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I didn’t have the same problems at SXSW this year
that some people did. Was it too crowded at some events? Sure.
But there were plenty of alternative things to do. Did some of the keynotes bomb? Yes.
But there were plenty of other things to listen to. Did AT&T fail? No. Actually, they
did an awesome job keeping the
network up. Instead, I had a problem of a different kind: check-in fatigue.
Seeing as location was this
year’s Twitter at SXSW, and seeing as I write a lot about location, I wanted to try to
use as many of the services as I could during the actual conference. I drastically underestimated
how much work that would actually be.
At first, I was using all of the services I had on my phone to check-in when I arrived at a place
in Austin. This included: Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, Whrrl, Brightkite, Burbn, MyTown, CauseWorld, Hot
Potato, Plancast, and (at certain places) Foodspotting. Even with great AT&T service, this would take a
solid 10 minutes or more to check-in to all of them. And it took even longer when I’d have
to pause to explain to my friends what the hell I was doing on my phone all that time.
This was at every venue we stopped at. The situation simply wasn’t tenable.
By the second day, I had cut the services I would check-in to in half. It still wasn’t
close to being something I would consider doing on a regular basis. By the end of my
time in Austin, I was down to using only two services — yes, the two in the
midst of the
“war” — Foursquare and Gowalla.
Pretty much everyone I knew in Austin were also using both Foursquare and Gowalla to send out all
their check-ins. And all seemed to agree: it was still too tedious to use even just two services
to do the same thing. In the end, there should be only one.
And so it should be no surprise that a few companies are already working on a solution for this
problem. One is by the creators of Brightkite, who managed to obtain the killer check.in domain name. The team showed me a preview of the app at a party
one night, and I immediately knew it was exactly what I needed (see a
preview of it here).
But there’s a problem with this solution too. Currently, Gowalla’s API is read-only,
which means you actually can’t use another app to check-in to the service. I spoke with CEO
Josh Williams a bit about this just prior to SXSW, and he noted that the main thinking behind
this is to maintain the user experience Gowalla is looking for (a very Apple-like argument). But,
he did say that eventually he thinks they will open up a two-way API — maybe
once they have time to create some best practices documentation, he noted.
Another problem is that currently each of these check-in services has their own places database.
That means that a place on Foursquare may be slightly different than a place on Gowalla, even
though they’re technically the same place. Worse, there are plenty of duplicates for some
venues since people are allowed to create their own. Check.in works around this place problem by
doing a look-up on each service and letting you pick the correct check-in spot. But it’s a
bit slow, and still seems rather tedious.
A better solution would be for the various services to adopt a standard for places. The Activity Streams group is working
on such a concept. Yahoo may also be able to implement such a system on top of its WOEID system. Of course, any
service that adopts such a standard would be risking at least part of their business since these
place databases are one of the keys to each service.
Meanwhile, Facebook is thinking about aggregating data from
both Foursquare and Gowalla for its own upcoming location implementation. Might that be the
one location stop to rule them all (of course, the writing back to Gowalla would still likely be
an issue)? Not if Twitter has anything to say about it.
During our Realtime Crunchup last year, I brought up this issue during our panel on
location. All the players on stage (including Twitter, Foursquare, Hot Potato, Google
Latitude, GeoAPI, and SimpleGeo) seemed to want to say that they could all get along and play
nicely together for the betterment of location as a whole. I didn’t buy it then, and
I’m definitely not buying it now.
From a business perspective, it doesn’t make sense for these guys to all play nicely with
one another and make it so you don’t have to use their services. The need to take steps to
ensure that you will use their
service, and will do so instead of a rival service. That’s the way it works, and
that’s the way it has always worked. And that’s why it’s a war. Right now,
it’s just the early stages where all sides are arming themselves. Soon, they’ll try
to kill one another. And that may not be such a bad thing.
The shortest way to describe this is that Google is no longer a verb. It's becoming
a noun. Not just the few clicks to find information, but the information itself and the
experience surrounding it.
Today, we get to add Google's chapter to "Will One Company Dominate
the Cloud" introspective series and take a glimpse of the silent revolution from "index" to
"be" that is transforming the company and it's products to the default way to engage the
Internet.
As fate has it, Google done us a big favor in preparing for this piece. The company has launched
an assault on the enterprise with its movement in the Google App Engine, having a
stand-off with China, and negotiating with the EU. And that was
just a bit of Google
news from this week.
Sponsor
Whereas it's a bit more clear where Amazon and Cisco win (our
recent analysis) as they head towards the cloud, with Google it takes a bit more expansive view.
We have to take the focus out a bit, to be able to dial in on the details.
Acknowledgment: Developers are the Products they Build
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Tim Bray. He has been a key contributor and thought leader
in key areas of interoperability and information design, including his leadership in bringing XML
to the world. He recently announced that he's joining Google and focusing on Android in a
transition from Sun.
Several things struck us about our dialog that we think are key for Google.
First, when Bray described his new job at Google, he talked about what he wanted to do and what
he saw that needed to be done. Within three days of being there, he has a sense of ownership of
the companies products and mission. In some organizations, you may never get such a luxury.
Second, Bray described his opportunity to "roll up his sleeves" and get back in the groove as a
developer on a project he feels passion for. He mentioned his desire to take the open APIs of
Android and expose some of the information in a more portable way, for example to transfer a call
log from one phone to another. A very interesting project, with tangible results. This type of
innovation lives on top of all the work the company has done to make the API exist, and to
attract individuals who are willing to rethink how it should really work.
We think that this is the most interesting thing about where Google is right now. It's "open"
mantra gives the company the ability to see a whole generation into the future of information
channel disruption. And, by bringing in "no holds barred" developers like Bray and a legion of
others, the company is patiently solving problems that many of us don't even know exist.
Lastly, Bray said something that caused us some deep thought.
His comment, "when the Drizzle team was moved into Google, they
just kept working on the their open source project and things stayed nearly the same."
What caused us to pause was that open source development, whether Linux or XML, gives the
developer, as a person, a way to contribute to the world. And it's documented. If the Internet
was the Bible, leading a key open source initiative, is like getting your own chapter in the
book, where time will be the judge of your actions. Much better than your manager alone.
To know that hard work, intellectual capital, libraries are available to the world after the
contract is complete. This really speaks to the artist in us, in a way, the paid open source
developer is using Google as a canvas.
If working at Google offers this emotional spark to employees, it will gain entirely new
efficiencies in solving the big problems, in the context of individual efforts. Maybe this open
source spirit is embedded into Twitter, and is why it works. We like to contribute to our version
of the greater good...and want fans to cheer us on.
What we learned; acknowledgment matters, and connections to the whole population of people is an
amazing vehicle. Google: become an indie rock star - with the strength of grep.
All of the Information on Earth
Google's destiny to become the hub of the worlds information is
intertwined with history. And this comes with artifacts of policy and posturing. To start with,
not everyone agrees that Google should achieve a dominant cloud position. As we're noticing,
stopping it is another matter.
We'd like to suggest that in 2010, the company is not shy about stepping towards its future and
will use its power, technology, and cash to stir it up. Here is our list of organizations in the
world that Google has, is, or will be, continually bumping into in its quest for cloud
information dominance.
China (counties own the filters for the people)
ATT (service providers own consumer on the network)
Penguin (book publishers own the words in the texts)
Visa (financial institutions own the digits in the transactions)
Facebook (social networks know the details)
Amazon (commerce sites own the decision point)
Twitter (owns "what's happening")
Microsoft (owns the computer applications and files)
Open can be a Key to Unlock Doors
We see both practical and strategic reasons that Google has a
deep connection with the open source movement. Strategically, being the new optimized layer,
removing all historic barriers to information give the company more leverage. Practically,
solutions can be built where information is free.
Reviewing a few examples, such as Google Earth, Android, and even GMail and we see that where
there are open protocols and information disruptive products can be built. Once they are built,
the Google wields a significant economic advantage in binding the worlds information assets and
converting them to eyeballs.
Here, we take a quick look at the information assets that Google is investing the global cloud.
Results: Google has moved away from Page Rank to "Closest Object" in it's
default results. What this means is that many businesses today show up as widget in the results
in google with embedded links, maps, and other efficiencies.
Ads: This is perhaps the best known and most valuable insight and unique
asset, who wants to pay for what customer
Realtime index: Google has worked to keep up with Twitter's realtime firehose
Semantic index: The company continues to add more and more microsyntax parsers
into its index, giving more controlled tools for publishers
GMail: It had to be done. And it is monetized.
Documents and files: Google Docs and the Apps Marketplace create a whole new
stream of information about an individual. Private, personal, and shared.
Mobile transactions: This is an interesting sample of where Google's strategy
to build the Android OS pays off in the cloud. Not only does Google get to connect mobile to
the rest of the offerings, but also to be able to dial in on movements, calls, and other
critical tasks in our real-time lives.
Books: Indexing all of them, first is an interesting piece of the strategy to
break apart historic containers of knowledge. Is the book copyrighted? How about the quote?
Browsers: The browser knows a lot. Google's Chrome moves it from being default
search, to being default experience. This was a great example of where access to information
"Faster pages" is the simple value proposition for consumers to switch.
Filters: Protecting companies, trademarks, and interpreting the legality of
free speech. Someone has to do it, if we're all one people.
Health transactions: Google has even taken on one of the most sensitive
challenges, private health information. And, it's connections to legacy systems that prefer EDI
to JSON.
It's clear that Google is making progress. What we've also learned in this review is that the
companies biggest asset - people - may scale to solve problems in lightweight ways that entire
teams and companies haven't been able to in the past. Perhaps being open, or transparent, gives
the company a unique advantage in being prepared for a cloud future.
Is the cloud where the action is?
What verb would you be if you were hired at Google?
Macedonian bloggers and other new media users offered their own responses to the question
“How internet changed your life?”, posed in an article
[MKD] on BBC's Macedonian language site.
Darko Buldioski of Komunikacii.net applied a style
figure reminiscent of Slavic
antithesis to rephrase the question into “If I had no internet…” and
posted the following answers:
I would not have…
…been able to write on my blog, in which I invested much and got much in return :)
…known that BBC covers this topic, as I don't listen to radio news, I read it all
online
…met a bunch of excellent people with whom I regularly communicate about different
subjects
…ordered various trinkets that my brother transports for me when he comes from America
(it's supposedly cheaper there)
…worked on what I do now, because my work is about Internet.
Linking to the relevant South Park episode - “Over Logging” - Buldioski also
invited others to share their thoughts.
Dozens of Twitter users offered their
opinions via the hashtag #danemaseinternet [MKD] or “If there
was no Internet”…
…I would have to carry a notebook with me like [the author] Venko Andonovski to record
my thoughts [- Sead93]
…by God I would have dealt with scientific research and as a result I would have found
evidence to disprove the Theory of
Relativity [- goranmitev]
…I would never have discovered what life on a farm is like [- lazyvlad]
…and a number of them blamed the internet for not being in shape, lack of muscle mass or
excess fatty tissue.
Marjan Zabrcanec considers his blog Golemata
slika (The Big Picture) and his Twitter and Facebook profiles his “loudspeakers”
for exercising his right to the freedom of speech. He explained [MKD] that he opened his
first e-mail account 15 years ago, and that without internet he would not have known “which
topics and arguments are used by debaters from all over the world. Research would have been
tremendously hard. Now, there's Debatopedia,” and
would not have been able to effectively manage his NGO, or offer
cheap but powerful internet marketing campaigns for the clients of his current employer.
Vasilka
Dimitrovskareckoned
[MKD] that without Internet she would have never learned how to blog and use new media to
“detect, present and protect cultural heritage,” and influence the public opinion,
including appearing on TV.
…I would have remained just one more archeologist in the sea of unknown and anemic
archeologists in Macedonia without any attention from the society, and with even less respect.
Ribaro (The Fisherman) responded via a
vlog post, with audio in Macedonian and English subtitles.
Viktor Arsovski wrote [MKD] that without
Internet he probably would have continued to teach English, and not take part in the founding of
IT.com.mk, and…
I would take our media “for granted,” and not read information from other
sources.
I would have never known that some things in the society can improve.
I would not get frustrated by watching football (soccer) on [Macedonian TV] Sitel. Now by
watching online streaming I know there are quality anchors who explain about the sport instead of
talking nonsense. Therefore, even though it sometimes makes me nervous, at least I know that the
Internet offers me a choice!
Bloggers who posted on this subject also included Kihu Potru [MKD], who
emphasized the Internet's importance in sharing art and establishing connections between artists
- from visuals to haiku; Kuzmanov [MKD]; Martin [MKD]; and
Dzaman
[MKD].
Finaly, some people responded through comments on blogs of others, like
Oksimoron, who said [MKD]:
If there was no internet… I would have walked around more, I would have been a better
housewife, and would not look silly laughing alone in front of the monitor :-)
…would not have enrolled into post-graduate studies (found over the Internet)
- I would not have stayed awake till 5 in the morning
- I would not have known many of my current friends
- I would not have been able to book a hotel in Nice
- I would not have been able to surprise my loved ones who are far away with gifts
And for certain I would not have known that one day the Internet will die [MKD] ;)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Whether it's fomenting revolution or telling people what you had for breakfast
microblogging service Twitter seems to have it all.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Whether it's fomenting revolution or telling people what you had for breakfast
microblogging service Twitter seems to have it all.
Still, good to hear that the game is still going on, considering that we've only seen the barest sprouts of
information about it so far. Maybe Miyamoto should give his team a 30-day time limit within
which to finish the game, and see how they feel about that.
Still, good to hear that the game is still going on, considering that we've only seen the barest sprouts of
information about it so far. Maybe Miyamoto should give his team a 30-day time limit within
which to finish the game, and see how they feel about that.
Mon cÅ“ur mon cÅ“ur ne t’emballe pas,
Fais comme si tu ne savais pas
Que l’Anglais est revenu !
Mon cÅ“ur arrête de répéter
Qu’on va venger l’affront de l’an passé
De l’Anglais qui est revenu !
Mon cÅ“ur, arrête de bringuebaler
Souviens-toi qu’il nous a déchiré,
L’Anglais qui est revenu !
Mes amis ne me laissez pas !
Dites-moi, dites-moi qu’il y a de la bière au froid
Maudit Anglais, puisque te v’là !
Le crunch ! France - Angleterre, avec un parfum de revanche du match de l’an
passé (34-10, avec un essai assassin de Mark Cueto au bout d’une minute et une
équipe de France stérile toute la première mi temps).
Ce sont nos pires amis, ou nos meilleurs ennemis, comme vous préférez, qui
débarquent ce soir : la terrible, orgueilleuse, et perfide Angleterre. Quelle joie de
la retrouver !
Voici donc le drapeau anglais, dit drapeau de Saint George. Il vous dira sans doute quelque
chose : il rappelle en effet celui de la
Géorgie, que nous affrontâmes lors de la dernière coupe du monde.
La croix rouge sur fond blanc est un emblême très répandu dans la
chrétienté, Saint Georges étant le Saint Patron, outre de l’Angleterre
et de la Géorgie, de l’Aragon, de la Catalogne, du Canada, de l’Ethiopie, de la
Grèce, de la Serbie et du Montenegro, du Portugal, de la Russie et même de la
Palestine, ainsi que des villes de Beyrouth, Barcelone ou Moscou. C’est ainsi que le symbole
du club de footabll de Barcelone, le fameux Barça, comporte la croix de Saint
George.
Ce symbole remonte aux Croisades, où il était le symbole des chevaliers et soldats
français, le pape ayant décidé que les anglais porteraient une croix blanche
sur fond rouge, les germains ayant une croix bleue et jaune, devenue le drapeau suédois. Les
Anglais ont néanmoins adopté le croix rouge sur fond blanc, et la croix de St George
est ainsi devenue le symbole des croisés dans leur ensemble, étant à son tour
adoptée par les Templiers. Lors de la Réforme, tous les drapeauxs représentant
des saints ont été abandonnés en Angleterre à l’exception de
celui de St George. Dans la Navy, le drapeau de Saint Georges indique un navire amiral.
Le drapeau du Royaume Uni s’appelle le drapeau de l’Union, ou Union Jack dans
la marine (“Jack” indiquant un pavillon de marine), car il est composé de la
réunion des drapeaux des trois couronnes réunies sur la tête des rois
d’Angleterre, chacun représenté par une croix liée à un
saint : la croix de Saint George pour l’Angleterre, la croix de Saint André pour
l’Ecosse, et la croix de Saint Patrick pour l’Irlande. Cette union s’est faite en
deux temps : en 1606, quand James VI d’Ecosse devient roi d’Angleterre sous le nom
de James Ier, les croix de Saint George et Saint André sont réunies pour
faire le premier drapeau d’Union. Puis en 1801, la croix de Saint Patrick est ajoutée
quand l’Acte d’Union (Acte désignant une loi) fusionne les royaumes
d’Angleterre, d’Ecosse et d’Irlande pour former le Royaume Uni,
dénomination encore officielle de nos voisins d’Outre Manche. Le pays de Galles
n’est pas représenté dans ce drapeau car il ne s’agit pas d’un
royaume mais d’une principauté, dirigée par les héritiers du trône
d’Angleterre (actuellement le Prince Charles, Prince de Galles, le titre de princesse
étant vacant nonobstant le second mariage du prince).
L’équipe joue ainsi isolément car le Royaume Uni n’a pas de
fédération de rugby. A la place, chaque royaume a sa propre fédération,
reconnue par l’IRB. Il en va de même au football, d’où le match
d’ouverture Brésil Écosse lors de la coupe du monde 1998.
Le symbole du XV d’Angleterre est la rose rouge. Il s’agit
d’une allusion à la rose rouge des Lancastre, famille opposée à celle
d’York au cours de la guerre des Rose, qui aboutit à la chute de la maison des
Plantagenêts, dont Lancastre et York étaient deux branches, au profit de la maison des
Tudor. Je ne crois pas que la fédération anglaise prête allégance
à la maison des Lancastre cinq cent ans après la fin du conflit, mais le maillot de
l’équipe d’Angleterre étant blanc (couleur royale, comme le maillot du
Real Madrid, que je me devais de citer ayant mentionné le Barça afin
d’éviter une autre guerre civile), une rose blanche ou la rose des Tudor (rouge et
blanche pour marquer la réconcilation du royaume) serait peu visible sur le maillot.
L’Angleterre n’ayant pas d’hymne officiel propre, c’est bien le God
Save The Queen qu’entonne le XV d’Angleterre, qui est pourtant l’hymne du
Royaume Uni. Une scène fort cocasse a lieu quand l’Angleterre joue contre
l’Ecosse à Murrayfield, quand l’hymne (lui aussi non officiel) écossais,
Flower Of Scotland, est entonné, car on voit la Princesse Anne, fille de la reine
Elisabeth et Duchesse d’Edimbourg, chanter de bon coeur cet hymne nationaliste
célébrant la victoire des Ecossais contre les Anglais à Bannockburn en 1314
(la bataille qui clôt le film Braveheart). Au Royaume Uni, le pragmatisme est
la vraie religion d’Etat.
Mais en réalité, le XV à la rose a un hymne non officiel, qui galvanise autant
les Anglais qu’une Marseillaise fait oublier la fatigue aux Français.
Priez, mes amis, priez pour ne point entendre résonner cet hymne païen (même si
c’est un gospel) près de la basilique qui accueillit l’Oriflamme…
Le Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, la kryptonite universelle.
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
L’histoire de cette chanson se confond avec l’histoire de notre vieille
rivalité rugbystique qui nous oppose à nos cousins d’Outre Manche. En fait, une
vieille rivalité oppose l’Angleterre à un peu tout le monde, et c’est une
des équipes les plus cordialement détestées, chacune de ses (trop rares)
défaites étant savourée d’un hémisphère à
l’autre, mais la France jouit d’une position de détestation cordiale
privilégiée. Un adage écossais dit ainsi “I support two teams :
Scotland and whoever is playing England” : je soutiens deux équipes :
l’Écosse, et celle qui joue contre l’Angleterre, quelle qu’elle soit.
Tout d’abord, l’Angleterre n’a accueilli la France dans le concert des nations
rugbystiques qu’avec réticence en 1910. Le sport de l’aristocratie anglaise
était en France pratiquée par les paysans rugueux du sud, et l’Anglais
n’aimait guère se mélanger. Il faut dire qu’au début, la France a
tout fait pour lui donner raison. En 1913, la foule envahit le terrain pour assommer
l’arbitre de France-Ecosse. La France est exclue du tournoi, mais sauvée si
j’ose dire par la première guerre mondiale qui suspend le tournoi, qui reprend en 1918
toutes rancoeurs oubliées au nom de la fraternité d’armes. En 1927, c’est
la première victoire contre les Anglais (le pays de Galles résistera jusqu’en
1948). En 1931, la France est à nouveau exclue pour son comportement violent jusqu’en
1939. En fait, deuxième guerre mondiale oblige, la suspension durera jusqu’à la
reprise du tournoi en 1947. En 1952, l’Angleterre accuse la France de professionnalisme des
joueurs (ironie de l’histoire, l’Angleterre sera la première à passer au
professionnalisme dans les années 90 : en Angleterre, le pragmatisme est religion
d’Etat) et des joueurs français sont définitivement exclus de la
sélection pour apaiser les Anglais. Voilà donc le terreau de la rivalité. La
fleur éclora à la fin des années 80.
En 1988, le XV d’Angleterre était en train de traverser une des plus mauvaises passes
de son histoire, battu notamment par la France plusieurs années de suite, y compris sur son
sol sacré, à Twickenham. L’Angleterre jouait face à l’Irlande, et
avait perdu 15 de ses 23 derniers matchs du Tournoi des Cinq Nations, tournoi qu’elle
n’avait plus gagné depuis 1980. En deux ans et demi, les supporters de Twickenham
n’avaient vu qu’un seul misérable essai marqué par les Anglais. A la mi
temps, l’Irlande menait 3 à 0. Et puis comme cela arrive parfois au rugby,
l’espoir changea de camp, le combat changea d’âme, et tout à coup, rien ne
semblait plus pouvoir arrêter les Anglais, qui gagnèrent 35 à 3, dont trois
essais marqués par Chris Oti, qui faisait ses débuts de jour là. Les
collégiens d’une école bénédictine de Woolhampton qui assistaient
au match entonnèrent alors un gospel en l’honneur d’Oti, Swing Low, Sweet
Chariot, que la foule reprit en choeur.
Ce fut le signal d’une résurrection, et d’un nouvel âge d’or pour le
XV à la rose, l’époque de Will Carling et Brian Moore, époque qui se
construisit sur le dos de l’équipe de France. Pendant sept ans, nous ne gagnerons
jamais, et toujours pour la même raison : être poussé à la faute par
les Anglais, de préférence à 20 mètres en face de nos poteaux, ce
qui donnait trois points aux Anglais, et faisait résonner le Swing Low. Le clou
était enfoncé par Will Carling qui félicitait les Français vaincus
d’un “Good game” dont l’évocation fait encore monter les
larmes aux yeux des joueurs de l’époque. Il faudra des années pour que le XV de
France vole aux Anglais leur sang froid, et il est encore fragile : la propension des
Français à garder le ballon au sol, à le talonner à la main, quand ce
n’est pas distribuer des baffes sous les yeux de l’arbitre est pudiquement
appelée “le jeu latin” des Français. C’est la défaite
assurée quand il pointe son vilain nez.
Cette rivalité prendra fin brutalement, du jour au lendemain, lors de notre
inoubliable victoire en petite finale de la coupe du Monde en 1995 (19 à 9), où
enfin, la série noire prendra fin, et au plus beau moment, la Coupe du Monde. Les joueurs
Français sont tous allés serrer la main de Will Carling abattu en lui disant un
“Good game !” chantant avec l’accent du sud ouest. La
partie s’est en réalité terminée le lendemain à
l’aube, les joueurs des deux équipes s’étant donné rendez vous
pour faire une fête de tous les diables jusqu’à l’aube, enterrant
définitivement la hache de guerre. Cela sera aidé par le virage vers le
professionalisme, des Anglais venant jouer en France et des Français allant jouer en
Angleterre (Sébastien Chabal a joué cinq ans dans le club de Sale, près de
Manchester), ce qui comblera un peu le fossé d’incompréhension, les Anglais
allant jusqu’à recruter un entraîneur français, Pierre Villepreux en
1995. Il fut naturellement tondu à son retour, rassurez-vous.
Cette époque a laissé une tradition, une rivalité qui fait que vaincre
l’autre équipe est un plaisir sans nul pareil, mais la terrible tension 1988-1993 a
disparu. On la rejoue pour s’amuser. Il n’empêche : piétiner les
Anglais est toujours une coupe d’ambroisie. Un petit point sur ce Tournoi qui,
déjà, touche à sa fin. PositionNationPartiesPoints
Tableau des
PointsJouéesGagnéesNullesPerduesMarquésEncaissésDifférenceEssais1 France440012359+641382Irlande43018672+14963 Méchants42117864+14554 Pays de
Galles410380107−27725Italie410359104−45426 Écosse40136080−2021
La France l’a quasiment gagné, l’Angleterre, avec ses deux
défaites, l’a déjà perdu. Seule l’Irlande pourrait nous le voler
sous le nez, en écrasant l’Écosse, à condition que l’Angleterre
nous écrase elle aussi, de façon à remonter les 50 points d’écart
sur le goal average. Peu probable. L’enjeu essentiel de ce match est la
récompense suprême, le Grand Chelem, 5 matchs, 5 victoires, 10 points tout rond au
tableau du score. Ce serait le premier de l’ère Lièvremont - N’tamack -
Retière, et le premier pour Sébastien
Chabal, qui n’avait pas été retenu dans l’équipe de France en
2002 et 2004, date de nos deux derniers Grand Slami. Et à un an de la Coupe du
Monde, ça ferait le plus grand bien à cette équipe si jeune et qui se
construit encore. Ceux d’entre vous qui le souhaitent pourront suivre mes commentaires
éclairés en direct sur Twitter, sur le compte spécial @EolasRugby.
Alors, plus que jamais… ALLEZ LES BLEUS ! ! !
You know those special
amps used by Spinal Tap that go to 11, in order to provide "that extra push over the cliff"?
It appears Fox News has gotten a hold of some and hooked them up to its coverage of health care
reform.
As the reform bill moved closer to a vote in the House, the Fox News noise machine went into
overdrive, hurling every false and misleading claim it could muster.
The week in Fox News health care hysteria began with an oldie-but-goodie -- Steve Doocy, Bill Hemmer, and Bill O'Reilly all claimed or suggested that
the bill will, in O'Reilly's words, "require American taxpayers to fund abortion." But it
doesn't, at least not beyond what is currently permitted under current law. Fox News,
unfortunately, is not alone in
repeating this falsehood.
Then, Doocy and Hemmer, joined by Neil Cavuto and several other hosts, jumped on the idea that
a legislative procedure the House is reportedly considering to pass the Senate's version of
health care reform would allow them to do so without a vote. Wrong again -- the House would need
to vote to implement that procedure.
Carl Cameron, however, broke through the noise on this issue, pointing out that the process would simply
pass the bill "in one vote instead of two" and that the process "has been used, literally, for
centuries" -- indeed, Republicans made
copious use of the "self-executing rule" when they controlled Congress. Even Charles
Krauthammer conceded that it's
constitutional. Still, that didn't keep Alisyn Camerota from scoffing that the rule "might as well be a
self-immolating rule."
Fox News then pounced on a survey
claiming to have found that 46 percent of primary care physicians would consider leaving their
profession if health care reform passes. O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and contributor Dr. Marc Siegel
all portrayed the survey as having been published by the prestigious New England Journal of
Medicine.
Except it wasn't. The article was written by the physician-recruiting firm that conducted the
survey, and it actually appeared in an employment newsletter produced by the publisher of the
New England Journal of Medicine, not the Journal itself. Further, the survey
itself was not all that scientific -- done via email contacts taken from the recruiting firm's
database -- so any claim that the survey's results accurately reflect the view of the American
medical community is dubious at best.
Fox News' Megyn Kelly did eventually note
that the survey was "not a scientific poll." But that didn't keep Glenn Beck from insisting -- hours after Kelly corrected the
record -- that "The New England Journal of Medicine says that if this bill is
passed nearly one-third of doctors will quit practice medicine."
(Beck, meanwhile, is keeping up the long
tradition of Fox News hosts pushing partisan political agendas by joining with Republican
Rep. Steve King to promote an anti-reform rally in Washington.)
Fox News contributor and serial
misleader Dana Perino made her own non-contribution to the health care debate, asserting that the reform bill's Medicare
investment tax on those making over $200,000 a year is "so disturbing ... because the people who
make that money are the small business owners." In fact, fewer than 1.3 percent of small business
owners would be affected by the tax.
When the Congressional Budget Office released new numbers detailing how the reform bill would
reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years, Fox News didn't want to talk about that -- it
spent far more time highlighting how
much the bill would cost instead of how much it would save. And when that didn't seem to work, it
tried to discredit the CBO as
untrustworthy and unreliable. Never mind that when the CBO issued "favorable" numbers last fall
on a Republican health care reform plan, Fox News praised the CBO as "nonpartisan."
The Fox News spin is even confusing its own hosts. Brian Kilmeade can't quite comprehend how a bill can cost money
yet reduce the deficit, and Kelly admitted, "I don't understand anything they're
talking about when it comes to this potential law."
Fox News' inept war against health care reform, while in keeping with its function as the
communications arm of the Republican
Party in exile, is making itself look like the Spinal Tap of news. It doesn't really need that
"extra push over the cliff" -- after all, that's what it's been speeding toward for years.
A whole lot of shaky earthquake claims goin' on at Fox
How much does Fox News oppose health care reform? It's pretending natural disasters didn't happen
if they're inconvenient to the anti-reform agenda.
On March 18, Doocy took exception to
President Obama's statement that a provision in the health care reform that would help Louisiana
cope with Medicaid shortfalls resulting from Hurricane Katrina might also help Hawaii because it
"went through an earthquake. "Hold it. What Hawaiian earthquake?" Doocy asked. "There was an
earthquake in 1868 that killed 77. There was an earthquake in 1975 that killed two." After noting
that the provision applies to states that have suffered a natural disaster "within the last seven
fiscal years," Doocy added: "Essentially it boils down to just one state, and that is Louisiana."
Doocy seems to have forgotten that there was an
earthquake in Hawaii in 2006. Not only did it cause tens of millions of dollars in damage,
the
Bush administration "declared a major disaster exists in the State of Hawaii and ordered
Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts" as a result of the quake.
But Doocy didn't need to rely on federal agencies for information on the quake -- Fox News
reported on it at the time.
(Investor's Business Dailysimilarly
ignored its own reporting to suggest there was no recent Hawaii quake.)
It seems that rather than trust the federal government or his own news organization, Doocy chose
instead to trust right-wing bloggers, who were spreading the misinformation. That runs
counter to a 2007
memo -- issued after Doocy and other Fox hosts falsely claimed that Obama was educated in a
madrassa -- in which Fox News vice president John Moody reportedly wrote, "For the record: seeing
an item on a website does not mean it is right. Nor does it mean it is ready for air on FNC."
Media Matters has written
Fox News requesting that Doocy correct the record. We shouldn't have to, since Fox News is
supposed to have a "zero tolerance" policy toward on-air mistakes, but then, these are the same
folks that
ludicrously insisted that a Fox & Friends graphic in which poll numbers added up to 120 percent contained no
errors.
The latest right-wing witch-hunt target: Jim Wallis
Fox News has long been a leader in witch hunts against Obama and his administration (or, really,
anyone who can be remotely tagged as liberal). Now Glenn Beck, as an extension of his repeated
challenged Beck to a debate over
social justice, Beck demurred, his vaguely
threatening statements making it clear his witch hunt was more important than reasoned
debate: "In my time, I will respond. ... Just know the hammer's coming. ... And when the hammer
comes, it's going to be hammering hard and all through the night, over and over."
Right-wing website WorldNetDaily, meanwhile, blundered into the breach with a poorly written
article that attempted to put words in Wallis' mouth. WND claimed that Wallis was a "champion of
communism," even though Wallis has declared communism to be a "failed" system; asserted that
Sojourners has published "a slew of radicals" while ignoring that it has also published a slew of
conservatives; and alleged that "Sojourners' official 'statement of faith' urges readers to
'refuse to accept [capitalist] structures and assumptions that normalize poverty and segregate
the world by class,' " even though the word "capitalist" -- inserted by WND -- actually appears
nowhere in the statement. WND even falsely claimed that Wallis "labeled the U.S.
'the great captor and destroyer of human life.' "
Somehow, we suspect that Beck's upcoming assault on Wallis will be just as divorced from reality
as WorldNetDaily's.
Erick Erickson joins the "scumbags" at CNN
Should a blogger who once called a retiring Supreme Court justice a "goat f---ing child molester"
be rewarded with a regular commentary gig on CNN? Doesn't matter -- the deal's been done.
CNN announced this week that RedState editor Erick Erickson has joined the network as a political
contributor, mainly appearing on John King's new show. The network claimed that Erickson is "a
perfect fit" for King's show, adding that "Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to
reach."
Media Matters has detailed
Erickson's history of outrageous statements, of which the aforementioned is but one.
Predictably, conservatives defended
Erickson's new job, his fellow RedStaters among them. One of Erickson's RedState defenders,
however, went a tad off-message: "From
Non-Conservatives, to Academics and Liberal Elitists, to self-soiling and unprincipled
Professional Politicians and firmly-entrenched good ole boys inside the
M(ostly) S(cumbags)
M(edia), each of these clowns has a tale of doom about the
hell we're headed for compliments of CNN's hand basket."
We have to wonder: Does Erickson consider
his new CNN colleagues to be "scumbags"?
Media Matters maintains active online communities on the nation's leading
social networking sites. Be sure to join us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
MySpace,
and
Digg and join in on the discussion.
Media Matters Minutenow on
YouTube
For some time now, radio shows and stations throughout the country have been carrying the
Media Matters Minute, a daily, minute-long recap of our work topped off with
the "most outrageous comment" of the day. We encourage you to subscribe (YouTube /
iTunes /RSS) to the
Minute's daily podcast, hosted by Media Matters' Ben Fishel.
This weekly wrap-up was compiled and edited by Terry Krepel, a senior web editor at Media
Matters for America.
Les Buzzman sortent pour
Eurosport un site autour de la Coupe du Monde lundi prochain. En avant première, vous
trouverez ici un lien qui
embarquera vers un site de qualification et de recrutement mais surtout vers un site pour sauver
votre couple si vous aimez le foot. Oui, dans quelques jours vous allez préférer
votre télévision à votre femme...
Voici ce qui sera indiqué dans le communiqué de presse :
"Ce site va vous permettre d’envoyer votre femme faire un safari en Afrique du Sud avec
10 de ses copines, pendant que vous passerez 1 semaine avec 10 de vos potes dans une villa en
Corse, tout équipée, pour vivre une Coupe du Monde 2010 inoubliable ! (écran
géant, champagne à volonté,...)
Comment ça marche ? Sur http://www.sauvezmacoupedumonde.com, vous avez
90 secondes pour enregistrer un témoignage vidéo convaincant, via votre webcam, qui
explique pourquoi votre femme doit partir loin de vous pendant la Coupe du Monde. Celui qui
récolte le plus de votes des internautes remporte le safari et la semaine en Corse. Pour
préserver votre anonymat, et votre couple, votre visage est masqué et votre voix
déformée ! "
This episode of 4MR is brought to you by the Knight Digital Media Center, providing a
spectrum of training for the 21st century journalist. Find out more at KDMC's website. It's also underwritten by GoDaddy, helping you
set up your own website in a snap with domain name registration, web hosting and 24/7 support.
Visit
GoDaddy to learn more.
Here's the latest 4MR audio report from MediaShift. In this week's edition, I look at Google TV,
the new alliance between Google, Intel, Sony and Logitech to create a new TV or set-top box that
will finally connect the TV with the Net in a simple way. Plus, Facebook last week surpassed
Google in traffic for the U.S., according to Experian Hitwise, and Facebook referrals to news
sites were more loyal visitors than referrals from Google News or the Google search engine. And I
asked Just One Question to Time magazine TV critic James Poniewozik, getting his take on Google
TV.
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea
Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco
with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.
This episode of 4MR is brought to you by the Knight Digital Media Center, providing a
spectrum of training for the 21st century journalist. Find out more at KDMC's website. It's also underwritten by GoDaddy, helping you
set up your own website in a snap with domain name registration, web hosting and 24/7 support.
Visit
GoDaddy to learn more.
Dernièrement, le fameux service de microbloging, Twitter, a bien franchit la barre de 10
milliards de tweets, et si vous êtes vraiment curieux de savoir le chemin vers les 10
milliards, alors voici une présentation graphique qui illustre ce chemin. Cliquez sur
l’image pour l’agrandir Source Mashable Billets en relation avec cet article Evan Williams : Twitter est un
véritable outil de travail.
Niko est un robot un peu particulier. En effet ce robot Lego Mindstorm est contrôlé
via le compte Twitter @N900Niko et un téléphone mobile Nokia N 900 lui transmet les
instructions en provenance de Twitter. Le robot peut aussi envoyer des données vers
Twitter, ce qu'il fait d'ailleurs après avoir pris une photo. Il est possible de voir ces
photos sur TwitPic. - Twitter
The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the first beta release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long-Term
Support) Desktop, Server, and Netbook editions and of Ubuntu 10.04 Server for Ubuntu Enterprise
Cloud (UEC) and Amazon’s EC2. Codenamed "Lucid Lynx", 10.04 LTS continues Ubuntu’s
proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a
high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Desktop and Netbook Editions continue the trend of ever-faster boot speeds, with
improved startup times and a streamlined, smoother boot experience.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server Edition provides even better integration of the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud,
with its install-time cloud setup.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server for UEC and EC2 brings the power and stability of the Ubuntu Server
Edition to cloud computing, whether you’re using Amazon EC2 or your own Ubuntu Enterprise
Cloud.
The Ubuntu 10.04 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Mythbuntu,
also reach beta status today.
Desktop features
————————
Social from the start: We now feature built-in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and
other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel.
New Design: Cleaner and faster boot, new notification area, new themes, new icons, and new
wallpaper bring a dramatically updated look and feel to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu One: Choose any folder in your home directory to sync, choose from millions of songs for
purchase in the Ubuntu One Music store.
Cloud computing: The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud installer has been vastly improved in order to
support alternative installation topologies. UEC components are now automatically discovered and
registered, even with complex topologies. Finally, UEC is now powered by Eucalyptus 1.6.2
codebase.
UEC and EC2: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS continues the tradition of official Ubuntu Server image releases
for UEC and for Amazon’s EC2, giving you everything you need for rapid deployment of Ubuntu
instances in a cloud computing environment. UEC images, and information on running Ubuntu 10.04
on EC2, are available at:
Stability and security: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS brings many improvements over Ubuntu 8.04 LTS to keep
your servers safe and secure for the next five years, including AppArmor profiles for many key
services, kernel hardening, and an easy-to-configure firewall.
Ubuntu Netbook features
———————————-
Ubuntu Netbook Edition is optimised to run on Intel atom based netbooks. It includes a new
consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their
favourite applications. This interface is optimised for a retail sales environment.
It includes the same faster boot times and improved boot experience as Ubuntu desktop.
Kubuntu features
————————
Kubuntu 10.04 LTS will be the first LTS to feature KDE 4 Platform and Applications. KDE 4 has
come a long way since its early releases and is now suitable for the high demands of LTS users.
Being an LTS we have focused on bug fixing and stability for this release, but we did find time
to add features such as touchpad configuration, Firefox KDE integration, Kubuntu notification
improvements, and cross-desktop systray menu standardisation. Kubuntu features the Plasma Desktop
while Kubuntu Netbook Remix comes out of preview status with the Plasma Netbook workspace.
Edubuntu in Lucid features a more complete live environment containing more software from
universe and all existing language packs as well as our usual educational software in their
current version. For Lucid the text installer has been removed and so is LTSP for the time being.
We expect to have LTSP back on the DVD for the next beta. The DVD is then much smaller than it
used to be but will still provide a complete education environment based on Ubuntu Lucid.
Also included on the Edubuntu DVD is a small repository containing the required packages to
transform the regular Edubuntu desktop into a LTSP server or install the Netbook edition
interface.
Mythbuntu features
—————————
Mythbuntu 10.04 introduces MythTV 0.23. This new version is significantly faster and should feel
more responsive and stable than older versions. It also integrates better into the OS with better
support for things like ConsoleKit and Upstart.
Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and servers, with a fast and
easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications
is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.
Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other
companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support
To Get Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1
———————————————
To upgrade to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1 from Ubuntu 9.10 or Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, follow these
instructions:
Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this Beta into the best
release of Ubuntu ever. Please note that, where possible, we prefer that bugs be reported using
the tools provided, rather than by visiting Launchpad directly. Instructions can be found at
If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are not sure, first try
asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu
forums:
Kevin Nakao is VP of Mobile & Business Search for
WhitePages, a Top 40 Web and Mobile
Publisher. You can find him on Twitter,
and on the Whitepages
Blog where he writes about mobile, local, and social media.
While last year’s SXSW seemed to serve as the
“coming out” party for location-based services (LBS), maybe this year’s
conference signifies the migration of these platforms into mainstream culture. And perhaps the
only real “new” concept to emerge this year is the idea that there is finally a real
opportunity to make money via “location.”
Here are five things that companies should consider as they look to utilize location-based
services (LBS) as part their mobile strategy.
1. Location Shouldn’t be the Only Goal
From finding the nearest ski slope on REI’s Ski and Snow Report to a nearby movie on Flixter, there are
plenty of Top iPhone applications that have incorporated a “lead with the offer, not the
capability” philosophy into their mobile product offering to provide a better service.
Build the best service first, then add the bells and whistles.
With all the hoopla surrounding location, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that
location’s real appeal to advertisers is the fact that with this functionality, you can
reach the on-the-go user, who is ready to buy and consume. Just because Twitter and Facebook offer location doesn’t make
that valuable or new to advertisers. Location-targeting via IP address has been around a while.
For the same reason radio is a great advertising channel for retailers, LBS advertising is also
valuable: because it can reach the consumer near the point of sale.
However, if you apply any city’s share of the total U.S. population, the results show some
pretty low estimates of Foursquare users in individual localities. What emerges is a very
“long tail” — a steep, narrow graph — of local user adoption. This shows
why it is important to achieve scale if you hope to see return on investment in the location
marketing space.
For example, using these rough estimates of a city’s proportional share of the U.S. population, if a
local pet supply store wanted to target people in San Francisco, the estimated reach would be
1,310 Foursquare users. Even if you double this audience estimate, the number is fairly small for
even a local marketer. We had to hit around 4 million downloads of the Whitepages iPhone app to
achieve the minimum scale needed for advertiser geo-targeting. Today, 80% of our campaigns from
major brands are geo-targeted.
Editor’s Note: It’s important to remember that these are just rough estimates.
Because Foursquare was initially only available in a handful of major metro areas, the geographic
distribution of users may not precisely follow the geographic distribution of the
population.
3. Mobile Battery Life is Key
Battery life is the single biggest threat to location. With GPS on, the phone is asking the
network where it is, and this chatter can drain battery life — anyone with an iPhone knows what I am referring to. Thus, phone
manufacturers will play a critical role in the future of LBS. RIM, the manufacturer of BlackBerry devices, faced this problem early on with
the energy-tax of e-mail polling, and as a result, their devices now have some of the best
battery life.
Foursquare has helped us move forward here as well. “Check-ins” help to address the
issue as they offer efficient geo-triggers without having to keep battery-draining GPS features
on at all times.
4. Location Will Be the Battleground of the Mobile OS
Looking forward, I predict the mobile platform wars will be fought with location and maps. This
is an important feature that a platform can use as a point of differentiation for consumers and
developers.
In anticipation of that battle, Apple purchased mapping company Placebase, and Google is starting to provide unique
mapping features like turn-by-turn navigation on
its Android devices. The only hope I see for
Windows Mobile is if they do something
completely revolutionary on the mobile location front. A development like this was alluded to at
the recent TED conference with its augmented reality
layering of geo-tagged Flickr photos and real-time
video integration.
5. Location Pays
At WhitePages, we monetize our mobile services through a mix of premium, national display, and
sponsored links for local business. Our effective CPM (revenue per thousand ad impressions) for
sponsored local links is $30-$50 — double the effective CPM (eCPM) rate we see for premium
display ad campaigns from national brands. The eCPM multiple of local targeted ads over ad
network rates is a staggering 10x.
Location-based inventory will also become scarce as Apple recently
announced that iPhone apps will not be permitted to access GPS capabilities for advertising
alone. There now needs to be some consumer benefit and functionality in order to access a
user’s location. Geo-targeted inventory on mobile will continue to be at a high premium
with no excess supply or ad networks to drive it down.
Conclusion
It is my hope that by this time next year, SXSW –- the festival of
“emerging” music and technology –- will have finally moved on from
location. It’s clearly happening now, and if integrated wisely, location will be making
companies too much money to be called the “cool kid on the block” any longer
Can't
wait for another Engadget Show to roll around? Well you're in luck, friend. It's happening tomorrow
at 5:00pm ET. We'll be doing giveaways at the show taping only,
so brave the glorious sunshine and join us in person for a chance to win great prizes!
Josh will be sitting down with Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab and the
OLPC project to discuss the upcoming XO PC and pontificate about the future of technology.
Sony will also be on hand to demo PlayStation Move motion controller and the
company's senior researcher Dr. Richard Marks will be there to give us the
behind-the-scenes story. We'll have live demos of stuff never-before-seen on Move, including some
hands-on audience demos! Much to our excitement, the usual crew will be joined by Joystiq's very
own Christ Grant for the roundtable. You'll also be meeting our new investigative
correspondent Rick Karr and we'll have plenty of amazing giveaways at the show.
Also expect an out-of-this-world performance from minusbaby
complete with stunning visuals from notendo, as well as
some other big surprises...
As you may have heard, livestreaming is back by popular demand and so is live Twitter commenting!
You will now be able to tweet your comments directly to the livestream! During the
show, just include the hashtag "#engadgetshow" and look for your tweet to show up
on the ticker at the bottom of the stream. One thing to note, The Engadget Show is a family
program, so any single instance of swearing or trolling will force us to turn off
the ticker... and it won't come back on. So, keep it clean and have fun!
The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of
New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as
always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be
first come, first served... so get there early! Here's all the info you need:
There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free
The event is all ages
Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:30PM on Saturday, doors will open for seating
at 4:30PM, and the show begins at 5PM
You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be
present to get a ticket
Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full
If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia
[at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be
sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.
Subscribe to the Show:
[iTunes]
Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune]
Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V)
to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
Editor’s note: This post was written by Joe Stump, the co-founder ofSimpleGeo, a geolocationinfrastructurecompany. While much of the focus in location these days is on the
front-end side of things, SimpleGeo focuses on the backend, allowing startups to very easily get
started with geolocation.
There’s been a lot of coverage lately about the location “war” between Gowalla and Foursquare.
Nobody is arguing that Gowalla and Foursquare aren’t, on some levels, competing, but I do think a
lot of people are missing the big picture here. Which is the impending location gold rush.
My cofounder, Matt Galligan, and I
firmly believe that location is in a similar position as social was in 2001 or so. By that I mean
that, at the time, social was very nascent, but exciting as it gave us a whole new view of the
data we consume every day. Over the course of almost 10 years we’ve seen social get baked
into everything from photo sharing to financial tools. I think that location, similarly, gives us
an interesting new view of our data.
This momentum has been slowly gaining steam since, essentially, the iPhone was released. We, the
developers and general nerd populous, finally had an open platform that had location (in the form
of latitude and longitude of our users) baked into it. The first wave of location services made
location the core feature. Much like social, this isn’t sustainable long-term. You
can’t be “Some Company plus location” and expect to sustain users. Especially
after Some Company enables location themselves.
Which bring us to the second wave of location, which I think was started by our friends at
Foursquare. They were, in my opinion, the first product to gain traction by moving past simple
location and building an experience on top of it. It’s as if
co-founders Dennis
Crowley and Naveen
Selvadurai said, “Okay, we have location, but that’s boring. Let’s make a
game out of going out with our friends!” In other words, they worked under the assumption
of having location and built a compelling experience from there.
I think people who are building location-based applications need to keep two things in mind:
1. If there’s any war brewing, it’s over presence. That is the very basic question of
where you and your friends are and who may know those details. Gowalla, Foursquare, Loopt, et al,
if they wish to own presence, will be duking it out with Twitter and Facebook. For anyone
who’s not already in this game it’s going to be very hard to break into it at this
point.
2. You need to move past the mindset that location is the feature. Build products under the
assumption that you have a user’s location and that you can use the social plumbing
we’ve been building for the last nine years. What kind of interesting experiences can you
build on top of the potent mixture of friends, location, and the real world?
So who’s going to win? More than just one company. The users are going to get more
interesting and compelling experiences, some familiar names will revolutionize their products
with location, and some kid in a garage we haven’t heard of is about to make us all look
like fools.
With a possibile vote to finalize passage of health care reform approaching, Fox News has thrown
everything but the kitchen sink to rally opposition, with guest host Laura Ingraham proclaiming,
"Let's kill the bill." For example, Fox News personalities have portrayed the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office as unreliable, falsely claimed that a 2006 earthquake did not occur
and attacked an 11-year-old and his family that support reform.
Fox News sets up oppo shop for the weekend
Ingraham on hosting for Fox News: "Let's kill the bill!" Fox News contributor
Laura Ingraham posted the following message on her Twitter account: "I'll be hosting the O'Reilly
Factor on Friday, 8pm eastern. Let's kill the bill!"
From Ingraham's March 19 post
on her Twitter account:
Beck encourages viewers to hold candlelight vigil against health care reform.
Glenn Beck asserted: "It is time that you
have a candlelight vigil. You peacefully assemble in front of your Congressman's local doors. You
go to his office locally, not to Washington. You gather your friends and you stand there, you
sleep there. You make sure the press covers a peaceful assembly of people saying, 'We will
remember your name 'til the end of time, sir.'" [Fox News' Glenn Beck,3/15/10]
The Fox Nation highlights "call to arms" in opposition to health care reform. On
March 18, The Fox Nation published a
headline, "Alert: Jon Voight's Call to Arms - Come to D.C. Sat. to Oppose Obamacare."
Fox & Friends channels GOP on "facts that people need to know" about health
care reform.Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy announced: "So the
Republicans have put out some facts that people need to know about this." Fox News then displayed
images under the heading, "GOP: What you need to know. Facts on the Dem health bill." Doocy
continued: "For instance, they say, what they're not talking about is the fact that there's going
to be a new Medicare tax on capital gains." [Fox News' Fox & Friends,3/19/10]
Cavuto promotes weekend coverage tilted toward conservatives.Your
World host Neal Cavuto has promoted
his upcoming "Health Care Showdown: What's really up Doc?" coverage, which will air on Saturday,
March 20. Cavuto will host conservative radio host Mark Levin, Rep. Jason Altimire (D-PA), Dom
Imus, and Mike Huckabee. Cavuto also promoted Friday's Your World guests, including Rep.
Elijah Cummings (D-MD), conservative radio host and columnist Jeri Thompson, Rep. Paul Ryan
(R-WI), and Republican candidate for California governor Carly Fiorina.
Fox hosts Gene Simmons to bash health care and promote his insurance company.
During Fox News' America Live, host Megyn Kelly hosted K.I.S.S. front man Gene Simmons to discuss
health care. During his appearance, Simmons called health care reform "horrific" and promoted his
life insurance company.
Fox News' weeklong assault: Distortions and falsehoods abound
Fox falsely attributes doctor survey to New England Journal of
Medicine. Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Brian Kilmeade, Sean Hannity and Marc Siegel
all pushed the falseclaim that a New England Journal of
Medicine (NEJM) survey found that 46 percent of primary care
physicians would consider leaving their profession if health care reform legislation passes. In
fact, NEJM says they didn't publish or conduct the 3-month-old email "survey," which was
actually conducted by The Medicus Firm and published in an employment newsletter.
Fox News erases 2006 Hawaii earthquake to attack Obama. Responding to President
Obama's statement during a Fox News interview that Hawaii "went through an earthquake" and could
benefit from a health care reform provision that would help Louisiana cope with Medicaid
shortfalls resulting from Hurricane Katrina, Doocy asked, "What Hawaiian earthquake?" In fact, as
Fox News itself reported at the time, President Bush declared a "major disaster" after Hawaii was
hit by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in October 2006. [Fox News' Fox & Friends,3/18/10]
Beck attacks family of 11-year-old who spoke about his mother's death at health
care event. Following 11-year-old Marcelas Owens' appearance at a health care
reform event to speak about his mother, who reportedly died after losing her health insurance,
Beck asked, "Where was grandma" when Marcelas' mother was sick and attacked her work with the
organization Washington Community Action Network, saying the group was "all about economic,
racial, gender, and social justice for all," which he called, "pesky phrases." [Fox News'
Glenn Beck,3/15/10]
Fox calls CBO score untrustworthy. After the Congressional Budget Office
estimated that the health care reform reconciliation package would reduce the deficit by $130
billion over 10 years, Fox News -- led by Beck, Hannity, Doocy, Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer and
The Fox Nation -- attempted to
portray the nonpartisan CBO as untrustworthy and unreliable. By contrast, after the CBO gave
a "favorable" score to the GOP health care plan, Fox praised the office as "nonpartisan" and
advanced false GOP claims about the CBO's findings.
Fox News suggests Dems were bought off to support health care reform. Dick
Morris suggested that Obama "illegal[ly]"
nominated Rep. Jim Matheson's (D-UT) brother Scott "to a judgeship with an implicit quid pro
quo." Rep. Matheson's office and the White House have called the smear "ridiculous" and
"absurd," former Bush-appointed judge Michael McConnell definitely debunked the smear and conservatives
have stated that Scott Matheson is "plenty qualified for the job." Likewise, following Rep.
Dennis Kucinich's (D-OH) appearance on Fox & Friends to discuss his decision to
support the bill, Fox News displayed a
graphic stating: "What was Kucinich promised? Congressman changed vote from no to yes."
Fox anchors falsely attack House rule as
undemocratic. Fox News anchors, during their self-described daytime
"news hours," repeatedly forwarded
the false suggestion that by using a legislative procedure known as the "self-executing rule" to
finalize health care reform in the House, Democrats would be passing health care reform "without
actually voting for it." In fact, passing legislation by using the procedure would require a
majority vote. Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich criticized the rule as "incredible" and
"passing bills without voting on them," despite the fact that the Republican Party
"set new records" for its use of the self-executing rule in the years following Gingrich's
ascension as Speaker.
Grasping at straws: Fox News regurgitates tired health care
falsehoods
Fox repeatedly inaccurately reported on abortion
funding.Doocy, Hemmer, Kilmeade, Bill O'Reilly, Carl Cameron, Dana Perino and Greta Van Sustren pushed the
debunked claim that the Senate health
care reform bill contains language that would allow federal funding for abortion beyond what is
currently allowed under federal law. In fact, the Senate bill -- which will be considered by the
House -- prohibits health insurers from using federal subsidies to pay for abortion services
restricted by current federal law.
Hemmer perpetuates debunked health care myth: "Could
people be going to jail for not owning health insurance?" Hemmer revived the debunked myth that not buying health
insurance "could lead to prison" and asked: "Could people be going to jail for not owning health
insurance?" In fact, the penalty for
failure to purchase insurance is a tax, not jail time, and willful failure to pay taxes of any
sort can result in civil or criminal penalties.
Perino misleads on Medicare tax impact on small
businesses. Guest hosting on Fox & Friends, Perino
trumpeted the myth that a Medicare
investment tax on those making more than $200,000 would affect most small business owners. In
fact, fewer than 1.3 percent of small business owners would be affected by the tax.
A non-profit organization
called Reboot has a mighty challenge for you this
Friday night: Power down your cellphone, let your FarmVille crops languish and sign out of Skype
for a full 24 hours. What do you think: Can you hack a single day sans technology?
We’re seen efforts of this nature before — remember when John
Mayer wanted you to make like a Luddite for the first week of 2010?
But this event, which Reboot is calling The National Day of Unplugging, goes the extra mile with
promotions (ironically enough) through Facebook, Twitter and
a website called the Sabbath Manifesto (the day itself is part of a larger movement called the
Sabbath Manifesto, a movement started by a group of Jewish artists, writers, filmmakers and
social media professionals seeking to integrate traditional rituals into their modern lives).
There will also be a series of events in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco (according to
Reboot, they’re private and space is limited). All guests at these events will be asked to
check their phones at the door, where they will sleep the next 24 hours away in a cell phone
sleeping bag [pictured above].
Tanya Schevitz, a Reboot rep, told us that the idea is spreading. “We are hearing from
people all over the county –- and beyond –- that they will
create their own events, gather with friends, family, etc. to embrace the Sabbath Manifesto and
the National Day of Unplugging,” she said.
Participants are also encouraged to sign on to the Sabbath Manifesto website and report back on their technological withdrawal
experiences.
This venture is certainly interesting in light of recent stats that point to our society’s
obsession with technological
communication and increasing fascination with social media.
“There’s clearly a social problem when we’re interacting more with digital
interfaces than our fellow human beings,” said Dan Rollman, Sabbath Manifesto creator and
founder of the Universal World Record Database. “Rich, engaging conversations are harder to
come by than they were a few years ago.”
What do you think? Do you think digital communications are eroding our ability to truly connect
with others? Or do you think Twitter, Facebook and the like serve as channels to bring people
together? Let us know in the comments.
Jennifer Van Grove /
Mashable!: Twitter Search Results
to Show Popular Tweets On Top — Twitter appears set to tweak
search results to return the most popular tweets first — instead of the most recent —
for any given search query. — This according to Twitter Developer Advocate
Taylor Singletary …
The contest is a
promotion for American Express (disclosure: also a Mashable sponsor), asking users to
follow the credit card company on Twitter and then tweet “Hey @americanexpress I want to be
with Coco in (insert city from list below). Pick me! http://bit.ly/bEUqsh #amexConan.”
The winners – who will get two tickets for Conan shows in either New York,
Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, or Los Angeles — will be selected at random from the tweets
sent out between now and 11:59pm ET on Monday.
American Express is sponsoring the tour, but this new twist on their promotion should give the
company an opportunity to gain thousands of followers in a hurry, assuming the Twittersphere is
still as crazy for Coco as they were when he signed up only a month ago.
If you follow Mashable,
chances are you either visit the website directly, or subscribe to our RSS feed, daily emails or
Twitter and Facebook pages. Given that there are dozens of ways to follow Mashable, we thought
we’d round these up in a useful blog post.
We’re also aware that some people get a little overwhelmed by all the content we create
every day. That’s why we recently created separate feeds, Twitter and Facebook accounts for
all of the topic channels here on Mashable: Social Media, Mobile, Web Video, Entertainment,
Business, Tech, Apple and the Mashable Jobs board.
If you find the full Mashable feed a little too much, please do consider subscribing to these
individual channels instead.
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(2.4 MB) More information
For many
people, Twitter offers a larger, more diverse stream of
constantly flowing data than they've ever had to deal with before in their life. Depending on how
many people you follow and how much they tweet, the information can become unmanageable. To that
end, we have user lists, third-party clients, Twitter tools and search.
And today, it looks like Twitter has begun working on making this last option - search - more
useful for its users by offering the ability to percolate popular search results to the top of
the page.
Until the popular tweet feature all search results have been sorted chronologically, most
recent results at the top. If a search query has any popular results, those will be returned at the
top, even if they are older than the other results.
Basically, the API will now offer a variable named "result_type" that can will return either
"popular" or "recent". Programs will be able to use the variable to either return search results
with popular tweets at the top as default, show only popular results or show only recent results.
Also added to the Twitter API this week are two
other variables for the retweet API.
The first will return up to the first 100 user representations of those who have retweeted the
tweet specified in the url by :status_id.
The second will return just the ids of those retweeters for the cases where
that's all you care about.
Perhaps these have some sort of implication in how tweets will be deemed popular, but even if
not, it could be useful in watching the trickle-down spread of a tweet.
A website that sorts everyday the most relevant information to you.
Vote for the news and Matoumba will learn your tastes and the information that you like the most.
It is all FREE!
Find here the history of the stories you found interesting.
Show this to people who share the same interests as you,
and if they use Matoumba, their own votes will fine recommandations to you.
I didn’t have the same 
The shortest way to describe this is that Google is no longer a verb. It's becoming
a noun. Not just the few clicks to find information, but the information itself and the
experience surrounding it.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with 
His comment, "when the Drizzle team was moved into Google, they
just kept working on the their open source project and things stayed nearly the same."
Google's destiny to become the hub of the worlds information is
intertwined with history. And this comes with artifacts of policy and posturing. To start with,
not everyone agrees that Google should achieve a dominant cloud position. As we're noticing,
stopping it is another matter.
We see both practical and strategic reasons that Google has a
deep connection with the open source movement. Strategically, being the new optimized layer,
removing all historic barriers to information give the company more leverage. Practically,
solutions can be built where information is free.
Dozens of Twitter users offered their
opinions via the hashtag 
Finaly, some people responded through comments on blogs of others, like
The Official
Nintendo Magazine UK is hanging out at 
pour
faire le premier drapeau d’Union. Puis en 1801, la croix de Saint Patrick est ajoutée
quand l’Acte d’Union (Acte désignant une loi) fusionne les royaumes
d’Angleterre, d’Ecosse et d’Irlande pour former le Royaume Uni,
dénomination encore officielle de nos voisins d’Outre Manche. Le pays de Galles
n’est pas représenté dans ce drapeau car il ne s’agit pas d’un
royaume mais d’une principauté, dirigée par les héritiers du trône
d’Angleterre (actuellement le Prince Charles, Prince de Galles, le titre de princesse
étant vacant nonobstant le second mariage du prince).
Il s’agit
d’une allusion à la rose rouge des Lancastre, famille opposée à celle
d’York au cours de la guerre des Rose, qui aboutit à la chute de la maison des
Plantagenêts, dont Lancastre et York étaient deux branches, au profit de la maison des
Tudor. Je ne crois pas que la fédération anglaise prête allégance
à la maison des Lancastre cinq cent ans après la fin du conflit, mais le maillot de
l’équipe d’Angleterre étant blanc (couleur royale, comme le maillot du
Real Madrid, que je me devais de citer ayant mentionné le Barça afin
d’éviter une autre guerre civile), une rose blanche ou la rose des Tudor (rouge et
blanche pour marquer la réconcilation du royaume) serait peu visible sur le maillot.
France440012359+641382
Méchants42117864+14554
Pays de
Galles410380107−27725
Écosse40136080−2021
Kevin Nakao is VP of Mobile & Business Search for
Editor’s note: This post was written by 
If you weren’t able to pick up tickets for Conan O’Brien’s “
✩ 
For many
people, 
Recommandations
)
and reject those that you are not interested in
(
)
