Microsoft Patents "Metered Pay as you go Computing Experience"

It was going to happen sooner or later, Microsoft recently patented Metered Pay as you go Computing Experience taking the SaaS (Software as a Service) business model to the next level.

The plan, as Microsoft explains it, involves charging students $1.15 an hour to do their homework, making an Office bundle available for $1/hour, and billing gamers $1.25 for each hour of fun. In addition to your PC, Microsoft also discloses plans to bring the chargeback scheme to your cellphone and automobile — GPS, satellite radio, backseat video entertainment system.

Deployment and Billing is going to be an administrative challenge!

Enabling hardware accelerated h264/x264 Video Decoding using Media Player Classic

Media Player Classic Home Cinema is a fantastic little open sauce app. It is light weight, fast and provides great picture quality and customisation.

I use it on my PC (Vista, Radeon HD4850). It also eliminates the "screen tearing" problem many users encounter with Radeon display cards.

You can also set up video decoding using external filter via WMP-HC, for example using the Cyberlink decoder, which enables h264/x264 hardware assisted video decoding. Just visit this handy post by Blogo for instructions!

25%+ Google Search Queries Related to Youtube

An astounding figure, and phenomenal growth (114% y-on-y). Wow!

Christa Quarles, an analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners, writes in a report: YouTube continues to be a standout contributor for Google generating 2.73bn searches in the U.S., up 8.5% from 2.52bn last month and up 114% from 1.28bn in November 2007. YouTube currently represents 25.4% of U.S. Google site searches compared with 17.4% in November 2007 and is larger than all of Yahoo based on total U.S. queries in November.

Source: Techcrunch

Windows for Submarines

Windows for Submarines is the programme undertaken by the Royal Navy and BAE Systems to equip the nuclear-propelled and nuclear-armed warship fleet with a Windows-based command system. The transition to the Windows for Submarines command system on HMS Vigilant, a Trident nuclear missile submarine, was completed in just 18 days.

OK ... let the BSOD jokes begin!

Source Microsoft UK Blog

Google Earth Updated : With Virtual Cities

Google has introduced virtual cities into Google Earth. The Google Earth Blog estimates that the new New York City (captured here with Google Earth Pro) has seen an update with hundreds, if not thousands of new buildings. Sure, this is just one city, but it's a sign of where Google Earth is going!

Source: Gizmodo Australia

Youtube Becoming Profitable for Records Companies

Record companies are seeing returns on Youtube videos.

For the first time, there are signs that YouTube is driving significant revenue for itself and some of the video site's partners. In an interview with CNET News this week, Rio Caraeff, executive vice president of Universal Music Group's eLabs, said the largest of the top recording companies is bringing in "tens of millions of dollars" from YouTube. "(YouTube) is not like radio, where it's just promotional," said Caraeff, who heads up Universal's digital group. "It's a revenue stream, a commercial business. It's growing tremendously. It's up almost 80 percent for us year-over-year in the U.S. in terms of our revenue from this category."

Source CNet

10 Reasons to Choose Dragon CMS

Here's a spiel for my company's new website.

There's no better time to develop an e-Commerce website if you don't already own one. Even if you do, gain a significant competitive edge by upgrading to Dragon CMS! Here's 10 good reasons why you should choose Dragon CMS.

10 Dragon CMS is serious about e-Commerce
We have successfully delivered e-Commerce website for over seven years. Through countless hours of reasearch & development, Dragon CMS is evolved into a scalable, powerful and high performance e-Commerce platform with all the features you'd expect (and some pleasant surprises too) of such a modern system.

9 The easiest way to start your online store
Get online within a matter of days, start by requesting a free quotation for our services. Furthermore, we offer a plethora of support resources and at a click of your mouse, you will have access to the product manual, training guides, FAQ and online support.

8 Most useful features available in the marketplace
Not only do you get state-of-art hosting, the Dragon CMS' features and capabilities are second to none and oftentimes superior compared to the competition. Because we offer these as all-in-one solutions, you have a wealth of website management and productivity-enhancing capabilities at your finger tips.

7 Accept credit card payments online
Dragon CMS includes integrated payment processing with PayPal gateway. PayPal allows your customers to pay using credit card (MasterCard and Visa), bank transfer and PayPal credit. Dragon CMS also allows you to accept credit card payments which you can process via your in-store EFTPOS facilities.

6 Own a site that your customers will love
Our Custom Template designs are virtually hand crafted by expert web designers who have successfully created e-Commerce websites for years. All websites are professionally designed to be attractive, fast loading and easy to use. We also implement various techniques to promote repeat visitations and referrals - a great way to market your website through customer networks.

5 Quality in what you see (and don't see!)
We do not host our websites on two dollar host farms based in India, and we make no apologies about it. We never overload our servers either (a common trick to cut costs). This means that all our websites perform to the highest technical levels available today to ensure that your business investment is protected and performing optimally. Some specific hosting features include:

- 24/7/365 service uptime monitoring with automatic reboot
- Up to 99.95% uptime guarantee
- Self repairing server environment
- Highly redundant network and power systems
- Biometric authentication, 24/7 security and surveillance systems
- Nightly automated database backups
- Advanced fire suppression VESDA units
- On-site generator and 2 hr UPS battery backup
- Redundant fibre entry points
- All servers located in a secure data centre located in Melbourne, Australia

4 No hidden fees or charges
Our packages contain everything you need to begin trading and taking payments online. There are no hidden fees or charges. We charge a nominal one time set up fee. You are billed quarterly via a single invoice. Easy peasy!

3 Pay only for what you use
You may elect various optional extras, in which case you will be quoted separately for this work upfront. All our complimentary services are always based on highly competitive rates (that's for our designers, developers and marketing specialists alike). We always quote you fixed price before any commitment so that you have a clear expectation and budget in mind.

2 Security
It's not just about protecting the buyer, but also the seller. All our websites enable SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Encryption which provides warranties ranging between $10,000 to $250,000 in value, further giving yourself and your customers peace of mind and real protection. Not only is PayPal a highly recognised and trusted brand in secure payment gateway solutions, it provides various fraud prevention and protection services thus reducing your exposure to transactional risk.

1 In it together
Dragon CMS' founders took their passion and made it into their business and we are dedicated to helping all our clients do the same! Despite our low fees, we provide you with nothing short of professional service and no-nonsense advice. While our competitors cut back on service to cut costs, we embrace it. After all, without you - our client - we wouldn't be where we are today!

The new Dragon CMS website is launching in 2009!

Google Zeitgeist 2008

For those of you who have not seen this already, the Google Zeitgeist is a list of most popular search terms. This year's Z list is (fastest rising, globally):

1 sarah palin
2 beijing 2008
3 facebook login
4 tuenti
5 heath ledger
6 obama
7 nasza klasa
8 wer kennt wen
9 euro 2008
10 jonas brothers

Source

"Why Google Must Die"

Today I stumbled across the article titled "Why Google Must Die" which immediately captured my attention!

I can really relate to what this guy has gone through because my company provides SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) services.

The article rants mostly but also raises some interesting problems of the Google Search system, which are:

- Inconsistent and non-repeatable search results
- Individualised results (eg. iGoogle services)
- Search results tend to be commerce-oriented (less informative)
- Parked sites (sites which don't contain any credible information) being displayed
- Searching for "Art Jenkins" did not return www.artjenkins.com
- etc

John concludes "... over the years there have been numerous attempts at creating an advanced search mechanism utilizing check boxes and a question-and-response AI network. You'd think that idea would have gotten further than it has. Hopefully, someone will conceptualize something new that works better than what we have today. The situation is just deteriorating too fast."

I believe there is going to be a paradigm shift in search. PageRank technology supplemented by social input. Likely opportunity in the niche space.

Oblong's G-Speak Spatial Operating System

With touch interactive user interfaces being such a hot area of the market right now, it is interesting to so Oblong's new concept reminiscent of Speilberg's Minority Report.


g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

Google Runs 10% of Websites!

This news shocked me a little when I first read about it on Cnet.

Who'd imagine that Google serves approx. 10 million websites? That's about 10% of the public web space!

The other traditionally dominant web servers are Apache and Microsoft's IIS, which have been around since since the dawn of time. Have a look at the data below.


Blue: Apache, Red: Microsoft, Magenta: Google, Tourqois: Other. Credit: Netcraft

The most alarming aspect of the data illustrates Google's astounding growth, not only in search space but also almost every other imaginable aspect of computing today. And they are doing ridiculously well. For example, Google Australia commands almost 90% of the search market here. "Here" being Australia Down Under.

The Google brand is now voted the most valuable brand, topling Microsoft, IBM, Intel and Coca-Cola.

The data shows another interesting trend, which is the exponential growth of the number of websites available on the web. Of course, a lot of the recent growth can be attributed to Web 2.0 and social media (Google's Blogger is an extremely popular service, I use it!) as well as websites that are bot-generated, in other words the websites are automatically created by computers and not humans.

These are trends likely to continue into the near future.

Watch Out for These Hot Technologies

I came across an interesting article on PC World titled "15 Hot New Technologies That Will Change the Everything".

Wow, what a bold title I thought when I first read it. Nevertheless it raises some interesting facts and trends about what we can expect in the near future.

In summary these technologies are:

- Memristor: A Groundbreaking New Circuit
- 32-Core CPUs From Intel and AMD
- Nehalem and Swift Chips Spell the End of Stand-Alone Graphics Boards
- USB 3.0 Speeds Up Performance on External Devices
- Wireless Power Transmission
- 64-Bit Computing Allows for More RAM
- Windows 7: It's Inevitable
- Google's Desktop OS
- Gesture-Based Remote Control
- Radical Simplification Hits the TV Business
- Curtains for DRM
- Use Any Phone on Any Wireless Network
- Your Fingers Do Even More Walking
- Cell Phones Are the New Paper
- Where You At? Ask Your Phone, Not Your Friend

Enjoy!

Source: PC World

Pushing Legal Boundaries

A few news items caught my eye recently:

Woman Jailed for Murdering Avatar: Turns out that a "...43-year-old Tokyo woman was jailed for murdering her virtual ex-husband's avatar". Although she was not charged with murder, but with "illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data", it raises such questions.

Dutch Court Punishes Theft of Virtual Property: Two kids in the Netherlands were found guilty of robbing "Runescape and giving his assets to the two perpetrators". These "assests" are not real but virtual - they don't exist as tangible property as we would define property.

Real Pilots And 'Virtual Flyers' Go Head-to-head: "Stunt pilots have raced against computer-generated opponents for the first time — in a contest that combines the real and the ‘virtual’ at 250 miles per hour".

So you can see a theme here, it creates a minefield of moral hazards and new challenges for humanity as we sail into (virtually) unchartered territories!

You thoughts and comments welcome.

Big Brother Downunder

And I don't mean the seriously crass TV show on Channel 10.

The Australian Government is developing a national firewall under the pretence of preventing "inappropriate" content getting to children. The content filter is enabled by default and users must request sites to be unblocked.

Reminds me of the days when the school librarian would rule the library computers with an iron fist and straight face (that's you Mr. Humphries!). I felt that our greatest liberties were under attack, the knife truly sank home after they blocked access to Hotmail! But that was then and this is now...

News has surfaced that this system will be mandatory across all internet services in Australia. What concerns me is that the Government will decide who goes onto the blacklist, effectively controlling what you can or can't view online. It also raises grave privacy concerns now that they can snoop everybody's traffic. Ok wait... perhaps the only difference now is that we know about it and are AUD $189 m poorer for it.

Opera Study: 4.13% of the Web is Standards Compliant!

Yes you read it right, only about 4% of the Web is Standards compliant! That is a staggering less than 1 in 20, certainly much less than what I expected.

Browser maker Opera has published the early results of an ongoing study that aims to provide insight into the structure of Internet content. To conduct this research project, Opera created the Metadata Analysis and Mining Application (MAMA), a tool that crawls the web and indexes the markup and scripting data from approximately 3.5 million pages. Thanks Opera, that's a handy little tool for developers and designers alike.

As much as we develop our sites to W3C Standards, the problem is with specific web browsers as each has its own quirks, bugs and specific features. Ultimately the site must render and behave consistently across browsers, so we develop with this aim.

The Opera study reveals an interesting evolutionary feature of the internet. The good news is that upcoming IE 8.0 will be much more standards compliant, potentially Google's Chrome, with its app-centric design, will change the playing field. Unfortunately, there is the issue of maintaining backwards compatibility.

Read the source article here or direct to Opera's MAMA Key Findings.

Top 10 Most Useless Websites!

There will always be good and bad websites out there. PC World have worked hard to find you the truly annoying and dazzlingly useless ones!

If you're looking for more substance, also check out their article about 100 most useful sites.

AW

Webcaster Settlement Act Passed by US Senate

The U.S. Senate passed the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, sending it to President Bush’s desk for signature two days after the U.S. House of Representatives okayed the bill.

The bill allows for SoundExchange, on behalf of copyright owners and performers, to negotiate with Internet radio services through 2015 an alternative royalty agreement while Congress is in recess. The negotiations are aimed at setting aside a 2007 decision by the Copyright Royalty Board that set a royalty rate that Internet radio participants said would endanger the fiscal health of webcasting.

If the President signs the bill and new royalty agreements are reached, it would set a royalty rate retroactive to 2006, and allow for a framework that could resolve future disputes through 2015, according to an announcement by the Digital Media Association (DiMA).

“On behalf of DiMA and our Internet radio members, I want to thank Congress for acting quickly to pass the Webcaster Settlement Act,” said DiMA executive director Jonathan Potter, in a statement. “This legislation will enable DiMA and our member companies, and all Internet radio services, to continue negotiating royalty rates with SoundExchange for the years 2006-2015. We are very hopeful of reaching agreement soon, and thereby creating long-term stability that will re-energize the Internet radio business.”

Source: Billboard

A Brief History of the Internet

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the world was not connected.

But then a small group of visionaries created the Internet.

And changed the world.

This is their story.

The (American) National Science Foundation (NSF) has put together a great history of the Internet ... Check it out (Flash required)!

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/nsf-net/home.jsp

What Makes a Great Website?

There have been many studies in this area since the inception of the web some decades ago, but one rule continues to ring true: "Content is King"!

This of course implies both what is content (eg. textual, sensory, cultural) and how it is delivered to the target audience.

There are many ways to skin a cat. For example, a site aimed to promote a single product (eg. a new brand of soap) will have vastly different content management needs than, say, an e-commerce superstore which handles thousands of products.

When advising my clients I consider the following:
- What are you trying to achieve with this site (and is it going to be short-lived or long term)?
- What assumptions can we make about your typical audience (eg. minimum screen resolution, Flash capabilities, connection speeds)?
- What are your search optimisation parameters (eg. key words, conversion zones, landing pages)?
- Is you web infrastructure expected to cope with the proposed site?
- And of course, budget and time considerations.

Why should you care about content? Well, organisations which focus on solid content have higher repeat visitations, greater number of referrals, more bookmarks, arguably better search placement, and ultimately thrive. Visitors will place a greater value on your site, and your brand, thus enhancing ROI.

Just remember: "Content is King"!

Jobs: Looking for Java Developers!

Since 2004, we develop in-house web-based ecommerce software (online payments, product management, customer management, search optimisation, etc). The software has enjoyed excellent uptake, and I am looking to grow the business further.

The people I look for need to be reliable, switched on and technically-minded, preferrably with commercial Java Development experience. There are various roles available: product development, quality control and customisation, on either Casual/PT/FT basis.

In return, we provide competitive performance-based remuneration, great learning culture and profit sharing opportunities. Candidates preferrably from Melbourne metro area.

If you are interested or have someone in mind, please contact me via email with CV at alexbwang@gmail.com

Some more information at our (seriously outdated!) site: www.prodigywebservices.com

Porn Not the Most Popular Online Activity

Times are changing... Porn is no longer the number one activity on the Internet. It may be hard to believe, but according to a recent study by Bill Tancer, a researcher at Hitwise, time spent on social networking sites has surpassed time spent 'browsing' adult entertainment pages. Searches for pornography have dropped to account for 10% of Web searches, down from 20% a decade ago.

The study also showed that the top fears that people search for are elbows (seriously!), belly button lint, ceiling fans, social intimacy and rejection.
Also, searches for anti-depressant drugs spike around Xmas.

 

It's nice to see that people are doing things online besides gazing at porn, but I still think time wasted on a social networking site would be better utilised by socialising in, you know, the real world ... having said that, don't forget to add me to your Facebook!

Top Level Domain Designations

Internet Names Australia - Australian Naming Authority
.com.au : For commercial entities
.edu.au : For educational institutions
.gov.au : For government and semi-government entities
.org.au : For various forms of affiliation groups
.id.au : For individual zones
.oz.au : For entities which are visible within the ACSnet domain
.info.au : For major Australian informational and service resources
.net.au : For network infrastructure and providers
.asn.au : For associations
.csiro.au : For CSIRO
.conf.au :For conferences and exhibitions requiring short duration Internet connectivity

Internic - US Naming Authority
.com : For commercial organisations anywhere in the world
.org : For non commercial organisations anywhere in the world

There is also talk of adding more TLDs to the existing mix, which should present some interesting opportunities for avid developers, however these are being eyed keenly and are expected to auction for serious money!

Google further consolidates position in Australian search market

Latest figures suggest Google is getting stronger in the Australian search space.

Google: 78.6% (06/2007) --> 87.8% (06/2008)
MSN (aka Live): 14.7% (06/2007) --> 6.7% (06/2008)
Yahoo!: 5.3% (06/2007) --> 3.9% (06/2008)
Others: 1.4% (06/2007) --> 1.6% (06/2008)

Data from Hitwise 2008 Search Engine Update.

First post!

I intend to post more frequently from now on, so please check back soon. Reminder that you can contact me directly:

Email: alexbwang@gmail.com
Mobile: +61 412 116 908
Blog: alexbwang.id.au
Skype: alexbwang

Until next time, all the best.

AW