network
Okay, no boob jokes. And we're not going to talk about a certain American Idol hopeful that overstayed her welcome just because…
From Terry Heaton’s PoMo blog comes word that MySpace — the 800-pound gorilla of social networking — will soon be launching a Digg-style news aggregation service of some kind. Is that a good thing? It’s certainly interesting, and I would expect Digg to be worried about the prospect. Whether it’s actually something worthwhile depends on how it is handled.
As the debate continues about YouTube’s impact on Big Media, Google CEO Eric Schmidt made it quite clear where he falls on the issue: “The growth of YouTube, the growth of online, is so fundamental that these companies are going to be forced to work with and in the Internet.”
For now, we'll put off dark fantasies of robots taking over. No, no, no. No Skynet, no iRobot, none of that. If you don't want go cross-eyed trying to read a recent Google patent application, just take some smart people's word for it. Google's working on a phone technology that knows more about you than you do.
With the success of World of Warcraft, Blizzard has all but achieved a license to print money based on revenue generated from recurring subscriptions and expansion software. Mainstream companies have taken notice of the growing interest in online gaming and have taken steps to market their respective brands in virtual worlds, particularly within Second Life.
Usability and user centered designers, and those passionate about user behavior for everything from Internet applications, to search engines, to products you use everyday, sometimes come across as control freaks, anal retentive, irritating, boring, and demanding.
