Top 10 Facebook Apps: Work

Social Network/Facebook/FB APPS
Found on: readwriteweb.com

Using an open application platform, developers now have the ability to access and use Facebook's user data and ever since it's launch back in May, nearly 1800 apps have made it's way onto the popular social network - eek!

I stumbled onto a great top 10 list of FB apps that are specifically designed for work. Josh Catone from readwriteweb.com put it together and fyi; this is just the first of five categories that Josh will be breaking down for us, so be sure to check back for more.

ReadWriteWeb post:

As part of Facebook Week here on Read/WriteWeb, I am going to be taking a look at the top applications on the Facebook platform. With nearly 1800 apps, the platform has been a runaway success for Facebook, and the most popular ten applications reach over 46 million users. I'm going to be breaking those 1800 apps down to the top 50 across 5 categories (10 in each). This is a completely subjective list, so not everyone will agree with our picks and I encourage you to debate them in the comments.

There are a lot of duplicates on the Facebook platform (i.e., there are at least 10 apps for cataloging books!), and some duplicates even share the same name. In that case, as with the rest of this list, I just chose the one that stood out to me as the best. Today's list deals with apps for work.

NEWS: Roam Un-Free

News/Social Networks/Second Life
Found on: msnbc.com

HiPiHi's 38-year-old CEO and founder, Xu Hui, has some ambitious goals; not only does he want his new virtual world, HiPiHi to be China's answer to Second Life, but through strategic partnerships with U.S., Japanese and other foreign firms, he plans to establish discrete virtual continents and then have them all linked to Second Life, creating a vast metaverse - the big question being: will China's government actually allow him to do it? I guess only time will tell.



MSNBC Post:

Zhao Gang surveys his nearly empty virtual world, and finds it to be good. Zhao is head of the tech team that built HiPiHi—China's answer to Second Life. With the virtual world's basic landscape complete, one of Zhao's jobs these days is to wander HiPiHi, schooling roughly 10,000 ethnic Chinese from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore who have been specially invited into the test phase to help work out the kinks. The "residents," as they're called, roam, swim and fly around the new world. Zhao approaches two avatars for a chat. Face to face with the virtual world's Master Builder, they have an urgent question: "Can you tell us how to change our clothes?"

NEWS: FaceBook’s First Acquisition: Parakey

News/Social Networks/Facebook
Found on: techcrunch.com

Why would Facebook, currently the hottest property on the Web want to make Parakey, the "web operating system" created by Blake Ross their very first acquisition? Simple - Facebook is in the process of transitioning from being a Social Network into the first Social Operating System - right?

Techcrunch.com post:

Their first acquisition: Facebook has bought Parakey, the yet-to-launch “web operating system” created by Firefox co-founders Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt. The price isn’t being disclosed, but Facebook should be issuing a press release this afternoon.

Parakey was founded in 2005 and raised a seed round of financing from Sequoia Capital (although this was never confirmed). There is a good background story on Parakey, which will include both browser and client software, here.

NEWS: Justin.TV Network Launches: More Shows to Come

News/Social Networks/Videos
Found on: techcrunch.com

Using a process called "lifecasting" sites like Justine.TV and Ustream.tv are taking off and reality television just made a huge shift over to the web. Both platforms provide a network and a set of tools to create your very own live show using a webcam.

Techcrunch.com post:

24/7 reality online TV show Justin.tv has has turned into a bit of a mini-phenomenon since launching just two months ago.Their apartment was raided by the police, and they were later evicted by their landlord. They were on the Today Show. Justin has hung out with famous rappers. They’ve taken extravagant dares from their audience, and a crowd always surrounds Justin and his ubiquitous camera. Hundreds of adolescent viewers watched (sort of) as Justin had sex on the show, although users were left with a black screen and silence until the Justin.tv team started playing porn music. The site has been far more successful so far than the founders anticipated.

Damn twitter cat!

Social Networks/Web 2.o/twitter
Found on: twitter.com

Twitter cat has taken over twitter again - for the love of god already, someone get that damn cat out of the server room!



twitter post:

Whoops! We're either deploying new features or there was a slight network hiccup (an issue we're working through). Please click here in a few seconds and you'll be back to Twitterin' in no time!

NEWS: Europeans predominate in Second Life - study

News/Social Networks/Second Life
Found on: reuters.com

Before you log into Second Life again, you might want to consider brushing up on your German, because chances are you'll be speaking to one -- Guten Tag Avatar!

Reuters post:

Second Life was born in the United States, but 61 percent of its active residents are Europeans, a study by research firm comScore said on Friday.

The number of active German residents exceeds the number of active residents in the United States, although growth rates in the U.S. are the highest worldwide, said comScore, which
specializes in measuring various kinds of Internet usage.

More than 6 million user accounts have been created in Second Life, up from about 1 million at the end of 2006, but the number of active users is far lower.

NEWS: Digg.com User Revolt

Web Culture/YouTube/Videos/Digg
Found on: Youtube.com

HD-DVD crack code on Digg results in multiple users getting kicked off the site and banned - then all hell breaks loose.



Youtube Stats(as of this post):

Views: 214
Comments: 3
Favorited: 3 times

Bonus link:

Kevin Rose Speaks out

NEWS: 'Second Life' User Numbers Don't Quite Add Up

News/Social Networks/Second Life/Users
Found on: foxnews.com

Clay Shirky just completed a four-month study on the number of users in Second Life, based on his findings, Shirky claims that the actual number of regular users are less the 200,000 versus the 3.2 million Linden Lab reports to have...numbers don't quite add up?

FoxNews post:

How many people use "Second Life"? Not as many as you might think.

In December, New York University lecturer Clay Shirky launched a one-man Web crusade against the widespread misrepresentation of "Second Life"'s popularity, claiming most publications — including PC Magazine — were inadvertently overstating the number of users.

When reporters ask how many people are using "Second Life," the folks at Linden Lab typically respond with the number of "residents," and most reporters assume that "resident" means "unique user."

But as Shirky points out, a resident isn't a unique user. A single user can create multiple virtual residents. "Second Life"'s popularity is significantly smaller than the press claims, and though Linden Lab won't tell us how many people are really using the service, Shirky thinks he's finally gotten to the bottom of things.

NEWS: NBA Headquarters Unveiled in Second Life

Social Networks/Second Life/Sports
Found on: nba.com

With it's multiplayer games, retail stores and a variety of other features designed to draw repeat visitors, the NBA unveiled their Second Life "Headquarters" on Tuesday - anyone up for a game of HORSE?



NBA.com post:

The NBA announced the launch of NBA Headquarters, a new virtual destination featuring a variety of innovative and interactive NBA elements in Second Life, the popular 3D online world with nearly six million residents. The announcement was made by NBA Commissioner David Stern during a recent media event conducted in the NBA Headquarters.

The NBA’s 3D virtual destination, developed with The Electric Sheep Company, a leading creator of 3D virtual world content and solutions, will provide basketball fans and Second Life residents with access to comprehensive features including the T-Mobile Arena, broadband video of classic NBA games and highlights, and an opportunity to have their picture taken with the NBA’s championship trophy in the Toyota Larry O’Brien Trophy Room.

Additionally, in Second Life fans will be able to purchase NBA and WNBA jerseys and merchandise for their identity or avatars at the NBA Store, walk along a special path highlighting the 50 Greatest NBA Players and participate in a variety of basketball activities at the NBA Jam Session.

NEWS: Burnett, MySpace get political

Social Networks/Myspace/Politics
Found on: variety.com

Emmy-award winning television producer Mark Burnett has teamed up with Myspace to launch "Independent" a new hybrid online-reality-social network-television show.

A quick shout out to my boy Yau Man - hope you win!

Variety's post:

Mark Burnett Prods. is partnering with MySpace to discover the modern-day Mr. Smith.

The two entities are behind “Independent,” an online project targeted to become a full-fledged TV series built around a search to find the next great politician.

The show, timed to the 2008 elections, hasn’t yet been pitched to networks. It comes with a $1 million prize … and a catch: Winner must donate the money to a political cause or use it to run for office.

“This is the ‘American Idol’ of political action,” said Burnett development head Roy Bank. “We’ve been exploring for a while how to do something in and around what is going to be the topic on everyone’s tongues next year — the elections. We wanted it to be legit, and there’s no greater democracy in play right now for people in their 20s than MySpace.”

Twitter of the Week - Swimming with the fishes?

Social Networks/Web Culture/Twitter
Found on: twitter.com

Admiral Ackbar is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, he's basically a giant talking squid. Ackbar (that's what his friends call him.) also happens to be one of my favorite twitters that I follow, but since he hasn't made a new post in almost a month now, I'm thinking he's probably dead and swimming with the fishes somewhere - bummer.

Ackbar's last post:

Picking up distress signal from inside a strange nebula. Taking in the fleet.

Some other memorable posts:

Just received transmission from an old friend. I can get a free Y-wing if I signup for a few free trials and get six friends to do the same.

The Imperials have just delivered a large wooden horse to our shipyard. What a great gift. Moving it into the base now.

Random Flickr Slideshow 4

Social Networks/Flickr/Photos
Found on: Flickr

Embedded Flickr Slideshow 4 (photos of random people, rockstars and things - fun.)



I leached these great photos from Delineated's Flickr set

Twitter mashup spotlight of the week.

Social Networks/Website/Twitter
Found on: twittervision.com

This week's Twitter mashup spotlight is called Twittervision:

It's a real-time geographic visualization of posts to Twitter and boy is it ever addictive.

Like Twittervision? Follow David Troy the mastermind behind the mashup.

NEWS: MySpace offers news recommendations

News/Social Networks/Myspace
Found: hosted.ap.org

Last week Myspace jumped into the "News Service Business" and with it's non-Digg like features (the rating system is based on a scale of 1 through 5) I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised but Newsvine is still my favorite site for news-aggregation and Mike Davidson is still my hero!



Hosted AP post:

The popular online hangout MySpace entered the news business Thursday with a feature that lets its users determine what items other members see.

MySpace News brings to a much larger audience the user-recommendation capabilities already available through Digg and Time Warner Inc.'s Netscape. It also marks the site's further inroads into becoming an Internet portal akin to Yahoo Inc. and others.

YouTube Offering 50/50 Revenue Split with Users Next Week?

News/Social Networks/YouTube/Videos
Found on: Mashable.com

Mashable.com is reporting that YouTube may offer a revenue-sharing model for their users as early as next week -- basically, offering a 50/50 revenue split similar to the one that their rival Revver.com offers.

Mashable post:

YouTube may offer a revenue-sharing model for their users, taking an important step in that direction as soon as next week.

The option to insert a video ad before or after an uploaded clip, with an offering to split the ad revenue 50-50 with users, is said to be in the works. With the issues surrounding pirated videos on the site as well as many advertisers not being able to ensure the type of content that their campaigns will be shown alongside, it’s no wonder that an ad revenue-sharing model has yet to be installed.

NEWS: Groundbreaking Internet Drama to Air on UK's Top Social Network

News/Social Networks/Web Culture/Videos
Found on: sys-con.com

The team that brought us the world's most popular interactive drama: Lonelygirl15 is teaming up with Bebo.com to launch a spin-off called "Lonelygirl15 presents... KateModern," this should prove to be a really smart move on Bebo's part.

sys-con.com post:

Lonelygirl15 was launched last summer and the program has since been viewed over 50 million times. Bebo was founded in 2005 and has over 31 million users worldwide who spend an average of 29 minutes on Bebo each day.

Following the massive success of Lonelygirl15, "Lonelygirl15 presents... KateModern" will expand from the original storyline to that of a teenage university student in London and her struggle to balance her complex social life with the dark forces that shadow her. Containing all of the best loved elements of Lonelygirl15, "Lonelygirl15 presents... KateModern" will leverage the high involvement of its fan base, enabling them to post messages for the show's characters, exchange plot ideas with each other and upload their own videos to the characters' profile pages.

NEWS: MySpace Store Looks Promising?

News/Social Networks/Myspace
Found on: mashable.com

Mashable.com is reporting that the long anticipated Myspace store may actually come to fruition.

On a side note, I noticed that Peter made his post around 1:30 AM this morning - god, I wish I had that kind of stamina again.

Mashable post:

Another good sign for MySpace-eBay and Bebo-eBay - a report being released on Tuesday from iProspect once again shows that web users make buying decisions based on information gleaned from social sites: 1 in 3 Internet users say they made purchase decisions based on information from social networks and sites.

NEWS: Keep track of your friends with The Coop

News/Social Networks/Firefox
Found on: labs.mozilla.com

A set of new tools could make Firefox the next Myspace?

I'm not quite sure about that but what I do know is these new social-centric tools could mean some serious trouble for Flock - the net's best social web browser currently out.



Mozilla Lab's post:

Just a few years ago, one of the most popular uses of the internet was to send jokes, cute pictures, and news stories to friends and family (social networks) via email. Fast forward to today, and you’ll find that not a lot has changed except the medium. Now one of the most common uses of instant messenger services and social networking sites is to send people links to jokes, cute pictures and interesting news stories.

This behavior isn’t at all surprising - it’s friends sharing experiences, the very backbone of social interactions and friendships. It’s also unsurprising that most “Web 2.0″ services have a feature that makes it easy for you to build a social network so that you can share things more easily, or subscribe to a friend’s activity as a way of keeping in touch.

2000 Leon Beyer Riesling Comtes d'Eguishem

Social Networks/Corkd/Wine
Found on: corkd.com

The 2000 Leon Beyer Riesling sounds pretty serious and pretty amazing.

Desertvino's review:

If you've never tried a dry Alsatian Riesling, this may come as a shock. This is a serious, earthy white wine that will not only pair with traditianal foods for white wines, but will also stand up to just about any food you would pair with Pinot Noir. Not for sipping as an aperitif. Rich golden color, Nose of minerals, earth and white fruit. Taste is dry, rich and earthy. Little petrol, but minerals and earth dominate carried on a strong backbone of white fruit and crisp acidity. This wine was marvelous with mushrooms, carp ravioli with asparagus and even with blutwurst. Complex and just outstanding.

• Average Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
• Winery: Leon Beyer
• Vintage: 2000
• Varietal: Riesling
• Country: France
  
• Region: Alsace
• Price: $40.00 USD
  
• Description: Dry,Grand Cru Alsatian Riesling from Eichberg vineyard
• Created by: desertvino

MySpace competition? The world is big enough

News/Social Networks/Website
Found on: latimes.com

MySpace continues to dominate in North America but overseas it's a different story - Social Networks like the Friendster, Bebo and Google's Orkut are thriving.

LA Times post:

The online social networking site was on track to become the Internet's next big phenomenon a few years ago until an upstart called MySpace eclipsed it in popularity and media attention. But being spurned by America's fickle teenagers doesn't mean the budding social networking site went into hibernation or shrank to cater to a few true believers. While MySpace may continue to dominate in North America (more than half of its 100-million-plus accounts come from the United States), Friendster, Google's Orkut and other general-use social networking sites are thriving overseas.

In the Philippines, for instance, Friendster is used by an estimated 87% of the country's 8 million Internet users. About 70% of Friendster's 40-million-person user base comes from Southeast Asia.

NEWS: Second Life Sex Business Sells On eBay For $50,000

News/Social Networks/Second Life/Sex
Found on: informationweek.com

Virtual sex sells but who's buying? Apparently some guy named nedstede2769 form the Netherlands and he is shelling out some big bucks for it, over $50,000 US dollars -- isn't that like a 500 billion Linden dollars or something?!?



InformationWeek post:

One of the landmark businesses on Second Life, Amsterdam, sold on eBay Monday for $50,000 to a buyer located, appropriately enough, in the Netherlands, said the developer of the popular adult-oriented business.

Amsterdam's developer, Kevin Alderman of Tampa, Fla., put the site up for sale on eBay last week, and it sold at 6:34 a.m. PDT, according to the eBay listing. The buyer didn't bid; he just paid the asking price.

We weren't able to find out who the buyer is; he goes by nedstede2769 on eBay, where his 3-year-old account has no feedback. Alderman said he didn't want to give the buyer's name without checking first.

NEWS: Hacking John McCain

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Politics
Found on: newsvine.com

Presidential candidate John McCain announced today on his Myspace page that he had reversed his position on gay marriage and is now in support of it, particularly marriages between passionate females.

Sounds too good to be true - you're right, it's not. This now infamously delicious prank or what some are calling "the immaculate hack" was the handy work of Mike Davidson, CEO and co-creator of Seattle-based online news media company, Newsvine.com.

Newsvine post:

If you visit John McCain's MySpace page (as of 9am PST Tuesday morning), you will notice an interesting announcement from him. He's apparently reversed his position on gay marriage as well as revealed a bias towards attractive lesbians.

Why would a presidential candidate make such an important announcement on his MySpace page?

The answer? He wouldn't.

But I would.

You see, John McCain's people commandeered my world-renowned MySpace design template and did a few things wrong:

1. They did not credit me for the template, even though the template explicitly requested credit.
2. They used my own unmodified imagery, specifically for the "Contacting John McCain" table.
3. As if #2 wasn't bad enough, the McCain crew is actually pulling their image directly from my server on each page load. So every time someone visits the McCain MySpace page, my bandwidth is being used to deliver part of the page! Bad McCain!

NEWS: GDC 2007: Phil Harrison, Sony, Unveil 'Home'

News/Social Networks/Sony/Games
Found on: 1up.com

Sony's set to muscle in on Second Life and their market share with their forthcoming online social media metaverse called, "Home", should be available as a free download for the PlayStation 3 in autumn 2007.



1UP post:

Last week's reports on Sony's potential 'Home' service either generated even more hype for Phil Harrison's Game Developer Conference keynote or stole the thunder from Sony's big unveiling. Maybe it did both, and considering what Sony showed with 'Home' -- that may not be a bad thing.

Home is officially being branded as a "3D user community for PlayStation 3" by Sony, but it's also being called an "innovative user community title," effectively blurring the line between "service" and "game." The two-pronged approach to marketing this product may show some confusion as to what home is. That's a question Sony won't be able to answer until this Fall, when PlayStation 3 owners will get their hands on the final free download (the experience enters beta next month).

BONUS YOUTUBE VIDEO --> PLAYSTATION 3 HOME

NEWS: Taking Out A Second Mortgage In Second Life

News/Social Networks/Second Life/Real Estate
Found on: webpronews.com

Are you in the market for a new home? A new virtual home? Coldwell Banker, one of the nation's largest real estate brokerage firms has over 500 "inworld" homes with styles ranging from modern to southwestern colonial and if you're a little tight on "lindens" (second life currency) right now, no problem, you can take out a virtual mortgage to finance it and they'll even throw in a complete set of virtual furniture as a closing gift - now you know.

Webpronews post:

Buying a home is usually the single largest investment that the average individual will make over the span of their life. Careful thought and planning are exercised when determining how much of a mortgage to take on, how large of a home to purchase, and what realtor to use.

Indeed, home ownership is not something to be entered into lightly. Buying a home in Second Life, however, can be as simple as a point-and-click transaction, and Coldwell Banker has decided that it wants to be the real estate company to meet the needs of the virtual world’s potential homeowners.

NEWS: Most-Searched-For Brand In 2006?

News/Social Networks/Myspace
Found on: publications.mediapost.com

Just when you think Myspace is losing some of it's luster, look who's brand is still on top and reigning supreme.

Market Daily post:

THE SOCIAL NETWORKING HUB MYSPACE was the brand most searched for in 2006, based on a 52-week average of industry search terms (excluding porn) among all U.S. Web sites, according to competitive intelligence monitoring service Hitwise.

Here's the complete list of Top 10 Searched for Brand Terms* (with spellings as reported by Hitwise):

1. myspace
2. ebay
3. yahoo
4. mapquest
5. craigslist
6. walmart
7. google
8. target
9. match.com
10. bank of america

NEWS: MySpace News is for real

News/Social Networks/Myspace
Found on: wired.com

Wired.com is reporting that Myspace "NEWS" site is a done deal and it's just a matter of time before Myspace starts slugging it out with the likes of Digg, Newsvine, Reddit and other Social news sites.



Wired post:

A leaked document from MySpace's parent company, Fox Interactive Media, confirms the existence of its rumored Digg-style news aggregation portal.

The leaked sales document outlines the structure and taxonomy of the forthcoming site, and includes screenshots of the site, but gives no details about when the portal will launch.

MySpace News will automatically collect news items from various news sites and blogs. MySpace users will then be able to discuss and rate each story on the site, and the stories will change position on the page based on popularity. The portal is rumored to launch during the second quarter of 2007.

NEWS: Wanted poster on MySpace

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Police
Found on: smh.com.au

Talk about your virtual Dragnet - some web smart cop in Arkansas created a Myspace profile page for a serial bank robber in hopes to enlist the millions of other Myspace members to help the Arkansas Police Dept. track down the guy pictured in the image below.

SMH post:

Police have have created a MySpace account for a serial bank robber hoping to enlist the millions who use the popular social networking site as a cyber posse to help track down the fugitive.

The MySpace profile - Do You Know Me??? - is the work of Sgt. Jarrard Copeland from the Fort Smith police department in Arkansas.

The suspect, a man estimated to be about 60, is linked to four bank robberies across the US state.

NEWS: EA Targets Women With New Venture

News/Web Culture/Online Games
Found on: wired.com

Calling all female gamers - here's your oppurtunity to get some street cred with your geeky guy friends: EA just announced a partnership with iVillage to provide content just for the ladies.

Wired.com post:

The so-called "elusive female gamer" is a much sought-after demographic in gaming, but EA is hoping its new alliance with iVillage will help bridge the gender gaming gap. EA's successful casual games portal, Pogo.com, will be the exclusive supplier of gaming content to iVillage's 16 million members. That is a heck of a lot of Word Whomp.

iVillage offers content geared specifically toward women readers, including beauty tips, information on pregnancy and parenting, and fashion. It will host monthly game nights and offer free two-week Pogo passes to members.

NEWS: Andreessen's Ning.com takes on MySpace

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Ning
Found on: news.com

I had a dream the other night that I got a phone call from my Granny; she was bragging to me about how she just put together a new "Myspace" in a just few minutes and that I needed to step up my game and before I could say anything in my defense she abruptly ended the conversation by dropping a "holla back youngin!" and hung up on me.

Alright, so I made all of that up, but if Marc Andreessen has his way there would be millions of little mini Myspaces and "Ning.com" would be leading the way.

Ning is a web based company that Andreessen is backing, he and the other investors hope that the new set of tools that they just launched will make creating your very own Myspace so easy, you guessed it -- your Granny could do it - holla!



News.com post:

In Marc Andreessen's vision of the future, MySpace is going to face stiff competition from a million mini-MySpaces.

One of the cofounders of Netscape and a symbol of the technology revolution of a decade ago is now backing a company called Ning, which launched a set of new tools on Tuesday designed to help even the most tech-challenged person build a social-networking site.

"(Ning) is essentially MySpace version 2," Andreessen said last week, adding that he is placing a bet that social-networking sites will follow a similar development as that of Internet service providers of the 1990s.

NEWS: A winning business plan for 'Second Life'

News/Social Networks/Second Life/Business
Found on: news.com

Minnesota-based research company, Market Truths took home first place honors in the first-ever business plan contest in Second Life.

Cnet News.com post:

The honors, announced Monday, went to Minnesota-based Market Truths, which devised a market research and analysis system to help real-world companies figure out what works and what doesn't in the burgeoning virtual world.

The contest's judges rewarded the Market Truths submission because the team has conducted similar market research in the real world for years, and because it appeared to have the best profit potential of the four finalists.

"I was really impressed by the quality of (all) the ideas we received," said Susan Wu, a contest judge and a venture capitalist from Charles River Ventures. "Each one of these businesses could turn into a viable ongoing enterprise, not only in terms of Second Life, but as a service that stands across multiple virtual worlds."

NEWS: New Portal to Second Life: Your Phone

News/Social Networks/Second Life/Mobile
Found on: technologyreview.com

Looks like Second Life's "metaverse" just got a litte bigger. Comverse, makers of the mobile software that allows Second Life users to connect to the "grid" using a mobile phone and communicate to other residents via text messages - scary.

Technology Review post:

With new software for mobile phones, citizens of the burgeoning online universe Second Life will never have to leave their cozy virtual world, even when they're away from their computers. The new software is a program that lets cellular users with Java-based, Internet-capable phones log in to Second Life remotely, see who else is "in-world," and communicate with them via text messaging.

Comverse, the wireless multimedia networking company that developed the software, demonstrated it this week for wireless carriers at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona, Spain. Attendees using Comverse's phones could see and manipulate avatars who appeared in Comverse's virtual 3GSM booth inside Second Life. Using simple commands, they could direct the avatar to walk around the booth, identify other avatars, and send them greetings via SMS, MMS, or instant messaging. And in a twist typical of today's virtual environments, people logged in to Second Life over traditional PC connections could walk into the virtual Comverse booth and pick up virtual phones that connected them directly to fellow members logged in from their real phones at the real booth.

NEWS: Facebook and Comcast's Ziddio Partner to Create User-Generated TV

News/Social Networks/Facebook
Found on: prnewswire.com

Facebook inked a deal last week with Comcast's video site, Ziddio.com to enable Facebook users to create and share videos. Facebook is hoping to drive up usage by giving users the chance to have their videos included in a new television series which will appear on Comcast's On Demand menu.

PR NEWS post:

Facebook, the Internet's leading social utility, and Ziddio.com, a national multiplatform user-generated video site recently launched by Comcast Interactive Media, today announced a partnership that will allow Facebook users to create and share user-generated videos and give them the chance to become part of a new television series titled "Facebook Diaries."

Beginning in March, the companies will kickoff a program that includes contests asking users to submit short video segments about their lives. Throughout the contests, Facebook users will be encouraged to upload, view, share and rate the videos. Selected videos will be featured prominently online on Facebook and Ziddio.com and on television including Comcast's ON DEMAND service.

NEWS: MySpace's China entry may fall to local partner

News/Social Network/Myspace/Geoffrey Fowler
Found on: post-gazette.com

With over a 137 million internet users, China would be a perfect match for Myspace but is there enough room in an already overcrowded sector and will Fox Corp have enough endurance to jump over all the political hurdles set forth by the Chinese government?

Post Gazette's post:

As News Corp.'s social-networking Web site MySpace tries to steer its way into China's challenging Internet market, it may find that it has to let someone else do the driving.

MySpace has been in talks with a former Microsoft Corp. executive named Luo Chuan, who until December ran the U.S. software giant's MSN online services operation in China. The 38-year-old has started his own company, and says he is in negotiations to team up with MySpace, along with additional partners including International Data Group's Chinese venture arm and China Broadband Capital Partners LP, the investment company of former China Netcom Group Corp. Chief Executive Edward Tian.

NEWS: Sweden to open first virtual embassy in Second Life

News/Social Networks/Second Life
Found on: reuters.com

The Kingdom of Sweden is a Nordic country in Scandinavia. It is bordered by Norway in the west, Finland in the northeast, the Skagerrak Strait and the Kattegat Strait in the southwest...uh, okay whatever, here's my point: I just went to Wikipedia and ran a search for "Sweden" to get this info but in a couple of weeks, you'll be able to go to Sweden's virtual embassy called the "House of Sweden" in Second Life and get answers to questions on all aspects of Sweden.

Reuters post:

Sweden plans to be the first country to open an embassy in popular virtual world Second Life.

"It will have answers to questions on all aspects of Sweden," Olle Wastberg, general director of the Swedish Institute, an organization which promotes the country's image abroad, said on Tuesday.

The embassy will be called House of Sweden and modeled on the country's new embassy in Washington. It will open in a couple of weeks.

NEWS: MySpace confirms upcoming launch of Mexican version

News/Social Networking/Myspace/Caroline McCarthy
Found on: news.com

With a soft-launch already rocking on the web, News Corp has just confirmed that it has launched a Mexican version of Myspace -- Viva La Myspace!

Cnet News post:

MySpace.com has confirmed rumors that it will be launching a Spanish-language version of the popular social-networking service for Mexican users.

Word of "MySpace Mexico" began to spread on Tuesday when information about the site leaked to entertainment news site Billboard.com.

Travis Katz, head of international media for News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media, of which MySpace is a subsidiary, on Wednesday confirmed the development of the site to CNET News.com. According to Katz, the site has been "soft-launched," meaning that a preliminary version is live but that MySpace doesn't inform anyone of it and does not direct any traffic there.

"It's really a testing phase for us, not something we're pushing out," Katz said. "That phase normally lasts about two weeks, and then we move into what we call our beta launch."

NEWS: Indie music labels create Merlin to conjure licensing deals

News/Social Networks/Music
Found on: news.com



Looks like the indie music scene as we know it will never be the same - a group called Merlin formed by "players" in the independent music sector just signed a deal with Snocap allowing their label's music to be sold via downloads on websites like Myspace and other popular social networks and from the looks of it, this is just the beginning. This move along with other future licensing deals will essentially make Merlin the fifth major music distributor in the world, the other four being: Vivendi's Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI Group and Warner Music Group.

News.com post:

The world's independent music sector, which has produced such artists as the Arctic Monkeys, has grouped together to launch an agency to secure licensing deals with emerging media such as MySpace and YouTube.

The group, called Merlin, was launched at the annual MidemNet music industry conference with its backers saying it would become the "fifth major" in the industry.

The launch follows the rapid growth in popularity of sites like YouTube, where fans post video clips carrying their choice of music without permission from copyright holders.

NEWS: Social Retailing- Combining Social Networking and Shopping

News/Social Networking/Youth Trends/Amanda Gore
Found on: fashion.psfk.com

Could this be the "killer app" retailers have been waiting for? The technology that will bridge the gap between popular social network websites (e.g. Myspace, Bebo, Facebook) and real world profits aka - cha-ching!

Amanda Gore reports in her article how Social Retailing technology uses an in-store three-paneled "magic mirror" that can send photos or videos of shoppers in outfit options to their MySpace page or to friend's emails and mobiles for instant opinions.

Fashion PSFK post:

Interactive services firm IconNicholson has created a new type of in-store experience that combines social networking and shopping, known as Social Retailing.

Demonstrated at the National Retail Federation conference earlier this week, the Social Retailing technology uses a three-paneled "magic mirror" in-store that can send photos or videos of shoppers in outfit options to their MySpace page or to friend's emails and mobiles for instant opinions. Friends 'yes' or 'no' votes are then visible on the mirror itself. The interactive technology also allows customers to see what others have purchased, view similar options that are not in stock in the store, check out using MasterCard SecureCode and have their orders delivered to their home.

NEWS: Edwards reaching voters in cyberspace

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Jamie Shuman
Found on: heraldsun.com

If Barak Obama decides not to run for President in 2008, a) That would totally suck. b) I'll have to take a hard look at John Edwards. c)Tom from Myspace could be his running mate.

On John Edwards campaign web site, you can find links to his MySpace and Facebook pages.

Herald Sun's post:

His Facebook page says he likes basketball and Bruce Springsteen, as well as "fighting poverty," "stopping the genocide in Darfur" and the "The Shawshank Redemption."

On MySpace, the Chapel Hill resident tells the cyber-world that he's a Gemini with a graduate degree and a job. The 53-year-old is married and a "proud parent," but, rest assured, he is interested in networking and making friends.

The local Gemini is John Edwards, and as he begins his presidential campaign from this small town, he is making big use of the new media to reach perspective voters and donors.

Make smart money decisions with Web 2.0 social networks

Social Networks/Web 2.0/Finance/Andy Chun
Found on: zdnetasia.com

Is your 401K not performing as well as you'd like? Are your stocks taking a dive? If you answered yes to either one of these questions, then you have to read this article by Andy Chun -- in it Andy writes about how emerging financial applications using Web 2.0 services are being used to pick the minds of hundreds of thousands of investors around world to help you make smarter investments.



Zdnet Asia post:

Everyone knows that you can't go wrong when you have the wisdom or "collective intelligence" of millions of people. This "collective intelligence" is what drives Web 2.0.

Successful Web 2.0 applications are usually successful because of its ability to harness collective intelligence; the ability to provide very simple mechanisms to collect and aggregate data that can then be turned into something useful for its users, such as for decision making or to find information.

For example, collective intelligence makes Wikipedia the most popular online encyclopedia. Collective intelligence in the form of spam reporting helps GMail filter spam. Collective intelligence on what people like to read makes digg the most popular site to find blogs. Collective intelligence, in the form of social bookmarking, makes del.icio.us the most popular site to find tagged links.

NEWS: Teen Website Uses Social Networking to Boost Email List

News/Social Networks/Emails
Found on: mediabuyerplanner.com



Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the increased traffic in the amount of "Friend" spam (emails, bulletins and/or comments left by a website, brands or marketers posing as a "Friend") on Myspace? I noticed a lot on all the Social Networks I belong to and from the looks of it, it's just the beginning.

I found this interesting article on mediabuyerplanner.com, basically explaining how a website geared for teenage girls that are into surfing, skating and snowboarding called GLTR (girls learn to ride) is using social network sites like Myspace and Facebook to increase it's email list -- check it out.

Mediabuyerplanner post:

Girls Learn to Ride, a website for young women who like to snowboard and do other extreme sports, is reaching out to social networks in order to increase its email list, writes DM News.

The site currently has 10,000 names in its email database, but has a combined 50,000 friends in social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Sponsorhouse. It sends out daily bulletins to its social networking "friends," encouraging them to sign up for the email list.

NEWS: Bebo to Roll Out Ad Widgets

News/Social Networks/Bebo/Advertising
Found on: adweek.com

AdWeek is reporting that social network Bebo is set to launch it's first ad-supported widgets (small web applications that users can embed into their profiles):

In 2007, Bebo plans to add advertiser-supported widgets, like interactive games, which users can opt to add to their profiles. Advertiser applications will get a featured spot in the Bebo Widgets gallery.

Adweek post:

Bebo is readying the launch of its first advertiser widgets, small Web applications users can embed in their personal Web pages.

The social network last week began allowing users to embed miniature Web applications into their profile pages, letting them choose from three photo-sharing widgets from Slide, Photobucket and Rockyou. Bebo plans to build a collection of widgets users can choose to add to their profiles.

Boedecker Cellars 2003 Stewart Pinot Noir

Social Networks/Corkd/Wine
Found on: corkd.com

I found this yummy Oregon Pinot Noir on Cork'd, I can't wait to try it out for myself.

Pinobob's review:

An elegant wine for lovers of classic Oregon Pinot Noir. This wine is full of vibrant cherry and raspberry, yet maintains a crisp backbone and a delicate, spicy finish.

• Average Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (1 Review)
• Winery: Boedecker Cellars
• Vintage: 2003
• Varietal: Pinot Noir
• Country: United States
• Region: Oregon: Willamette Valley
• Price: $28.00 USD · Buy this wine
• Description: Classic Dundee Hills Pinot from old-vine Pommard and Wadensweil from the Maresh and Murto vineyards in the Dundee Hills. Aged 19 months in French oak barrels
• Created by: pinotbob

Melo's MySpace apology

Social Networks/Myspace/Carmelo Anthony
Found on: charleston.net

The cheap shot heard around the world - yeah, I'm talking about Carmelo Anthony's punch that knocked down Mardy Collins of the New York Knicks during a basketball game that turned into a full on brawl last Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Shortly after the altercation, "Melo" posted a bulletin on his Myspace page apologizing for his actions to his Myspace friends -- someone needs to send his publicist an early XMAS present.

Charleston post:

Following Saturday night's brawl against the New York Knicks, this bulletin was posted from Denver forward Carmelo Anthony's official MySpace page:

To my MySpace friends,

(Saturday's) altercation with the Knicks escalated further than it should have. Please know that I take full respon­sibility for my actions in the matter. In the heat of the mo­ment I let my emotions get the best of me. I wish the incident could be contained to what is was - men losing their temper in the heat of competi­tion. In reality though, it can't be. I am on a worldwide stage and to the public, I represent my community and my NBA peers. For the good of all of us, I need to understand my burden and my responsiblity to be better.

Today (Sunday) though, I apologize to you, all the fans, the Nuggets, the NBA, my mother, and my family for the embarss­ment I have caused them.

NEWS: Social networks top Google search

News/Social Networks/Web Culture/Google
Found on: bbc.com

What are you searching for on Google these days? Well if you're anything like the millions of other surfers on Google's search engine, it's Bebo and Myspace...oh, and the Mexican soap opera Rebelde.

BBC post:

Social networks Bebo and MySpace were the two most searched for terms of 2006 using Google's search engine.

The two rival sites allow users to create individual web pages, with photos, music and video.

The football World Cup was the third most searched for term while Paris Hilton topped the news searches.

The top 10 searches were dominated by web 2.0 developments, such as video site Metacafe, music streaming service Radioblog and encyclopaedia Wikipedia.

TOP 10 GOOGLE SEARCHES 2006

1. Bebo

2. MySpace

3. World Cup

4. Metacafe

5. Radioblog

6. Wikipedia

7. Video

8. Rebelde

9. Mininova

10. Wiki

NEWS: YouTube releases top-10 video list for 2006

News/Social Networks/YouTube/Videos
Found on: ctv.ca

The Associated Press names the top 10 most "SIGNIFICANT" YouTube videos of 2006, with Lonelygirl15 topping the list.

CTV post:

Lonelygirl15 leads the pack on AP's top-10 YouTube video list for 2006



1. The face of YouTube: The cute, bedroom confessions of Lonelygirl15 remain the site's quintessential expression. Of course, the pretty high schooler named Bree was eventually revealed to be 19-year-old actress Jessica Lee Rose, who was acting out a scripted plot with two behind-the-scenes producers. But that strange mutated duality of what's real and what's fiction, what's amateur and what's professional, remains the heart and soul of YouTube, where everybody and nobody is a star.

2. Network wake-up call: "Saturday Night Live's'' "Lazy Sunday'' mock-rap sketch was, in some ways, what started the revolution. The video was seen by more than five million viewers before NBC asked YouTube to remove it in February. Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg's rhymes boosted the hipness of "SNL,'' but more importantly, it was the first time networks were alerted to their new competition. NBC reacted fearfully, and later opted to built up its own websites with online video. The networks continue to experiment with YouTube. Recently, CBS has claimed its late shows have increased in ratings after posting clips from "The Late Show with David Letterman'' and "The Late Late Show'' on YouTube.

3. Political fallout: YouTube, like the Internet in general, has made it a specialty to reveal the gaffes and mistakes of the establishment. Of course, few would say Virginia Sen. George Allen didn't deserve his fate after a video of him calling a rival campaign staffer "macaca'' drew constant clicks on YouTube. Allen went on to lose an extremely close election -- a race that YouTube could well have turned. On the other end of the spectrum, Michael J. Fox's tremulous campaign ads for various Democratic candidates who support stem cell research proved powerfully effective and were seen by millions more than would have otherwise caught them on TV.

NEWS: Wikipedia founder remakes Web publishing economics

News/Social Networks/Wikia/Eric Auchard
Found on: reuters.com

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is a freaking visionary!

He announced on Monday that his for-profit company, Wikia, would be giving away all the open source software, computing power, storage space and network access that website developers need to create community collaboration sites for absolutely free!

Here's the catch - he's asking that they link back to Wikia.

Reuters post:

Wales is betting the plunging cost of computers and networks can help Wikia support the free services offer. "It is becoming more and more practical and feasible to do," he said.

WISDOM TO PREVAIL

"We don't have all the business model answers, but we are confident -- as we always have been -- that the wisdom of our community will prevail," he said.

The move follows the announcement last week that Amazon.com had become Wikia's first corporate investor and is acting as the sole investor in Wikia's second round of funding. Terms were not disclosed.

Wikia took $4 million in funding in March from Bessemer Venture Partners, Omidyar Network, high-profile Silicon Valley "angel" backers including Marc Andreessen, Dan Gillmor, Reid Hoffman and Mitch Kapor and Joichi Ito of Japan.

Exclusive Interview with Second Life Liberation Army Leader (SLLA)

Web Culture/Second Life/Wayne Porter
Found on: revenews.com

The Second Life Liberation Army's (SLLA) first target was high profile brand American Apparel, then they went after Reebok.

Their tactics are simple: armed and determined SLLA volunteers are positioned around the vendor's virtual store to prevent other SL residents from entering and ultimately from buying any of the vendors goods -- WoW!

Revenews interview:

As a security researcher and e-commerce consultant I became more intrigued as larger brands moved into the Second Life environment and now unhappy avatars (digital representations of real people) have bonded together to fight against an establishment they feel is unfair. I can understand this backlash, but I won't draw analogies here, or make overt conclusions, or take sides, but leave it to the reader to decide or investigate on their own. However does "The Grid" and its economics and politics mimic real life- much like some strange phantasmagormic mirror?. Already we have seen dDos attacks, and now attacks that mimic real life...what does this all mean? Now and for our future?

Porter: 1) What is the purpose behind the Second Life Liberation Army and how old is it?

SLLA: The SLLA exists to highlight and agitate for Political Rights within Second Life. The movement was founded in April 2006 but found its true meaning following the changes made to SL by LL (Linden Labs) when they made possible the creation of unverified accounts. This attracted a lot of covert support from longer-term residents who wanted some change but didn't want to go public -- so they provided us with some funding.

Porter: 2) Specifically what problem(s) in Second Life do the SLLA wish to call attention too?

SLLA: As more and more people have significant interests in SL it amazes me that they are not looking for some kind of protections. Our view is that the only way to achieve this is through some form of nascent political involvement.

NEWS: Scion Launches Broadband Site, Joins Second Life

News/Social Networks/Youth Trends/Betsy Spethmann
Found on: promomagazine.com

Back in 1999, Toyota Motor Corp launched a marketing plan called "Project Genesis", the plan was intended to attract more youthful buyers to the company's products.

To this day, it is still considered to be one of Toyota's worst flops.

Who would have ever guessed that this failed attempt to attract the gen x demo would become the catalyst to one of today's edgiest and innovating brands - the Scion.



Promo Magazine post:

Toyota's edgy Scion brand is launching two online ventures that extend its strategy of marketing through entertainment.

Scion has formed its own online network, Scion Broadband, with five "channels" of content. And, separately, Scion has cut a deal to place its cars in the virtual world of Second Life, an online society.

Scion is well known for using online, event and entertainment marketing in lieu of traditional media advertising. The four-year-old brand has a reputation for sponsoring emerging artists, especially in music, fine arts and animation.

NEWS: Expedia founder in web property move

News/Social Networks/Web Culture/Daniel Pimlott
Found on FT.com

If Richard Barton the founder of Expedia has his way, Zillow.com could be the new Myspace... for Real Estate.

FT.com post:

Richard Barton, the founder of Expedia, wants to repeat the success of the online travel agency in the fast-growing market for US property websites, by opening up his Zillow.com to user-generated content similar to popular networking sites such as MySpace.

The move, to be announced today, will allow home-owners and estate agents to add properties’ photos, descriptions, improvements and selling price to Zillow – the company founded by Mr Barton in February.

The new service will be free but Mr Barton, who left Expedia shortly before Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp bought out the company for $3.3bn in 2003, said that Zillow wanted to tap into the estimated $6bn online advertising market for property and financial services.

NEWS: MySpace to Apple: Fix that worm

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Apple/Joris Evers
Found on: CNET.com

A worm that exploits a security hole in Apple's QuickTime caused some major chaos for my MySpace and it's millions of users over the weekend, now Myspace wants Apple to fix the problem.

CNET post:

MySpace.com wants Apple Computer to update its QuickTime media player software so it can't be used in attacks on the social-networking site.

The request comes after a worm in the form of a rigged QuickTime movie crawled onto MySpace.com over the weekend, changing people's MySpace profiles. The worm spread because of QuickTime's support for JavaScript code, experts have said.

"When we learned about an issue that exploits a feature in QuickTime and unfortunately targets MySpace users, we immediately contacted Apple to engineer a fix,"

Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer at MySpace, said in an e-mail statement Tuesday.

NEWS: MySpace Goes Wireless

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Mobile/Stephen Ellis
Found on: fool.com

MySpace will become available via Cingular's mobile phones, allowing the millions of MySpace users to access the site wirelessly. So what is this going to mean for HELIO? And can Sprint suck anymore then they already do...come on, get with it!

Fool.com post:

News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace, the wildly popular social networking site, is reportedly lining up yet another big deal. The deal is expected to put MySpace on Cingular's mobile phones, thus allowing the millions of MySpace users to access the site wirelessly. While users can currently access MySpace via Helios, a joint venture of Earthlink (Nasdaq: ELNK) and SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), this deal has the potential to be a game-changer.

Not only does it make sense for MySpace's largely younger user base, who are usually heavy mobile phone users, but it makes sense for MySpace as well. With the site's advertising revenues being relatively puny compared to its user base and site traffic, the wireless move offers a chance to increase user stickiness, as well as boost advertising, movie, and music sales, as subscribers might want to stream the content to their phones.

FakeYourSpace Launches - Buy Sexy MySpace Friends

Social Networks/Web Culture/Peter Cashmore
Found on: Mashable.com

Peter is reporting the launch of a new service that allows unpopular people on certain social networks to buy "hot" friends -- could this be the beginning of the end?

Mashable.com post:

FakeYourSpace, which is edgy, and may not be completely worksafe, launches this week. The service has an extremely amusing aim: it allows unpopular people on MySpace, Facebook and Consumating to “buy” hot friends. For just $.99 per month, you can buy a good-looking friend who will leave 2 comments on your profile every week. You can choose from scores of semi-clad male or female friends, and “buy them” twice to double the number of comments they leave. Payments are made via Paypal, of course. Want to annoy your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend? Just ask your hot new friend to flirt with you in your MySpace comments. Alienated all your Facebook friends by being nasty to them? No problem - just buy some new ones! And there’s no risk of your real friends discovering the ruse, since all of FakeYourSpace’s profiles are set to private.

Youtube Second Life Machinima commercials?

Youtube/Second Life/Marketing
Found on: Youtube

Nylon Outfitters is a "Virtual" store that sells virtual clothing, cameras and other v-products in the immensely popular online world Second Life.

Nylon Pickney, the owner of Nylon Outfitters decided to promote her products by producing three machinima commericals and posting them onto Youtube for both virtual and non virtual world to view.

Here are the links to the commercials found on Nylon Pickney's blog Newly Born:

-Video Camping is for the Camcorder, its a horror parody. Its more of a short movie then a commercial, but its definitley my favorite, its a little longer compared to the other two.

-Beatiful is for the 35mm (my favorite camera) and its about a photo project to take something beautiful.

-The Motel is for the Polorid, its about what happens when a guy, a couple of drinks, a polorid camera, and a pair of legs are put in the same room.

Sells have gone up with all the new exposure and things couldn't look any brighter for Nylon Pickney and her store's future.

Nylon Pickney's Youtube profile page