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25th
DEC
Merry Everything
Posted by Pete Cashmore under Mashable
Much love from your friends at Mashable. Be safe.
Beautiful winter scene by wili_hybrid
Popularity: 3% [?]
23rd
DEC
Welcome to the Segway Social
Posted by Pete Cashmore under Mashable
Ah, the Segway, the biggest revolution in personal transportation since “The Homer”. Well, soon the dozens of Segway fans worldwide will be able to share their White & Nerdy passion on the inevitable Segway Social Network, reports Segway Today:
The Segway Social, a social-networking website that will launch in early 2008, will make it easier for Segway owners to stay connected by offering a centralized location to meet up with other Segway enthusiasts in their local communities, swap stories and tips, share photos, and map out their favorite glides.
Oh brother. Below, some of the issues nostalgic Segway owners may want to discuss, courtesy of The Onion.
Popularity: 4% [?]
20th
DEC
TorrentSpy Loses Court Case Against Hollywood Heavyweights
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
Nearly two years after the MPAA sued TorrentSpy and a handful of other BitTorrent sites, a federal judge has ruled in favor of the MPAA. It seems that a large portion of the judgment passed down by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper was a result of TorrentSpy’s perceived attempts to cover its tracks (i.e. destroy evidence). With a default judgment against Justin Bunnell and the rest of the defendants involved in the Columbia Pictures et al. v. Justin Bunnel et al. case, it looks worse than ever for TorrentSpy.
We’ve covered the case periodically since it was brought to court, and it was pretty clear that TorrentSpy did everything in its power to assert its legal rights, even going so far as to counter-sue the MPAA in May, 2006. What was uncovered in court, however, gives TorrentSpy a pretty dismal image. It looks as though TorrentSpy put a lot of effort into burying its tracks in an attempt to rid all incriminating evidence.
Several demands from the court throughout the case demanded information from TorrentSpy, including IP addresses of its users, in order to determine if the site’s service was being used for legal purposes or for pirating copyrighted content. TorrentSpy in fact responded to such court orders by taking matters into its own hands, and even blocking U.S. users from accessing its site so as not to get any individual users involved based on their personal identifying information.
As the court found TorrentSpy guilty of trying to destroy evidence as well as lying under oath, there’s been more fuel added to the fire for the crackdown on torrents. The increasing pressure has even spilled into other realms of Internet activity, with the Etology ad network pulling campaigns from torrent sites and even more media conglomerates jumping on the bandwagon to bring down torrents all together. See more details at ars technica.
Popularity: 3% [?]
10th
DEC
European Network Gets $1M in Series A Round
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
European social network Bahu has secured $1 million in its first round of funding, led by Lightspeed-Gemini Internet Lab. Started by students and targeting a student demographic, Bahu plans on expanding further across Europe to France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries, in addition to South America and Asia.
Bahu appears to already have a good-sized user base in France, and in an effort to grow this existing user base, the company has appointed Ouriel Ohoyon, the General Manager of LGiLab, to its board of directors. With his experience in marketing, it’s apparent that reaching out to new users is the next step for Bahu.
In terms of Bahu’s actual network, the focus is on the promotion of talents across the board, encompassing pretty much all types of art. Profile pages are akin to the MySpace breed of self-promotion; an “iPod” skinned mp3 player hosts your playlists, and separate modules on your profile host your friends, fans, videos, clubs and comments. Additional sections for each user profile displays photos, talents, and more.
There doesn’t seem to be any differentiating features for Bahu, but France does appear to be a new hot spot for those social networks looking for global expansion. Facebook and Disney have both shown additional interest in the French demographic. The French authorities, however, have made some major steps towards regulating various aspects of online media sharing, so this is something that growing social networks will need to keep in mind.
Popularity: 3% [?]
4th
DEC
Motionbox Gets $7M to Fund Flipbooks
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
Motionbox, the video site that appeals to doting parents for family video storage and editing, has closed a $7 million Series B round of funding. The round was led by new investor Constellation Ventures, which is a unite of Bear Stearns Asset Management. Previous investors Canaan Partners and SAS Investors also participated in this round.
The funding will go towards marketing and developing Motionbox’s new premium services, which include unlimited storage and downloads, as well as flipbooks. With the funding coming in at the onset of December, perhaps Motionbox can even take advantage of the rest of the Holiday season. I’m almost positive at least one of my relatives would love a flipbook.
But when it comes to introducing premium services and products as a supplement to your core business, Motionbox isn’t the first to ramp things up just before the close of the year. American Greetings has taken on Photoworks for what appears to be the sole purpose of offering more premium products to accompany its greeting cards web services, possibly coupling it with Webshots, which the company acquired in October.
And Zazzle’s looking to become bigger than Cafe Press with several partnerships coming about in recent weeks–MySpace, RockYou and Box.net are all using Zazzle’s tools for added options extended to users. We’ve generally seen some of the trends in the online photo industry translate well for video networks in terms of media sharing, so we’ll see if Motionbox can bank on the “extras” with videos as well.
Popularity: 3% [?]
4th
Privacy in the Age of User-Generated Content
Posted by Guest Writer under Mashable
This guest post was contributed by well-known web skeptic Drama 2.0.
I was a National Merit Scholar who got a free ride to Yale. I graduated Summa Cum Laude and hadbeen nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship. I was a standout on the rowing team, active member of the local community and participated in student groups, including the Yale Political Union. Now that I was ready to make my way into the real world, two major investment banks were trying to woo me. Sixfigure signing bonuses were on the table, I was ready to buy a luxury condo in New York to serve as my bachelor pad and my brand new BMW M6 with custom paint and 22” rims had already been ordered.
And then it all came crumbling down. When I wasn’t studying, rowing, volunteering and networking, I was boozing, smoking, snorting and womanizing. My penchant for substances and pretty sorority girls from Martha’s Vineyard wouldn’t have been a problem had the pictures of my debauchery not made it onto Facebook and been discovered by the investment banks trying to recruit me. After learning that I lacked discretion and common sense, my job offers evaporated and I turned to a life of blogging.
Of course, Drama 2.0 never went to Yale, but the fictional story above is quite familiar to those who really have lost a job offer because of the information they posted on the Internet and it highlights the fact that the sharing of personal information online in the age of user-generated content can change the lives of individuals in very negative ways. Internet services that enable users to share their own content have reached mainstream popularity and as a result, the concept of individual privacy has not only been changed, but to a real extent, has been completely tossed out the window.
Popularity: 3% [?]
3rd
DEC
People Search for Dating Sites. Copenda Hooks It Up.
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
What if you could take eHarmony and all the other dating sites, and mash it up with an aggregated people search engine, like Wink? The love child would resemble something like Copenda, the upcoming people search tool that scours the web’s dating sites to find you a perfect match. The site is still in private beta, but will go live later this week. I got a chance to check it out today, and it’s pretty clear what Copenda has set out to do. Hook people up.
Choose to search for males or females, select an age range, and see what you get. There are other search parameters as well, such as distance from a particular region and keyword. Checking out the search results, I noticed that a good portion of the profiles come from Match.com, Friendster and hi5 (Facebook is on the way). If you’re really looking to entertain yourself for about 3 minutes, choose different age ranges and then check out the search results to see where the profiles are hailing from.
For each result you’ll see whatever text that individual has included in their original social networking profile, their interests, status (single, married, divorced, etc), and a link to their external profile. Check multiple search results for comparison purposes (it’s kind of like shopping!).
Each result gets their own profile on Copenda as well, which isn’t a profile in the regular sense, just a page with the same basic info, and space at the bottom for comments. As with most people search engines, you can claim this profile as your own. That brings us to the second aspect of Copenda, which is the personalized end of things. You can create an account for Copenda, and save items (search results) on your dashboard. This will help you keep track of all those hotties from Friendster.
So how helpful is Copenda as an actual search engine? It will need to add more sources to its service before it becomes viable for practical use, and perhaps some additional filtering options could help users find others that they’d be interested in. For example, adding the ability to search only Facebook and Match.com for a particular type of person could help weed out some of the erroneous search results for a given keyword. This is especially important as Copenda does offer search services beyond dating purposes. Mobile search features are the next steps for Copenda.
Popularity: 3% [?]
3rd
News Corp. Acquires Faith-Based Spirituality Site Beliefnet?
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
News Corp. has reportedly purchased Beliefnet, the spirituality-based website founded by Steve Waldman in 1999. No details have been released pertaining to this unconfirmed acquisition, but an announcement is expected from News Corp. tomorrow, according to mediabistro.
Beliefnet has an overarching focus on spirituality, touching on Christianity, Judaism, and other forms of spirituality-based concepts. Since launching nearly ten years ago, it’s branched off to include specialized sections for weddings, prayer groups, memorials, birth announcements and more.
In addition to becoming a searchable resource, Beliefnet has recently launched a beta version of its upcoming social networking portal for faith-based groups and spiritual leaders. As News Corp. grows various aspects of its own Internet media empire, advertising has become key to its plans for 2008. Could this, coupled with Beliefnet’s social network, be the basis for its decision to add Beliefnet to the family?
Popularity: 2% [?]
3rd
The Daily Poll: Will News Corp Buy LinkedIn?
Posted by Adam Ostrow under Mashable
Last week, the word was that talks between News Corp and LinkedIn were serious. Today, new reports suggest that the companies are no longer talking. Linking up (lame pun intended) the business-focused social network with News Corp properties like The Wall Street Journal seems to make some sense, but LinkedIn may be holding out for a Facebook-like valuation. So, in a game of pure speculation:
Popularity: 2% [?]
3rd
The Daily Poll: Will News Corp Buy LinkedIn?
Posted by Adam Ostrow under Mashable
Last week, the word was that talks between News Corp and LinkedIn were serious. Today, new reports suggest that the companies are no longer talking. Linking up (lame pun intended) the business-focused social network with News Corp properties like The Wall Street Journal seems to make some sense, but LinkedIn may be holding out for a Facebook-like valuation. So, in a game of pure speculation:
Popularity: 2% [?]
3rd
Facebook Beacon Loses Retailers. Lying Dosn’t Pay.
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
MoveOn.org made quite a fuss about Facebook’s Project Beacon, and Facebook seemed to listen. Could it be because of the participating retailers having pulled out of Beacon as a result of all that ruckus? Overstock.com and Travelocity have both removed their companies from Project Beacon once they found out exactly how it works–you know, by not obtaining explicit permission from users prior to publishing their purchasing “stories.”
Granted, Facebook has since caved, changing the manner in which it obtains permissions for participation, and has expressed its intention to improve Beacon overall. But has it changed enough to regain trust in Overstock and Travelocity? After learning that several companies felt misled by Facebook’s Beacon project, a huge red flag is currently waving over Facebook as a network primed for integrated advertising and marketing purposes.
Now those companies that would like to take advantage of Facebook and its glorious newsfeed will be forced to take a second, third and fourth look at how it works on the user end. Will this affect Facebook’s overall advertising power, as it still struggles to get its ad network off the ground? It certainly isn’t a good look, and Facebook can’t afford anymore slip ups, but Facebook’s recent partnership with Federated Media may help its image after all.
[via mediapost]
Popularity: 2% [?]
3rd
Facebook Beacon Loses Retailers. Lying Dosn’t Pay.
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
MoveOn.org made quite a fuss about Facebook’s Project Beacon, and Facebook seemed to listen. Could it be because of the participating retailers having pulled out of Beacon as a result of all that ruckus? Overstock.com and Travelocity have both removed their companies from Project Beacon once they found out exactly how it works–you know, by not obtaining explicit permission from users prior to publishing their purchasing “stories.”
Granted, Facebook has since caved, changing the manner in which it obtains permissions for participation, and has expressed its intention to improve Beacon overall. But has it changed enough to regain trust in Overstock and Travelocity? After learning that several companies felt misled by Facebook’s Beacon project, a huge red flag is currently waving over Facebook as a network primed for integrated advertising and marketing purposes.
Now those companies that would like to take advantage of Facebook and its glorious newsfeed will be forced to take a second, third and fourth look at how it works on the user end. Will this affect Facebook’s overall advertising power, as it still struggles to get its ad network off the ground? It certainly isn’t a good look, and Facebook can’t afford anymore slip ups, but Facebook’s recent partnership with Federated Media may help its image after all.
[via mediapost]
Popularity: 2% [?]
3rd
FoodieBytes Helps You Fill Your Cravings
Posted by Adam Ostrow under Mashable
Have you ever said to yourself “I’m in the mood for a chicken souvlaki sandwich but not sure where I can get one”? That’s the problem FoodieBytes tries to solve through a new restaurant search engine launching a public beta today in 5 different metro areas.
The site has indexed more than 16,000 menus, allowing you to search on very specific dishes and see the restaurants in your area that serve them. Menus for a given restaurant include price information, and allow users to provide a rating (1-5 stars) on each dish. Additionally, integration with Google Maps allows you to get directions to the restaurant that serves your current craving.
One other feature of FoodieBytes’ search tool worth noting is support for dietary restrictions, such as “low carb” or “gluten free.”
There are plenty of sites geared towards helping you find information about local restaurants, but I like the approach FoodieBytes is taking here – it actually works in the way people think about deciding where to eat. As the company expands to more cities (currently in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC) it could also become very useful for travelers. FoodieBytes also has a mobile version in the works.
Popularity: 1% [?]
3rd
FoodieByte’s Helps You Fill Your Cravings
Posted by Adam Ostrow under Mashable
Have you ever said to yourself “I’m in the mood for a chicken souvlaki sandwich but not sure where I can get one”? That’s the problem FoodieBytes tries to solve through a new restaurant search engine launching a public beta in 5 different metro areas.
The site has indexed more than 16,000 menus, allowing you to search on very specific dishes and see the restaurants in your area that serve them. Menus for a given restaurant include price information, and allow users to provide a rating (1-5 stars) on each dish. Additionally, integration with Google Maps allows you to get directions to the restaurant that serves your current craving.
One other feature of FoodieByte’s search tool worth noting is support for dietary restrictions, such as “low carb” or “gluten free.”
There are plenty of sites geared towards helping you find information about local restaurants, but I like the approach FoodieByte’s is taking here – it actually works in the way people think about deciding where to eat. As the company expands to more cities (currently in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC) it could also become very useful for travelers. FoodieByte’s also has a mobile version in the works.
Popularity: 1% [?]
3rd
Photobucket and Picasa on your TV with TiVo
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
TiVo is really aiming to become more web integrated, this time bringing photo-sharing tools to its DVR service. Photobucket and Google’s Picasa can now be accessed and shared through TiVo, in HD. Access to these photo-sharing tools are available at no additional charge for TiVo subscribers. This looks to further build on TiVo’s existing partnership with OneTrueMedia for media-sharing tools from the web.
Some key features for Photobucket and Picasa on TiVo included in this merging of services include some custom viewing options for photos. As you’ll be viewing your images with TiVo’s user interface, this customization is somewhat important. So you’ll be able to search through community photos, and create slideshows as well.
It’s becoming more and more clear that TiVo is interested in offering more features that speak to the larger arena of entertainment, and not just recorded television, and it’s doing so by building on tools that have already become popular on the web. Instead of rolling out its own photo-sharing service and extending it to users, TiVo’s teamed up with some of the more well-known photo-sharing sites that have built up their user base with their web-based tools. TiVo’s teamed up with Rhapsody as well, and announced a partnership with Nero for PC DVR options.
What this growing series of partnerships does is further merge the TV set with the web, in a manner that’s not direct (as in hooking your TV screen up for viewing the web), but integrated. It also lets photo-sharing reach into homes in a way that moves beyond the computer. Is this the real implementation of the digital home we’ve all been waiting for?
For a more practical way of considering how these photo-sharing tools can be used–how about setting up slide shows containing aggregated images of family members for a holiday dinner. This could compete directly with individualized services like FrameChannel that are looking to deliver digital information, from photos to RSS, directly to a digital frame. What’s interesting is the way in which all of these services are beginning to merge in combinations that are increasingly familiar for users, taking advantage of cross-platform capabilities with existing tools.
Popularity: 1% [?]
3rd
Photobucket and Picasa on Your TV with TiVo
Posted by Kristen Nicole under Mashable
TiVo is really aiming to become more web integrated, this time bringing photo-sharing tools to its DVR service. Photobucket and Google’s Picasa can now be accessed and shared through TiVo, in HD. Access to these photo-sharing tools are available at no additional charge for TiVo subscribers. This looks to further build on TiVo’s existing partnership with OneTrueMedia for media-sharing tools from the web.
Some key features for Photobucket and Picasa on TiVo included in this merging of services include some custom viewing options for photos. As you’ll be viewing your images with TiVo’s user interface, this customization is somewhat important. So you’ll be able to search through community photos, and create slideshows as well.
It’s becoming more and more clear that TiVo is interested in offering more features that speak to the larger arena of entertainment, and not just recorded television, and it’s doing so by building on tools that have already become popular on the web. Instead of rolling out its own photo-sharing service and extending it to users, TiVo’s teamed up with some of the more well-known photo-sharing sites that have built up their user base with their web-based tools. TiVo’s teamed up with Rhapsody as well, and announced a partnership with Nero for PC DVR options.
What this growing series of partnerships does is further merge the TV set with the web, in a manner that’s not direct (as in hooking your TV screen up for viewing the web), but integrated. It also lets photo-sharing reach into homes in a way that moves beyond the computer. Is this the real implementation of the digital home we’ve all been waiting for?
For a more practical way of considering how these photo-sharing tools can be used–how about setting up slide shows containing aggregated images of family members for a holiday dinner. This could compete directly with individualized services like FrameChannel that are looking to deliver digital information, from photos to RSS, directly to a digital frame. What’s interesting is the way in which all of these services are beginning to merge in combinations that are increasingly familiar for users, taking advantage of cross-platform capabilities with existing tools.
Popularity: 1% [?]
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