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For the first time, Gmail users will be able to participate in a public beta testing of new features. Google is notoriously secretive about newly developed products and services, and they limit public beta testing to those products under the Google Labs release. However, with the addition of a “Labs” tab in users’ Gmail accounts (in the Settings page), the testing of new Gmail features is more transparent than ever.

The move was announced in a blog post, which humorously explains the reasoning behind a public beta for Gmail features: “People often ask how we decide what to build next. It’s usually a mix of factors, like how many users are asking for it (think delete button, vacation responder, and IMAP, among others), how useful we think it will be (think chat, conversation view, etc.) or how much fun it will be to work on (this is actually really important). We have all sorts of debates about each option, we weigh the pros and cons, and then some of the time we probably make the wrong decision. Gmail Labs is a way for us to take lots of the ideas we wouldn’t normally pick and let you all (who use Gmail) decide whether they’re good or not.”

Indeed, many companies use beta testing as a way of releasing or launching a new product without having to determine the market or perfect the design. By letting users weigh in on new features, Google will be able to keep the good ideas and toss those which people don’t like (without drawing criticism for a poorly thought-out service). While it’s becoming more and more common to release technology tools and services in a soft-launch or beta, it can actually be a very clever way to involve power users in the development process.

Gmail Labs is testing 13 new features, which users can enable or disable as desired. One setting, Pictures in Chat, puts users’ profile pictures into the chat window next to their communications. Another increases the icons options for tagging mail; Superstars lets you star, checkmark, and exclamation mark mail depending on urgency or importance. Old Snakey is a classic game that has been developed so Gmail users can play it right on their screen with a simple keyboard command. While arguably not as useful as other new features, it will likely be popular with users.

Perhaps my favorite new Gmail labs product, though, is called Email Addict. This neat feature actually locks you out of your mail at the click of a button with an inspiring message: “Take a walk, get some real work done, or have a snack. We’ll be back in 15 minutes!” Each time you check back (which I’ve done about 20 times now), it gives you a new estimate of how much longer you must wait for Gmail to come back.

In classic Google fashion, the developers and designers of the new features are credited next to their innovative creations on the Gmail Labs page. With the 20% rule which gives workers a slice of their time for pet projects, any number of cool features could show up on Gmail Labs. The innovative folks at Google will push out new services for users, and now users will be able to “yea” or “nay” them as the situation dictates.

Intellipedia, the dynamic cross-agency repository of intelligence information, celebrated its second anniversary this year.  Functioning much like the familiar Wikipedia online encyclopedia program, Intellipedia helps Department of Defense, CIA, FBI, and other intelligence agencies search for and contribute to subjects concerning US security issues.  Intellipedia is a revolutionary tool which marks a paradigm shift of earthquake proportions in an area previously known to move at the speed of continental drift.  Industry analysts are quick to point out that while Intellipedia is an invaluable tool, it is more amazing as an indicator of intelligence sharing initiatives taken by security agencies to address threats and respond to them in a more timely fashion.

Historically, intelligence gathering and information sharing between government agencies was notoriously guarded.  The “need to know” mantra which many operatives lived and died by, led to information hoarding.  As outlined in congressional investigations following the September 11th attacks and inquiries into the Iraq war, failure to share vital pieces of information to create a better understanding of developing threats among various institutions led to missed opportunities or incorrect assessments.  The old method of sharing information via files, e-mail, and Powerpoint presentations was not able to handle the speed at which imminently developing situations were evolving.  Even worse, the leadership philosophy of claiming the “win” in breaking a case kept national interests hostage to departmental pride.  As a result of congressional pressure and evident tragedy, these old ways of doing business had to change. 

That change was first discussed by Calvin Andrus in his essay, “The Wiki and the Blog: Toward a Complex Adaptive Intelligence Community”.  The paper was driven as a call to arms by the CIA to any intelligence agent in any intelligence agency to expound upon means of better information sharing.  Andrus argued that the technology exploited by Wikipedia and bloggers would help to solve information bottlenecks and blind spots.  The U.S. Government agreed. 

In 2006, Intellipedia was born.  With Google providing servers and software for the wiki, Intellipedia offers a similar look and feel that most up-and-coming intelligence agents, generation Y folks, are comfortable using.  Intellipedia has an eBay like quality in that it allows readers to rate contributors.  Deputy Director of National Intelligence Thomas Fingar stated that he hoped Intellipedia would reward analysts whose judgments most often turned out to be correct. However, if people were continuously making bad contributions, that would be tracked, as well.  Andrus’ inital arguments are validated in the current estimates, reported on Wikipedia, which declare “As of March 2008, Intellipedia hosted 35,000 articles (making a total of 200,000 pages) edited by 37,000 users. The system has been enhanced to include a YouTube-like video channel, a Flickr-like photo sharing feature, content tagging, blogs and RSS feeds.”

Early on, valued contributors to Intellipedia were rewarded with black powder-coated trowels for their exceptional contributions, perhaps a tongue-in-cheek jab at powder-coated blades usually awarded to special ops soldiers for outstanding performance.  Quirky things like this can help cement a tool and its philosophy into an organization’s culture.  Certainly, having managers build into an employee’s performance plan a way of weighting quality and quantity of Intellipedia contributions gives the new paradigm even more weight as “the way we do business”.

That’s not to say that Intellipedia is the silver bullet to the congressional report findings.  As Tom Davenport of the Harvard Business Review reported, “At the recent Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston, some intelligence people who are working with Intellipedia said that only 10% of the eligible user population is actually using it, and that middle management isn’t comfortable with it. Of course, they probably need to get comfortable with tools like Intellipedia, but the mere existence of the tool isn’t going to make that happen.”  For example, just buying a central air unit will not keep a house cool in the summertime.  It must be installed, along with interconnecting vents, and receive scheduled maintenance in order to function properly.  So, too, must leadership make sure that philosophy Intellipedia embodies is supported in order to achieve the desired results of decision making superiority.

Chris Rasmussen, Knowledge Management Officer, Intellipedia, gave a presentation at the Spring Government CIO Conference in Ft. Myers, FL which hit on some key points to improve the intelligence community.  Rasmussen argued, “Something that’s 80% accurate, on time, and sharable is better than something that is too much, perfectly formatted, too late, and over-classified”.  This reaffirmed the importance of immediate contributions through Intellipedia versus the standard, classified Powerpoint presentations.  He also blasted the importance of information over department loyalties by hammering, “We want your knowledge not your agency seal”.

Intellipedia is a great first step for national security.  As an anonymous user of Intellipedia told Talkibie, “Intellipedia, I feel, is just a neat tool.  There is a lot of information on the site but there are other web locations that are just as good if not better. As information becomes more available the web itself becomes more valuable.”  It appears that other agencies would agree as programs such as the FBI’s IntraGuard, the DoD’s Biometric Fusion Center, and the multi-department developed Automated Biometric Information System are assisting in tracking and sharing information in the hopes of nipping terrorist acts in the bud.  In the future, those seeking to attack others will find themselves caught by agents that know how to spin information better thanks to Web 2.0.

Many state governments are taking the lead on renewable energy by contracting with clean sources to supply their power grids. California is one of the most progressive, mandating that at least 20 percent of their power be supplied by renewable companies by 2010. A new solar company called BrightSource Energy is helping to achieve that goal. The Oakland, CA-based company is building a massive, innovative solar field in the Mojave Desert, which will be capable of producing up to 900 megawatts of clean power in the next decade.

BrightSource was founded by Arnold Goldman, who had previously experimented with solar energy in the 1980s. Though his first company, Luz International, failed to catch the public imagination, renewed interest in clean energy he has made BrightSource an early success. The company has attracted influential investors, including Google’s philanthropic offshoot Google.org, Chevron Technology Ventures, and BP Alternative Energy.

Goldman’s success in gathering venture-capital funds is due in part to early projects that have proven the technological capabilities of BrightSource’s solar fields. Dynamic Tower Power (DTP) is a system which employs thousands of small mirrors called heliostats to focus the sun’s rays on a particular spot. The effect is similar to that of using a magnifying glass to start a fire. The heliostats are controlled by a computer, and they are programmed to rotate with the sun, directing the heat energy to a tower topped with a boiler. The water is heated to nearly 1000° F, and the steam produced turns a turbine to generate electricity.

BrightSource’s team of engineers have set up solar fields in Israel’s Negev Desert to prove the efficiency of their design. They are now turning their attention to California’s Mojave Desert, where plans are in place to build the Ivanpah Solar Power Complex. The company will begin building the series of solar thermal plants in 2009. Ivanpah is expected to produce 400MW per year, enough to power 250,000 homes and reduce carbon emissions by over 500,000 tons per year. BrightSource hopes to expand their Mojave Desert plans. Their website claims, “If BrightSource Energy plants were built on less than 2% of the land in the Mojave Desert, they would provide enough power for all of the homes in California and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by over 30 million tons per year.”

The possibilities for large-scale solar plants are just beginning to be explored, and BrightSource is at the forefront of this movement. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG &E) has partnered with BrightSource to buy 500MW of solar energy, and other power companies or states with natural solar hotspots are sure to follow. The company has a localized view of renewable energy, making the most of the natural environment in Southern California to improve public access to renewable energy.

Wedding photo albums used to be comprised of professional shots taken by the photographer.  Then came disposable cameras and event coordinators everywhere started placing these little cardboard quick-snaps on each table for candid shots.  More recently, people have started using the cameras on their cell phones to capture impromptu moments of the happy couple or other guests living it up on the dance floor.  As shwup’s website explains, “One guy promises to email his shots around. Somebody else plans to post their pictures online. The third person swears he’ll send everyone a DVD, as soon as he edits his video.  And do you ever get to see any of those pictures?  Yeah, we already know the answer. That’s why we built shwup.  We make it fall-off-your-chair easy for you to get everyone’s photos and videos together online in a shared private album.”

There are a few things that set shwup apart from most photo sharing websites out there.  Once you create an album, shwup allows you to send invites to others to view the collection and also add their own pictures or videos.  However, invitees do not need to create a unique user ID with shwup in order to contribute to your album.  Also, shwup allows for the creation of “muvees”.  Using the images and videos in your album, the program can sync music transitions to picture transitions for a dramatic and fun take on the normal “slide show”.  Shwup creates these “muvees” to stock music that is part of the website but it also allows for users to import their own music.  In addition, each album is capable of having separate guest lists so you don’t have to worry about your new mother-in-law finding the bachelor party pictures.

While shwup is still in a beta phase, there are still some features which are functioning perfectly.  Images can be uploaded from your computer, Facebook, Flickr, or any website address.  Photo albums can be embedded in web pages and added to Facebook sites.  If an invitee has multiple formats that they want to submit, say a JPG file, an MPG movie and another movie in QT format, all three can be uploaded at the same time from the same e-mail.  Videos will be transcoded into flash video so that everyone can enjoy the finished product.  Album originators receive an e-mail whenever new content is added.  That way cool content can be immediately enjoyed and questionable content can be removed. 

Once again, software companies are embracing Web 2.0 technology to showcase “lite” versions of their product.  Muvee’s shwup site is actually a creative way for the parent company to expose a large audience to a basic version of its more feature-rich full-blown movie editing package, Reveal.  As predicted in Talkibie’s coverage of Photoshop Express, this is another company’s foray into RIA which will familiarize users with a format and encourage those ready to take the next technological step forward into the realm of retail software.  So long as products like shwup are created, I can’t imagine anyone complaining.

Today is the end of an era. Bill Gates is spending his last day at Microsoft, nearly thirty years after founding the software company. Anyone who has touched a computer has been influenced by his vision for personal technology. He started out with the goal of making computers operable by anyone, and he has been singularly successful in achieving his dream.

While he will maintain his position on Microsoft’s board of directors (and he will still be the largest shareholder), he will turn his attention to philanthropy, using his billions for charitable works. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on health and global learning, and their projects include bringing libraries with internet access to third-world countries, fighting polio, and ending global hunger.

Gates sat down with NBC’s Tom Brokaw for an in-depth interview to reminisce about his past and illuminate his future.

Many creative companies struggle with traditional corporate hierarchies, org charts, and workflow. How do you best harness the power of innovative employees, and keep your process organized without stifling their talent? While many innovators, such as Apple, are notoriously top-down structures, others like Google allow workers some freedom to experiment and choose their projects. One startup gaining attention for their disregard for the corporate rule book is Meetup, a New York City-based web company which aims to give individuals with similar interests a chance to “meetup” through social networking.

The company was founded 2002 and has unexpectedly struck a chord with users all around the world. Their website explains their fundamental goals:

Meetup helps people:

• Find others in their area who share their interests
• Learn, teach, and share things
• Make friends and have fun
• Rise up, stand up, unite, and make a difference
• Be a part of something bigger—both locally and globally

Meetup quickly gained popularity with users who founded book clubs, attended knitting circles, organized political rallies, and made friends with new neighbors. However, as the company grew, their internal organization struggled. Worker productivity was down, job satisfaction was down, and they were losing sight of goals. A recent BusinessWeek profile explains how the management shakeup began: “Douglas Atkin, a senior manager, yanked CEO Scott Heiferman into a conference room and showed him a list scrawled on a whiteboard. In bright red letters were all the things Atkin felt were wrong at the New York startup, including ‘We Aren’t a Creative Company’ and ‘I Hate the Org Chart.’ Atkin pressed his boss to change course. ‘We need to blow this up and start all over again,’ he said.”

In a bold move, Meetup’s leaders decided to throw away the old way of doing things. They held a meeting and asked for frank and honest suggestions from employees. The results mirror Meetup’s goal for its users: organic self-organization. Workers set their own priorities, choose their projects, and share information. They organize themselves into teams, and determine their own professional trajectories.

The results have been surprisingly positive, and may inspire similar companies to try the same strategy. As CEO Scott Heiferman told BusinessWeek, “We got more done in six weeks than in six months last year.” The new, self-organization model has led to a redesign and plenty of updated features for the Meetup website, and revenues from the worker-led projects are expected to bring in $100 million in revenue by 2010.

This type of restructuring is becoming more and more common, especially for creative companies with independently-minded workforces. However, throwing away traditional corporate structures is not for every company. Some industries rely on management charts to distribute projects and maintain client’s expectations. For example, if everyone at your local grocery store chose their own role, we might see no one behind the butcher counter or unstocked shelves. The same could be argued for, say, a publishing company which relies on cover designers, editors, and proofreaders for very specific functions. There must be a balance between self-directed work and business needs, and this is easier to achieve at companies staffed with creative people. They are more likely to innovate, self-motivate, and respond positively to freedom.

Meetup’s restructuring proves that the move can produce spectacular results. As more companies find themselves shackled by their hierarchies, we’ll see many of them turn to the Meetup model of self-organization to motivate and harness employee talent.

Nothing is more frustrating, (and unsafe), than trying to navigate a website for directions or information while driving.  Yet, it is usually while we are in our cars that we really need to know where something is or how to get there.  Search engine companies are now capitalizing on that customer need, by offering their program’s capabilities with speech recognition technology via smartphones.  By delivering near hands-free operation to smartphone users everywhere, driving around aimlessly may be a thing of the past.  Nomads of the world, rejoice!  No more stopping to ask for directions!

In the past, navigating an unfamiliar town usually took a bit of pre-planning.  Traveler tools included large maps of specific areas, usually bought at service stations, or perhaps a printout of driving directions from mapquest.com or some other mapping site.  Should those pieces of paper become lost, there was always your cell phone to contact a relative who knew the area or the worst case scenario, actually pulling over to ask a local for directions.  Once smartphones became available, people could save directions from web-based map sites to their phone or have their passengers use the web browser on the phone to get directions.  In an effort to capitalize on voice capabilities and GPS technology, search engine companies have come up with innovations previously only dreamed up in Star Trek movies.

The current choices in voice activated search are Tellme, oneSearch, and GOOG-411.  At the very basic end of the scale, GOOG-411 will work with any phone on any carrier service.  Similar to traditional 411, it kindly asks “What city and state, please?” and then follows with narrowing questions to get the information you want.  Taking voice search to the next level are Tellme and oneSearch.  I was surprised to see that Tellme only supported the Blackberry 8830 on Verizon.  One phone for one of the biggest network cellphone carriers out there.  However, if you happen to be an AT&T customer, it would seem that you can access Tellme on just about every model they have.  oneSearch is a little more expansive in that it offers its voice activated search service for three models of Blackberry, regardless of service carrier and the iPhone.  Its voice search software is also sleeker as testified to in a recent review in Business Week.  While English is the default language offered across all providers, Tellme stands apart in also offering Spanish voice search support.

In an effort to be helpful, voice activated search engines are utilizing technologies built into handsets.  Most of the phones these services work with are GPS compatible.  By tying into the GPS location of the handset, the search engine can intuitively deduce where the closest pizza parlor, movie theatre, or florist is and then offer it up.  This is great if you want to go to the nearest shop, but a touch presumptuous if someone is looking for a specific restaurant in the next state.  Of course, you can always say “Sushi restaurants in San Francisco” to help clarify the issue.  I am curious to see what kind of loop the systems would be thrown in by a user who had actively selected to shut off the GPS functionality of their mobile device.

Lawsuits and tragedies abound in America over driving while using a cell phone.  This new trend in harnessing built-in technology with targeted marketing creates a positive solution for everyone.  Businesses win because they might not be known by the searcher, but they will certainly be offered up as the closest solution.  Drivers win because they get the answers they need, when they need them.  The general populace wins because there won’t be a need for legislation forbidding the use of cell phones, since hands-free use replaces a formerly manipulation intensive operation.  Until transporters are invented, voice activated search is the next best thing.

The Summer Olympic games in Beijing will be different from previous contests. Unlike Olympics before, people will be able to download Olympics coverage right to their own mobile phone. On Yahoo.com there is a link that reads “2008 Olympics Coverage” and it leads to a site devoted exclusively to mobile coverage of the Olympics.

The exclusive site includes the time and weather in Beijing. There is also a clock counting down the days until the Beijing games begin. Below that is a section for news and photos about the games. The site’s content only makes up one corner of the browser. It is optimized for mobile use, to fit the screen of a smart phone.

Yahoo will have some competition. Another site providing mobile content is the United States’ official site for Olympic news, NBCOlympics. Along with a version of its site exclusively for mobile users, NBC will also be offering mobile alerts, video, and TV for phones. Additionally, MobiTV customers can subscribe to a mobilized channel showing NBC Sports coverage. During the 2006 Winter Olympics, NBC and MobiTV formed a partnership then and will continue to offer videos and highlights on the mobile phones of their customers in 2008.

Also, Google Mobile’s News feature will allow users to customize their page and search for the type of news they want. To start receiving news from Google, users can go to Google.com and type in their cell phone number to request mobile news updates.

Fring, a Mobile IM company is providing 3.5 G mobile phones with a camera, SIM card, and unlimited data plans to people attending the games and interested in micro-blogging, according to a ReadWriteWeb article. Fring will recruit users called “FringCommentators”, who will send updates of the action to different blogs via text messages.

This summer in Beijing, opportunities will be endless with the Olympics being a world event. Many mobile companies are counting on this Inaugural Mobile Olympics to be a success. Not only content providers and mobile news sites will be following the trends, but also any company who has invested advertising on sites specifically for mobile phones. We are likely to see some succeed while others fail, while industries like micro-blogging might see astronomical growth. We can only wait to see where the Mobile Olympics will lead the industry. It will be the first of its kind, which means there will be risks involved before the games begin and trends set after. Many companies, especially media companies should be willing to take the risk on the world stage.

In an increased effort to boost adoption of their Silverlight development platform, Microsoft will support the use of Python and Ruby programming languages for client-side development. Announced in late May at the RailsConf conference in Portland, Oregon, John Lam (lead of the IronRuby project at Microsoft) gave developers the good news. He told eWeek, “If you’re a Ruby programmer and you like Ruby as a language, context-switching into JavaScript is just something you have to do. It’s a tax.” The Silverlight support for what Microsoft is calling ARAX and APAX will eliminate this tax and allow Microsoft’s RIA plugin to gain some ground against Adobe.

Many developers of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) use JavaScript in the browser. The use of this language for web development is called AJAX, which stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Ruby and Python were previously used on server-side development, but programmers employing these languages would have to switch to AJAX for client-side development or use a utility to make the conversion. The plan to support Ruby developers through Silverlight is a bold move from Microsoft, and it may attract users.

In an interview with InfoWorld, Brian Goldfarb of Microsoft said, “What we’ve done through Silverlight is to make it possible to use Ruby or Python as an alternative to JavaScript for building the same types of applications…All the browser needs to have is Silverlight installed and then developers can take advantage of these languages.” Silverlight is meant to compete with Adobe Flash, which is the current standard for many RIAs and video-intensive sites. With the release of Silverlight 2.0 later this year, the ARAX and APAX features will be available for those who prefer Ruby or Python.

While the impact of this announcement is not yet being felt, it has certainly stirred up interest in Silverlight among developers. Popular tech blog Slashdot’s coverage of the news prompted many diverse opinions. One commenter writes, “It [Ruby and ARAX] just seems like Java for people who hate Java.” Another opines, “Microsoft knows that web applications will soon threaten their client-side sales model. They also know that places like Google have enough of a head start in the AJAX world that they will never catch up…they want to make life hard for people trying to develop in AJAX.” Despite these criticisms, Silverlight does indeed support JavaScript, in addition to VisualBasic and C#.

As with all things Microsoft, it is difficult for the company to simply show good intentions. Whether the move was meant to attract Ruby developers or challenge Flash, it is a step forward for cross-platform, cross-language development. For their part, Microsoft has no illusions about the impact of their decision. As John Lam put it to eWeek, “Our goal was to show that Rails guys could use Silverlight as well…And if you wanted to use Ruby to do some HTML stuff, if you want to do ARAX on the client, awesome. Knock yourself out.”

PBS’s decision to place some of its programming on Hulu has caused murmuring among commercial-free purists.  In a slow shift towards moving program accessibility to modern technological venues, episodes of Nova, Carrier, Wired Science, Design e2, and Scientific America Frontiers will now air via the extremely popular video viewing site, Hulu.  However, as it is a commercial channel of distribution and not free airwaves supported by the government, PBS will be footing the bills with advertisements at the beginning and end of its programs.  PBS’s deal with Hulu maintains the integrity of the programs by keeping them free of commercial breaks.  The fact that advertisements will no longer be strictly limited to mentioning sponsors names or slogans makes some folks question whether PBS can maintain its reputation as an unbiased and impartial source of information.

PBS’s flirtation with advertising has been an intricate dance.  Back in 1967, the rules were extremely tight concerning underwriter credits.  It wasn’t until 1984 that the rules began to be modified to allow value-neutral descriptions of products and display of sponsor company logos.  More recent reforms took place in 2003 which permitted 30 second underwriter messages to be displayed either before or after a sponsored program.  Perhaps the most amusing regulation is the one that demands actors in advertisements for food products may consume items on-camera but they cannot appear to enjoy doing so with enthusiasm.  Even so, these small steps have not been enough to help with the growing funding problems that PBS stations experience.

Various approaches have been tried to help fill the coffers of public broadcast stations.  The ever popular annual telethons are probably the most widely recognized revenue generator for public broadcasting.  Federal funding and grants also provide much needed income.  But with the rising costs of digital conversion for local broadcast stations, production costs, and no significant increases in budgets at either state or federal levels, PBS stations are caught between a rock and a hard place.  “We can solve our short-term or annual needs by loosening the reins on sponsorship content, but in the end we lose our soul,” Willard D. Rowland, president of KBDI-TV in Denver told The New York Times. “If we don’t want the institution to be more commercial, then we have to find better guaranteed revenue sources for it.”  But perhaps this perceived deal with the devil has a loophole.  Enter Web 2.0.

As covered in a recent Talkibie article, web advertising on Hulu allows for more dynamic marketing.  By embracing the rich content capabilities offered by Web 2.0 design, funding for PBS shows could be significantly increased.  While all the talk right now is about how well a sponsor’s ads will be received, more emphasis should be placed on how PBS can develop their own targeted messages to entice viewers to donate or purchase PBS products.  Partner with eco-vacation tours that explore areas just seen in a PBS special, where a percentage of the vacation package goes back into PBS funding.  Sell merchandise through the PBS store that ties into the show that was just viewed.  And there is absolutely no shame in asking for a straight up donation “from viewers like you.”  By joining Hulu, PBS may have accidentally, and controversially, found the answer to their funding problem.

Many of us have experienced the “glasses phenomenon”: you’re completely out of ideas for where they might be, when a laughing colleague, friend, or family member points out that your spectacles are already on your face. As our brains age, these kind of memory lapses become more and more common. However, a whole industry has grown around helping people retain their memories and “young brains” as they age.

Industry players call it “brain fitness,” and they use scientific research to promote the idea that simple exercises and games can help us improve the performance of our most valuable asset. By regularly doing targeted puzzles, games, and activities those struggling with memory can make “senior moments” a thing of the past. The activities can focus on different skills, such as attention, concentration, and information retention. Surprisingly, this trend is more than just a game for participants; brain fitness software is a growing industry, with revenues reaching $225 million in 2007, up from just $100 million in 2005.

Some point to the popular Nintendo game, Brain Age, as the catalyst for this growth. Brain Age has become something of a phenomenon, and it has attracted both typical gamers and a new demographic of baby boomers to Nintendo’s DS handheld console. The game offers a number of puzzles and challenges for players: “Solve simple math problems, recite piano songs, play a challenging version of rock, paper, scissors, and test your memory skills in the classic game, Concentration. You’ll love your mental workout!” The game was inspired by Japanese neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, and it promotes the idea that health is not only physical, but mental as well.

There are many types of brain fitness games and puzzles out there, and some are available for free. Prevention Magazine has an online brain fitness portal, which includes everything from word games, pattern recognition puzzles, and memory teasers. One game rewards your ability to categorize words by “renovating” a dream house. Think the SAT verbal test meets Sim City. The more words you’re able to group, the more your hovel resembles a Hollywood mansion.

While Brain Age requires a game system to play, others in the industry are turning to SaaS-like models for brain fitness software distribution. Lumosity is a brain fitness company that allows subscribers to exercise their minds with online puzzles and activities. The company touts a panel of health experts. Their “Scientific Advisory Panel” includes neuroscientists from some of the most prestigious universities around the world. The company’s executives are on a mission to combat degenerative memory diseases. As their website explains, “Each of the founders has had a family member affected by the devastating impact of cognitive decline, and they are dedicated to reducing this problem as much as possible.”

Indeed, many brain fitness organizations point to increasing diagnoses of dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other memory problems. While there is no concrete proof that brain fitness regimes will decrease the chances of developing a degenerative neurological disease, baby boomers are increasingly adopting the techniques. Technology trends like SaaS are making it possible to keep up with the exercises anywhere, anytime.

However, it’s not just baby boomers who are turning to brain fitness companies for help. Teachers and students are embracing the games as well. A recent CNN article profiled Raemon Matthews, a New York City history teacher who has incorporated SharpBrains games and puzzles into his curriculum. “It’s a tool like any other tool…Children in the 21st century are 30-second people. If you cannot grab them in that 30-second period, they become disillusioned and don’t feel they are capable of grabbing it.” Users like Matthews hope that the brain fitness craze can help students improve their attention spans and learn memorization techniques.

While it may be a passing fad, brain fitness software is certainly gaining ground with both young and aging people. While scientific claims about the effectiveness of these exercises are yet to be verified, they certainly are an entertaining and engaging way to test your memory skills.

While Ebay markets its services to professional sellers and buyers, another internet startup is attempting to get back to the roots of Ebay’s success. The idea that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is the foundation of Ztail, a Palo Alto, CA based startup. A veteran of Google, Shopping.com (formerly ePinions.com), and Women.com, co-founder and CEO Bill Hudak wants to bring together the independent sellers on the web and help people find the forgotten value in their unused belongings.

Ztail favors a social networking model. The site aims to provide an “interactive pricing guide that answers the question of ‘What’s It Worth?’” Not only an auction environment for buyers and sellers, Ztail also acts as a kind of online Kelley Blue Book, giving people an idea of what others might pay for their unwanted items. Users who sign up for accounts can “get worth” by listing an item, “sell it”, or “give worth” by casually appraising other people’s listings.

Ztail enthusiasts can give worth one of four ways:

• suggesting a price you might pay within Ztail
• adding a polling-type widget to their social network profile (blog, Facebook, etc.)
• link to a similar item on a classifieds site, Craigslist, Amazon, etc.
• find historic sales info from Ebay to estimate a price

These methods hope to attract users by encouraging not only interaction within the site, but ties to other online communities. Ztail’s What’s It Worth function is available as a Facebook application, within Ztail’s site, and as a e-widget for a user’s blog or personal website. This allows Ztail to cultivate a presence outside of their home site, and it allows users to share their listings with friends and family. Perhaps your cousin has always admired that antique porcelain doll you’re selling, or a colleague is looking to buy your old iPhone when you upgrade. Ztail’s social environment makes it easier and more trustworthy to buy used items over the web.

The one shortcoming of Ztail is that it relies on “crowd sourcing” of a sort. The more people participate in the What’s It Worth rating system, the more accurate it will be. While one person might be eager to pay $750 for your cocktail napkin autographed by Don Johnson, someone else might think it worthless. However, the more people join the site, the better the appraisals will become. This is particularly true if the site can attract professional appraisers and auctioneers, which will lend credibility to the “Blue Book” values of various items.

While Ebay will continue to be home to unopened boxes of Wii consoles and used car dealerships, Ztail hopes to attract individual sellers who are looking to take their garage sales to the web. As they employ social networking to bring together buyers and sellers, their user base will expand and become what Ebay once was: an active and engaging way to make money from your unwanted junk.

The sky is green in Dubai. The Middle East country continues to construct defined skyscrapers to fill its sky line. Most of these wonderful structures are large and tall, but a number of them are also meeting green building standards.

A new 59-floor building called the Rotating Tower will be added soon. Construction starts this month. According to Inhabitat, it’s the first building of its size produced in a factory and it will be powered by only wind and solar energy. Each floor is made up of 12 modular units and the building will generate 10 times more energy than needed with its solar panels that will be fitted on the roof. The structure will be able to gather wind energy with turbines between the rotating floors.

The tower floors will rotate around a central axis and the rotation will last in continuous motion. Additionally, the building’s shape will constantly change as each floor rotates separately, which will make it look different as the building turns but also make it earthquake-resistant according to architect David Fisher. Residents of the building will have the option of choosing a view of the outside by touching a button.

This building is only part of what has already been taking place for Dubai in the Middle East. A new 80,000 ton rotating, solar-powered tower receives its energy stored from a power plant in the base of the building. The large building also has a timepiece down the whole building for people to see. This project started in June 2007. There is also the 576 meter tall Pentominium that was proposed for building in Dubai. Designed by Aedas, it will be a 120-floor tower with a few sky gardens every five or six floors to make it environmentally friendly, according to Inhabitat. Additionally, already on the landscape of Dubai is the O-14. It is an office tower that was built last December. It stands 22 stories tall and the building’s façade serves as a solar screen. According to Inhabitat, its a clean and green structure that lets in light and air. The one-meter space between the façade and the building’s glass surface creates a chimney effect causing hot air to rise and the building to cool.

The neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the world’s largest oil suppliers, has actually granted land for a carbon-neutral city called Masdar to be completed in 2009, according to a recent Talkibie article. This city will be automobile-free with shaded walkways and a solar-powered transit system. It will also provide commercial office space to companies that are focusing more on the advancement of renewable-energy technologies, such as British Petroleum (whose new slogan is “Beyond Petroleum”). Abu Dhabi has also established $100 million for a clean technology fund.

These projects are all very unique and some might just be for experiment’s sake. But these plans for green and energy-efficient skyscrapers, transportation, and businesses could lead to many possibilities in the future. Some that could potentially make the earth cleaner and healthier, while being more attractive at the same time.

Some revolutions happen with a roar.  The transition from broadcasting television via analog to digital airwaves on February 17, 2009 should happen with more of a whimper.  According to the General Accounting Office, the FCC, and local trade publication reports, a majority of the United States viewing public has a vague idea of what is happening thanks to ad spots.  But who the FCC is really concerned about are the 13 million viewers Nielson Media Research says rely solely on roof top antennas, rabbit ears, and tin foil for television reception.  Without enough understanding, these viewers could be easily panicked into thinking that the country is under attack.  Remember, Orson Welles thought “War of the Worlds” would just be a fun Halloween broadcast.

Most Americans are already prepared for the transition.  If a household subscribes to a satellite or cable television provider, there will be no change to their service.  In addition, anyone who has purchased a television set after 2007 already owns a piece of equipment that can receive the digital signal being broadcast over the airwaves.  There is a recent dispute between Best Buy and the FCC over selling analog only TVs without proper markings, but that’s another matter.  That just leaves the television viewers who own older sets or reside in remote locations.

For those few 13 million viewers, there are a couple of choices.  A converter box is the first option.  This little piece of hardware has connections for your old antenna and allows the set to receive the digital signals being broadcast.  While the converters can go for upwards of $50, the FCC has made the transition easier by offering rebate coupons which, depending on the model of converter box purchased, can bring the price down to about $20.  Two caveats: Each household is allowed only two coupons and the coupons expire 90 days after printing.  For those who have no interest in buying a converter or a new television, local craft and fabric stores sell cloth in an array of colors and patterns to help turn your defunct TV into a nicely covered end table.

Does this mean that everyone will be able to have High Definition TV?  Not exactly.  As CNET explains in their quick help article, “HDTV signals must be a certain, relatively high resolution–technically at least 720 pixels or lines of vertical resolution–while DTV signals can be lower. Almost all of the major over-the-air channels, including ABC, CBS, Fox, MyTV, NBC, and PBS, can carry high-definition programming. A DTV converter box takes those HDTV channels and downconverts them to a lower resolution, so they can be displayed on older analog TVs.”  So, while the sound and picture should be better than what analog set owners have experienced in the past, it will not be high definition.

The FCC and television companies agree that the big issue isn’t technology so much as education.  Videos that discuss the DTV conversion, like the one put out by the Consumer Electronics Association, aren’t getting massive hits on YouTube.  Advertisements explaining what is going to happen on February 17, 2009 are few and far between.  Even more mysterious is why these advertisements are run on channels that can only be received via cable or satellite.  It will be interesting to see if public awareness campaigns increase as time winds down.  Come 2009, should you get the frenzied call from Aunt May out on the farm that the aliens are jamming her TV, you’ll know what to do.

In an unsurprising move on Tuesday, Nokia announced that it would buy out the stakeholders of Symbian for $410 million. Nokia already owns 48% of the UK-based mobile software company, and the deal will result in a new direction for both companies. As many news outlets are reporting, with the backing of the Finnish handset giant, Symbian could be poised to compete with Google’s Android mobile platform.

Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Siemens, and Panasonic all held shares in Symbian, and they relinquished their claims for Nokia’s large offer. Symbian’s mobile operating system is already sold on more than 200 million phones from numerous manufacturers. The deal allows for the creation of the Symbian Foundation, whose mission is, “to bring to life a shared vision and to create the most proven, open and complete mobile software platform - available for free.” Symbian and Nokia, together with heavyweight partners such as AT&T, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, Vodaphone, and many others, will release Symbian’s software through an open source license, allowing companies to adopt and adapt it as needed.

The Symbian Foundation would make the platform available to handset manufacturers royalty free, another attempt to compete with Google’s open source Android. This not only allows companies to customize it for individual phones, but also allows outside developers to create applications that run on Symbian. As Kris Rinne, Senior Vice President of Architecture and Planning at AT&T said of the deal, “This [the Symbian Foundation] will create an environment that will encourage and enable developers to build compelling applications that will positively affect our customers’ lives and support AT&T in offering its differentiated services to consumers.”

Symbian is fully in support of the Nokia buy out, and no jobs are expected to be lost or cut. The reason behind the move was not consolidation of resources or the need to expand into new markets, but rather a mutual dedication to making cell phone software open source and available to third-party developers.

That being said, the announcement comes amid reports that Google’s Android platform is suffering delays. As the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, “Google now says that the handsets won’t arrive until the fourth quarter. And some cellular carriers and makers of programs that work with Android are struggling to meet that schedule, people familiar with the situation say.” The news is disappointing to fans of the “GPhone” and also to third-party developers, who are having trouble staying up with the changes to the platform as they develop add-ons.

While the Symbian Foundation and Google are set up as open source competitors, the iPhone is still subject to the notorious vertical integration of Apple. The phone is only available on AT&T’s network, and the software, developed in-house at Apple, is not open source. While the new model being released on July 11th will allow for third-party applications, developers must pay for the privilege of creating add-ons for the iPhone.

The creation of the Symbian Foundation will certainly be a milestone for software platforms for the mobile market, and industry watchers will be clamoring to see how the newly-formed open source non-profit will compete with Google Android.

Mashups have been around for years, but many businesses are still unfamiliar with the technology and hesitant to put them to use. However, these Web 2.0 applications can give almost any company an in-depth, comprehensive look at their sales data, customer profiles, employee feedback, and just about any other useful information you can think of. The advantages of using mashups for business applications are clear, and the process of creating a customized application is surprisingly simple.

The term “mashup” is just what it sounds like: a conglomeration of applications and codes that combine to form a single, integrated application. Developers can draw on focused web tools and mix and match their capabilities to suit individual needs. For example, many of the add-on applications for Google Maps are actually mashups. Users who use these mashups are able to see not only the mapping data on display, but also local traffic conditions, nearby restaurants, flight information, cheap gas stations, and just about anything else you can think of. The word “mashup” was borrowed from the hip hop lexicon, where it is used to describe songs that sample from other works.

Mashups are made possible when existing applications release their API, or Application Programming Interface under open source distribution. Developers can use the source code to customize the original product for a new audience. A developer creating a mashup for Google Maps would use not just Google Maps’ API, but combine it with Flickr’s code to create a final product like Flickrvision, which shows up-to-the-minute photographs from Flickr users all over the globe.

Creating mashups for business purposes can be highly beneficial not only to employees, but also to customers. A real estate broker, for example, might be able to combine a local map with recently sold homes that shows pricing, square footage, area schools, and other information buyers and agents need. A dating service could show user profiles and photos based on location. Even an investment bank could use a mashup that shows financial data and stock prices for top companies by industry, allowing analysts to compare and contrast competitive firms. These small, syncretic applications can attract new customers and provide edge over the competition.

A recent Baseline Magazine article gives step-by-step instructions for businesses who want to jump into the mashup game. They suggest fully exploring the options available to you by researching the numerous widgets and tools already out there. Pageflakes.com has a number of useful applications, as does iGoogle.com, My.Yahoo.com and Dapper.net. Some are more involved than others, and some may even give you the ability to start forming your web mashup. Selecting the right data is also key. Baseline asks, “Do you want to combine something that is available on a public Web site with your corporate data, a private Web site (such as your LinkedIn or Facebook account) or something on your hard disk? The places your data comes from will determine what platform and tools you choose next.”

Some of the popular mashup platforms include Google APIs, Microsoft Silverlight/Windows Live (needed for Popfly.com), Yahoo’s Developer Network, Amazon’s Developer Connection, and Salesforce (for customers). Many of these services provide instructions and guidance to users who are new to mashups. These platforms provide the source code and tools needed to combine various small applications into one, best-of tool that meets specific business needs. With a little creativity, a basic development background, and a lot of help from open source applications, any business can appeal to customers and employees alike with customized mashups.

The longstanding leader in document sharing software is now making it easier to enhance and share your photos online.  Adobe’s Photoshop Express offers a simplified version of the industry standard desktop publishing (DTP) package, Photoshop, for web-based image management.  “Photoshop Express is a convenient, single destination where you can store, edit and share photos whether you’re at home, school or on the road,” says Doug Mack, vice president of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. Utilizing Web 2.0 functionality, Photoshop Express requires no software installation and will operate inside any browser equipped with Adobe Flash.  For a market segment that has plenty of photos but no need for the advanced features of a full-blown DTP package, Photoshop Express is a great tool.  Did I mention it’s free?

Photoshop Express has some wonderful features.  With the ability to upload pictures directly from your computer or though a link to your Facebook, Photobucket, Picasa, or Flickr accounts, Photoshop Express is designed with the web-based image user in mind.  Getting rid of typical image issues like red-eye, or “healing” blemishes on a subject’s skin are included.  Some extra features that one wouldn’t expect from a free product, like in-depth exposure, color, and sharpness tools combine with fun and funky Distort and Sketch tools to help users create unique images. 

Photoshop Express also offers two gigabytes worth of storage area for uploaded images, slide shows, and picture albums.  For those who become addicted, there is an Eye-fi feature.  As Adobe’s Photoshop Express website states, “Ditch those cables because Photoshop Express is now connected with Eye-fi, which lets you wirelessly upload photos from your camera.  Just pop your Eye-fi card in your camera, set up your account, and that’s it — your pictures automagically (sic) upload to your My Photos area.”  That’s not to say that Photoshop Express doesn’t have a few issues that need to be “touched-up”.

As Photoshop Express is still in a beta release mode, it is expected that not everything is perfect.  Most prominent was an initial issue with copyright usage of uploaded images.  At its release in April, Photoshop Express’ end user license agreement stated that all user images could be reproduced by the Adobe for its own use within reason.  This has since been changed to only images stored in the public area and most decidedly not in the hidden or private folders.  Also, since the tool is targeted towards manipulating images on the web, for the web, by web browsers, there is no functionality built in to export images to a printer.  Finally, uploaded images from 12 megapixel cameras and higher are not supported.  That said, Photoshop Express still does everything you would hope for in an image manipulation package plus a little extra.  ZDnet would agree, as its review gave Photoshop Express a 7.3 out of 10 on its Editor’s Choice scale.

Adobe continues to explore Web 2.0 capabilities and develop Rich Internet Applications (RIA).  With Photoshop Express, Adobe hopes to gain a new user base with its free program.  By exposing people to the controls within Photoshop Express, Adobe builds a level of user familiarity that will make transitioning to other packages like C3, Lightroom and Elements easy on the learning curve, if not the wallet.  Look for other companies to start utilizing RIAs as gateway programs.  In the meantime, Adobe has given millions of end users a great reason to say “Cheeeeeeeeeeese!”

Web video advertising is in its infancy, and it’s trying to find its feet with a number of different techniques and strategies. One recent announcement should help give “skins” the edge over other forms. CBS, in acquiring an online show called “The Burly Sports Show,” will give skins a boost on CBSSports.com.

“The Burly Sports Show” reportedly draws two million visitors per month. As a recent Wall Street Journal article explains, “[The show] covers wacky events such as a failed marriage proposal during halftime of a Houston Rockets basketball game and a baseball mascot’s fall during a running race.” While CBS has claimed “The Burly Sports Show” to re-energize the content on their site, they are also unwittingly putting skins higher on the web advertising totem pole.

Skins are essentially an advertisement that surrounds the video player or page. For example, a poster for an upcoming movie release or a haircare product might provide a virtual “matting” for the featured video. This format, which has been used as backgrounds on blogs and websites like MySpace, is starting to take hold for web video players.

Other ad techniques are also being employed by content providers for promoting products during web videos. The most common, which are used on Hulu, are known as “preroll”, “midroll”, and “postroll” ads, which interrupt the video much like a television commercial. According to the Wall Street Journal, these ads appeal to the traditionalists among advertising companies. “Marketers also like preroll, midroll, and postroll ads because they can take the TV ads they already have created and chop them up to fit the Web.” Other strategies include “bugs”, which are messages or logos that appear in the video or player, and “tickers”, which scroll messages along the bottom of the content, much like a news ticker on CNN or the BBC.

Companies who promote skin ads claim that they are more successful than other forms of web video advertising. The theory is that users are more likely to click on skin ads because of their non-intrusive nature. Because of the growing impatience with banner ads, skin ads are said to have a click-through rate of 1.68%, much higher than banners. Leading skin advertising firm InSkin Media claims, “The InSkin ad format invites users to engage with the advertisers’ content on their terms, whilst giving them a much longer window of opportunity to do so.” While the theory is interesting, many experts have pointed to content as the major factor to determine ad success. Simply put, if the video is entertaining, more people will see it and more people will click on the ad surrounding it.

Whether or not one web video advertising format will win over the others is something that we’ll find out with time. As each of these video ad formats is tested and vetted by various content providers, we’ll be seeing new and unique ways to get our attention and sell us a product.

In recent years, businesses have looked to the internet for market research outlets. Online polling has become a regular way for businesses to get to know their customers. It offers more advantages for companies than using the telephone to research their consumer base. It is easy and not expensive to have people answer a lot of questions. Plus, there are other benefits for both the market research firm and people who are polled.

Research firms who conduct online polling actually reward volunteer participants with gifts, certificates, or cash. This is less expensive for the company asking its survey to be filled out because it doesn’t need to hire people to take the survey. There are some benefits for the person who is polled as well. People have the freedom to choose when to take the survey and how much time to spend on it. They are also more likely to give more thoughtful answers because the questions are not coming from another person who wants an answer as quickly as possible. It also gives the illusion of anonymity, which encourages participants to give honest answers. Web sites can also ask people what they think of other things, such as a new campaign ad.

A couple of popular research agencies are Harris Interactive and YouGov. According to their website web site, Harris Interactive believes that ” market research helps our clients understand the drivers of decision making and can strengthen enterprise equity.” Harris Interactive uses online polling to understand why customers make the decisions they do and how businesses can influence those decisions. With the data they collect from consumer polling, they can provide clients with a strategy to improve their performance with customers.

One of the main criticisms of online polling is that the results rarely represent the larger population. Any website attracts a microcosm, not a fully diverse segment of the population. For example, a poll appearing on Techcrunch would provide data about a tech-savvy, gadget crazed crowd while one on People.com would more likely measure the opinions of those interested in fashion and celebrity culture.

Sometimes though, the results are not only misrepresentative but also inaccurate according to a recent Business Week article. However, market researchers say that representing the larger population doesn’t always need to happen because a company can just look for a target audience instead. “We rarely need to do totally representative surveys,” BBH’s Benjamin Malbon told BusinessWeek. “We always have a target audience in mind, like 19 to 25 year-old boys, or housewives, or people who like tennis.”

According to PollingReport.com, three major disadvantages of online polling are that traditional telephone polls are scientific and theoretical, the online publication does not represent everyone in the online poll, and online surveys that are based on non-probability samples haven’t made themselves a reliable source yet. Reliability is very much a liability when it comes to online polling. Firms say that they use random sampling in hopes of correcting the fact that they interview people from a certain demographic that don’t necessarily speak for all people in that particular group. They select a subset they believe best matches the overall population they wish to assess in a given survey, or they weight the results by counting the opinions of underrepresented groups multiple times, says Business Week.

Even with the pros and cons, use and availability of online surveys will become more standard and become more reliable with the passage of time.  Clients demand it and people like the idea of being represented and getting monetary benefits from volunteering to give their opinions.

Google recently launched a new, improved version of their website search service called Site Search. Previously called Custom Search Business Edition, Site Search allows businesses to use Google’s advanced search capabilities on their own websites. The improved tool can help customers find products, clients find white papers and research, and readers find articles. Site Search is a “cloud computing” tool, using the data mining power of Google’s massive data center to the advantage of smaller companies. As the Site Search website brags, the tool can enable companies to:

• Increase visitor satisfaction and loyalty
• Showcase the most relevant products
• Increase website conversions and sales
• Reduce support costs by enhancing self-service online

Site search solves on of the major problems of surfing the web: indexing and finding information. While some web users are more likely to navigate through a website’s pages in order to find the product or information they seek, some will look for a “search” box immediately. For example, if I was shopping for a pair of Merrell boots on Zappos.com, I could find them either through a keyword search at the top, or by clicking on “Womens>Boots>Brands>Merrell”. Google’s new Site Search service offers their superior search technology to companies without the complications and costs associated with developing proprietary search functions. Additionally, since it’s hosted on Google’s servers, it eliminates the cost of complex hardware.

This video from eHealthInsurance.com explains how they are using the Google service:

While in some ways Site Search is simply a re-branding of Custom Search Business Edition, it has some new features that are impressive. The service supports synonyms, so if a user types in “vehicle”, Site Search will spit back not only “vehicles” but also “car(s)” and “auto”. Website owners can upload synonym dictionaries specific to their industry. It can also be configured to rank results based on a number of criteria, such as date or popularity. The tool can also be customized for different industries or needs, and to match the look and feel of any website.

Google’s loyal customers are saying good things about Site Search. Jennifer Dyni of TechSmith says in a testimonial, “TechSmith no longer has to dedicate a senior developer with specialized knowledge to maintaining search.” The cost savings of not having to employ a high-level employee for search capabilities could mean the difference between a successful and unusable website. The pricing structure is reasonable, so a business of any size could easily use Site Search. By allowing smaller companies to use their advanced search technology, Google will ensure that their services are not only valuable, but necessary for the survival of any website.

Have you ever had a well-intentioned friend who, in their attempts to help you, may have overstepped the lines of good taste?  Such is the problem that most candidates are facing with the recent spate of advertisements being run by independent entities.  These ad spots are being run on behalf of a specific candidate but without the Republican or Democratic Party’s approval or even the particular candidate’s knowledge.  With friends like these, who needs enemies?

More often than not, the independent political ad messages are sensational and negative, assailing viewers with ominous music and scare tactics.  Although “Yes We Can” and Divided We Fail tend towards more upbeat and positive message platforms, they are the exception.  As shown on The Washington Post’s website, negative ads make up a majority of the independent expenditure political advertisements.  Akin to the editorial theory of “If it bleeds, it leads”, most groups do not waste their time praising the work of their candidate but rather focus on the failures or concerns held against the competing candidate.

Yet, these independent ads can be extremely effective.  “Poll after poll has revealed that negative ads work, that people watch them or read them or even download them on their iPods to show their friends. They are conversation starters. They help voters begin the process of sifting through the charges and counter-charges,” points out an Inside Wisconsin column.  Perhaps the most prominent and memorable case would be the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth independent ads used in the 2004 presidential campaign against then Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry. 

Independent expenditure advertisements were, ironically, born of campaign reform legislation.  The McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act of 2002 was meant to curb deep-pocketed lobbyists from contributing directly towards a specific candidate.  Called “soft money”, these contributions were seen as an unfair way for candidates to buy their way into the political race and possibly, the White House.  With the passage of the McCain-Feingold Reformation Act of 2002, the creation of 527 groups started.  These groups, titled after the IRS tax code they fall under, have no cap to the amount of money can be donated toward their coffers.  Nor do the groups have to state at the end of an ad who their major backers are.  In seeking to keep money from controlling a political platform, the Reform Act has merely diverted the channel used by lobbyists and special interest groups.  As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky predicted back in 2002, “McCain-Feingold does not take the money out of politics.  It takes the parties out of politics.”

As Election Day 2008 draws closer, look for more and more groups to step up and use their funds to buy ad spots.  While Obama and McCain call for independent donors, like Progressive Media USA, to cut their ad campaigns, don’t expect every group to comply.  Technology, a free market, and First Amendment rights will continue to help 527s deliver their message.  Without further legislation requiring disclosure, the public will be left to its own devices to sort out the underlying truth of messages and sleuth out the source.  Until then, the only quick and easy answer as to whether or not a candidate is responsible for the content being delivered is to listen for the ever so trite “I’m so-and-so and I approved this message.”

Many companies are jumping on the bandwagon of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools. The software companies use, whether online or on the desktop, can have a significant (though invisible) impact on how they are perceived by customers. While SaaS options like Salesforce’s services are gaining ground against traditional offerings from Oracle, many companies are demanding customized tools from their software providers. The surprising part of this trend is that the customization is not only coming from internal recommendations, but from customer feedback.

Oracle’s executive magazine, Profit Online, recently featured a case study of business intelligence firm Cognos. Beagle Research Group managing principle Denis Pombriant tells Profit Online, “Where CRM is today is that the forward-thinking companies are taking it upstream one or two levels to the point where - rather than trying to identify which customers are going to leave you - you’re working with customers to identify things that they may want, before they know they want them, so you as the vendor are poised and ready.”

In addition to using feedback from employees on the front lines, such as phone and sales representatives, companies are tapping into customer demands in order to tweak their CRM strategies. One common complaint that all of us have experienced is improper call routing. We ask a question or explain a problem to one person, then get passed to another representative only to retell the entire story, sometimes more than just twice. Oracle’s Siebel CRM 7.8 worked with Cognos to properly and efficiently route customer calls. Says Dave Sheppard, Cognos’ director of worldwide business solutions, “If you’re a French-speaking customer with a Cognos 8 issue, we’re going to find the best analyst by looking at the data we’ve got within Siebel and routing that call automatically…We’ve all been in queues where you get moved from agent to agent, and have to re-desribe your problem to multiple people. That just takes energy and time from a customer point of view.” By making the call routing system invisible to callers, Cognos was able to spend more time solving customers issues.

CRM strategies are also evolving to include real time customer information, usually displayed to phone reps through a dashboard. The old way of doing things means that the first point of contact ends up asking questions and gathering information each and every time a customer calls. Not only is it a waste of time on both ends, but it can frustrate customers who have already been offered a new service or who completed a security questionnaire last time they called. Dashboards can alert frontline employees of steps that need to be completed, surveys that could be administered, and new options to offer callers.

Some companies are getting specific with gathering this kinds of feedback when customers call. Pombriant points out that Web 2.0 strategies built on social networking models are making their way into CRM systems. “Things like social networking technologies and communities of interest. Companies can form online focus groups that are much more powerful and allow vendors to repeatedly ask their customers, ‘Does this meet your needs?’ or ‘Which marketing message resonates with you?’” By engaging customers through targeted messages and questions each time they call, companies can build a solid research foundation for new products and services.

With the slowing economy comes increased competition in many industries. Businesses can stand out by providing a superior experience that takes into account each customer’s individual needs. Top companies in a variety of industries are finding that CRM strategies can be combined with marketing research and analytics to put them ahead of the pack.

Once seen as just a business tool, smartphones are gaining market share among all walks of life, especially women.  A New York Time’s article  reports that the number of women who owned a smartphone increased to one in three owners as of March 2008.  This is a huge increase from October 2007 when only one out of every four owners of a smartphone was female.  So why the surge?

Many smartphone manufacturers are targeting marketing and design efforts towards women, which could be responsible for the shift in demographics.  Research In Motion designers unveiled the Blackberry Pearl, a sleek, compact, and pink version of its more business-looking original Blackberry model back in January 2008.  As vice president of marketing Mark Guibert said, “It [pink] was the only color that was purely driven by the female audience. Years ago the market was much more focused solely on function. Now there is more focus on lifestyle.”

According to a recent Nielsen Mobile study, men and women base much of their purchasing decision on the same factors.  For men, the top three priorities are Wi-Fi, Internet capability (18%), Band, reliability (12%), and Keyboard (11%).  For women, the top three priorities are Wi-Fi/Internet capability (14%), Price (14%) and Keyboard (14%).  Where some interesting statistics come into play is the fourth deciding factor.  Men weigh Price and Design/Style equally at 9% each.  Whereas women consider Design/Style more heavily at 12% followed by equally weighted Brand/Reliability and Ease of use at 7% each.

Additional research shows other reasons for the increase of smartphone purchases by women.  As noted by another New York Times article “Can the Cell Phone Help End Global Poverty”, “…it took about 20 years for the first billion mobile phones to sell worldwide. The second billion sold in four years, and the third billion sold in two.”  It appears that the the purchase of cellphones increases exponentially in significantly decreasing time intervals.  Also, according to MobileTechReview.com, there are currently 118 different models of smartphones to choose from, 25 of which became available after October of 2007.  The smartphone is no longer a novelty but becoming more of a mainstream option.  You might as well write an article on how amazing it is that one in three women use thumbdrives instead of 3.5″ floppies for data storage.

Simplification, in business, is often the best way to go.  However, oversimplification can often lead to wasted resources.  To assume that increase in a demographic is due to a color choice or specific ad campaign without weighing in on increase in product availability and other equally important ad campaigns (Holiday 2007 campaign), is misleading.  It is easy to see as smartphones become the standard, more and more women will use the scheduling, texting, and internet capabilities to keep track of their families’ activities just as they do for their workplace projects.

Talkibie has covered the concept of cloud computing in relation to its effects on software and as a technology base.  In this regard, cloud computing, or using a remote network of decentralized machines to complete an individual user’s request, is inherently self-serving.  Recently, educational and medical groups are finding ways of utilizing the cloud in a more selfless fashion.  It involves sending out from the cloud modular requests for extremely complex computations to individual user’s machines.  Stanford University, in particular, has lead the charge with a program called Folding@home.  The results, thus far, have been nothing short of miraculous.

The program is tackling complex computations related to the study of degenerative diseases. As Stanford’s Folding@home website explains, “Proteins are biology’s workhorses — its ‘nanomachines.’  Before proteins can carry out these important functions, they assemble themselves, or ‘fold.’ The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, in many ways remains a mystery.  Moreover, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. ‘misfold’), there can be serious consequences, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes.”  The computations required to study a single protein strand fold would normally require the processing power of a supercomputer.  However, the cost of purchasing supercomputers is prohibitive for most research facilities.  The solution came from a creative use of cloud computing and the belief that given an opportunity, people will help out.

In December of 2000, Vijay Pande and Michael Shirts of Stanford wrote an article for Science Magazine called, “Screensavers of the World, Unite!”.  This groundbreaking article proposed that distributed computing could be “used to tackle problems which make even supercomputers quake.”  Pande continued his work and with the help of Sony, ATI, Dell, and other technology companies created the Folding@home project.  But Pande’s vision of distributed computing would only become reality when thousands of users volunteered their graphic processing units, PS3 game stations, and other CPUs to help in the search for cures.  The Folding@home project would need hundreds of thousands of people to make this work.  People like 26 year old, Matt Abdou. 

An IT and application specialist from Salem, NH, Matt’s enthusiasm is evident as he describes his interest in the program.  “Folding is a really cool idea,” he explains.  “I first got involved in folding when SETI was still in operation.  So when I got my PS3 upgrade and saw a blurb about Folding@home, I thought ‘Why not?’  I use my PS3 as a DVD player, for media like music, and for games.  I really don’t ever shut it off so when I’m not home, why not put it to good use?  The Folding@home project works like a screensaver.  It’ll show the helix of the protein that is currently being worked on as it’s crunching the numbers.  Very cool.” 

The Folding@home group even has a way of tracking progress for how many computations have been completed by each user.  This has created a bit of good-natured rivalry among individual participants, as each user can check and see where they rank compared to others.  Playing on gamers’ inherent desire to compete and claim the number one spot in stack rankings, the Folding@home project even sees teams of users banding together to create machines that are capable of solving equations faster for better scores.  Matt chuckles as he says, “I remember one time a friend of mine and I got this idea, ‘Mineral oil won’t hurt electronics, so what if we…?’ and then we built this board, immersed it in a six gallon fish tank filled with mineral oil, got a circulation pump to keep the temperature right and overclocked the heck out of it just to see how fast we could run the folding models.  Geeks can be competitive.”

As a result, the Folding@home project is making history.  On September 16, 2007, Folding@home passed a major milestone in computations when it was the first distributed computing network to surpass one petaFLOP.  As Sony’s officials explain, “In other words, if every person on the planet were to perform a simple mathematical calculation, such as calculating a percentage, each person would have to perform 75,000 calculations every second for the world’s population to achieve a petaflop.”  In October 2007, Folding@home made the Guiness World Book of Records as the world’s most powerful distributed computing network.  As for the research that has been completed, the results (though extremely technical) are overwhelmingly positive.

For thousands of years, people saw the power of clouds in the form of lightning that surged from heaven to earth.  It wasn’t until much later, with the advance of science, that people came to understand that the same power that came from the cloud to the ground could also go the other way.  Cloud computing hurled the first bolt that changed the way people thought about the power of processing.  Perhaps we are seeing the same lesson of natural phenomenon being echoed here in the realm of distributed computing with a little help from some earthbound angels.

Imagine surfing the Hard Rock Cafe’s memorabilia website and coming across a small thumbnail image of Louis Armstrong’s trumpet or Cher’s suede boots. You want to see the scuff on the toes and the wear and tear on the mother of pearl valve caps. Now, with Microsoft Silverlight’s Deep Zoom function, you can. The plug-in allows developers and users to provide amazing levels on detail in online images, without requiring you to actually download the image.

Deep Zoom is one of the many features that makes the Silverlight development platform so appealing to web developers and designers. It’s based on Seadragon, a technology Microsoft acquired that helps with photo display, layout, and performance in web-based applications. Deep Zoom will allow users to access levels of detail that are unheard of on the web, displaying super high resolution images in real time, without a download.

Hard Rock Cafe’s memorabilia collection is a great example of Deep Zoom’s functionality. You can clearly read a touring contract for the Beatles, requiring venues to supply 150 armed police officers for security, a rain roof for the stage, a portable TV set for the dressing room, and a desegregated audience in 1965, as the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum. You can even see the gold stitching on an orange velvet robe worn by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

Other sites have also applied Silverlight’s Deep Zoom capabilities to their display strategies. The Library of Congress’ Pre-Columbian artifact online display allows visitors a close-up look at some of our country’s historical treasures. Various retailers are giving shoppers a close-up view of clothing, furniture, and many other items that would normally be impossible in online shopping. Art galleries all over the world are uploading high resolution photos of paintings that allow online visitors to see brush strokes and texture like never before.

Even websites that do not rely on heavy visuals like photos or interactive displays can use Deep Zoom. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Brian Goldfarb, group product manager for Silverlight, explains, “Think about a brochure you get at a car dealership, with lots of pictures and then lots of small text. Deep Zoom lets you put all of that online unmodified, on a single page. You can zoom into the fine print without having to click over to a new page. It’s one, holistic view.”

The level of zoom is limited only by the resolution of the image in question. As more developers and designers see the potential of Silverlight as an RIA strategy, we’ll likely be seeing sites with Deep Zoom capabilities. And, hopefully, we’ll be seeing more fascinating photos, objects, and pieces of our past under a microscope.

It is amazing to think that even 10 years ago gas prices at some gas stations were still less than a dollar per gallon. Now we struggle to find gas prices under $4.00 a gallon. We all know that we need to conserve, but we kid ourselves into thinking that there is nothing we can do to make a difference. We still see people driving gas-guzzling SUVs to the supermarket or driving 80 mph on the highway to work. However, some are suggesting that by using “hypermiling” techniques, we can use less gas, help the environment, and save some money.

Many are combating high fuel costs by buying smaller fuel efficient cars or hybrids to get better gas mileage. Some automakers are reporting small car sales, like Honda’s Fit and Toyota’s Yaris, are up as much as 50% while trucks and SUVs are not moving off lots. If you can’t afford a brand new car there are other tricks you can use to get the most out of your gas mileage. Hypermiling is a series of steps that could help you exceed your vehicle’s EPA fuel economy rating. No single thing will maximize your gas mileage, but when you add it all up you can squeeze up to 15 extra miles out of every gallon. Your fuel efficiency can be increased anywhere from 10 to 40 percent.

A recent Wired.com article profiled the practice of hypermiling. Here are some of the techniques drivers are using:

• Slow down and follow the speed limit. Fuel economy starts to drop when the speedometer exceeds 60 mph. By keeping the speedometer low, you could potentially see a 7 to 23 percent drop in your gas consumption.
• Unload all the extra stuff from your car (except your spare tire). Whether it’s golf clubs in the winter or snow shovels in the summer, we carry too much weight with us for no reason. Your trunk should not be your storage room and neither should any other area of your vehicle. Every 100 pounds of stuff you don’t need drops your fuel economy by 1 to 2 percent.
• Tune-up your engine with light viscosity oil. A more efficient engine could reduce your gas usage by 10 percent.
• Be sure the air pressure in your tires is correct. An under-inflated tire could cut fuel efficiency by 4 percent.
• Turn off your engine when your not driving. This seems like common sense, but many people allow their engines to idle so they can listen to music or run the air conditioner. Use the battery but not the combustion engine for this purpose.

These simple techniques are helping people deal with higher fuel costs, but some drivers are taking more extreme measures. Advanced hypermiling techniques include:

• Use a fuel economy gauge. You will be able to see exactly how much fuel you’re expending.
• Coast downhill. Some extreme hypermilers are turning off their engines and coasting on inclines. This, however, could mean a loss of power brakes and steering, so it should be used with caution.
• Inflate tires to the maximum pressure. Having a fuller tire means getting the maximum rolling distance out of each rotation, but it could also mean more wear and tear and poor handling.
• Try to avoid breaking. Again, to be used with caution. Some fuel conservationists are maintaining a slow crawl rather than coming to a full and complete stop at lights, signs, etc.
• Draft a truck. Perhaps the most dangerous technique of all, some drivers will ride closely behind an 18-wheeler, even turning off their engine to be pulled along by the truck’s slipstream.

While we don’t necessarily recommend using all these techniques, the car maintenance and simple conservation tips could help people who are struggling to fill up this summer. Fuel costs are not expected to drop anytime soon, and if we all do our part to conserve, it will not only benefit the environment but also our own bottom lines.

Excited fans of Mozilla eagerly downloaded the open source company’s new free browser, Firefox 3, yesterday in massive numbers. The company encouraged users to participate in a potentially record-setting “Download Day”, trying to set a Guinness World Record for most software downloads in a 24-hour period. While some server snags were reported, the event seems to have been a great success, though the folks at Guinness World Records will take a few days to confirm the record.

CNN is reporting that Firefox 3 was being downloaded at a rate of 9,000 copies a minute as the festivities began. Firefox has announced that 8,432,439 copies were distributed around the world, and an interactive map on their website shows which countries took advantage of the free browser software. If the map is accurate, nearly every nation on earth has some Firefox fans, including unlikely spots like Madagascar (274 downloads), Greenland (115), Papua New Guinea (51), Uzbekistan (596), and Sierra Leone (6).

The bigger news, however, is not just the popularity of Firefox 3 but also the improved usability. Unlike Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3 passes the Acid2 Browser Test, a Web Standards Project measurement that ensures compatibility with CSS 2.0 and HTML web design (IE 8 is expected to pass). New features are being praised by technology journalists and users alike. This CNET review in video form touts the improved loading times for Javascript and the new security system, which shows users a warning for suspicious sites. Other popular upgrades include:

• support for Yahoo! mail instant composition (formerly only available for desktop email clients)
• organization and tagging functionality for Bookmarks
• suggested URLs from Bookmarks folder
• support for Foxmarks synchronization
• ability to save sessions/tabs when closing
• built-in spellchecker
• full zoom on web pages
• new and improved browser add-ons

All these improvements are impressing reviewers. The smart address bar is perhaps the most popular and controversial of all the new features. While some wish it could be turned off, others are impressed with the usability. A reviewer at Inforworld writes, “The address bar has taken on a life of its own. Going far beyond address-matching as you type, Firefox 3 also matches your entered URLs against keywords within the title or tags of the page. It sorts by frequency and recency, and tunes itself as you use it. I’ve found that it gets the right page or link for me just about every time.”

While Firefox is still playing second-fiddle to Internet Explorer in terms of browser popularity, Firefox 3 gives Mozilla a definitive edge in usability. Download Day was an undeniable success which will give Mozilla more visibility in the months to come. Expect to see more and more users join the ranks of the Firefox faithful. It seems that in the so-called “browser wars”, Firefox 3 has just pulled ahead of the pack.

Taking to the skies will now be easier and much more chic, thanks to the first aircraft designed specifically for light sport aviation: The Icon A5.  Marketed toward the well-to-do aviation enthusiast, the Icon A5 offers a fun, sleek way to get to your favorite picnic spot or fishing hole.  With a composite body structure, folding wing design, and sports-car modeled cockpit layout, the Icon A5 resembles a Jaguar more than a lawn chair attached to a hang-glider.  Trust us:  This is not your father’s ultralight.

As with any new product, half the battle is making sure your product is placed correctly at unveiling.  Founder, Kirk Hawkins, told the Wall Street Journal  that Icon is “committed to bring back the romance and excitement of flying … by selling a lifestyle.”  That’s exactly what the Icon A5 is positioned for on their website.  Images of affluent, good looking couples having fun at the beach, by a pond, and even at a corporate airfield adorn each page of ICON Aircraft’s website.  But is it really a good idea to market avi