Gadgets Blog » Internet

Yahoo! Cuts Back Workforce and Eliminates a Program

brock — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:14:21 +0000

I remember the days before Google, when you went to Yahoo! if you wanted to find something on the Internet. Yahoo! was the go-to place for everything. You could get e-mail, news and more, all at a single site, and we loved it.

When Google came along, it became a battle between the two sites for supremacy, and after a few years, Yahoo! settled itself into second place and seemed content. Google came out with all their extras like documents, maps, etc., and Yahoo! tweaked its site, adding music videos and other extras, but it never could overtake Google.

Recently, Yahoo! felt the pinch of the tight economy and released 4 percent of its workforce in addition to dropping Buzz, Delicious and AltaVista. Buzz I can completely understand, because it never did take off and become what the developers wanted it to be. AltaVista, who even remembers AltaVista? The surprising cut was the social bookmarking site Delicious.

Delicious was created in 2003 as its own entity, but was acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. While still a favorite among bookmarkers, its traffic has seen a steady decline since 2005, as a number of social bookmarking sites began sprouting up, and the thrill of bookmarking began to wear off.

What do these layoffs and program cuts mean for Yahoo!? Could this be the beginning of a death knell for one of the first major search engines on the Internet? Yahoo! has weathered much over the years, from bad economies to dot-com catastrophes, and I don’t expect this little hiccup to bring it down completely.

Yahoo! has many options left, including Chapter 11 bankruptcy and further cuts, and there is always the hope that it might be planning to roll out new services down the line. How awesome would it be for Google to eventually be toppled by Yahoo! Yeah, I know it’s a pipedream, but Google needs to be taken down a few pegs.

My guess is that they are restructuring to better manage the assets that are working well. I am still a fan of Yahoo! and use it regularly. I still use my yahoo.com e-mail account that I have had since college, even though now it’s mostly for spammy stuff that I don’t really want to read, anyway. It may not have the popularity that it once did, but I don’t see Yahoo! going anywhere for a long time.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/livenature/412180053

Tech Support: New Google Site Helps Kids Help Parents

emelie — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:07:38 +0000

You’ve all been here: sitting patiently and politely while you slowly teach your parents, grandparents and older aunts and uncles about the ins and outs of technology, namely, computers. Whether they don’t know how to copy and paste, change their screen saver or even search something on the Internet, you’ve been the go-to tech support.

But honestly, it gets tiring. We all know this. While we’re amazed, shocked or even impressed that our parents decided to use the computer in the first place, we’d be more impressed if they could do it by themselves. Without our help. Forever.

That’s why Google employee Jason Toff decided to make his new Web site, TeachParentsTech.org, which is geared toward assisting those who need some help in the tech department. And by some, we mean a lot. According to Toff, he was hard-pressed to find anyone without that same torturous story about bringing Mom and Dad up to speed.

I know I’ve certainly been there. While at the airport with my sister one day, she realized her flight was delayed. Wanting to know more, we called home looking for our brother to check the flight status online. (We are but humble non-cellular-Internet-using folk.) But, unfortunately, brother failed us this day, and was out with some friends. Instead, Dad picked up, and he couldn’t discern a mouse from a Web page if his life depended on it. My sister and I just settled for not knowing.

With TeachParentsTech.org, we never again have to deal with this horrible scenario. Why? Because we can select from over 50 how-to videos for beginners, teaching everything from how to share a big file to how to change your default homepage online. You can add personal notes and signatures, and a very patient (and easily rewindable) video narrator will walk them through the process as many times as they need.

While the concept is somewhat ridiculous and the letters are, admittedly, condescending toward the non-informed computer user, it is, nonetheless, helpful to me. And in the end, that’s all I really care about. Thanks, Google.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/gus/3414624413

Internet Outages: The Easiest Ways to Induce Heart Attack

brock — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 18:25:32 +0000

Last night, Comcast customers in Illinois, Indiana and other states experienced an Internet outage. We have a triple package with the cable conglomerate, and last night, as I diligently worked on items for Monday morning, I discovered that my Internet was out.

As someone who makes a living working from home, I understand that much of my work involves using the Internet. I use it for researching articles, contacting clients via e-mail and sending my work from place to place. I was actually finishing up a project when the Internet went out.

At first, I didn’t think much of it. I called the cable company and wasn’t able to get through. I kept getting a busy signal. I assumed it must be a pretty widespread problem to knock out their phone lines, so I just hunkered down, watched some television and thought it would be up in an hour or two.

I was wrong. By 11 p.m., I was officially in panic mode. There was no way I was going to be getting the money for the project I was working on by the morning. If the Internet was still out in the morning, then there was no way for me contact anyone to let them know my articles would not be coming.

If it was out longer, then I could lose all the money for that day, and that is not OK. I suddenly realized how dependent I was on the Internet. On most days, if there was a technical issue with my Internet, I could pack up my laptop and head to a Starbucks or the library.

Comcast provides high-speed Internet to almost everyone in the area, so when it goes out, there is nowhere to go. The funny thing is that I remember the days before the Internet. I was only in high school. Back then, the Internet was something fun but not really practical.

People were using it to chat in chat rooms and to check e-mail, but the real world business applications hadn’t been realized. If the outage had happened back then, would it have really mattered? Probably not. Flash forward about 10 years, and my life and livelihood are dependent on that connection.

I work on it, I watch movies on it, I talk with my friends on it. My children learn and play on it. My wife works on it. The only person in the house who doesn’t use it is the baby, but give him a year or two.

When midnight hit, the Internet was back on and the world was back to normal. I finished my work and went to bed confident in the knowledge that tomorrow things would be status quo. It’s funny how such a little thing could mean so much.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/crystaljingsr/3914728401

Online Advertising Trends: What’s Ahead for Us?

brock — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:46:10 +0000

When DVR first came on the scene, networks and advertisers were livid at the idea that customers would be able to just fast forward through their ads after they had spent millions on them. As DVR became an increasingly larger part of television viewing, advertisers and networks begrudgingly softened their views and began to take DVR viewership into account.

The Internet has always been an advertiser’s dream. You have banner ads that never move an inch, you have videos that require you to watch the ad before it plays and you have pop-ups for everything from travel agencies to “male enhancement” pills.

There appears to be a change in how ads are being marketed these days to give people more of a choice in the ads they see and watch. In one of the biggest coups, YouTube has made ads optional for viewing after five seconds by clicking on a button. This move seems to be fine with advertisers, who seem to be more open to change in Internet ads.

This follows on the heels of Web sites like Hulu, which occasionally give people a choice of three options for advertisements, so viewers can pick the one that is most appealing to them. You may still have to watch it, but at least you get to pick the one that is most palatable.

They also let people to check off a box nothing whether or not the ads they watch have any interest to them. This is great for more targeted advertising, because they don’t want to spend money on an ad if the people watching it aren’t interested in the product.

As a person who has dabbled in online marketing, the proper use of advertising dollars is key. A properly executed advertising and marketing plan can make or break a product. Seeing an advertisement isn’t as important as making sure the person watching it is interested in purchasing the product.

The move by YouTube makes this trend official and underscores efforts to make both the advertiser and the customer happy. What’s the next step? My guess is that advertising will continue to be specialized until everyone has options and advertising will be laser targeted. But then comes the privacy question. Should companies know so much about you that they can create ads dedicated to your particular niche market? That’s one question we are all going to have to answer.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/shht/519447966

Netflix Bandwidth: Clogging Up the Internet?

brock — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:56:32 +0000

I admit that I was a holdout on Netflix for a long time. I liked the immediate satisfaction of going to the video store and getting my comedy or action and adventure movies and not waiting a day or two for them to come in the mail.

When Netflix started streaming movies on the Internet, I decided to try out the system, but was relatively unimpressed. They had a decent amount of streaming movies, but all the new releases still had to come through the mail.

Now, not only are relatively new releases available by streaming, but a vast variety of little known and classic older movies are available as well. I don’t mind waiting a day or so for new releases, because there is always something new to watch on the streaming movies.

Apparently, that’s the problem. Netflix streaming accounts for about 20 percent of the total bandwidth use during peak hours of operation. That’s a lot of bandwidth, and people are beginning to notice. Recently, a company called Level 3 worked a deal with Netflix to deliver movies to the cable giant Comcast’s customers.

Needless to say, this is going to significantly increase Comcast’s traffic, and they want Level 3 to pay for it. It makes sense in a way, I guess. Comcast can’t keep upgrading their systems just because some affiliate makes a deal with what is essentially a competitor.

I watch Netflix and I have Comcast for my cable and Internet, so what is this going to translate for me? My guess is my Comcast bill is going to increase… again. It’s getting to the point where, between Web sites like Hulu.com that show television shows and Netflix that streams movies, I don’t really know how why I need cable that much.

Netflix may be a bandwidth hog, but it’s well worth it in my opinion. So as long as movies and television shows keep being uploaded for streaming on the Net, I won’t worry if I miss the latest “Stargate Universe.” I know I can queue it up on Hulu and then head to Netflix to finish the first season of “Torchwood.” Thank you, Netflix, for hogging up the bandwidth and giving me hours of enjoyment.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/asthmahelper/5200902873

Cyber Monday Sales: Big Deal or Big Myth?

brock — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:44:05 +0000

I don’t like shopping over the Internet for much. Sure, it’s easier than going to the store, but I am an instant gratification person. I don’t like waiting. I like to hold it in my hands as soon as I buy it, even if it’s not for me.

That’s why I have never been a big Cyber Monday shopper. Retailers would like you to think that I am in the minority and that today is the biggest online shopping day of the year, but it isn’t. According to CNN.com, the real big online shopping day is sometime in December.

It makes sense. Most people wait until the last minute and they order presents right when it gets close to the shipping deadlines. Cyber Monday was a term coined about five years ago by Shop.org and was at its heart a marketing gimmick.

One that has taken off considerably over the years and has become household name in shopping circles. I have no doubt that the Internet has revolutionized the way people shop, but coining a phrase for a specific day (when it’s not the biggest online shopping day of year) is a bit erroneous.

Black Friday is legendary. It’s not just about deals and shopping — it’s an adventure. People stay up all night and start standing in line at midnight and get into fistfights for $3 blankets and $40 microwaves. There is no such grandeur about Cyber Monday.

People are not staying up on their computers simply to get the best deals for Cyber Monday. If they are up, it’s because they are playing World of Warcraft. Most people are at work right now and are skimming the Internet looking for Christmas gifts instead of working on their TPS reports.

The real reason why people are shopping today is two-fold. Many are hoping to capitalize on any Black Friday leftovers and the fact that Thanksgiving officially kicks off the shopping season. It’s on your mind, but I bet there will be a lot more window shopping than actual buying today.

I know that’s what I am doing. I am looking for Christmas gift ideas and checking out prices, but I don’t plan on buying anything for at least a week or two. I have no doubt that there are deals to be had on this day and that many retailers are taking this shopping holiday to heart, but treat it for what it really is. It’s great day for shopping, but it’s not THE day for shopping.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/silvery/2037013133

Farmville Users: Down From a Year Ago

brock — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:59:01 +0000

Believe it or not, the annoying Farmville game that has been plaguing the lives of millions has been dethroned as the number one app on Facebook. Woo hoo!

As a man who is addicted to Facebook games, even I hated the constant barrage of Farmville requests that filled my Facebook feeds every day. Phrases, an app that allows people to post quotes and quizzes on their feeds, recently passed the iconic Farmville with 8.1 million active users before stopping the app in the United States.

Last month, Phrases had 54.4 million users, beating out Farmville’s 53.9 million, but Farmville still dominates daily usage. Phrases had about 5.1 million users and there is no word on plans to reinstate the American version anytime soon. So how was Phrases able to beat down Farmville? Facebook changed its format.

At its height, Farmville, by Facebook game giant Zynga, had almost 84 million users, but recently, Facebook stopped posting Farmville and other game requests on people’s feeds, and its users dropped to the current 53 million status.

I remember my feed being inundated with requests to help people with their chicken coups and barns and every other farm implement and land request a person can make. Pretty soon, I didn’t care about their chicken coup, and it got to the point where I was about start de-friending people if they didn’t shut up.

Since Phrases is visible via news feed, it has a definite advantage over Farmville, which has been demoted to a separate feed that a person must click on in order to see game requests.

Don’t feel too bad for Zynga; they still have the third, fourth and fifth top spots, still making it a giant among application developers. The Facebook change has been a definite reality check for game developers, though, who were counting on the free advertising every time someone needed help with their pigs.

I don’t think it is the end of the Facebook game, because they are coming up with new ways to get into people’s heads, including getting permission to directly e-mail them with updates and information. I make sure to never allow that to happen so I can play my games and forget. Death to Farmville, and all hail King Phrases!

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/41574435@N02/3851958526

The New MySpace: Inside the Company’s Rebranding

Dan Evans — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:37:03 +0000

Fame in the world of the Internet can come quickly, burn brightly and fade back into obscurity in a matter of seconds. With the emergence of online culture, memes and other must-see images and videos have the potential to spread like wildfire across the Web, passed through social networks on and off the Internet. The same could very well be said for Internet success. If the dot-com bust of the late 1990s taught us anything, it’s that a company has to be quick to adapt to changing expectations and demands in order to stay relevant for long.

Such a phenomenon explains the dramatic rise and fall of MySpace. Before the leviathan that is currently Facebook, MySpace seemed to be the Internet darling of the 2000s. With millions of users picking up pages, only to abandon the site in favor of the more streamlined world of Twitter and Facebook, the Web site is currently home to countless abandoned profiles. This week, for the first time in a long while, MySpace redesigned its template altogether, an announcement that didn’t drastically change the world in the way it once might have.

The focus this time around? Music and other media. MySpace has, for a long time, offered up the ability for independent bands to interact with fans, put their music online and promote events. What MySpace did for independent music is undoubtedly influential on later Web sites, such as PureVolume and Bandcamp, and now the company hopes that independent music will return the favor. The company announced in a press release that it was planning on generating a product unlike anything the Web had seen before, a “social media” site.

The idea is remarkably similar to Last.fm, in that users are able to select their favorite artists (or in the case of MySpace, television shows and movies, as well) and interact with both the artists and other similarly minded fans. It’s an interesting idea, and it’s one that could promote a return to the Web site, especially for musicians. It will be a difficult battle, however. With Facebook expanding its chokehold on anything with “social” in the title, MySpace will have an uphill climb to return to anywhere near to the prominence it once had online.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/jimwhimpey/294080639

Latest Music News: The Beatles Finally Make It to iTunes

Dan Evans — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:15:53 +0000

Apple’s music empire just grew in an important way. Arguably the greatest band of all time, British quartet The Beatles has, for the longest time, been absent from Apple’s online distribution center, the iTunes store. All that came to an end late yesterday, as the complete works of the band finally made its way to the Internet for release. Apple and iTunes commemorated the event with a full-page spread of the band.

The move accompanied a press release from the surviving members of the band, Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney. Due in part to record label constraints as well as personal feelings, the super-group had never made the transition over to Apple’s store. This was, in part, due to concerns about what online distribution was doing to the music industry as a whole. Today, individual songs outsell albums 16:1 through online channels, and companies like Apple keep a tidy overhead thanks to their distribution methods.

It will be interesting to see how this functions with the future of online distribution. Google made announcements earlier this fall that they, too, had an online music store in the works. Also, in the not-too-distant past, Apple engaged in some hardball-style business when it bought Lala, a music streaming store that had become an indie Web site darling, only to close it down.

The Beatles certainly make for a nice feather in Apple’s proverbial hat, but it will take more than this acquisition to keep the company at the forefront of technology.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/tom1231/322775947

Blekko Takes on Google and Bing

Dan Evans — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:24:39 +0000

Say what you will about the effects of the Internet on our society as a whole. If for nothing else, the Web is responsible for the era of pretty ridiculous company names. Branding is a vital part of a successful business in the 21st century, as countless online firms take aim at success. What differentiates one company from another? A catchy name certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s an idea that has given us some peculiar catch-phrases in our computer lingo. We “google” to find a term we want — from Armani jeans to cool lizards — we “wiki” to look up information on a topic — like Victoria’s Secret or World War II — and we “tweet” what’s on our minds.

Soon, perhaps, we will also be “blekking” in the realm of the Internet? Blekko is a new search engine that hit the market this week, as a part of a media-blitz instigated by the small startup. Traffic is an integral part of search engine revenue, because advertising dollars provide the essential link between users and a successful business model. But a new search engine seems to be a questionable call in the world of the Internet. Titans like Google and Bing already dominate the market share with a whole host of features and established user bases. So what makes Blekko so different? The answer is actually in your hands.

Blekko utilizes what is known as “vertical searching,” as opposed to horizontal searching that many users are accustomed to. Instead of scouring all existing pages for the handful of terms plugged into its search bar, Blekko utilizes slashtags, much like Twitter, to determine the topicality of a Web page itself. It’s a unique idea, one that places a great amount of stock in the activity of users around the Internet. If the user, for example, were to conduct a search for stock information on the company Apple, then they would enter “stocks” followed by “/Apple.” The search engine looks for the word “stocks” in pages that have been tagged as Apple pages.

It’s a hierarchical system that has a great amount of potential. By providing the user with a clear-cut method for limiting their searches, jumping straight to relevant results could become much easier in the long run. However, Blekko will need a lot of help to become a viable search option on the Internet. As a start-up company of only 20 people, it doesn’t have the computer systems in place for the brute-force searching of Google or Bing. Instead, users will need to submit slashtags to important sites, giving infrastructure to their search design. Will it work? Only time will tell, but a little 21st-century magic could be in the works for this Web site.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/bruceclay/5138031384