Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Spam Hunters Become a Digg Spammers Best Friend

from TechCrunch by Duncan Riley

New service Collactive comes to the world courtesy of the team behind the failed Israeli outfit Blue Security, best known for running the anti-spam service Blue Frog. Wildly popular at first, the denial of service attacks from BlueFrog (be it a DOS from a moral high ground) rubbed spammers the wrong way and in May last year all hell broke lose, taking down SixApart amongst others. They subsequently gave in and shut the service.

What we didn’t know then was that having lost the battle in the war against spam, they’d actually manufacture arms for the opposing side.

Collactive works as a distribution service for what they call an All Points Bulletin (APB). You add, social bookmarking style a page on Digg or any where else to the APB system, then others are notified of the page. At this point the service differs. Users are directed to Collactive itself as opposed directly to the marked page. The page is presented with a Collactive frame to the left of screen that includes notes on the action required, for example “vote for this”. Traffic for your submitted pages comes from other collactive users plus there is support for emailing friends, a browser extension and a blog widget for displaying your APBs.

There are non-controversial uses for the site, any sort of page can be listed. However the real intent in terms of use is clearly promoted through out the site. The top listed APB when I visited the site was a request to vote on a story at Digg and other social networks were also listed amongst APB’s and social networking site logos were used in promotional material.

Alarm:Clock quotes Digg CEO Jay Adelson who puts it in perspective: “For sure, Digg is always being jacked around by people who are manipulating it, but Collactive is taking it to another level”.

Collactive is funded by Sequoia. Yes, that Sequoia.

Maybe there is something more to the service than spamming Digg? Of course there is aside from a name that sounds like medication; it works for spamming Reddit and Netscape as well!

Veotag’s Deep Tagging Gets $750K

from TechCrunch by Nick Gonzalez

Veotag just got an angel investment of $750K. As we've covered before, deep tagging is an important feature in lengthier online media. Who hasn't wanted to skip the boring parts of a keynote address? A host of startups are incorporating deep tagging into their services, such as Pluggd, Viddler, Motionbox, and JumpCut, among others.

Veotag allows you to add this functionality to any of your video or audio from within their embeddable player. You can upload content (WMV, FLV, mp3) from your computer or via URL. Anyone can sign up for an account, upload content, publish, and start tagging points in the programming. The Veotag player wraps around the content, displaying time stamped comments along the right hand side that link to interesting segments, as chosen by the publisher. You can see an example of the player on a speech by Guy Kawasaki here.

Veotag has a search engine for the tags, which is also indexed by the major search engines. This index can then be transmitted to an ad serving engine for targeted advertising around the audio or video.

Readers interested in incorporating deep tagging into their own media should also check out Click.tv's video deep tagging widget with comments.

Engadget Knocks $4 billion off Apple Market Cap on Bogus iPhone email

Augustine: the speed of information, the power of blogs (esp. the trusted ones) from TechCrunch by Michael Arrington

What a day for Apple investors. The stock started off strong today on a lot of pre-market buying, despite news that Amazon will finally start competing on sales of DRM-free music.

Then, whoops, at 11:49 AM EST Engadget posted saying that the iPhone and Leopard operating system launches would be seriously delayed. They based the story on an internal Apple email that was forwarded to them. The original post:

This one doesn’t bode well for Mac fans and the iPhone-hopeful: we have it on authority that as of today, the iPhone launch is being pushed back from June to… October (!), and Leopard is again seeing a delay, this time being pushed all the way back to January. Of 2008. The latest WWDC Leopard beta will still be handed out, but it looks like Apple-quality takes time, and we’re sure Jobs would remind everyone that it’s not always about “writing a check”, but just how much time are these two products really going to take?

Apple’s stock promptly tanked on massive selling, going from $107.89 to $103.42 in six minutes (11:56 - 12:02). This wiped just over $4 billion off of Apple’s market capitalization. A lot of people lost a lot of money very quickly.

Well, it turns out that the email was a hoax. In an update, Engadget said that the email was in fact sent from Apple’s internal email system, but that it was not accurate. Apple quickly notified Engadget of the error, saying “This communication is fake and did not come from Apple. Apple is on track to ship iPhone in late June and Mac OS X Leopard in October.”

By 12:22 Apple stock had mostly recovered and it ended the day down just $1.40/share, or $1.25 billion in market cap.

Let the lawsuits and criminal investigations commence (although to be clear, I do not believe Engadget will have any liability here. Apple may, if the email did originate from its servers).

Researchers create inexpensive, super-strong "nanoglue"

from Engadget by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have announced that they've developed a new type of glue that's not only inexpensive, but can supposedly bond "nearly anything" together. To create the so-called "nanoglue," the team created a thin layer of "molecular chains" with a carbon backbone and sandwiched it between a thin film of copper and silica (as less-than-realistically depicted above). They then found that the more they heated the "nanosandwich," the stickier it got, ultimately going all the way up to temperature of 700 degrees Celsius before reaching its peak. Not surprisingly, the researchers see a wide range of uses for the glue, including applications in nano and microelectronic devices, not to mention high-heat environments -- for instance, holding paint to the inside of a jet engine. They also don't seem to think it'll have any trouble catching on, costing just $35 for 100 grams -- which, when you get down to the nano level, works out to be quite a bargain.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

HP e-Book Reader Design Fakes Turning Pages

Although there've been lots of eBooks the past year, none of them have had this HP concept that was demoed at the HP Mobility Summit. Instead of pressing a button to turn the page (which you can presumably still do) there are touch strips on the top, bottom, and sides of the ebook that you can slide to virtually turn the page.

We're not entirely sure how the act of swiping makes reading more enjoyable on an ebook, but hey, whatever makes people adopt technology faster. On a similar note, who's reserved the last Harry Potter book? Doesn't he show his wand in this one or something? – Jason Chen

HP to present 'ebook reader' featuring intuitive interface [AVING]

Product Innovations that are ... NOT!

Pur Water Purifying Fruit Flavor Cartridges Are Both Fantastic and Horrible

As if drinking regular water isn't enough for kids these days, Pur is introducing Pur Flavor Options, which is a fruit cartridge you can stick into their Pur water filter systems. The upshot? Now you can flip a switch and get filtered fruit-flavored water from your tap, which has the taste of water you used to rinse actual fruit in but none of the health benefits of water. Yum! – Jason Chen

(Source: Gizmodo)

Microsoft: Vista sells nearly 40 million licenses in first 100 days

what they DON'T say is that all/most of it was purchased by OEMs like Dell, HP, Lenovo ($1.3 billion software deal announced May 10th) etc. Anyone check with end users? Anyone know of an end user who has actually upgraded or is planning to upgrade to Vista (i.e. actually buy it?)? Posted May 16th 2007 5:04AM by Thomas Ricker

In case you're keeping track, nearly 40 million Microsoft Vista licenses have been sold in its first 100 days. According to Billy G, 78% of all sales made since the January 30th launch had been for the software's premium versions. Not bad, in fact, pretty damn impressive leaving little doubt that this is Microsoft's most successful OS (measure by rate of sale) ever with record profits sure to follow.

TapeFailure Review Video by CenterNetworks

Read more at CenterNetworks...
http://www.centernetworks.com/video-review-of-tapefailure-watch-your-users-use-your-site

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

United States Patent: 6173267

United States Patent	6,173,267
*Cairns*	January 9, 2001

Method for product promotion Abstract

A method for providing fulfillment in a promotional contest includes providing a card in a product package marked with an internet address and a password. The purchaser of the product contacts the internet address and inputs personal information and the password to learn if the purchaser is a winner in the contest. If the purchaser is a winner, the card is sent to the company to verify the winning status before sending the prize to the purchaser.

TiVo Awarded Patent For Password You Can't Hack

United States Patent	7,216,235
Platt	May 8, 2007

Drive/host locking system Abstract

An authentication system for securing information within a disk drive to be read and written to only by a specific host computer such that it is difficult or impossible to access the drive by any system other than a designated host is disclosed. While the invention is similar in intent to a password scheme, it significantly more secure. The invention thus provides a secure environment for important information stored within a disk drive. The information can only be accessed by a host if the host can respond to random challenges asked by the disk drive. The host's responses are generated using a cryptography chip processing a specific algorithm. This technique allows the disk drive and the host to communicate using a coded security system where attempts to break the code and choose the correct password take longer to learn than the useful life of the disk drive itself.

Search Techniques: Find your Gmail by label short names

from Lifehacker

All Gmail's "folders" - even the Inbox, Sent Mail and unread messages - are actually labels, and you can narrow your email searches to them using the label: operator (or l: for short). The Google Operating System weblog lists more shorthand that refers to these special labels:

^b chats ^f sent mail ^i inbox ^k trash ^r draft ^s spam ^t starred messages ^u unread mail

Using these along with the l: operator, you can search for, say, all the unread messages not in your Inbox using -l:^i l:^u. Not exactly readable, but certainly succinct. —Gina Trapani

Shortcuts for Special Gmail Labels [Google Operating System]

Ask Lifehacker: Set up a filtered response in Gmail?

from Lifehacker

Dear Lifehacker,

As you are one of the biggest Gmail fans around, I was wondering if you knew of any way to create a filter in Gmail such that emails from a specified sender (or from specified senders) could be given an automatic response. I know that Gmail has a "Vacation Responder" option, but that sends replies to everyone who sends an email, or at least sends a response to everyone in your Contacts, and that just won't work. Any ideas, oh mighty Lifehacker?

Sincerely, Filtered Frank

Dear Frank,

First of all, thanks so much for your excellent question! We live to come up with these little workarounds. Second: there is a workaround! However, you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and ~~possibly break Gmail's Terms of Service~~ and grab a second email account. Hit the jump for how.

The solution requires that you grab yourself a second Gmail account, which is ~~considered a no-no~~ apparently okay in Gmail's ToS. However, last time I checked, everyone and their cute fluffy pups has at least two Gmail addresses, so this doesn't seem like that daunting of a move. However, don't say we didn't warn you!

Got your second Gmail address? Good, let's get started. From here on out, I'll refer to you main Gmail account as Gmail 1 and your second as Gmail 2 (could it get more complicated?).

Set up a filter in Gmail 1 that forwards messages to Gmail 2 that you want to send the auto-response to.
Head over to Gmail 2 and go to the Accounts settings tab. You need to add your Gmail 1 address to your Gmail 2 account so that Gmail 2 can send messages as Gmail 1. Then set Gmail 1 as your default account in Gmail 2. This way all messages you send from Gmail 2 will still look like they're coming from Gmail 1.
Set up a Vacation responder in Gmail 2. Done!

Now when you receive a message from the sender you want to always auto-respond to, Gmail 1 will forward the message to Gmail 2, which will automatically send out your pre-defined response as though it's coming straight from Gmail 1. As an added layer of security, I'd add the original sender's email address to your Gmail 2 contacts and check "Only send a response to people in my Contacts" in the vacation responder. Since Gmail 2 is only for automated responses, that means it should be the only email(s) in your Contacts, and you will never send off an auto-response accidentally.

A bit convoluted, yes, but it should do exactly what you're looking for Frank.

Hack on! Lifehacker — Adam Pash

Everything You See Is Fake

by Fresh Pics

A video demonstrating the power of video editing.

Orgoo - The Web Email/IM Replacement

from TechCrunch by Michael Arrington

Los Angeles-based Orgoo is a new webmail service that is going to be a popular application for some users. Not only does it emulate Outlook-style desktop mail applications extremely well, it also integrates instant messaging from all of the major IM providers directly into the interface. If you are looking for a service-independent webmail/IM service, you’ll want to check this out.

If you’ve been around long enough to remember Oddpost, which launched in 2002, you’ll see similarities with Orgoo. Like Oddpost, Orgoo is an Ajax webmail service that lets users access their favorite email accounts via POP or IMAP access. Evolution of the Oddpost service stopped, however, in 2004 when it was acquired by Yahoo. Much of the Oddpost engine has now been integrated into Yahoo mail.

The key difference between Orgoo and the major Internet webmail services (Gmail, Yahoo, Live Hotmail, AOL) is that it also integrates instant messaging from all major providers.

The Orgoo interface has both email and instant messaging on the main dashboard (click on image for large view). Sign into AIM, Live Messenger, Gtalk, ICQ, Yahoo) and chat with your contacts (similar to meebo/ebuddy). You can optionally archive all IM conversations and the drop them into the same folders you use for email - a very handy way of keeping information organized. Since IM archives are saved the same way as emails, users can also forward IM conversations as emails.

Both Gmail and Yahoo offer IM integration within their webmail applications, but neither allow users to log into other third party services. Gmail allows Gtalk only, and Yahoo allows Yahoo IM only. Orgoo is service-independent and so users who have email in one place and IM in another (or use multiple services for both) will find this to be a much more useful application.

One thing I really like about Orgoo is their attention to detail. There are a number of examples of this. Users can choose from a number of visual templates and can upload avatars for emails/IM. Any address in an email or IM turns into a link that shows the address in Google Maps via a popup. They allow users to create on the fly chat rooms. And they are allowing users to record quick audio or video files and send them via email. See screen shots below for the maps and video screen shots.

Orgoo will offer users 3 GB of storage for free. The service is currently in private alpha testing with a handful of USC students only but will be expanding in the coming weeks to a larger group.

The two founders, Sean Rad (20) and Shahzad Tiwana (34) are students at USC and brought in a seasoned veteran, Michael Kantor, as CEO. The company has raised a small round of angel financing and has just 11 employees (three in California, eight in Pakistan).

There are a number of competitors out there. In addition to the webmail services mentioned above, a number of services have great service-neutral webmail services (see our coverage of Goowy). Foldera, a public company, is also a direct competitor but is yet to launch (Disclosure: I am currently on the board of directors of Foldera).

Orgoo has created a lot with a very small team and next to no financing to date. Their biggest challenge going forward won’t be getting users, but proving that their service is scalable. One of the most common complaints about webmail is speed - even Gmail and Yahoo, with unlimited resources, have a hard time keeping their services humming. If Orgoo can keep the service flying, they could become very popular very fast.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Why English is Tricky for Foreigners

"may i have a coke" means something entirely different than "may i have some coke" -- one will get you arrested and the other implies you're from the South...

Map of words used for "carbonated beverage" in USA, by county

from Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

"Using the World Wide Web to gather and process data from across English-speaking North America, I intend to plot the regional variations in the use of the terms 'Pop' and 'Soda' to describe carbonated soft drinks."

Link, via this post on Gadling. (Thanks, marilyn terrell)

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