Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, March 29, 2007

See me, pay me: eBay blends Skype and PayPal

from Blogging Stocks by Beth Gaston Moon Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, eBay (EBAY), Next big thingOne of my closest friends, Liz, is a speech pathologist for young children and doesn't have much need for computers. I've taught her all about iTunes, wireless networks, and CD burning, but several months ago she introduced me to Skype. Her husband's sister and brother-in-law currently live and work in Tokyo, so the Internet telephony feature has been a lifesaver. They can remain in close contract, even with the 12-hour time difference, and it's free of charge. Plus, there's a visual element unavailable over traditional telecom wires. Earlier today, Melly Alazraki reported that online auctioneer eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), the parent of Skype, has released a new version that incorporates the PayPal online payment feature. Skype users will now be able to transfer money back and forth using PayPal accounts, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. EBAY officials are planning on blending the two services more down the line; a spokesperson noted that "We hope that adding this capability will result in a better, more enriching experience for both Skype and PayPal users, which is crucial to extending our leadership positions in the communications and payments markets." This new feature will make it easier for my friend's sister-in-law to contribute money to her nieces' college funds (did I mention Liz is the mother of triplet girls? No wonder they don't have time to fiddle around with iTunes). EBAY shares are fractionally higher in early trading and continue to fight toward the $35 level. This is the location of the stock's 20-month moving average and is also home to hefty out-of-the-money call open interest in the April and July options series. Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Jott + Gmail = to-do list by phone

from Lifehacker A blogger at Studentlinc explains how he combined Jott and Gmail to create a to-do list he can add to just by making a phone call. Jott, as you may recall, is a free service that transcribes phone messages and sends the text to you via e-mail. The trick here is to create a Jott-specific label in Gmail, then set up your Jott account to send messages to that address. One click of the Jott label will reveal all your to-dos. And you can "cross one off" by deleting the e-mail. I'm a huge fan of using Jott to send myself reminders. This takes the idea one step further by leveraging Gmail's labels. Know any other Jott hacks? Put 'em in the comments. — Rick Broida Creating My ToDo list Through Jott and Gmail [Studentlinc via lifehack.org]

Advertisers Fleeing TV, Radio for Internet, etc.

from Internet Outsider by Henry Blodget Emily Steel of the WSJ reported startling numbers from TNS Media Intelligence showing just how fast major advertisers are pulling money out of traditional media and throwing it into paid search, digital media, and other "unmeasured" advertising. This trend has been underway for years, and the figures are backward-looking, but it's no wonder that traditional media conglomerates like Viacom are starting to panic: In a sign of how major advertisers are shifting money out of traditional media, ad tracking firm TNS Media Intelligence reported that the nation's 50 biggest advertisers cut their spending on "measured" media such as TV, print and Internet display ads by 1.5% in 2006 -- though U.S. ad spending grew 4.1% overall. While some of the decline may reflect overall cutbacks in ad spending by big marketers, it likely signals that big companies such as Procter & Gamble are reallocating some of their ad budgets to new Internet ad venues which aren't measured by TNS -- such as paid-search advertising, social networking and online video. Not surprisingly, the report showed that growth in ad spending on traditional media, particularly newspapers and radio, continued to slow dramatically while spending on Internet display ads is accelerating. But it also highlighted a significant slowdown in ad growth among cable channels, after several years of robust increases.

SkypeFind + SkypePrime = Skype is Desperate

from Internet Outsider by Henry Blodget In a move that says more about the revenue potential of its core business than any numbers reported to date, Skype announced the launch of two new products that have little to do with the core service and are already widely available elsewhere: local product reviews and a monetize-yourself expert network directory. This strategy, of course, mimics the one that resulted in eBay buying Skype in the first place ("Core business decelerating? Quick, acquire a fast-growing company in a completely unrelated business and then think of a way to explain it!"). Just because there is precedent for this strategy doesn't mean it's a good one. The local restaurant/product/etc review business is a tough nut to crack, and companies with far more resources than Skype's have found it slow going. Keen and other companies, meanwhile, have been at the telephone-expert opportunity for years, and they haven't hit the jackpot. If Skype didn't have another business to run, none of this would matter. But it does. And this Skype user, at least, can think of a hundred things that Skype could do to improve its basic service before it rushes off to compete with Google, Yahoo, Ingenio, and others in un-related businesses. (Such as? Such as this wicked-cool one-number-forever service offered by GrandCentral) So then why would Skype do this? Perhaps because, as its skeptics have long suggested, it is finding VOIP revenue hard to generate. The last batch of numbers made it look as though things were fine, but today's announcements suggest that they aren't.

15 Javascript Snippets

You either love Javascript or you hate it. Either way it can provide great functionality that users love. And it doesn't have to affect usability. Here are my top 15 Javascript snippits for making great sites that bit extra special.

Image Loading & Fading

Crisp photography is a sure-fire way to make a site look great, but what about the loading times of those chunky images? Give your users a nice animated loading icon, and fade the image in when it's loaded. It's a nice effect with little overhead.

http://clagnut.com/sandbox/imagefades/

Dynamic Data Tables

HTML tables are so last century. ActiveWidgets provide a dynamic data table library, allowing users to sort data by columns and highlight rows of interest. It is, however, a large overhead and not suitable for large amounts of data.

http://www.activewidgets.com/grid/

Calendar / Date Selection

Asking users to enter a valid date can be a pain - frustrating for the developer, and frustrating for the user. Offer them a simple GUI to select dates with this very customizable script.

http://www.dynarch.com/projects/calendar/

Tabbed RollBar

Tabs are great for sorting short snippets of information. Tabs without reloading the page are even better. Tabs with a rolling animation effect too? Well, that's just killer.

http://www.dynarch.com/products/dhtml-tabs/

Draggable Windows

These draggable windows are lightweight and efficient, and are perfect for intranets and web-based applications where multiple views are required simultaneously. And don't worry, you needn't have the Windows 95 look either.

http://www.brainjar.com/dhtml/windows/demo.html

Zoomable Image Thumbnails

One subject, many photos? These tidy thumbnail displays are just the ticket, allowing visitors to blow up photographs of interest. Similar to those found on eBay and such, but not as heavy on the code.

http://www.codetoad.com/dhtml_thumbnail.asp

Javascript Lightbox

A favourite little effect of mine found on many good sites these days - the Javascript Lightbox. Enlarge photographs with slick animation and easy-to-use navigation. Put a smile on the CEOs face and wow the marketing team ready for your "afternoon meeting" down the pub.

http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/

Drag & Drop Shopping Cart

Get your visitors from Google Search to card payment in ninja time, with a drag-and-drop shopping cart. Reducing page loads, form elements and complicated menu screens increases sales and repeat business. But with mission-critical code like this, make sure to test it on every platform before it goes live. You know this. I was just reminding you.

http://demo.script.aculo.us/shop

Form Input Autocomplete

No one likes a smartass, unless they're doing your homework for lunch money. Let this script do your users' hard work so they don't have to - autocomplete from a selection of known data. Great for street addresses (if you have the data), category selection, search engines, tagging and everything inbetween.

http://demo.script.aculo.us/ajax/autocompleter

Drag & Drop Sortable Elements

Nothing says "I love you, user" more than drag-and-drop items. Remember the days of an "order" column, and wanting to insert an item at the top? Nightmare no more! Slick interface with a very practical purpose.

http://demo.script.aculo.us/ajax/sortable_elements

Javascript Logging & Debugging

"PC Load Letter?! What the hell is PC Load Letter!!" cries from the office. Meaningless error messages are enough to drive a man crazy, so why not step up your debugging skills and hunt those bugs in style?

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/jslogging/

Font Resize Detection

After spending days getting your web site pixel perfect, inconsiderate users will always resize your text and ruin your layout. Well okay, they need to because their eyesight can't comprehend your 6pt type. Which means you need to support different font sizes without ruining your layout.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fontresizing/

Displaying Points & Text On Maps

If your data is geolocation based, it looks great on a map with clickable points. But how do you make that interface accessable to everyone? A List Apart shows you how.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cssmaps

Photo Album & Slideshow

A more advanced way of displaying your pictures - let users sort them by category, view random pictures, and even set up a personal slideshow. Probably more suitable for family pictures than commercial uses, but I've found it handy over the years.

http://www.kitykity.com/photoalbum/

Sliding Content Areas

And finally another slick animation for your site, without the overhead of Scriptaculous, create "Digg-style sliding comment boxes" for popup information.

http://firblitz.com/2007/3/6/re-how-to-create-digg-comment-style-sliding-divs-with-javascript-and-css

Well that's it from me. I hope you enjoy putting some of these into practise, and enjoy the look on your CEO/client/marketing guy's face when it goes live.

SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS Beta is live

who's going to buy Palm? blackberry can't do this (yet) -- your own TV shows on your own portable device. Posted Mar 28th 2007 1:31AM by Darren Murph

Hey you, rabid Palm OS fan, 700p owner, and Sling advocate -- remember that SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS Beta you signed up for last month? Well, it's time to lose a little more sleep over it, but this time you'll be enjoying the niceties of streaming media on your handset instead of sweating the release date. According to SlingCommunity, the beta will be going live today, and will officially support the 3G-enabled Treo 700p, but "early reports" are suggesting that 680 owners may be able to enjoy limited success even without Sling's stamp of approval. Of course, the beta will remain free of charge until a public release is ready to rock, and then you'll have the option of cutting ties or ponying up the $29.99 purchase price to keep on slinging. Additionally, the kind folks over at UneasySilence have done the hard work for you already, so be sure to hit them up for a nicely appointed pictorial walkthrough while your waiting to get your own install on.

Intercept packages before delivery with UPS

innovation in the supply chain from Lifehacker

UPS has just rolled out a new Delivery Intercept feature that adds a new level of control over everything that happens to your package after it's shipped but before it's delivered.

After you ship your package, Delivery Intercept lets you return the package to sender, change the delivery address, reschedule delivery, or have UPS hold the package for pickup over the internet any time before delivery. The service isn't free (it looks like it may be as much as $10/intercept), but anyone who's had to hassle with shipping problems that could have easily been remedied with a mid-ship intercept will likely find this a handy option.

Justice Department Wasting Billions On Another Tech Debacle

from the haven't-we-seen-this-before? dept

Remember the famous FBI computer system? The one that was late, over-budget and was useless at fighting terrorists? The same one that some security experts decided it would be worth beginning a crime spree the day it was launched? The same one that was eventually scrapped entirely despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent? Well, it looks like the Justice Department may have another such system that they're wasting taxpayer money on. The Justice Department has been building a $5 billion (with a b) wireless communication system. However, a new audit says that the system is apparently "at a high risk of failure." Like the FBI's computer system, the system is "not on the path that was envisioned." And now, just like with the computer system, the Justice Department will spend many months examining whether its worth salvaging the system, or just throwing it away. Accountability, apparently, isn't something the Justice Department takes too seriously.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Aerogenerator Wind Turbine - vertical axis is key

by DJ Neawedde September 11th, 2006 in Energy.

The Aerogenerator, designed by Grimshaw Architects (UK) in association with Windpower Ltd., is a new form of wind turbine. Unlike three bladed turbines that we have come to know which spin on a horizontal axis, the Aerogenerator spins on a vertical axis. Spinning at three revolutions a minute, the Aerogenerator could generate around nine megawatts, a massive amount compared to the average of around two megawatts we have come to expect from horizontal turbines. Because of the larger power output, it would be more economical to build out at sea. This design also has the potential to harness the energy of the waves and tides by sub-surface generators.

Aerogenerator Wind Turbine

The design is derived from the Darrieus style of turbine, which rotates on a vertical axis – and as such is omni directional, accepting wind from whichever direction working something like a sideways water wheel.

Kinetic Sculptures: Wind Powered Robots

by DJ Neawedde November 19th, 2006 in Robotics, Energy.

Theo Jansen is the Dutch creator of what he calls “Kinetic Sculptures,” where nature and technology meet. Essentially these sculptures are robots powered by the wind only.

BMW broadcasts Jansen’s creation in their new commercial (watch below) which is part of a new “campaign which serves to highlight BMW’s market leadership in the fields of technology and innovation”.

EcoGeek via Uber-Review

Iced Trees

Mute that commerical, change television forever

Posted Mar 27th 2007 12:32PM by Tom Barlow Filed under: Competitive strategy, Marketing and advertising, Walt Disney (DIS), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS)

A sea change is about to swamp your television shows, and the source of that tsunami might be a new Nielsen advertising metric to be unveiled this May. For years, television advertisers have complained about the lack of specific data on who views their ads. They have been forced to make decisions based on show viewership numbers, knowing full well that full bladders, the mute button and Tivo erode those figures substantially. Now Nielsen is tackling this question with new of data that measure advertisement viewership the same way they have measured the television audience. Commercial ratings will supposedly allow ad buyers to differentiate the number of eyeballs taking in their pitches from those watching the show in which they appear. TV networks such as CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS) and the Walt Disney Corp. (NYSE:DIS)'s ABC along with advertising agencies are not so clearly enthused about this metric, though. If a few well-thought-of campaigns prove ineffective in holding the viewing audience, it could cast doubt on the entire industry. Nielsen, probably cognizant of how deeply their business is intertwined with the ad agency world, is taking a very cautious step into these waters. While advertisers want a second-by-second breakdown on viewership, something modern technology should allow Nielsen to capture, the new metric will only provide an average commercial viewership for each show. Once this door is breached, however, it's hard to imagine Nielsen long refusing the demands of advertisers for more discrete data. And if they don't like what they see, expect television to change quickly and dramatically. More about this later. I'm eager to see just how the new generation of entertaining advertisements stack up against one another. How does the snack fairy's numbers compare to the Energizer Bunny? if I had the ability, I would offer a huge prize to the first commercial that outdraws the show in which it appears.

Samsung's "world's smallest" 8.4 megapixel CMOS sensor: so long CCD?

Posted Mar 27th 2007 9:54AM by Thomas Ricker Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

Chalk up another world's smallest title for Samsung this morning with this, their new 8.4 megapixel CMOS sensor. By implementing extended photo diode technology, Samsung has managed to achieve higher light sensitivity and saturation levels into less space. According to Samsung, their new sensor's high signal-to-noise ratio results in the equivalent image quality found in today's CCDs while using one-tenth the power. As such, Sammy expects it to "quickly replace" the CCDs used in mobile phones, camcorders, and even digital cameras. Yeah, they wish. We'll find out soon enough as this CIS hits mass production in the second half of 2007.

TI's Mini Movie Projector: Not Everything is Big in Texas

A few select journalists got a flash at this year's CES, but no photos were allowed—until now. Texas Instruments is showing off its Pico, a DLP projector that is chiquitito enough to be incorporated into the bottom of a cellphone.

The 1.5-inch gizmo, which contains three lasers, a DLP chip capable of driving widescreen TV images, and a power supply, can be used to beam DVD-quality video onto a wall or a screen, giving you a bigger image than anything you'd find on even the biggest smartphone LCD screen. Two more pics of a nekkid Pico and its DLP chip after the jump. Oh, and need I say that the phone is obviously phake? TI demos its movie projector in a phone [CNet News]

– Ad Dugdale

ZenZui: Microsoft's New Web Navigation Interface For Phones

Probably thought out by some interior designer with one too many sake shots inside him, ZenZui is both the name of a new Microsoft-backed startup and a new interface for phones designed to "transform how people engage, consume and interact with Web content through a revolutionary mobile user experience and information ecosystem."

Or in other words: "OMFG! We must do something about that iPhone-thang! Pronto!"

ZenZui's Zooming User Interface organizes Web and user content in 36 tiles arranged in a virtual desktop grid. The desktop can be panned and zoomed in or out using the cellphone's touchscreen or numeric keypad. Then, when you activate one of the tiles, it will show you a small interface, which appears to follow the same directional pad control for user interaction. The interface looks rather sleek and zoomtastic, I have to say, but you'll be the judge after you see the video demonstration, right after the jump.

zenzui

The idea was originally patented at Microsoft Research labs, although to me it looks inspired by Don Hopkins' pie menus and the Nintendo Wii Channels. The system will require the participation of carriers and content providers, but beyond Kayak.com, OTOlabs, Avenue A | Razorfish, and Traffic.com, there's not much more detail.

The press release babbles on about social connections and digital content sharing, but I don't know if this is just marketing drone speech or if ZenZui will offer the users the possibility to share their bookmarks and content using a centralized server or some kind of peer-to-peer messaging. You can clearly see a "Rate tile" button on the screenshots in the gallery, so there may really be some kind of social bookmarking/recommendation system in place.

We will know more from CTIA, when Brian and Jason get their sticky paws all over it. – Jesus Diaz

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