Does the “decay rate” at community sites like Epinions.com spell eventual doom for Wikipedia? Technology and Marketing Law blogger Eric Goldman thinks so, and, not to put any more pressure on him, is working on an academic paper to show why. The site’s decay rate—the rate at which community members become less devoted to a site over time—is just one part of Goldman’s larger argument. At his blog he pulls up some data regarding Epinions, which relies on paid community member reviews.
Best Buy Remixes Online Presence
Best Buy is changing the way it does business online and surprise, surprise – it involves social media and APIs. The company has introduced what it is calling the "Best Buy Remix Developer Network." "We’re working to give you the tools you need to make Best Buy into what you need it to be," the company says.
Intel My WiFi Tech Set To Make Connectivity Effortless
Don’t be surprised if college students, business travelers, and people who simply have a lot of tech at home suddenly become a lot more fond of Intel. The company has introduced something called My WiFi that aims make wireless communication between devices a lot simpler.
Everybody’s a Critic
For years now, the blog has been viewed as a necessary evil from a PR perspective and a direct channel for bad news traveling at light speed. That’s a fair assessment, but the Internet should be viewed as a boon to another aspect of business: quality control. It used to be there were official critics and official criticisms were published in print, read by subset of subscribers to a specific publication. Now, critics are pretty much everywhere and can publish anywhere, any time.
Addressing the State of the White House Technology
Since President Obama was sworn in and Whitehouse.gov has switched to a new interface, there has been an endless amount of chatter about the state of the White House’s technology. Some discuss the shortcomings, while others defend it as just fine. Tradition and Transition
Hate Mail Drives Controversial Website Offline
It’s either a brilliant publicity stunt or one of the gutsiest t-shirt sellers on the Web really lost his nerve. The proprietor (undertaker?) of TshirtHell.com is closing up shop because he’s tired of dealing with hate mail. As a Web writer whose been on the receiving end of more than a few nasty comments, I can say, if you give in to hate mail the terrorists win. Regardless, “Sunshine Megatron” is just tired of it all.
Google Needs A Couple Months to Heal the World
Back in September, Google made an announcement that seemed to reflect it’s policy of not doing evil quite well. As a celebration of Google’s ten-year anniversary, the company announced "Project 10100" or "10 to the 100th," which is a contest where the prize is you get to help people all over the world.
Microsoft Delays Construction Of Iowa Data Center
If you want to compare servers to Hallmark products, Microsoft is no longer the little old lady who buys a shopping cart full of Christmas cards on December 26th. Instead, the company has decided to send cards to fewer people and save its money for 11 months. Or, to drop the metaphor, you might just say that Microsoft’s delayed the construction of a data center.
Report: Twitter Secures $250 Million Valuation
There was some excitement generated this weekend when rumor spread about Twitter nailing down a third round of venture capitalist funding, effectively raising its value to as much as $250 million.
Job Search Web Sites See Big Growth
Job search was the fastest growing online category in the U.S. in 2008, according to comScore.The job search category saw the number of visitors grow 51 percent to 18.8 million visitors. The final months of the year usually see a slow down in job searching activity because of the holidays, but were instead some of the most heavily trafficked months of 2008.