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Carol Bartz Out, Where Does Yahoo! Go? Time to Change the Name!

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 11:48 AM on September 7, 2011
Yahoo!

Yahoo!

It’s another chapter in the failing Yahoo! book. Yesterday, Carol Bartz – then CEO of Yahoo! got an ceremonious firing from the board. Now, with the dust settling, and Jerry Yang saying the company is still not for sale, where does the now-less diminished company go from here?

Rebuilding Phase – a Name Change, perhaps?

I get told time and again – If you want a fresh start, infuse with a new name. Yahoo! is pretty much a name dragged in the mud. Yahoo! represents the internet from 1999. It’s 2011 – Time to get with the times. Put away the preppy clothes, the teased hair and go with something a little more modern.

A new name could bring confidence back in the company and the customers. A fresh logo that means “The future of computing is here”. Then, of course, you will have to back that statement up…

Fire the Board of Directors? Including Jerry Yang.

Jerry Yang

Jerry Yang says "Yahoo is not for Sale"

Om Malik said it best – Fire the Board. If you’re gonna shake up things, do it right. The board has been flailing since the Microhoo! days. Get a new cast to make decisions and get things done. Om has a great list of who should be on this board.

I am going to take it one step further. Jerry needs to step back even more. The new board has to have free-thinkers with no pressure from Yang. They have to take a major left-turn to keep their businesses satisfied.

Get Back in the Game

During Bartz’ 2 year CEO run, a lot of programs were shut down or sold. Whatever is left should also get some type of a face-lift. Collect the patents and figure out a new plan.

Yahoo might even want to start talks with Facebook. Put a new presence in this social network (since they’ve pretty much destroyed all their social network opportunities). Since they also have a partnership with Microsoft, this might be a really nice fit overall.

Open Up to Everyone

Google does this so well (ok, maybe not with YouTube, but everything else) – Open up to the community. Ask what you want. It worked with Linus Torvolds in creating Linux. Take the information and create something around that.

With items like business email, you cannot do that, but with consumer products like search and home page, open it up and let the consumer feel they have a hand in sculpting.

There has to be 3 items that people are clambering for in the last few years that could be easily integrated. Show the people that you are listening to them.

These are just a few ideas. In thinking of it more, the name change most likely be the best move. After all – if you think Yahoo!, what do you think of? A website that is the future, or a company that represents the past?

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Posted in internet

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Why I HATE Using Craigslist.

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 7:25 AM on August 5, 2011
craigslist

craigslist

This last week I wanted to look for a couple people to help with some video work I’m doing. There was a possibility of not getting paid for the video, so I needed to find others that would help for trade of service. I decided to post on Craigslist.

I will preface this by saying I have never had a real positive experience on posting to Craigslist. Their “Rules” make it almost impossible for you to post something that won’t get denied. Unless you are running a garage sale, giving away a TV or looking for a lead singer to their band, the service is just horrible.

What is worse is their customer support. Opening it up to anyone that wants to type on a computer, you might not get support, but yet get belittled by some idiot that doesn’t even represent Craigslist.

Compensation options on Craigslist

Compensation options on Craigslist

So I went to post in the “gigs-crew” area. Now when I post to Craigslist, I like to be very open. You know who I am and what I am doing. I log in, I don’t use anonymous email and put my name in the post. I put the information in the post with all detail.

The next morning, I got email saying the post was rejected.

I went up to the forum to find out why. They said it was not a “Gig” but a Job (because it was recurring). While I can dispute this reason (Dictionary defines “Gig” as “A Job”), I was more upset at the fact they were saying “No Pay posts will get denied”.

What? You have an option on your website that offers no pay but yet if someone uses it, you slap their hands? I even offered a trade of service if they choose so, and they said that wasn’t acceptable.

Trolls on Craigslist Help Forums

What gets even more frustrating is I went up to the forums to find out why my post got rejected. I ended up getting harassed by those people that are not Craigslist help agents. Not only that, but one person had the gall to say this:

Why don’t you pay people and stop being a little worm.

EXCUSE ME!?! When does belittling someone who is trying to get understanding an ok support practice? Why is this person even replying?

It was safe to say that I was really p*ssed off.

Time for Customer Support Changes Craigslist

I am not going to vent on the fact you have a “No Pay” option on the site that is misleading – only to say that if you are going to reject posts for an option you provide, that is misleading. This is about the customer support experience. I think it’s time to get away from a forum support. Having trolls in your support area not conductive to getting good support.

I saw a post underneath mine that not only went into a flame war, it also was a series of titles that had words like S*** and “F*** You” in them.

When is this good customer support? In this day and age, using vernacular like this in any support area is really not accepted.  There was no one saying “I understand and apologize”. They were just throwing words back.

I come for understanding, not to be told I’m a little worm from someone who has no idea who I am or what I do. Yes, it’s a free service, but there should still be a level of professionalism involved. I would never call you a name if you emailed me for support, why do I have to hear it from you?

Maybe someone can approach a company like Get Satisfaction. Get some seed funding to have a more accountable support area. They just a boost in their latest round of funding.

With continued negative experiences, I’ll continue to  stay away from Craigslist. Especially since I was up on the site today and someone posted almost the same thing (anonymously) two days ago, saying there is no pay involved and have not been rejected.

Hypocrites.

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Posted in internet

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Facebook Malware Application Posing at Google+ Invite

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 10:48 AM on July 18, 2011
Google Plus

Google Plus

Facebook’s problems are slowly becomming Google+’s problems.

A link showed up a few days ago on Facebook for a Google+ application invite. Little did people know it wasn’t a Google+ invite, yet a malware site that tried to get your personal information. Sophos reported the scam on their blog on the 13th.

When you select the link, you will be told you have to go to a third party site to complete the invitation. That is where they phish you.

Facebook has since pulled the malware site. But this is another reason why we should use caution in whatever social network we use. Just because you are implementing familiar screens doesn’t always mean someone cannot find a new way to get the information they desire.

If you want a Google+ invite, just ask me or anyone else that is on Google+. Invites have been open for over a week now.

More important – If you are not 100% sure about something, then don’t go forward. If you do put in password information, then it’s time to change up your passwords.

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Posted in internet

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The Tablet Influence

Posted by tomwiles at 11:25 PM on June 21, 2011

image

I’ve had my Nook Color Android-powered e-reader for a few weeks, long enough to really get a feel for not only the e-reader experience but a bit of a tablet experience as well.

I have to admit I was initially somewhat dismissive of tablets. My feeling was though they would be useful in many situations, I personally had little use for one. I spend the majority of my time in my truck, where I’m already equipped with an iPod as well as laptop computers. I felt that the iPod had most of the functionality of an iPad, and that since my MackBook Pro was running most of the time when my truck is parked I really wouldn’t have much use for a tablet.

Since having the Nook Color I find myself spending quite a bit more time on it than I initially thought I would. I use the iPod for listening, and I’m using the MacBook for tasks such as recording my own podcast as well as email and iTunes. However, a great deal of the time I find myself using the Nook Color to browse and consume web-based content.

I believe the adoption of tablets is going to change the content that people consume from the Internet. The change isn’t going to be dramatic or overnight, however it does seem to me that if I’m browsing on a tablet I’m much more likely to read certain types of articles and/or news stories that I probably wouldn’t read in a laptop of desktop browser.

In other words, tablets are turning the Internet into the equivalent of a digital book or magazine as opposed to something that is best used sitting at a desk. The effect of this change in consumption psychology is likely to be subtle but relatively substantial over a period of time.

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Posted in Android, Apple, Barnes & Noble, book, browsers, google, internet, IPAD, ipod, tablet

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Happy IPv6 Day

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 5:51 PM on June 8, 2011

Today June 8th is IPV6 Day, I know that most people are thinking that’s nice, what is IPV6 and why should I care. The reason you should care is that IPV4 which is the current protocol we are using is running out of IP addresses. When the Internet was first conceived the idea that we would need more than the 4.3 billion IP address that is available under IPV4 seemed ridiculous. However now that everything from our computer to TVs have their own IP address there are more than 4 billion IPV4 addresses in use. In fact ICANN which allocates these numbers issued the last blocks in February of this year to the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). IPV6 is the protocol that is replacing IPV4. While IPV4 is based on 32 bits of information, IPV6 is based on 128 bits, which means the number of address available will be 3.4 X10 to the 38th power.

 

For the near future IPV4 and IPv6 will coexist and as new devices come online they will be IPV6 capable and IPV4 will be faded out. Actually Windows 7, Mac OS X, and Linux all support IPv6 as does iOS 4.1+, Windows Mobile and Android 2.2 (and above). Most consumers will not notice a difference, other than they may be provided a new router by their ISP. The biggest problem will be with businesses that depend on the internet for their daily business. They need to make sure they can communicate with both IPv6 and IPv4 devices. If they can only communicate with IPv4 then they may have problems reaching their customers using IPv6 devices. So it is important for businesses to make sure their networks are IPv6 ready as quickly as they can. The other advantages that IPv6 has over IPv4 are:

* Auto Configuration

* Built in Security

* Improved Quality of Service

* Routing Improvements

* Simplified Packet Header

*  Improved Mobility

One of the companies that is participating IPv6 day is D-Link. D-Links is helping to test IPv6 to discover and address any problems that come up. All new D-link products including routers, switches and access points are IPv6 ready. There is a page which list D-Links products that are IPv6 ready. D-Links can also offer complete solutions for companies who are trying to go from IPv4 to IPv6. They have a good step by step guide on how to be prepared. Other companies that are participating in IPv6 day include Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

There are some questions on how much of an emergency it is to go to IPv6, there are some who think that the rush to IPv6 is unnecessary, while others think it’s happening to slowly. Whether you think going to IPv6 is necessary or not, really doesn’t matter it is happening and you need to make sure your business is ready. D-Links offers to help business transfer to IPv6 at their web-site

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Posted in Information, internet

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The Web Perception Trap

Posted by tomwiles at 12:35 AM on May 8, 2011

We seem to be moving into the age of the apps. Are apps just a passing fad, or is something more substantial afoot?

We have come to think of the Internet itself as being synonymous with the World Wide Web. However, that’s a wrong perception that may have many of us caught in a perception trap making it difficult for us to “get” what is happening.

The Internet itself is a platform on which to run applications, a fact we would do well to remember. In the early days before the Web, there were data moving applications such as Gopher, IRCP, Telnet, etc. along with many others. HTTP just happened to be one of the major protocols that in combination with other protocols gave foundation to the websites we are all now familiar with. The Web itself is not the end of the story, but just a data delivery application.

Though we don’t think of it this way, many websites themselves are really applications.

The apps that seem to be taking over our smartphones and have given rise to tablet computing are more than what they appear to be. Though today the best of these apps seem to be giving concentrated bits and pieces of the full-blown functionality of websites, I believe a larger fundamental trend is going on than we currently realize.

The apps themselves are in the process of evolving into new Internet applications and will ultimately give rise to new services that go beyond computers and browsers. One day in the future, apps may well eclipse the Web as the data delivery applications of choice. Applications follow the form of the devices on which they are executed.

Apps are just now beginning to invade televisions. We are still in the earliest stages, and things are still clunky. Moving beyond the clunky stage, imagine what form these new web-based TV apps might look like in the future. Forget about browsers, and forget about existing web services that run inside them. For example, think in terms of a networked app running just on a connected TV – what could be done with that? Would it be possible to create an app that just delivered a live IPTV network stream (or a bunch of them)? Of course it would, and it would be an advantage over having to scroll through clunky, often near-useless lists and near-worthless descriptions because that’s the way websites running on computers seem to work best.

It could be argued that connected gaming consoles are data delivery apps, delivering specialized services to the end user that go well beyond browser-based or browser-conceived functionality. The Microsoft Kinnect attached to a connected X-Box with end-users using their bodies to interact with the games and ultimately other Kinnect users is moving data back and forth that has nothing to do with the Web.

Ultimately we must begin to think about the Internet as a global data retrieval/delivery system that is independent of computers and browsers. Computers and browsers are just one application of potentially thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions that have yet to be thought of. Therefore, apps must conform to the devices, machines, or appliances they are running on. App designers would do well to forget about computers and browsers and begin thinking outside the computer/browser Web perception trap.

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Posted in application, internet, smartphone, tablet

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The Master Switch

Posted by tomwiles at 11:01 PM on May 7, 2011

Once in a while, a book comes along that contains ground-breaking insights.  Such is the case with a book I’ve listened to over the past couple of days, the Audible audio book version of ‘The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires” by author Tim Wu.

“The Master Switch” is a compelling look into the history of major information industries such as the telegraph, the telephone, commercial broadcast radio, the commercial movie business, and commercial broadcast television. The book points out an identifiable, slowly-repeating cycle obviated by the fact that these industries were able to gain and hold monopoly status. Each in turn became quite adept at retarding disruptive technological innovations that threatened their respective business models.

Today we take an open Internet for granted, but these same and other forces are looking to take over control of the Internet and turn it into a closed, much more tightly-controlled system.

The book is extremely well written and well researched. The Audible audio book narrator Marc Vietor brings the book to life in a wonderful way.

Mr. Wu does a fantastic job of laying out the often-fascinating histories of companies such as Western Union, AT&T, NBC, etc. As consumers, we think we know these companies through their consumer advertising. The real history of these companies is often quite different and very eye opening.

If you enjoy stories about technology and business, you will almost certainly enjoy “The Master Switch” by Tim Wu.

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Posted in audible, book, business, economy, FCC, internet, New Media, Phone

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Bye Buzz – Yahoo Buzz that is

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 7:58 PM on April 20, 2011
Y Buzz

Y Buzz

Yahoo! continues to condense the Yahoo! Giant. This time, it’s Yahoo! Buzz – the Digg-like site that aggregates news articles. In a statement made on the website, it says:

Yahoo! Buzz will be discontinued as of April 21, 2011. As of this date, you will be unable to access the Yahoo! Buzz site. This was a hard decision. However this will help us focus on our core strengths and new innovations.

We appreciate your patronage.

The Yahoo! Buzz Team

In the last 6 months, Yahoo! has continued to close down properties. Yahoo! 360, MyBlogLog, AllTheWeb and more. All put in mothballs.

Some properties continue to thrive – for now. Delicious almost saw demise, but Yahoo! corrected by stating the bookmarking site is actually “For Sale” (unless it did get sold. Last time I heard, the sale was unofficial news). Other sites we saw for sale were Yahoo! HotJobs (sold to Monster) and it’s search engine (to Microsoft).

No word why Buzz isn’t getting sold. Maybe they tested the market waters and no one wanted it.

Do You have the Buzz Widget on your Website?

One thing to note – if you installed the Buzz widget on your site, you might want to take it off.

No, not the Google Buzz widget. That’s still around.

Yahoo! Buzz launched Feb 26, 2008 to tepid fanfare. They launched to counter Digg. Earlier this year when content farms got hit with a new Google algorithm, Digg had to restructure. I guess Yahoo just wanted to be done with it.

 

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Virgin Trials 1.5 Gb/s Cable Broadband

Posted by Andrew at 5:05 AM on April 20, 2011

In a press release today, Virgin Media announced that it was trialling 1.5Gb/s cable broadband connections with four media companies in London. Offering 1.5 Gb/s down and 150 Mb/s up, if successful it would be the world’s fastest cable broadband and about 240 times faster than the UK average connection speed.

The technology will use the same infrastructure as delivered to residential customers, so in theory, if it works in this trial it should work just about everywhere Virgin has a cable network. Virgin has already successfully trialled download speeds of 1Gb/s in its fibre network but currently offers 100Mb/s as the maximum speed. Virgin has connections to 12.6 million homes, mostly in urban areas, making them one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: “Demand for greater bandwidth is growing rapidly as more devices are able to connect to the internet and as more people go online simultaneously. Our growing network provides a highly competitive alternative to the fastest fibre networks of the future and, with our ongoing investment plans, we can anticipate and meet demand as it develops over time, ensuring Virgin Media business and residential customers continue to enjoy world-class broadband.”

The four companies involved in the trial are all in “creative industries” working with on-line video, broadcasting and interactive applications. Sam Orams, co-founder of BespokeBanter.com, one of the companies testing Virgin Media’s 1.5Gb broadband, said: “While the average home might not need these speeds quite yet, we certainly will. The internet is critical to what we do and intrinsically linked to our future growth so it’s exciting to be working with Virgin Media at the forefront of broadband innovation in the UK.”

The Virgin Media network uses DOCSIS3 and can bond several channels together to provide the data speed bought by the customer. Consequently, there’s a choice of different speeds (10 Mb/s, 30 Mb/s, 50 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s). Virgin currently offers 100 Mb/s in cabled areas for £35 per month. Regrettably, I’m not in one of those cabled areas and I’m stuck at about 3 Mb/s. Bah!

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Posted in internet

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The Art Of The Sale

Posted by tomwiles at 6:32 AM on April 1, 2011

Since the advent of the VCR, the adage has been to look to the pornography industry to see what would happen – which formats would take off, what business models might work, etc., etc., etc. While the pornography industry did seem to be the first on the block to figure out how to make e-commerce work, do they still lead the way today when it comes to the future of video?

While there is a certain profession that perhaps lays claim to be the oldest, right up there with it is the art of the sale, and the pastime of shopping. The shopping experience itself if done well can be a pleasure.

QVC, HSN and other home shopping channels excel at making the shopping experience itself the content. They make no pretense – they are right up front with the fact that their channels are all about advertising.

Many people claim to hate ads, but I’d contend I that it’s really bad ads that most people despise. Advertising that is well done is informative and entertaining and can even be enjoyable. Watching QVC, HSN, ShopNBC, etc. product presentations (particularly electronics, gadgets and sometimes cooking) can for me easily fall into the guilty pleasure category. These people are masters at the art of the sale. Who doesn’t enjoy (or cannot learn from) watching a master ply his craft?

So how are the home shopping channels handling their all-important online presence? QVC and HSN both have iOS and Android apps that make it possible to watch their current live video streams, as well as easily search their catalogs, as well as place and track orders. The ShopNBC app is a fail in that it doesn’t allow you to watch the live video stream. I’d give the nod to QVC’s app as being the most advanced and usable overall.

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Posted in Android, Apple, application, cooking, google, internet, iOS, IPAD, iPhone, ipod, Software, TV

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