Archives for 2007

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Sunday Morning Newsbytes

Posted on August 12, 2007 ·

China: 20,000 police surveillance cameras will be installed in the city of Shenzhen, reports the New York Times. But that’s not all:

Starting this month in a port neighborhood and then spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens.

Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord’s phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial “one child” policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.


Germany: A so far unpublished Stasi order was found from 1973, explicitly ordering East-German border guards to shoot citizens trying to escape:

Do not hesitate with the use of a firearm, including when the border breakouts involve women and children, which the traitors have already frequently taken advantage of,” the order instructed.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Filed Under: Politics · Tagged: , , , , ,
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Texty: Not All Good Names Are Taken, After All

Posted on August 11, 2007 ·

The best thing about Texty may be its name. TechCrunch calls it Dead Simple Content Creation And Editing. You just start typing in a simplified editing window on their site, add images if you want to, do some formatting, click a button and pick up an embed code to include in your site.

The result: WYSINWYG: What You See Is NOT What You Get. Your page is a container, it has a little javascript code, but the actual text body is on Texty’s site. The text appears to be there, you can read it, but it does not show up on Google Reader, and certainly does not get indexed by Google or any other search engines: you lose findability.

Of course there may very well be situations when the ability to send / publish a piece in multiple copies, while you retain the ability to centrally update it is beneficial. In fact a Zoho Writer user “discovered” this months ago. Some of Owen Kelly’s scenarios:

  • Centrally update his resume, while it’s posted in multiple places
  • Submitting academic paper for a conference – organizers want to publish it early, while it still goes through iterations

(Read the full essay here: Zoho for distributed publication.)

The score for Texty: good for some (distributed publishing), dangerous for others ( no search, text may disappear if the service goes belly up). And, as we’ve just seen, it’s nothing new.

But I have to give it to them (whoever they are) they got just the right name: it’s catchy, simple, and actually tells what they do. I can’t believe such a name was still available! I guess *not* All Good Product Names Are Taken, after all. smile_shades

Filed Under: Blogging, Personal Productivity, Startups · Tagged: , , , , , ,
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Why Google’s Storage Pricing is Not a Rip-off

Posted on August 10, 2007 ·

If you have a Gmail account, check the ever-growing counter at the bottom: it stopped counting. My Google apps accounts are frozen at 2048MB, non-branded gmail accounts at 2886MB. (I was wrong, the counter still runs. Thanks for the correction, Tony ) Which is not to say you can’t get more storage, as we know yesterday Google announced their pricing:

  • 6 GB – $20.00
  • 25 GB – $75.00
  • 100 GB – $250.00
  • 250 GB – $500.00

Some say it’s a rip-off: I tend to disagree… or let’s just say it depends what other Google services will be covered by the “shared storage”.

It’s already more than just Gmail, so it’s not fair to compare it to Yahoo Mail, which offers unlimited storage (who really needs unlimited email?). Besides, productivity-minded hardcore Gmail fans who find Yahoo mail inferior won’t switch just for the sake of free storage. Features count, after all. Talk about which, you do have to pay to get some of features, e.g. POP access on Yahoo Mail – that’s free on Gmail.
The Flickr comparison isn’t fair, either. Granted, if all I want is unlimited photo storage, a Flickr or Zooomr Pro account is a better deal – but Google has more goodies in their bag.

Think of what happens if when Docs and Spreadsheets – or whatever the eventual name will be, when it includes presentations, JotSpot ..etc. – will become all covered by the shared storage package. Now you have a complete productivity suite on the Web. Not counting photos, music and videos, it’s still hard to reach stratospheric storage requirements – but as you use Word, Excel less often, and most of your “new” stuff is in the cloud, you may start wondering if you should have ALL your documents uploaded, searchable, linkable, backed-up – the whole enchilada.

Both Yahoo and Google have a range of services, and very different pricing policies. Comparing storage on its own is misleading: we should look at the overall value we get from a full productivity suite + storage. If Google chooses not to charge for the apps, only storage, it’s not a bad combo, overall you can get more functionality for your $ then with Yahoo. $20 a year ($1.66 a month!) does not seem that much. By the way, you’re likely spending more on Microsoft Office now smile_omg

Related posts: Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim, Search Engine Land, Between the Lines, Computerworld, ParisLemon, Insider Chatter, Google Blogoscoped, Googlified, Mark Evans, Geek Speaker, VentureBeat, Web Strategy, jkOnTheRun, Googling Google, Damien Mulley, Download Squad, Mashable!, mathewingram.com/work.

Filed Under: Personal Productivity, SaaS · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
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Google Storage Price: Fastest Inflation Ever

Posted on August 9, 2007 ·

As I’ve reported before, this morning several Gmail users found their accounts had 9030MB storage, instead of the typical 2.8G. A few hours later Google Blogoscoped and Google Operating System discovered that we can now purchase additonal storage on Google, via this account management screen. Here’s the price scheme they reported (annual prices):

  • 6 GB – $1.00
  • 25 GB – $75.00
  • 100 GB – $250.00
  • 250 GB – $500.00

If you think 6G for $1 per year is too good a deal, you’re right. By the time I tried it, the price for 6G was $20. The $1 price was not a typo though: see Philipp Lenssen’s screenshot and order receipt for the $1 pricing.

From $1 to $20 in minutes – that’s probably a world record in inflation…

Has anyone else grabbed it for $1?

Also see: Mashable!, Infectious Greed, Venturebeat, Official Google Blog, VentureBeat, ParisLemon.

Update: I can’t help but wonder about the timing: is Google trying to rain on Microsoft’s parade? They’ve just announced Windows Live SkyDrive– whith a whopping thumbs_down 500Mb of online storage. 500Mb sure goes a long way .. where’s the upgrade option?

Stories on SkyDrive: Read/WriteWeb, Mashable!, All about Microsoft, Windows Connected, One Microsoft Way , Insider Chatter, Don Dodge, jkOnTheRun, Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life and Geek Speaker , TechCrunch.

Update (8/10): The Gmail storage counter stopped counting / growing. My Google apps accounts are frozen at 2048MB, non-branded gmail accounts at 2886MB. Michael Arrington said it right:

Today Google said they were not going to play that game any more. They effectively took their toys and went home. I never thought I’d see that.

Filed Under: Personal Productivity, SaaS · Tagged: , , , ,
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So That’s What Facebook is All About…

Posted on August 9, 2007 ·

A fairly mundane article put into new light by this Reddit title: Incoming Freshman Alert: How Sex Works.

…the goal of sex is to merge two sets of genetic information

Aha … so that’s why Freshmen are all over Facebook. 🙂

Filed Under: Humor · Tagged: , ,
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Gmail Testing (Selling?) More Storage

Posted on August 9, 2007 ·

While most “average” email users are content with Gmai’s 2G storage, others are close to hitting the ceiling – see Paul Kedrosky’s rant on how he’d like to buy more space, but can’t.

This morning a Chris Selland reported seeing 9G – 9030 MB, to be exact. A search on Google and Technorati doesn’t bring up anything – I wonder if he is a randomly picked participant in Google’s early test. If you read this, please check your Gmail account, and comment back if you’re is increased.

Thanks.

Update. This appears to be the real thing – see also comments below. Mashable reports the same. While these appear to be randomly picked accounts and the additional storage simply became available free, Google Operating System talks about a pay-for-storage theme that would be available across several Google services. Ionut quotes these annual prices:

  • 6 GB – $1.00
  • 25 GB – $75.00
  • 100 GB – $250.00
  • 250 GB – $500.00

These options are accessible via the account management page now, however, the $1 for 6G deal appears to be a typo, I’m seeing 6 GB ($20.00 per year); the other prices are correct.

See update on the pricing here.

Filed Under: Personal Productivity, SaaS · Tagged: , , ,
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Attachments are Evil – Link, don’t Send

Posted on August 9, 2007 ·

Well.. not fully .. just yet. But I’ve argued it would be so in a recent post: Flow vs. Structure: Escaping From the Document & Directory Jungle.

Forget attachments, the version control nightmare, software incompatibility issues, storage requirements: share documents by URL. That’s what the newly released Zoho Viewer enables you to do with your Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files as well as PDF, RTF, ODF and OpenOffice documents. It’s private, not indexed by Google or other search engines, so you don’t have to worry about leaking confidential data, yet you can easily share documents, right from the Viewer interface, or by using the URL it generates. Essentially it’s a TinyURL, SnipURL ..etc for documents, with additional options, like embedding the URL, tracking the number of views, or even editing your uploaded doc’s with the relevant Zoho programs.

While it’s really simple to use, here’s an intro video :

Attachments are Evil… smile_angry

Related posts: Lifehacker, Wired, TechCrunch, Digital Inspiration, Zoho Blogs.

Update: (2/13/08):  ReadWriteWeb introduces PDFMeNot, a similar service for PDF’s only.

Filed Under: Collaboration, Personal Productivity, SaaS · Tagged: , , , , ,
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Google Deletes its Own Blog as Spam

Posted on August 8, 2007 ·

This would belong in the humor category … if it wasn’t for real: the Custom Search Blog, owned by Google was identified by Google as spam, and shut down, after which an individual without any affiliation to Google took over the domain. Details at PC World.

Filed Under: Blogging, Software · Tagged: , , ,
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Blog Comment Systems Galore

Posted on August 7, 2007 ·

What a difference (less than) two years make! Here I was complaining about losing half the conversation …. two months later three comment tracking services debuted: coComment , MyComments and co.mments. Of these three, coComment developed decent traction.

Fast forward a year or so, and we have an abundance of comment tracking / conversational tools: TechCrunch just announced Intense Debate:

…a souped-up blog commenting system that adds a lot of features for publishers and commenters alike. Installing the plug-in on your blog (WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad) adds threading, comment analytics, bulk comment moderation across all your blogs, user reputation, and comment aggregation.

TechCrunch mentions JS-Kit, SezWho, and Tangler as competitors. But on the very same day Fred Wilson announced another commenting system:

I am lending a new startup a hand by letting them showcase their new comment system on this blog.
I don’t know how much I am supposed to say about them, so I’ll stay silent on them for now.

Based on some similarities (at least at first glance) I thought it was Intense Debate skinned somewhat differently – but after all, there was a little logo leading to Disqus: another commenting/ conversation system.

Choices, choices … what’s a poor blogger to do? smile_eyeroll

Update: I’ve met – online – Josh from Intense Debate and Daniel from Disqus. The dilemma still stands (hm, should I say I’m intensely debating which one to try ;-)) but in the meantime I’ve found this video on Daniel’s blog. It’s absolutely off-topic, and absolutely worth watching (till the very end, or you’ll miss the point):

Filed Under: Blogging, Startups · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Digging Into What it Takes to get Dugg up to the Digg Homepage

Posted on August 7, 2007 ·

(I could not stuff that title with more digg & dugg…). Anyway, Clickalite did some digging into how often the Technorati 100 gets dugg up to the Digg homepage. 92 of the Technorati 100 are English-language blogs, and 76 of them made it to the homepage (you know, dugg up on Digg). The leader of the pack , Ars Technica made it a whopping 1350 times! TechCrunch only got dugg up 533 times, and Mike has said before he only gets about 10% of his traffic from Digg – no wonder, with over half a million subscribers.

Well, I’m just a little rookie blogger compared to Mike, but even I’ve made it into the Top 100, and I did not need the “digg effect” – only made it to the home page about 3 times, if memory serves me well.

In fact, I am #1 on Technorati! But wait… is was Aaron, Brownbaron, Sizlopedia, Matt, Shaun, Eclectic Life, Grokdotcom,*  and a number other blogs I’ve never heard of before. Hm… quite a few to share my throne withsmile_embaressed. Turns out this Saturday was “Everybody No 1 on Technorati Day”. Good for Clickalite not having done his (manual) research on Saturday….

Btw, there was more trouble with T’rati that day. If you look at the pic here, I seem to have 0 (yes, zero) blog reactions to my blog. Now, I know my “authority” has been in a free-fall (lost about 30% so far) since moving to WordPress recently, but how did I make it to even 484 with 0 links?

Oh, well… still waiting for that White Knight.

Related posts: Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim and CenterNetworks

* Groktodcom on the messed up Technorati authority:

If rank meant everything,  every blogger who’s had even one link documented by Technorati could rejoice more than they already are after being accidentally ranked #1 today — thanks to a glitch.   f rank meant everything, you wouldn’t have to create fresh, original content.  If rank meant everything, blogs wouldn’t be worth reading.   Everyone would be baiting links (like I am).  Like money, when rank means everything, it means nothing.  Do blog readers really care about rank?  😉

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Filed Under: Blogging, Humor, Social Networking ·
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