Web Design Ireland

posted by Robert on Aug 22

Microsoft just released Tafiti, a Silverlight- and Live Search-powered search engine experiment. TechCrunch asks the question that matters: Will people use it? Their answer: Probably not.

But it’s worth checking out, because beneath its glitzy UI there are a some cool experiments that could easily be implemented on a more plain-Jane search site. I like the “shelf” on Tafti, where you can drag search results that you want to save or look at later. And I like the stack of search queries that Tafti collects as you use the site; other engines record your search histories, but Tafti shows us that it can be done better.

Tree view: Just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

More prosaic (but still pretty) features include a secondary “filter” field that lets you easily winnow down search results, and different display formatting for results from the Web, books, news sites, and RSS feeds. There are also “blog this” and “email this” options for results you save in your shelf.

There’s also a highly experimental — borderline silly — “tree view” of search results. This view goes into my running list of weirdo search technologies.

Tafiti is a Microsoft open experiment, not a Google killer. But Google should take notice: With Tafiti, Microsoft is telling us that a search site can be useful without being dull.

Source: www.news.com.com

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posted by Robert on Aug 22

Google is combining YouTube videos with Google News to offer users what it hopes will be greater perspective on news stories.

The company announced on its blog that visitors to Google News will see a “Video” prefix next to news stories. Clicking on these links will take them to a YouTube page where they can watch video about the subject.

Google is still testing the offering with news sources such as CBS, Reuters and local TV stations owned by Hearst.

“Today, viewing news videos or other content types on the Web can be a frustrating experience,” said Lucy Zhang, a member of Google News’ engineering team. “You often get videos that don’t play, sites that require different video player downloads, or have misleading descriptions of the content. That’s why we’re working with YouTube so you can easily view online videos without any downloads required and regardless of what browser you’re using.”

The offering is a sign that Google is looking for ways to get the most use out of YouTube’s vast video library. The service may also send a message to news providers that Google is ratcheting up efforts to become the Web’s main news stand.

Source: www.news.com.com

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posted by Robert on Aug 22

Several readers blasted me for my blog post last week about the Skype outage. I assumed that many of the people using Skype’s messaging and voice over IP service didn’t rely on the service for their primary form of communication. But several people pointed out that many small businesses use Skype to communicate with clients, employees and partners.

These comments got me thinking about this segment of the market. And now I’m working on a story that will take a look at how small businesses use free communications services like Skype instead of products that they would have to pay for from Microsoft or Cisco Systems.

I’d love to get some perspective from business users who rely on Skype for day-to-day communications. Specifically, I’d like to know why these users have chosen a free service over one they’d have to pay for, and whether or not the recent outage would change their minds about this choice. On the flip side, I’d also like to hear from some small-business owners who decided to go with a unified communications solution from Microsoft, Cisco or any of the other competitors in that market.

Source: www.news.com.com

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posted by Robert on Aug 22

Social networking site Bebo, with a 36-million-strong member base centered primarily in the U.K., announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Microsoft on a new instant messaging initiative. The Windows Live Messenger service, formerly known as MSN Messenger, is now the fuel behind Bebo’s new internal IMing operations.

Bebo users who have hooked their Windows Live usernames up to the service have an “IM Me” button on their profiles that they can use to communicate with other members in-browser if they’re online, but Bebo’s IM is also open to members without Windows Live Messenger. Essentially, the partnership integrates existing Windows Live accounts into Bebo and also provides a robust base for the Web-based chat interface.

A peek at Bebo’s IMing service with the Windows Live logo button.

(Credit: Bebo)

Don’t think that this deal necessarily has broader implications in today’s acquisition-happy digital media culture–the Microsoft partnership is strictly limited to Windows Live Messenger at this point. Bebo’s internal search, after all, is powered by Yahoo, which has been talked up as a possible buyer for the independent social networking site.

Rival MySpace launched its instant messaging service earlier this summer, but has kept it separate from other IM clients like Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Instant Messenger, or AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). Facebook, meanwhile, does not offer an internal IM service–but several third-party developers have created them for the Facebook Platform.

Source: www.news.com.com

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posted by Robert on Aug 22

It’s interesting how Google handles potential litigation. While its rivals are sidestepping it where they can (it seems), Google invites it. Just as Google is sued (again) for allowing competitor trademark keyword bids, Microsoft is set to disallow such practices.

Microsoft follows Yahoo by updating its competitor keyword policy. Yahoo was relatively swift about it, disallowing the practice after Mazda’s much debated direct plea Google users seeking information about Pontiacs in early 2006.

That left both Google and Microsoft without such assurances in place for trademark owners – that is, until the end of this month or so.

At the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose California, Microsoft’s Director of Marketplace Quality for AdCenter, Mary Berk, said AdCenter would be updating its trademarked term policy in late August or early September.

Under the policy update, advertisers will not be allowed to use a competitor’s trademark in the ad copy.

Berk said the update would include a verification process with editorial review, clear-cut rules for advertisers. She also said the policy would result in increased relevancy for branded terms.

Earlier this month, American Airlines sued Google for “vicarious” trademark infringement for allowing competing airlines to bid on their brand keywords. Though the plaintiff’s argument seems a bit thin (in practical application it would prevent resellers from advertising competitor offers), and other companies have tried unsuccessfully under similar auspices, AA is the largest company (read: they have more expensive lawyers) to file suit.

Both Yahoo and Microsoft have sidestepped similar issues by disallowing the practice altogether.

Source: www.webpronews.com

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posted by Robert on Aug 22

DoubleClick Performics, the marketing division of DoubleClick, has released data from a search usage study that focused on “moms” which was conducted with Microsoft and ROI Research.

 The study “Searcher Moms-A Search Behavior and Usage Study” found heavy search engine usage for online and offline purchases.

“Although we suspected much of what the study uncovered, we gained a much better understanding of just how much moms rely on search engines to accomplish a wide range of tasks, literally on a daily basis,” said Stuart Larkins, vice president of search for DoubleClick Performics.

“Of the nearly 1,000 moms surveyed, 89 percent use the Internet at least twice/day, and 90 percent have been using it for more than seven years. A whopping 86 percent of respondents said search engines are the most efficient way to find information.”

The study also found that 70 percent of moms use search engines to find information before making an online purchase and 57 percent use search engines to gather information before making an offline purchase.

When it comes to consumer-packaged goods, 72 percent of moms said they used search engines to compare prices and 71 percent said they used search engines to find retail locations.

“Manufacturers and marketers targeting this audience through any kind of advertising campaign should be sure to integrate a well planned Search campaign. Sixty-four percent of women reported using a search engine to gather more information after seeing an advertisement,” said Scott Haiges, President of ROI Research Inc.

Source: www.webpronews.com

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posted by admin on Aug 21

We have just updated the look of our blog. Please feel free to leave any comments.

Thanks

Ripe Design dept.

posted by Robert on Aug 21

Adobe Systems intends to add support for a video compression standard that will bring high-definition video to Flash-based streaming content on the Web.

The company on Tuesday is expected to announce the release of a beta version of its Flash Player, code-named Moviestar, that adds support for H.264, the video compression portion of the MPEG 4 standard.

The updated Flash Player also will be able to take advantage of hardware acceleration in most PCs’ graphics cards and is optimized for dual-core processors, said Mark Randall, chief strategist for dynamic media at Adobe. It will support HE-AAC version 2, a more efficient audio compression standard that is also part of MPEG 4.

The new features will be made available in the fall as part of an update to Flash Player 9.

Support for the H.264 standard will lead to more Web video content being available in high definition, Randall said. He said Adobe chose to support the standard now because it is being adopted more by content producers and media distributors like cable companies.

Flash is a de facto standard for streaming video used by YouTube and other high-volume Web sites.

But Microsoft is challenging Flash’s dominance in Web video with Silverlight. Microsoft has signed on large video publishers to use Silverlight, including MLB.com.

Silverlight supports Windows Media Audio and Video and another video compression standard based on Windows Media called VC-1. Microsoft has not announced plans to support H.264, but a representative said the company could add support based on customer feedback.

Source: http://news.com.com

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posted by Robert on Aug 21

Like so much else on the Internet, you have to be skeptical about the star ratings of software. Perhaps you suspected this, but now there is proof.

A software developer in the U.K., Andy Brice, was suspicious about the ratings assigned to his software, so he did a test–a lab experiment if you will. He started with a plain text file that said “this program does nothing at all” a few times. Then he renamed the file so that it ended with “.exe” and submitted it to 1,033 download sites. The “program,” if you can call it that, won’t even run.

Being as obvious as he possibly could, Andy called the program “awardmestars” and included a description of the program that said, “This software does nothing at all.” He even included a screenshot that said very plainly that the software does nothing. See his blog for the full details: The software awards scam.

Andy says his nonfunctional software was listed on 218 Web sites, and some even gave him an award. “Approximately 7 percent of the sites that listed the software e-mailed me that it had won an award,” he said. His submission was rejected by 421 Web sites, but since he listed it as a utility, many of these rejections were because the site didn’t include that type of software. Many submissions are still pending.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at a screenshot of awardmestars version 1.0 at Topshareware.com where it was certified as having no spyware, adware or viruses. The user reviews are hilarious. PC World magazine listed it originally, but has since withdrawn their listing. As I write this, however, the listing at PC World as of August 15, 2007 at 17:01:08 GMT is still available in the Google cache.

Trustworthy software downloads

Andy mentioned three Web sites where a human being obviously reviewed the software because they wrote back to him, either appreciating the joke or being annoyed by it. The sites were Filecart.com, Freshmeat.net and Download-tipp.de. He considers the fact that a human responded to him sufficient to recommend these sites. I consider it just the first step.

In his Security Fix column in the Washington Post, Brian Krebs wrote about this today (Beware of Five-Star Vaporware) and concluded with ” … I’ve never strayed far beyond a handful of sites that I have come to know fairly well, such as CNET’s Download.com, SourceForge.net and Tucows.com.”

Source: http://news.com.com

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posted by Robert on Aug 21

When I first read the headline, I was shocked. I thought, “Wow! Skype runs on Windows servers???”

But no. Skype blamed its outage over the weekend on a different kind of Windows problem. It turns out that when you have millions of Windows machines restarting at the same time (getting their weekly doses of patches because, um, the system is rock solid), it can cause all sorts of problems for others.

Like Skype:

The latest security update from Microsoft required a system reboot. The effect of so many machines rebooting and subsequently trying to log onto the Skype VoIP network triggered system instability and a prolonged outage of almost two days starting on Thursday. Services have now being restored.

The necessity for system reboots after Microsoft patches happens almost every month. Skype said the problems it experienced were down to a failure in its system recovery functions due to a previously unidentified software bug.

I don’t know about you, but if I’m a malicious hacker, I’m viewing all sorts of opportunity in this monthly opportunity to slip into Microsoft’s mainstream patch-a-thon. If a common patch process applied across millions of machines simultaneously can cause so many problems, surely there’s a way to capitalize on this. Skype’s travails only make this opportunity more pronounced.

I’m liking my Mac even more right now. I just wish my Mac-based usage of Skype didn’t have to be screwed up by so many lemmings patching their Windows machines. All together. At the same time. Every month. Like clockwork.

Source: http://news.com.com

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