MTV Networks launched Flux just over a year ago as a social-networking platform that would be used across all its digital entertainment properties as well as eventually sites outside Viacom. The original Tagworld investment started in November 2006. Flux now powers community features on MTV.com, Colbert Nation, Atom.com, and other Viacom-owned sites, allowing users to access all of them with a single login and profile.

“We will let anyone use the Flux network, with few exceptions,” Dern said, adding that the lone exception is…porn.

NEW YORK–Viacom division MTV Networks announced Monday that it has turned its minority stake in software company Social Platform into a full acquisition: Social Project, formerly known as Tagworld, is the basis for Viacom’s Flux.

But the service won’t become an MTV exclusive. “Even though they’re now part of us, we still want them to work with outside Web sites,” Salmi said of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Social Project.

“The web is fragmenting,” said Mika Salmi, president of global digital media at MTV Networks in a press conference on Monday, describing Flux as an “open, flat, and connected” technology. “People are attracted to niches and to what they’re really interested and passionate about, and we as a company have a history in the cable business of going after niches.”

Earlier this month, MTV launched what is arguably its most high-profile social initiative,Backchannel, which uses Flux profiles and credentials to power a game centered around the hit show The Hills.

Beet.tv’s Andy Plesser has an interesting interview with Michael Zimbalist, vice president of R&D at The New York Times Co. He describes how the newspaper company is finding ways to link print and online in the mobile arena and how rich annotation of content will lead to more personalized delivery of information and the Semantic Web.

I’ve read a bunch of blogs where the authors contend the video is even a harbinger of the social network’s coming demise. If they really believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to offer for sale. Cheap, too.

All good fun and such, but does the satire reflect a real turning point in the service’s popularity? Let’s keep some perspective. Facebook’s getting the same treatment dished out to every frontrunner–be it in technology, politics, or some other sphere. (How long before we start reading about Obama-mania morphing into Obama fatigue?) Anyway, former Goldman Sachs analyst turned blogger Michael Parekh doesn’t think the malaise–if that’s the right word–will last:

Parekh’s a smart guy and his analysis of tech currents has always been sensible. Enjoy the video, but I wouldn’t nail the coffin shut on the Facebook phenomenon just yet.

Newly appointed COO Sheryl Sandberg obviously believes Facebook has miles to go before she rests. But more than a few people out there apparently share another opinion.

There’s a hilarious video now making the rounds on YouTube–”I’m getting bored of Facebook” set to the Billy Joel tune, “We didn’t start the fire.” (You knew it was only a matter of time, didn’t you?)

Mark Zuckerberg and new No. 2 Sheryl Sandberg

]]> http://www.cabweekly.com/index.php/2010/08/24/facebook-fatigue-already-get-real/feed/ 0 http://www.cabweekly.com/index.php/2010/08/24/nokia-8800-arte-a-work-of-art-but-can-it-make-br/ http://www.cabweekly.com/index.php/2010/08/24/nokia-8800-arte-a-work-of-art-but-can-it-make-br/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:36:44 +0000 admin http://www.cabweekly.com/?p=266 Looking at the Arte, you notice the solid statement it’s trying to make. It’s modern. It’s cutting edge. It’s quite heavy, but that seems to be part of its appeal. That heft comes from genuine materials: glass and metal. Heretical approach in these plastic times.

Basic keyboard–no pretensions at being a smartphone.

(Credit: Nokia)

Your home screen (actually, everything on it) is simply brilliant. The colors jump out at you. The ringtones are exclusive, compelling.

They should be; this phone was designed by Kruder and Dorfmeister, who I’m told are two renowned Austrian remixer DJs.

Open it up and there’s a comfortable keyboard that blends right in. But you won’t even need it to mute an incoming call: Just put the phone face down and it silences the incoming annoyance instinctively. Tap the phone twice and you get the “analog” clock on the screen.

(Credit: Nokia)

The remixers behind the phone. Odd.

The Nokia Arte begs to be looked at as a work of art, a cell with sculptured style. Does it succeed in that quest? Absolutely.

The menu is easy to navigate and covers all you’d want in a cell phone, including settings for the 3.2-megapixel camera that enjoys access to 1GB of internal memory.

At that price, I’m expecting it to cook me breakfast. Next post we’ll see if it does.

The Arte is slim and has seductive heft.

(Credit: Nokia)

You saw that correctly. It’s $1,400. I’ve been known to buy a lot of expensive phones from all over the world just to savor them (the Samsung Serene was no cheapie at north of a grand) but this even makes me swallow hard.

If all you wanted was a phone to connect you with someone, you wouldn’t
be reading this blog.

Hold the Arte in your hand and you become a magnet. Everyone wants to feel and hold it–then they hear the price and carefully hand it back: $1,400.

(Credit:
Pure Digital)

Flip Video Ultra

Advanced Video Technologies lobbed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pure Digital Technology, maker of the popular Flip Video cameras, according to a Reuters report.

Pure Digital is aware of the lawsuit, a representative for the company said, adding: “The suit is without merit and we will defend it vigorously.”

Advanced is seeking unspecified damages and a “reasonable” royalty, according to a Reuters interview with Stephen Roth, attorney for Advanced Video. He noted Advance is not seeking to halt sales of the Flip Video cameras.

The government needs the “best and brightest” from Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the private sector to work on creating an advanced warning system to prevent such cyberattacks.

Risks from cyberattacks are increasing and the consequences are so great that the country needs a “Manhattan Project” for network security, Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a keynote on Tuesday at RSA 2008.

“A single individual, a small group of people, or a nation-state can exact the kind of damage or disruption that in years past only came when you dropped bombs or set off explosives,” he added.

(Credit:
Charles Cooper/CNET News.com)

“We face a very serious challenge and it’s only likely to grow more serious as time passes,” Chertoff said. “We’re operating in a domain in which traditional military power or the power of the government is insufficient to address the full nature of the threat. A command and control response will simply not be adequate. We need a network response to deal with a network attack.”

For example, a botnet denial-of-service attack shut down the Estonian government last year for about two weeks, according to Chertoff. “It went beyond simple mischief, and represented an actual threat to government to govern its country.”

“Cyberthreats have enabled terrorists and criminals to do the kind of damage they would never be able to contemplate doing in the real world,” he said.

Chertoff asked rhetorically, when choosing between an airline that allows people without identification to board and one that doesn’t, “which airline would you put your children on?”

During a question-and-answer session afterward, Chertoff defended the government’s Real ID law, which would create a uniform national ID card. Chertoff said the card would make the country’s buildings and airplanes more safe from terrorists. Opponents say the inconvenience and privacy concerns outweigh any perceived benefits.

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff

“We need a game-changer with how we deal with attacks,” he said. “In January, the president signed a homeland security directive, for a national cybersecurity initiative…almost like a Manhattan Project.”

That summary may sound like a narrow market, but it fits me pretty well, and I think it could make a decent business for BookSwim.

BookSwim is aimed at high-volume readers; its plans go up to 11 books at a time for $39.94 per month.

BookSwim has an additional requirement that is probably a consequence of the media mail rate schedule. Customers must return multiple books at a time, depending on the service plan: 2 or 3 for the 3-book subscription, 4 or more for the 11-book subscription. Then BookSwim ships multiple books at a time to the customer.

The page also says this about BookSwim’s selection: “Can’t find a book on BookSwim.com? Let us know and we’ll buy it!”

GPU Gems 3 by Hubert Nguyen: 3.8 pounds

This is not too far away from the three-DVD subscription from Netflix for $16.99 per month, also with free shipping.

A new Web-based rental service called BookSwim describes itself as Netflix for books.

All in all, BookSwim seems like a pretty good deal for avid readers. It seems to make the most sense for people who like to read popular, new hardcover books, especially if they read a lot, don’t care to keep all the books they read, and prefer to use their spare time for reading rather than running to the library.

If I really believed that was true without restriction, I’d sign up in a hurry, since there are many more technical books I’d love to read that are way out of my price range. Rare books would be another great way to take advantage of this promise, and it would also seem to provide a way to get textbooks through BookSwim. The promise doesn’t appear in the company’s Terms of Use agreement, however, so it probably isn’t meant to be taken literally.

I suspect the waiting-list and convenience issues will favor one side or the other, depending on the customer and the books they’re reading.

Inferno in trade paperback: 0.51 pounds

Fallen Angels (with Michael Flynn) in paperback: 0.48 pounds

In its online media kit, BookSwim addresses the obvious question: why not just go to a library?

I’m not persuaded by all of these reasons. I don’t believe BookSwim’s selection is as wide as a major city library. The Martin Luther King Jr. Library here in San Jose claims a collection of over 1.5 million items. And its catalog can be searched online, like most libraries these days. BookSwim’s selling points probably mean more to customers who don’t have a big library nearby.

After checking it out, that seems to be a fair enough summary.

For example, BookSwim offers a subscription with three books out at a time for $19.98 per month. BookSwim covers shipping both ways via U.S. Postal Service media mail, though books over two pounds do carry an extra fee based on the actual difference in postage.

Escape from Hell in hardcover: 1.27 pounds

Physically Based Rendering by Matt Pharr and Greg Humphreys: 5.77 pounds

One might think about using BookSwim to rent textbooks. At $120 for four months’ use of seven textbooks, this would be a great idea…except they thought of it first, and they don’t do that. BookSwim has a separate service to help students find textbooks, but it’s nothing like the regular subscriptions; mostly it consists of referring customers to BookRenter.com, where textbooks rent for a large fraction of their retail price.

It looks like paperbacks will never exceed the two-pound mark. However, I can see larger hardcovers getting into excess-weight fees, especially technical nonfiction:

Fortunately, the fees would be low: only an extra $1.40 each way for the latter book based on the published media mail rates, cheap compared with its current $74.36 price on Amazon.com.

The company’s answer includes these main points: no late fees, 24-hour browsing, a wider selection, less waiting for popular titles, and no need to leave home.

The pricing doesn’t seem to be quite as good a deal as Netflix; the fees are slightly higher and the average price of books is somewhat lower than for movies. But it’s in the ballpark.

This approach inverts the typical paradigm for conveying information to UAV jockeys, according to VRAC. Because rather than augmenting the real-time camera picture with sensor generated information, the new interface works more like a virtual operating theater–one that’s constantly fed by a myriad array of spatial and temporal information sources.

(Credit:
VRAC)

The university’s Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) team is working under a $4.2 million contract as part of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s effort to develop the “next generation control interface” for military UAVs. If successful, the real-time virtual view of the battle space will allow a single operator to control several UAVs simultaneously, all the while monitoring onboard instruments, cameras and weapons systems.

“We’re also developing and measuring the effectiveness of new human interface techniques, which will enable operators to effectively control multiple, semi-autonomous aircraft. Already, up to 230 persons can be interfaced to participate in the system simultaneously,” research leader Dr. James Oliver said in an interview with Space War.

A team from Iowa State University is using virtual reality technology to develop “immersive” ground control stations that will give operators of military unmanned aircraft (UAV) an overall view of their planes and the battle space they are flying over.

Behind that was energy storage at $471 million, transportation at $445 million, energy efficiency at $356 million, and recycling and waste with $291 million.

2003: $1.7 billion

2001: $714 million

2004: $1.8 billion

Energy generation was the most active sector with 172 deals, totaling $2.75 billion.

Investment leaped from $3.6 billion in 2006 to $5.18 billion in 2007.

2007: $5.18 billion

“We foresee continued growth over 2008 as the clean-tech market cycle moves from early adoption to mainstream driver of wealth and job creation,” he said in a statement.

The Cleantech Group on Thursday published results of its quarterly numbers that show investment in the sector was stronger than expected.

2006: $3.6 billion

The conditions for the influx of money to energy and environmental start-ups–high fossil fuel energy prices and favorable policies–will remain, which means that 2008 will likely see the same pace, said Nicholas Parker, chairman of Cleantech Group.

Cleantech Group said that the number of deals over $100 million increased, which it saw as an indication of growing investor confidence.

2005: $2.5 billion

2002: $899 million

Venture capital investment in
green-tech companies topped $5 billion in North America and Europe last year and shows no signs of slowing down.

But it’s yesterday’s model, for yesterday’s companies. Microsoft might have noticed that it hasn’t proved to be relevant in any of the 21st Century’s businesses. Its bid for Yahoo! won’t change this unless Microsoft changes the way it views its software business.

At a recent Minority Student Day, a student asked Ballmer if Windows would ever go open source. “No” was the immediate response, with this tacked on for good measure:

Microsoft’s model of selling software is a 20th-century model that will continue to work for it until enterprises discover that they now live in the 21st Century when software is free (but services are not). The model going forward is to give away the core code and charge for services around that software. This is Google’s model. It’s also Red Hat’s, Alfresco’s, Facebook’s, etc.

commentary

Ignorance, thy name is Ballmer.

Ballmer’s statement, however, may be true on one level, but it’s a level that is irrelevant going forward: It may well be that Microsoft-sized profits aren’t possible selling open-source bits. Of course, this obscures the fact that Google and others happily build businesses on open source and make Microsoft-esque profits. It’s all in figuring out what to sell.

Giving away Windows wouldn’t necessarily make it “free” (as in soda). That’s just Ballmer being obtuse. He’s a relic of yesterday’s software model. He made a ton of money for himself and for shareholders and the residual of that model will feed many mouths with free soda for years.

Someday Steve Ballmer will descend from Sinai to find that the natives have grown very restless. In the meantime, it would be interesting to discover with whom he talks, since his understanding of open source continues to be seriously flawed.

An open-source version of Windows would mean not only would we publish Windows source code, we would make it free. That’s what open source means. We wouldn’t be hosting Minority Student Day if we open-source Windows because we wouldn’t have enough profit to pay people, let alone invite in people from the community.