How to revert to Old Twitter?

#NewTwitter is the talk of the town! And I just got the opportunity to try it out today. It looks cool and intelligent. However, as usual some of us may find it difficult to use the new twitter user interface initially. Some of us may not like it.

The other day, a twitter friend of mine was trying hard to figure out how to revert to the old twitter interface as he did not like the #newTwitter interface much. He tweeted me asking how he can possibly revert to old twitter! I could not help him as I was not yet allowed into #newTwitter back then. Result? Poor guy had to delete his Twitter Handle and go for a new one!

The first thing I did as soon as I was allowed to try the #newTwitter was to see if there is a way I can go back and use the old Twitter UI! Bingo, there is an option!

Twitter has included a very simple link to enable you to revert to old Twitter. All you got to do is to  click on your name on the navigation bar that appears top right and choose "Leave Preview". Presto! You will be taken back to the old Twitter.

Update: You cannot revert to Old Twitter anymore!

What do I do with Twitter now?

So far I was trying to figure out how best to use Twitter. I tried using it as a platform to share when ever I posted something on techedin or pagedin. There was nothing much I needed to do to post links to my blog updates to Twitter. All that I had to do was to link up my blogs to TwitterFeed and the rest was taken care of by TwitterFeed’s automatic feed pullers. TwitterFeed pulled my posts and tweeted. I thought that was all I could do with Twitter because none of my friends are on Twitter. Even if some of them are there, none of them are regular tweeters.

Yesterday, I figured out what Twitter actually can be. First and foremost, it is not a social network the way we think of social networks. It is actually a content delivery device, integrated into the idea of social networking. Let me explain:

On Orkut and Facebook, I follow friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Once in a while we exchange an online ‘hi’, say that we like what they said or comment on something they said. If you are a blogger like me, you will also post links to your blogs on Facebook. Some may read what you write, some may not. May be, sometimes we follow Pages on Facebook, try and get information about things we are interested in. Sometimes, we join groups and share our ideas. It is all fun and very engaging.

On Twitter, on the other hand, most of us follow news channels. We follow celebrities first before we follow anyone else. We follow profiles who send valuable information on our way. So far, as I was trying to use Twitter as a Social Network, I was only following people. From yesterday, I started following celebrities and news channels and life on Twitter has magically changed since then. I am more closer to what is happening out there than ever before.

However, there was one problem. I was in touch with the world outside only after I logged on to Twitter. I wanted information to come to me. You are right, technology makes us so lazy that we always want the easier way out. I wished there was some device like Yahoo Messenger or GTalk on my Desktop that brought what is happening on Twitter in realtime. Looks like technology has an answer to most of the questions you have. I found out TweetDeck.

TweetDeck is a browser like application that fetches Tweets from Twitter in realtime and brings it to your Desktop. You can also Tweet, Retweet, Follow or do pretty much anything that you do on Twitter with TweetDeck. TweetDeck also gives you an option to link to Facebook and access your wall. Ask me what is the best thing I liked about TweetDeck! Let me tell you, there are four things.

1. TweetDeck stays out of my way. I hate it when necessarily unnecessary applications need to remain on the taskbar. That is the reason why I hate playing music using Media Player. I love it when I can leave applications that I am not currently using in the tray and get on with my life. TweetDeck can be reduced to the tray.  It stays in the tray and comes back only when you call it.
2. TweetDeck updates me in realtime. I tried to figure out how realtime TweetDeck could bring information to me. It takes not even five seconds to bring you a tweet, after it is posted to Twitter, if you have not exceeded the API limit. Now, that is real good realtime. Every time something is tweeted by someone I follow, the TweetDeck brid chirps and notifies me.
3. I love the TweetDeck Notification thing. I love the chirping bird, whenever I have a Tweet. More than the bird, I love the fact that I can reply or retweet from the notification box itself. I love it because I don’t have to waste time waiting for the application to open so that I can do what I want.
4. I like the idea of onetime log in. It saves a lot of time as I need to log in using TweetDeck only once. Once I log in, TweetDeck brings me everything that happens on Twitter and my Facebook Wall.

Now that I have TweetDeck, Twitter is a more powerful delivery device than it used to be. Every time someone I follow Tweets, I am more informed and more equipped. I now like Twitter simply because it makes information more accessible. I remember someone comparing Twitter to an ever flowing river of information and people stop by once in a while to dip a mug full of information. Now that I have TweetDeck, it is like I am someone who sits on the bank of that river from morning till evening [because I have my laptop or PC switched on from morning till late night] and constantly gain something from the information that flows by.

[If you want to install TweetDeck, click here. Please remember that you have to install Adobe Air before you install TweetDeck. To install Adobe Air, click here]

Google going live

Here is a screenshot of when Google went real-time when I searched. Well, that was just the Twitter updates, running live on the Google Search Page. And according to Google, there is more to real-time search than just Twitter. With real-time search Google is promising to give us the most relevant fresh information about what we search online, from news to tweets

You also have an option to control what result appear on your search page. You can go to the Option Tab on your Google Search Page and set your search from “Anytime” to “Latest” Following screenshot shows you how the search page appears when you set your options to latest.

You can also set your options to “Updates” mode. When you set your Search Options to “Updates” mode Google will give you only the most current real-time updates like Twitter. Right now I see only Twitter running on the search page. I am not sure if that is because Twitter is popular or right now Google can get updates only from Twitter. I would love if Google could give me the live feed of the most recent happening online from any site or web service, in connection with what I am searching.

Windows Live Writer: Blogging made easier!

I always used to wish if I could take my own sweet time offline to write a post and publish it once I am done. That was not possible till I found Windows Live Writer.

To me blogging was always something I did online. From typing a post to proof reading it to publishing it. Typos used to creep in and I always had to go back and edit a post even after I published it. I tried a few Offline Blogging Applications. But none of them was worth the bargain. They were very basic and I don’t think any of they really understood what a blogger wants. I think Windows Live Writer understands a blogger better than many of the blogging platforms available today.

Live Writer provides a blogger with many options, options that many blogging platforms, including blogger can not give you. The best thing about Live Writer is the Preview Option. Live Writer downloads your log template so that it can show you the post as it is going to appear in the blog. From hyperlinking to inserting pictures to embedding maps to you name it and it is like Live Writer has it. Following the Google and Firefox steps, Microsoft has also allowed others to develop plugins and addons for Live Writer.

It makes blogging easier is one thing.It also makes blogging much more interesting than it was!

A battle of Links is on!

Arnon Mishkin wrote "The Falacy of the Link Economy" on PaidConetent.org, adding fuel to the fire that News Sites are already in. With Murdoch announcing his plans to turn all his News Sites into paid ones, the News Sites were severely criticized for not being capable of adapting to the changing needs of the Internet Era. And Arnon's post as a reaction to the demand by Associate Press and the likes for News Aggregation Sites to pay to link worsened the criticism further.

From Google News to Huffington Post, News Aggregation and Syndication Sites are aplenty. And Arnon claims to have done a study of these Aggregators. He claims he found out the following:

The vast majority of the value gets captured by aggregators linking and scraping rather than by the news organizations that get linked and scraped. We did a study of traffic on several sites that aggregate purely a menu of news stories. In all cases, there was at least twice as much traffic on the home page as there were clicks going to the stories that were on it. In other words, a very large share of the people who were visiting the site were merely browsing to read headlines rather than using the aggregation page to decide what they wanted to read in detail. Obviously, this has major ramifications for content creators’ ability to grow ad revenue, as the main benefit of added traffic is the potential for higher CPMs. (Disclosure: I have consulted for the AP and other content creators, though not on this particular issue.)

 If Arnon learned from his study that aggregators hinder the growth of News Sites, there is something seriously wrong with his method of study. I use Aggregators to keep in touch with the world as I do not have time to go and look at every News Site around. Aggregators bring the news to me and if I find something I'm interested in, I click on the link given and go read the full story. I repeat, 'if I'm interested in". Or if it is something that really matters to me. News Sites can't force me into reading any crap they write as they used to do when News Paper was the source of information. Remember those days when you had to buy the whole newspaper just to read on or two stories you were interested in. I don't buy newspapers any more. With  Aggregators around, I get to choose what I read. Contrary to what Arnon suggests, I click on the link and go to the site to read the whole story as I don't get the full picture from the Aggregator. Aggregators give me the headline and the first one or two lines of the story.

I think Agrregators add value to a link. But what that link leads to is for the News Sites to decide. If they don't have anything that will take me to their site, I won't go there for sure. I don't see the point in blaming the Aggregators for the incapability of News Sites to provide quality [interesting and worth reading!] content.

Whatever, the battle of linking is on! If News Sites are going to seriously consider the three suggestions Arnon makes in his post, then the present Aggregators are doomed. They either have to pay for the content and links they use or they may have to run advertisements from the original content developers on the Aggregator Sites.

All said and done, I still can't see Arnon's point. If his theory of Aggregators stealing traffic from News Sites holds water, then even if all the News Sites come together and create an Aggregator of their own, as he suggests, things will be pretty same. The new Aggregator will have all the traffic and News Sites will have none, unless they improve content.

I think the issue with the News Sites is about how the package information. On-line Versions of News Papers look pretty like the News Paper it self. Many News paper Sites have E-versions of their Printed Versions. I think that was such a bad idea to digitize the printed versions of news paper. If only they could spend that money to make locally relevant content available. If only they could use that money to allow users to set their preferences so that they get what they usually read. If only they could spent some money to make their headlines more catchy. If only they could use that money to promote citizen journalism. If only they could use that money to convert their News Sites into News Services. I wish!

Twibbon: Is it just about wearing a badge?

Now doubt Twitter is becoming a phenomenon on-line. And the number of sites that survive because of Twitter are increasing. Earlier I wrote about Twitterfeed, a service that allow you to post your feeds automatically to your Twitter Page. Another one I recently came across is Twibbon. Twibbon is about wearing a badge to show off your affiliation. But is Twibbon only about wearing a badge?

The habit of wearing an E-badge is becoming very popular these days. There are sites that force you to wear a badge to show your affiliation. There a badge is nothing more than a reciprocal link. You link me because I linked you is bad on-line attitude.



Twibbon takes E-badges to a new level. People wear a badge to support a cause. IE6 Must Die was a cause that many Twitter users supported and made popular that it trended on Twitter for a long time. When the King of Pop passed away, people who mourned the sad demise wore a black badge on their profile and Jackson trended on Twitter like never before. Along with the Badge, Twibbon sends out a tweet on the person wearing the badge. It is actually a link to the location of the badge so that other people can come and claim a badge for their profile if they care. It is viral, viral and viral all the way.

I am always of the opinion that Internet is more about marketing than 'information' Of course it is a good way to gather and process information. But it is more about companies gathering information about what people are looking for when. No wonder why most of the services online, like search and social networking, come free of cost to the users.

Twibbon is another way of finding out what people are interested in, when. Twibbon lets you take a closer look at 'what people want', a degree higher than search engines, because people wear a badge usually because they are emotionally attached to something. And I am happy that they don't keep that information to themselves like most of the search engine companies do.

In short, Twibbon, like What the Trend is a great market research tool. I think it can go a long way by helping marketing wiz kids to formulate their strategies. Internet is mostly about Attention Economy now. And Twibbon is only about that.

Photo from Twibbon

How does Rainlendar help me?

I some times think that my brain is like a laptop that runs Windows Vista on a 512 MB RAM. Simply because, I keep forgetting things! Important things!

I tried many things to keep my 'brain' in the loop of what is happening. Initially I tired writing things to remember in a diary, different colours for different things. I stopped doing that when I started forgetting where I left the diary. Then I tried post it notes. They really proved to be expensive.

Google Calendar came to my rescue for some time. They have this option to send you an e-mail or sms alarm, which worked really fine. The only problem with Google Calendar was that my scheduling got messed up if there was no internet around. And Google gives an Offline Option that doesn't work when there is no Internet.

Microsoft Outlook became my companion for sometime. The problem with Outlook is that I have to manually open it every time I switched my computer on and there are days when I forget to do that.

I tried the gadgets Google Desktop offered. There was a Gadget called 'To do List' The only problem with this Gadget was that it could never tell me when to do what. And as the list kept growing every day, it added to my frustrations.

I was always hunting for a Calendar that offered me the following:

• I needed a calendar that will open on it's own as soon as I switched my computer on.
• I needed a preview of the calendar on my desktop
• It must have an alarm going off every time I am supposed to do something
• It must not scare me with a long list of tasks to do. Yet. I need to look at the immediate tasks any time I want to with a quick glance at my desktop
• It must allow me to prioritize and categorize so that sometimes one look at the icon assigned to a task and I must be able to know what I am supposed to do.
• It must be intelligent enough to differentiate between events and tasks.
• When I bring my mouse over a date, it must tell me everything about the date. I need every little information about the date.

And I spotted Rainlendar. Rainlendar is a desktop calendar. But I would say it is more than a desktop calnedar to me now. Because it somehow meets all my standards. And to my joy, it lets me link to my Google Calendar. I am talking about the Rainlendar Pro Version. Linking to Google Calendar helps me avoid duplication of entry. What ever I enter on my Google Calendar is good enough for Rainlendar, once I synchronize.

What more do I need. Yeh, I didn't like the way it looked. That is not a problem. Rainlendar got skins that I can use. If I am still not happy with the skins that I have by default, I can go to Custiomize.org and pick the skins I like. I tried a couple of them and found that the one that I have by default suited my taste better than any other skin.

The best thing I liked about Rainlendar is the Mouse Over Feature. If I bring my mouse pointer over a scheduled date it tells me everything I keyed in as I was blocking the date. Every bit of details. If I roll my mouse pointer over a date on Outlook or Google Calendar date, they'll just tell me the title of the event. I need to click to go see details about the event. I think some one as lazy as me about clicking the mouse created Rainlendar. Which ever way, I like my new Desktop Calendar.

Google buying On2: What difference does it make?

Yesterday, in a Press Release Google and On2 announced that Google is finally acquiring On2 Technologies Inc., a leading developer of video compression technology. On2 is about 'creating and delivering high quality video over IP networks." Google is also about Youtube, we know. And it is a $ 106. 5 million deal they say. 'Each outstanding share of On2 common stock will be converted into $0.60 worth of Google class A common stock in a stock-for-stock transaction,' according to the Press Release. What difference is it going to make, if Google acquires On2?

Now, experts say the game is all about video codecs. Video codes enable video compression and On2 makes them. VP6, VP 7 etc are high defenition, high quality video codecs, developed by On2, used in Adobe Flash Player, Web2.0, VoIP, mobile video and other embedded devices.. But at present, VP6 and VP7 are losing out in the game to H.264, which comes under GNU General Public License. That means H.264 comes under free licence and people have the freedom to modify and distribute it. VP6 is a licensed codec and expects companies to pay a licence fee every year. VP6 of course is about quality videos. And people hope and pray that Google makes it open source.

What happens if Google makes VP6 open source?

1. Companies like Adobe,AOL, Skype, Nokia, XM Satellite Radio, Sony, Yamaha, TI, LSI Logic, Analog Devices, VideoEgg, Brightcove, Cox, Naver.com (Korea), Daum (Korea), Tencent(China) etc, who are already using VP6 will continue using it and building on it for free, without having to pay licence fee to On2. This means they come back to use the more superior VP6 and we can forget H.264. Quality of videos across platforms will improve.
2. HTML5 is on the way and it will enable browsers to handle videos without the help of plugins like Flash Player or Silverlight. This will help developers stop bothering about a lot of software compatiability issues. It will also help users save a lot of hard drive space, as plugins need not be downloaded.  
3. Mobile phone users will be able to send their MMS Videos to other mobile phones, without the fear of losing quality.   
4. People who do Video Conferencing using Webcams can then start thinking about videos that are viewable and not distorted as they are these days. 

Google can go ahead and not open source On2 video codecs at all. What happens then? Apple has its QuickTime. Microsoft has its Silverlight. Adobe has its Flash. And Google has what it takes to give them the foundation - VP6 and VP7. This means, at one point or the other, these biggies will end up paying licence fees to Google. This sale was a smart move, wasn't it?

When Yahoo gives in to Microsoft!

This was the talk of the town for the last six months - the Yahoo! Microsoft Deal! And finally it is done. Yahoo sells its user share in search to Microsoft for 88% of commission on advertisements sold on search results through Yahoo! Together they make 28% of market share in search, way lower than Google 65%.

In a few days from now, after the US Government approves the deal, you will see Bing on Yahoo! Both Steve Ballmer and Carol Bartz seem to be very happy about the deal and the notion of taking on the Search Giant, Google. I read the Bio of Carol and found that she was the lady who turned Autodesk around and made it into a profit making company. And I also understand that Steve lived Microsoft his entire career. Both are capable people. But I am wondering, what good can come out of Microsoft Yahoo Alliance!

28% in user share is not good enough to beat Google right now. But Yahoo and Microsoft can now focus more on their core competencies. Microsoft can focus on Improving Search. Yahoo can focus on their Social Networking Ideas. I think we are going to see a new era of Internet Search and Social Networking, as this alliance grows for the next ten years.

And I also think we are going to hear more from Google. In an attempt to strengthen their hold on the market, I hope they are going to come up with more search features.

Page Hunt: Microsoft tries to get Human Computation Service for Free!

Microsoft is trying all that it can to make Bing popular. The latest from its arsenal is Page Hunt. Some say it is a 'clever' twist on 'human computation', meaning to say it is a twist on Google and their Quality Raters. It seems that Google employs people to rate the Search Results it generates and now Microsoft and their Raman Chandrashekhar have come up with Page Hunt [Is the name another twist on Google's Page Rank?] to help Bing rate Search Results.

For starters, Page Hunt is a game! I don't know if you can call it a game or getting your work done by someone else free of cost!

Microsoft says:

This Game is like search in reverse: you are shown a web page which you have to hunt down using queries sent to Live Search.

 Now, the idea is very simple. When you go to the Page Hunt page, you are shown a web page. All that you got to do is type the keyword you will use to reach the page shown to you and hit Bing! If you use one of the most popular keywords used by Bing Users to reach the page in question, you get points. If you don't, you don't get points. Which ever way Microsoft gets what it wants! It will know what key word you will use to reach the page in question.

I tried the Game and let me tell you it was quiet boring. To me it looked more like work than play. Now, helping Microsoft fine tune their Search Engine is serious work. I think they should consider paying people for doing that. After all none of their products are given for free to users and even if they give it free of cost, they do so because they have a competitor. I am sure if Google were ran by Microsoft, we would be paying to use it. Now that Google is there, Microsoft offers Bing for free. And everyone knows that is done with a hope of capturing the on-line advertisement market. The better the search results on Bing, Microsoft hopes that more people will start using it and that means more income from 'sponsored links.' Since Bing is about Revenue Generation, it is not fair that Microsoft seeks to fine tune their search results for free. They should be paying the Page Hunt Users like Google pays its Quality Raters.

Off the Topic 1: As I was reading Microsoft's write-up on Page Hunt on Raman's page, I found Page Hunt connected to Live Search and not Bing. [On Page Hunt Page I see Bing and not Live Search] Is Microsoft still confused if it is Live Search or Bing they go for?

Off the Topic 2: I am just wondering, is not 'Human Computation' equal to fooling people? All the while I was thinking Google Search is completely automated and I was always amazed at this. And now that I know it is human beings who are weeding out bad results, Google's Search Technology does not sound great any more? On the contrary, please read what signor john wrote in reply to a stub that doubted Google's Search Technology:

GoogleGuy (when he used to hang out here) once explained that quality evaluators are used for benchmarking purposes. In other words, the 10,000 evaluators aren't there to weed out sites per se; their job is to help train Google's "black box" by identifying examples of sites that need weeding.

As for why Google would have to keep creating new filters at this stage of the game, I'd say it's because:

1) Search technology doesn't stand still.

2) SEO doesn't stand still, either. 

George Orwell, 1984, Amazon.com and Kindle: A Historical Irony!

George Orwell and his famous novel 1984. Amazon.com and their latest publication hype, Kindle. Who would have thought that July 17, 2009 was going to connect them in the most bizarre and paradoxical way ever? On July 17, 2009, Amazon.com remotely removed copies of 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell from Kindle because of some copyright dispute they had with someone.

Little would have George Orwell thought that one day he and his book are going to be the victims of a Big Brother when he wrote about the "memory hole" Of course Orwell was talking about censorship. I think what Amazon did was worse than censoring and it serves them best to have taken George Orwell away from the Kindle Users. They allowed a historical irony by doing so!

What does it mean when Amazon removes a book from Kindles without the permission of the owners? It means 'you must be afraid' This means Amazon has the power to remotely control your Kindle. Now, that is not good news. If Amazon has the power to control your Kindle, what about Microsoft? Do they have the power to control your laptops and PCs? If Amazon can remove a book from your Kindle, what about service providers like Google or Yahoo? Do they have the power to meddle with your emails and documents, you have on-line? It worries me when I think that soon we are all moving into a more modern version of 'cloud computing.'

I remember an English Film I had seen long ago. I don't remember the name of the film. But I remember that it was about robots. There were robots in every house. And the Government introduced a more advanced version of robots and gave one to each family. Little did they know that the new robots were spying on the families. And one fine morning, the Government took control of all the robots centrally. The film was something like that. But I remember the protagonist, who was always against the idea of having a robot in his house. No one saw his point untill it was too late. The Amazon Kindle Episode reminded me of the film.

The Economics of Attention: What is the trend now?

It was Google Trends who gave a new meaning to the word 'trend' on the Internet. It was about what the world was searching. It was Google's effort to assist the advertisers to make their decision during the keyword auctions for Adwords. Google sold contextual keywords to advertisers to run Adword Campaigns, one of the most innovative and successful advertising models ever. They have Search Based Keyword Tool that helps advertisers decide keywords for their campaign, based on actual search queries. And I think Google Trends added value to this by showing advertisers which keywords were searched the most. Perhaps, the price of the keywords went up depending on the trend,helping Google boost the Adword Sales.

'Trend' is now the Twitter Word. It is more about 'trending' now than about 'trend'. If 'Trend' was about what the world searched, 'trending' is about what the world is buzzing. Google Trend was about what the world searched during a day and was usually consolidated by the end of the day. But 'Trending' is about seconds! We see that trends change every second.

In 2007, Richard MacManus wrote about "10 Future Web Trends". The fifth possible trend he mentioned was "Attention Economy". There he mentioned a write-up by Alex Iskold, on Attention Economy. In the write-up Alex explored a proposition by Herbert Simon:

Herbert Simon was perhaps the first person to articulate the concept of attention economics when he wrote:"...in an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it" (Simon 1971, p. 40-41).

Alex said that 'key ingredient in the attention game is relevancy' and what is relevant this second may not be relevant in the next as the attention span of people is really narrowing down. People 'skim' more than they 'read'. And he also explained how we are soon going to live in an 'Attention Market Place", where the customer gets to choose what he is going to look at and buy. I think the time has arrived. And Twitter Trending and What the Trend? are signs of our time. You must have already noticed that what trends on Twitter during the first half of the day does not trend during the second half.

So far it was about plain and direct 'Contextual Marketing.' Advertisements were placed based on what people searched and what people read. I think contextual marketing has come of age. As predicted by Alex, we are moving from the idea of static 'web sites' to the idea of ever changing and people participatory 'web services'. Marketing also needs to focus on what people say as they focus on what people search and read. It is more about word-of-mouth marketing, or what they call viral marketing. In other words, marketing needs to focus on where people's attention is. I think it is here a Web Service like What the Trend? or Fad.ly becomes relevant.

What the Trend? looks at what people are looking at and talking about, mostly on Twitter. It also gives you an idea about latest photos and latest news on a trending topic. One good thing about 'What the Trend?' is the fact that it gives us an idea about when the trend trended for the first time and when it trended for the last time. It also gives a space for people to say why the trend is trending. But at present it gives you only a limited picture when it comes to what is the trend elsewhere.

If you have the 'whole World Wide Web'in mind, I think fad.ly is more evolved when it comes to conceptualizing 'trending'. It claims that it was launched to become a central location for real time fads on web. Now, that is a little more comforting than 'What the trend?'s' idea of trending. But the discomforting part of the story is that when it comes to trending, even fad.ly focuses on what happens on twitter than elsewhere. Sure it has provided spaces to pull links to news, photographs and videos relevant to the topic. However, they rarely have a link to give us as it is mostly about what is trending on Twitter and not necessarily about what is trending on the World Wide Web.

I think viral marketing wiz kids can use these tools to design their campaigns 'Attention Economy' focused. I also hope someone big enough to take "What the Trend?" to the next level takes notice of Matt Mayer or Fad.ly. I would love to see what is 'trending' every second on the whole 'World Wide Web' and not just Twitter.! Till that happens, I am afraid, Google Trend is the only reliable tool marketing people are going to have to decide what drives their campaigns.

My "Followers" ARE showing up on Twitter!

Again, I am writing for a second time in a day. Simply because of the urgency of the situation. I thought I should let everyone know. Let me quickly tell you:

A few days back I wrote about how I can't see my followers on Twitter. Today, I noticed that my followers are showing up on Twitter. Well, I can't see those of them I have missed out on the list last time there was this issue of followers disappearing even after they have started following. I can at least see the new ones who are following. Thanks Twitter!!

Three Reasons why your Website should Social Network!

I see an increase in the number of sites [that belong to firms and popular personalities] tweeting away to glory or having a Facebook account, lately. I also see many of them having a verified twitter account. From White House, [Yeh, your own American White House I am talking about] to Oprah, they all have verified twitter accounts. This again shows me how it mutually helps people to market themselves, both the social networks in question and the people who create an account on them.

Both Twitter and Facebook give you an opportunity to create personalized URLs. How does it help you? It helps you become visible. Most of the searches on Google about people and companies can lead one to both Twitter URLs and Facebook URLs. This visibility of course depends on how often you update your status and how often people click on your profile. Both Twitter and Facebook give you an opportunity to link your site to your profile. You can link your Facebook or Twitter Profiles to your site and show people that you regularly update your status and I guess this makes a lot of them feel that you love to be in touch with them. Even otherwise, Twitter and Facebook are growing crazy in terms of popularity and it is good to be on them. And it helps the business be noticed.

I am sure we are living at a time when direct and plain advertising, especially on web, pisses off people. I see no reason why Google permits image and video ads these days. I see no reason why Facebook makes the advertisements look like it comes from them and is a part of the entire package, trying to pretend that it is giving you what you want. Facebook does the new-age contextual marketing, a step ahead of what Google invented. People are trying to develop subtle ways of marketing. And I think Facebook and Twitter are good tools, looking at the way people are talking about them and using them. And I certainly think Search Engines and Personalized URLs can go a long way in helping businesses stay visible, without letting people notice that they are desperately trying to do so.

I think the cross linking opportunity these sites provide help businesses sound genuine. Internet is a good and bad place at the same time. And with the number of security threats and suspicious links ever increasing, it is essential for online businesses to be in the good books of internet users. Linking the business to Social Networks and regularly updating them give people a chance to see how genuine you are. Because, every crime has a loophole and it is very easy to see through frauds when we are talking about regularly updating status and relevant information. No fraud can survive on Social Community Networks for a long time and people are good at whistleblowing on-line. I think businesses should be using this opportunity to subtly market their genuineness.

I also think Social Community Networks can work as an effective tool for businesses to collect feedback from their customers. Be it a Google or Yahoo Group! Be it a Facebook or Twitter Account! Be it a Blog on Blogger or Wordpress! Staying in touch with the customer is the key. Weighing in on what people say about the product or service you offer, clarifying their queries! I think Google is a good example for this. Of course, they don't twitter or go Facebook. But they have these Blogs and Online Groups where they allow users to incessantly rant and rave about their products. I see that as one of the reasons why Google grow and surprise us forever!

Another thing is, these sites offer their services free of cost. [That shouldn't be a reason of course!] And may be you have to pay Twitter a little to get your account verified. I think it is worth the deal, isn't it?

Google Voice is coming soon! Will it come to India?

Happy news folks - Grand Central is now Google Voice!!

I try my best to restrict it to one post a day and anything more than one post is queued up for the coming days. I have a minimum of five posts waiting to be published on any given day. I heard the news today and couldn't help but publish this post. And I know it is only for US Customers! But that is okie! I am sure one day I'll be using Google Voice from India to talk to friends and relatives. I also have a feeling that corporates are going to jump at this opportunity. One number for all your phones is not a bad idea and that is what Google is offering through Google Voice.

Google Voice started off as Grand Central in 2005. Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, the guys who ran Dialpad Communications which was aquired by Yahoo! in June 2005, laid plans for Grand Central. Google acquired Grand Central in July 2007. For the last two years Google never really said anything about the future of Grand Central. And now, it is Google Voice.

David Lagesse wrote why he thinks Google Voice is going to add value to Information Technology. I think one of his reasons is really true:

"It's a compelling offer, especially at the price. In typical Google fashion, there is no cost to users, at least not yet. Maybe there will be later, at least for premium services. For now, the only cost is a potential loss of privacy."

Google has kept the key feature of Grand Central and peppered the service with goodies of their own. The power of Grand Central was its ability to give one number for all your phones. David Pogue gives an overview of the features Google has added to the service:

"The new features included free transcriptions of your voicemail (the text of those messages gets sent to you by e-mail and text message); free conference calling; dirt-cheap international calls (2 cents a minute to France or China, for example); and, perhaps most profoundly, Web-based sending and storing of all your text messages. That's a first in cellphone history; for most people, text messages scroll away off the phone after 20 of them or so, with no way to capture them."

Skype Forums are already talking about how Google is going to be Skype Killer! Now, Skype, I guess allows Skype-to-Skype calls for free and charges Skype-to-Phone Calls. But, Google Voice is talking about free calls to any local phone. And Preethi Dumpala gives five reasons why she thinks Google Voice is going to take Skype out of Business. Off all the five reasons, I am in total agreement with her when she talks about the 'Google Muscle!"

And it seems you can connect your Jaxter Number with Google Voice Number. I am not still sure if that is going to be 'free of cost to both parties' as it is discussed in the forum. But if it is, it is a bonus. Another good example of how technology can make it a lot more easier for people.

Google says that Google Voice will be open to users in weeks. Right now the service is available to Grand Central Users only.And Grand Central Users are obviously US Users. I am not sure if it is going to be open for Mobile Phone Users in India, the way our telephone companies deal with VoIP. No one is sure and everyone is waiting! For people from US who wants to send SMS to India, I think you can start doing that for time being!!

IE6 Must Die: The new On-line Movement!

Look at this screen shot from Twitter. I was so surprised to see the slogan "IE6 Must Die" trending on Twitter, yesterday. I think the trending began on Twitter with Ben Parr posting 'IE6 Must Die for the Web to Move On' on Mashable.

Ben Parr wrote on Mashable:

Just six years ago, the web was dominated by one browser:Internet Explorer, specifically Internet Explorer 6. Without Netscape to compete against it and the ability to bundle its browser with Windows XP, Microsoft experienced superior market share – up to 95% at the peak. Today though, we have far superior browsers like Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome, as well as Internet Explorer 8. So why is 15 to 25 percent of the world’s browsing still done in a browser created in the digital Stone Age (aka 2001)?

Long ago, in 2007, David Walsh gave '6 Reasons Why IE6 Must Die'. Even at that point, I don't think anyone disagreed with him. But the post did not see the whole World Wide Web rising against IE6, probably because many end users could not really see the difference. Most of what David wrote was technical. Probably people didn't care what programmers went through. David wrote:

"millions of ignorant internet users will stick to using IE6 which will result in programmers dedicating valuable time to fix IE6-caused bugs and will hamper pushing websites to the next level."

I took a look at how browsers are used across the world on Wikipedia. I found that Internet Explorer owns 65% of the browser market share. And according to Wikipedia's June 2009 Report, IE6 owns 12.78% browser market share. According to w3schools.com, by June 2009, IE6 owns at least 14.9% browser market share. 12% or 14%, why is the internet all of a sudden showing a trend against IE6?

All of a sudden we have major websites like Facebook and You Tube trying to force users drop IE6. All of a sudden we have Internet trending on "IE6 Must Die". "What the Trend?" is asking for an On-line Movement against IE6, encouraging people to tweet the Mashable post title "IE6 Must Die for the Web to Move On". I think it is all because, HTML5 is on the way. Its first draft appeared on web in January 2008. Now, WHATWG is working hard to make HTML 5 a modern reality. I think once HTML 5 is a reality and all major websites drop IE6 support, we'll see the death of the browser. Asa Dotzler, predicts that IE6 will die by the end of next year if the present trend continues.

Let us all join our hands together to help Internet Technology move and grow further. If IE6 does not die on its own, we must kill it. I thought, as a part of that I would provide a list of links to help you find the new-age browsers. You can choose the one you think you will like. Here is the list:

• Firefox
• Opera
• Chrome
• Internet Explorer 8
• Safari

Of all the browsers, I prefer Firefox and Chrome. I prefer Firefox for the kind of cool add-ons it gives you to make your browsing experience great. I prefer Chrome for its simplicity and security.

China going Green Dam is delayed!

30 June 2009. "On the eve of destruction, China has delayed Green Dam Day."


PC manufacturers who shipped computers to China were asked to pre-install Green Dam Youth Escort by 1 July 2009, on all new computers they sold in China. Now, Green Dam, as Wikipedia puts it, is a Content-control Software. Green Dam is developed by Jinhui Computer System Engineering Ltd for the People's Republic of China. China claims that Green Dam filters out pornographic content and the software is its attempt to protect young people from unwanted content. 

Filtering out Pornographic content in an attempt to protect young children? Are you kidding me? Everybody knows that Green Dam will download the list of prohibited sites and install it on the end user's computer. And everyone knows China's history of trying to control what their people are doing on-line. In a study conducted by Jonathan Zittarein and Benjamin Edelman of Harward Law School, in 2002, 126 sites blocked by Chinese Government were listed and none of them where pornographic sites. I know that was seven long years ago. But still it is hard to believe when Chinese Government says it is going to only filter "pornographic and violent content". Because I know that Companies like Google imposes self-censorship on themselves to comply with the Chinese Law. And I also know that the Great Fire Wall of China is not such an innocent thing.


What appears in Wikileaks about Green Dam tells us that there will be more filtering than just pornographic or violent content. For example, if Falun Gong is entered into a WordPad or NotePad or any other application, the application will shut down. For those of you who didn't have the time to click and read the links I have given, Falun Gong is a religion presently illegal in China. Tell me what kind of violence and sexually lewd thoughts can a religion like Falun Gong, which believes in "cultivation of virtue and character" spread? This tells us that Green Dam is more about unfair Government Censorship than Chinese Governments' Concern for its Young People. 


On 30 June 2009, Chinese Government announced that it postponed its ultimatum to the PC Manufacturers about Green Dam. Though Chinese Government has not accepted it yet, journalists say it is due to US Pressure.  China says the delay is only because 'some computer manufacutrers need more time.' 

As that was happening, Chinese people vehemently mocked Government Censorship. Pictures of the Green Dam Girl is doing her rounds on the internet. A Chinese Blogger called Hecaitou pokes fun at the Government of China for this mindless cowardice, through this cartoon character. The Green Dam Girl in uniform, drawn in Manga style, wearing a Police Cap emblazoned with a Crab, holding the Green Dam Logo "Rabbit", makes fun of the Chinese Government's idea of a 'harmonious society'. We are also told that young people partied to express their happiness when the Chinese Government announced the delay. 


RConversation reports how Chinese people scorn the software. RConversation published what people wrote as a feedback to the manufacturer of the Software. I found that one of them wrote "Today, a teacher posted  an exam question which talks about 'students playing touch-ball game'. The word document was shut down."  Now, closing a Word Document because the word 'touch' was typed? Give me a break, China!


Wikipedia reports that Green Dam has a photo filter which uses skin colour to assume the nature of the photographs. It filtered out the image of pigs because the colour of their skin is pink. I can't help but laugh at this.


Everyone knows it is not entirely about pornography and violence. Some say it works as spyware. I am told that the software sends screenshots to the Software Manufacturer if people try and access any of the banned sites. I am told applications close down if people type banned words or phrases. And it is not just sexually explicit words that are banned from the look of things. 


Green Dam is about a State that is not willing to give its people access to information. Thought Policing is a crime, a crime on humanity. 

From Short to Long URL: Save yourself from Koobface

This is a dirty world again. Koobface that was troubling users sending spam using member profiles on Facebook and Myspace is attacking Twitter now. Twitter is now suspending accounts that are under attack in an attempt to save the community from the unwanted guest.

Wikipedia tells us: "Koobface is an anagram of Facebook." It is the word 'book' spelt the other way around - 'koob'. Koobface attacks an account by sending unsolicited links. In case of Twitter, Koobface sends you a link with messages like 'My home video.' Once you click on the link it takes you to a site that spreads malware. It may tell you that you need to install or update your current flash plugin. Once you try to update your flash plugin, the site will push .exe files to your system. The first thing the Koobface Execution file may do in your computer is to find cookies from Social Community Networks and affect them. The Koobface Malware may also act as a Spyware and send personal information from your system like passwords and credit card numbers to the person behind the malware.

The best thing you can do against Koobface is not to click unsolicited links, even if it is from a person known to you. But this is not fare. We can't live this way, being scared of Koobfaces.

Most often short urls are the villains. One almost wishes if short urls were never invented. They never tell you where they will take you to and you will know only after you reach the place. Twitter uses short urls extensively. Now, how can we not see what our friends send us? Impossible. There is a way out.

For example:http://bit.ly/2VPO3s is a short url techedIN posted on Twitter. You do not know me and it is not fair on my part to expect you to click on that link and come to techedIN and read what I post. Again, it is not fair on your part not to read what I write. After all, I take so much of trouble to write these posts. Now, what do we do to trust each other? All that you need to do is to go to LongURL.org

Step 1: Copy and paste the short url you want to verify in the box provided on the LongURL site and click on expand.

Step 2: Now what you see is an expansion of the short url you have tried. It gives you information like the title, the long url and additional information like content type. Sometimes it also gives you a snap shot of the site. One you are sure that you can trust the site or you know the site, you can click on the site peacefully.

It is not fair on anyone's part to send us one thing and tell us it is something else. Short URLs encourage that habit a lot. I appreciate the efforts of Sean Murphy, who pre-empted this menace and came up with a solution like LongURL.org

Blogadda: get your blog listed and let people read you

We all know! Most of us, small time bloggers, keep wondering when and how people will notice our blog and start reading it. In my perpetual search for ways in which one can get a blog noticed, I recently stumbled up on Blogadda. Blogadda provides "Indian bloggers a platform to showcase their blogs."

Let us hear what Blogadda says about themselves:

There are super Indian bloggers waiting for an audience to discover them. Blogadda provides Indian bloggers a platform to showcase their blogs.We've read a lot of blogs over time and continue to do so, and found that there wasn't a single resource to discover blogs of our interests. And this is how Blogadda.com was born.

Joining Blogadda is very simple. Here is what the site asked me to do: First, I registered an account like I would do to join any other site. Blogadda lets you use the site only after you verify your email and add a link to Blogadda on your blog. Once you create an account, verify it from a mail sent to your email address from Blogadda. You can now register your blog with Blogadda. Then copy and paste the html code to your blog. They say that their team will visit the blog to see if there is a link to Blogadda from your blog and they send you an email if your blog is approved. Well, I don't mind that. We are living in a 'win-win world'.

I stayed on the site, after registering my blog, for sometime. A few things caught my eye: One, Blogadda updates 'Recent Posts' every hour so that blogs that are active get noticed. [Well, Iam not going into the issue of one hour time lapse. Something is always better than absolutely nothing at all.] Two, I liked the way Blogadda lets users post useful tips on Blogging and selects and features the best. [Well, I would have loved to read all the tips that members post. I couldn't locate a link that took me to all that members posted. For time being, I feel this is good.] Three, I read a a couple of 'super blogger' interviews. [Well, I liked all that I read. They gave such insights into how blogging is happening in our part of the world and how 'super bloggers' are looking at it.] Four, Blogadda won't permit spam site promoters to be registered with them. [Well, I have no clue if they have spelt out a clear policy about what is spam and what is not. I haven't found anything on the site that tell me what is spam, yet. However, no-spam policy is a good policy.]

Blogadda shows how a good idea can go a long way. I don't know how many have registered their blogs on Blogadda. However, from the look of things, I think Indian Bloggers are joining the site like bees go where honey is available. Perhaps, the only issue is what a comparison between the number of members and the number of people who actually read what appears on Blogadda will show us! I hope as many people are taking time to use Blogadda as their one-stop source for 'Blog Reading' as there are members.

Wolfram|Alpha: Out here to beat Google?

Ever since Google was launched, web thinks mostly about the best way to organize and retrieve information. Reading the mind of the one who engages in search and presenting him the information that he is looking for as quickly as possible was the goal so far. Now, I think, Search Engine Gurus are thinking about how to give information in a more systematic manner. So far, Google does it almost perfectly well. Sometimes, I feel, Google knows what I am searching for and gives me information as systematically as possible, within their structural limitations.

What do I mean by structural limitations? Google Search is all about giving you a list of sites relevant to your search. You got to click on the links on the search page and go to the site. Sometimes, it is very difficult to find the information on the page, even though Google told you it is there and you are sure it is there. However, these days Google gives you this information in a more structured and organized manner. For example, if you are looking for the meaning of a word, usually the first result on the Search Page would be the exact meaning of the word. You don't have to go and look up the information on another page. But, still Google is Google and a list of websites relevant to your search!!

I always used to wonder when Google will evolve into a site that will help me retrieve information the way Wolfram|Alpha is now promising to deliver. Enter any date! Enter any city! Enter any two stocks! Enter any two first names! Wolfram|Alpha tells you! And the guys claim that you are going to get the information in a very structured manner. And they deliver to some extend.

Excited about this whole idea of structured information, I straight away went and searched for 'Mangalore', the city where I live. Wolfram|Alpha gave me most of the things I would want to know about Mangalore. It tells me that the city is called Mangaluru. It tells me, the city is in Karnataka. It shows me a map and tells me where exactly the city is. It also gave me the local time, date and the weather. It told me that 417387 people live there. What more do you want to know about Mangalore? If you are not satisfied with the information you got, Wolfram|Alpha gives you a link to Wikipedia where it is written about Mangalore.

I also wanted to see what information it could give me on August 15, 1947. [Now, for those of you who have no clue why I bother about August 15, let me tell you - India got independence on that day!] Wolfram|Alpha tells me August 15, 1947 was a Friday. It was exactly 61 years, 10 months and 29 days from today. It also gives you an option to search it out on the web. I clicked the link that would take me to more information on August 15. Great! Do you know where it took me to? It took me straight to Google. Yes, Google!

Now, what does that tell us? Does it tell us that WolframAlpha is not competing with Google? Wikipedia calls Wolfram|Alpha an Answer Engine and not a Search Engine. "It is an on-line service that answers factual queries directly by computing the answer from structured data, rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a search engine might." Stephen Wolfram released it to public on May 15, 2009. Wolfram|Alpha calls themselves 'computational knowledge engine'. Knowledge Engine or Answer Engine, do they mean they are one step ahead of Google? I think they are not. First of all, I don't think they gather knowledge like Google does. They are giving you information from their knowledge data base mostly. And the fact that Wolfram|Alpha links Google to its site and uses it to gather additional information on a query tells me that it is more about on-line cooperation than competition.

I think Wolfram|Alpha has a long way to go! Currently, in a Wikipedia Style, they are encouraging people to become Volunteer Curators for the site and help them check available data and add data and enable an understanding of new ways in which people seek knowledge. There are many queries to which Wolfram|Alpha says: "Wolfram|Alpha is not sure what to do with your input." But this doesn't disappoint me and I perfectly understand the situation. Wolfram|Alpha is yet to perfect ways in which it gathers and presents information. So far, it does a good job with what it has. And I know, it is going to be better as they progress and people join hands with Wolfram|Alpha as Volunteer Curators.