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News |
Facebook
To Offer Open Registration
Facebook may have its eyes on the prize - the social networking site, which was
at one time open only to college students, intends to open its doors to everyone
else, as well. This move could help Facebook reach MySpace-like levels of popularity,
but many bloggers think that current users will resent the change.
Microsoft
Opens Windows Live Search
The new search platform from Microsoft officially debuted at Live.com and will
also deliver the search results on the MSN website.
9/11
Through The Eyes Of Search
Yahoo, Ask, and Google each demonstrated different ways to mark the fifth anniversary
of the September 11th, 2001 attacks.
UK
On To A User-Generated Future
Participation at user-generated content sites in the United Kingdom has soared
hundreds of percentage points over the past year, indicating the pervasive reach
Web 2.0 has and may continue to have in the future.
Primetime
Goes Online Premiere-turely
As the Net and TV converge, online and offline powerhouses are looking for ways
to blend content offerings. To ease that transition, networks are giving viewers
a glimpse of upcoming shows before they air on television.
Answerbag
Seeks Its Answer, Your Question
The question and answer segment of social media has a lot of big names playing
in the space, but not many of their users may recognize Answerbag, a social QnA
site that has been online for over three years.
Yahoo
Taps Vapps For Yaps
Users of Yahoo Messenger with Voice can download the ConFreeCall plug-in for their
clients and run conference calls with up to 500 participants. The free service
provides several call management and moderator controls for those calls.
When
Was the Last Time You Saw the Googlebot?
The Google crew cleared up a bit about how the Googlebot caches webpages. The
date at the cached page reflects the last time the page was modified.
The
Web Makes Long-Distance Beer Buddies
When a company describes its product as Amazon.com meets Minority Report, it's
not terribly clear if that's a good thing. But receiving a text message on your
mobile that's good for one birthday beer most certainly is.
Facebook
Admits Fault, Adds Privacy Controls
The people have spoken, and Facebook has listened. The social networking site
recently added feeds that broadcasted users' every (cyber) movement - according
to one person, the changes made Facebook "stalkeriffic." Today, the site's creator,
Mark Zuckerberg made an admission: "We really messed this one up."
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Tuesday September 12, 2006 |
Instant messaging technology received a panel's attention during pulvermedia's
Fall 2006 VON conference, as reps from the heavy Internet hitters discussed presence
and its place at the core of IM with voice communications.
Editor's Note: WebProNews publisher Rich Ord and managing
editor Mike McDonald are in Boston for this week's VON. We will report on their
observations throughout the conference. Share your thoughts and reactions with us at WebProWorld.
 Pulvermedia
Content VP Carl Ford moderated the evening discussion at Fall
2006 VON that featured members of Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, AOL, and Skype
talking about presence. As a concept, presence means knowing that an individual
is available and online regardless of their physical location.
While that has great appeal for businesses that want to keep track of valuable
staffers, it may not have as much appeal to consumers. Ford said his daughter
thinks integrating voice with IM is stupid. "Should voice really be integrated
with instant messaging?" he asked.
Mike
Jazayeri, product manager for Google Talk, said, ""It's natural to let another
layer of communication integrate with instant messaging. It may not work in the
classroom but it has its place."
Jeff
Bonforte, director of voice product management for Yahoo, saw another role
for the combination of IM and voice. "The role of voice could play is transactional....
it could help finish transactions," he said.
"We don't want to push your daughter to use voice," said Dan
Casey of Microsoft, where he is director of Windows Live VoIP and Messenger
product management. "We just want to make simple tools available for those who
want them."
Presence will have to take other factors into account, according to Nitzan
Shaer, director of mobile devices for Skype. He noted how many people tend
to have multiple identities and roles online.
Because of this, presence will be much richer both on and offline in the future.
Some people are embracing that now, in a way, as Shaer said Skype has users who
leave their microphone and webcams on continuously. They are always present.
Casey's take on presence reflected on a context-centric model. He cited a need
to get the right message to the right person, wherever they are. It's a considerable
technical challenge with the vast number of ways people can be present online,
on myriad networks and systems.
That becomes more complicated in Casey's opinion because IM is a "schizo" combination
of communication platform and social networking application. Yet people have taken
to it by the millions. Casey said Microsoft sees 25 million people interacting
in a video session each month.
The humble webcam is a powerful instrument as the various services consider presence
and its future development and implementation. ""The sexiest thing for many people
around the globe is the ability to see and talk to their family and friends,"
said Bonforte.
He perceives the webcam as underestimated when people discuss voice and IM. Bonforte
said 100 million people use webcams and their old protocols. It becomes more compelling
when camera phones can interface with webcam users.
AOL's Ragui
Kamel senior VP and general manager for Voice Services, called webcams the
"talking head" model, with limited appeal beyond certain niches like gaming.
"Our research shows that video telephony is not something that most people are
particularly interested in," said Kamel.
Despite the features available to people today, presence will be the one that
eventually proves the most compelling. It has concerns to address, though. As
shown in the recent Facebook
kerfuffle, a number of people do not want everything they do to be duly recorded
and reported to anyone who is watching.
Bonforte acknowledged that and predicted that expanded presence would be accompanied
by Facebook-like privacy settings. These would make a user visible to certain
other users in different ways, based on their identities and roles as Shaer suggests.
About
the Author:
David is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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Pulver-izing The Keynote At VON
 By
Jason Lee Miller
Jeff Pulver assured the VON crowd during his keynote address that they were witnesses
to the next great disruption. Video on the Net will change what we do, how we
do it, and the drumbeat of the "digital popcorn," as he called it, will one day
attract the tapping foot of the FCC - just like TV.
iEntry Inc. CEO Rich Ord sits in on Pulver's keynote address at the VON conference in Boston, and relays his notes.
Over the course of a Bean Town week, more than 10,000 people will be in attendance there, exploring the latest developments in media convergence - developments that at one time were quite separate, but parallel. What was an optical illusion is confirmed: the lines do cross on the horizon. Television via the Internet is already here.
"It was 1994 that I actually discovered video on the Net," said Pulver. "I certainly was a product of the Jetsons Generation. I really wanted video to happen. Then, about 14 months ago, AOL made available LiveAid on the Net. When I discovered that 2.4 million people watched this on the Net, I realized that a transformation had occurred.
"You are now seeing this change and disruption happen."
On the two big screens behind him, Pulver brought up a movie preview, delivered
as a live download via a "normal Internet connection." Rich relates that the preview
was movie theater quality. "This is live, guys!" Pulver emoted. "You can't argue
that this isn't TV quality. Video over the Net is real and it will only get better."
It's real enough that at least 88 websites offer TV shows. Pulver references his blog for a list of TV shows and network Web-extensions. "As a data point, only 20 percent of these TV show websites utilize RSS, he said."
"Who is going to be the next mogul in the broadcast industry?" he asked. I think
on a one-to-one basis that you will be able to insert ads targeted to the individual
viewing TV shows over the Net. "You could also make these shows interactive, and
in effect, create a social network of sorts from those watching the same shows.
This creates an opportunity to create the next broadcasting mogul. But be warned,
I don't think Hollywood is going to sit idle on this."
And neither is the government. Because it will be so "TV-like," the Federal Communications
Commission is quite likely at some point to step in to regulate the content. But
enough with the unpleasantries.
Pulver pulled up on screen a virtual live conference room in "Pulveria," an online space he created at Second Life. From within, where avatars watched this very conference via an Internet connection, one of the animated figures related how much he enjoyed Jeff's presentation.
The audience applauds.
About
the Author:
Jason is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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The Online Video Age Is Upon Us
Because content is such a crucial aspect of any successful site, keeping a site's
content current is imperative. This even extends to types of content
your site offers and as many of you are aware, web video has exploded in popularity
as of late, thanks in large part to the success of YouTube.
With that in mind, I present a WebProWorld topic where the designer is having
a hard time embedding video onto their site. I think the problem stems from using
different video formats at once, but I could be wrong. Check out what's going
on below and see if you can offer some suggestions.
Get ready. The online video revolution is coming and it will be televised... or
at least streamed.
|| Chris||
Embedding
Video
I have a client that wants both large and small videos on his website in 3 different player versions. Windows Media Player, Real Player, and QuickTime. He especially wants at least one of them viewable on a Mac computer.
I have tried to embed each of them, also warning the user how monstrously large
they are (I warned the client but my suggestion was disregarded) and also how
long they will take to download.
My own computer can view the files, however I cannot view them on my Mac. Can
anyone help? Is there another or better code I need to use so they are visible
on both computers?
Maybe there is a setting on my Mac that I can't view them, is anyone out there
on a Mac that can try them out? The largest file, the bottom QT file, is still
uploading and will not work at the time of this post.
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WebPro Question: |
Google Analytics show me a returning visitor percentage of 20% How does this has
to be interpreted? Is the percentage low or high?
- Gert
Leroy
Comment
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