Google taking on Facebook, who wins in the long haul?
Posted on | February 5, 2010 | No Comments
With Google Profiles, the search giant is positioning itself to compete with Facebook and eat up some of the social network market. Facebook has taken claim to over 350 million registered users in it’s six years of existence. The fact is that I’d be willing to bet that each of those 350 million users also uses Google to search along with everyone else who still isn’t on Facebook. That is exactly why I think that Google is positioning itself to swallow Facebook whole in the next decade.
Source: mpastwa @ flickr
With all of the different ways to connect with both social media and networking, there is still one major hub lacking. I believe that Google can become that hub that is your central point of communication and become the rolodex of your social services.
Here are a few bullet points that help that last statement.
- Google’s Social Search currently crawls all of your social sites like Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, etc..
- If you have a Google account, they know what your searching, chatting with (Google Chat)emailing and attending (Gmail), watching (YouTube), and reading (Google Reader).
- They proably know where you are located, based on local searches and your other online profiles.
It seems very realistic to me that Google can create a dashboard that will show your feeds for all of your social networks. Not only will it be useful, but it will be quick and accurate. Then you can really connect to new people who matter, and are indexed similar to the way your profile has. While Google’s Profile pages may not be the one stop replacement for Facebook, search is changing as we know it and Google is going to be playing a major role in stepping as the hub of the new social web.
iPhone OS 3.1.3 Released
Posted on | February 2, 2010 | No Comments
Apple released the iPhone OS 3.1.3 update today which addresses a few minor bugs and vulnerabilities. This is also released for the iPod Touch. The update can be installed by connecting your device to your computer and launching iTunes.
Change log for iPhone 3.1.3:
- Improves accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS
- Resolves issue where 3rd party apps would not launch in some instances
- Fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard
5 Essential WordPress Plugins
Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 1 Comment
This list is compiled of 5 plugins for WordPress that I feel are essential. Whether you are setting up a WordPress site for a client or improving your own these are a few handy tools that should not be overlooked. They have a common theme of sharing and search optimization across the list, as well as making it easy for less technical users to keep an eye on some more technical tasks. Does that make sense? The more enabled you can make a client, the better they will feel about the whole process. It usually also makes it easier on you.
Image credit: felishumanus @ flickr
- All in one SEO pack
The plugin’s description of ‘Out-of-the-box SEO’ is right on. This makes it easy for you to optimize the key areas of your posts and wordpress pages with no questions ask. Obviously it is still up to the author to put in keyword rich titles and descriptions that will drive traffic, but the plugin itself is worth its weight in SEO gold. - Sitemap Generator
A handy plugin that will create an XML sitemap for you with all sorts of bells and whistles. You have the option to assign priorities to certain areas of the site, as well as include automatic submisssion to various search engines. The documentation is also very complete for clearing up questions as you configure the plugin. - Google Analytics for WordPress
A simple plugin that allows you to insert your analytics code and displays a nice summary on your dashboard page in wp-admin. This is always nice to have so that when changing themes you do not need to worry about your analytics code being wiped. The second part of this one is that if your not using Google Analytics to monitor traffic- now is the time to start. - Socialize
Gives the poster the option to include various social buttons with an inline button or an alert box style for sharing over differnt services. It will give you those popular buttons for Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter, and of course Facebook. This is a nice way to promote the sharing of your content and puts it right in the readers face. This plugin provides the ‘Tweet This’ button you see on this post! - Exclude Pages from Navigation
This plugin is a must have in my eyes for a few reasons. Many times I’ve encountered someone who may have previously used pages on their blogs, when in reality they should have been posting. We don’t really want to go back and remove those pages in case there are links out there that would be broken. We also don’t want to leave them in, because now its cluttering the menu for the site. This plugin allows you to exclude pages from the navigation without removing them. The option is a simple and well described check box added to your post menu.
Please feel free to contribute to this list by commenting about your favorite plugins.
Will Apple’s iPad be the next big thing or the next big flop?
Posted on | January 27, 2010 | 2 Comments
Apple released the details of it’s new tablet, the iPad, today in San Fransisco. The hype this device has gotten is amazing, but what we’ve come to expect from Apple products in the last few years.It even comes with a nice list of specs and a fair price.
iPad Specifications
- Display: 9.7 inch IPS
- Weight: 1.5 lbs
- 0.5 inches thin
- Battery life: 10 hours
- Accelerometer and Compass
- Speaker, Microphone, and 30 pin connector
- WiFi 802.11n
- Processor: 1GHz Apple A4 chip
- Storage: 16-64GB Flash
- Full capacitive multi-touch
Priced at $499, I see this device as Apple’s need to compete with the Kindle and other digital readers. It really does look like a giant iPhone, and brings the same usability to the table which is a proven success. The question is does this device really bring enough to the table to put a dent in netbook sales? I think the answer is yes. I believe this device will be a success, for the reason that it’s scope is much more clear than what netbooks are. Sure a netbook will allow you to install a resource intensive app, but when it runs like crap you have nobody to blame but yourself. The iPad will have efficient, tested software that will be available through the uber-successful App Store that all enthusiasts are accustomed to. There will be no grey area on what it can do, and that is the real weakness in the netbook industry. Leave your thoughts on whether or not you think the iPad will be a hit or miss.
Planning your new business..words of inspiration.
Posted on | January 22, 2010 | 1 Comment
David Heineimeier Hansson is the creator of the popular web framework Ruby on Rails and a partner of the company 37signals which has been mentioned in a few previous posts. Services like Twitter and Spiceworks are built of this popular tool. He recently participated in a podcast series called Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Lecture Series put on by Stanford.
One great part of this lecture is the stress of how important your profit numbers are vs. market share and revenue. Hansson’s example is constantly scrutinized about their market share in comparison with Microsoft, but the fact is their profits are exceptional and makes them just as successful at doing what they set out to do – and that is make money. Another part I found important was that there is no room for the ‘idea guy’ in a small company trying to get off the ground. You need to provide some direct value and not expect to just call the shots. Everyone involved needs to be a producer. Collaboration is key, but over collaborating can kill you. Have a listen and leave some feedback.
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