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All the best to everyone...
Cheers Steve :>
Tuesday 17 May 2011
The #347class11 Daily - Social Newspaper
Hey People,
We are live on social newspaper, #347class11 please contribute as much as possible using tweets :>
Click on the link here: Social Newspaper
All the best to everyone...
Cheers Steve :>
We are live on social newspaper, #347class11 please contribute as much as possible using tweets :>
Click on the link here: Social Newspaper
All the best to everyone...
Cheers Steve :>
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Lightweight Models and Cost Effective Scalability
Businesses migrate from ad hoc Web 2.0 use toward more formal approaches, welcoming O’Reilly’s “small is the new big” adage with open arms, it’s essential to deliver not just technologically but to adapt corporate models for more scalable and cost-effective change.
Not everyone knows or heard about cloud storage.
But some people, who knew about it, think that it’s an awesome idea to have everything in the cloud, but some think that it’s nothing special, unsafe or no security. Cloud Storage in the beginning isn’t supported by many industries, as they think it’s expensive and not workable or profitable at all.
As time goes by technology have changed and so does the thinking of the people using it. I would love to share with you a great example, Amazon Cloud Drive which allows you to upload your documents in the cloud, but that’s not all it have one unique features known as cloud player, which allows you to play your music, video and photos on the Web. It’s not like a Dropbox that allows you to store your files. Below there will be a video to explain how Amazon Cloud Drive works.
The promise of a product like Amazon's Cloud Drive is that you can upload all of the precious media files from all of your computers and devices (home, work, phone) to one common place, so that you're never stranded without access to your digital media.
Aside from Amazon's handy cross-platform uploader and downloader utilities and its browser-based tools for viewing, downloading, and streaming your stuff, Amazon is also throwing in a Cloud Player feature within the Amazon MP3 application for Android. Using the free app, you can stream all the music you have stored in the cloud, or download your tracks on the fly for offline playback.
Amazon is brilliant, in the sense that it has its existing businesses like it’s Online Departmental Store, Instant Video – which allows online movie rental and purchase, MP3 Music store, and cloud services. Now with the Cloud Drive, it’s combining almost everything of its existing business into one. They know that cloud storage is going to be big someday, and they took the first step in releasing it before anyone does. Although from my point of view, I think that Apple’s upcoming release on its cloud services know as iCloud might be a its biggest challenger. With the existing businesses of Amazon, to them its lighter on the cost to create Cloud Drives, and in order to attract more users, all it existing customers will be granted 5GB of storage spaces and they also welcoming new users too. Comparing to Dropbox only offering 2GB of storage and does not pack with additional features like Cloud Player.
In conclusion, I think that Amazon Cloud Drive will be a big hit, and its true that everything is going to be all about web. Google Chromebook (video link below to let you know more) is the best example on how the WEB is going to dominate the IT industry, where there won’t be any OS, won’t be any programs, it’s going to be just the WEB. So Amazon, Google and Apple is seeing the big picture here, making everything live online or real-time.
References
Cloud Storage Wiki:
Amazon Wiki:
About Amazon Cloud Drive:
Dropbox Wiki:
YouTube of Amazon Cloud Drive Intro:
Android Wiki:
Amazon Online Departmental Store:
Amazon Instant Video:
Amazon MP3 Music store:
Apple Wiki:
iCloud Information:
Google Chromebook Features:
Youtube Video on Google Chromebook:
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Leveraging the Long Tail
The Long Tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the tail of a probability distribution than observed under a “normal” or Gaussian distribution (Wiki, 2010). For instance, we used characters actually not too much, but the frequency is high. So these characters take up a fewer large red area in the following picture. In addition, most of characters are hard to use, they are that long yellow tail.
The term "long tail" was coined by Chris Anderson to describe the business strategy of e-Tailers such as Amazon.com that sell a high volume of say thousands of popular items (the head portion in the graph below, in red) and low volume of hundreds of thousands of niche or unique items (the mustard tail portion in the image below).
Web 2.0 Internet environments has allowed for smaller niche markets to grow considerably due to easier means of communication. And allowing these small markets to grow, they need a medium to help them to get attention and reaching out to more.
I have this great example to share with you, a special site that can fund your creativity or simply venture your creative innovations online without forking out a single cent. But the magic is to have awesome ideas behind it. It’s known as Kickstarter. Below will be a video link and some explanations to let you know more about Kickstarter.
Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world.
Every month, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, and publishing fields.
A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.
All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.
Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse.
Anyone with a creative idea, they can simply make use of the Kickstarter to help them to make their dreams come true. I have an awesome example to share. Have you heard about the concept of iPod Watchband? There is many different type of iPod watchband in the market but Scott Wilson creator of “TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits” had made this totally revolutionary or unique. They have started small and became world well known, and became a huge hit in the world of IT gadgets.
“Scott Wilson & MNML have experienced insane numerical success on Kickstarter for their kit that turns iPod Nanos into wristwatches. When we announced their pledge-seeking for the TikTok and LunaTik Multitouch Watch Kits on November 18th, we had no idea just how far they'd go; the initial target was a paltry $15,000, but as of this morning the current pledged amount is $461,788--and there's still more than two weeks left in the pledging period!” (core77 news article by hipstorm) Scott Wilson ventured his business from Kickstarter, and eventually evolves into a famous branding for its unique design and it eventually creating a huge impact on the fame of Kickstarter to the world that doesn’t know much of its existence online. From my point of view, both Kickstarter and Scott Wilson help each other and giving in the sense of making a both a huge hit.
Kickstarter not just have acting as a medium for innovative design for Scott Wilson’s TikTok and LunaTik Multitouch Watch Kits but they also cover in the area of music, film, art, technology, food, and publishing. It simply inspires more people all over the world to make their dreams come true.
Reference
Long tail Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail
About Chris Anderson:
About Kickstarter:
YouTube Video Link of Kickstarter:
Kickstarters TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits:
An article from core77 news article by hipstorm:
Scott Wilson Wiki:
Monday 2 May 2011
Perpetual Beta
"When devices and programs are connected to the Internet, applications are no longer software artifacts, they are ongoing services. This has significant impact on the entire software development and delivery process. Therefore, don’t package up new features into monolithic releases, but instead add features on a regular basis as part of the normal user experience. Engage your users to be real-time testers, and structure the service to reveal how people use your product." (Web 2.0 - Principles and Best Practice by John Musser with Tim O’Reilly & the O’Reilly Radar Team)
Facebook is changing the world… again.
By now you’ve probably heard of Facebook Places, the application that allows you to ‘Check In’ to places you’re visiting, alerting all of your Friends where you are (a bit like Foursquare).
Starting yesterday, businesses can also now offer customers special deals when they ‘Check In’ to their place on Facebook (again, a bit like Foursquare but with the functionality to manage the entire process). And it’s known as Facebook Deals.
At first the “BETA” Facebook Deals started in U.S but now its slowly spreading to other places like Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. It’s coming real soon to Australia too. “Finally in a boon for local businesses Facebook has confirmed the new Facebook Deals service which shows special deals available at local businesses within the users immediate vicinity will become available in Australia in “early 2011″, with the company currently adapting the service for Australia and New Zealand. When it eventually goes live, users will be able to access the service through the Facebook website, or through the company’s iPhone application.” (2010 ITechReport) Facebook Deals "BETA" have slowly evolved after its long research on the famous social buying giant "Groupon" and the deals from foursquare too. Below will be videos to let you know more about Facebook Deals,
Here’s how it works. Firstly, look for yellow or green tickets when you check in to places in those countries.
Everyone likes getting a good deal, but it's not always easy to find the right one at the moment you could use one. Imagine that while you're looking for a new place to try for lunch, you could see offers from restaurants nearby on your phone. On the other hand, I already love Brother Espresso at Brisbane City, so imagine if I were rewarded for coming back this place every week with my friends.
Starting today, local businesses will be able to offer you with deals when you check in to their place on Facebook. Deals will be rolling out over the next few days and will only be available in the United States at this time.
We launched Places to let you share where you are with your friends and see who's nearby. Now with Deals, you also can see what offers are nearby and share those deals with your friends.
Finding deals near you is easy. On mobile web site or the latest version of Facebook App on iPhone, touch "Places" and then touch "Check In."
Below I will be showing some of the screen shots of how the Facebook Deals work.
These deals come from merchants, not Facebook, so check with your local stores for additional details, such as when they're running, how many of the offers are available, and whether a deal is just for you or also for your friends.
You'll see a few different types of Deals: individual deals for a discount, free merchandise or other reward; friend deals where you and your friends claim an offer together; loyalty deals for being a frequent visitor to a place; and charity deals where businesses pledge to donate to a cause when you check in.
References
Web 2.0 - Principles and Best Practice by John Musser with Tim O’Reilly & the O’Reilly Radar Team: http://oreilly.com/catalog/web2report/chapter/web20_report_excerpt.pdf
Groupon Wiki:
Foursquare Wiki:
Facebook App:
Monday 11 April 2011
Software above the level of a single device
"I made "software above the level of a single device" one of the key principles in my Web 2.0 talks. Nonetheless it seems to me that this is still one of the principles that is not properly understood, or is understood only in the most obvious sense.
And that obvious sense is this: by definition, every web application is software above the level of a single device. At minimum, these applications use a client on a local computer and one or more server computers. In the case of applications like Google, the server end may consist of hundreds of thousands of machines, and, of course, the data held on those servers is gathered from literally hundreds of millions of other computers. So clearly, this is software above the level of a single device." (Tim O'Reilly 2007)
A long time ago, I had the Google Mobile App. Then I just kind of gave up on it and deleted it. It didn't do anything particularly useful, and was no better than launching Mobile Safari for searches. The voice feature was nice, but launching the app and trying to use the command usually took longer than launching the browser and just searching manually. But the brand new Google Search App is as huge improvement over that, and I may actually keep it. Below will be a video link to show your whats different about Google Search App.
Google Search App is an application using the power of Google Search Engine Server, to revolutionize users from searching information using other than typing text from keypad.
Now I will explain the reasons why Google Search have became uniquely different from the mobile browsers and how they have marvelously link the app and their server on searching information or whatever you want on the web. Below I will be using some of the screenshots from the iPhone and explain how to use it.
Having the awesome voice searching engine by Google Search apps is totally great, which is pretty accurate and instant search from its search engine. Below will be a video link on how Voice Search works and screenshot from the iPhone.
Another awesome features is the Google Goggles which have an ability something like the text recognition where you can take a photo using your iPhone camera of a book or a painting, Google Goggles will detect the words or text on the photo taken and have a search on their great search engine. For more clearer upstanding on how it works please watch the video link below, and I have also taken a screenshot of how Google Goggles look like on iPhone.
Reference
Quote from Tim O'Reilly Article
Wiki informations
Google Search at iTunes:
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