New Zooomr to permit photo sales--once debugged

By Stephen Shankland – March 19, 2007, 1:08 PM PDT The Zooomr photo-sharing site plans major changes, including the ability to let members sell their photos, but the upgrade process has been rocky. (Credit: Zooomr) Photo-sharing sites have added features such as tagging, commentary, ranking and printing. But adding the ability to sell photos injects a little profit motive in the business as well. It also puts the site in more direct competition with stock-photo sales sites such as Getty Images subsidiary iStockphoto. Zooomr will keep 10 percent of revenue from photo sales, the company said on its blog, letting users keep 90 percent. For comparison, iStockphoto keeps 80 percent, unless users sign an exclusivity agreement under which the company keeps 60 percent. Getty also acquired journalism-oriented Scoopt this month, a site that splits revenue 50-50. Zooomr went offline Tuesday for the overhaul to the Mark III version of the site. Users couldn't upload new images, though blog photos hosted on the site were still available. The upgrade was scheduled to be complete Thursday, but on Sunday, Zooomr rolled back to the earlier interface while debugging the new one. "To keep everyone happy and continually uploading images, we've opted to put Zooomr Release Two back up temporarily for a few days while we get all of these Mark III bugs worked out of our system," site programmer Kristopher Tate said in a blog posting Sunday. New search abilities also hampered the upgrade. The new version will let users search for images based on their colors, but even with five servers working flat-out, processing images for the search preparations took longer than expected, Tate said. Zooomr today specializes in photo sharing augmented with support for multiple languages and geotagging, which maps the locations where photos were taken. The new Zooomr version also lifts file-size and quantity limits, the company said on its blog. And it will be endowed with a programming interface, allowing more sophisticated or automated interactions with the site.

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Brand Map in SecondLife

Did you know the above brands were in Second Life? Other than a handful of brands that have graced the page sof NY Times, Wall Street Journal, etc - most have gone unnoticed, and continue to go unnoticed because most brands aren’t harnessing the virtual worlds strategically. A virtual world campaign is more than just ‘build’ - it’s also: position, market, be contextually relevant, easy to find, etc. (source: http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/?p=430)

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Download of the Day: TeamViewer (Windows)

Windows only: Joining the ranks of Crossloop, iRemotePC and LogMeIn, TeamViewer lets you connect to other PCs for remote access, tech support, file sharing and more.

The tiny setup program give you the option of configuring your PC in host or client mode, or skipping installation altogether (in which case TeamViewer runs without installing anything). I chose the latter option on two PCs: one running XP, the other, Vista. From there I simply entered a numeric ID and password generated by the software, and presto: Instant remote access. In addition to controlling the other PC, I could transfer files and chat with the other user (myself, in this case). By enabling server mode, I was able to switch directions and share my desktop with the other PC--neat for showing presentations, demonstrations, etc.

TeamViewer works around firewalls and promises 1024-bit RSA private/public key exchange and 128-bit RC4 session encoding. In other words, it's pretty secure. It also has at least one advantage over each of the three aforementioned remote-access programs, so if you're interested in connecting to another computer from afar, give TeamViewer a try. The program is free for personal, non-commercial use, and it requires Windows 98 or later. Thanks, Karri! — Rick Broida

TeamViewer

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Researchers create tangible table interface

from Engadget by Donald Melanson Filed under: Misc. GadgetsApparently inspired by some late night bouts of air hockey, a team of researchers at the University of Design in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany have crafted a so-called "tangible table" interface that uses a series of pucks to handle all the controls. The system works by using a camera underneath the table to track the movements of the pucks (which are distinguished by marks on their undersides), along with a combination mirrors, infrared lights, and a projector to display the image on the surface of the table. While it so far only appears to be cable of simple tasks like moving, zooming, and rotating, we suspect it's only a matter of time before they realize the true potential of the device and whip up a game of Breakout. Apparently inspired by some late night bouts of air hockey, a team of researchers at the University

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See me, pay me: eBay blends Skype and PayPal

from Blogging Stocks by Beth Gaston Moon Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, eBay (EBAY), Next big thingOne of my closest friends, Liz, is a speech pathologist for young children and doesn't have much need for computers. I've taught her all about iTunes, wireless networks, and CD burning, but several months ago she introduced me to Skype. Her husband's sister and brother-in-law currently live and work in Tokyo, so the Internet telephony feature has been a lifesaver. They can remain in close contract, even with the 12-hour time difference, and it's free of charge. Plus, there's a visual element unavailable over traditional telecom wires. Earlier today, Melly Alazraki reported that online auctioneer eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), the parent of Skype, has released a new version that incorporates the PayPal online payment feature. Skype users will now be able to transfer money back and forth using PayPal accounts, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. EBAY officials are planning on blending the two services more down the line; a spokesperson noted that "We hope that adding this capability will result in a better, more enriching experience for both Skype and PayPal users, which is crucial to extending our leadership positions in the communications and payments markets." This new feature will make it easier for my friend's sister-in-law to contribute money to her nieces' college funds (did I mention Liz is the mother of triplet girls? No wonder they don't have time to fiddle around with iTunes). EBAY shares are fractionally higher in early trading and continue to fight toward the $35 level. This is the location of the stock's 20-month moving average and is also home to hefty out-of-the-money call open interest in the April and July options series. Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

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Jott + Gmail = to-do list by phone

from Lifehacker A blogger at Studentlinc explains how he combined Jott and Gmail to create a to-do list he can add to just by making a phone call. Jott, as you may recall, is a free service that transcribes phone messages and sends the text to you via e-mail. The trick here is to create a Jott-specific label in Gmail, then set up your Jott account to send messages to that address. One click of the Jott label will reveal all your to-dos. And you can "cross one off" by deleting the e-mail. I'm a huge fan of using Jott to send myself reminders. This takes the idea one step further by leveraging Gmail's labels. Know any other Jott hacks? Put 'em in the comments. — Rick Broida Creating My ToDo list Through Jott and Gmail [Studentlinc via lifehack.org]

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Advertisers Fleeing TV, Radio for Internet, etc.

from Internet Outsider by Henry Blodget Emily Steel of the WSJ reported startling numbers from TNS Media Intelligence showing just how fast major advertisers are pulling money out of traditional media and throwing it into paid search, digital media, and other "unmeasured" advertising. This trend has been underway for years, and the figures are backward-looking, but it's no wonder that traditional media conglomerates like Viacom are starting to panic: In a sign of how major advertisers are shifting money out of traditional media, ad tracking firm TNS Media Intelligence reported that the nation's 50 biggest advertisers cut their spending on "measured" media such as TV, print and Internet display ads by 1.5% in 2006 -- though U.S. ad spending grew 4.1% overall. While some of the decline may reflect overall cutbacks in ad spending by big marketers, it likely signals that big companies such as Procter & Gamble are reallocating some of their ad budgets to new Internet ad venues which aren't measured by TNS -- such as paid-search advertising, social networking and online video. Not surprisingly, the report showed that growth in ad spending on traditional media, particularly newspapers and radio, continued to slow dramatically while spending on Internet display ads is accelerating. But it also highlighted a significant slowdown in ad growth among cable channels, after several years of robust increases.

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SkypeFind + SkypePrime = Skype is Desperate

from Internet Outsider by Henry Blodget In a move that says more about the revenue potential of its core business than any numbers reported to date, Skype announced the launch of two new products that have little to do with the core service and are already widely available elsewhere: local product reviews and a monetize-yourself expert network directory. This strategy, of course, mimics the one that resulted in eBay buying Skype in the first place ("Core business decelerating? Quick, acquire a fast-growing company in a completely unrelated business and then think of a way to explain it!"). Just because there is precedent for this strategy doesn't mean it's a good one. The local restaurant/product/etc review business is a tough nut to crack, and companies with far more resources than Skype's have found it slow going. Keen and other companies, meanwhile, have been at the telephone-expert opportunity for years, and they haven't hit the jackpot. If Skype didn't have another business to run, none of this would matter. But it does. And this Skype user, at least, can think of a hundred things that Skype could do to improve its basic service before it rushes off to compete with Google, Yahoo, Ingenio, and others in un-related businesses. (Such as? Such as this wicked-cool one-number-forever service offered by GrandCentral) So then why would Skype do this? Perhaps because, as its skeptics have long suggested, it is finding VOIP revenue hard to generate. The last batch of numbers made it look as though things were fine, but today's announcements suggest that they aren't.

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15 Javascript Snippets

You either love Javascript or you hate it. Either way it can provide great functionality that users love. And it doesn't have to affect usability. Here are my top 15 Javascript snippits for making great sites that bit extra special.

Image Loading & Fading

Crisp photography is a sure-fire way to make a site look great, but what about the loading times of those chunky images? Give your users a nice animated loading icon, and fade the image in when it's loaded. It's a nice effect with little overhead.

http://clagnut.com/sandbox/imagefades/

Dynamic Data Tables

HTML tables are so last century. ActiveWidgets provide a dynamic data table library, allowing users to sort data by columns and highlight rows of interest. It is, however, a large overhead and not suitable for large amounts of data.

http://www.activewidgets.com/grid/

Calendar / Date Selection

Asking users to enter a valid date can be a pain - frustrating for the developer, and frustrating for the user. Offer them a simple GUI to select dates with this very customizable script.

http://www.dynarch.com/projects/calendar/

Tabbed RollBar

Tabs are great for sorting short snippets of information. Tabs without reloading the page are even better. Tabs with a rolling animation effect too? Well, that's just killer.

http://www.dynarch.com/products/dhtml-tabs/

Draggable Windows

These draggable windows are lightweight and efficient, and are perfect for intranets and web-based applications where multiple views are required simultaneously. And don't worry, you needn't have the Windows 95 look either.

http://www.brainjar.com/dhtml/windows/demo.html

Zoomable Image Thumbnails

One subject, many photos? These tidy thumbnail displays are just the ticket, allowing visitors to blow up photographs of interest. Similar to those found on eBay and such, but not as heavy on the code.

http://www.codetoad.com/dhtml_thumbnail.asp

Javascript Lightbox

A favourite little effect of mine found on many good sites these days - the Javascript Lightbox. Enlarge photographs with slick animation and easy-to-use navigation. Put a smile on the CEOs face and wow the marketing team ready for your "afternoon meeting" down the pub.

http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/

Drag & Drop Shopping Cart

Get your visitors from Google Search to card payment in ninja time, with a drag-and-drop shopping cart. Reducing page loads, form elements and complicated menu screens increases sales and repeat business. But with mission-critical code like this, make sure to test it on every platform before it goes live. You know this. I was just reminding you.

http://demo.script.aculo.us/shop

Form Input Autocomplete

No one likes a smartass, unless they're doing your homework for lunch money. Let this script do your users' hard work so they don't have to - autocomplete from a selection of known data. Great for street addresses (if you have the data), category selection, search engines, tagging and everything inbetween.

http://demo.script.aculo.us/ajax/autocompleter

Drag & Drop Sortable Elements

Nothing says "I love you, user" more than drag-and-drop items. Remember the days of an "order" column, and wanting to insert an item at the top? Nightmare no more! Slick interface with a very practical purpose.

http://demo.script.aculo.us/ajax/sortable_elements

Javascript Logging & Debugging

"PC Load Letter?! What the hell is PC Load Letter!!" cries from the office. Meaningless error messages are enough to drive a man crazy, so why not step up your debugging skills and hunt those bugs in style?

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/jslogging/

Font Resize Detection

After spending days getting your web site pixel perfect, inconsiderate users will always resize your text and ruin your layout. Well okay, they need to because their eyesight can't comprehend your 6pt type. Which means you need to support different font sizes without ruining your layout.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fontresizing/

Displaying Points & Text On Maps

If your data is geolocation based, it looks great on a map with clickable points. But how do you make that interface accessable to everyone? A List Apart shows you how.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cssmaps

Photo Album & Slideshow

A more advanced way of displaying your pictures - let users sort them by category, view random pictures, and even set up a personal slideshow. Probably more suitable for family pictures than commercial uses, but I've found it handy over the years.

http://www.kitykity.com/photoalbum/

Sliding Content Areas

And finally another slick animation for your site, without the overhead of Scriptaculous, create "Digg-style sliding comment boxes" for popup information.

http://firblitz.com/2007/3/6/re-how-to-create-digg-comment-style-sliding-divs-with-javascript-and-css

Well that's it from me. I hope you enjoy putting some of these into practise, and enjoy the look on your CEO/client/marketing guy's face when it goes live.

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SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS Beta is live

who's going to buy Palm? blackberry can't do this (yet) -- your own TV shows on your own portable device. Posted Mar 28th 2007 1:31AM by Darren Murph

Hey you, rabid Palm OS fan, 700p owner, and Sling advocate -- remember that SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS Beta you signed up for last month? Well, it's time to lose a little more sleep over it, but this time you'll be enjoying the niceties of streaming media on your handset instead of sweating the release date. According to SlingCommunity, the beta will be going live today, and will officially support the 3G-enabled Treo 700p, but "early reports" are suggesting that 680 owners may be able to enjoy limited success even without Sling's stamp of approval. Of course, the beta will remain free of charge until a public release is ready to rock, and then you'll have the option of cutting ties or ponying up the $29.99 purchase price to keep on slinging. Additionally, the kind folks over at UneasySilence have done the hard work for you already, so be sure to hit them up for a nicely appointed pictorial walkthrough while your waiting to get your own install on.

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Intercept packages before delivery with UPS

innovation in the supply chain from Lifehacker

UPS has just rolled out a new Delivery Intercept feature that adds a new level of control over everything that happens to your package after it's shipped but before it's delivered.

After you ship your package, Delivery Intercept lets you return the package to sender, change the delivery address, reschedule delivery, or have UPS hold the package for pickup over the internet any time before delivery. The service isn't free (it looks like it may be as much as $10/intercept), but anyone who's had to hassle with shipping problems that could have easily been remedied with a mid-ship intercept will likely find this a handy option.

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Justice Department Wasting Billions On Another Tech Debacle

from the haven't-we-seen-this-before? dept

Remember the famous FBI computer system? The one that was late, over-budget and was useless at fighting terrorists? The same one that some security experts decided it would be worth beginning a crime spree the day it was launched? The same one that was eventually scrapped entirely despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent? Well, it looks like the Justice Department may have another such system that they're wasting taxpayer money on. The Justice Department has been building a $5 billion (with a b) wireless communication system. However, a new audit says that the system is apparently "at a high risk of failure." Like the FBI's computer system, the system is "not on the path that was envisioned." And now, just like with the computer system, the Justice Department will spend many months examining whether its worth salvaging the system, or just throwing it away. Accountability, apparently, isn't something the Justice Department takes too seriously.

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Aerogenerator Wind Turbine - vertical axis is key

by DJ Neawedde September 11th, 2006 in Energy.

The Aerogenerator, designed by Grimshaw Architects (UK) in association with Windpower Ltd., is a new form of wind turbine. Unlike three bladed turbines that we have come to know which spin on a horizontal axis, the Aerogenerator spins on a vertical axis. Spinning at three revolutions a minute, the Aerogenerator could generate around nine megawatts, a massive amount compared to the average of around two megawatts we have come to expect from horizontal turbines. Because of the larger power output, it would be more economical to build out at sea. This design also has the potential to harness the energy of the waves and tides by sub-surface generators.

The design is derived from the Darrieus style of turbine, which rotates on a vertical axis – and as such is omni directional, accepting wind from whichever direction working something like a sideways water wheel.

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Kinetic Sculptures: Wind Powered Robots

by DJ Neawedde November 19th, 2006 in Robotics, Energy.

Theo Jansen is the Dutch creator of what he calls “Kinetic Sculptures,” where nature and technology meet. Essentially these sculptures are robots powered by the wind only.

BMW broadcasts Jansen’s creation in their new commercial (watch below) which is part of a new “campaign which serves to highlight BMW’s market leadership in the fields of technology and innovation”.

EcoGeek via Uber-Review

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Iced Trees

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