I Link You: October 2006

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

more adventures with mylo

So I took it for a full test run on campus. Alas, I discovered more things wrong with this device.

First of all, the UChicago campus is not entirely wireless. Instead, there are numerous wi-fi access points scattered across campus. Therefore, I can't really use this device to communicate in b/w classes b/c I am outside where there are no wi-fi access points.

Second, I think the mylo keeps kicking me off the network because if I am idle for a long time, I lose my wi-fi connection. Thus, I have to go through the tedious process of reauthenticating myself and figuring out where my conversation was held last. Unfortunately, there is no save feature for conversations, so I lose my place a lot.

Stuff that was pretty cool (conceptually).

It was nice to check my email without having to go to a computer station or bring out my laptop. The mylo is definitely a lot more discreet than my laptop for class. Although I can always claim that I'm taking notes on my laptop during class, the professors always know that is never the case.

The What's Up feature seems so promising, but I don't know anyone with a Mylo (so no ad-hoc messaging) or anyone that does not use AIM. Seems like a great idea to consolidate all ways to communicate into one feature.

A lot of my friends thought the device looked really cool. Got a lot of thumbs up on design... they did think it was a phone at first, but alas.. the mylo has no phone capability.

Monday, October 30, 2006

my initial playthrough with sony mylo

I've been sent a new toy to play with for a period of time. Here are my initial thoughts. (Both briefly on campus and NYC.)

Design: Absolute thumbs up. I'm addicted to the sliding design, and it's really cute. The screen size is a little small, but I got used to it. The keypad is not bad either, but it can be a problem for big fingers. I have small fingers and hands, and it was a little difficult for me at first. The feel of the keyboard is a little strange.

Communication Support: What?! No AIM support.. That took care of 75% of my contacts. No MSN support either, but that's not surprising. The Skype support is very cool, but it's only useful if my wireless is on most of the time. The problem with this is that I have to authenticate myself to the campus network every time I turn the machine on. So receiving calls is not going to happen through Skype unless I am logged into the network. Support for Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger isn't necessarily terrible. I just don't know anyone who has accounts on either of these except for my techie friends (who have Google Talk).

Web: Browsing isn't that bad once you figure out that to scroll you need to press Fcn+(direction key). After that initial barrier, scrolling through web pages was not bad at all. It's great for checking email quickly.

Media: It's fun to carry music and video on your memory stick. Unfortunately, Sony likes being a monopoly and forces you to buy its branded memory stick instead of offering trans-flash drives.

Battery life: General surfing/chatting/listening to music occasionally.. getting around 4-5 hours. That's not too bad, but it could be better. I'm on campus at least for 8 hours per day. I don't like hauling a charger around. However, apparently you can charge this through a USB cable hooked to laptop. (In this case, the battery life isn't too much of a problem)

What have I not played with yet? What's up UI... The concept is intriguing. I like the fact that I can manage all my contacts in any communication medium in one list. Unfortunately, most of my contacts are on IM services not supported by the device. GRRRR....

While in NYC: The device is nearly useless unless you have access to a constant wi-fi network. I used it in my hotel's wireless.. but otherwise.. it was almost useless.

What my friends thought: Design is cute. Functionality a little lacking. What's the difference b/w this device and PDA besides Mylo's inferior computing power among other things. Quoting from one of my friends, "Add in phone capability, bluetooth, and AIM support... I will pay the extra $100 on top of the initial cost of the device." This rings true because there is a limit to the number of devices I'd like to haul around campus. Currently, I carry a phone and laptop.. occasionally the music player.

More to come soon. Got a Model UN conference in Penn this weekend, and that's the epitome of the need to stay connected. Let's see if this device gives me a leg up as the conference is held in a hotel with wi-fi access throughout.

Monday, October 23, 2006

using facebook to market another social networking site

So I've been invited to a Facebook group called ChiCampus. It is essentially a network for Chicago-area college students under the banner "one city, one campus." So it looks like a way for me to catch a party up at Northwestern that I would otherwise not know about.

Main sections include networking, posting boards, textbooks, rideshare, city life, events, discussions, and media. Of course you can only do this on the website, Chicampus.com. It looks like the site utilized facebook to find chicago area students and market itself as the premier site for networking within the Chicago community.

Many of my friends are joining the group, but whether they are actually using this group is uncertain. Granted there are tons of chicago-area students that are posting their personal and campus events, so the idea is not totally defunct. The most I've ever seen a U of C organization make use of Facebook is the Chicago Society and their event notices regarding lectures and talks by famous faculty and policy makers on various political, social, and economic issues.

Anyway, it seems natural that college students will now flock to regional networks in order to claim unity and city spirit. As Facebook enabled the ability for one to associate himself or herself as part of a city, you get some interesting results. Some of my friends join the Chicago, IL network just because they live here. Other students (especially international students) claim associations to their respective hometowns despite being residents here on campus throughout most of the year. I haven't really decided what regional networks I should join because I am very split between three cities (birth, city i grew up in, city where i go to college now). I wish I can join more than one city network, but I haven't figured out a way to do that yet. (Watch as someone calmly points out that I can as I probably overlooked it.)

Friday, October 20, 2006

More good web 2.0 stuff to check out.

Here is another laundry list of fun web 2.0 applications that I found while waiting to be interviewed today. Funny thing is that they are from Australia... lol

Anyway, I thought they were cute so you should check them out.

Function: To-do list

Go to... Remember The Milk

This free service allows users to manage their to-do lists online. Cool features include integration with Google Maps (where is my task?), various IM services (AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype, Yahoo! are all supported), extensive keyboard shortcuts to quickly organize and list your tasks, share and manage your lists with your contacts, mobile access (either through Google Calendar or Apple iCal) or through Atom/RSS feeds.

Function: Share that really funny email

Go to... Fwditon.com

Read, rate, and share the funniest email forwards. It's similar to digg, but specifically for funny emails. Way to save me from getting all that junk email but still lets me enjoy my guilty pleasure of reading the occasional humorous story from backwards-ville.

Function: Community for parents

Go to... Minti

Minti is a social networking site targeted at parents. This is a site for parents to write, share, and rank advice from everything to raising a child to how to invite your in-laws over for dinner. It carries a light-hearted tone and a little refreshment from the craziness of MySpace and Facebook. Although I'm not the targeted age group, it's amusing to see what advice floats for parents.

Function: Australian students want facebook

Go to: Studentface

A social networking site for students in Australian universities. Having similar features shared by MySpace and Orkut, the site allows students to share information, photos, videos, and many other things. Members need a valid school email address (.au or .edu) and need to be part of Australian university.

Function: MySpace clone

Go to: Babbello

This is a very popular social networking site for Australian teens. Just like MySpace, you can have your own blog, chat, share media, and take online quizzes. It also has extensive mobile applications. You can share ringtones, games, wallpapers, screensavers, and MP3s. There is a lot of content on this site, but it still manages to look organized. You can also blog by SMS.

Australia certainly has a few promising Web 2.0 applications. I particularly like Babbello's extensive network of mobile content. I also like Minti's focus on parents.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Facebook APIs

So it looks like social networking will eventually converge to one-size-fits-all mentality... as Facebook has opened its site to the public and MySpace has introduced videos in response to YouTube's explosive growth. So here are a few Facebook APIs that I found interesting.

Facebook + LinkedIn = Alumwire

Alumwire is a new social network designed to create professional opportunities for students, faculty, and alumni. You can use your Facebook account or create a new account with a ".edu" email address. The service began at Harvard and Berkeley but it now supports thousands of colleges.

With Alumwire, you can create a profile, upload a resume, and join business-related networks. Other features include calendar and messaging. That's about it in terms of features.

This site will probably won't take off because it uses Facebook API extensively. What is stopping Facebook from installing this features to its site?

Facebook + Craigslist = tixology

This is a service for Facebook users to find, sell, give away, or swap tickets to collegiate sporting events and concerts. You can post your tickets on the site, and your friends or other users can see this posting and contact you via Facebook.

Another site that extensively uses Facebook API. A niche classifieds service is the best way to describe it. As of September 2006, there have been more than 1000 postings. If more people actually knew about it, especially at larger schools, this may be a great addition to the super popular social networking site.

As far as I can tell, this service is restricted to college networks. It would be interesting to see how this service expands if the regional networks are added in.

Friday, October 13, 2006

The Mini-Feed Aftermath

So remember about a month or so ago, millions of Facebook users protested against the mini-feed and news feed that show what everyone was doing right on one page?

So I've been asking around my friends and what they think? Some quit Facebook because of the creepiness. Some absolutely adore it for its efficiency.

"I personally like it...It's nothing that wasn't there before... it just makes information more accessible to people who don't really know computers."

Another conversation:

[23:03] D: initially i don't think people understood what was revealed in them
[23:03] D: and quickly facebook adjusted the feature so that people can decide what is shown on the feeds
[23:03] D: so i think that's when people got over being angry about it
[23:04] D: there are some people who post messages obsessively and are embarrassed when it's announced to everyone
[23:04] K: yeah
[23:04] K: did u think people stopped messaging so compulsively once they were up
[23:04] K: or no one really cares now
[23:04] D: i think people waste less time when the important things are posted like they are with the feeds
[23:05] D: so if you want to know what someone has been doing, it's pretty easy to look and see
[23:05] D: instead of checking all their friends profiles or something
[23:05] D: i think they did initially
[23:05] D: but then adjusted the privacy so that ppl can't see who they msg
[23:06] D: facebook is good for stalking and i think this feature enhanced the stalking possibilities

On security matters:
[23:08] K: and u're not afraid of potential stalkers?
[23:08] D: eh
[23:08] D: i haven't run into any big creepos on fb lately
[23:09] D: so i'm not worried
[23:09] D: i mean so what if they read msgs i write on my friends walls
[23:09] D: i write them on their walls instead of private msgs knowing other ppl can see them
23:09] D: if there's anything especially embarrassing :) you can always x out that story and it's gone

All in all, control is definitely important for users on social networking website. As long as these users feel secure about what information is public and which information is private, then there seems to be little concern about security.

When Facebook mini-feeds and news feeds first came into existence, no one knew what to do with it initially. As there were no announcements about the new features, users freaked out as all of a sudden you can see what's happening with any of your friends all in one convenient listing.

[23:11] D: they should have had announcements before
[23:12] D: telling us what will happen in a few days
[23:12] D: b/c it was kind of shocking
[23:12] D: and ppl weren't clear about what was revealed
[23:12] D: like, are they gonna tell people whose photos you've been viewing or how many times you've looked at someone's profile?

K: Have some people stopped using Facebook?
[23:14] D: yeah i know a couple ppl
[23:14] D: they thought about getting back on after they understood the feeds and that you can limit them
[23:14] D: but didn't
[23:14] D: b/c they were still mad
[23:15] D: i think it's kinda dumb, but that's just my opinion
[23:15] D: they switched to myspace

How ironic... they switched to the more public social networking site with possibly more stalkers and crazy people.

There definitely seems to be a tension between being connected and being secured. Although it is quite frightening how much information you can dig up by using Google, it's interesting to note that more people feel the need to be connected. Technology has come to a point where there are people who love to share and communicate with others all the time, and people who cherish their privacy and try to separate technology from their lives. There are 100 million users on MySpace, so people stay on the site despite the security and stalker concerns.

Professor's use of MySpace draws ire from the administration

According to the Independent Weekly, there is a controversy surrounding a university professor that is using MySpace as his course website for his students. N.C. State professor, Tom Hoban, is offering Sociology 395-M, "Social Movements for Social Change" on the popular social networking website. Administrators claim that this practice is wrong, but Professor Hoban cites that the university website does not provide adequate means of social interaction that is required for the course. The professor is also citing academic freedom as he faced much criticism from conservative groups for his liberal-bias in teaching.

This is quite interesting as many universities are paying a lot of money contracting their information technology services to outside firms. If professors are allowed to use MySpace as their course website instead of the university system, imagine how the adminstration will feel if all of their professors stopped using the university system as means of storing and sharing course material among its students. There is also legal issue as well. Can course material be availabe to the public? Although students could technically adjust their security settings, could the professor be allowed to post course material in plain view?

From my experience (and many of my other friends' experiences), our course website is called "chalk". Professors can post syllabi, course materials, and announcements. They are also discussion boards, built-in email client, gradebook, etc. It is not a bad site by any means, but organization can be a huge problem as the site is prone to crashes. There are no chat room clients so interaction is quite slow.

It would be nice if the course website allowed students to exchange notes or talk about problems without having to email everyone individually. My friends always thought it would be cool to having a "pictionary"-like drawing board on the site so people can collaborate over economics problem sets or discuss the pros/cons of certain international relations theory. I always thought it would be natural to allow the site to send us reminders over email or SMS about any changes to the class whether it be room changes or assignment changes.

I don't know if the university would ever attempt to do those things as it may cost a significant amount of money. Some of my professors have personal websites on the university network and direct their students to those sites for course assignments and materials. These professors also pass on announcements via the listhost or their websites. The Chicago GSB has its own internal network where students log in to gain access to course materials. Email is the communication of choice for many students regarding coursework, but it would be nice to know if my TA emailed me back a reply for one of my questions on the homework through my phone if I'm away from the computer.

What do you guys think?

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Google signs deal with Sony BMG and Warner for free music videos

Yes, Google did buy YouTube, but apparently they have deals for its video service, Google Video, with Sony BMG and Warner. Since Google has the standard ad-revenue model, it's no wonder that Google sealed the deal to distribute thousands of free music videos on their video service.

It'll be interesting to see how this YouTube, Google Video, and copyright threats play out in the future. Although Google is probably the only company that can afford to lose big on its $1.65 billion acquisition, Google is sending a striking message to the media industry as these companies struggle to gain foothold in this new market.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Tabblo... another strange name in the social networking community

It seems like social networking sites these days will come up with the most bizarre names in order to differentiate themselves.

Tabblo is one of these bizarre entities. Tabblo is the savior in making photoblogging a pleasant not painful experience. With unlimited storage and no ad, Tabblo's features seem too attractive not to try.

All standard social networking features apply on this site. You can have full control of who can view, comment, and share your tabblos (the web pages you create with your photos and text). You are able pool your photos together with other Tabblo members for collaborative tabblo creation. You can also participate in the Tabblo community with your tabblos, photos, and commentary. There is seamless integrationg with open photo services such as Flickr. Finally, you can also publish tabblos to blogs, social networking sites, and other places online

You don't even need to download a client. All this can be done online on your web browser. Another cool perk is that Tabblo lets you order printed versions of your creative work in a variety of shapes and sizes for delivery anywhere in the U.S. with international shipping on the way.

I always like sites that are simple and clean.. instead of the chaos and horror of MySpace. This one is definitely worth checking out.

SLAM....

is Microsoft's acronym for its new social networking application. It stands for Social Location Application Mobile. I don't think the acronym makes any logical sense, but the idea is a mass-mobile messaging system that will take SMS to the next level.

Of course, this application is geared towards smart phones with an unlimited data plan. There is a way to use this applicatio with SMS, but it seems so much better to have data with all the photo sharing that the group will presumably do. You can share photos and messages instantly with a small group of people. Also, it has location awareness capabilities that will alert you if a friend from your group is nearby. Instead of SMS, the smartphone client application uses HTTP to post messages to the server and to poll for new messages from the server.

This page gives a lot of information about this new research project from the Microsoft Community Technologies Group.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion

I'm sure everyone knows by now about quite possibly the most expensive acquisition in history. Unfazed by the possibility of copyright infringement cases and lack of profitability, Google agrees to pay $1.65 billion for the mega-hit video-sharing site, YouTube.

Now.. what does this mean? Well, it looks like Google is getting serious about marketing to people online rather than offline. It helps that YouTube has secured agreements with major media companies in efforts to show its commitment to copyright protection.

This also puts some pressure as Yahoo! as the company is perceived to be out-innovated and out-classed by Google. Yahoo! is currently trying to acquire Facebook, another popular social networking site targeted towards high school and college students. However, both Yahoo! and Facebook remain successful in niche markets while Google and YouTube are global household names.

Although Google's acquisition may entice companies to buy second-tier and smaller social networking startups, these new deals may lead to huge failures. After all, social networking sites come and go like fashion trends. There is even a resounding movement that MySpace is not cool anymore. One can see that as rival sites such as bebo and Cyworld are taking over their respective regional markets in UK and South Korea.

Friday, October 06, 2006

YouTube + Powerpoint = Slideshare

So what would happen if you mix YouTube and Powerpoint together? Ta-Da! Slideshare. Slideshrae is a service that lets you upload Powerpoint or Openoffice presentations and view them on the web. This way, the presentation has a permanent URL for viewing which is much easier than sending the presentation to many users at once.

There is another web service called S5 that is a slide show format based on entirely on XHTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The advantage of Slideshare is that most office workers are vehemently loyal to PowerPoint, so slideshare is an easy way to upload powerpoint presentations online instead of coding it using the above. There are some other perks as well, according to Download Squad. You can tag the files, and viewers can leave comments. Each slide has its own permanent URL for reference. Slideshare is also simpler than its Webex competitors.

Disadvantages? Well the file limit is 20 mb. There is no sharing or security options (so screw the office workers anyway). The original presentation file cannot be downloaded from the web. Slideshare states that it will add these features in future upgrades.

Currently, Slideshare is by invitation only. I've asked for an invitation, so hopefully I can try it out. Thanks to Download Squad for the information.

MySpace is getting older

Acccording to the AP, youths are no longer predominant on the popular social networking site, MySpace. Half of the site's users are 35 and older. According to studies by ComScore, only about 30 percent are under 25 despite the current belief that it is only the rambunctious youth scouring these social networking sites.

As the under-18 group is slowly shrinking, the 35-54 group skyrocketed to 41 percent in August.

The interesting conclusion that ComScore came up with is that the appeal of social networking is broader and becoming mainstream. Another finding was that many social networking sites are popular among a niche market. For example, Facebook is clearly dominant in the college-age crowd while Xanga is a haven for teens under 18.

Of course, Facebook's dominance in the college group is clearly attributed to the fact that Facebook was initially closed to only college students. With the recent opening of its site through regional networks, it would be interesting to see if the graduating college students continue to use MySpace. Also, it would be interesting to see if new people become attracted to Facebook.

From my experience, people do join these groups because their friends telll them to do so. Then the fringe benefits of photo sharing and keeping contact information online become very useful once you use the site extensively.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

The Washington Post Online recently posted an article about the proliferation of cell phone use as means to exchange money.

Now this system already exists in East Asia. Three years ago, I thought paying fare for public transportation via credit card was cool. Now my little cousins are paying for their lunches with their ultra-cute cell phones. Man.. why is the United States behind on the times.

I'm sure some U.S. mobile phone manufacturers, carriers, and banks are thinking about a similar system. Just imagine what it would mean for the financial services industry? Ideally, I would never have to go to the ATM because my cell phone would be my credit card to the world. I would not have to worry about cash flow problems while I'm studying or travelling abroad. This is especially important if I have to exchange currencies. No need for that!

If only such a technology would come to mass market in the United States. Of course, there is a problem with security and encryption that would have to be address. If my cell phone got stolen, the last thing I want to worry about is a thief accessing my bank account as well.

Monday, October 02, 2006

O2 and Bebo?

According to The Business, mobile phone group O2 is talking to social networking website, Bebo, about putting Great Britain's largest social networking site on its mobile phones. Although the negotiations are in the early stages, O2 seems committed to enabling social networking features on its phones.

One interesting argument is tha tthe rapid growth of online social networking sites is taking away teenagers' time to use mobile technology such as SMS or phone calls. Bebo has overtaken MySpace for the number 1 spot for UK visitors. The site also launched a rival music service in response to MySpace's grasp on the music community. Bebo Bands claimed that more than 25,000 musicians and groups uploaded music to the site.

This could be an interesting opportunity. It is apparent that independent musicians are using social networking sites as a low-cost or free marketing and distribution tool for their music. Why not? Most sites offering music upload/download capabilities allow members to have access to this music for free. This could be just as huge as mobile ringtones as more consumers demand higher customization and personalization to their phones. In addition, many phones are now operating as multimedia powerhouses as mobile phone manufacturers are trying to centralize users to one device. Now I even use my phone as as music player because it beats having to bring two different devices with me.

By the way, don't compare this with Helio and MySpace. O2 is a huge company compared to the miniscule Helio. This could be a beautiful and productive partnership.

School in full swing

Now that school is in full swing throughout the United States, all students must be missing class already and looking for an easier way to share notes. (Rather than awkwardly calling a friend for notes... or better yet.. Facebooking someone for notes)

Notemesh is a free wiki-like way for students to share their classnotes without ever having to ask for them. Anyone can submit their notes, and this could be an interesting tool for students who are taking classes online. (All you have to do is copy and paste... or upload your lecture notes to the site.)

Notemesh is different because there is only one set of notes per class. So no sifting through multiple copies of the same lecture notes which cuts down on valuable search time. Other useful features include class rosters, print-friendly versions of notes, editing features, and discussion boards.

The most interesting feature is the "note cloud." It allows users to see which schools and classes are the most active. The "school cloud" lists all the schools that NoteMesh serves. Once you click on a particular school, you will be taken to the "note clouds" of all the classes.

The downside is that you need a school email address to access this site. So if your email address does not end with ".edu" or ".mil"... tough luck. Anyone can still see the stripped down version of the notes on this site, but registered users can join discussion boards and edit notes as they please.

Whether this site will be as popular as Wikipedia is unknown. This site may be more successful at larger schools such as U of I or Madison with large student populations (and the tendency to party a lot...) I see little use for this site at smaller institutions where attendance is usually key to succeeding in the class.

I Link You