ajb{log}: learn something new each day

Digg got a clean (blue/green-ish) re-design lately and I should say that I like it a lot better than the upcoming Orkut redesign. Digg photo section is coming according to Kevin Rose. Can’t wait!

Here’s the new (announced) Orkut.

Here’s the current look and feel.

Cool and simple too.

–aj

Light posting within the next few weeks, I sold my notebook. Guess what’s on my mind to replace it?

It was launched 1 day ago.

Wish me luck.

–aj

07.07.07. It’s your lucky day. Save mother EARTH.

What can you do today? Watch hundreds of popular artists/celebrities, make a difference and make a pledge.

–aj

Microsoft is all over the place these days. Microsoft Surface, Writer Beta, Live Mail Beta, Product Upload Beta, TV Beta, and a whole lot more.

I guess having such a huge team can enable you to cover all fronts of the web and not worry about focusing on one area (not to mention the almost unlimited cash flow from Redmond) heh?

I keep thinking, as a small guy, how can you ever compete fairly? I guess the colossal arena is set only for the big guys like Google, Yahoo, Apple and Microsoft. Sigh.

Oh well. Back to work.

–aj

It’s very obvious where Google is going with Google Gears - they are offering developers to take their web applications available offline. Isn’t that a smart and bold idea? It is! And probably the best thing since Avantgo. This will now offer users (with limited Internet connection) to sync-and-go. Google Reader now offers this functionality by the way.

Having Google Gears installed on your computer means a lot to people living in areas where Internet availability is still scarce.

Google Gears also enables the road warrior to sync common offline corporate applications like a contacts manager (Plaxo or Highrise offline), rss feeds (Google Reader), marketing/sales leads management, todo lists (tada list), project management (Basecamp), etc. This offline service has been available to PDA (personal digital assistant) users a long time ago (like Avantgo who has been offering offline content).

It will now enable web applications developers to produce offline applications that can sync-and-go and extend their existing ones to be available offline.

When offline web applications becomes mainstream, users can use them even when there is an Internet outage, a virus outbreak on the server, a server crash or even the worst things like Cyber Terrorism. And according to the Business Roundtable’s 2006 report, a lot of businesses are not even prepared for such attacks. Having your web application work offline in these kind of scenario is vital to what they call business continuity.

Still don’t know the cost of an outage? Here, a very old (year 2000) guestimate of an outage cost:

* Brokerage operations $6,450,000
* Credit card authorization $2,600,000
* Ebay (1 outage 22 hours) $225,000
* Amazon.com $180,000
* Package shipping services $150,000
* Home shopping channel $113,000
* Catalog sales center $90,000
* Airline reservation center $89,000
* Cellular service activation $41,000
* On-line network fees $25,000
* ATM service fees $14,000

Source: InternetWeek 4/3/2000 + Fibre Channel: A Comprehensive Introduction, R. Kembel 2000, p.8. ”…based on a survey done by Contingency Planning Research.”

So, how much do you think an hour’s outage it is now? Maybe 10x or 20x or even 100x? What if you can save any transaction from a website even if it was offline? Then sync it when you become available online. Wouldn’t that be kinda cool?

I would think having your existing app offline with a thorough understanding of the subject is the holy grail of web applications.

What this means to corporate executives is they can now not worry of having those frequent outage from lousy Internet Service Providers which we all know are abundant.

So, welcome to the Web 3.0 people and say goodbye to Web 2.0. That (web 2.0) will be a thing of the past from hereon.

–aj

UPDATE (06/05/2007): Remember the Milk (GTD webapp) - takes it offline!

UPDATE (08/06/2007): GOOGLE CEO Eric Schmidt Gives His Definition Of Web 3.0!

DocuSign’s electronic signature surpasses 3 million signatures. This tool can make a offshore company’s life easier with contracts and other legal documents.

I think in the future, DocuSign will become a verb just like Google - “Boss, since you are in Europe enjoying your vacation, can you DocuSign this for me?”

–aj

Microsoft unveiled Surface today with a screen that can be used with gestures and touch. A sighting of this technology at FastCompany has been circling the web months ago. I wonder if Microsoft partnered with Perceptive Pixel for the kind of technology that Surface uses or are they competitors in this space?

The press release from Microsoft:

The launch of Microsoft Surface marks the beginning of a new technology category and a user-interface revolution. Surface, Microsoft’s first surface computer, provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects. Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday information — from photos to maps to menus.

I gave out the next batch of emails that were requested here, here and here. Enough! haha… Just kidding. I think I have unlimited invites now. Me thinks that everyone I sent successfully registered and is using Joost. Way to go!

I don’t know about you, but I still think Joost is the future of (web)TV and in my own opinion, aside from Email, Instant Messaging (IM) and the Internet, Joost is going to be another killer app. I can see it now expanding it’s functionality to a variety of mobile devices… Imagine the possibilities!

Another thing is that I am quite sure of is that a lot of XUL developers are thinking of (might already even coding) Joost extensions (using XUL - same as Firefox extensions) as I write this. Sad thing though, the real-estate inside Joost is very limited and I still have to see how they will fit extensions unobtrusive to the GUI (graphical user interface).

Words on the web is spreading too that Joost is preparing to launch (so stay-tuned). You will have to expect a lot of TV ads at Joost in the next couple of days as a lot of advertisers as well as media companies are seeing the potential of the product. Google/YouTube acquisition soon? Hmm…

Lastly, to people who still doesn’t have invites. Sorry I’m a little bit swamped. Hehehe… But, you can still comment here. Don’t forget to leave me another message after getting the invite how Joost is working for you. Thanks.

–aj

Get the instructions here…

I just found out that I have 3 invites on my Joost account. I promised 2 guys that I would be giving them an invitation. That leaves me with 1 left.

Just to be fair. The first person to comment to this post gets it! The early bird catches the early worm…

By the way, there’s a Guinness World Records TV channel. Woohoo!

I love the site design guys. Cool!