Fast Tube by Casper

Microsoft China rips off Asia’s No. 1 Microblogging ServiceDecember 14, 2009

According to the Plurk Blog:

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but blatant theft of code, design, and UI elements is just not cool, especially when the infringing party is the biggest software company in the world. Yes, we’re talking about Microsoft. Blerg.
Here’s the short of what we think has happened:

As a young startup, we’re stunned, shocked, and unsure what to do next and need your support and suggestions.
We were first tipped off by high profile bloggers and Taiwanese users of our community that Microsoft had just launched a new Chinese microblogging service that looked eerily similar to Plurk. Needless to say we were absolutely shocked and outraged when we first saw with our own eyes the cosmetic similarities Microsoft’s new offering had with Plurk. From the filter tabs, emoticons, qualifier/verb placement, Karma scoring system, media support, new user walkthroughs to pretty much everything else that gives Plurk its trademark appeal, Microsoft China’s offering ripped off our service. See for yourself, screenshots and more info here

We all love to use the power websites, such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and the many other frontrunners.

I have one question though. What happens when only huge companies control the internet? I had always felt that the struggle for control of the internet would come from governments. Now, upon reflection, I fear it is the Googles, Facebooks, Microsofts and other internet powers that will regulate and control the internet. I already live in a country where there is little choice for television, phone or power sources. Monopolies rarely react unless it affects its bottom line. Hopefully, people will have the good sense to spread their business and internet browsing around to keep the internet healthy and competitive.

The other concern I have is the mega-powers ability to restrict use or access to their technologies thus effectively controlling the way information can be transmitted. For example: “The Federal Communications Commission has launched an inquiry into why Apple Inc. rejected Google Inc.’s Internet-telephony software for the popular iPhone, another sign of the Obama administration’s stepped-up scrutiny of competitive practices in the technology industry.

In letters sent late Friday to the two companies and AT&T Inc., the FCC asked why Apple rejected the Google Voice application for the iPhone and removed related applications from its App Store. The letter also seeks information on how AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier, was consulted in the decision, if at all.” (from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124908121794098073.html)

On an apparently unrelated subject, DNA testing is coming of age online. My opinion is that it will be huge. I have already come across a couple of sites that will take your saliva and do a DNA test and match you up with someone who is compatitible. How they do this is a mystery to me. It will take a lot of the fun out of trying to meet someone based on good old fashioned attraction. I am not sure exactly how it works so before I rain on anyone’s parade I would like to get more details. However, isn’t genetic diversity the basis of the best we as a species have to offer? Which brings me back to my main point that diversity makes for a strong society and diversity will make for a strong internet. Support the little websites too.

On the other hand, DNA testing can look for genetic risk with regards to genetic markers that indicate risk for adverse health conditions, including Type 1 & 2 Diabetes, breast cancer, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, prostate cancer and many more. One service that I have recently looked into and am doing some trial promotion, is Pathway.com. This site offers Retail DNA Test identifies your risk for disease. If you use Twitter, they are offering a twitter discount of 40% with the Code=TWEETDNA (time limited).

Just about everyone is waking up and starting to pay attention to social media. Make sure you are aware of what it means to you and your company. Any lawyer worth his salt will be looking at the potential for legal advice and litigation. A recent article from Lawyers Weekly in Canada highlights the potential legal issues for people in all walks of life.

“Welcome to Web2.0 the emerging age of interactive online social networking tools for millions of people, including legal professionals and brand owners. But while social networking has many advantages, companies and their legal advisors need to protect their marks by monitoring sites for unlawful activity.

Joining other constituencies on Twitter are law firms worldwide, including firms headquartered in Canada and the U.S. that regularly tweet about changes in the law, firm news and display links. In just a few keystrokes, one learns the number of “followers” of a particular brand or firm.”

Armed with the knowledge that Google now archives all tweets, you can rest assured that companies will move to protect their Brands and interests. Make sure you are not in their firing line.

Will Brand squatting on Twitter become the next Dotcom boom? That is a good question. As major Brands react to social media marketing tactics they are finding that in some cases people are sitting on their brand names.

According to Adage.com there are lots of brands who have been squatted on and Twitter is very slow to respond to their request to regain their names. I imagine that for Twitter it is a legal nightmare and setting a precedent is an step they want to take carefully.

While being on Twitter isn’t a required part of any company’s communications strategy, at a time when most marketers budgets are squeezed, it’s hard to imagine passing up on a chance to engage consumers — according to ComScore data, there are 20 million people on Twitter in a given month — using a free medium.

Below is table from Adage.com that shows a few accounts, real and name squatters.

A recent study by Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that almost one in five people on the internet tweet. Internet users who already use social network sites such as MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn are likely to also use Twitter: 35%, compared to 6% of internet users who do not use such social network sites.

The more devices someone owns, the more likely they are to use Twitter or another service to update their status. Fully 39% of internet users with four or more internet-connected devices (such as a laptop, cell phone, game console, or Kindle) use Twitter, compared to 28% of internet users with three devices, 19% of internet users with two devices, and 10% of internet users with one device.

Our friends at Sponsored Tweets took the time to break this down into a great table which really drives home the power and reach of Twitter. Sponsored Tweets is also a good place to monetize Twitter if that what you look for.

Do you remember the past when people were shaking their fingers at you “You spend too much time alone on that darn computer”? Well, that was before social media and the ability to interact with millions of people around the world. Now a study has confirmed it, using the internet leads people to more diverse networks.

The study released November 4, by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, refutes a widely-reported 2006 study that argued since 1985 Americans have become more socially isolated, the size of their discussion networks has declined, and the diversity of those people with whom they discuss important matters has decreased.

Flash forward to 2008 as Social Media explodes the Pew Internet Personal Networks and Community survey finds that Americans are not as isolated as has been previously reported. People’s use of the mobile phone and the internet is associated with larger and more diverse discussion networks. And, when they examine people’s full personal network – their strong and weak ties – internet use in general and use of social networking services such as Facebook in particular are associated with more diverse social networks.

Social Media is a growing powerful force, look for more cross platform integration in the future to make it even more preeminent.

When I was a kid I liked to play around with shortwave radios, thinking it was pretty cool to get to listen to Radio Moscow or RAI. Little did I know the same passion would drive me to use the internet 30 years later. I still have some of those old radios kicking around, waiting for vacuum tubes I can’t find anymore. A onetime dream of fixing them up gathering cobwebs in the basement.

I was quite surprised to discover tweet radio, or more precisely http://tweetrad.io/. On their site they explain…”At tweetrad.io our mission is to index all the world’s information; however, unlike google we plan to be really evil in the process. We’ve started by seeking out the most relevant scholarly data on the web. Naturally Twitter was where we looked first. Using our unpantentable Tweet-to-Speech™ technology, we’ve made it possible for billions of people to hear the “Pulse of the Planet” as never before.”

They have search features and it is kinda funny to hear tweets read out via computer, with the usual bad pronunciations and radio static and mistunings in the background.

tweetrad.io linked us to http://radio.nymoon.com/tweetradio/ which is different but a very cool site.

Finally I can have my cake and eat it too.

Overall, I think twitter lists will be interesting, the ability to group certain people together appeals to my need to get as much input to my sensory overloaded teeny weeny brain, as quickly as possible, with the least amount of pain. I haven’t really begun to list people yet, not sure why, maybe because it takes time and thought. The time I sometimes have, the thought, less so.

Mashable has put together a good primer on Twitter Lists and some strategies, details are here.

For some those who want to save time check out Listorious, they have a good selection of lists that should grow over time.

I like the funny, of course they have a funny people list. Guess I will start my own too. When I have the time and think about it.