Archive for September, 2005

Google streams sitcom premiere

MercuryNews.com | 09/27/2005 | Google streams sitcom premiere

Google unveiled its first significant partnership with a television network Monday, a deal that allows it to show the entire first episode of UPN’s sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris” on its Web site.

The move is more familiar to online portals such as Yahoo and AOL. And it hints at what might be yet to come from the Mountain View technology giant, which wants to maximize the amount of the world’s video that is searchable.

Now this one is interesting and I must say I agree with the author that this sounds much more like AOL or even MSN than Google, but then again Google is clearly trying to take over their markets as well.

30 September, 2005 | No comments

The Wiki Effect

Salt Lake City Weekly - The Wiki Effect

XMission founder and CEO Pete Ashdown wouldn’t be running for office if Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, shared his love for technology. The self-proclaimed computer geek jumped into politics only after Hatch suggested blowing up computers as an ideal punishment for hackers and file swappers. Critics claim Ashdown doesn’t have a snowball’s chance against the Republican powerhouse, but his firm grip on cyberspace could help level the political playing field. In fact, some believe Hatch’s anti-Internet views could hamper his chances in 2006.

Great article on the use of Blogs & Wikis in politics. Check out PAshdown.org and click on Journal to see his blog and then click on Collaborate to see his wiki. It is quite innovative.

30 September, 2005 | No comments

U.N. Members Look to Loosen U.S. Hold on Web

U.N. Members Look to Loosen U.S. Hold on Web

United Nations summit drew to a close on Friday with national governments locked in an unresolved dispute over future governance of the Internet.

A number of governments are calling for the U.S. to relinquish its unilateral control over Internet governance, in favor of a new body under the oversight of the international community or the United Nations. The U.S. opposes any such change.

A good article on the international issues surrounding the Internet. It seems like the US was caught unaware or napping. Proposed changes caught the US representatives off guard. The article clearly points out that there are seriouos digital stakeholder issues to be resiolved, but I have serious doubts that the UN is the group to fix them. The solutions that suggest greater international involvement in ICANN appeal to me the most. What do you think?

30 September, 2005 | No comments

The Internet: What lies ahead?

The Internet: What lies ahead?

Blogs (online journals) and podcasts (personalized audio Web casts) are apparently just the beginning of a grassroots movement. Most people in the Pew study also see improved access to online entertainment when it comes to music, movies and more. And the home computer or digital hub will become the centerpiece of a living room, streaming in content from over the Internet.

Great article about the future of the internet. Cerf believes that 90% of the applications have yet to be invented. There’s a lot of impact on digital stakeholders still to be discovered!

29 September, 2005 | No comments

Esquire wikis article on Wikipedia | CNET News.com

Esquire wikis article on Wikipedia | CNET News.com

When Esquire magazine writer A.J. Jacobs decided to do an article about the freely distributable and freely editable online encyclopedia Wikipedia, he took an innovative approach: He posted a crummy, error-laden draft of the story to the site.

Talk about an impact in digital stakeholders! This is really cool. Esquire decided to do an article on Wikipedia and to do it they created their own wiki! I would think this model would hold true for other types of articles as well. I remember what one of the EMBA professors at Auburn told me at lunch one day when we were talking about the class. His class was full of professionals well qualified to teach the class (he was teaching Operations Management and had a VP of Logistics from a large rail transportation company). His goal changed from “teaching” the class to providing an environment where he would guide discussion but the students added their own insights creating a much richer teaching environment. How often do we read arcticles where the writer is just learning the basics of the story and it could benefit from a more seasoned industry professional?

29 September, 2005 | No comments

USATODAY.com - Internet Thought Police

USATODAY.com - Internet Thought Police

Distressingly, Western companies, notably Yahoo, have cooperated with the authorities as a price of being allowed to do business in China. In doing so, they become partners of the totalitarian state. The specter arises that the Internet, usually assumed to be a catalyst for free speech and democracy, is becoming a tool for repression. If China is successful, other regimes no doubt would follow.

Interesting, USA Today see’s things the same and difeferent as we do. They see the impact that China is having on digital stakeholders and argue that they could be setting an example that others will follow. What they do not seem to get is the sheer size of the Chinese market and any American business person that would not pursue the market, even with the constraints the goverment is making, would be fired by their board of directors immediately for incompetence. The leaders of these organizations have a responsibilty to move the company forward in China. However, just becasue they work under the current rules doesn’t mean they can not work from within the system to try to change the repressive cultures of these countries. Achieving that would go well beyond profit or loss.

28 September, 2005 | No comments

WSJ.com - The Numbers Guy

WSJ.com - The Numbers Guy

The numbers of the blogosphere range widely. Are there 10 million blogs, or 32 million? Do a quarter of online Americans really read blogs, as one oft-cited survey found? And why do rankings of the most popular blogs vary so much?

This one is a bit “old” but it still offers some great insights into blogs.

28 September, 2005 | No comments

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Expanded Microsoft, AOL deal reported

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Expanded Microsoft, AOL deal reported

AOL is cash-strapped and losing customers, while Microsoft is cash-rich and investing heavily to expand its presence in Internet search and services.

AOL, based in Dulles, Va., also happens to be Google’s largest customer and accounts for about 12 percent of the search company’s sales. But their relationship may be changing as Google continues offering new services that compete directly with AOL, including an instant-messaging service Google unveiled last month.

This is interesting as the details emerge. But if AOL accounts for 12% of Google’s revenue, and Google is creating their own products that are free and compete with AOL’s….it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one has some serious risk. Stay tuned….

27 September, 2005 | No comments

China Tightens Its Restrictions for News Media on the Internet

China Tightens Its Restrictions for News Media on the Internet - New York Times

Major search engines and portals like Sina.com and Sohu.com, used by millions of Chinese each day, must stop posting their own commentary articles and instead make available only opinion pieces generated by government-controlled newspapers and news agencies, the regulations stipulate.

Clearly a very different culture and most American’s will have no clue how to take this one. It presents some serious challenges for evolving digital stakeholder models in China. In many ways it might hinder the actual growth of the internet.

27 September, 2005 | No comments

Birth of the Business Blog

Line56.com: Birth of the Business Blog

What looked like a business on the fringes 21 years ago is now mainstream. The same can be said of a technology combination that Stonyfield and other companies are increasingly turning to: portals and blogs. Once the arena of technology purists who used the tool as a way to quickly share new ideas and solicit feedback and angst-ridden teens whose posting ambitions were confined to true confessions, blogs are coming to be accepted by businesses for everything from external marketing to low-cost content management systems that can power employee intranets or portals (see “Big-Time Blogging” on p. 32 for more information on how blogging technology works).

Great case study how technology (blogs & portals) have impacted a traditional company allowing it to better interact with its digital stakeholders.

27 September, 2005 | No comments

JotSpot Introduces Real-Time Group Note-Taking With JotSpot Live: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

JotSpot Introduces Real-Time Group Note-Taking With

JotSpot Live: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

JotSpot Live is a simple Web-based application that enables live note-taking by multiple users on the same Web page at the same time. Combining the interactivity and speed of chat with the utility of building collaborative documents, JotSpot Live is ideal for group brainstorming, virtual meetings, collaborative agendas and more. The only Web-based product of its kind available, JotSpot Live underscores the company’s mission of putting the power of application publishing into the hands of the average user.

Thi stakes a wiki to an all new level. It allows many digital stakeholders to interact in more intuitive manners. It will be interesting to see how it catches on and gets used.

27 September, 2005 | No comments

Google’s power makes security officials nervous - 09/25/05

Google’s power makes security officials nervous - 09/25/05

WASHINGTON — Google has fast become the Internet search engine everyone clicks on to find out nearly anything about anyone, including financial, political and other presumably private data.

But national security officials and others — reportedly even Google CEO Eric Schmidt — are getting a bit uncomfortable about Google’s extraordinary reach.

It seems I am not just the only digital stakeholder who has some problems with Google increasing power and reach. There are some serious issues with Google and many people have no clue that there is even something minor to be concerned about.

25 September, 2005 | No comments

Wiki Mania

E-Commerce News: Portals & Search : Wiki Mania

Occasional headaches are worth the value of an open community, according to Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia. He says most Web developers anticipate problems instead of potential. “To me, that’s like opening a steakhouse and saying, ‘Wait. What if people want to stab each other with their steak knives?’ … What does that do to your community?”

A good article about Wikipedia and its founder. I think many people take for granted what an excellent resource Wikipedia is for all digital stakeholders. Each of us can benefit from the work of others.

25 September, 2005 | No comments

Online, but under the radar - Hurricanes’ Archive Section - MSNBC.com

Online, but under the radar - Hurricanes’ Archive Section - MSNBC.com

Unprecedented numbers of people are flocking to the Internet in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the emergence of Hurricane Rita, but visitors to the government’s online gateway for weather news may have to do some hunting to find what they’re looking for.

Earlier in the week we examined a couple of articles that positively looked at home government portals are better addressing digital stakeholders, but this article does not follow suit. Instead this article looks at the NHC and NOAA’s site to see how the goverment agency is dropping the ball big time.

24 September, 2005 | No comments

Blog censorship handbook released

BBC NEWS | Technology | Blog censorship handbook released

The media watchdog said it gives people who want to set up a blog tips on how to do so, how to publicise it, as well as how to establish credibility.

The BBC’s take on the handbook I posted about yesterday.

23 September, 2005 | No comments

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