Working Toward Activity Stream Standards
In San Francisco last night, Six Apart (who recently launched data portability initiative Motion) hosted a roundtable to discuss the future of activity stream standards. In attendance were people from Google, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, Nokia, Plaxo, Comcast, and others.
Yahoo Autos Updated
It’s your call, folks. Is Yahoo trying to single-handedly save GM, Ford, and Chrysler, or does it just suffer from ridiculously bad timing? Either way, something interesting’s occurred, as the company has seen fit to freshen Yahoo Autos.
Top 5 Reasons the “C Word” Should Be Your Priority
I’m not going to tell you that "content is king." You already know that. There are reasons why your best bet for running a successful online business revolve around your content though. 1. Links
The Blogger SEO Burden
There is no question that blogging can help improve your search engine optimization efforts. Stephan Spencer, Founder & President Netconcepts talked about some of the reasons why in the following video, but he also said he favors some platforms over others for SEO purposes. Namely, he recommends WordPress or b2evolution as opposed to Google-owned Blogger.
Surf the Earth with Google and Your Wii
Showing an example of how developers can do some really cool stuff with the Google Earth API, Google Earth iPhone Engineer David Phillip Oster has created a program that allows people to "surf" any region on the Earth’s surface using the balance board for the Nintendo Wii. Oster used the Google Earth Browser plug-in and a javascript API, and the board transmits the person’s movements to the application using Bluetooth. See it in action:
Fired On Facebook
People are fired in all kinds of rude ways, but they typically don’t make the news. Get fired via Facebook, though, and the world goes “huh?” Crystal Bell, fortunately, wasn’t humiliated via any public communication; her boss sent notice via private message. According to the Calgary Herald, Bell, who’d been employed at a spa only two weeks, skipped a staff meeting on a day she wasn’t scheduled to work.
Email Scams Already Way More Prevalent in ’09
We’re only on day ten of 2009, and MessageLabs (owned by Symantec) is already telling me that it has detected a significant spike in email fraud and financial scams compared to last year. In the first week, messages with subjects like "Congratulations New Year winner! You have won the UK National Lottery" make up nearly 10% of all e-mail, three times what it was in the first two weeks of 2008.
Google University’s School of Personal Growth
The Googleplex already has a reputation as being a kind of Emerald City within Mountain View—pet friendly, masseurs on staff, Lego-topian mindsets—but the best company to work for has kept one perk relatively quiet: Google University’s School of Personal Growth.
Who’s Talkin’ About Social Search?
WhosTalkin.com has launched to the public after residing in private beta for 7 months. What’s WhosTalkin.com you ask? It’s a social media search engine that allows users to search across a number of social networking sites, blogs, news sites, forums, etc. And it’s pretty cool.
Ask Shows Off Its Advanced Semantic Search
Remember Ask? You know, the search engine with the Butler. While the company doesn’t get brought up in the discussion as much as it once did, it has not surrendered to Google and it’s other competitors just yet. Ask has now announced some advances in its semantic search technology. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of Semantic Search, Wikipedia explains it: