Happy New Year!

May you see more people in 2008!
WeSeePeople.
tag: weseepeople

LIST OF SOCIAL SITES WITH (UPDATED) PAGE RANK

I saw this list of Social Sites at Arsenal marketing. Of course they have 145 sites listed. I just took the first 20, just to check how the recent Google Page Rank has played on them. Seems Pretty stable but some of the high ranked one have dropped a notch or two. If I have time I will try to see if I could get all the sites and list according to the page rank.

1. 34Things - To do List, Activity Lists [PR 7]
2. Aboogy -[PR 4]
3. AllMyFavorites - [PR 0]
4. Article Tag - Social bookmarking service. [PR 2]
5. aworldofhelp - [PR 0]
6. Backflip - General [PR 6]
7. beanrocket - general [PR 6]
8. Bookkit - [PR 4]
9. Bookmark Manager - [PR 4]
10. BookmarkSync -[PR 5]
11. BibSonomy - [PR 6]
12. blabb.com
13. Blauer Bote Bookmarks / link - [PR 4]
14. BlinkBits - [PR 6]
15. BlinkList - [PR 7]
16. BlogHop - [PR 5]
17. BlogLot - [DOWN]
18. BlogMarks.net - [PR 4]
19. BlogMemes.net - [PR 5]
20. BlogLines.com - [PR 9]
21. WeSeePeople (this Site) [PR 4]
    

Arsenal Marketing list

tag: Social Sites, Google Page Rank

New Web Hosting Reference Social Network, HostingBookmarks.com Launched

Looks like every nook and corner of the Internet is becoming a part of a Social Network or a niche social network, attracting users based on their needs or attractions. Sort of like yeateryears BBS'.
NewswireToday - /newswire/ - New York City, NY, United States, 12/30/2007 - Web hosting industry has already have its own social networking web site Hosting Bookmarks. It has been launched last week.

The purpose of the web site is far different from collecting commercial news about products and services that companies add to their hosting plans. The website aims organize various hosting topics and knowledge into a database. The new hosting reference network welcomes professionals involved in hosting industry to create profiles and to add articles, opinions, analysis, tutorial and help related content that would be useful to the community. The founder of the web site is the owner of DawHB hosting blog Dimitar Avramov. He is one of the known bloggers in web hosting industry.

"HostingBookmarks.com web site is not a technology innovative platform. In some way it is "just another social network" build on Pligg free content management system which power many social networking websites", says Mr. Avramov. He has however added that he believes it is important for hosting community to have a well-organized reference website where different people share their web hosting experience.

"When you changed a few web hosts, when you used different Control panels you know many things which you can share with others", says Dawhb.com blog's owner. He reveals that the idea to launch Hosting Bookmarks came when he was searching for quality blogs that cover various aspects of web hosting.

"I realized that I wasn't able to find good web hosting content within the popular social networks where people go mainly to have fun or to promote their blogs or websites. Then I decided to build a place where website business and web hosting addicted could bookmark, store, read, and search for various content by different categories and keywords", says also the founder of Hosting Bookmarks.

The new web hosting reference and social network site also invites tech bloggers who has experience in web hosting to bookmark valuable content and to share it with others.

"I would like to encourage you to create account in HostingBookmarks.com and to build good profile. This will help many people to find answers on many questions related to hosting industry" is the message that the founder of Hosting bookmarks send to his fellow bloggers.
tag: social network, Social networking, bbs, blogger, HostingBookmarks, Pligg

Social Networks Are The Best Money Makers On The Net.

David George-Cosh , CanWest News Service; Financial PostPublished: Saturday, December 29, 2007

TORONTO -- Inside a cramped conference room at Toronto's Mars Discovery Centre, angel investors listened closely as Nussar Ahmad pitched the future of the Internet.

Equipped with just a cellphone and a laptop connected to the web, Ahmad, director of Addictive Mobility, demonstrated how his company's latest software application has the ability to cash in on the world of social networking - the web's latest gold mine.

Using code supplied by Facebook, Ahmad's software can take pictures snapped on a camera phone and instantly send them to a Facebook profile page.

While the software is in its early stages, Ahmad plans to launch the program to the public free and introduce pay structures after enough early adopters make it "go viral."

Although the PowerPoint presentation was technical, Ahmad's audience was sold long before the pitch was complete.

"They didn't ask many questions; they were already sold," Ahmad said. "They all want to help me out and introduce me to potential investors."

Addictive Mobility is seeing clients from Mazda and Brisk Iced Tea knocking on his door.

"I couldn't have done this six months ago," he said. "Social networking has given me an opportunity I could only dream of."

Today, there are hundreds of thousands of new application developers and content generators being created for sites like Facebook, MySpace and a slew of other social-networking sites fueled by money being poured into the industry by the demand to advertise as much as possible online.

According to online market research firm eMarketer Inc., worldwide advertising spending at social networking sites jumped from $480 million US in 2006 to $1.2 billion this year. By 2011, that number is expected to grow to $4-billion.

Those numbers are backed up by British online advertising trade group, the Internet Advertising Bureau. In October, the IAB reported Internet marketing had grown 41.3 per cent in the first half of 2007 and now accounts for 14.7 per cent of the British ad market.

No other website has taken advantage of the online advertising cash windfall more than MySpace. After Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. purchased MySpace for $580 million US in July 2005, analysts questioned the hefty price tag for what was then a crowded online hangout for kids. But as the website boasts more than 220 million registered users and is finally turning a profit, that price seems a bargain now.

According to News Corp. officials, MySpace exceeded $500 million US in revenues in the 2007 fiscal year. While News Corp. doesn't release specific numbers on its subsidiaries, its Fox Interactive Media unit, which largely consists of MySpace, turned a profit of $10 million. And with last year's $900-million contract with Google to provide the back end for the search engine's online advertising network, those profits should continue to grow.

Facebook, MySpace's closest competitor, grew from a Harvard University dormitory experiment to the darling of Silicon Valley in only two years. With 47 million users around the world and growing at a rate of 200 per cent a year, Facebook made headlines last month after Microsoft Corp. purchased a 1.6-per-cent stake in the company worth $240 million US, thus indicating Facebook had a value of $15 billion.

The temptation to target Facebook users with specifically tailored ads using information the users reveal is in line with Microsoft's long-term plan to be a heavyweight in the online-ad world. Chief executive Steve Ballmer told a consortium of European ad agencies in October that online advertising would become 25 per cent of the company's business within a few years.

But perhaps the surest sign that social networking has become the web's next big profit centre was Google's announcement last month that it plans to dive headlong into this sector by uniting the fractious world of social-networking websites with one standardized set of programming code.

It's a dramatic change in direction for the Internet's 600-pound gorilla, which currently receives 99 per cent of its revenues from online advertising. The OpenSocial application platform exists in a pre-beta format with selected developers and is expected to be released early next year.

"We want to help build the fundamental social infrastructure for the web," David Glazer, an engineering director at Google responsible for OpenSocial, said. More to the point: "More people spending more time on the web is good for Google's core business."

Indeed, there hasn't been this much optimism in the tech world since before the dot-com bubble burst several years ago.

"You're finally seeing an industry mature. In 2000, it was a very immature industry where dreams and candy were being sold and bought by the financial community," said Tera Capital president Howard Sutton, a Toronto-based hedge fund manager. "Now, we've got more stable platforms and sophisticated investors."

In the 1990s, any company with a .com suffix garnered hype and valuations in the millions.

"[Today], bad companies aren't being financed; bad companies in 1999 were being finance," Sutton said.

One thing that hasn't changed much from the early dot-com days, however, is how quickly the latest Internet gold rush has formed.

"You've got these young companies coming up with ideas, and the pervasiveness of how quickly these companies can catch the wave," he said. "It's just a different business and moves at an entirely different speed."

Today's online communities rose from the ashes of the poorly designed, circa-1999 dot-com sites when users began offering up detailed information about their daily activities. The sites became sophisticated enough to translate that data into a marketer's dream scenario.

But it wasn't until recently, when broadband speeds became affordable for consumers, that the social-web phenomenon took off.

"When you have a big innovation, like electrical power or the telephone, you always get a similar set of activities," said Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. "First off, you get experimentation, then investment, excitement, speculation and a bubble."

"The bubble always bursts, as it did with dot-com, but after that you get decades of long-term deployment where the real impact of the technology becomes understood on business models, economy and society," he added.

"Having the bubble burst in people's faces set people in the mindset to create businesses that provided something material for users," said Amit Kapur, MySpace's vice-president of business development. "(With MySpace), everything fell together at the right time and created this innovative product combining all these other user experiences from other sites on the web that weren't making the most of their technology."

Matt Cohler, a Facebook vice-president and one of the site's first employees, says the online advertising business model is still a very narrow slice of a marketer's budget, and it's up to sites like Facebook to innovate and create new revenue streams.

Still, there is no sure bet on the web, even for Facebook. The site's drive to appease marketers with its most recent advertising platform, dubbed Beacon, failed. The site partnered with third-party websites that place unauthorized messages in users' news feeds. It infuriated the Facebook community, who said the practice was a blatant invasion of their privacy.

"We moved too quickly when it came to Beacon," Cohler admitted.

Duncan Stewart, director at Deloitte Canada Research, agrees.

"The lesson of Beacon is not that it can't be done or even if it was done wrong, but it must be done cautiously," he said.

But try telling that to social networking phenoms like California-based software company RockYou, developers of Super Wall, which has more than 2.6 million subscribers, as well as about 400 other Facebook applications. A new advertising platform geared towards Facebook developers - with more than 10,000 already signed up - it will drive revenues into the "tens of millions or higher," said Lance Tokuda, RockYou's chief executive and founder.

"The space we're shooting for is bigger than Yahoo's presence on the web," Tokuda said. "Four of the top-10 sites in the world are social networks and we're looking to expand into e-mail and instant messaging."

Financial Post © CanWest News Service 2007

tag: social network, Facebook, MySpace, eMarketer, Social networking, Wikinomics,

Merry XMas and You May Track Santa OnLine As NORAD Follows Santa,!

Have A Wonderful XMas!
VOIP IP Telephony: Track Santa OnLine As NORAD Follows Santa,!:

Tags: Track Santa, The Worlds Fastest Flying Object, XMAS,

Finally Queen Is A Commoner!

Or perhaps just using a tool commoners use to bring their messages, funny, serious and off the wall, across. Queen of England has decided to put herself on the YouTube. Welcome Queen! According to the BBC report;
The opening page of the channel, which went live just after midnight, bears the title "The Royal Channel - The Official Channel of the British Monarchy" and features a photograph of Buckingham Palace and the Queen's Guards.
Perhaps British tabloids are complaisant, Not giving the Royal Family due recognition. One way or the other, I hope she get her message across to people.
You can read the BBC article here.
Google Official Blog also praises Queens decision to broadcast over YouTube;
Official Google Blog: A very special Christmas broadcast

Free Calls For Holidays From Jajah

Do not forget to take advantage of generous offer from Jajah to make local and international calls free up to 60 minutes. Follow the link for instructions. Free Calls For Holidays From Jajah
VOIP IP Telephony: Free Calls, Free International Calls, From Jajah For The Holiday Season

tags: jajah,free calls, Free international calls, christmas,hanukka, kwanza, holiday, jajah direct, voip, voice 2.0

HI5 Gets Music Applications By iLike and Qloud

First Apps Using OpenSocial™ on hi5 Build Links between Artists and Fans Globally; New Features for hi5 Users Include Spanish Language Version of iLike

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--hi5 Networks, Inc. today announced the launch of two new music services on its social network, hi5, through collaborations with iLike and Qloud. iLike and Qloud each launched an application on hi5 today by leveraging the common set of OpenSocial™ APIs to deliver new music services to hi5’s more than 70 million registered members — making these the first applications using OpenSocial to go live on hi5.

By working with iLike and Qloud and embracing OpenSocial (a set of open technologies for building social applications across the Web), hi5 is enabling its members to utilize new iLike and Qloud music applications with their hi5 profiles to access and share the music of hundreds of thousands of artists globally. The applications also deliver localized content, richer functionality and improved search features for hi5 users.

“We are very pleased to increase the depth of our music offering for our members around the world, making it easier for them to find, listen to and post more of the music they like on their hi5 profiles,” says hi5 Networks, Inc. CEO and Co-founder, Ramu Yalamanchi. “These collaborations with iLike and Qloud really demonstrate how well the OpenSocial initiative can make it simpler for developers to build useful, fun and engaging applications for hi5 users.”

Ranked by Alexa® as a top 10 website globally, and the #1 or #2 most-trafficked site in nearly a dozen countries, hi5 is the preferred social network of the world’s Spanish-language population. Recognizing these users’ needs and preferences, the iLike application will be available to hi5 users in both Spanish and English.

The iLike application will enable hi5 users to post songs and videos on their profiles. Artists who previously had to maintain a separate presence on hi5 can now reach their fans on hi5 via the iLike Universal Artist Dashboard™, which will also syndicate their content on other channels across the Web. For more information, go to: www.iLike.com/forartists.

“We are thrilled to offer artists and fans the ability to connect on hi5, a massive social networking site,” said Ali Partovi, CEO of iLike. “Artists can now post songs and videos once via iLike’s Universal Artist Dashboard and reach a potential additional audience of more than 70 million music fans.”

The Qloud My Music application will also now be available to the international hi5 population. By installing the My Music application, users can immediately see and legally play entire songs and videos from their complete iTunes libraries within their hi5 profile. My Music also allows users to see and play online the iTunes libraries of their friends, view and exchange playlists with their friends, browse and play the most popular songs among their social groups, and add their hi5 friends’ songs to their own hi5 profile libraries.

"We are enthusiastic about offering Qloud's unlimited, on-demand music discovery experience to over 70 million potential new users," said Mike Lewis, co-founder of Qloud. "International markets provide great growth potential for services built on social networks, and we anticipate that hi5's strong global brand and loyal user base will deliver an effective environment for generating new My Music fans around the globe."

The iLike and Qloud music applications will become available to hi5 users in a phased implementation, reaching the entire hi5 user base by the end of January 2008.

Tags: OpenSocial, Social networking, iLike, Hi5, Qloud,

Time To Treat Social Networks Like Marriage, and I coined the word "sociospam"

Monogamy is better! I was reading Alec Saunders, a blogger whom I read regularly, who blogged today about that he has been playing with a Social Network named Spock. I have visited spock, which looked to me a centralized FOAF network. I like the idea of people searching. It is just not people searching but search results will let you know about the connections that you might have to the person. But your social connections, you already know all these information. I will join because I like to explore social networks.
But the reason for this article is that Saunders invited a certain close friend of his to join and the reply he got was;

"Unless every other way we have to communicate has broken, I am not joining another Social Network. Sorry. All these do is generate more and more email."

I had a feeling that it could be Andy Abramson because of the past experience of the two. (I read both their blogs regularly because of my VoIP Interests.). I did think of nothing until I ventured over to Abramson's blog, VoIP Watch. Yes it was he who refused Saunders.
He is wondering if he is becoming anti social and yes he was the person who refused Saunders. I am very happy to learn that I know my authors, even if they are only blog authors.
I think Abramson is refusing to become multi social, and I am certain he is not anti social. But he brings out problems that all of us are facing toda, filling up our email with sociospam. They are not spam yet prevents you from attending to emails that you really need pay attention to.
But then Abramson's post sent me back to Saunder's blog to learn about spock's not so honest recruiting methods.
I was sad to read in comments of the latter post that only way you could make sure that information about you is correct by joining, because they aggregate you even if you are not a member. Yes I did search and a bunch of Andy Abramson(s) there including the one I refer! Sociospam!!
Time to bring my academic FOAF server Out!!

Tags: spock, sociospam,Social Networking, anti social,

Dating DNA, providing free dating Web Services for Social Networking sites

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) December 19, 2007 -- Kevin Carmony, recently-resigned CEO for desktop Linux vendor Linspire, today unveiled his new venture, Dating DNA, LLC (www.datingdna.com). Dating DNA provides free and open Web Services which bring 1-click compatibility scoring and other sophisticated dating features to Social Networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Craigslist, as well as to Internet devices such as Apple's iPhone and the Chumby web appliance (www.chumby.com).
"Online dating continues to move dramatically away from traditional dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony," said Carmony. "Each day, more and more people are using Social Networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Craigslist, and others, as a means of meeting new people to date. Utilizing these sites is free and provides a far more natural way of meeting people than traditional dating sites of the past. Dating DNA is the first company to capitalize on this trend, by bringing the convenience of matching tools from traditional dating sites to these new Social Networking avenues, something which has been sorely missing."

Carmony believes that just like everyone's genetic DNA is different, so too is everyone's "dating DNA." A person's "dating DNA" is represented by a unique 9-digit number, exclusive to that individual and theirs for life. Users can get their free Dating DNA Number by visiting www.datingdna.com and answering a series of questions about themselves and their dating preferences, a process which takes around 15 to 30 minutes.

Through a patent-pending system devised by Carmony, Dating DNA encapsulates over 300 pieces of information down into a single 9-digit number, including all the particulars about a person and the type of people they prefer to date. For example, encoded in the number is a person's hair color, height, line of employment, religion, if they have children, political leanings, and hundreds of other pieces of information. Encoded in the number are also the person's dating preferences, such as do they prefer to date a non-smoker, someone who likes pets, someone who wants children, someone who owns their own home, and so on, as well as the weight a person places upon each of the different criteria.

Once someone has their Dating DNA Number, they can exchange their number with those they meet, either online or off. By visiting the

Dating DNA website, users can compare their Dating DNA Number with someone else's number, and within seconds, generate a one-decimal compatibility score, ranging from 1.0 to 10.0, as well as view a compatibility summary and detailed reports. (See examples at www.datingdna.com/screenshots.)

Unlike traditional dating sites where literally anyone can view a user's profile and photos, and then contact them, Dating DNA keeps all information and photos private, except from those who meet or exceed a "Compatibility Threshold," set by each user. Users can also browse other Dating DNA users, but will only be shown those who meet or exceed their Compatibility Threshold.

Central to Dating DNA's strategy, is providing open APIs to their Web Services which allow developers to bring Dating DNA's 1-click compatibility scoring engine to other sites and devices. For example, there are Dating DNA-powered applications for Facebook and MySpace. Widgets will soon be released for Craigslist, iGoogle, Apple's iPhone, and the Chumby web appliance, as well as many other sites and devices. Dating DNA's Web Services allow developers to quickly and easily incorporate sophisticated dating compatibility tools to hundreds of Social Networking sites and web devices. Developers can learn more at http://www.datingdna.com/?a=developer

The Dating DNA service provides the following benefits over traditional dating sites:

* Dating DNA was designed from the beginning to be used with Social Networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Craigslist, and others.
* Free open APIs and Web Services provide developer integration, allowing users to utilize their Dating DNA Number across hundreds of websites and Internet devices.
* The Dating DNA site and Web Services are 100% free to use, as opposed to most other dating sites which charge monthly or yearly fees.
* Dating DNA utilizes Web 2.0 technology to create an integrated experience that is extremely easy, fun and enjoyable for the user.
* Users photos, anonymity and privacy are completely protected, unlike other sites where anyone surfing the web can see users' photos, view their personal profile, and contact users.
* The unique Dating DNA system makes it very difficult for spammers, assuring all the people on the site are "real" people, not someone "trolling" for email addresses.
* Dating DNA Numbers can also be used with people met offline, not just online, at church, work, clubs, school, and so on.
* People tend to be more honest with their responses when getting their Dating DNA Number, because they aren't coloring or customizing their answers for one particular person.
* Live chat with a support representative is provided for those who may have questions, suggestions or problems that need immediate attention.

"Because of its unique approach of working in a very natural way with Social Networking, Dating DNA doesn't come with a stigma of desperation, which you sometimes find with legacy dating sites," said Carmony. "People who would never use a traditional dating site will find they use their Dating DNA Number on a regular basis. For example, if someone wants to find out how compatible they are with me, my Dating DNA Number is 133-532-887. It's that easy!"
Tags: Dating, DatingDNA

Facebook Names Names in It'S Lawsuit Against Sex Site

facebook has updated it's lawsuit against 10 unknown individuals and companies that have illegally accessed it's servers. Now facebook have found three companies and individuals that fall into the group of original 10.

Facebook alleges that during the 15 day period between June 1, 2007 and June 15, 2007, the defendants tried to access information on Facebook's servers over 200,000 times using "an automated script that attempted to harvest information from other Facebook users."

The alleged information harvesting effort cost Facebook over $5,000, the legal filing claims, noting that the data accessed includes user names, passwords, network affiliations and e-mail addresses.

"We do not have any details to share at this time, and we do not comment on pending litigation," a Facebook spokesperson said via e-mail.

Source on Information Week.

Tags: facebook, Social Networking, security, lawsuit

BoyCott Blogger, No Need To, Sign On To Blogger Comments With Your URL Via OpenID

I was wondering about this boycott Blogger hype and found that the concerns were right but at the same time, there are solutions to the problem. I picked up this from a ifacethoughts post that was made a year ago!. It tells you how to set up your blogger so that you can sign on with you blogger URL alleviating the need for boycotting!
Your Website Your Identity. If you own a URL already, like a Blogger URL, which is the focus of this discussion, you can use it to delegate the identity to your OpenID provider. For example, If you use yourusername.myopenid.com as your OpenID URL that identifies you, You can with a couple of lines of code, you can change your Blogger URL, any other URL to be your OpenID. So when you comment on a blogger blog next time, sign on with your own website url.

To do this;
First Get an OpenID: it will be something like username.myopenid.com (there are other sources for OpenID, check out OpenID site)

Step 2: Open the template of your blogger or your website and add the following lines of code in the <> section :
< href="”http://www.myopenid.com/server”" rel="”openid.server”">
< href="”http://username.myopenid.com”" rel="”openid.delegate”">
Replace username with the user name that you created in Step 1. Save and you are done. Your blogger URL is now your OpenID. So you can leave blogger comments that include your blog URL.
My problem is that I have too many web sites.
Tags: OpenID, Identity, Pibb, BoyCott Blogger, WeSeePeople

Get to Know Enterpise 2.0

Jim McGee over at FASTFoward Blog tells us about some papers that we shoud read in order to get to know Enterprise 2.0. Yes I did go through some of them and planing to read at least a few more. Here is the link see if you like them.
A dozen papers you should read in the world of Enterprise 2.0

Tags: enterprise 2.0

LinkedIN's New Homepage and the Intelligent Application platform, An early Xmas Gift

LinkedIn social network has updated and given a new look to it's homepage and announced developer program that it calls "Intelligent Application platform". Also some new features like features ranging from refined network updates to the ability to add a photo to your profile were introduced in last few weeks.
But I am really interested in LinkedIn's Intelligent Application Platform.

The LinkedIn Intelligent Application platform enables two things:

• Bring LinkedIn to your application. Using LinkedIn APIs and widgets, you will be able to integrate LinkedIn into your application by accessing information from a LinkedIn user’s network. Using this model, you can augment your web site with LinkedIn features, creating more utility on your site and the chance to stand out from the crowd.

• Bring your application to LinkedIn. You will be able to write professionally-oriented applications that run inside LinkedIn.com for maximum visibility in a purely business network. They have announced support for Google’s OpenSocial platform and will be adding other models in the future.
Here is an introduction;

LinkedIN Blog
Tags: linkedin, business social networking, Intelligent Application platform, LinkedIn APIs, OpenSocial platform

imeem Signs a Deal With Universal For Streaming Music.

Monday, December 10, 2007 – NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO – Universal Music Group (UMG) and imeem today announced an agreement that will provide the imeem community with on-demand, interactive streaming of Universal’s extensive digital music and video catalog. With this announcement, imeem is the first social networking company to offer full-length, streaming access to the entire music and video catalogs of all four major music companies on an advertising-supported basis.

Beginning today, imeem’s audience of over 19 million users can listen to and express themselves with music and video from UMG’s digital catalog, which includes many of the world's top-selling artists such as Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Fall Out Boy, 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, The Pussycat Dolls, Gwen Stefani, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Maroon 5 and Nelly, among many others.

“Universal Music Group is committed to exploring new ways for consumers to discover and enjoy our artists’ music online,” stated Doug Morris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of UMG. “imeem has developed an innovative way to make our artists' music a central part of the social networking experience. More importantly, they’ve done so the right way -- by working with UMG to provide an exciting musical experience for consumers, while ensuring that our artists are fairly compensated for the use of their works.”

“This is a significant step forward for imeem and a defining moment for social networking and ad-supported music,” commented Dalton Caldwell, founder and CEO of imeem. “imeem has pioneered a way to bring fans, bands and brands together in a way that’s good for everyone. Our agreement with UMG will make imeem’s media-centric experience even more compelling and firmly establishes our position as the leading social media network.”

Today’s news is a milestone for imeem’s ad-supported social music and media model, which enables artists, labels, studios, and media companies to make their music and video freely available for interactive streaming to the imeem community and share in the advertising revenue. imeem’s ad-supported model also gives brands and businesses new ways to connect and interact with a highly-engaged audience of millions of consumers in the 24-and-under youth demographic. A number of the world’s largest brands and companies, including Apple, Nike, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, Toyota Scion, T-Mobile and Puma, are currently working with imeem on advertising and brand sponsorships.

imeem now offers millions of songs and videos from all four major music companies and thousands of independent labels. imeem users can upload their favorite music, video and photos, search for and stream full-length audio and videos on-demand, and easily find new content through social discovery features. The imeem community can also express themselves with their favorite content by creating and sharing custom music and video playlists with friends and fans on imeem and on third-party sites across the Web.

Tags: Social Networking News, Social Networking, imeem, universal, Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Fall Out Boy, 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, The Pussycat Dolls, Gwen Stefani, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Maroon 5

WIDGNET™ Creates Ad and Revenue Streams With Social Networks

Advertising.com today announced the launch of its new WIDGNET™ services program, enabling developers of Facebook applications and similar tools to join the company’s massive ad network and earn advertising revenue from their creations.
Facebook applications and their equivalents on other social networking sites are often called ‘widgets’ or ‘gadgets.’ These mini-applications, which users embed into their personal pages, range from interactive games to stock quote generators to photo manipulation tools. More than 9,900 are currently available to Facebook users alone, representing 453,589,160 individual installs and approximately 600,000,000 page views daily.
By incorporating banner advertisements served by Advertising.com into the application format, the WIDGNET program will provide developers a lucrative and easy way monetize their creations. Advertisers, in turn, will have a continual stream of fresh, creative opportunities to target consumers in a social network environment.
Through the WIDGNET program, creators of these types of applications will gain access to Advertising.com’s vast advertiser base. Publishers range from independent developers to established companies such as RockYou, Scrabulous and Fotoflexer whose customizable widgets include photo slideshows, photo and image editing, glitter text, voicemail accessories and games.

Advertising.com

Tags: Social Advertising, Advertising.com, WIDGNET, Facebook

The Gap Year!Reality Show For Social Media Networkers @ Bebo

In 2008, Bebo will be sending 6 of its members on a six month global adventure.
The six Beboers - representing the UK, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - will travel to some of the most amazing locations whilst documenting their trip on Bebo.
Each of the travellers will be joined by a director who will assist them in creating travel reports, video blogs, photos and diaries throughout their journey.
From full-moon parties in Thailand to festivals in South America, the six will have plenty to report on during their journey. Not only that, the lucky six travellers will also take part in challenges, set by the Bebo community.
The travellers will also communicate regularly with their fellow Beboers throughout their journey - sharing travel tips and advice.
Auditions for this amazing experience are now open!
So, if you are over 18, have a valid passport and are from one of the above countries all you have to do to enter is:
1. Upload a 1-to-3 minute video telling us about yourself, why you should be one of the Bebo travellers and what your ideal plans would be for a six-month global travel adventure.
2. Download The Gap Year questionnaire here, fill it in and e-mail it back to the address provided.
Important Note: Make sure you fill out the application AND upload a video since both parts are needed to enter the competition. Also you do not need a video camera to create your audition video - just use your webcam!
The closing date for applicants is December 21st 2007.

Tags: social media, bebo, the gap year, Beboers, video blogs

VoIP SoftPhone For Facebook® Platform

Mobile VoIP company Truphone has developed a telephony application for facebook.

VOIP IP Telephony: Truphone builds SoftPhone For Facebook® Platform

Tags: facebook, Mobile VoIP, Truphone

NursesRateDoctors.com, a social media networking platform

Serving the need for all patients to confidently find competent medical care, CareSeek Inc. has launched NursesRateDoctors.com, a social media networking platform, focused on gathering nurse ratings and reviews of doctors. The NursesRateDoctors online platform where nurses can anonymously join the site and provide their insights on physicians will accumulate a vast knowledge base of information critical to helping a patient seeking a provider.

NurseRateDoctors is campaigning nurses to participate and to encourage their peers to collectively write one million reviews. In a survey of nurses conducted this year, 76.8% said they would rate providers and write reviews, and 46.4% indicated that they would invite their friends to do the same. The nurses agreed to their top reasons for participating in the effort, with 91.3% feeling that "this is important information to share for the good of the public" and 92.8% feeling that "this provides an opportunity to applaud some great providers." The information supplied by the nurses will create the foundation for a robust content resource at CareSeek.com that will stimulate the continued growth of online patient, nurse and doctor interaction and communication.

"There is more information available about i-Phones than there is about physicians," explains Gale-Wilson Steele, founder of CareSeek. "The patient is the most important participant in the care delivery process, and yet communication and information delivery traditionally has not been focused on the patient. At some point, we all are patients, and we cannot be good healthcare consumers without access to relevant information."

Wilson-Steele continues, "NursesRateDoctors is critical to provide first hand information to patients from nurses who work with these medical professionals everyday. With tools to protect their identity, nurses can share their opinions and perspectives about numerous doctors – both good and bad. "Not every doctor is right for every patient, and part of finding the best healthcare partner is understanding more about a physician’s style, office etiquette as well as clinical expertise. Nurses not only have daily interactions with the doctors, but they see them in action with many patients."

Content from the site will help to build CareSeek’s collaborative clinical community, where patients, nurses and doctors can connect through opinions, commentary, forums and engagement with the health-focused social network.

Gale Wilson-Steele founded CareSeek a decade after founding MEDSEEK, now a leader in providing enterprise portal communication solutions for over 600 hospitals nationwide. What MEDSEEK is doing for hospitals, CareSeek intends to do for consumers.

NursesRateDoctors.com

Tags: social media, Social networking, CareSeek, NursesRateDoctors, online patient, online nurse, online doctor

OpenSocial Developer Interviews on Youtube.

The Google Developers at YouTube have posted a list of interviews with OpenSocial developers and partners to speak out and demo stuff where ever possible. If you are interested in Social Networking, Social Computing or Just socializing, I think it is a must. There are talks with Shelfari, E-junkie, Ning, Flixster, Plaxo, iLike, FotoFlexer, LinkedIn, Hi5, Qloud, Bleacher Report, Slide, RockYou, Oberon, Chronus, and Hungry Machine!. Here is the first of the list;
Gina Bianchini, Ning CEO, speaking about OpenSocial.

Tags: OpenSocial, Social networking, Shelfari, E-junkie, Ning, Flixster, Plaxo, iLike, FotoFlexer, LinkedIn, Hi5, Qloud, Bleacher Report, Slide, RockYou, Oberon, Chronus, Hungry Machine, YouTube, OpenSocial developers

Investment in People Award In European Enterprise Awards 2007

More than 300 regional and local authorities – including towns, cities, regions and communities as well as public-private partnerships between public authorities and entrepreneurs, educational programmes and business organisations – competed in the national round of the 2007 Awards. Participating countries could select up to two candidates for the European competition. The final 48 nominees represented a wide variety of projects that are successful in facilitating business and supporting entrepreneurship across Europe. They competed in one of the six categories of the European Enterprise Awards:

Entrepreneurial Trailblazer: actions that promote an entrepreneurial culture and mindset.

Enterprise Support: innovative policies that promote enterprise and attract investment, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

Red Tape Reduction: measures to simplify administrative procedures for businesses, in particular for start-ups.

Investment in People: initiatives to improve entrepreneurship education and training.

Responsible Entrepreneurship: corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices.

The European Jury also presented the Jury’s Grand prize to the entry that it considered the most creative and inspiring entrepreneurship initiative in Europe.

And as we are interested in people at We SeePeople, here are the People winners; (The other winners and contest information could be found at the bottom of this article.

Investment in People Award

Winner

Cap’Ten, ICHEC-PME, Bruxelles, Belgium

Cap’Ten stimulates entrepreneurship in primary school children aged 10 to 12 using resources that sharpen their creativity, independence, openness, responsibility and communications skills. Participants pick their own challenge and exploit their personal talents with the support of a kit of project management tools specially adapted to their age.

A particular objective is to change the mindset in the EU Member State with the least number of people wanting to set up their own companies. Moreover, the project offers a real methodology rather than just a ‘book of instructions’.

Since the launch of the project in 2004, more than 30 000 pupils in the French Community in Belgium have been involved – over a quarter of the age category. The scheme was tested in the Flemish region of Belgium in the 2006/2007 school year and will be available on a large scale in Dutch from autumn 2007. Cap’Ten will also be introduced in France with a test phase in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Ile-de-France in collaboration with local partner ‘Soyons curieux’.
More information about Cap’Ten may be found at:
www.ichec-pme.be

or contact: Laurence Lievens, Cap’Ten project manager – phone: +32 2 739 38 69; fax: +32 2 739 38 63; e-mail: laurence.lievens@ichec.be

Runner-up

Eigen Werk, (Work for Yourself), Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Dutch Department of Work and Income, Centre for Work and Income and Employee Insurance Agency joined forces to overcome prejudice against older workers. Eigen Werk (Work for Yourself) focuses on the unemployed aged 40/45+ in and around Amsterdam to provide support and guidance in independent entrepreneurship. It concentrates particularly on those considering setting up a one-man business. In the first 18 months, 390 candidates took part in the programme, and 130 have successfully started their own businesses or have found a job, with a drop-out rate of less than 10%.

Eigen Werk offers a short introductory programme and candidates then propose their business plans. Intensive coaching is provided, but the candidates do the work themselves. During the programme, they are required to seek out their first real commissions, and receive training in networking. All candidates also receive knowledge vouchers to exchange for the services of external experts.

The Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs has recognised the unique approach and good results of Eigen Werk by granting it ‘Good Practice’ status on the basis of a study of initiatives aimed at getting older people back into employment. The methodology has already been extended elsewhere in the Netherlands, and an Eigen Werk subsidiary has been opened in Alkmaar and Hoorn.
More information about this project may be found at:
www.projecteigenwerk.nl
or contact: Bartho Boer, DWI Communication Manager – phone: +31 20-3464791;

e-mail: bartho.boer@dwi.amsterdam.nl

European Enterprise Awards 2007

Tags: European Enterprise Awards 2007, Eigen Werk, Investment in People Award, Cap’Ten, weseepeople

facebook's about face,

After reading the following article I feel better about not posting my family tree on the face book!
"Researchers are claiming Facebook's Beacon online ad system is even more intrusive when it comes to privacy matters than protesters against the technology might have thought initially.

On Friday, Stefan Berteau, a senior research engineer at Computer Associates' Threat Research Group, published findings that reveal Beacon reports member activities on third-party partner sites even if Facebook users are not logged in, and even if members have declined to opt in to the Beacon program.

"It can happen completely without their knowledge," Berteau said in his report. "The bottom line is that Facebook is materially misrepresenting the privacy impact of their Beacon program, and presenting users with the appearance of control over their information when in fact they have almost none.""

Report: Facebook's Privacy Promises Flawed

Tags: facebook, social security, facebook Beacon

LiveJournal Acquired by SUP, Will It Become Six Apart

SAN FRANCISCO – December 3, 2007 – SUP, an international media company based in Moscow, today announced that it has acquired LiveJournal from Six Apart, Ltd. LiveJournal is one of the world's leading global online communities, with a monthly audience of more than 18m unique visitors in nearly every country in the world. Additionally, SUP today launched a new U.S. company, LiveJournal, Inc., based in San Francisco, which will manage and operate LiveJournal. More information on the acquisition is available at lj_2008.

This deal is the second agreement between SUP and Six Apart. In October 2006, SUP concluded a licensing agreement with Six Apart to support and develop the large Russian segment of LiveJournal, which now represents 28% of its monthly audience. In the past twelve months, SUP and Six Apart have worked in close collaboration to improve LiveJournal for Russian users during which time the community has almost doubled.

"Having gotten to know LiveJournal in Russia over the past year we see enor-mous potential in developing the business worldwide; it has already showed its durability in America. We believe this is a great opportunity," said Andrew Paulson, president of SUP.

Tags: livejournal, six apart, SUP, social Journal.

Make your Socializing easy with fringME!TM, free-to use widget, from Fring for your Internet Presence

Looks like Fring can make your social networking a bit easier with their new FringME! widget.
VOIP IP Telephony: fringME!TM, free-to use widget, from Fring for your Internet Presence

Tags: social networking, Fring, FringME!

Cisco I-Prize, Brings Social Networking, collaboration and teleconferencing together For Super Prize.

Go for your I-Prize, the story itself is a prize. Teleconferencing, social networks from multiple countries bringing together people to form a human network and a super prize.
WeSeePeople: Cisco I-Prize, Social Networking At One Of It's Best Forms.

Tags: Teleconferencing, social network, I-Prize, cisco I-Prize, human network

Cisco I-Prize, Social Networking At One Of It's Best Forms.

I was at a Cisco Blog and I noticed the information about Cisco I-Prize. Cisco I-Prize is created by Cisco knowing that our global community is an amazing resource of creativity and innovation, socially networked brain, sort of. So Cisco going out side of it's corporate walls and accessing this Human Network to identify its next major business opportunity. So bring your brain and join with other excellent ones to win the I-Prize. But before you submit your idea, taking into consideration what problems it addresses, how it's new and different, and who comprises your target market. It must also appeal to the others that are joining the groups.
There are three phases to the program,
Phase I: Brainstorm = October 31, 2007 to January 15, 2008 Innovators register and submit ideas and summary proposals. Other registered participants comment and vote on submissions. Find like-minded innovators and form your dream idea team.
Phase II: Refine = February 1 to 29, 2008 Semifinalist teams collaborate to build their business and technology plan. Define the market opportunity, technology and unique insights that will make this a business.
Phase III: Present = March 15 to April 30, 2008 Finalist teams present their business plans to the final judging panel of industry luminaries and Cisco senior executives using Cisco TelePresence to communicate your ideas, your passion, and your drive.

As teams advance through the phases, the Cisco I-Prize program will ask for more specific information and provide templates for structuring your pitches and business plans.

Cisco will select up to 100 semifinalist teams that will work with Cisco experts using state-of-the-art collaboration tools to build a business plan and presentation. Next, up to 10 finalist teams will present to a judging panel for the ultimate prize: the opportunity to start a new business unit with access to the resources that Cisco has to offer.
Go Get your I-Prize.
Cisco Blog post.

Tags: Social networking, I-Prize, Cisco I-Prize, global community, socially networked brain, Human Network, Cisco TelePresence, collaboration

New NASDAQ Internet Index (sm) is Up For Takes

Although they announced yesterday the new NASDAQ Internet Index (sm) they seem to keep the list hidden. I gave up yesterday after searching for it. I just wanted to see if all the social networking sites are on the list.

But today I found the list, no let me say I found someone who located the list!(Trader Mike), and yes the companies I expected are there but Microsoft is not there!, 1-800 FLOWERS.COM, Inc. starts the list and Yahoo ends it! (China Fire & Security Group, Inc. is listed! may be a block and burn is an Internet access in China.) Following is the News release and now to find out how to get WeSeePeople to that list.

NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced it has launched the NASDAQ Internet Index(sm) (Nasdaq:QNET). The Index is a new benchmark designed to track the performance of companies engaged in a broad range of internet-related services including internet access providers, internet search engines, web hosting, website design, and internet retail commerce.

The NASDAQ Internet Index is comprised of securities of companies that are at the forefront of internet technology. They are leading innovators in providing faster internet access, creating more intuitive e-commerce experiences, and developing the second generation Web.

"The NASDAQ Internet Index contains some of the most exciting internet companies traded on NASDAQ and other U.S. exchanges," said NASDAQ Senior Vice President Steven Bloom. "Given the strength of NASDAQ's brand association with innovation and its market share of internet company listings, it is logical for NASDAQ to extend investment opportunities through a new benchmark for this dynamic, evolving sector."

NASDAQ Financial Products (NFP) is engaged in the design, development, calculation, licensing, and marketing of NASDAQ indexes. NFP specializes in the development of indexes focusing on NASDAQ's brand themes of innovation, technology, growth, and globalization. NFP also provides custom index services and design solutions as a third-party provider to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ's indexes, visit www.nasdaq.com/indexes.

Tags: NASDAQ Internet Index, WeSeePeople, NASDAQ, 1-800 FLOWERS.COM

Presidential Race 2.0

ABC News and facebook getting together to injecting a Web 2.0 twist to the 2008 race for the White House. This might be filed under Presidential Race 2.0 in the Politics 2.0 section!.

The two organizations have developed an application called "U.S. Politics", (to find the application, search for "US Polotics" once logged into facebook) a child of Facebook technology and editorial content from ABC News. This will provide facebook users new ways to learn about and debate issues of importance in the upcoming primary and national elections, and actually this might bring otherwise reluctant young voters to the front.

More at ABC News.

Tags: U.S. Politics, ABC News, facebook, Web 2.0, Presidential Race 2.0, Politics 2.0

OLPC, One Laptop Per Child, Give one Get One Program Extended

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) givw one get one program has been extended until the end of December. Think of this as a good Xmas Gift, to you and someone. Might change a life of some child(ren) somewhere, making ours a better world.
WeSeePeople: OLPC, One Laptop Per Child, is a Social PC

Tags: OLPC, one laptop per child, give one get one

MySpace Teen's Suicide Spurs Anti-Cyberbullying Law

A Missouri town has passed a law to prevent cyber bulling in response to last year's suicide of 13-year-old school girl Megan Meier after receiving intentionally hurtful messages on MySpace. The new law passed for Megan is prompting awareness of the need for stronger state and federal laws to stop cyberbullying and online harassment.
More than a year ago, in October 2006, a 13-year-old school girl named Megan Meier hanged herself in her home in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. An investigation initially revealed that Meier, who had long battled depression, committed suicide after receiving some cruel messages on the MySpace.com social networking site. The messages were supposedly from a 16-year-old acquaintance named Josh Evans.
But then the case took a dramatic twist. It turned out that "Josh Evans" did not exist -- he was allegedly the invention of a woman named Lori Drew, the mother of another girl with whom Meier had been fighting. Law enforcement authorities contend that Drew created the online profile to communicate with and harass Meier online.
But there was no case law to try Drew. But the allegation, and lack of action, has bewildered and enraged America. Virtual vigilantism has taken over. Irate bloggers have posted details of Drew and her husband Curt, 51, on the internet identifying their home and telephone number and details of their jobs, his as a manager in a local factory, hers as an ad saleswoman.
But again, there might be a law cowering this kind of behavoir, Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy lawyer and executive director of WiredSafety.org, notes one federal statute that might apply in the Meier case: the telecommunications harassment law. The law, amended in 2005, prohibits people from using the Internet anonymously with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person. Terri Dougherty, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in St. Louis, declined to comment on whether prosecutors could apply the statute in the case.
News Source

Tags: Social Networking, MySpace, Virtual vigilantism, telecommunications harassment law, cyberbulling, cyber bulling, Megan Meier

Socialise, Aid And Learn At The Same Time.

Today I came across a site called FreeRice. FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com, and FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

The latter is provided by having unobtrusive advertisements on the site. I played today and made someone get 3000 grains of rice. I am sure I will go back. One thing that lacks in my educational life is that I learned languages just enough for learning physics. I do not think I ever liked the language classes. But I like languages, I can speak/read at least four languages, understand and read as many. These languages are not only European, but languages like Japanese, Sanskrit. Anyway I always have need to write better and communicate better. This could be done only by learning and having a better vocabulary at hand. So I think FreeRice is a good place to learn and make someone bellyful.
Learning new vocabulary has tremendous benefits. It can help you:

• Formulate your ideas better
• Write better papers, emails and business letters
• Speak more precisely and persuasively
• Comprehend more of what you read
• Read faster because you comprehend better
• Get better grades in high school, college and graduate school
• Score higher on tests like the SAT, GRE, LSAT and GMAT
• Perform better at job interviews and conferences
• Sell yourself, your services, and your products better
• Be more effective and successful at your job

So How many grains are you going to give? Please visit FreeRice and find out.

Tags: Social Responsibility, vocabulary, FreeRice, Poverty.com

Is social media disrupting virtually all institutions including business, government, education and the media? EBE07 Question

Shel Israel was asked this question by an attendee of EB07, Evento Blog Espana 2007, keynote speech. But he could not answer because of language barrier. But Shel was explained about the question later and he answered it in his blog. I could not agree more.
If you were wondering why big business' are barking up your tree, reading his post;
My unanswered question at EBE07 might give a short but truthful answer.
Shel is the co-Author of Naked Conversations, one of my reference books on Social Networking.

Tags: EB07, social media, Evento Blog Espana 2007, Social networking

VOIP IP Telephony: Skype and facebook Helps to nab Murder Suspect

Social Networking and VoIP IP Telephony helps to keep law!
VOIP IP Telephony: Skype and facebook Helps to nab Murder Suspect

Tags: Social networking, VoIP IP Telephony

Facebook Beacon Lets Your Secrets Out

Last night I saw a small TV news clip about facebook and it's new advertising beacon. It involved a couple, a boy and his girl friend, both facebook members. The boy already knew what his girl friend bought him as a Hanukkah gift, a pair of gloves.
She got the present from overstock and through facebook beacon he knew what she bought, where and of course the price she paid!. The surprise factor was certainly lost.
Moral of the story is that advertising 2.0 may not sit well with all the people. So facebook need to some cleaning up of the it's beacon.
Perhaps better to start with how about the beacon is off unless the user turns it on. Or, allow user to mark which purchase is private and which is not!. Whatever the case, find a solution. Otherwise advertising 2.0 might fall on it face!

Tags: facebook, advertising 2.0, facebook beacon

OpenSocial in Use, one, Newsgator Puts OpenSocial to Use

Although the buzz and hum about OpenSocial from Google is lesser that on it's inetption, it is very much alive. Various Sites are putting it to use or planing innovative ways to make use of it. Noticed first of its use, at Newsgator.
FEEDoTopia: Newsgator Puts OpenSocial to Use

Tags: OpenSocial, Feedotopia, Newsgator, Google

Social Networking, An Academic Insight, "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship"

The social network phenomenon, that brought out sites like facebook, Mixi , and MySpace, and many other interactive social networks like DIGG, Technorati have been one of the major features of WEB 2.0. If you to dig deep in to the technologies , it is easy to find that those had roots in the academic world. But now that these sites have involved the human factor in to otherwise equations and thesis', those same sites are attracting a lot of academic interest. I found this article on JCMC, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship", by danah m. boyd School of Information, University of California-Berkeley and Nicole B. Ellison Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media, Michigan State University.

Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

Abstract

Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena. In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition. We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research.

Hope Some one, no many will get something out of this for their thesis. I can't because mine no where social able,it is in Particle Physics.

Tags: Social Networking, SNS, facebook, Mixi, MySpace, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship", University of California-Berkeley, Michigan State University, Particle Physics

OLPC, One Laptop Per Child, is a Social PC

I am going to mark this post because, I have a feeling that in near future, OLPC is all over the world, it's own social network that will span nations. Yes I know you like your MySpace (is it yours?) or facebook and says who wants a OLPC Social Network. But When the OLPC Phenomenon started there were many big boys and girls laughed at MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte. But see where it is today. Prof. Negroponte's project was not taken seriously because it was not targeted to make profit, it was born out of the idea of providing a communication and study medium for children from developing countries. I have been a supporter from the beginning and also ever since I have been blogging, the latest being the introduction of Give One Get One. The oldest I think was this one, Hand Cranked Notebook!

But now I would like to tell about the social aspect of the OPLC program and the laptop itself. Right out of the box, the XO laptop’s antennae ears can sense other neighboring XO laptops and connect to them, creating an instantaneous “mesh” network for communal sharing and collaborating. This is important because many XO laptops will be deployed in places where there is little or no external telecommunication infrastructure. If the school or community center in the future has ability to host a supporting a infrastructure or a large one nearby one day that will be able to connect through a something similar to Open Broadband or WiMax network. Before you know there will be a world wide social network. But even a Village wide for starters is a gift. So do not forget to give a gift of knowledge with ability to communicate, this year. The OPLC has multiple ways that you can donate a computer to a child. More we donate, more will be manufactured and perhaps drive the price down. Making it possible to give to more children.
I just ordered my second set. Both my computers have gone to country that is not in the program yet.
give one get one
individual giving
group giving
T-Mobile has generously offered hotspot access free for one year. If you do the math (it is about $350 a year service.) , for about $50, you can give a computer to a child, have one of these fantastic computers for yourself and get one year T-Mobile Hotspot access free! Who knows you might be aiding to bring up the largest social network in the world!

Tags: OLPC, Social Network, give one get one, XO laptop, Prof. Negroponte

InBox 2.0, your Next Social Network!

Saul Hansell at NY Times has a fine piece on turning your email personalized Portal Pages in to Social Networking medium. Google's iGoogle and MyYahoo at Yahoo has the mother load of users, I included, at both the sites.

Tags: iGoogle, MyYahoo, Social Networking, InBox 2.0

Trugo Wants to Pay Your Tuition, $100000.00

Trugo wants to pay your college tuition! That’s right – cash for college and all you have to do is be yourself on video telling us why you deserve to win. It’s easy and fun.

The contest calls for US college students to submit a four minute video explaining why Trugo should pay their tuition. The contest launched this week with a national campus tour and live demonstrations of the Trugo website.

You simply register for free and upload a video telling us all about you, your college experience and what the future holds. There are a total of ten (10) cash scholarship prizes available to be won in the Contest as
described below:

First Prize : a cash scholarship prize of $30,000

Second Prize : a cash scholarship prize of $20,000

Third Prize : a cash scholarship prize of $15,000

Fourth through Tenth Prizes: cash scholarship prizes of $5,000 each

and Judging will be based on;

Relevancy of the Video to the Contest theme (Why should Trugo my pay college tuition and how will I use my education for my future vocational aspirations?) (33%)
Creativity of the Video Performance (33%) Originality of the Video Performance (33%)

How do you do all this?

1. Register for a Free Trugo Account here (If you already have not done so.)
2. Go to video.trugo.com to sign in
3. After sign in, click on the Upload button to launch the video upload page
4. Enter any description and tags that you want associated with your video. Please remember to check the box beside "Please Submit this Video to the Contest Website" before uploading your video
5. Your video will be available and can be viewed and ranked from the college tab at video.trugo.com
6. You are now ready to start garnering support from your friends and other Trugo users to rank your video
   

All entries must be uploaded by 11:59 PM PT on January 15, 2008 to qualify. Entries received after the close of the Contest Entry Period will be disqualified.

What are you waiting for? Submit your video for your chance to have your tuition paid for.

Tags: social networks, trugo, trugo contest, Social Media