How about 200Mbps for $88.20? Hong Kong Fiber Optic Rates Prove Verizon's FiOS is a Rip-Off

from Gizmodo by adam frucci

While Verizon is out aggressively trying to sell the country on their FiOS fiber optic web connection packages , which range from $40 per month for 5Mbps to 30Mbps for $180 (extra for TV and phone service!), Hong Kong residents can now enjoy their own fiber optic connections from Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited… which happen to be a fraction of the price and many times faster than what we can get here. Yes, HK residents can now get a whopping 100Mbps fiber optic connection for a mere $48.50 a month. And that's the entry-level package.

How about 200Mbps for $88.20? Yeah, not quite enough, I agree. You might as well jump up to 1Gbps for $215.40 a month. But hey, you don't really need that, do you? You should be thanking Verizon for the opportunity to pay them for a pathetic 5Mbps connection. I mean, the US is so far down on the per-country broadband speed chart (the Japanese are enjoying 60Mbps average) that we should just be loving any crumbs the telecoms are willing to toss our way, right? Thanks again, Verizon! [ CNNMoney via Broadband Reports ]

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Terabitz To Expand Beyond Home Searches Today

from TechCrunch by Michael Arrington

Palo Alto-based Terabitz launched in July 2007 as a sort of Netvibes/Pageflakes for people searching for real estate.

A search on the site pulls up a basic Google map of the area and nothing else. But users can then drag in modules to add information - local foreclosures, recent sales, listed homes, schools, even fast food restaurants. Every module that is added by a user also adds the appropriate information to the map as well. It's a very convenient way to get a feel for the neighborhood.

The original idea for the company came from seventeen year old Kamran Munshi, who is now a freshman at Yale. His father, Ashfaq, ran with the idea and raised $10 million in funding. The company has 32 employees (12 in the U.S., 30 in India).

Later today the company is launching a new feature - the ability to create a map with various modules included and then embed it on another website. So any site that wants to add a Google generated map that includes, say, local businesses and restaurants (a hotel, for example) can now do so easily. The tool is free, but will be branded with Terabitz.

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Marketers Wait Before Tackling Adblock

Source: http://www.adweek.com/aw/iq_interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003645941
September 24, 2007
By Eric Newman

NEW YORK Marketers mostly shrugged off a threat from Adblock Plus, a tool recently added to the Firefox browser that lets users delete banner ads and disable flash and rich-media messages.

The software, described by some as a "TiVo for the Web," is designed to make Web browsing a purer user experience, said Wladimir Palant, who developed the program as an update to a version released five years ago.

"Adblock is definitely important because there are still too many ads, ones that make sounds and others that are animated, float in the middle of the screen obscuring text and do just about anything else to grab your attention," he said.

Firefox also hosts TubeStop, which blocks ad overlays on YouTube videos, and another program that replaces banner ads with public domain artwork.

Despite the potential attraction of ad-free surfing, marketers appeared nonplussed, arguing that Adblock Plus won't change the online marketing industry, mainly because it's on a niche browser. They also point to the fact that similar programs on larger browsers have not yet revolutionized the business model.

"This particular program is just one part of a larger trend that's a fact of life for marketers," said Ilya Vedrashko, an emerging-media strategist at Hill Holiday, Boston. Vedrashko said browsers such as Internet Explorer, which he says controls 64 percent of browser usage (versus 17.5 percent for Firefox), also have ad blocking tools. "I wouldn't overestimate the importance of the business impact of this application."

Vedrashko argued on his blog last week that such technology is actually good for marketers because it forces them to make better ads. John Paulson, president at digital marketing agency G2 Interactive, New York, agreed. "From an industry standpoint, I don't think any of this is stuff we should be afraid of because it just puts the onus on the image creators to put out messages of value to the user," he said. But Jenny Howell, manager of interactive marketing for American Honda Motor, was less sanguine: "Although penetration of Adblock is still quite low, conceptually, programs like Adblock are, of course, frightening to an online marketer."

Still, Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, New York, said his organization plans to reach out to technology providers to persuade them to discourage the use of ad-blocking software.

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Attractive Online Diagrams, Charts And Maps

from Smashing Magazine by Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz

Data charts and diagrams are used when statistical data has to be presented in the most convenient and usable way. Visual charts are clear, visually appealing and easier to perceive than some simple enumerations or tables - mainly because users don't have to analyze the meaning of presented facts, but can perceive main tendencies through the visual weight of the facts — directly.

You can create charts in graphic editors or use special applications (software or web-apps) which can help you to create your charts in few minutes. However, once you'd like to update an old chart, or create a new one, you have to run the application and create new images over and over again. That's not flexible. Or maybe you just want to offer your visitors not a simple image, but a powerful dynamic chart.

amCharts: Flexible and Dynamic Solution

To gain a greater level of flexibility you need to take a closer look at further approaches. One of them could be a flash-based solution which loads the data from server — from a config-text file. And this is exactly what amCharts offers. There are 4 sets with predefined Pie & Donut, Line & Area, Column & Bar and Scatter & Bubble. Generated Flash-files are dynamic and can be presented in 2D or 3D.

The loader can load data from XML or CSV (coma separated values text file), this means you can easily export data from Excel, dynamically generate data file with PHP, ASP, .NET or other programming language. Some flash-charts also have animation effects (bounce effect, growing effect) and offer users a possibility to export the chart as an image. You can also choose font and text sizes for all texts, specify the colors and define roll-over indicator's color, transparency and text color.

Data sets and configuration can be changed in a simple text-file. You can download and use amCharts for free. The only limitation of free version is that a small link to this web site will be displayed in top left corner of your charts. If you'd like to be able to use the tool without a backlink you can buy a single site license for 85 Euros (~$117).

The developer of the tool, Antanas Marcelionis, also offers a customizable flash-based solution for interactive maps, amMap: same conditions, same level of flexibility. In both cases you can start to create your own charts and maps right away - the documentation is well-structured and easy-to-use.

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Samsung's Armani phone has a surprise: a haptic feedback UI

from Engadget by Thomas Ricker

All hail, all hail, official pics of the Samsung / Armani mashup: the Armani phone. Here's the haute couturey poop: tri-band 900/1800/1900 GSM, 3 megapixel camera, 2.6-inch 262K color QVGA touchscreen LCD, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support, microSD expansion, full Internet browser, and support for H.263, AAC/MP3/WMA audio and MPEG-4 video. Fine and dandy but this little guy also features a haptic feedback user interface like Samsung's SCH-W559 handset loosed long ago in China -- "users can feel an immediate mild vibration when they touch icons on the display." How you like them Apples, Apple? The Prada-esque slab currently measures in at 87.5 x 54.5 x 10.5-mm and 85-grams; less after it starts making regular, post-meal trips to the toilet following its November European release.

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