Media consumer, tech enthusiast, and gamer
So Yahoo released earnings info today, which was followed by mildly negative even if hopeful commentary. Google, of course, being cited as the major obstacle. It got me thinking about the fact that I don’t use any of Yahoo’s major offerings (meaning: search, email, or advertising). I don’t do this on purpose; it’s just the way my online habits have evolved, I suppose.
Read More “What’s Your Google / Microsoft / Yahoo Usage Breakdown?” »
Most of us want to be more charitable, though somehow giving to a random charity often leaves us with too many unanswered questions: Where specifically does my money really go? How much of it actually makes it to the end destination?
Enter San Francisco based non-profit Kiva.org: a peer-to-peer microfinance gateway, which combines the Nobel Peace Prize concept of microcredit with the power of the Internet to facilitate micro-lending to small business owners in developing countries. Here’s how it works:
Read More “Philanthropy 2.0: Kiva.org Teams Up with Google & PayPal for P2P Microfinancing” »
Purdue University is a Big Ten school with 40,000+ students and a fairly tech savvy campus. But due to bugs, compatibility issues, and lack of backwards compatibility, Purdue is holding off on Microsoft upgrades for now. Reproduced with permission, here’s the letter I received explaining why Purdue will not upgrade Windows, Office, or even Internet Explorer on thousands of computers:
Less than a week after the blogosphere-proclaimed scandal of Google displaying “tips” right above search results, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) decides to run an article entitled “Google Steps Up Self Promotion.” Interestingly enough, there is no scandalous tone from big media; rather, the WSJ thinks its about time. Here are a few choice quotes:
Read More “Google Increasing (Or Decreasing?) Self Promotion… Again” »
Blake Ross, cofounder of Firefox, spent part of his Christmas explaining his dissatisfaction with Google due to its latest move: displaying “tips” (allegedly not ads, you decide; see screenshot below) right above search results that point searchers to Google Calendar, Blogger and Picasa for any search phrase that includes calendar, blog, and photo sharing.
Read More “Google Accused of Going Evil, Google Employee Responds by Sidestepping the Issue” »
Here it is the day after Christmas and major publications plus the blogosphere are already making predictions as to the state of online advertising in 2007. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) discusses Microsoft’s Adcenter and how it is way ahead of its time, the New York Times explains how online ad pricing is rising or falling depending on the specificity of ad placement, BusinessWeek points out why Yahoo’s ad-delivery technology falls short, and Techcrunch adds that the real advertising war is set to begin in 2007 when Google may be forced to cut back on its way-to-high revenue share.
Read More “Online Ad Wars: Who will win in 2007? Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft?” »
So the latest Economist article (subscription required) discusses how Arizona State University made the switch to using Google Apps for Your Domain. As the article puts it, “with one flick of the proverbial switch 65,000 students had new e-mail accounts.” Now all emails are stored on Google servers rather than on university servers.
The head of IT for ASU, Adrian Sannier, mentioned that no one is being forced to switch, though many students are already used to Gmail. And since now they can use their “asu.edu” address with a Gmail interface, students have been voluntarily migrating to the new email at a rate of 300 per hour. Sannier explains that he pays less than $10,000 for support and that the in-house IT staff do absolutely nothing for email now.
Read More “Case Study: Google Services Too Good, Making IT Departments Shrink” »
Tis the season for online advertisers to attract new customers. If you have a website, blog, etc. and are looking for the perfect time to build exposure while freeloading, then these offers are for you. This is likely to be the best compilation of free offers available for some time; if interested, make your move now, as most these offers expire within a month. Here are the details and links for each company and offer:
Read More “Free Advertising: Microsoft $200, Google $50, LookSmart $300, & Ask $50” »