Flick your Photos With Flickr Graph

Does Flickr bring people together? Yes anyone that has visited knows that. Strangers from far corners of the world sharing what their cameras caught and commenting on photos, creating groups and teams, both public and by invite only. But I found the Flickr graph which allows you to explore those relationships that exist within Flickr.
In my research about social networks, I have seen other methods that explore relationships withing groups like MySpace or even yahoo email. This also uses classic attraction-repulsion algorithm for graphs and I have no clue about the algorithm as he explains.
This is not a new application and has been running for while, since 2005.
Go have a look.

tag: flickr, social networks, social engineering

Facebook, apparently, owns Our Birthdays And More.. Bring Out that assbook!

I came across this post about Scoble getting kicked out for testing an application based on Plaxo Pulse. His crime, Scoble scraped information on his contacts (name, address, and birthday, so he could move them to Outlook, he says). This is against norms of facebook. Guess I have to make my new site, assbook (or is it Lassbook?) come out sooner.
Perhaps I should direct you to the original article I mentioned, Does Facebook own this blog post?
tag: social engineering, social networking, facebook, lassbook, assbook

Social.im brings facebook Users Together Outside Browser Confinements.

A new desktop application called Social.im lets anyone with a Facebook account chat with their Facebook connections outside of the browser. Once you download and install Social.IM, (whch is only available on Windows right now), a window opens to Facebook's login page and once you login to facebook, Software pulls your friend's names and Facebook avatars into a buddy list. If your friends also have the Social.im, they will appear as available, busy, or offline, as in any other chat program.
I learned about this at Wired.
tag: Social.im, Social Chat, facebook

Is Large Number Of Users making Social Networking Sites Like Facebook and MySpace Slow?

Watchmouse, leading website monitoring company, has released a report on accessibility and availability of Social networking sites. I was surprised to read that "Facebook performance was poorest of all"
"The Netherlands, January 10, 2008 – Popular social networking sites fail to deliver to their users, according to WatchMouse. Research from the leading website monitoring company has shown that web 2.0 sites often are slow to open or fail to load properly. WatchMouse monitored the time it took the social networking sites, listed on Wikipedia, to load. The results showed that the worst for availability is the immensely popular Facebook."
Complete article, Social networking sites slow and inaccessible. This article also covers about other sites like Twitter, last.fm, Windows Live Spaces, Friendster and del.icio.us. which also said to be slow.
Complete Site availability index could be found here.



tag: social networking, facebook, myspace, Watchmouse,

Social Engineering In Indian Politics

India Times carry the following story about how social engineering is changing Indian Politics.
tag: social engineering, Politics,

Resveratrol SIRT1 and Why I'm Having A red Face, I am Prolonging My life!

Wired Magazine article says that we have found a way to extend our lives. Here is a little bit from the article. Follow the link below for the complete article.

SAN FRANCISCO -- For the first time, scientists have proof in human subjects that a derivative of an ingredient in red wine combats some symptoms of aging. Sirtris Pharmaceuticals announced the results here on Monday at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

Resveratol, naturally found in red wine, stimulates a gene known as SIRT1, which has been linked with extended lifespans in rodents. The new study is the first time similar effects have been replicated in humans.

"We believe that this is the first time that a drug candidate has shown efficacy in a disease of aging by targeting the genes that control aging," said Christoph Westphal, CEO of Sirtris.

Sirtris was co-founded by David Sinclair, a Harvard Medical School researcher, who discovered SIRT1's role in regulating lifespan. His early work was in yeast, and he later showed that stimulating SIRT1 through a calorie-restricted diet helped animals live longer. Then, Sinclair found resveratol, which stimulates the same gene with results similar to calorie-restriction but without the diet. Resveratrol's effects in mice touched off a storm of excitement among people, including Sinclair, who began taking the drug in its over-the-counter form hoping to extend their lifespans.

Red Wine Drug Shows Proof That It Combats Aging

tag: Sirtris, SIRT1, resveratol,

OpenIDDevCamp Don't Miss It, Come Join Us This Weekend!

After having a very good time in Vegas and CES, I had to get back to Bay Area. But all is not that bad! Why you may ask! Yes you may. It is because the first OpenIDDevCamp which is said to be inspired by BarCamp, SuperHappyDevHouse, iPhoneDevCamp and MacHack among other things, will be hosted at at the San Francisco offices of Six Apart, and all are welcomed.
I will be certainly be attending as I am working with three projects that have OpenID integrated of has in the plans to do so. I really want to pick the brains of those fine folks that know OpenIP better than their own faces.
OpenID.net has this message for you;
"If you’re already in San Francisco or will be coming into town for MacWorld, want to learn more about OpenID, you should definitely drop by. Please RSVP for OpenIDDevCamp on Upcoming. Maybe you’ll even find out from Yahoo! what is going on with OpenID tags on Flickr?"
So spread the word, get together to promote this fine ID platform.
tag: OpenID, OpenIDDevCamp, weseepeople, OpenID.net

Social Networking Conference 2008

The Miami Social Networking Conference is the industry's largest event that covers business management for the Social Networking and Online Personals industry. The next event will be held on January 31-February 1, 2008 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, USA. The Miami focuses on all the social networking market and is attended by senior executives in the industry. The event will discuss: Social Networking business strategies, mobile technologies for social networking, Social Networking software, partnerships, venture capital, legal issues, online/traditional marketing strategies, background search and payments.

SPEAKERS at the 2008 Miami Conference include:

• Google • AOL • Digg

• Synthasite • Visible Path • RockYou!

• Research In Motion • Pixsy • Intel Capital

There will be two simultaneous events in Miami this year. While the Social Networking Conference is taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the Internet Dating Conference will also be taking place down the hall. These are two separate events.
Registration to the Social Networking Conference also gets you complimentary admission to the Internet Dating Conference.

tag: Social Networking Conference 2008, social networking, Internet Dating Conference,

Bebo named as best social networking site

They have transformed the way people communicate and attract millions of regular users keen to make virtual friendships or chat about common interests. Of the most popular social networking websites, Bebo is today named in a report as the top performer, beating its rivals Facebook and MySpace.

Computing Which? publishes the results of an independent test assessing the 10 most popular sites for ease of setting up and using the site, the range of features, and the way the sites protected privacy and security, including how easy it is to remove personal details.

Bebo and Facebook achieved the highest scores of 79% and 74% respectively, and were rated easier to use than MySpace and best for socialising. Bebo, which is used predominantly by the 13- to 24-year-old age group, is praised for working hard to encourage responsible networking.
Continue reading at Social Networking news source.
tag: Social networking, facebook, bebo, myspace,

Plaxo On The Sales Block!

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Plaxo, a site that helps users keep their friends' contact information up to date, is considering a sale of the company for as much as $200 million, media reports said on Thursday.

Plaxo is seeking as much as $100 million and has hired Revolution Partners to advise it on a deal, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the offering.

Private Equity Hub, a blog edited by Thomson Financial editor-at-large Daniel Primack, said Plaxo was considering an unsolicited offer of about $200 million, but had not retained any bank to advise it.

Officials from Plaxo and Revolution could not be reached for comment. Fast-growing social networks like privately held Facebook and LinkedIn might be interested in acquiring Plaxo despite its "flat growth" in 2006 to 2007, said Michael Osterman, head of messaging research and consulting firm Osterman Research.

"It might make sense for a consumer-oriented social network (like Facebook) to acquire a business-oriented social network" like Plaxo, he said.

You continue reading more at Reuters.

tag: social network, plaxo, facebook, LinkedIn,