Tyler Whitaker's InfoTech » Web 2.0 http://www.tylerwhitaker.com Technology, Thoughts, & Opinions Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:20:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 SocialPaywall.com and the Kynetx Platform http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2010/02/15/socialpaywall-com-and-the-kynetx-platform/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2010/02/15/socialpaywall-com-and-the-kynetx-platform/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:48:20 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/?p=120 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "SocialPaywall.com and the Kynetx Platform", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2010/02/15/socialpaywall-com-and-the-kynetx-platform/" });]]> So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been working on a fun stealth project. And now it’s time to open it up to a little wider beta audience. So, I’m now introducing….

SocialPaywall.com - Get paid for your Premium Content

SocialPaywall.com - Get paid for your Premium Content

What is SocialPaywall.com?

We all love social media, social networking, facebooking, myspacing, etc. We build followers and friends though sharing links, videos, coupon codes, and other electronic content. Up until now, only the social networking websites see any kind on financial benefit from all of your hard work. SocialPaywall.com is an online service that allows you to create that same content, publish it through your social networks, and  make money by selling subscriptions.

How does it work?

With SocialPaywall.com you can save your “Premium” links, coupon codes, video podcasts behind an electronic toll booth or paywall. Then you share a brief description and link to that content on all off your favorite social networking websites. Your friends and followers click the link and are directed to a page allowing them to pay to see your premium content.

Example SocialPaywall links

Example SocialPaywall links

Here’s the Kicker

We’ve created a browser extension that allows your followers to view your Premium content directly in several of the most popular social websites. Namely twitter, facebook, youtube, flickr, and myspace. Once you have installed the extension you can subscribe & view content directly on the websites you frequent on a daily basis with no need to go to socialpaywall.com. This is the game changer. Imagine the ecommerce possibilities that are now open to you on several of the most popular websites on the Intenet today.

Example SocialPaywall Subscriptions

Example SocialPaywall Subscriptions

Viewing socialpaywall.com content directly in twitter.

Viewing socialpaywall.com content directly in twitter.

We’re in Beta

We’re still pretty early in the beta, so be warned. Also take notice that the financial transactions are all simulated at the moment. We want you to play with service and explore it’s uses without the hesitation of real money changing hands. As we get closer to an official launch we will turn on the payment system. So for now spend all of the “fake” money you want.

So Sign Up and Have Fun

To get started, go to http://www.socialpaywall.com. Create an account with your Google ID. Create some “Premium Content” by sharing your favorite recipe, selling a coupon code, publish a youtube video. Then share your content through your social networks. To see some examples follow us on twitter (@socialpaywall).

A big thank you goes out to Kynetx. They have a great technology platform that we have used to let  you to view SocialPaywall content directly on your favorite social networking websites. So sign up at socialpaywall.com and install our browser extension.

Update:
Here is an example of SocialPaywall.com in action.

http://spwlnk.com/Wmye0FKW0k84DpRgHZZHfwTT

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2010/02/15/socialpaywall-com-and-the-kynetx-platform/feed/ 0 8 Great WordPress Plugins I’m Using http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2008/02/07/8-great-wordpress-plugins-im-using/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2008/02/07/8-great-wordpress-plugins-im-using/#comments Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:38:11 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2008/02/07/8-great-wordpress-plugins-im-using/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "8 Great WordPress Plugins I’m Using", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2008/02/07/8-great-wordpress-plugins-im-using/" });]]> One of the first things I realized was that tylerwhitaker.com was pretty light on plugins. I have been running Akismet for spam (and it works great.) But the rest are new. If you know of any better plugins, please let me know.

Akismet
Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use it. You can review the spam it catches under “Comments.” To show off your Akismet stats just put <?php akismet_counter(); ?> in your template. See also: WP Stats plugin. By Matt Mullenweg.

All in One SEO Pack
Out-of-the-box SEO for your Wordpress blog. By uberdose.

Contextual Related Posts
Show last 5 contextually related posts on single blog posts, increase exposure By Mark Ghosh (LaughingLizard). I did some editing on this one so that it would work with my theme.

FeedBurner FeedSmith
Originally authored by Steve Smith, this plugin detects all ways to access your original WordPress feeds and redirects them to your FeedBurner feed so you can track every possible subscriber. By FeedBurner.

Google XML Sitemaps
This plugin will generate a sitemaps.org compatible sitemap of your WordPress blog which is supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO. By Arne Brachhold.

ShareThis
Let your visitors share a post/page with others. Supports e-mail and posting to social bookmarking sites. Questions on configuration, etc.? Make sure to read the README. By ShareThis and Crowd Favorite (crowdfavorite.com).

Twitter Tools
A complete integration between your WordPress blog and Twitter. Bring your tweets into your blog and pass your blog posts to Twitter. By Alex King. My Twitter account is tylerwhitaker come follow me when you get a chance.

What Would Seth Godin Do
Displays a custom welcome message to new visitors. By Richard K Miller. Richard is a good guy and I’m glad to support him and his plugin.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2008/02/07/8-great-wordpress-plugins-im-using/feed/ 1 Imagine your data on a Swivel http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/23/imagine-your-data-on-a-swivel/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/23/imagine-your-data-on-a-swivel/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:03:02 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/23/imagine-your-data-on-a-swivel/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Imagine your data on a Swivel", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/23/imagine-your-data-on-a-swivel/" });]]> Swivel.com

Swivel.com is the YouTube for data. Interesting business model: 1 part Google Spreadsheets, 1 part YouTube, 1 part graphics. I guess in this day and age you can take just about any idea and put it on the web and create a community around it. I like it. But I like the business ideas it represents even more.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/23/imagine-your-data-on-a-swivel/feed/ 1 ChaCha.com a Google Killer? http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/09/chachacom-a-google-killer/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/09/chachacom-a-google-killer/#comments Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:50:38 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/09/chachacom-a-google-killer/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "ChaCha.com a Google Killer?", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/09/chachacom-a-google-killer/" });]]>

What do you get when you combine the human intelligence behind Amazon’s MTurk and Google’s clean and accurate approach to web searching: ChaCha.com

For a search engine ChaCha.com provides a clean interface and good results. But what is interesting is the human intelligence that’s injected into the equation. Can’t find what you need with other search engines? ChaCha.com offers the option to search with a “guide”, (someone trained in all things search.) This human factor is interesting and much more interactive when you can chat with someone to explain exactly what your looking for.

Unfortunately when I asked my guide for help finding a store in Salt Lake City, Utah that sells racellete cheese, I got back the digital equivalent of a blank stare and then she promptly ended the chat. So much for the human interface.

Technorati tags: , , ,

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2007/01/09/chachacom-a-google-killer/feed/ 4 Windows Live Writer http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/12/08/windows-live-writer/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/12/08/windows-live-writer/#comments Fri, 08 Dec 2006 22:54:59 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/1969/12/31/windows-live-writer/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Windows Live Writer", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/12/08/windows-live-writer/" });]]> My blog entries as of late have been a little sparse. I’m sure that it has something to do with my attempt to get a life and relax. I’m also thinking it has something to do with the post editor thaqt comes with WordPress. Don’t get me wrong, it works great. It’s just not as comfortable as Outlook or Word. So a friend, Thom Allen, suggested I try Windows Live Writer. So far I like it. We’ll see if it’s easier in the long run. 

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/12/08/windows-live-writer/feed/ 0 Google Spreadsheet, What will MS do now? http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/06/06/google-spreadsheet-what-will-ms-do-now/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/06/06/google-spreadsheet-what-will-ms-do-now/#comments Tue, 06 Jun 2006 19:38:14 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/06/06/google-spreadsheet-what-will-ms-do-now/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Google Spreadsheet, What will MS do now?", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/06/06/google-spreadsheet-what-will-ms-do-now/" });]]> Good news for the web 2.0 world today. Google has released (via limited beta) Google Spreadsheet, their answer to Excel on the web. While it might not be as feature rich as people would like, that fact that it can read and write .xls files is a good start, not to mention the online sharing capabilities.

So this begs the question: What will Microsoft do to counter this latest blatant attack on Office? Wage a low cost war? (Google Spreadsheet is free.) Offer an ad supported web version of Excel for personal use? (Possible but not until after Vista launches.) One thing is certain, this really ups the stakes in the personal productivity space.
Google Spreadsheet

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/06/06/google-spreadsheet-what-will-ms-do-now/feed/ 1 ASCII Maps and Poly9 http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/17/ascii-maps-and-poly9/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/17/ascii-maps-and-poly9/#comments Wed, 17 May 2006 23:20:22 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/17/ascii-maps-and-poly9/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "ASCII Maps and Poly9", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/17/ascii-maps-and-poly9/" });]]> Have you ever wondered what happened to the ASCII art phenomenon on the 70s and 80s? Look no further than ASCII Maps from Canadian based Poly9 Group Inc. ASCII Maps is a mashup between Google maps and ASCII art where the map data is dynamically translated into a text based representation. I’m not sure it’s really functional, but it’s an incredible example of the possibilities now available via Web 2.0 technologies.

Thanks to Amanda Congdon @ Rocketboom via Phil Windley’s Technometira for the lead.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/17/ascii-maps-and-poly9/feed/ 0 Skype Offers Free Calling http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/16/skype-offers-free-calling/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/16/skype-offers-free-calling/#comments Tue, 16 May 2006 15:31:27 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/16/skype-offers-free-calling/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Skype Offers Free Calling", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/16/skype-offers-free-calling/" });]]> Online Voice over IP vendor Skype has just announced free calling with in the US and Canada until the end of the year. This is an interesting move and further commoditize the long distance market. But the real questions is whether this is sustainable. I.e. How will Skype pay the bill for these PSTN calls? And move importantly how will they pay the taxes and fees…

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/16/skype-offers-free-calling/feed/ 0 Foldera Online PIM http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/15/foldera-online-pim/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/15/foldera-online-pim/#comments Mon, 15 May 2006 20:56:35 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/15/foldera-online-pim/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Foldera Online PIM", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/15/foldera-online-pim/" });]]> Foldera is a new personal information manager (PIM) that is completely online. Complete with all of the usual Ajax goodies, this service is currently in beta. This might just be the perfect solution for someone who works on several different machines (desktop, laptop, home PC) each day. Centralizing your information out on the Internet clearly has it’s benefits.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/15/foldera-online-pim/feed/ 1 The IM Generation http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/11/the-im-generation/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/11/the-im-generation/#comments Thu, 11 May 2006 23:53:09 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/11/the-im-generation/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The IM Generation", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/11/the-im-generation/" });]]> There is an interesting article at AlwaysOn on what is being billed as the “IM Generation.” Born between 1980 and 2000, this next generation is living in a 24/7 online world where IM is more important that email.

This generation is also bring a new look to the venture market where boot-strapping a company is the name of the game.  And with successes like Flickr (Yahoo), MySpace (Rupert Murdoch), and Upstartle / Writely (Google) I can see how Internet space companies can be built with little overhead achieve big multiples.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/05/11/the-im-generation/feed/ 0 April CTO Breakfast http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/28/april-cto-breakfast/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/28/april-cto-breakfast/#comments Fri, 28 Apr 2006 19:30:03 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/28/april-cto-breakfast/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "April CTO Breakfast", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/28/april-cto-breakfast/" });]]> I attended Phil Windley’s CTO breakfast this morning. As always we had a good discussion on all things technology. I found a couple of interesting ideas from this meeting.

First off, Nathan Conger from Novell showed us some of the latest features of the SUSE Enterprise Linux desktop. I must admit that it’s been a while since I’ve played with Linux desktops, but this latest version (available at openSUSE.org) looked really good. With multiple desktops on a rotating cube and the recent enhancements to the OpenOffice, I can start to see Linux as a corporate desktop replacement for some users. Especially if they spend most of their time in email, on the web, and using MS Office.

Another interesting item was a presentation on WeRelate.org. A non profit geneaology search engine that uses a user contributed wiki to fine tune / direct the search engine’s behavior. This site is unique in it’s mashup of a vertical search engine driven by an integrated web 2.0 user community. Another interesting twist is the adoption of community controlled related words / terms to make sure users semantically find what their keyword search is looking for.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/28/april-cto-breakfast/feed/ 0 Another Great WebOS Article http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/27/another-great-webos-article/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/27/another-great-webos-article/#comments Thu, 27 Apr 2006 14:05:30 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/27/another-great-webos-article/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Another Great WebOS Article", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/27/another-great-webos-article/" });]]> Richard MacManus with ZDNet posted another great article on the WebOS market, calling for Google or any one of the small startups in this space to become the next Linux. Wishful thinking you may ask? Maybe. There is clearly something here that is very interesting, but without a killer application to drive adoption it may just stay in the “interesting” category and not move up to “compelling.”

Article: http://blogs.zdnet.com/web2explorer/?p=166&tag=nl.e539

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/27/another-great-webos-article/feed/ 0 The Internet as an OS vs. Virtual / Online Desktops http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-internet-as-an-os-vs-virtual-online-desktops/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-internet-as-an-os-vs-virtual-online-desktops/#comments Tue, 25 Apr 2006 22:28:32 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-internet-as-an-os-vs-virtual-online-desktops/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Internet as an OS vs. Virtual / Online Desktops", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-internet-as-an-os-vs-virtual-online-desktops/" });]]> I’m been thinking a lot lately about Web 2.0, web services, and client / server applications moving online. And it occurred to me that Internet could be seen as one big operating system with the various components scattered through out cyberspace. The next new thing could be moving traditional local operating system services into the cloud.

While working though this idea in my mind I ran across several groups that are pushing the desktop interface into a browser. I’m not talking about Citrix application launching and embedding where you are viewing a windows application running on a windows desktop via a web browser. But replicating the underlying desktop and application windows in a browser using AJAX.

You’ve really got to see this to understand the potential shift this could cause. Imagine replacing OSX or WinXP with a browser based equivalent. And then writing applications to run in this new virtual / online desktop with the ability to save the state and login from somewhere else with no session loss and independent of the base OS running the browser.

Check out these websites for more information:
http://www.naltabyte.se/howto.htm
http://www.eyeos.org/
http://www2.goowy.com/
https://www.youos.com/
ZDNet Article on the subject: XIN – a Web OS that wants to be a platform

 

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-internet-as-an-os-vs-virtual-online-desktops/feed/ 0 The SEOmoz.org Web 2.0 Awards http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-seomozorg-web-20-awards/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-seomozorg-web-20-awards/#comments Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:43:59 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-seomozorg-web-20-awards/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The SEOmoz.org Web 2.0 Awards", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-seomozorg-web-20-awards/" });]]> For those of you interested in the cutting edge of the Web 2.0 movement, check out the Web 2.0 Awards from SEOmoz.org. It provides a pretty good cross section of the types of solutions out there.

My gut tells me that this is just the tip of the iceberg. With the rampant availability of high speed bandwidth and the current maturity of web technologies, the conditions are right for a mass migration of applications to the net. This list is just the most recent list of immigrants.

Thanks to Randy Haykin at Outlook Ventures for the link.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/25/the-seomozorg-web-20-awards/feed/ 0 The Evolution of the Software Industry http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/18/the-evolution-of-the-software-industry/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/18/the-evolution-of-the-software-industry/#comments Tue, 18 Apr 2006 21:20:16 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/18/the-evolution-of-the-software-industry/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Evolution of the Software Industry", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/18/the-evolution-of-the-software-industry/" });]]> Dan Farber wrote and interesting blog entry (ZDNet Between The Lines) recaping Software 2006 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. He highlights some interesting themes in software industry and how we need to shift to a customer centric mentality. Gone are the days of charging customers maintenance fees to fix our own software. Gone are the days where startups can compete head to head with the big three (Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle.)

I found it particularly interesting to see the characteristics of what Ray Lane from Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Company is currently investing in.

Opportunities

  • White space–not open source ERP
  • Low effort improvement–install software faster, for example
  • Free now, pay later–trust that the customer will see value
  • Individual value–take the mindset of individual in the enterprise

Challenges

  • Evaluation cycle–long bureaucratic
  • Integration–a integrated platform
  • Installability–hours not years
  • Value creation–immediate and apparent
  • Business model–customer centric
  • Renewal

He described the three characteristics of enterprise software companies as follows:

Low resistance
Clear value to user
Immediate value
Short decision cycle

TCO (viral)
Low cost barrier to adoption–get the value and pay as delivered
Encourages viral spread

Intallability (viral)
Easy to install and use
Increased installation increases personal value
Viral effect

He gave iPod, Razor or Palm Pilot as examples of how a viral effect can take over.

The key themes, buttressed by cheaper and cheaper broadband, improved storage, etc.,  for enterprise software going forward include: 

Collaboration
Virtualization
Convergence
On demand
Contextual search
Anytime, anywhere
Anonymous connection
Visualized search

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/18/the-evolution-of-the-software-industry/feed/ 0 Online Calendar, Google Style http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/14/online-calendar-google-style/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/14/online-calendar-google-style/#comments Fri, 14 Apr 2006 15:36:39 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/14/online-calendar-google-style/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Online Calendar, Google Style", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/14/online-calendar-google-style/" });]]> If you haven’t heard already, Google just released an online calendar web application. It has all of the slick interface items that you have come to expect from Google. But was makes this offering particularly interesting is the ability to share public and private calendars with your friends and co-workers in much the same way as Microsoft Outlook. In fact, rumor has it that Google is working on an interface to link in data from your Outlook calendar.

One other interesting item here is the use of natural language processing to create new calendar items. Type in the phrase “Lunch today at 11:30″ and it automatically creates an appointment for 11:30am titled lunch. This is a great example for other developers to follow: Use the context of the users request to extrapolate the actions they want to perform.

http://calendar.google.com

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/14/online-calendar-google-style/feed/ 0 Yahoo Messenger Adds VOIP http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/07/yahoo-messenger-adds-voip/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/07/yahoo-messenger-adds-voip/#comments Fri, 07 Apr 2006 15:33:46 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/07/yahoo-messenger-adds-voip/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Yahoo Messenger Adds VOIP", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/07/yahoo-messenger-adds-voip/" });]]> Yahoo has recently added VOIP (Voice over IP) capabilities to it’s Instant Messenger client. Now you can carry on world wide PC to PC voice calls for free.

There are two interesting items to note from this announcement. 1) This brings VoIP further into the mainstream and thereby moving traditional pay per minute long distance closer to extinction. And 2) they are offering voice mail and call history, which proves that even in an online world, “voice only” service is not enough to compete; value added services are the key to any providers success.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/04/07/yahoo-messenger-adds-voip/feed/ 0 Amazon’s S3 Web Service – Online Hard Drive http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/20/amazons-s3-web-service-online-hard-drive/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/20/amazons-s3-web-service-online-hard-drive/#comments Tue, 21 Mar 2006 00:58:29 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/20/amazons-s3-web-service-online-hard-drive/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Amazon’s S3 Web Service – Online Hard Drive", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/20/amazons-s3-web-service-online-hard-drive/" });]]> It think we’ve hit a new milestone in the web’s development. Amazon.com has announced their Amazon S3 – Simple Storage Service. We now have low cost, “in the cloud” data storage. What does this mean to me? Web developers across the global can now offer online applications without needing to build the costly data storage required to deliver enterprise level applications.

Amazon is pricing this service on a pay as you use basis. $0.15 per Gigabyte of storage and $0.20 per Gigabyte of data transfer. Having built millions of dollars worth of datacenter, this is a good deal.

The possible uses of this service are endless. Online backup, databases, file sharing just to name a few. The only question left is when will Google come out with it’s anticipated GDrive offering to match Amazon’s first move.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/20/amazons-s3-web-service-online-hard-drive/feed/ 0 Amazon’s Mechanical Turk http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/10/amazons-mechanical-turk/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/10/amazons-mechanical-turk/#comments Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:10:00 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/?p=23 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Amazon’s Mechanical Turk", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/10/amazons-mechanical-turk/" });]]> Have you ever wanted to earn a little extra money on the web? Amazon.com has a solution for you. It’s called Mechanical Turk. It’s a system where people answer simply questions for pennies. The questions range from your favorite books to whether a picture is of a pizza parlor or not.

So I know you’re dying to ask, why would someone pay for these answers. It’s really quite simple. Software is great at solving some problems, but it can’t compare to the human mind when it comes to problems such as “likes and dislikes” or image or voice processing. So the answer is simple, provide a mechanism to ask 10,000+ people a simple question and you have solve some pretty hard problems in massively parallel manner.

Thanks to Scott Lemon for the heads up.

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]]> http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/10/amazons-mechanical-turk/feed/ 0 Landscape Management Article on Blogging http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/08/landscape-management-article-on-blogging/ http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/08/landscape-management-article-on-blogging/#comments Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:05:50 +0000 Tyler http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/?p=21 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Landscape Management Article on Blogging", url: "http://www.tylerwhitaker.com/2006/03/08/landscape-management-article-on-blogging/" });]]> Just a quick note and link to my recent article on blogging in Landscape Management Magazine. Blogging is the newest way to connect with your employees.

InfoTech: Blogging

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