Archive for the 'Web 2.0' Category
Google had a booth at MacExpo, not really announcing anything new, just showcasing their software for the Mac. Google’s booth was very well designed, not the best though (I would have to say Quark’s was the best), and around he front there were 6 Intel iMac’s which you could use to try out Google Maps, Google Sketchup, Google Earth and Google Video. Around the reverse of the booth there was a presentation area where Google reps were delivering various seminars on Google software and how to get the most use from it. Google’s stand was packed most of the time, so I only had a few minutes to have a look around, but it really is nothing new. They were also giving out a portfolio PR pack containing sheets about their software and a CD with the Google software on it.
A lot of companies were giving away marketing, and Google was not an exception. They had transparent packs of Google branded gummy bear and sour sweets, which were probably nothing more than Haribo with Google’s sticker slapped on them.
Yesterday Google announced what I think is the biggest news of the month, they bought YouTube. Yep, Google acquired another Web 2.0 company (remember Writely), this time for a massive $1.65 billion USD. And to think that some companies laughed at the thought that YouTube could ever be worth so much. I think most of us anticipated this move, as there had been a lot of buzz about this over the last week.
Google organised a short press conference call after the press release, which can be heard here. Read on for the full Google press release, and see TechCrunch’s post for the main notes of the call.
YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen, have posted a video onto YouTube just to give a shout out to everyone on their thoughts, and what they hold for the future.
Microsoft Connect, home of Microsoft’s betas including Vista has some interesting CSS values. The first line in the .css is commented “fix for the IE 1px-off margin error”, followed by a value called “.StupidIEMarginHack “. [digg]
Awhile back I posted about the new search results interface Google was supposedly testing. I can definitely confirm that today. This blog post describes how to set a new cookie in Firefox that will force Google to display the new results page for you. Since the instructions are a little off (and took me some fiddling to make them to work), here’s my version:[...] In the comments reader Whosawhatsis has posted an easier way to accomplish the same thing without installing any extensions. Try that first. [Download Squad]
Worked for me (in Safari and Firefox)!
The new Windows LiveTM Messenger Beta is the next-generation MSN Messenger and, as always, it is free to download.
It has everything you already love about Messenger – your contact list, emoticons, and plenty of ways to access to your friends via text, voice and video – plus new ways to connect and share documents with magical ease.
Your online world gets better when everything works simply and effortlessly together. That’s the basic idea behind Windows Live. So the things you care about – your friends, the latest information, your e-mails, powerful search, your PC files, everything – comes together in one place. This is a brand new Internet experience designed to put you in control. And this is just the beginning – you’ll see many more new services in the coming months.
I have received more (22) invites to send out for Windows Live Messenger. If you want them then post a valid msn/hotmail email in the comments and I will send one out to the first 22 commenters. Please please check your email so I don’t waste the invites. If you have already posted your email when I gave them out last time and you haven’t received your invite, then post it again below so I can avoid all the confusion!
Once again, all my invites have now gone. I’ll be sure to make another post when I get some more so keep watching this post or the blog.
No need for invites anymore, Microsoft has released Windows Live Messenger BETA to the public! [link]
This is a pretty cool game made entirely in CSS. CSS can do some amazing things…
A while ago I told you how I recieved an invite for Windows Messenger Live from Microsoft. A few people have been requesting invites from me so I thought I might as well dish some out. As of now I have 14 invites left. Anyone who wants one can leave their MSN email in the comments and I will send one out to you.
Note: It has to be an MSN/Hotmail address as it will replace your hotmail account. You will need a .Net passport (I think). Anyway if you are interested just leave a comment!
UPDATE: I only have 2 invites left, so if you want the last ones you better post your email in the comments! PS: Post a hotmail address that you will use for MSN, otherwise it will not work! A couple of invites have been wasted because people didn’t put the correct email in! Double check your email before you post the comment!
UPDATE 2: I have no invites left! Please keep checking the main page of the blog and I will make a post as soon as I get some!
I have some more invites. Because of all the replies, I am a bit confused, so if you want an invite and haven’t gotten one yet, then click here and post your email in the comments. Thanks!
The long-awaited 2.01 release of WordPress fixes uploading, rpc, caching, and permalink bugs, as well as improving support for old version of php and MySQL in strict mode. [digg]
I will be upgrading tomorrow so there will be a time in the afternoon (~ 11AM PST / 7PM GMT ) where the site will go down to upgrade wordpress. Hopefully it will fix some of the problems I’ve been having
Microsoft has finally unleashed IE 7, preview Beta 2 to the public. So if you don’t have it already then download it try it out and trash it. I wrote a post a while ago, showing my thoughts of IE 7. Apart from having a nice new skin, and tabbed browsing it doesn’t do anything else. If you have IE 6, download it and use it. But if you use another browser then you can download it to test it, but stick with your own browser. Opera, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari and all the other browsers are still better than IE 7 even though it is still being developed. In my opinion I think the new design is better than they have had before, but they better add some good features and fix the problems that I blogged about.