Kp rss feed http://projekt4.knutpunkten.se/knutpunkten Airbnb, which says it is handling 10,000 guests a night, is at the center of a boom in new companies that are creating a market for places to stay — a spare room, a house when the owners are on vacation or even a backyard treehouse. Some of these businesses are riding the surge of interest in all kinds of Web ventures; Airbnb plans to announce on Monday that it has raised $112 million from investors. Shanti Neetha Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:09:19 GMT Many Facebook users are not satisfied with the social network, which could spell trouble for the 750-million strong company now that popular rival Google+ is on the scene. According to the 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Facebook has an index of 66 -- a rating that not only puts the company at the bottom of the rung in the report's social networking category but also makes it the lowest-scoring site of all measured companies. Shanti Neetha Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:34:23 GMT Companies have long used criminal background checks, credit reports and even searches on Google and LinkedIn to probe the previous lives of prospective employees. Now, some companies are requiring job candidates to also pass a social media background check. A year-old start-up, Social Intelligence, scrapes the Internet for everything prospective employees may have said or done online in the past seven years. Shanti Neetha Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:00:20 GMT The scientists demonstrated that the availability of the internet is changing the nature of what we remember, making us more likely to recall where the facts are rather than the facts themselves. Shanti Neetha Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:34:23 GMT It has taken two years of intense wrangling with record companies and triggered wave after wave of speculation about future business models for the industry – now Spotify, the Swedish streaming music service, has finally announced that it will launch in the world's biggest music market, the US. Shanti Neetha Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:10:20 GMT Social media have become the latest, hottest tools in natural history circles as scientists confront a populace that knows laptops better than landscapes. In the quest to give communities a grasp on complex ecological systems - particularly as they face decisions imposed by climate change - social networking promises to link scientists with the public, empowering naturalist armies to act on their behalf: monitoring species, observing behavioral patterns, and reporting the presence of invasives and changes in climate, vegetation, and populations. Shanti Neetha Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:14:20 GMT MySpace, the once giant social network has been sold by News Corp. for $35 million to the advertising network Specific Media. News Corp. new it would take a loss on MySpace, and it rushed to sell the property before the end of the fiscal year. The original asking price was said to be in the neighborhood of $100 million, but according to the report, News Corp. has accepted the offer from Specific Advertising for $35 million with the provision that News Corp. will retain a small stake in the company of less than 5-percent. Shanti Neetha Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:33:21 GMT Google introduced its long-anticipated social networking service, the Google+ project, underscoring its commitment to social computing. Google+ is not so much an answer to Facebook as it is an effort to erase doubt that Google's platform can support social interaction. Shanti Neetha Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:23:12 GMT A group charged with overseeing the development of the Internet voted to relax the rules on website naming conventions -- potentially triggering a virtual domain name gold rush to rival the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. At a meeting in Singapore, the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved the change to allow domain names using any combination of letters and numbers, including non-Latin characters. Shanti Neetha Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:23:12 GMT The RockMelt Web browser, which is based on the Google Chrome engine, is designed to be a tool for surfing the social Web. With deep integration into Facebook, along with capabilities to work with Twitter, RockMelt makes it possible to have a constant view into your social connections while using websites and Web applications. Shanti Neetha Sat, 07 May 2011 08:35:42 GMT A mobile phone application could help monitor the way infectious diseases such as flu are spread.The FluPhone app was developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. Shanti Neetha Wed, 04 May 2011 09:05:33 GMT The recent launch of The New York Times paywall has prompted debates about the viability and fairness of paying for news online. Are publications unrealistic about subscription prices? Should the community rally to support journalism? Is it worth paying for? But the biggest question that lingers in an everyday web reader’s mind is much simpler: “Will clicking on this link bring me to a story?” Shanti Neetha Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:35:42 GMT First came a great search engine. Then a world-beating ad platform, a hugely popular e-mail service, a great news aggregator, and then a customized Pac-Man game. And now, meet Google's latest masterpiece, it's first--and maybe last--silent film. To help commemorate Charlie Chaplin's 122nd birthday today, Google's Doodle team decided to go where it's never gone before, and offered up, as a replacement for the search giant's standard logo, its homage to the Tramp. Shanti Neetha Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:13:42 GMT How individual cancer patients respond to treatment depends in part on the patient's medical history, therapies they've already tried, whether the cancer has spread, and their tumor's molecular makeup. A free Web-based application aims to help patients get more personalized treatments and provide doctors with more timely cancer research information. Shanti Neetha Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:45:12 GMT While it’s been widely reported that teens no longer use email, it seems that attitudes to email are changing in workplace, too. According to a new GigaOM Pro report, The Future of Workplaces (subscription required), which surveyed 1,000 decision makers and end-users about the ways that workplaces are changing, workers don’t necessarily believe email will continue to be such a critical tool in the future Shanti Neetha Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:12:56 GMT Channel Intelligence, a developer of e-commerce software and services for manufacturers and retailers, today unveiled CI Where to Buy Facebook, an application to help manufacturers use the social media site to connect potential buyers to retailers that sell their products. Shanti Neetha Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:45:12 GMT IDC recently conducted a survey of IT consumerization trends. The survey found that consumerization is well underway - among the findings is the fact that 95% of the workers who responded have used technology they purchased themselves for work. However, there is a disconnect between employees and employers about how consumer technologies are used in the enterprise. Shanti Neetha Fri, 01 Apr 2011 07:12:56 GMT Facebook, Twitter, and other social channels are changing the way companies interact with customers, says Alex Dayon, executive VP of customer relationship management at Salesforce.com. Shanti Neetha Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:34:56 GMT Microsoft Bing, the number two search engine on the Web, announced this morning that it has begun including Tweets within news results and and a tighter Facebook integration in its search results. Shanti Neetha Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:14:14 GMT Google knew years ago that its ever-changing, topical logos would be a hit – and that’s why it decided to patent them. Way back in 2000, Google co-founder Sergey Brin filed to patent Google Doodles in an application titled “Systems and methods for enticing users to access a web site.” Shanti Neetha Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:34:56 GMT Google Docs has always been an easy way to collaborate over a documents because many users can access the documents at the same time. But today, Google is stepping up the collaboration factor with more structured, threaded discussions. While previously users could add comments in Google Documents, today, Google is upgrading these comments to an actual discussions-like format within the document. Shanti Neetha Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:34:56 GMT Facebook has acquired both the product and the team, and the plan is apparently to keep the service open for now. With past acquisitions, Facebook has only acquired companies for their talent. But this time it’s apparently a bit different, as they’re interested in both the talent and the technology behind Beluga. Shanti Neetha Sat, 12 Mar 2011 09:34:56 GMT Google kicked off the Year of the Rabbit with a beta version of Chrome 10. Today(8th March), the company is launching a stable release of the upgraded desktop browser solution, which it points out comes with a speed boost that corresponds to a 66% improvement in JavaScript performance on the V8 benchmark suite. The browser comes not only with speed improvements but also a simpler settings interface (see video) and an extension of Chrome’s sandboxing tech to the integrated Flash Player. Shanti Neetha Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:05:40 GMT Google Maps Navigation, a beta feature available in the Google Maps app in the Android Market, provides free voice-guided navigation assistance to users of Android mobile phones. Previously, the app tried to recommend the quickest way to reach one's destination but it didn't account for traffic conditions. Shanti Neetha Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:35:42 GMT Enterprises are embracing social customer relationship management (CRM) software, with four in 10 leading businesses expected to adopt this technology within five years as part of their ongoing efforts to improve customer service, according to Gartner. Within the next 24 months, 30% of leading enterprises will incorporate social CRM, the research firm said. Shanti Neetha Fri, 04 Mar 2011 09:25:42 GMT In another of its big bets, IBM announced a battery of new software and a slew of new customers said to be proving the value of taking a smarter approach. For organizations managing lots of big buildings, smarter means heating and cooling with optimum efficiency and handling maintenance in a preemptive fashion that minimizes cost and disruption. Shanti Neetha Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:13:42 GMT Google Inc is preparing to test a new prepaid coupon and offer service in a bid to better compete in the fast-growing market for local online advertising, the Wall Street Journal reported. The world's top Internet search company is talking to small business owners to solicit their support for a test of an offers program, the report said. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:57:24 GMT The explosive growth of online video over the past couple of years has begun to unravel the way both businesses and consumers have used and paid for Internet access over the past decade. Although past Internet growth has been exponential, the deluge of video that is coming in the next decade has already forced a series of legal, regulatory, and business disputes that have set the stage for significant changes for the next decade of video on the Internet. Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:54:32 GMT Google, which gave people a closer perspective of the world through Google Earth and Street View brought people a new way to view themselves with the beta release of Body Browser, a three-dimensional model that lets users zoom in and out of the human form, remove layers, and explore the body. Shanti Neetha Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:15:35 GMT Facebook unveiled a new messaging platform Monday that takes aim at one of the Internet's first applications, e-mail. Though CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn't go as far as declaring e-mail dead, he sees the four-decade-old technology as secondary to more seamless, faster ways of communicating such as text messages and chats. In other words, Facebook is betting that today's high school students are on to something. EMI NOVAH Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:22:10 GMT Internet browsers have recently become a very mainstream technological decision. Some information on a new browser called RockMelt is released. RockMelt is meant to be a way to integrate Facebook and other social media sites into your web browsing experience. RockMelt will essentially keep you constantly connected to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other networks so while online you never lose track of what is going on. EMI NOVAH Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:05:22 GMT Google said it plans to introduce Place Search, a geo-centric format for search results. The idea is to organize search results around a specific location, a service that's particularly valuable for those conducting searches through mobile devices. Emi Noah Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:16:48 GMT Yahoo is rolling out a new search experience today, making its web search more streamlined and visual, improving its mobile search and adding a list of hot search topics to its front page. Now, when you search for entertainment or news-related topics, instead of a long list of results, you’ll get a box with vertical tabs that give you several different ways to examine the topic. Emi Noah Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:46:22 GMT Before a crowd of about 200 journalists and industry partners, Microsoft introduced the public beta of Windows Internet Explorer 9, latest iteration of its Web browser and proof that the company can still compete. IE9's Pinned Sites feature, for example, is sure to create headaches at Google. Emi Noah Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:24:45 GMT Google demonstrated Google Instant, a reinvention of the online search experience that delivers search results as the user types. Fast has been Google's watchword for years because speed tends to mean user satisfaction. Google Instant represents the company's latest effort to accelerate search to the point of prediction: Google is presenting search results before the user has completely entered a query. Emi Noah Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:45:01 GMT Facebook's privacy controls offer less privacy than one might expect. In an e-mail message posted to the Full Disclosure mailing list, Atul Agarwal, a security researcher and CEO of Secfence Technologies, describes how Facebook can be prompted to reveal user names and profile pictures even when user privacy settings have been set to conceal this information. Emi Novah Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:39:55 GMT With backing from several heavy hitters and an acquisition, Flipboard has kicked off its quest to become the new and vibrant way your browse your social media streams. Flipboard, which is now available in the iPad app store, is a start-up that calls itself the “world’s first social magazine.” It connects to your social media accounts — primarily Facebook and Twitter — and utilizes that information to create an interface that will feel familiar if you’re a magazine lover. It officially launches today(21st July). Flipboard takes popular news sources (specifically the ones you choose) as well as your Twitter and Facebook feed to provide to create a unique web browsing experience. Emi Novah Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:12:44 GMT If you're paranoid about snoops discovering your Web search terms and results, you'll have to start pointing your browser to another URL to use Google encrypted search. The search giant announced in a blog post on June 25 that its encrypted search service moved from https://google.com to https://encrypted.google.com. EMI NOVAH Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:42:06 GMT Microsoft has added a range of entertainment features to its Bing search pages as the company continues to try and differentiate itself from the competition. The changes were detailed in a blog post by Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president for Bing, who said that Microsoft is making a big push to add features that could lure enterprise users back from the "decision engine". EMI NOVAH Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:55:17 GMT As Skype prepares to roll out five-way video calling this week — an addition the company plans to charge for at a later date — it’s also thinking of monetizing the now free user-to-user web calling serving with advertisements. In an interview with The Telegraph, CEO Josh Silverman explains that the company, once again its own entity is challenged by its desire to keep Skypeto-Skype calls free and to maintain the quality of service. As a result, the Skype team is “seriously considering” including ads from third parties in order to continue to operate the service free of charge. Wed, 19 May 2010 08:37:58 GMT After months of testing and speculation, Google is finally releasing the next edition of Google search to the public, complete with a left-hand menu bar and even an update to the well-known Google logo. The new version of Google has some major differences, but the changes can be broken down into three groups: design changes, the addition of a left-hand navigation panel and a more “unified” search experience. Wed, 12 May 2010 10:52:49 GMT As Twitter celebrates its fourth birthday, Mashable thought it appropriate to analyze the five biggest twitter trends. Mashable says that there are indicators that give clue about what’s in store for the social network. Mashable is exploring the debut of @anywhere, looking at how Twitter is shaping the way we watch television, dissecting Twitter’s challenge to the newsroom, discussing international growth, and breaking down Twitter’s user base. Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:03:25 GMT Toronto based Sysomos has built a new location-based social search tool called ‘FourWhere’. FourWhere shows Foursquare tips and comments using Google Maps so you can search and discover what everyone is saying about nearby places.It’s a simple app with a powerful purpose. For those of us preparing to journey out to Austin for SXSW, FourWhere’s release couldn’t have come at a better time. A search around the downtown area yields comments with insightful information about restaurants and bars. Essentially the application offers a map-based search experience for socialites looking to plan a fun night out.Users simply input a location or address into FourWhere, right-click (control click) on the map and select display preferences. The map can display all comments nearby, all venues in the vicinity and/or remove venues without tips. Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:24:13 GMT Space — The final frontier, and all that jazz. As the folk over at the Hubble Telescope website say, “Your body may be trapped at your desk, but your imagination can roam the far reaches of the universe, thanks to the wonders of the web.”Here’s a spaced-out selection of sites and social media resources that will have you reading the thoughts of astronauts, taking a virtual tour of the International Space Station, and viewing galaxies far, far away. 1. Mission Control: Space Agencies on the Web 2. Online Observatories 3. Cosmic Connections on Facebook and Twitter 4. Void-Filling Video 5. An Astronomically Cool App Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:44:10 GMT Speaking at the Digital Landscapes conference at UCD, European Director of Google’s online sales John Herlihy said that Google is mostly oriented towards mobile devices, claiming they’ll become more important than desktop PCs. “In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant. In Japan, most research is done today on smart phones, not PCs,” he said. True, with Android and Nexus One Google has shown a commitment to extend its dominance from the online world to the mobile world. But will desktop PCs really become irrelevant? Depends on how you look at it. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:54:09 GMT Wikisky is an Internet website that allows you to imagine yourself viewing the Universe through one of the most powerful telescopes in the world. By changing the scale with your mouse, you can watch the entire sky in one window and receive the detailed images of distant galaxies and nebulas in another. Just click on an interesting object and you will get the detailed scientific information about it. The site presents information about more than 500,000,000 objects in the Universe. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:09:07 GMT An app that literally brings its users "talking pictures." Essentially, Fotobabble attaches an audio caption to any image you can upload. It's a cute, fun way to share and narrate photos with friends, and could even be useful for certain kinds of online businesses - for example, photographers who wanted to explain more information about a particular shot or online retailers who wanted to give potential customers details about a product. Currently, users can choose to share their creations across a wide variety of social networks or email; however, autosharing is not built in. The app is available as a web app for PC/Mac/etc. and as an iPhone app. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:09:44 GMT Mig33 is a mash-up, which mixes Web-based social networks with cell phone technology in a very interesting way. Mig33 lets users create profiles and interact with friends from their phones or their Web sites. You can also text chat with people through the Web interface or your mobile phone. There's also a VoIP angle, allowing you to make low-cost international calls using Mig33's phone app, or set up the call to connect on both ends using Mig33's third-party connection service. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:32:25 GMT Until now, if you wanted to use Google PowerMeter to track your energy usage, you had to hope your electric utility had or was willing to install a smart meter for you. Today, Google announced the availability of a device that puts your energy usage data into your own hands. The TED 5000 from Energy Inc. is a real-time electricity usage monitor that you can purchase and install yourself, with packages starting around $200. It can run the free Google PowerMeter tool, allowing you to check on your personal home energy data from any device that can access the web. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:59:02 GMT Imagine being able to control your computer or video game without needing to use a mouse or controller. Microsoft researchers have filed a patent for a muscle-based control scheme that does just that, and more — simple hand gestures could be used to do things like send commands to your MP3 player while jogging or open your car’s trunk remotely. The technology behind the system is called Electromyography, or EMG. Electrodes on the arms, legs, head or chest can be used to track muscle movements keyed to specific actions or commands sent to a computer, video game system, vehicle or other device to provide a “hands-free” control scheme. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:33:15 GMT Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:31:17 GMT Light Blue Optic’s Light Touch is a portable computer that turns any surface into a touchscreen. Using a process called holographic laser projection, a clear projected interface is created that users can interact with as they would any other device. Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:49:45 GMT Google TV is a new experience for television that combines the TV that you already know with the freedom and power of the Internet. With Google Chrome built in, you can access all of your favorite websites and easily move between television and the web. This opens up your TV from a few hundred channels to millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the web. Your television is also no longer confined to showing just video. With the entire Internet in your living room, your TV becomes more than a TV — it can be a photo slideshow viewer, a gaming console, a music player and much more. Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:58:12 GMT There's only so much we can learn from the comfort of our computer screens. At some point, we've got to venture into the unknown, embark on something new and explore the world around us. Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, there a few different tools to aid you in your journeys: Joobili, Triporama, Air BnB, AMap.to, Posse Up Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:00:27 GMT Cloud computing is a new trend in computing which being embraced by both businesses and individuals. Cloud Computing refers to accessing application programs, such as word processing, spreadsheets, etc., on the Internet and the creating, storing and editing of files on the Internet. Essentially, cloud computing utilizes third party servers on the Internet rather than your computer's hard drive for this purpose. The term cloud computing comes from the fact that, on drawings of computer network layouts the Internet has always been depicted as a cloud. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:16:57 GMT With the housing market in such rough shape, sellers are pressed to make their home as functional and inviting as possible. For everything from quick fixes and complete remodels, do-it-yourselfers are increasingly looking online for design guidance. Armstrong design tools, Color a room, Dec designer, design Basics, Google sketchUp Pro 7 are some of the online tools which will help you create the designs you've always wanted. It lets you pick any room in an imaginary home, and mix and match potential wall colors, flooring, trim, countertops. You can search for floor plans based on the number of bedrooms you're looking for with 3D designs. Once you change everything in the room to fit your desires, you can save and share it with friends. Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:08:32 GMT Mastering the telephone has always been “job one” for journalists. It doesn’t take long for a budding reporter to become painfully familiar with research hazards involving heavy phone use. There are the high costs associated with calling sources scattered across the country; the occasional missed call that was crucial to completing a story on deadline; or even the harried scramble for a tape recorder, fresh batteries and connectors required to record an interview. Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:35:48 GMT Online music collaboration services allow you to play, rehearse and record music with remotely connected like-minded people from around the world. You connect with other musicians, vocalists, songwriters and even to your own music fans to create the music you like either in real-time or asynchronously. You can also exchange ideas, discover new music from other independent artists and experiment freely without the pressure coming from knowing that you are renting an expensive recording studio. Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:08:06 GMT Imagine an online historical atlas where each historical event would be mapped and annotated with text, diagrams, pictures, videoclips, and audiofiles. Imagine a site where people interested in the same historical events, places, monuments or periods can network. Imagine a service that would deliver to your cell phone information about any spot on the planet you might find yourself near. Imagine a room with life-size screens on which virtual models of the ancient Roman Forum would be projected and interacted with in 3d. Now imagine people using cell phones, desktop or laptop computers, or full immersion 3d virtual reality models and talking to each other *through* the atlas, allowing them to share impressions, passions and ideas as they contribute, edit, or consume the atlas' contents. These ideas do not belong to the realm of science fiction. They are the product of the Visible Past project, initiated by a group of faculty at Purdue University. Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:45:23 GMT Too busy to get out to your favorite golf course? Too on-the-go to play video games? Tiger Woods has the answer in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online. This special version of the long-running golf series allows you to play the game online in a web browser, so there's no need to have a big-rig computer or carry around your PlayStation 3. If you've got Internet access, you can pop on and play. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online will require a monthly subscription and starts out with several championship courses like Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass and St. Andrews. New courses will be available on a regular basis. One part game and one part social network, you'll be able to connect with fans and friends from around the world and go up against them in online matches and tournaments. The game is also built from the ground up for the casual and busy game player, so you'll be able to pause gameplay and resume when you have the time. Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:08:11 GMT Innovation at the search major Yahoo continues with recent unveiling of a mashup for news on a 3D map of earth as it happens around the globe. Dubbed NewsGlobe, the new feature that allows users to watch news on a three dimensional model of earth. The news tool works in an interactive or automatic mode and makes use of News feeds, Yahoo maps and ActionScript libraries. There is the fact that this feature is more of a proof of concept and does not represent any ground breaking technology. There a lot more applications that can perhaps take off from here. The product competes with Google’s mashup offerings. The tool could be also used as a desktop standalone. Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:06:21 GMT Teachers are always trying to combat student apathy, especially during a class discussion. But for History Professor, Monica Rankin, University of Texas, it is no more a challenge. She has found an interesting way to do it using Twitter in the classroom. Rankin uses a weekly hashtag to organize comments, questions and feedback posted by students to Twitter during class. She then projects a giant image of live Tweets in the front of the class for discussion and suggests that students refer back to the messages later when studying. The Professor's results so far have been mixed but it is clear that more students are participating in classroom discussions than they used to. Rankin's experiment is similar to another effort at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, written up this Spring in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Another related example is available from Marquette University. Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:29:28 GMT A new internet service that allows people to virtually wander around cities is launched by Google in the UK. Google Street View uses millions of 3D video images that are stitched together to create a virtual replica of city streets. Users of the new website can either browse maps of towns before clicking on a street view, or type in an address or postcode. By clicking on arrows on the screen, users will feel like they are walking down the street and will be able to look right, left or behind them during their virtual tour. Street scenes in 25 UK cities from Aberdeen to Southampton can be viewed using the service. The Netherlands version of the service was also launched, bringing the number of countries covered to nine. The imagery available comprises video taken along 22,369 miles of UK streets by customised camera cars. It believes Street View will be popular with tourists picking holiday destinations, house buyers wanting to explore neighborhoods, and shoppers trying to find stores. Thu, 28 May 2009 07:01:00 GMT 2008 has been the year TV networks finally embraced the Web. What is this concept tagged? Internet television – it is television distributed through the Internet. Internet television allows viewers to choose the show they want to watch from a library of shows. The recent rapid growth of fast broadband access, accelerated computer power and larger storage capacity has turned Internet TV into a real opportunity for service providers who want to open new revenue streams and increase average revenue per user. As 2008 came to an end, nearly every broadcaster posts its shows online within half a day of first airing them on TV. And the audience for such programming is growing, especially among desirable younger demographics. Tue, 26 May 2009 07:13:43 GMT What is Desktop Virtualization? Desktop virtualization is the use of virtual machines to let multiple network subscribers maintain individualized desktops on a single, centrally located computer or server. As every IT administrator knows, managing employees' desktops and laptops can be a huge hassle. Even with management tools to help, applying patches to the operating system (OS) or even upgrading applications can be a time- and labor-intensive task. But Desktop virtualization can alleviate that by allowing administrators to provide just a few virtual machine (VM) images, or templates for VMs, which all employees use. Other benefits of desktop virtualization include increased security and a way to let employees control their computer environments while also allowing IT to lock down business-related functions and gives IT administrators an easy and centralized way to manage employees' computers. This new approach is also helpful if an employee is working from home. Thu, 21 May 2009 08:05:35 GMT The 81-year-old Pope has shown no fear or hesitation when it comes to voicing his view on modern issues and embracing technology, culminating in the rather stunning announcement that His Holiness has now created his very own YouTube channel. To top off his technological embrace, Benedict also gave social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace his official blessing, calling them a “gift to humanity” in their ability to foster friendships and connections. Video footage and audio of addresses by Pope Benedict XVI, as well as news about the Holy See, will be posted directly onto the video sharing website. The material, aimed at everyone from devout Catholics to the curious browser, will be supplied by Vatican Radio and the Vatican's television centre in collaboration with Google, which owns YouTube. It is the Vatican's biggest plunge into new media, although it is not the first time that the city state has embraced the web in order to spread the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Mon, 18 May 2009 13:45:08 GMT Having a ‘Fan Page’ in Facebook is an emerging trend in the PR industry & of course companies are reaping the benefits of having one. Fan Pages were launched in November 2007 to give brands an official presence on the social network. One of the fastest growing Fan pages not surprisingly belonged to Barack Obama fan page in the lead up to the historical US presidential election, attracting more than 4.5 million fans. So, what are the benefits of having a Fan page? Here they are; your page goes public, it will include facebook.com link credit, you can reach your fans whenever you want, you have full control over the page, moreover it’s free & easy. Fri, 15 May 2009 13:49:16 GMT Adobe Systems unveiled a version of its Flash multimedia streaming technology that would allow people to run entertainment programming directly to television sets from the Internet, a new option for the rapidly changing digital-home market. Industry analyst Ben Bajarin, director of consumer technology for Creative Strategies, said the news is significant because it makes Flash the first enabling technology to allow entertainment providers to stream content directly to televisions. Currently, the way to get this kind of content onto televisions is mainly by hooking up a PC to a TV or set-top box, he said. This technology gives consumers more choice about what they watch, and also will provide an interface for how they can access content from their favorite TV network Web sites. Currently, if people want to use the Internet to watch TV, they have to go to different Web sites on a PC to find what they want to view. Wed, 13 May 2009 13:40:44 GMT Continuing the trend of online search, Google launched a new service that allows Internet users to explore the depths of the oceans from the comfort of their homes. With ocean in Google Earth, you can: 1. Dive beneath the surface and visit the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench, 2. Explore the ocean with top marine experts including National Geographic and BBC, 3. Learn about ocean observations, climate change, and endangered species 4. Discover new places including surf, dive, and travel hot spots and shipwrecks. In addition to Ocean, Google also introduced new features will enhance the way people interact with Google Earth and use it to communicate with the world. Fri, 08 May 2009 07:43:04 GMT While companies are in the hunt for profitable viral marketing strategies, the upcoming trend in the platform makes is stunning. Using the social media as homepage. Here is Skittles – who amazed the entire marketing industry with their approach of the new Skittles homepage. In short Skittles took their website and turned it into one big Social Media site. The homepage is nothing but a mashup of social media sites. The most popular is the twitter feed that shows anyone who uses the word Skittles. This is a very interesting hybrid approach from Skittles with respect to engaging with their customers & creating brand awareness. This social media campaign was effective in increasing the rainbow candy’s web site presence. Reports says that there is an 1332% increase in web visitors Mon, 04 May 2009 06:25:07 GMT One of the most interesting trends on the Internet right now is a move towards a more real-time experience. Let’s have a look at some of the most interesting services that already expose some of the promises of the real-time web. The First is Notifixious – its mission is to provide (almost) real-time updates when a blog or news organization posts a new story. Secondly comes the Monitter – it lets you simultaneously search for three keywords and it automatically updates whenever a new post with the keyword appears. Of course, the real-time web isn't just about consuming information - Google Docs, Zoho, MindMeister and many others allow you to collaborate and edit documents with your colleagues in real-time. As you make changes to the document, those changes will immediately be reflected on your fellow users' screens as well. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:17:07 GMT People who are isolated in their homes because of personal or family illness can now engage themselves in social networking. These networks enable them to forget their emotional & physical pain by just finding amity here. Now patients are also able to find information about their illness and also get help of a physician who interacts with patients online. Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:33:22 GMT Google has developed a new service called Latitude that will mean mobile phone users will be able to track their friends and family. Those using the tool will be able to see exactly where their contacts are on a detailed map, using their own phone or computer, and then watch as they move along streets. However, the launch has raised concerns about security. Google claims it has developed the software in order to answer the question most commonly asked by one mobile phone user to another: "Where are you?" Hugo Barra, group product manager for Google Mobile, said: "We believe this is the kind of technology that will allow people to meet up more spontaneously with people they happen to be around." Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:43:08 GMT ICANN's (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) upcoming sale of new domain real estate promises to open up new areas for businesses to establish their online presence and strengthen their brands. Simply put, the businesses may now exclusively own a suffix like .com of their own choice -- like .jobs, .dubai, .hotel, .arabian, .ibm or .sony, .casino, enabling extraordinary control to build global brands and corner markets with far-reaching cyber power, while creating hundreds of own sub-brands to generate new revenue streams. The overall costs of acquiring exclusive global rights under this platform are highly affordable, compared to the millions wasted in advertising, or fighting trademark and domain battles. Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:12:09 GMT Every year IBM releases a "Next Five in Five" list, a list of innovations that "have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years". This is the third such list, and it mentions a "Talking Web" among the 5 items. You will talk to the Web and the Web will talk back, according to IBM. In the future "you will be able to surf the Internet, hands-free, by using your voice - therefore eliminating the need for visuals or keypads." In fact this is already starting to happen, as recent iPhone releases from Google and Say Where show. We can definitely see the potential in a Talking Web - responding to emails quickly using voice, searching the web by barking orders into your computer / phone, composing blog posts by dictating, and so on. n the future, through the use of “VoiceSites,” people without access to a personal computer and Internet, or who are unable to read or write will be able to take advantage of all the benefits and conveniences the Web has to offer." Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:41:24 GMT Open Contacts is an advanced address book program for managing contact info of individuals and organizations with relationships. Distributed as freeware, the program was designed for people who need more beyond legacy address book programs in order to improve dynamic interactions with contacts. In addition, with SyncML for Open Contacts and a Funambol server, you may synchronize contact info with smart phone, PDA and Web address books etc. Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:48:10 GMT One of the most apparent trends in this season is the emergence of several new intelligent web services. In this transitional period between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, the tools of the future web are just now being revealed. Although at first glance some of these services and applications may seem somewhat incomplete, in many cases they actually represent years worth of work to have reached the point they're at now. These are no simple Web 2.0 applications, these are highly complex and intelligent tools of tomorrow's smarter web. Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:36:59 GMT Rising foreclosures, tumbling stocks, surging job losses, and other symptoms of the recession are adding to people's stress and anxiety levels. To cope, Internet users are increasingly finding an outlet through online social media. Social networks aimed at helping people work together are proving particularly useful amid a recession that's leaving some feeling helpless. Marlin Potash, a New York psychiatrist who counsels workers exiting senior positions, primarily from the financial and media industries recommends that some clients use social networking sites because they provide a kind of "halfway house" between comfort and social immersion. Sat, 28 Feb 2009 07:20:15 GMT Plentitube aspires to be the middleman for the YouTube generation, helping online content creators find a way to pull in revenue. In the age of YouTube, online video has opened a world of possibilities for artists like the McFadden brothers. Before they signed on with Plentitube, the McFadden brothers managed to license a few shorts with Viacom's (VIA) Comedy Central and with Web players such as Atom.com. They've pulled in some revenue from advertisements shown on their videos on Google's (GOOG) YouTube. And they have been trying to break into the big leagues by working on an informal basis with UTA Online, the division of Hollywood agency United Talent that represents Web talent. But soon after joining Plentitube, the brothers scored the biggest deal of their careers, striking a deal with Time Warner's (TWX) Cinemax in the low six figures to license eight new episodes of their animated series Eli's Dirty Jokes. Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:09:01 GMT HopeLab, a nonprofit organization released Re-Mission, a shoot 'em up game with a difference in an attempt to help cancer afflicted teenagers stick to their medication. Last year, clinical evidence was published in the medical journal Pediatrics showing the game is a success. Re-Mission players pilot a nanobot named Roxxi as she travels through the bodies of cancer patients destroying cancer cells, battling bacterial infections and managing the side effects of cancer. Re-Mission is available to young people with cancer free of charge. Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:56:45 GMT YouTube has conducted the world's first online orchestra. The YouTube Symphony Orchestra brought musicians together with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, composer Tan Dun, pianist Lang Lang and various members of the London Symphony Orchestra. After participating in a learning summit in April, the orchestra will move on to a live performance at Carnegie Hall. Musicians sent their video submissions performing two pieces: The Internet Symphony by Tan Dun and a classical piece of their own choosing. Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:58:59 GMT President-elect Barack Obama plans to tape a weekly address not just for radio listeners, as presidents have for years, but for YouTube Internet viewers, too. Connecting the White House hearth to the American home, Franklin Roosevelt talked to the people through the radio, with crackling broadcasts delivered near a crackling fire. John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan mastered television. For Obama, who built a big part of his campaign on the Internet, it's YouTube. The videos are part of the team's effort to build on a campaign model that helped Obama reach millions of voters online during the presidential race. It's a potentially powerful electronic tool in new digital outreach effort aimed at supporters and others interested in being connected to the activities of the Obama White House. The Web site and videos allow him to bypass the traditional media and reinforce his message online. On the campaign trail, Obama promised to use the Internet to make his administration more open and interactive, offering a detailed look at what's going on in the White House on a given day or asking people to post comments on his legislative proposals. Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:54:05 GMT In space, no one can hear you scream. But you will be able to send e-mail, thanks to a new protocol being developed for use there. It's hard to maintain a stable connection in orbit, so the interplanetary Internet will have to be especially tolerant of delays and disruptions. Last September, a satellite used the new protocol to relay an image of the Cape of Good Hope back to Earth. Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:02:10 GMT In September, a group of high-tech companies that includes Cisco and Sun formed the IP for Smart Objects Alliance. Simply put, the organization intends to create a new kind of network that will allow sensor-enabled physical objects — appliances in home, products in a factory, cars in a city — to talk to one another, the same way people communicate over the Internet. Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:05:25 GMT During the election season, Barack Obama's campaign got a lot of kudos for its use of social media tools. As we noted in our post entitled Obama's Social Media Advantage, both Presidential candidates used the web and social media tools to connect to their followers and organize their campaigns - but Obama got much more mileage out of it. Furthermore, after the election result Obama's team immediately launched change.gov. It's a new site for the President-Elect that appears to be crowdsourcing the political agenda, for example by asking the American people to share their stories and their goals. Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:03:55 GMT A new study says Google Trends has the capacity as a scientific research tool that may help people understand how the public uses the Web to find health information. Despite the limitations of the tool, which provides access to worldwide public search data from 2004 to the present, Ball State University researchers provided a paper saying they have found several trends. Future papers will look into whether Google makes any changes or alterations to the application in response to user needs. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:34:07 GMT Mobile 2.0 implies delivering mobile content and personalizing the content. In fact, it is about combining Web 2.0 with the mobile device. There is a little difference between bringing Web 2.0 to the mobile and combining mobile devices and Web 2.0 to create Mobile 2.0. Mobile 2.0 is the union of the Web 2.0 philosophy and mobile devices. The focus of mobile 2.0 is controlling Web 2.0 to take advantage of the strengths of our mobile devices. It is the recognition that a mobile device is not a personal computer and shouldn't be treated like one. Also, it is about leveraging social media with the benefits that come with the special capabilities of our devices like cameras and GPS. And Mobile 2.0 is about being smart by recognizing where we are and showing relevant information related to that place. Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:35:58 GMT The semantic web is heralded to play a pivotal role in the internet of tomorrow. The internet in 2020 will be a place of even greater transparency. It would be hard to think that the Semantic Web – the web of linked data – isn’t going to have a great effect on information transparency. Individuals will be able to retrieve whatever data they need, whether it is on their desktop, the web, or someone else's system -- assuming they have the authorization for it. The role semantic technology has to play in that is, by enabling computers to interpret the meaning and context of words and numbers, you can enable rules-based policy access that resides within a system rather than with an individual, and you can do it in a scalable way. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:59:36 GMT The lustrous looking MiFi, which is the same size as a credit card, allows users to select access to EVDO or HSPA high speed data networks. This high-speed internet connectivity that MiFi offers can be shared not only between users, but between devices such as laptops, cameras, gaming devices and multimedia players. In addition to being a portable Internet hotspot, the MiFi has an onboard Linux processor capable of hosting software applications and additional content storage capabilities via MicroSD. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:57:49 GMT It may have been an interesting experiment to play online computer games where the hype is in communicating with random strangers. But now the situation has melted down and we can find that such games only attract a particular set of people. Also, it should be noted that this scenario will not cater to the needs of the people similar to the 3D web. Some of the most creative developments in 3D technology consist of advances made in mapping. Also this year, there have been some advances in the usage of 3D to deliver better visual browsing experiences. Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:56:26 GMT If the US election in 2008 has proven anything, it's that whoever has the upper hand in using the internet to his or her advantage will probably walk away with a victory. Many of the media outlets influencing the 2008 election simply were not around in 2004. YouTube did not exist, and Facebook barely reached beyond the Ivy League. There was no Huffington Post to encourage citizen reporters. But now, politically oriented videos, much of it topical and much of the juicier bits lifted from network programming, is everywhere on the Web. YouTube videos mentioning either Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain have been viewed 2.3 billion times, according to the measurement firm TubeMogul. Given the profound change in the media landscape in just four years, in 2012, voters will be following the election through news sites that have not been invented on platforms that cannot be anticipated. All this denotes that web has changed the political world. Emi Novah Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:47:21 GMT Carpooling also known as car-sharing, ride-sharing, lift-sharing that started in the mid 1970’s is now the hip in the form of social networks. GoLoco.org is an online service that leverages the immensely popular Facebook platform to create a very efficient car sharing system. It is now linking the worlds of social networking and transport design, underpinned by an environmentally aware philosophy. Its mission is simple: to connect drivers with passengers and thus instantly cut down the number of cars on the road. Facebook’s primary audience, college students, provides an ideal demographic for ride-sharing—they’re young, they care about the cost and environmental impact of transport, and they’re already comfortable with the nuances of social networking. For this demographic, it’s the obvious alternative to the paper-based college ride board of yore. Emi Novah Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:50:52 GMT Skype has announced SkypeTM 3.1 for Windows, introducing SkypeFindTM and Skype PrimeTM (Beta), giving people new ways to share knowledge with one another. These new additions take Skype beyond simple voice and video calls into new markets where access to expertise and knowledge are essential commodities. In less than four years, Skype has become a vibrant community of over 171 million registered users worldwide. SkypeFind is the latest in a series of features that give people more to do and share online. It marks a new wave in Internet communications that goes far beyond just talking or chatting. Designed to be a community generated guide SkypeFind, lets users rate, review and log their favorite businesses no matter where they live. Emi Novah Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:16:12 GMT A remote, online, or managed backup service is a service that provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files. Managed backup providers are companies that provide this type of service. Opened File Backup, Multi-platform, Multi-site, Continuous backup, Online Access to files, Data Compression, Differential Data Compression are the added features of this online backup services. These online backup services have advantages over traditional backup methods. Emi Novah Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:44:31 GMT Crowdsourcing is a new trend that allows customers to help design the products t by using the web. Crowdsourcing is the unofficial name of an IT-enabled trend in which companies get unpaid or low-paid amateurs to design products, create content and even tackle corporate R&D problems in their spare time. A T-shirt company called Threadless whose design process consists entirely of an online contest, receives hundreds of submissions very week from amateur and professional artists which has boosted the company’s profit; this success story has prompted other firms to explore how the model might work for them. So now Crowdsourcing is on the rise. Emi Novah Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:19:18 GMT Businesses are quickly discovering that if they want to reach the youngest demographic, Generation Y (born after 1979), they had best get online. The reason behind is Social media: What began as a way to "hang out" with friends online has morphed into an entirely new platform for communication, information sharing, and marketing. Increasingly employers are realizing that social media can offer great value in connecting both with people outside their company, and also internally, enhancing employee communication and collaboration. Emi Novah Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:10:48 GMT Though by no means cutting edge in the usual sense... scissors and related tools help drive the $30 billion craft and hobby industry (per the Craft & Hobby Association). Fiskars Brands, Inc., a global brand based in Helsinki, Finland, with U.S. headquarters in Madison, WI, was losing sales of craft tools—including its famed specialized scissors—to commoditized, cheaper products available in Wal-Mart and other chain stores. The solution? Create a community of Fiskars supporters who could spread the word that authentic Fiskars products are worth not only their price but also any special effort to obtain them. And target younger consumers, who are more active online. The goals of the Fiskars campaign; Increase awareness and credibility, Increase online conversations and create a community of hundreds of empowered, kindred spirits. Emi Novah Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:55:53 GMT Skyfire is a free, downloadable mobile web browser that allow users to experience the internet on the phone exactly like on PC, with unprecedented speed and simplicity – without the typical restrictions and limitations that current ‘mobile web’ efforts offer. It’s “The Web”, not some mobile web. With Skyfire on the phone the user can for the first time ever shop, watch web video; listen to web music and stay connected to their social network. Skyfire gives speedy page loads, full audio, images and video. From Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube to Hulu - it's the full web experienced on the mobile. Emi Novah Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:36:38 GMT Enterprise 2.0 is a push toward integrating the social and collaborative tools of Web 2.0 into the office environment, but Enterprise 2.0 also represents a fundamental change in how businesses operate. In the traditional corporate environment, information flows through an ordered path. Information is passed down the chain from the top to the bottom, and suggestions made from the bottom flow toward the top. Enterprise 2.0 changes this structured order and creates controlled chaos. In an Enterprise 2.0 structure, information flows laterally as well as up and down. In essence, it cuts the chains that hold back collaboration in a traditional office environment. Emi Novah Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:18:30 GMT Successful Entrepreneurs use teleseminars as a perfect way to boost their internet marketing lists. Teleseminars provide information, training, or promote or sell products to group of people interested in a particular topic. They’re similar to traditional seminars in content and purpose, but they’re given over a teleconference or bridge line rather than at a specific location. Audiences like Teleseminars because they don’t require the hassle or expense of traveling to a live seminar. And Teleseminars allow the trainer to train several hundred (paying) participants at once. It’s a very cost-effective delivery method. Emi Novah Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:35:13 GMT GeoSearch News is an entirely new way for people to find news on the web. It combines the unique power of geographic search with keyword search and is the single place to find current news stories, from a wide variety of sources, about any place, quickly. GeoSearch News provides users a single site where they can learn what is happening now at any destination in the world just by clicking an interactive map. Emi Novah Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:24:40 GMT A web mashup is a web application that takes information from one or more sources and presents it in a new way or with a unique layout. Web mashups are skyrocketing in popularity. A mashup's ability to take information from different areas of the web such as Google Maps and Twitter and combine that information into a small application can create some unique, useful and downright entertaining results. The best mashups are both visually appealing and either useful or, at least, entertaining to the point of need. Emi Novah Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:58:07 GMT Wiki are classified into 3; Reference Wiki (Wikiepedia, etc), Business Wiki and Game Wiki . The business wiki is one of the most powerful Enterprise 2.0 tools and is capable of transforming the nature of communication within a company. While normal corporate communication flows in a straight line, often from top to bottom, a business wiki can create a synergy of communication that flows from the bottom up. More than just keeping employees around the world informed, a global wiki can provide a method for teams with members in different locations to work together seamlessly and share information on a project. Emi Novah Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:19:41 GMT Developed by the Canadian company Idee, the TinEye search engine is a fantastic breakthrough in the realm of search engines that allows users to search for their photographs anywhere on the Internet. Users are able to actually search for a picture by uploading it, and then having the program run a pixel by pixel search across the Net. All found instances of the image are flagged, regardless of whether it has been cropped, merged or digitally altered in any way. TinEye does for images what Google does for text. It is not limited by words, Google can only find an image if a particular search word is in proximity to it. Emi Novah Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:53:07 GMT IBM currently implements a social network called "Beehive" within its W3 intranet. The core focus of W3 is to change the culture of the entire organization through the use of collaboration and innovation. Currently, 85% of IBM's 380,000 employees use W3. Beehive is intended to allow employees to establish social and professional connection. However, for IBM, the purpose of the network isn't to offer ROI: Its sole purpose is to build networks, friends, and culture. Emi Novah Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:39:36 GMT The internet jukebox and music search engine “Songza” now utilizes “Facebook Applications and Interfaces” to help users to find any songs on the web and stream it immediately. Apart from this it enables the users to see what each other are listening on “Songza” and also helps developers to build applications based on “Songza” data. However, the best thing about Songza is that the user can listen to a song as many times as they want in its entirety, unlike Last.fm, whose on-demand service lets the user play any particular song, too, but only in full three times before receiving a prompt to purchase it. Emi Novah Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:05:34 GMT While companies may struggle to catch on with social media, the government seems to be taking steps to do the same. According to the latest Qik blog update, both livestreaming and twittering recently took place on the floor of Congress in Capitol Hill where Qik received a nice share of coverage from First Congressman John Culberson. The livestream was embedded on the CSPAN homepage with plenty of comments and discussions going on in the video's chat. First Congressman John Culberson actually has a nice selection of livestreams from various political personnel. Culberson also has a Twitter account, where he is active with a host of followers and followings. Emi Novah Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:26:27 GMT Social Gaming Network (SGN) has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation for the release of their new game ‘Space Movers’: The Bloom Initiative. SGN will donate up to $50,000 to the Arbor Day Foundation, which is the equivalent of planting 50,000 new trees. Gamers can also donate money directly to the foundation from within the game. The game is available on Facebook and there are plans to also release it on MySpace and Bebo in the near future. It's a neat way to tie in social gaming and social awareness and let people help the environment while having fun. Emi Novah Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:43:08 GMT The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research performed a study of social media adoption at 500 of the fastest growing companies in the US and has found that familiarity with and use of blogs, podcasting, wikis, online video and social networking has skyrocketed in 2008 to nearly double what it was in 2007. 77% of respondents now report at least some use of a social media tool in their business. Emi Novah Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:15:02 GMT Practice Fusion is a startup making waves in the health 2.0 market. The product is a free, web-based EMR (electronic medical record) system for physicians. It runs in the browser and has been marketed as a 'Google Apps for doctors', providing patient management, scheduling, secure email and more. Emi Novah Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:50:42 GMT A little bling for the blog or a way to spice up the personalized start page, widget games are a great addition that provides entertainment and fun as well as great decoration. Free game widgets can increase the traffic to blogs by attracting new users and inviting regulars to stick around for a bit and play a few games. Emi Novah Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:29:52 GMT