06.23.06
Posted in Podcasting / Podcasts, Software and Web Apps at 3:22 am by Administrator
Pluggd podcast community launched
Found via TechCrunch, this new podcast directory / social sharing of tags and stuff-kind-of-site is very cool. Incorporating many features that make it the best on the web. I would expect every other podcast directory to adapt many of the features that this is incoroporating, especially the web crawl feature. - Check it out - Pluggd Podcast Directory.
There are many cool social netwrok / sharing / tagging featured with this cool new directory, read more about it at TechCrunch.
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06.17.06
Posted in Podcasting / Podcasts, Software and Web Apps at 10:38 pm by Administrator
Very cool, glad someone else is doing this so I don’t have to…
From Techcrunch
TalkShoe is a podcasting service and directory that combines recorded conference calls with revenue sharing for show hosts. It appears to be very simple to use and the community elements make me think this service could be successful. I can’t imagine many show hosts are going to make much money off of this, but the online video world has shown that when sharing is easy people will do it.
If the world really is changing to put user generated content at the center of media, some body’s going to find the right formula for audio. This looks like a move in the right direction.
Here’s how TalkShoe works. A Windows desktop client allows up to 25 people to participate in a conversation and chat behind the scenes. Calls are automatically recorded and entered into the site’s podcast directory. Show hosts receive money from the site’s ad revenues according to the number of their show’s listeners and for referring others to the service.
Google ads, ads in feeds and audio ads inserted in the podcasts themselves will all be used to monetize the site.
Conversations can be public or private and site visitors are encouraged to call in to live recordings underway. Participants can use telephone, Skype, Vonage or Yahoo to call in. The company says that SIP support is coming soon.
Finished podcasts are entered into the TalkShoe podcast directory where users can write reviews and leave comments. The site is set up to encourage subscription and scheduling of future episodes. There’s not a whole lot of activity on the site yet, but it looks like it could really catch on.
Featured podcasts so far include shows on Barry Bonds’ home run race, wine making at home, traveling in Italy and a debate between Mac and PC enthusiasts.
Many people say that podcasting is still too difficult for non-technical users. TalkShoe seems pretty simple. If there really are a large number of people interested in creating or listening to home-made audio content, this service could be a good way for them to do so.
Read the whole article with photos and comments at TechCrunch.
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06.08.06
Posted in Internet Business, Software and Web Apps at 3:38 am by Administrator
From Business Week:
But behind the peculiarities, Web 2.0 portends a real sea change on the Internet. If there’s one thing they have in common, it’s what they’re not. Web 2.0 sites are not online places to visit so much as services to get something done — usually with other people. From Yahoo!’s (YHOO) photo-sharing site Flickr and the group-edited online reference source Wikipedia to the teen hangout MySpace, and even search giant Google (GOOG), they all virtually demand active participation and social interaction (see BW Online, 9/26/05, “It’s A Whole New Web”). If these Web 2.0 folks weren’t so geeky, they might call it the Live Web.
And though these Web 2.0 services have succeeded in luring millions of consumers to their shores, they haven’t had much to offer the vast world of business. Until now.
Read more from Business Week…
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06.06.06
Posted in General at 8:16 pm by Administrator
So I was tipped off about this open source frimware upgrade from the rss feed I subscribe to at digg. It seems pretty easy to upgrade the firmware on your router to add many features and boost the wireless power, and more…
From an article at lifehacker:
Of all the great DIY projects at this year’s Maker Faire, the one project that really caught my eye involved converting a regular old $60 router into a powerful, highly configurable $600 router. The router has an interesting history, but all you really need to know is that the special sauce lies in embedding Linux in your router. I found this project especially attractive because: 1) It’s easy, and 2) it’s totally free.
Read more about it from lifehacker click here.
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06.02.06
Posted in General at 8:30 pm by Administrator
From Yahoo / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Two New York teenagers were in police custody Wednesday facing illegal computer access and attempted extortion charges after they allegedly threatened to shake down the popular Web site MySpace.com unless its operators paid them $150,000, prosecutors said.
Shaun Harrison, 18, and Saverio Mondelli, 19, of Suffolk County, N.Y. allegedly hacked into the social networking site and stole personal information from MySpace users.
After MySpace booted them from the site, the pair threatened to distribute a foolproof method for stealing information unless MySpace paid them $150,000, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Mondelli and Harrison were arrested Friday when they traveled to Los Angeles to allegedly collect the payoff. Instead, they were taken into custody by undercover officers from the multi-agency electronic crimes task force who posed as MySpace employees.
Each was charged with two felony counts of illegal computer access and one count of sending a threatening letter for extortion and attempted extortion. They face more than four years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.
Mondelli and Harrison entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment Tuesday. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge set bail at $35,000 and set a preliminary hearing for June 5.
MySpace.com, owned by News Corp., allows users to post photos, blogs and journals and create networks of friends.
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Posted in General at 2:11 am by Administrator
Yahoo makes Web video search more like TV channels
By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. is making it easier for Web surfers to find videos by upgrading its search system to become more like saving favorite TV channels with a remote control, the company said on Wednesday.
The Internet media giant aims to recapture share in the fast-emerging market for viewing videos online — the year’s hottest Internet trend — where Yahoo has lost ground over the past six months to upstart video search company YouTube.
“Instead of having to discover individual videos one by one, once you have found a source you like, you can keep coming back,” Jason Zajac, general manager of social media at Yahoo, said in a phone interview.
YouTube, a San Mateo, California-based company with only 30 employees which was founded by two former developers at online payments company PayPal, surged from nowhere earlier this year and now attracts tens of millions of monthly users.
That is five times the U.S. audience of former market leader Yahoo Video Search, according to data from Internet measurement firm Hitwise. MySpace ranks second, Yahoo third and Microsoft Corp.’s MSN is fourth, data shows. Other rapid gainers are start-ups Grouper and Daily Motion.
Among the changes Yahoo is introducing to its video search service at http://video.yahoo.com is a simple way for users to subscribe to and watch “channels”, or groups of videos related by videomaker, programmer or keyword topic.
Yahoo now allows subscribers to specific channels to tag, or categorize, videos to make it easier for viewers with similar tastes to find the video later. Users can browse for featured videos, popular videos or by category or “tag”.
“It is really worthwhile to create something that people can go back to and not have to find all over again,” said IDC analyst Josh Martin, who was briefed on Yahoo’s plans. “Searching for video kind of sucks right now.”
USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Taking advantage of the growing availability of broadband Internet connections, YouTube has made its name as the playground of quirky short-form videos contributed by users. It has yet to figure out how to make money off its service, through some form of advertising or other money-making effort.
To date, Yahoo had taken a cautious approach to serving up user-created video that is suddenly all the rage on the Web, focusing instead on acting as a showcase for professionally produced videos available across the Web or sports, news and entertainment programming licensed or created by Yahoo itself.
Zajac said Yahoo is applying an editorial process to its video search home page that balances high-quality programming against the popularity contest for the latest joke videos.
“Of course, users have access to all the content across the Yahoo network,” Zajac said. “What we are adding to that is user-generated content.”
The changes Yahoo is introducing to its video search service combine an uncluttered design look with linkages to its wider network of other Internet properties.
Videomakers both amateur and pro can now upload a video to Yahoo. Users can then post a version of their favorite videos onto their own Web sites using an embedded Yahoo video player.
“This is a good step for Yahoo,” Martin said. The next move for the Sunnyvale, California-based company is to connect together video content across its network of sites ranging from news to travel to sports fantasy leagues. “Yahoo has stuff that others like Google or YouTube don’t,” he said.
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