11 Year Old Network Admin, Jon Penn.

Network Admins, People We SeeI read this at gizmodo but the news has come from Networkworld via Slashdot! Yes a pretty long track. I was very happy to read about this admin who took over when the former network admin folded and lefdt suddenly.
So during class breaks and lunch breaks this little guy has started to help out. But finally he has started doing a lot of work. Not just making sure cables are connected but he has evaluated products for content management, upgraded the sixty plus computers that were running windows 98. He also made sure that virus protection is up to date and being unsocial as well! ;)
"Along with school staff, the younger Penn has gotten involved in contributing to school policy on Web access. While blocking access to social networking sites such as MySpace wasn’t popular with many fellow students, he had to agree the school really didn’t need it." Aw come on now!. Let's mess up his lunch! no just kidding. Good work Jon Penn! Do well in that “A+ certification”
Of course he comes from this good school, Victory Baptist School.

tag: People We See, Kids People We See, weseepeople, Jon Penn

May I Jooce On Your Computer?

No It is not a dirty word! Yes you can ask that from anyone if you want to use someones computer to grab your email, check you messages, Upload a file. Jooce is your portable computer that is stored on the net.
You can access your contacts, your files be they videos, presentations, documents, (anything that you a computer used use everyday on their desktops.) All these is done without changing anything on the computer that was used to access Jooce.
Just imagine a remote village with one computer in a developing country. Some NGO has provided a computer and an Internet connection and say 50 users in the village shares the computer. I am sure in no time there will be 50 X n files on the desktop, 50X n folders in the hard drive and very soon no one will know which one is which. But not any more. With Jooce webOS, each user will have his/her own space. As a Jooce user, they can store everything on the net, create documents (I just signed in and I have not seen applications yet. Also remember the Jooce is in beta now, I am already loving it). So this village of 50 users will have clutter free computer and 50 very happy users with their own private little desktops.
I have gone through the FAQ and it explains what is nor self explanatory at joost. The interface is neat and easy to manage. I think we need something like Jooce, even if you are an armed to the teeth cyber soldier like me, with UMPCs, Smart Phones, desktops (multiple) , and laptops. Sometimes all these fail to respond and you may have to ask your neighborer, "May I Jooce On Your Computer?"

tag: webOS, Jooce, NGO, social computing

Free Your Documents, First Ever Document Freedom Day '08

Learn about open standards and free your documents. You don't have to have certain applications to open your documents.
Geemodo: First Ever Document Freedom Day '08

tag: DFD, Document Freedom Day, SFD, Software Freedom Day, document liberation, Free Document Formats, Open Standards

Yahoo Gets Social, Joins to Create OpenSocial Foundation.

I have been one with OpenSocial since it's creation by Google. And I am happy to see that it had grown further and has attracted big Internet players like Yahoo. They also announced the OpenSocial Foundation that I think everyone should take a look at. This is setting standards to social networking that are very similar to standards that were set for Email applications. You know which players are the big email providers today, and they all followed standards. I was even voicing today that Thunderbird as a social networking tool of the future.
There are three big players in the foundation now, namely Google, MySpace and Yahoo.The OpenSocial Foundation is expected to be formed within 90 days, with more OpenSocial partners from across the Web on board in addition to the three responsible for the announcement. "to ensure the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial as an open, community-governed specification for building social applications across the Web."


"Today we're pleased that Yahoo! has announced its support for OpenSocial. We're looking forward to having Yahoo! users join the hundreds of millions of people who will soon enjoy OpenSocial applications. This addition means even more distribution for developers, encourages participation by even more websites, and, most importantly, results in more features for users all across the web.

In addition, Yahoo!, MySpace, and Google are joining with the broader community to create a non-profit foundation to foster the continued open development of OpenSocial. To that end, we've also launched OpenSocial.org, designed to become the main documentation hub and primary source of information about OpenSocial. To learn more, and to get involved, please review the foundation proposal."
Official Google Blog: OpenSocial continues to grow: Welcome, Yahoo!

tag: OpenSocial, Google, OpenSocial Foundation, MySpace, Yahoo, OpenSocial applications

Economists Social Network With Thunderbird.

I read a nice article about social networking business on the economist. It was an enlightening read about online business. I just wrote about Google complaining about "Social Network Sites Do Not See Our Ads" and perhaps that all does not fit in the same old mold. Yes the cartoonist at the Economist also need change. These days we don't struggle against walls that prevent us from freedom, we break them!, remember Berlin wall, or the Firefly powered "The Wall" by Pink Floyd or similar. This is specially because the article mentions about decade old technology, email.

"The opening of social networks may now accelerate thanks to that older next big thing, web-mail. As a technology, mail has come to seem rather old-fashioned. But Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and other firms are now discovering that they may already have the ideal infrastructure for social networking in the form of the address books, in-boxes and calendars of their users. “E-mail in the wider sense is the most important social network,” says David Ascher, who manages Thunderbird, a cutting-edge open-source e-mail application, for the Mozilla Foundation, which also oversees the popular Firefox web browser.

That is because the extended in-box contains invaluable and dynamically updated information about human connections. On Facebook, a social graph notoriously deteriorates after the initial thrill of finding old friends from school wears off. By contrast, an e-mail account has access to the entire address book and can infer information from the frequency and intensity of contact as it occurs. Joe gets e-mails from Jack and Jane, but opens only Jane's; Joe has Jane in his calendar tomorrow, and is instant-messaging with her right now; Joe tagged Jack “work only” in his address book. Perhaps Joe's party photos should be visible to Jane, but not Jack.

This kind of social intelligence can be applied across many services on the open web. Better yet, if there is no pressure to make a business out of it, it can remain intimate and discreet. Facebook has an economic incentive to publish ever more data about its users, says Mr Ascher, whereas Thunderbird, which is an open-source project, can let users minimise what they share. Social networking may end up being everywhere, and yet nowhere."

Read the complete Economist article here.

tag: social networking, social networking business, social intelligence, Facebook, Thunderbird, open-source, The Wall,

Mosaic Of Casualties Of War

America, People We See
Mosaic Of Casualties Of War is created by NY Times and although sad it reminds you of these people who died and a little information about them presented in an all in one mosaic. Some of you may not agree with war, some of you may support the war and yet some may be neutral about it. The theme is not to discuss the politics of these. It is to remind us of these people that no longer around us to SEE. Families missing Fathers or/and Mothers, Mothers missing Daughters or/and Sons. I just cannot fathom the pain this war has created in peoples lives. May all you rest in peace.
You can find the Mosaic here.
tag: War, America People We See, Mosaic Of Casualties Of War

High Performance Social Networking With Cloud Computing

IBM's Cloud Computing initiative is bringing technology that takes pressure off technology research and business development.
Another part of the Cloud Computing offered by INM called IBM Idea Factory for Cloud Computing, is a new service delivered directly to clients over a cloud computing environment. Using Web 2.0 technology, it allows communities of business professionals to be assembled into social networks to facilitate the development of new business ideas. IBM Idea Factory for Cloud Computing captures business processes -- from their beginnings as ideas to commercialization -- speeding up brainstorming among employees, partners, software developers and other third party participants.
I think I can use some clouds.
Read the IBM Press Release at gridtech: IBM Announces European Cloud Computing Hub in Dublin
tag: Cloud Computing, IBM Idea Factory, Web 2.0 technology, social networks, HPC centre,

iSummit '08 Will Be In Sapporo, Japan

I just learned from Jo Ito that the fourth global iSummit will be held in Sapporo, Japan from 29 July to 1 August, 2008. Finally I might be able to see Jo this year in Japan. Only problem is that I have applied for a slot in deep sea sailing mission and if accepted the time will overlap the iSummit.
iCommons in association with Digital Garage, Creative Commons Japan and the City of Sapporo will bring together pioneers of the free Internet from over 60 countries around the world.
The iSummit ‘08 will bring together co-ownership, co-creation and the widespread distribution and sharing of knowledge, ideas and creativity in the digital age.
To find out more about the iSummit, visit iCommons.
tag: iSummit, iCommons, Digital Garage, Creative Commons Japan, City of Sapporo,

SpeedDate Marches Past One Million Users Fast.

SpeedDate.com Surpasses One Million Online Speed Dates

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SpeedDate.com, the world’s first online speed dating site has hosted over one million “3-minute” online speed dates. Every day, thousands of new users join SpeedDate, which has become a premiere online dating destination for singles looking to meet new people quickly and easily.
“When we introduced traditional speed dating to cyberspace we knew it was a winning combination,“ says SpeedDate.com co-founder Dan Abelon. “Having hosted over one million dates so quickly demonstrates that singles recognize SpeedDate.com as a great new way to meet people online,” he added.
Launched this past October, SpeedDate’s free service offers singles the chance to log on and start dating immediately -- from the comforts of their own home, office or the neighborhood coffee shop. SpeedDate.com’s patented system allows singles to meet each other through 3-minute online speed dates using their webcams or instant messaging. Unlike other online dating options, SpeedDate.com allows singles to immediately determine if they have real chemistry before taking the time to meet in person.
“It’s amazing to be able to go on 30-40 online dates in an evening and then pick people you want to get to know better.” says Kelley, a SpeedDate member from California. “I’ve started a relationship that would not have been possible without SpeedDate.”
SpeedDate.com has registered users from all major cities within the United States as well as around the world. The site also features weekly events targeted to specific geographic areas.
SpeedDate.com (www.SpeedDate.com) also recently launched a Facebook application, introducing online speed dating to Facebook users all over the world. The company is backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Menlo Ventures.
tag: Dating, Social networking, SpeedDate, online dating, speed dates, Facebook,

Newly Launched Social Messaging Platform, Wadja Delivers Spam Free Mobile Email and SMS

Wadja.com (http://www.wadja.com) launches its new and innovative social messaging service, allowing users to deliver and receive web messages, Emails or SMS Texts on any mobile device or PC Notebook with complete control of their sending and receiving list, leading to a SPAM free messaging environment.

The core enhancement that took place was to create a truly open messaging environment like no other site has to offer its users. Most notably every Wadja ID is now not only a URL (http://www.wadja.com/WADJA_ID), but also acts as a fully functional Email account with the ID as the Email address.

Wadja.com opens up a new frontier for simple and fun communication for all users and non-users alike, giving its community the ability to send and receive social Email and SMS Messages to and from friends who are not even part of the service, thus supporting concepts of openness and free communication, a key difference from other confined and restricted social networks.

Wadja’s social messaging Email platform lets you really communicate with friends you consider worthy to be on your communication list, reaching them on their Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, or any account you wish to provide into your contact list.

Best of all, members are able to decide their privacy and security settings, to receive messages only from certain groups of people or from everyone under the sun. So, in essence, users control the security of their messaging system by controlling who can send them messages and how open they want their own sending abilities to be; with default settings keeping the Inbox 100% spam free.

Users can access Wadja’s social messaging service from any part of the world using any handset equipped with a mobile web browser and mobile internet connection, now an industry standard found on all devices, from Nokias to Blackberries and iPhones. So as to have a truly open, but safe communication tool from any device, anywhere you may be.
Press Release Via Pavlos Eirinakis

tag: Social Messaging, Wadja, Social SMS, Social Email

Social Networking and Mobile Marketing to Baby Boomers At BoomerSimmit

If not for certain facts you would think this a summit for young crowd that goes Social Networking and do everything with their mobiles. But come to think of it baby boomer's are not much different from todays young crowd when it comes to adopting technology and newer media. In fact they were the ones that pioneered the technologies these 20 somethings CEOs and CTOs run with. BoomerSummit will be an interesting venue.

Annual Summit of Top Business Leaders and Organizations Marketing to Consumers over 45 Convenes in Washington, D.C.

LAFAYETTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Baby boomers, though aging, are not much different than the under-25 set when it comes to mobile technology adoption. Social networking, mobile marketing, and texting are exploding among the boomer population, creating unlimited new opportunities for organizations marketing to consumers between the ages of 45 – 64 years old.

These trends will be among the key agenda items to be explored at the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit on Wednesday, March 26 from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street, Washington, D.C.

Boomers are catching up to younger consumers in their embrace of mobile technology adoption and mobile phone penetration is spreading equally across the generations, according to research published in 2007 by InsightExpress. Although Gen Y (18-24) leads the pack at 85 percent, it is followed closely by Gen X (25-44) at 82 percent, younger baby boomers (45-54) at 80 percent and older baby boomers (55-64) at 79 percent.

Jeff Hasen, CMO of HipCricket, a mobile marketing company, will speak at the Summit about how to use mobile marketing to create relationships between consumers, broadcasters and brands. “While some believe texting is a young person’s activity, the average age of texters is 38,” Hasen notes. “The fastest growth group is folks 35-54. The mobile phone is a personal device – and the ideal way to reach boomers who opt in for information, reminders and offers.”

Jenna Woodul, another What’s Next speaker and founder of LiveWorld, Inc., a global leader in building customer relationships through social networking and online community, points to the importance of word of mouth and peer referrals in the growth of social networking opportunities for this demographic. “As social networking expands among boomers, shopping is often most satisfying as a social experience, and any transaction is potentially social, given mobile connection to one's network of trusted advisors,” said Woodul. “We will see huge growth in boomers connecting on line to consult each other, stay in touch with their children, and just plain socialize and have fun.”

Other presenters, such as Bill Johnston, director of community and research at Forum One Communications, will address privacy as a major issue of concern for boomers. "Facebook is a great lab to study. One of the biggest issues facing Facebook is the lack of formal guidelines -- there are no behavioral mores,” Johnston observes. “Data portability will be a huge issue for boomers as well because they will not just join a network unless they see the value in it for themselves."

On its 5th anniversary the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit provides a unique opportunity for influential boomer thinkers and entrepreneurs to share proprietary research, innovations, market strategies and success stories. The theme for the conference is “Master the Big Boomer Deal.”

“The value this event will provide to anyone interested in marketing to boomers is truly significant,” said Dr. Mary Furlong, president and CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates, the event’s producer and a leading authority on the baby boomer generation. “You’ll walk out with great leads, insight that will inform your business strategy and an understanding of the technologies, causes, products, and services that are transforming the boomer marketplace.”

The summit will be particularly meaningful to advertising executives focused on the 40+ market, marketing managers in industries that include healthcare, travel, entertainment, financial services, consumer goods and housing; media who report on senior issues and the boomer marketplace; investors, venture capitalists and analysts interested in the baby boomer market; and association leadership who will have a large stake in the boomer population as their organizations swell with new members.

Sponsors of The 2008 What's Next Boomer Business Summit include AARP, AARP Services, Inc., ALCiS, Boomj.com, DecisionStreet, EquityKey, Fleishman-Hillard, HipCricket, Life Stage Financial, LiveWorld, Inc., Longevity Alliance, MetLife, Microsoft, Pharmavite - Nature Made®, Phonak, Posit Science, Qualcomm, Quantum Intech, Inc./HeartMath, Retirement Living TV, Springboard Press, The Stress Institute, Verizon Wireless, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and Yahoo!

Complete Summit details and registration information are available at www.boomersummit.com.

The What’s Next Boomer Business Summit is an official pre-conference of the NCOA-ASA National Aging in America Conference March 27-30. Come to What's Next - stay for NCOA - ASA. For more information, visit http://www.agingconference.org.

About Mary Furlong & Associates

Founded in 2003, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) is a proven team of business innovators, comprised of talent from marketing, editorial, business, online content and community. Mary Furlong, Ed.D., the firm's founder and CEO, has guided the offline and online 40+ market strategies of leading corporations and nonprofit organizations for more than 20 years. Her latest book, Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace, was published in February 2007. More information is available at www.maryfurlong.com.
tag: baby boomers, BoomerSummit, Social networking, mobile marketing, texting, InsightExpress,

Facebook Updates Privacy Controls

On Wednesday, March 18th, Facebook will be introducing privacy updates that give users more control over the information they choose to share on Facebook. The two main updates taking place are a standardized privacy interface across the site and new privacy options.

Some of the new features being added include a “Friends of Friends” privacy option that allows people to share information with people they are connected to through their friends. Users will also now have the ability to share and restrict information based on specific friends or friend lists. The friend lists feature was added to Facebook in December as a way to help users communicate with groups of friends. Now, in addition to messaging and event and group invitations, friend lists can help users to communicate by choosing what information is shared with certain groups of people.

tag: facebook, Privacy Controls, Friends of Friends, FoF at facebook,

Bebo in AOL Clutches

Bebo in AOL Clutches, AOL has acquired social-networking site Bebo, of which I have been a member since the beginning. The Bebo in dollars is 750 Million. Now it just flashed in front of my eyes the other companies that AOL purchased or acquired, like Netscape!. Hope Bebo was purchased under better plans.

Bebo with over 40 million bebos, was among the gobble up talks like who is buying Yahoo. Bebo sale was definitely happening, that is what Techcrunch said. Techcrunch also suggested a $1 billion price tag,all the information but who the potential buyer/s were.

The AOL and Bebo were had already facilitated friend-invite interoperability between the two services. That was the last hint that noone spoke about. The last thing I know about AOL and acquisition was that Yahoo was looking to purchase them.

I hope AOL would make some advertising revenue and keep the company running. In a conference call on Thursday, Falco and Ron Grant, AOL's president and COO, as well as Bebo president Joanna Shields, said that integration between Bebo and AOL's AIM and ICQ messaging properties will be crucial. Combined, they said, AOL will own a "social graph" of 80 million people, bigger than the 67 million that the independently-run Facebook currently counts but still significantly smaller than News Corp.'s MySpace.com.

Joanna Shields, president of the San Francisco-based Bebo, will continue to run the social network and will report to Ron Grant. The deal was brokered on AOL's side by Bank of America Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities. Bebo had hired investment bank Allen & Co. when it opted to put itself up for sale.

Grant estimated in Thursday's conference call that the deal will ideally be complete within a month.

Read more at News.com

tag: social network business, Bebo, AOL, facebook, myspace, netscape

Snoop Dogg's MySpace Goes "Ego Trippin"

MySpace People We SeeAfter seeing Shakira on facebook I decided to go to myspace to find next person. As I always liked Snoop Dogg, I only have seen him twice, live. But I listen to his music most of the time and after seeing him on the Letterman show, I thought about bring him on board at WeSeePeople. In addition to the Myspace page, Snoop also has his own site.
Both the sites bring in information about his discography, personality and of course his videos and music. Also information such as; Purchase the latest SNOOP DOGG CD “EGO TRIPPIN” at the following stores listed here and you will receive a limited edition Director’s Cut Video Compilation DVD! (while supplies last).
tag: MySpace People We See, WeSeePeople, Snoop Dogg, EGO TRIPPIN,

Shakira's den at facebook, (facebook people we see.)

facebook people we see.Without any doubt Shakira is one of the singers that many people listen to and admire for her curves. Like her singing , she knows the value of facebook and have been presenting herself in one of the well known social network hubs.

So what do we find at Shakira's den at facebook? on the surface you see Shakira's discography, Shakira's photos, Shakira's videos. But I think the most valuable is the Shakira's fans and their discussion forum added to the latest news about this popular singer.

People we see is a new feature at weseepeople and we will report about famous people on various social networks. If you are not listed, do not worry, by the time we finish the list we have, you really might be famous!
tag: facebook people we see.Shakira, Shakira's discography, Shakira's photos, Shakira's videos, Shakira's fans

How big is your Digital footprint? Discuss with your Digital Shadow!

Have you ever wondered how big is your Digital footprint is? and how much eWaste you generate? I must confess that I might rank high on both the counts. My (assumed) Digital Foot Print about 12,000 MB (I could not enter all the activities that I do in the Internet) and above is my ticker captured today (the Number is in bytes). Follow the information at the end to calculate your own. I will be writing more on this subject soon but read the press release until then.

HOPKINTON, Mass. - March 11, 2008 EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today announced new findings from the groundbreaking EMC-sponsored research from IDC that measures and forecasts the vast amounts and diverse types of digital information created and copied in the world.

“The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe: An Updated Forecast of Worldwide Information Growth Through 2011” highlights findings that are newly updated since IDC’s inaugural forecast of the digital universe was published in March 2007. IDC’s new whitepaper offers updated growth projections and new findings expected to impact business and society based on new data and analysis that indicate:

• At 281 billion gigabytes (281 exabytes), the digital universe in 2007 was 10% bigger than originally estimated
• With a compound annual growth rate of almost 60%, the digital universe is growing faster and is projected to be nearly 1.8 zettabytes (1,800 exabytes) in 2011, a 10-fold increase over the next five years
• Your “Digital Shadow” – that is, all the digital information generated about the average person on a daily basis – now surpasses the amount of digital information individuals actively create themselves

IDC’s new research shows the digital universe is bigger and growing more rapidly than original estimates as a result of accelerated growth in worldwide shipments of digital cameras, digital surveillance cameras, and digital televisions as well as a better understanding of information replication trends. The digital universe in 2007 was equal to almost 45 gigabytes (GB) of digital information for every person on earth – or the equivalent of over 17 billion 8 GB iPhones. Other fast-growing corners of the digital universe include those related to Internet access in emerging countries, sensor-based applications, data centers supporting “cloud computing” and social networks comprised of digital content created by many millions of online users.

IDC’s research also examines how society and the digital universe interact with each another, addressing how individuals actively participate in contributing to the digital universe – leaving a digital footprint as Internet and social network users, email use, through use of cell phones, digital cameras and credit card transactions. The white paper also highlights the fast-growing passive contributions that individuals make to the digital universe, something known as the “digital shadow.”

“In the updated study, we discovered that only about half of your digital footprint is related to your individual actions – taking pictures, sending emails, or making digital voice calls,” said John Gantz, Chief Research Officer and Senior Vice President, IDC. “The other half is what we call the ‘digital shadow’ – information about you – names in financial records, names on mailing lists, web surfing histories or images taken of you by security cameras in airports or urban centers. For the first time your digital shadow is larger than the digital information you actively create about yourself.”

Enterprise IT organizations that gather the information comprising our digital shadows have a tremendous responsibility – in many cases mandated by law – for the security, privacy protection, reliability and legal compliance of this information.

"Society is already feeling the early effects of the world’s digital information explosion. Organizations need to plan for the limitless opportunities to use information in new ways and for the challenges of information governance," said Joe Tucci, EMC Chairman, President and CEO. “As people’s digital footprints continue growing, so too will the responsibility of organizations for the privacy, protection, availability and reliability of that information. The burden is on IT departments within organizations to address the risks and compliance rules around information misuse, data leakage and safeguarding against security breaches.”

Due to its vast size and rapid expansion, both consumers and businesses experience the impact of the digital universe in many profound ways. IDC reports the information explosion creates new complexity for IT organizations charged with managing digital information that is rapidly growing in size and becoming more diverse. Consumers will also struggle with the growth of their own digital information as they attempt to figure out what to do with all the data they’re creating.

Other key findings:

• The “Visual” Universe – the information explosion – at least in raw gigabytes – is predominately visual: images, camcorder clips, digital TV signals, and surveillance streams.
• Enterprise Responsibility – The picture related to the source and governance of digital information remains intact: Approximately 70% of the digital universe is created by individuals, yet enterprises are responsible for the security, privacy, reliability, and compliance of 85%.
• Digital Diversity – Because of the growth of VoIP, sensors, and RFID, the number of electronic information “containers” – files, images, packets, tag contents – is growing 50% faster than the number of gigabytes. The information created in 2011 will be contained in more than 20 quadrillion – 20 million billion – of such containers, a tremendous management challenge for both businesses and consumers.
• Information Governance – To deal with this explosion of the digital universe in size and complexity, organizations will need to spearhead the development of organization-wide policies for information governance: information security, information retention, data access, and compliance.
• Digital Cameras – In 2007, the number of digital cameras and camera phones in the world surpassed 1 billion, and fewer than 10% of all still images were captured on film.
• Digital Surveillance – Shipments of networked digital surveillance cameras are doubling every year.
• Share by Industry – The enterprise share of the digital universe is widely skewed by industry, having little relationship to GDP or IT spending. The finance industry accounts for almost 20% of worldwide IT spending but only 6% of the digital universe. Meanwhile, media, entertainment, and communications industries will account for 10 times their share of the digital universe in 2011 as their share of global GDP.
• "eWaste" an Environmental Concern – Electronic waste is accumulating at more than 1 billion units a year – mostly mobile phones, but also personal digital electronics and PCs. The switch to digital TV will place a lot more analog TV sets and obsolete set top boxes and DVDs on the waste pile, which will double by 2011.
• Energy Use Increases – Power consumption that was 1 kilowatt (kW) per server rack in 2000 is now closer to 10kW. Enterprises building new data centers are planning for 20kW per rack.

EMC and IDC have assembled numerous resources regarding the ongoing research, interaction with and public discussion of the digital universe.

• To calculate the size of your own digital footprint, download a copy of the Personal Digital Footprint Calculator
• To read the complete IDC digital universe whitepaper or to find out more about information trends, history and preservation, go to: www.emc.com/digital_universe

tag: Digital Footprint, digital universe, Digital Shadow, VoIP, eWaste, Personal Digital Footprint Calculator

Best Of SXSW, Journalist Interview Herself!

This was funny to me but certainly not to others. Sarah Lacy ....."Talk about something interesting!" well the article by Daniel Terdiman echoes my thoughts.. besides I have other things that I started at SXSW.
"During Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's keynote address Sunday here at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), on-stage interviewer Sarah Lacy out-and-out bombed, becoming much more of the story than she should have been and having the capacity crowd turn on her over the course of the hour discussion."
tag: SXSW, SXSW 2008, Sarah Lacy, SXSWi, Mark Zuckerberg

MOLI - Creating A New Standard In Social Networking.

I had marked Moli to be written about after I saw them at DEMO 2008. But somehow, I missed the boat. So I decided to swim and here is the complete Moli press release for Demo 2008. I like the concept of multiple profiles under one account. Just think, there are certain aspects of your social and personal life that should not get mixed with your business life. One should be able to work black suit during the day and rock out in the evening baring all the tattoos (not all) in the evening.

DEMO Conference, Palm Desert, CA (January 28, 2008) - Addressing the market need for better privacy and control of social networking member data, MOLI launched at DEMO today, its next-generation community site based on a robust patent-pending platform that allows users to have significantly greater control over their privacy than current options in the market.

Designed by financial transaction veterans who understand the need for secure transactions, MOLI's members, consisting of enterprising individuals, groups and small businesses, can control their privacy by managing multiple profiles in one account. Members can then segment their social, business and family relationships as well as attain more control using three levels of permission - public, private and hidden - to determine who can and cannot access their profile information. In addition, members can add low-cost, online store capabilities to sell their products and services within the global community. MOLI membership is free as are most of the interactive tools; MOLI communities are located in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland.

"MOLI has implemented its social networking community in an inventive way to create a new approach to the online social market," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO. "MOLI will be a company to watch as the market continues to unfold."

MOLI is an online community designed for enterprising individuals and small business owners - a segment of users just beginning to explore the power of social networking. The site uses Web 2.0 capabilities that are ideal for multimedia interactive collaboration and visitors and members can view both professionally created original content (text and high definition video) and user-generated content that appeals to the MOLI community.

Founded by Dr. Christos M. Cotsakos, former Chairman and CEO of E*TRADE and the former CEO and COO of AC Nielsen, MOLI is the flagship subsidiary of Mainstream Holdings, Inc., a company that focuses in four industry segments: e-commerce, behavioral marketing, high-definition video production, and software and infrastructure development.

"We are very excited for the opportunity to launch MOLI at the critically acclaimed DEMO 08 conference," said Dr. Cotsakos. "We have listened to users, marketers, advertisers and industry experts during our beta, to create and build MOLI into the next-generation social media platform. The current international network is ready for significant growth. Today, we also announced $29.6 million in new funding to be used to grow our member base quickly and expand aggressively across a number of international markets."

MOLI - Creating A New Standard for Controlling Individual Privacy Online
"MOLI is a next-generation social media community allowing members to manage multiple profiles from one account. It is designed for enterprising individuals entering that next major lifestyle change, beginning in the late twenties, when control over personal privacy is a more compelling issue," said Judy Balint, President and COO of MOLI. "MOLI is a diverse, sophisticated site where professionally produced content coupled with interactive e-commerce features enable members to connect and conduct business with other discerning individuals, groups and businesses in the U.S., the U.K., and Ireland, along with other international sites planned for 2008."

Rich Professional Content Appealing to Visitors and Ideal for Advertiser
MOLI produces and publishes high quality features about the community's multi-faceted members and stories that appeal to the discerning MOLI community. For advertisers, the appeal of professionally created content in specific channels provides a higher degree of confidence that their message will reside within an appropriate context for their brand. MOLI offers three types of content for visitors and members to enjoy:

1 - user-generated content created from members in the community
2 - content selected by MOLI from third-party agreements suited for the discerning MOLI community
3 - compelling professionally created original content developed in-house and published in two forms: articles (MOLI View) and high-definition videos (MOLI Video).
- MOLI View is a daily collection of blogs written by well-known freelance writers appearing in various categories: Arts and Entertainment; Fashion and Design; Life and Love; Sports and Fitness; Travel and Leisure; Business and Technology; and Worthy Causes.
- MOLI Video is a compelling video showcase featuring two-minute magazine-style vignettes about MOLI's members. Called "MOLI Rollers" the high-definition, short-format video clips are created and produced in-house by Mainstream's subsidiary, Tertiary Productions. MOLI Video also features Tertiary's first original offbeat episodic series called Park Bench.

Easy-to-Use Tools and E-commerce Capabilities
MOLI provides its members with access to many free and low-cost features as well as premium-customized tools so their image on the site can look "polished and professional" or "cool and modern". Each account has access to free features and tools, for example, blogs, message boards, RSS feeds, video players, audio players, games, media slideshows, and event calendars. The site uses Ajax technology, so members can customize and personalize their pages with drag-and-drop ease.
On MOLI, small businesses can create a free public website to showcase their products and services, and use MOLI's multiple profiles with permissions to communicate in private with customers, employees or suppliers all from the same account. MOLI can be both an extranet and a private intranet.

Also, without doing any programming, members can easily add a fully-functioning store with a multi-media catalogue allowing video, audio, or text, shopping cart, and payment mechanism through PayPal or Google Checkout, for a simple, flat-fee of only $3.99 a month.

Powered by CoVibe TECH
More robust than earlier-generation social networking sites, MOLI is built on a patent-pending technology platform designed for scalability and easy global deployment developed by CoVibe TECH, a sister subsidiary of MOLI. This platform has the ability to accumulate and analyze aggregate member data, and facilitate targeted behavioral marketing while protecting the member's personally identifiable information. For example, all members receive a basic version of this aggregated data called "CoVibe Live" for free. CoVibe Live is a real-time snapshot that highlights interesting tidbits of information about the people who visit a member's profiles, such as age, gender, and geographic location. More sophisticated renditions of this aggregated psychographic and demographic data will also be available for purchase in various cost-effective packages designed for individuals, groups, small businesses and advertisers.

Unprecedented Social Networking Site Customer Support
MOLI members can access its knowledge-based customer support system that is similar to those found in consumer and financial industries. Members have two ways to obtain information: using the knowledge-based system for text-based and video answers as well as by live chat with MOLI customer support representatives. Live chat hours are available 9 to 5 p.m. U.S. Eastern. MOLI's customer support solution is a first in the social networking industry.

Pricing
MOLI membership is free. Additional pricing for account customization include:
- $1.99 per each additional personalized URL after the first one that is free.
- $2.49 per month for a MOLI ad-free experience.
- $3.99 per month to add store capabilities.


tag: social network, Moli, Demo 2008, privacy in social networking, online social market,

Hulu opens to the public on Tomorrow, March 12th!

Hulu that we wrote about when it debuted the private beta is going to be open to the public. The Hulu private Beta was very appealing and I have watched some missed TV Episodes. Generally it is another C but well focused in the field on TV shows.
At present, Hulu will offer full-length episodes of more than 250 TV series, like The Simpsons to older shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It also will offer 100 movies, including The Big Lebowski and Mulholland Drive. Just the TV shows might prove to be the big attractions as it acts as a bit of TIVO to people those who do not want to miss their favorite shows.
I for one will be there.

Voters in two Vermont towns Say Arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney

Just Smoke!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported.

The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues, instructs town police to "extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them."

Vermont, home to maple syrup and picture-postcard views, is known for its liberal politics.

State lawmakers have passed nonbinding resolutions to end the war in Iraq and impeach Bush and Cheney, and several towns have also passed resolutions of impeachment. None of them have caught on in Washington.

Bush has never visited the state as president, though he has spent vacations at his family compound in nearby Maine.

Roughly 12,000 people live in Brattleboro, located on the Connecticut River in the state's southeastern corner. Nearby Marlboro has a population of roughly 1,000.

(Writing by Andy Sullivan, editing by David Wiessler)

Taltopia To Bring Talent To The Social Networking

(BUSINESS WIRE)
Taltopia, LLC (www.taltopia.com) is an online media distribution and social networking destination whose aim is to provide aspiring and professional talent with a world-wide stage to share their abilities across the web. The site also rewards its members with Famebucks™ for simply using the sites features, giving users an incentive to find and recommend good artists, while giving artists a platform to promote themselves online. Categories include Music, Art, Acting, Dance, Comedy, and Modeling. Taltopia.com™ is based in Los Angeles, California.

	Company:		Taltopia.com
	Headquarters Address:		Los Angeles, CA
	Main Telephone:		818.438.4656
	Website:		http://www.taltopia.com
	Type of Organization:		Private
	Industry:		Other
	Key Executives:		Co-founder: Allen Vartazarian
			Co-founder: Anthony Zanontian
	Co-founder
	Contact:		Allen Vartazarian
	Phone:		818.438.4656
	Email:		allen@taltopia.com
	Co-founder
	Contact:		Anthony Zanontian
	Phone:		559.906.2050
	Email:		anthony@taltopia.com

tag: Social networking, online media distribution, Taltopia, Famebucks, Music, Art, Acting, Dance, Comedy, Modeling

eHarmony Wins Entretech Annual Entrepreneurship 2008 Award

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eHarmony, (eharmony.com), the Internet’s #1 trusted relationship service, has been named the leading growth company at this year’s Annual Entretech Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony. The Awards Program honors leading-edge companies in three categories based on annual revenue. The categories include: startup – under $1 million; emerging – between $1 million and $8 million; and growth – over $8 million. Pasadena-based eHarmony launched in 2000 and is the only relationship Website that delivers compatible matches to its users based on scientific research that predicts happier and healthier relationships.

“The best measure of our accomplishment is the large number of eHarmony members enjoying happy marriages and our financial success is a by-product of our focus on the consumer,” commented Greg Waldorf, CEO of eHarmony. “We are honored to receive this award and I thank our members and the eHarmony team for all they have done to make us so successful.”

“eHarmony ultimately received the award for having clear evidence of product acceptance and the ability to define new marketplaces; vision and potential for future revenue growth and profitability; and dynamic leadership with a proven record of execution,” said Stephanie Yanchinski, Executive Director of Entretech.

As a trusted advisor to singles seeking successful, committed relationships, eHarmony has experienced significant subscription and revenue growth since launching 8 years ago. The company is now poised to deepen its customer relationships with expansive new products and services and to developing its international user base.

tag: eHarmony, Social networking, Dating,

The Elephant in a Creative Designer's Living Room (Analytics), At SXSW 2008

If you did not make it to the SXSW 2008, this is a panel that you need to find out more about because it stand to give a wider picture of the field of Analytics and innovative creators.
SXSW 2008
Digital Pioneer Clement Mok Asks Thought Leaders from Sapient, Google and Modernista! to Explore Link between Analytics and Creative

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sapient Interactive, the marketing services group of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), today announced it will sponsor an executive panel discussion at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, a leading festival taking place March 7-11 in Austin, TX that targets Web technology innovators and digital creatives from across the globe. Moderated by digital pioneer Clement Mok, the panel will explore whether analytics help or hinder creative design.

The panelists, senior executives from Sapient Interactive, Google and advertising agency Modernista!, represent a range of views across the advertising and interactive marketing spectrum.

“The interactive industry is in constant, rapid motion, spawning new ideas, technologies and techniques each and every day. Keeping up with these developments is a huge challenge for any member of this community,” said Sapient Chief Creative Officer Gaston Legorburu, who will represent Sapient Interactive on the panel. “We are looking forward to spicing up the dialog at this year’s SXSW Interactive Festival by challenging traditional assumptions around analytics. Hopefully, people walk away with a better understanding of the opportunities that exist, as well as some best practices.”

Details on Sapient-Sponsored Panel

What:		Analytics: The Elephant in a Creative Designer's Living Room This panel discussion will focus on whether analytics drives or kills good creative. The four panelists, who come from very different backgrounds - analytics, design, software publishing, and interactive marketing - will deliver an engaging and multi-perspective debate on the topic.
Who:		Panel Moderator: Clement Mok, Consultant and Former Creative Director at Apple
		Panelist: Gaston Legorburu, Chief Creative Officer at Sapient
		Panelist: Gary Koepke, Co-Founder of Modernista!
		Panelist: Jeffrey Veen, Design Manager at Google
When:		Saturday, March 8, 2008, at 3:30 p.m.
		Austin Convention Center - Room 5, Level 3

Sapient is also an official trade show exhibitor at SXSW Interactive; the company’s booth location is #523 and #525 in the Austin Convention Center Upper Level/Grand Ballroom.

"Since 1994, SXSW Interactive has had an insider's view to the ever changing role of the Web, bringing to light the evolution of gaming, blogging, social networking, new media and beyond," said Hugh Forrest, SXSW Interactive Festival Director. “Now in our 15th year, the incredible ride continues, as we are expecting our largest turnout yet of innovative, passionate and energetic cutting-edge geeks.”

About SXSW Interactive Festival

Scheduled March 7-11 in Austin, Texas, the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival provides practical how-to information as well as unparalleled career inspiration, bringing together some of emerging technology’s most creative thinkers. The event features five days of keynote speeches, more than 120 panels, the SXSW Web Awards, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, the ScreenBurn Arcade, and dozens of exciting evening events. For more information on SXSW Interactive, see www.sxsw.com/interactive.

tag: SXSW 2008, Sapient, Google, Modernista!, Analytics, Clement Mok, The Elephant in a Creative Designer's Living Room

Getting Pownced at SXSW 2008

Get pownced on SXSW easily. It was not easy to get here and I have to get back tomorrow. But I will make to the brunch! ;). This is just to let you know that you can follow SXSW on pownce. Here are some information.

Pownce on panels
Leah Culver - What Women Need to Succeed & Building Developer-Friendly Web Service APIs
Daniel Burka - Social Design Strategies
Kevin Rose - Considerations for Scalable Web Ventures
Ariel Waldman - How to Rawk SXSW: Achieving Geekgasm

16bit Pownce Party
Saturday, March 8 - 10pm-2am
RSVP here

Pownce Brunch Meetup in Austin
Sunday, March 9 @ 12pm
Moonshine Grill - 303 Red River Street

SXSW on Pownce
Add http://pownce.com/sxsw as a friend to receive messages, links, music, events and more from SXSW2008! Send a private message to suggest your own live-blogging, photos, etc. for the account to share with everyone.

Track all SXSW messages, links, files and events on Pownce
See who is saying what about SXSW at http://sxsw.pownce.com
tag: pownce, SXSW

It Is Illegal To Die In Sarpourenx, France

Looks like if you want to be immortal, you will have to move to Sarpourenx in the Bordeaux region. One cannot simply die in this village. It is illegal to die.
The mayor of a village in south west France has banned residents from dying. Gerard Lalanne has threatened "severe" punishment for anyone who disobeys. The mayor issued the unusual edict when it became clear that there was no room left in the overcrowded village graveyard in Sarpourenx in the Bordeaux region. In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Lalanne told the 260 residents that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish".

It added: "Offenders will be severely punished."

Sky News

tag: immortal, Sarpourenx, illegal to die

DIGG is being dugged?

Looks like DIGG might have a little letter in front of it, like gDIGG, xDIGG or deadDIGG if Microsoft buys it.
The rumor has it that DIGG is up for sale and a bunch of people are bidding for it. But then again, If every blog rumor were to be believed, social news site Digg would have been bought a dozen times over by now, so take the latest one with the requisite grain of salt.
read more about rumor at cnet news
tag: digg, digg for sale, gDIGG, xDIGG, deadDIGG

WEB 2.0 Expo 2008 In San Francisco.

When I attended the first WEB 2.0, there was a sort of information overload with all those people and the companies around. But once the initial shock was absorbed, everything started to flow smoothly.
I learned so much that I felt that I was ready for WEB 3.0. But after all these months now I am ready to go back and brush my WEB 2.0 knowledge up and meet some people that I have been planing to meet.It is also good that it happens again in San Francisco.
But I also finished voting for my favorite applications, in all 10 categories. One of them that I voted for was PicLens. in the browsing category. I am really taken up with this application. I have spend more time with PicLens than any other application I can remember. I think you should take a look at it. It is not perfect but it does what I want better than most I have seen so far, handling photographs.
Back to the WEB 2.0 Expo. There will be conferences, exhibitions and workshops and speeches by some of the power houses in the game. You can also keep connected at facebook.
But you cant do any of those things if you do not register and April is not that far away. Just spend a few minutes and select what you want or like and register for them.

tag: web 2.0, web 2.0 Expo, web 2.0 Expo San Francisco

BuddyPress Under WordPress.

Andy Peatling, of blazenewmedia fame has joined Wordpress fulltime, Photo Matt announced today. Andy has been handy with Multiuser Wordpress and is credited with creating social network, BuddyPress, with it.
Goodluck Gang, surprise us.

tag: WordPress, Buddypress

facebook Raids Google and Makes Out With Sheryl Sandberg

Facebook Inc. has raided Google Inc. to hire a new chief operating officer, providing the popular online social network with more seasoned management and advertising savvy as it strives to make more money without alienating its audience.

Sheryl Sandberg's defection from Google, announced Tuesday, represents a coup for Facebook just three months after it suffered a humiliating setback in its effort to inject more commercialism into its fun-loving Web site.

Continue reading at Business week.

tag: google, facebook

National Science Foundation Goes Social Networking.

I have always been interested in what the Carbon Project was doing. Specially the Open-Geospatial development. It is very good to hear that NSF is taking interest in the project.

BURLINGTON, MA, February 7, 2008 – The Carbon Project announced today that the National Science Foundation has awarded the company a grant to develop a new geosocial networking application called ((Echo))MyPlace®.

((Echo))MyPlace is a "real time, real place" social networking application that combines 2D and 3D mapping from Microsoft Virtual Earth with a peer-to-peer network featuring dynamic streams of location-based digital news, video content and geographically-targeted marketing.

"((Echo))MyPlace has a very modern and exciting look and feel that will appeal to a wide range of users," said Jeff Harrison, President and CEO of The Carbon Project. "It's designed to let local entrepreneurs target their message to the people most likely to be interested in their products and services and enhance the value of their advertising."

A beta version of ((Echo))MyPlace is expected to be released mid 2008. For more information on ((Echo))MyPlace contact info@thecarbonproject.com.

This work is being support by the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

tag: NSF, Social networking, Carbon Project, MyPlace, ((Echo))MyPlace, 3D mapping, digital news, Virtual Earth, SBIR

Get Your Social Newspaper At myFeedz

Feedotopia has a tiny article on myFeedz, the social newspaper from Adobe Labs.
FEEDoTopia: myFeedz, A Social Newspaper
tag: Feedotopia, social newspaper, myFeedz,

AllPeers Goes Under

No Not to Australia, they have ceased operations. The reason given in the peer pressure blog was that they have not achieved the kind of growth in user base that their investors were expecting. The teams weblog peerpressure will be on line and Matthew Gertner. the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of AllPeers will also continue to blog at his Just Browsing weblog.
I am sorry because I liked their idea. If you were a fan, you can send your Condolences (via email).

tag: File Sharing, allpeers, peerpressure

SocialProfile Extension For MediaWiki From Wikia.

Wikis have always been social gathering places on the net for as long as I can remember, eons in Internet time. Wikipedia has over come many nay sayers and pundits that tried to paint it with gloom and doom to become one of the best databases for information in the world. I regularly work on it related to subjects I love (Physics), not I like.
We also have come to love the the open source MediaWiki to create our own little wikipedias. Although wikis are a places that people gather, there has been limitations in user interactions due to lack of resources. Now comes the SocialProfile package from Wikia, the commercial venture by Wikipedia creators. Now we really can get social at wikis.
This package of extensions will incorporate a social profile, user board, and basic profile information into MediaWiki, specifically Avatars, Friending, Foeing, User Board, Board Blast, and basic Profile Information. The package also notifies users via email when other users request them as a friend or foe and/or sends them a message. The package was developed by Wikia, Inc.
I found this information while lurking around at ReadWriteWeb and the ever resourceful Marshall Kirkpatrick takes you through other information that he (and me too) wish were open sourced by Wikia. If you ever wondered what Wikia is u to, it is great article to start with.

tag: SocialProfile package, Social Profile, open source, social networking, wikia, wikis, Avatars, Friending, Foeing, User Board, Board Blast, MediaWiki,