagging support, plugin update notification, URL handling improvements, and much more. This release is named for the great tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon. I will be at San Francisco Hosting Upgrade Party.
blog post!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Propeller.com to propell Netscape social news for AOL

The Netscape blog announced "The Netscape social news experience that you are currently using today will be migrated and revealed soon at http://www.propeller.com/. We're working hard behind the scenes to ensure a smooth transition before we officially launch at this new destination.



It is important to us that you feel empowered to choose how you want to consume your news and participate in the community. As we mentioned in a recent post, the Netscape.com site will soon be redirected to the new Netscape portal, a more traditional and editorially-driven news experience. It's already live, so you can check it out now if you haven't already. You'll notice some elements of our social news site there in short order, so that it will be easy for you to go back and forth and engage in each if you like."
Social News Update

Thursday, September 13, 2007

MySpaceTV gets first Webisode of Quarterlife

Emmy-winning television show creators Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are teaming up with MySpaceTV to distribute their new online series, "Quarterlife." The first "Webisode" will air on MySpaceTV November 11.
The two awarding winning TV producers felt slighted when their new show was canceled by a major television network in 2005--now they get even by ditching the TV and taking their work online.Marshall Herskovitz has produced major big screen hits, such as Traffic and Blood Diamond. He feels confident that he can produce a solid piece of cinematography. He and frequent collaborator Edward Zwick had a hand in many television successes as well, including “thirtysomething” and “My So-Called Life.”When Emmy award-winning producers come to MySpaceTV you know this is reaching a whole new level, said Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace. Were proud to offer the creative community a blank canvas and open platform to express their vision.
Source

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Bebo ties a knot (an Advertising) with Yahoo

Yahoo! will supply targeted banner advertising to Bebo after the embattled internet group secured its first tie-up with a social network site.Under the agreement, Yahoo! will also integrate its Yahoo! Answers service, which allows users to have queries answered by an online community, into the Bebo site.
It will also release a new desktop toolbar that allows users to monitor their Bebo profile when they are not on the site. The two groups said that advertisers would benefit from the combination of Bebo’s highly engaged audience, much of which is in the sought-after 13 to 24-year-old bracket, and Yahoo!’s ability to target consumers with advertising campaigns tailored to their internet habits.
Bebo has about 11 million users in the UK and Ireland, according to Comscore, the market researcher.
Joanna Shields, Bebo's international president, said that the group's partnership with Yahoo! — described as an exlusive "multiyear" deal — fitted into Bebo's aim of becoming a "social media" company.

Source

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

TalkShoe Launches ShoePhone, for Group calling

TalkShoe, service that enables anyone to easily create, join, or listen to Live Interactive Podcasts & Audioblogs, of which I am a member, has some good news!

Pittsburgh, PA — September 11, 2007 — TalkShoe™, the leader in Internet topic-based voice conversations, discussions and live interactive podcasts, today announced the general availability of ShoePhone, an easy to use service for unlimited group calling with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Up to 250 people can participate in a live call (which TalkShoe calls Talkcasts™), and 1,000s more can listen to the simultaneous live Internet audio stream. Users can also simultaneously text-chat, and Talkcasts can be recorded and stored on TalkShoe’s website for later listening and podcasting. Talkcasts can be done instantly, or scheduled in advance. ShoePhone is Free to use.

ShoePhone uses voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology to create calls. However, unlike other VoIP services, ShoePhone users can connect with other ShoePhone users as well as to people using standard telephones, mobile phones, other VoIP services such as Skype, and 3rd party VoIP clients such as SJphone and Gizmo. This is because ShoePhone is based on a telco-grade conferencing system unlike other server-based VoIP-only services which have limited conferencing capabilities.

“People want to talk. And people want to talk about something,” said Dave Nelsen, CEO and founder of TalkShoe. “TalkShoe and ShoePhone together are a great tool for social networking. Our goal is to bring topic-based interactive voice discussions to the masses.”

ShoePhone is deeply integrated with TalkShoe’s award-winning software – TalkShoe Live™, where people can simultaneously talk, text-chat, and stream audio over the Internet. TalkShoe hosts and discussion leaders are in control with features such as see-who’s-talking indication, voice muting, text-chat censoring, and request-to-talk queuing. TalkShoe also has created numerous web widgets for people to easily integrate any live and recorded Talkcasts into their social networking websites including MySpace, Facebook, TypePad, Friendster, Webwag, Netvibes and Windows Live.

"ShoePhone makes connecting with TalkShoe quick and easy,” commented Aaron Brauser, Vice President of Product Management at TalkShoe. “There’s no need to enter IDs, phone numbers, or IP addresses – just use a headset and a PC or Mac.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Make Money on FaceBook with Lemonade Stand

In addition to Facebook, Lemonade Stand owners can add their stand as a widget to their social networking page, blog, or personal website. Users currently have set up Lemonade Stands on MySpace, AOL People Connect, Yahoo! 360, Blogger, and SixApart. Lemonade Inc. will also feature every Lemonade Stand in the Marketplace section on www.lemonade.com.


SOUTH NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of its official launch today, Lemonade Inc. announced that it has been approved as the first Facebook application to enable users to make money by setting up a Lemonade Stand on their personal profile pages. The Lemonade Stand application is free. It lets users design a digital Lemonade Stand that recommends products for sale and offers brand promotions. Whenever visitors respond to a promotion or buy a product, the Lemonade Stand owner makes money.

For many of us, setting up a neighborhood lemonade stand was our introduction to entrepreneurship, says Lemonade co-founder and CEO Tom Zawacki. In a similar way, Lemonade allows people to combine commerce and community in the digital neighborhood of their personal online space. Beyond 35 million Facebook users, the Lemonade Stand application is available to an estimated 100 million people who have created their own blogs, social network profiles and personal web pages.

Certainly we expect people to set up Lemonade Stands to make money for themselves, says Mr. Zawacki. However, were very proud of those users who are setting up stands to raise funds for a local cause or to donate to their favorite non-profit organization. Time Magazine named 2006 the year of consumer-generated content on the Internet. We hope to make this the year of consumer-generated commerce.

Lemonade Stand owners can select from among 2 million products carried by more than 200 top-tier retailers, including:

-- Apple (iTunes & .Mac)                            -- Macy's
-- Land's End -- EBGames
-- eLuxury -- Liz Claiborne

-- Wal-Mart -- Nordstrom
-- The Sharper Image -- Hotwire Travel
-- TigerDirect Electronics -- MovieLink

Weve worked very hard to make sure we offer broad retail category coverage for Lemonade Stand owners, says Tim Smith, Chief Strategy Officer. Our goal is for everyone to set up a Lemonade Stand featuring the products or brands they love. Weve already seen a variety of stands promoting video games, downloadable music collections, urban fashion, and baby products recommended by new mothers.

According to Internet research company comScore, social networking websites and blogs receive an estimated 170 million unique visitors per month. Forrester Research projects that retail e-commerce will top $150 billion in 2007, and states that a recommendation from a friend is rated by consumers as the #1 reason for making a purchase.

    "The challenge for most retailers today is to connect with younger
consumers in a technology driven environment, even if your product
isn't technical. Lemonade is a retail solution that utilizes the
tremendous viral power of the Internet, e-commerce, and virtual
communities with the inclusion of a consumer payback. Expect
lemonade to be the next successful element of multi-channel
marketing."

Douglas Roedel, retail industry expert and former head
of interactive marketing, Aeropostale

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Help to find Fosset, if that is your fore

It’s been five days since adventurer millionaire Steve Fossett disappeared somewhere in the Nevada desert. Since then a massive search was launched and So far, searchers have found half a dozen previously unknown crash sites, but no sign of Fossett’s plane. So you have to be a millionaire to be found. I wonder how many people have gone missing and never found!

Earlier Techcrunch reported that Fosset's friend Richard Branson was using Google Earth to try to find him. Amazon has also volunteered now, and has set up a Mechanical Turk project where any one interested can view recent satellite photos and search for the plane. One could also view the images in Google Earth.

Amazon got involved finding Jim Gray who was lost at sea earlier this year, but Gray was never found. I still remember the coast guards comment "You can't find a person if they wish not to be found"!

Friday, September 07, 2007

ALIVE DAY MEMORIES: HOME FROM IRAQ

America, Thank these People! Right or Wrong, they fought for you!!
looks at a new generation of veterans. Executive Producer James Gandolfini interviews ten Soldiers and Marines who reveal their feelings on their future, their severe disabilities and their devotion to America. The documentary surveys the physical and emotional cost of war through memories of their "alive day," the day they narrowly escaped death in Iraq.

HBO has provided Blogs for each and you can leave a message for them as well. We see You!

Watch the entire ALIVE DAY MEMORIES special on HBO.com beginning Sunday, September 9 at 11:30pm.

READ THEIR STORIES


DOJ Opposes Net Neutrality,

Earlier today (Sept. 6), the Justice Department filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opposing Net Neutrality. The DoJ, supposedly the protector of consumers and guardian of competition, said that "market forces" were sufficient to do both of those jobs.

That view, of course, is nonsense. Perhaps the DoJ failed to recall that there are no "market forces," and that the market for broadband services is controlled by two industries and that consumers have very little choice. Just how little choice we have was made clear to me earlier this summer.

In August, my wife and I went to Jasper, Alberta, a little town in the northern part of Jasper National Park. One morning, we had breakfast with a couple we had met in an excursion around the area. They are from Derby (pronounced Darby), a city of about 233,000 located in the center of England, far from London.

The discussion got around to the question, "What do you do?" For the next 45 minutes or so, my wife Liz, a systems architect for IBM, and the English husband, an engineer, and his wife, an Information Technology instructor, had a lively discussion of Service Oriented Architecture, data modeling, data warehousing and the like. I wanted to know what kind of Internet connection he had.

It was a difficult choice, he and his wife said, because there were so many options. He had to make up a spreadsheet to figure out which service was best. Let us pause and consider this concept.

This U.K. consumer did something not one U.S. consumer can do. This broadband consumer in the U.K. has so many options - 59 Internet Service Providers that he needed a spreadsheet to figure them out. Here in the U.S., a similar customer might have two - the telephone company and cable company.

The contrast is staggering: a complex spreadsheet with 59 choices and several features for each vs. pre-kindergarten math of counting to two. The evidence is clear. From the consumer point of view, our Internet policies are a failure and a disgrace.

The details of the riches enjoyed by English customers are more staggering today than they were when the Derby spreadsheet was made in 2004. An English consumer magazine, Which?, on Aug. 2 published evaluations of 25 providers. Between them, those 25 providers have 125 separate service plans, and the magazine evaluates each of those on 35 separate factors. Most of the services are available nationwide.

You can read the rest at the Huffington Post.

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VideoEgg secures 15M in fundingled by Focus Ventures. WPP, August Capital, and Maveron


SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VideoEgg. Inc., the leading video advertising network for online communities, today announced that it has secured $15 million funding led by Focus Ventures. WPP, August Capital, and Maveron also contributed to the round.

VideoEgg, which delivers video advertisements across many popular svideo advertisements web sites, such as Bebo, Hi5, Flixster and Facebook applications will use the capital to grow its advertising network business and accelerate product development efforts, including innovative ad formats, targeting, and the most effective ways to leverage social networks to build brands.

"The social net continues to take time and attention from traditional media, especially in youth segments. We think traditional ad networks are not meeting the needs of brand marketers who are looking for viable alternatives to TV advertising," said Matt Sanchez, co-founder and CEO of VideoEgg. "This funding will help us to continue to build the next generation ad network and make advertising more social, moving away from creating an impression to securing an actionable brand engagement.

Demonstrating compelling industry growth, IDC recently stated that internet advertising is the most important sector of the digital marketplace and estimates that it will grow to $31.4 billion in 2011. VideoEgg has been taking advantage of this growth through partnering with some of the largest social networks, bringing outstanding consumer reach to its advertising partners, which include Universal Pictures, Discovery Networks, Electronic Arts, Ford, Nike, Unilever and Nestlé. The company has demonstrated significant growth and leadership since launching its ad network earlier this year, including partnering with several leading social networks and signing on over a hundred advertisers.

Its all about the right mix to win in this market, which requires insight into the needs of marketers with innovative technology and a focus on rich media, said Steven Bird, general partner of Focus Ventures. VideoEgg has made significant traction selling advertising solutions and is truly seen as an innovator in the ad world.

The strategic investment signals great confidence in VideoEggs market leadership and ability to reinvent the ad network around new ideas of engagement for brands. The company will continue to expand to build its unique solutions and serve brands across tier one ad markets.

For more information visit www.videoegg.com.

Ruckus networks to make a ruckus on college campuses

Ruckus.comHERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ruckus Network, Inc., provider of the only ad-supported, free and legal digital entertainment service for college students, added tons of new features to its service offering this summer in preparation for the 2007 school year. Now any student in the United States with a valid .edu e-mail address can browse, play and legally download the more than three million songs/videos in the extensive Ruckus® library. Ruckus added loads of new stuff, including more features, more content and more social networking to welcome back students nationwide.

New This Semester:

  • The Perfect Dorm Contest A back-to-school contest that gives all users the chance to win The Perfect Dorm spring break getaways from SunSplash tours, a Sony VAIO notebook laptop, an Xbox 360 with Guitar Hero and two wireless guitars, a Bose multimedia speaker system, a large Westinghouse flat-panel LCD monitor, a Trek 6000 mountain bike and more.
  • My Ruckus Music Application for Facebook An interactive way for students to share their Ruckus experience with friends in the massive Facebook student community, and within their own Facebook groups, networks and friends. The app lets students share their faves, see what their classmates are listening to and immediately download the music for free.
  • More Than Three Million Songs All available legally and for free, as well as virus-free, to college students through established partnerships with all major labels Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and EMI and thousands of indie labels. The library has doubled from 1.5 million tracks available last fall.
  • Musical Promos New musical promotions focus on getting students even closer to the music and to the action including an American Idol Live! tour ticket giveaway (a pair of tickets for all 56 dates), tour exclusives, and meet-and-greets from indie rockers Circa Survive.

Coming Soon to a Campus Near You:

  • Student-Only Gaming Channel Ruckus is also adding a gaming channel with multi-player games, solo games, demos, trailers and more. Multi-player games provide a better, more competitive gaming experience by allowing student users to play with other members of the Ruckus community.
  • Music Recommendation Engine The new service will scan a users music library and point them to other tracks in Ruckus massive library for instant downloads. It also will highlight other users with similar music preferences. This allows users to connect based on similar music tastes, as well as discover and share music in a fresh way.

Ruckus Rapid Invasion:

  • Monthly free and legal downloads averaging 20 million per month
  • Used by students at 1,000-plus college campuses nationwide 1,237% more schools than last year
  • More than 173 official college and university partners

Click Me:

The Buzz Factor:

  • From the second I downloaded Ruckus, I haven't stopped adding songs, said Joanna Childers, student at Duke University. There is so much content on there, its ridiculous. I was pumped to see that a lot of lesser-known bands I listen to had their stuff available on Ruckus, and with new releases every week, Im always able to get new albums the day they come out. It has definitely made downloading music a whole lot easier.
Ruckus : ROW, DISTURBANCE ruckus>

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Silverlight released and Moonlight is on the way!

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday officially released version 1.0 of its Silverlight rich media player. Silverlight is a cross platform, cross browser plug-in that enables designers and developers to build rich media experiences and .NET based RIAs for the web. Microsoft also announced several high-profile partners that will deliver video and Web content via Silverlight, including the Home Shopping Network, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the TV show Entertainment Tonight.
Silverlight is also now deployed on several Microsoft sites, including the Halo 3 preview site (Or the awesome HD version), Tafiti.com, MSN Extra, and MSN Podium '08. You'll also see Silverlight used prominently in several upcoming MSN and Microsoft.com sites.

Microsoft also said it will work with Novell Inc. on the Linux version of Silverlight, to be called Moonlight. Microsoft will build the video codecs for the Moonlight project and supply Novell with software to test and ensure Silverlight runs well on 32-bit and 64-bit PCs running Suse Linux, Red Hat and Ubuntu. Moonlight is expected to be ready within six months. For further information on MoonLight, keep an eye on Miguel de Icaza's blog

Not to be left behind, the main competitor, Adobe is releasing Moviestar, an upgrade to Flash that supports better quality video than today.

Facebook ready to let faces loose! Save yours!!

The news that Facebook will be making its member list available to internet search engines is sure to send a shudder of fear through its users. In the coming weeks, anyone, even those without a Facebook account, will not only be able to search for friends via the Facebook homepage but also through popular search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google.
It's a clear sign, too, of Facebook's ambitions. As Om Malik, renowned technology blogger, notes on his website GigaOM (gigaom.com): "This move transforms Facebook from being a social network to being a quasi-White Pages [an American "people directory"]… This is yet another small step in the overall erosion of personal privacy, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of social networks… We're leaving digital litter all over the web and some day it'll cause problems."
But fear not, if you follow Chris Stevens advise over at Telegraph you might be able to save your face and still be on the facebook, never mind who finds you!

The First ever Photograph!

Flickr like photo galleries have brought together millions of people and has become a social information explosion. All these without many words other than the captions. I can travel through someones mind and a country side thousands of miles away! The number of photographs on those sites are exaggerating! and I would not even attempt to count! But what brought my attention was the first photograph ever taken. The first ever step to creating this social phenomenon.
I found this information on University of Texas at Austin online exhibition! and something everybody should see and learn! Please visit the exhibition and you will learn much more about this great creation.
Here is the Photograph's reproduction and chronology as presented by the University of Texas at Austin.













Helmut Gernsheim & Kodak Research Laboratory, Harrow, England.
Gelatin silver print with applied watercolor reproduction of Joseph
Nicéphore Niépce's View from the Window at Le Gras.
March 20-21, 1952.
Gelatin silver print and watercolor.
20.3 x 25.4 cm.
Long before the first public announcements of photographic processes in 1839, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a scientifically-minded gentleman living on his country estate near Chalon-sur-Saône, France, began experimenting with photography. Fascinated with the craze for the newly-invented art of lithography which swept over France in 1813, he began his initial experiments by 1816. Unable to draw well, Niépce first placed engravings, made transparent, onto engraving stones or glass plates coated with a light-sensitive varnish of his own composition. These experiments, together with his application of the then-popular optical instrument, the camera obscura, would eventually lead him to the invention of the new medium.

In 1824 Niépce met with some degree of success in copying engravings, but it would be two years later before he had success utilizing pewter plates as the support medium for the process. By the summer of that year, 1826, Niépce was ready. In the window of his upper-story workroom at his Saint-Loup-de-Varennes country house, Le Gras, he set up a camera obscura, placed within it a polished pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea (an asphalt derivative of petroleum), and uncapped the lens. After at least a day-long exposure of eight hours, the plate was removed and the latent image of the view from the window was rendered visible by washing it with a mixture of oil of lavender and white petroleum which dissolved away the parts of the bitumen which had not been hardened by light. The result was the permanent direct positive picture you see here -- a one-of-a-kind photograph on pewter. It renders a view of the outbuildings, courtyard, trees and landscape as seen from that upstairs window.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and the First Photograph

  • 1765 - March 7 - Joseph Nicéphore Niépce is born in Chalon-sur-Saône

  • 1785 - Death of his father, Claude, a former King's counselor and deposits collector for Chalonnais.

  • 1786 - Begins his studies at the Oratoire in Angers.

  • 1788 - Leaves the Oratoire and enlists in the National Guard in Chalon-sur-Saône.

  • 1789 - The French Revolution begins.

  • 1792 - Enlists in the Revolutionary Army, serving as a second lieutenant in the 42nd Infantry Regiment. In the next two years he will serve in southern France, Italy, and in the Sardinian Campaign.

  • 1793-4 - During their service in Cagliari, Sardinia, he and his older brother, Claude, first conceive of the idea of fixing images from the Camera Obscura.

  • 1794 - Completion of his military service.
      - August 4 - Marriage to Agnes Roméro in Nice.
      - Claude leaves army and comes to join the family in Nice.

  • 1795-1801 - Serves on the District Commission of Nice.

  • 1795 - Birth of his son, Isidore.

  • 1798 - Joseph and Claude begin their first collaboration: working on a combustion engine.

  • 1801 - Returns with his family and Claude to Chalon-sur-Saône in order to manage the family estate for his ailing mother.

  • 1807 - The two brothers receive a ten-year patent, signed by Napoleon, for their invention of the first internal combustion engine, called the Pyréolophore. Early tests in a model boat on the Saône River are successful.

  • 1811 - Investigates woad plant cultivation as a substitute for indigo.

  • 1813 - First experiments with lithography, light-sensitive substances, and the mechanical reproduction of images. Also begins searching regional quarries for better stones for his lithographic experiments.

  • 1814 - Financial difficulties with running the estate force him to take out the first of many loans on his properties.

  • 1816 - His first documented experiments of what could be termed a "photographic" nature. The use of a camera together with silver chloride on paper produces a negative image but he is unable to fix it in order to stop it from fading.
      - Claude leaves for Paris to promote their Pyréolophore invention.

  • 1817 - A year of intense experimentation with both various chemicals and improvements in camera design.
      - Claude departs for England to promote the Pyréolophore.

  • 1818 - He improves Drais's design for the bicycle.
      - He tries to obtain a positive image utilizing Wollaston's camera lucida.
      - He also experiments in camera with Guaiacum resin which exhibits a change of solubility when exposed to light.

  • 1820 - The first promising results in fixing images. By this time he is experimenting with bitumen of Judea and other resins on stone and glass surfaces.

  • 1822 - July - His first notable success is the creation of a negative contact print on bitumen-coated glass derived from an etching of Pope Pius VII. The glass negative is later destroyed during an attempt to produce a positive image.

  • 1824 - Many important successes: He produces contact copy images of engravings and drawings upon a variety of surfaces, including copper, glass and stone. He also produces, with an exposure time of about five days, the first camera view (point de vue) from the upper window upon a lithographic stone surface (which apparently has also not survived) - and writes Claude that the results are "faint" but that the effect is "magical."
      - Also his first attempts at taking his bitumen images on copper plates and etching them with the aqua fortis method. His goal is to create etched plates which may be used for the mass productions of prints on paper.
      - Unfortunately, by this time his estate is in deep financial difficulties and he is forced to continue taking out loans.

  • 1825 - Attempting to improve his camera image, he orders lenses from the Paris optician, Charles Chevalier. Later that year Chevalier will inform Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, the Parisian painter and dioramist, about Niépce and his experiments.
      - Begins working with Augustin Lemaitre, a Parisian etcher, to find a way to use his etched plates to make good prints on paper.
      - Wedding of his son, Isidore, to Eugénie de Champmartin.

  • 1826 - Earliest possible date in which all the elements come together - the pewter plate, the bitumen of Judea coating, and the improved camera optics - so that he could produce the first permanent photograph from nature. The "View from the Window at Le Gras" is made from an upper window of his home looking out ironically upon the outbuildings and courtyard of his heavily mortgaged estate.
      - His earliest known application of the term "heliography" to his work.
      - He receives his first letter from Daguerre and establishes a guarded correspondence.

  • 1827 - Latest possible date for the creation of the First Photograph.
      - The journey to England: When word reaches Joseph of Claude's grave illness, he and Agnes travel to England to visit him, stopping first in Paris where he meets Daguerre. He also takes along several examples of his heliographic experiments to show his brother. While there, he establishes a friendship with botanist Francis Bauer, FRS, at Kew. He writes a brief piece, Notice sur l'Heliographie, for Bauer to present, along with the heliographs, to a meeting of the Royal Society requesting their financial support for the process. His request is turned down, ostensibly because Niépce is not willing at the time to reveal the formula for his process to the Society.

  • 1828 - January - Joseph and Agnes bid farewell to his ailing brother and leave England. Shortly before his departure he leaves some plates - including the First Photograph - the Cardinal d'Amboise print, and the original heliography manuscript with Bauer, in the hope that the botanist can help further his case to be recognized in Britain.
      -February - Claude dies in England at about the same time that Niépce returns to Le Gras.
      - Joseph begins his first experiments with polished silver plates, experimenting with the fumes of iodine to help darken the latent image and unexposed areas. This will later form the major basis for Daguerre's process, the daguerreotype.
      - For the first time he seeks to relieve his constantly mounting debt by selling several properties and lands.

  • 1829 - The beginning of much more extensive correspondence with Daguerre.
      - He continues experimentation with silver and silver-plated copper plates and iodine fumes, obtaining images in the relatively brief time of 30 minutes.
      - He plans to publish a comprehensive account of the heliographic process but is dissuaded by Daguerre.
      -December 14 - Signs a collaborative agreement with Daguerre.

  • 1830 - His attempts to obtain direct positive camera images fail because of an inability to bleach out the bitumen.
      -June - Daguerre visits him for two weeks.


  • 1831 - He goes back to experimenting with many other types of resins.
      - He is forced to sell properties close to home in his village of Saint-Loup- de-Varennes.

  • 1832 - June - Daguerre visits again.
      - The partners invent a process called the Physautotype that utilizes a distillate of lavender oil as the photosensitive agent and produces images in fewer than 8 hours.
      -November - Daguerre returns to work with him on various processes.

  • 1833 - July 3 - Joseph Nicéphore Niépce dies of a sudden stroke at his home. At the time of his death none of his inventions have been officially acknowledged.


  • 1839 - Daguerre unveils the daguerreotype process. Together with William Henry Fox Talbot's revelation in England of "photogenic drawing" the two inventions mark the public's acceptance of this date as the announcement of photography.
      - Daguerre is awarded a lifetime stipend from the French Academy of Science for making the process available "free to all." In actuality, it is only free in France, Daguerre reserving all licensing rights for the rest of the world. In view of his still extant agreement with Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, the son, Isidore, is granted a much smaller stipend.

  • 1840 - Death of Francis Bauer at Kew.

  • 1841 - November 24 - At the sale of Bauer's estate, the Niépce materials - including the First Photograph - are purchased by a fellow botanist, Dr. Robert Brown, FRS.

  • 1858 - Upon the death of Brown, the Niépce materials are purchased by his assistant, John J. Bennett.

  • 1884 - April - Following Bennett's death his estate is auctioned off. Two friends and associates - the photographer, Henry Peach Robinson, and the Editor of the Photographic News, Henry Baden Pritchard - purchase and divide up all the Niépce artifacts. Robinson acquires the three non-camera heliographs and one of the prints of the Cardinal D'Amboise. Pritchard acquires three artifacts: the other print of the Cardinal, Niépce's original manuscript on heliography, and the First Photograph.
      -May 11 - Two weeks after the purchase of the Niépce pieces, Pritchard dies unexpectedly of pneumonia.

  • 1885 - The Niépce artifacts are borrowed from the Pritchard family to be shown in the Photography Section (Group XXIX) of the International Inventions Exhibition in London.

  • 1898 - The Niépce artifacts belonging to the Pritchards are borrowed again and displayed (alongside Robinson's Niépce possessions) in the Historical Section of the Royal Photographic Society's International Exhibition, at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.

  • 1901 - After the death of H.P. Robinson, his Niépce holdings are inherited by his son, Ralph Waldo Robinson.

  • 1917 - After the death of Pritchard's widow, the Niépce artifacts belonging to the Pritchard family are placed in a trunk with other family belongings and stored in a warehouse in London. Their significance and location are subsequently forgotten.

  • 1924 - Ralph W. Robinson places the Niépce artifacts that his father had acquired with the Royal Photographic Society.

  • 1947 - Helmut Gernsheim begins his search for the First Photograph.

  • 1950 - Answering an appeal by Gernsheim as published in The Observer, Henry Baden Pritchard's son informs him that the family had owned the object but that it was lost when it was not returned after the 1898 exhibition.
      -July - Gernsheim closes his search for the historic photograph and writes an article for The Photographic Journal summarizing his investigations into Niépce's heliographs in Great Britain.

  • 1952 - Following the death of Pritchard's son, his widow discovers the forgotten trunk and its contents. She informs the Gernsheims and invites them to see the Niépce artifacts.
      -February 14 - The Gernsheims see the Niépce pieces for the first time and confirm their authenticity. They receive all three artifacts, including the First Photograph, as a gift from Mrs. Pritchard.
      -April 15 - Gernsheim announces the rediscovery of the First Photograph in The London Times and the story carries the first reproduction of the famous image.
      -September - The Gernsheims exhibit the First Photograph at the World Exhibition of Photography in Lucerne, Switzerland -- the first time the treasure has been on public display in over 50 years.

  • 1963 - The Gernsheims sell their Photography Collection to the Humanities Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. They then donate the three Niépce artifacts, including the First Photograph, to the Center.

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Monday, September 03, 2007

Is Facebook racist? or enjoying the controversial attention?

Thousands of people have joined a campaign to remove racist images and postings from Facebook.More than 2,000 have signed a petition after it emerged that British National Party members were posting pictures and messages on their groups' pages.
The petition, which was organised by Unite Against Fascism, has been signed by MPs including Diane Abbott, Keith Vaz and George Galloway.We had an overwhelming response of 1,000 signatures in a week and 100 people are supporting it a day,' said Denis Fernando from UAF.
One group on Facebook, called Vote BNP And Save The World, shows a photograph of people dressed as Ku Klux Klan members.
The caption reads: 'Local BNP meeting, blacks welcome.'
Facebook's terms and conditions state that user groups can be removed for sharing anything that can be seen as 'harmful, threatening, hateful or racially or ethnically objectionable'.
Since complaints started, the website has removed a racist image from one group's page but it remains on another's.
'That Facebook is allowing the grotesque use of its site to promote fascism is unacceptable,' added Mr Fernando.
Nobody from Facebook was available for comment last night.But yesterday the BNP claimed: 'UAF probably put those images on. It is a fascist organisation which doesn't believe in free speech.'Mr Fernando denied the accusations and added: 'The Facebook sites expose the reality of the BNP. It is not a normal political party.'