New Myspace: better all-in-one for social music playing and discovery
"Facebook may have won the social networking war, but Myspace is moving to a different battlefield under its new owner Specific Media, which acquired the site from News Corporation in June 2011.
After a period spent rebuilding Myspace from the ground up, the company published a teaser video on Vimeo in September - unveiled via tweet by co-investor Justin Timberlake - showing off a radically different design and an emphasis on music. ...
'The promise of discovery and sharing new, good music was never really fulfilled by other services out there,' says Tim. 'It's an unfulfilled promise that nobody ever really executed on.'
The new Myspace continues to compete with Facebook in some respects: artists create profiles on the site and post updates and content for their fans to watch, listen and share. But actually, its real competition is streaming music services like Spotify and Deezer."
(Stuart Dredge, 16 November 2012, The Guardian)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Joanna Shields leaves Facebook to join UK's Tech City
"Facebook's European boss Joanna Shields is to leave the social network to lead the UK government's investment group for technology start-ups.
The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) supports firms based near the Silicon Roundabout area of east London.
Ms Shields will replace current head Eric Van Der Kleij in January 2013.
'Joanna's experience will be hugely valuable in supporting Tech City as it goes from strength to strength,' Prime Minister David Cameron said.
'The success of Tech City shows just what can happen when we back some of our most innovative and aspiring companies to grow, helping the UK compete and thrive in the global race.'
Ms Shields has been Facebook's vice-president and managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa since 2010.
Prior to that she worked at Google and teenage-focused social network Bebo."
(Dave Lee, 22 October 2012, BBC News)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Le Minitel Bye Bye on 30 June 2012
"Après 30 ans d’existence, le Minitel s’apprête à tirer sa révérence. Les plus jeunes ne verront même pas de quoi il est question, mais ceux qui étaient au collège ou au lycée dans les années 90 s’en rappelleront peut-être pour avoir recherché dessus leurs résultats aux examens du brevet ou du bac. Le Minitel, ou l’ancêtre d’internet ! Invention 100 % française, le 1er réseau dans l’histoire des télécommunications à permettre la “connexion de terminaux permettant la visualisation de données informatiques” disparaîtra le 30 Juin 2012, et avec lui la machine à l’origine du fameux “36-15″. Définitivement la fin d’une époque.
After 30 years of existence, the Minitel is preparing to take its final bow. The youngest will not even see what it is about, but those who were in college or high school in the 90s will remember perhaps have looked over their test scores. The Minitel, or the ancestor of the Internet ! 100% French invention, the first network in the history of telecommunications to allow ”terminal connection to visualization of computer data” will draw his bow on June 30, 2012, and with it the machine behind the famous “36 - 15 “. Definitely the end of an era."
(Vincent Laserson, 31 May 2012, De Jeunes Gens Modernes)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Primal: What is Interest Networking?
"Interest networking is often seen as an extension of social networking. Rene Reinsberg (MIT) describes the Interest Graph as 'an online representation of individuals' interests, with people and interests being the nodes of the graph.'
Part of the confusion here is that social networks are often leveraged to construct interest networks, but the end shouldn't be confused with the means. By definition, a social network organizes information about people and their activities. An interest network organizes information around a set of interests, which may be yours and yours alone. Interest networks do not need social networking."
(Primal Fusion Inc., 20 Jan 2012)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Yahoo IP lawsuit: We patented Facebook's entire social network model
"'Facebook's entire social network model, which allows users to create profiles for and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo!'s patented social networking technology,' Yahoo claims in the lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Northern California. 'Prior to adopting Yahoo!'s patented social networking technology in 2008, Facebook was considered one of the worst performing Internet sites for advertising. Facebook's use of that social networking model has reportedly dramatically driven up Facebook's advertising click through rates.'
Nearly all the technology that makes Facebook successful is based on Yahoo patents, the company further states.
'For much of the technology upon which Facebook is based, Yahoo! got there first and was therefore granted patents by the United States Patent Office to protect those innovations. Yahoo!'s patents relate to cutting edge innovations in online products, including in messaging, news feed generation, social commenting, advertising display, preventing click fraud, and privacy controls,' Yahoo alleged in its court filing. 'These innovations dramatically improve user experience, privacy, and security and enhance the ability of advertisers to connect with users.'"
(Jon Brodkin, 13 March 2012, Ars Technica)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
