At a conference in Beijing last Thursday, Google representatives announced a brand new technology developed by the company called VisualRank. The new innovation is in essence an algorithm for combining image recognition technology with traditional methods for ranking online images.
According to the New York Times, VisualRank will go far beyond the current method of ranking images in Google’s image search service, and will endeavor to group together images that look alike, and rank them appropriately in the search results.
The traditional method of ranking images by Google and other search engines is to use contextual cues in the form of keywords and image tags to determine what the image represents. But the new VisualRank system will actually scan the picture with image recognition technology, and combine this information with surrounding text data and image tags to determine the topic and relative ranking of the image in search results.
The technology of image recognition has been around for decades now, but has proven very unreliable in detecting faces, for example, and other complicated subjects. But the technology is slowly improving, and Google believes they have developed a method whereby image recognition can be weighed as an important factor in ranking digital images.
Google claims that a trial conducted to test the new VisualRank system resulted in search results that filtered out 83% more irrelevant images, a significant improvement by any standard. Primarily, the image recognition software will identify shapes and common objects, and filter out images that fall too far outside of search term parameters.
But although Google representatives are optimistic about the capabilities of the new system, other industry experts are skeptical. Munjal Shah, the CEO of Riya, believes that what Google is attempting is questionable at best, saying “I think what they’re trying to accomplish is largely impossible.”
Mr. Shah may have a point; the size of the World Wide Web is so incredibly vast that attempting to use image recognition software on every picture online would be a Herculean task — if it were possible at all. And there are other issues as well. For example, when scanning a photograph of a bicycle, image recognition software might be successful if it is a near-field, side-view photo, but would be less likely to accurately categorize the photo if the bicycle was in motion, or the photograph was taken from above.
These kinds of issues raise questions about the usefulness of Google’s VisualRank system, and some digital image experts believe that current image recognition software is likely to mis-categorize 50% or more of the images available online.
Google Documents is slowly but surely becoming an online alternative to Microsoft Office. Since its introduction, the online word processing suite has gone through many upgrades and changes, but a new round of updates may finally bring Google Documents the sophistication and ease-of-use to equal Microsoft’s products.
The biggest difference between Google Documents and Microsoft Office is that Google’s suite is entirely online, and works with any operating system via a standard Web browser. This ensures that users can access their work no matter where they are in the world, not just on their home computer. Additionally, Google Documents allows organized collaboration on text documents, and conversion of documents into a variety of popular formats, including PDF.
And now, Google is about to update the program to add even more features and compatibility. Long-time users of Google Documents will be happy to see that print settings and print preview functionality has been added to the suite. Google has also redesigned the document sharing options to make it easier to set permissions and assign collaborators with just a touch of a button.
But possibly the most exciting aspect of the update is the promise of fully editable document templates, and the ability to apply CSS formatting to your documents. The inclusion of CSS also makes it possible for you to create your own custom templates if none of the available styles suit your needs.
While Microsoft Word has long had the capability to apply formatting to documents, and comes standard with a variety of document templates, so far there have been no online word processors with such advanced functionality.
These new features bring Google Documents one step closer to being a state-of-the-art word processing suite that is entirely online, with nothing to download, and no pesky registration codes. Already, some businesses and government offices have begun switching over to Google Documents, primarily because all of the cost savings.
But if Google continues to add functionality to its word processing suite, it won’t be long before the program will be every bit as capable as Microsoft Office, and users may switchover simply because it’s a more convenient program — not just because it’s cheaper.
As for Microsoft, they are also keen to further develop their online version of Word, though they are definitely behind in the race at this point. Google is continuing to invest heavily in Google Documents, and they are so firmly established online at this point that it will be difficult — if not impossible — for Microsoft to catch up.
The US telecommunications company AT&T is claiming that the Internet’s network structure will reach full capacity by 2010 unless there is a significant investment in expanding the current network architecture. AT&T is blaming increasing amounts of video and user generated content, noting that the current Internet network structure cannot continue to support the huge bandwidth demands of streaming high-definition video and other user content — unless steps are taken now to expand the Internet infrastructure massively.
Of course, we’ve all heard these “the sky is falling” type comments before regarding the Internet. Back in 2002, one respected IT analyst suggested that by 2006 the Internet would “crash” because of the exponential growth of streaming video online. So should we take AT&T’s warnings seriously, or is this just another scare tactic to get increased government funding to benefit the giant telecommunications companies?
Actually, there may be some truth to AT&T’s claims, though it appears they are also exaggerating the projected bandwidth requirements somewhat. For example, an AT&T spokesperson quoted on Zdnet.com claims that in only three years, 20 average households in the US will generate more online traffic than the entire Internet today.”
While it is certainly unquestionable that bandwidth requirements will continue to grow, the idea that 20 households will generate more online traffic than the entire Internet today is patently absurd. Let’s face it, 20 households could each contain 20 computers, uploading high-definition video’s 24 hours a day, and still not come close to the amount of bandwidth currently used in a city like Tokyo, much less the entire world!
So it appears that AT&T is exaggerating matters somewhat, but beneath their hyperbole is a legitimate complaint, and it is that Internet bandwidth demands are growing at an exponential rate, and steps will need to be taken to ensure that the underlying architecture of the world wide web can stand up to the increasing demands for bandwidth.
An AT&T spokesperson stated that a minimum $55 billion investment would be required to add and improve the existing net infrastructure in the United States alone over the next three years. AT&T predicts the worldwide upgrade would cost in the neighborhood of $130 billion.
Realistically, AT&T is overstating the issue, and most experts believe demand for bandwidth is likely to continue to grow at the current rate, so there are serious doubts as to whether their 2010 projection is correct. However, nearly all Internet analysists agree that there will come a point when the capacity of the Internet’s current architecture “peaks out” and no further development will be possible until the system is expanded. Right now, a more accepted projection for when this will occur seems to be between 2016 and 2018.
The use of computers and Internet belongs to the most ingenious discoveries of the 20th century. The world became smaller as people from across the continents are connected with a single touch of a button. Trade, industry and commerce are revolutionized as transactions become easier and much faster. The Internet has also made the exchange of goods more economical for traders and businessmen. Private individuals have also been benefited by this technological breakthrough. The use of Internet in homes also became a necessity, facilitating communication between individuals in every corner of the world.
Accordingly, the use of websites has been an important tool to facilitate such transactions. Advertising has been the key to the growth of businesses. Through the Internet, more people are reached by business advertisements. With this, it is necessary that websites can be created faster and less complicated.
In making a website, one has to have in mind a good lay-out without sacrificing content. The design utilized in the website should complement and even emphasize the intended message. Website design tools that are simple, yet effective, should come in hand. In line with this, web 2.0 design styles provide an answer to the need for more efficient and reliable website creation. This is one of the most advance tools in website design style today. The website design templates provided by web 2.0 design styles offers numerous facilities to help in the lay-out of websites.
There are several features web 2.0 design styles can offer. First and foremost is its simplicity, help icons are provided to help website creators in using the different templates. Even an amateur can create the most visually-attracting website that can capture the interest of web users. One of the widely popular bloging software provider WordPress also provides some cool default templates to the users, these wordpress templates can be easily editable by any non-tech savvy person.
Another feature of the templates in web 2.0 design styles is easy navigation. It persuades the creator to use easy tools to help the viewers navigate throughout the website easily. Through this, the user can readily access important sections of the website. Web 2.0 design styles also encourage the creator of the website to use fewer columns. With this feature, the website becomes more visible and clear. It helps convey the message of the website more effectively.
To put emphasis on certain important features of the website, the following are provided by web 2.0 design styles.
Logo-making is improved. Larger and bolder logos can be created to promote the website better. Labels can also be done to emphasize promotions and other features of the website. Segmenting is also provided by templates in web 2.0 design styles. This web page design tool offers different colors with varying shades that help separate different sections of the website. Web 2.0 design styles also features changing of color gradient, adding shadows and reflections. Lastly, the size of the fonts can be increased to further emphasize key phrases and messages.
Website 2.0 design styles are indeed an important progress in website-making. One needs not to be an expert in computer to create websites that will cater to his business or personal needs. Visually attractive and competent websites can now be done by almost everyone. The web designing world has never been this efficient.
Evidently, this collection of “tubes” that we call the Internet has gone Rick Astley crazy lately. “Rick rolling” is an Internet fad that just doesn’t want to die. In case you haven’t had the “pleasure” of being Rick rolled yet, here’s how it works: someone will post a link on a blog, message board or web site under false pretenses. The text will tell you that the link goes to a funny news story, a YouTube video or something of interest. However, when you click on the link, your browser window it is immediately resized and loads the music video for Rick Astley’s 1980s-era hit “Never Gonna’ Give You Up.”
Not only that, but the video itself jumps around on your computer screen, making it nearly impossible to click it away. Once the video stops moving around (it takes about 30 seconds), you find that trying to close the video only opens a series of Windows warning messages, containing the lyrics to the entire song — one line at a time! The point of this, of course, is to make you sit through the entire video, in all of its 80s long-dustered, spiky-haired glory.
Technically, the “Rick roll” is very similar to a computer virus or spyware, except that it usually has no malicious intent other than subjecting you to listening to — and watching — the Rick Astley video in its entirety. The prank of “Rick rolling” people has spread all over the Internet, and become very popular on YouTube, among other sites.
As with every Web trend, individuals have created their own unique twist on “Rick rolling,” and there is even a Muppet version of the “Rick roll,” and a “reverse Rick roll,” which plays the video both forwards and backwards. Oh brother!
The phenomena of “Rick rolling” has become so popular that as an April fools prank this year, YouTube redirected every video on their site — millions of them — to the Rick Astley “Never Gonna’ Give You Up” video, fooling millions of Web surfers on April 1st.
But how does Rick Astley feel about the “Rick roll” fad sweeping the Internet? In an interview, Ashley said he finds the phenomena “funny,” but that he also understood how it could be the pretty “annoying” to many people. Overall, the baritone pop crooner appears to be taking this new fad in stride and with a good sense of humor.
Having recently returned to the music business after nearly a decade away to focus on being a dad, Astley now finds his popularity growing immensely — especially online. The singer recently released an album of cover versions of soulful classics, and is touring Europe and the United States. Prepare to be “Rick rolled” in person when Astley arrives at a venue near you.
It’s funny how quickly we get used to new developments. Google Maps has become the de facto standard for finding a location or planning a trip, and their relatively new Street View feature can often be just as valuable. For example, while recently looking up the address of a new dentist’s office, I switched over to Street View to see exactly how the façade of the building looked from the street, and check if the street number was visible from the front of the office.
These kinds of programming details make Google Maps an insanely easy locator and trip planner, and Google is currently working to incorporate Street Views of all major metropolitan areas in the United States. But until now, there were no signs that “the Big G” was developing a European version of Google Maps Street View.
Rumors began circulating a few weeks ago of Google-marked vehicles traveling the streets of Milan Italy. The purpose of these cars, ostensibly, is to acquire Street Level images for incorporation into the powerful Google maps program.
Finding out that Google was already plotting out Street View functionality of Europe was not all that surprising really; but what is interesting is this: the Google vehicles being used in Milan also appeared to be using a type of panoramic laser scanner on board, which could (so the theory goes) produce a high quality 3-D model of the terrain surveyed.
When asked directly about the 3-D laser surveying of European cities, Google refused to comment, except to say that the described 3-D scanning technology would be “consistent” with Google’s general plans for both Google Maps and Google Earth. Google spokesman Larry Yu refused to elaborate further on the use of the technology or exactly how Google might implement 3-D imagery into Google maps or Google Earth.
One thing is for certain though; Google is certainly collecting an enormous amount of digital information in Europe. For example, News.com is reporting that Google recently hired more than 300 drivers to map out Switzerland for its Google Maps Street View service.
Collecting so many high-definition digital photographs, along with the equivalent 3-D imaging data ensures that Google will wind up with an enormous amount of information to store and process. But being Google, they should have no problem dealing with the challenge.
Still, it will be interesting to see how Google chooses to use the 3-D imagery gathered. Perhaps they will create a “virtual Paris” or a 3D world based on “the virtual Alps.” For now, Google’s not saying, but you can be certain they have something up their sleeves here. Collecting so much 3D data is a huge undertaking; it stands to reason that Google would only take on such a project if they were sure they could produce a profitable product or service from it.
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With the US economy on shaky ground, interest rates being slashed, and the real estate market in a serious slump, online companies have begun to wonder if there is a web 2.0 bubble burst just around the corner.
Everyone remembers the .com crash and burn of 2001, when many startups went under, and others struggled to survive through some economically tough times. With so much uncertainty about the U. S. economy, analysts are wondering if we are facing a new dot com slump. Even the all mighty Google.com has announced that it will lay off some employees, and many other big players in the industry appear to be tightening their belts, reducing costs and spending.
Overall though, web-based businesses appear to be faring better than their brick and mortar counterparts in the current state of the economy. Online Mega-retailers such as Buy.com, Amazon.com and Overstock.com have all done well during the first quarter of 2008. Even many smaller web-based businesses report “decent” earnings so far this year.
Contrast these reports with the financial woes of many off-line retailers who are struggling, such as Nordstrom, Macy’s and other high-end department stores. One reason why web-based retailers appear to be weathering the storm better is the perception that buying online is cheaper. In times of financial hardship, more consumers may turn to online retailers as a way to save a few bucks.
Likewise, with the price of gasoline hovering around four dollars per gallon, consumers may find it more cost-effective to shop online, rather than driving all over town searching for bargains. Whatever the reasons though, it is clear that most of the big name retailers online are proving more profitable than their off-line counterparts — at least for the time being.
However, there is some evidence of a “thinning of the herd” mentality affecting online business startups. One example of this is Mowser.com, a web service that translates web sites into mobile Internet versions for viewing on cell phones and other mobile Internet devices. Mowser is closing up shop this year after failing to raise funding for the expansion of their site.
Some analysts see Mowser’s problems as an early warning of a new web 2.0 bubble burst on the horizon. But other experts disagree, and point out that Mowser’s service falls into a niche that is gradually disappearing. They claim that the gap between the “regular” Internet and the mobile Internet is narrowing, so the market for Mowser’s Web translation service is shrinking on a near daily basis.
It is highly unlikely that there will be a dot com bubble burst anything like the 2001 version, though online businesses will certainly have to deal with the same economic challenges as off-line retailers in 2008. So far though, online businesses are holding their own, and at least weathering the storm, if not avoiding it altogether.
Flickr, the popular photo sharing web site now owned by Yahoo, has announced plans to add streaming video to its repertoire. Initially, the video offerings will be limited to only 90 second clips, with a maximum file size of 150 MB.
According to News.com, Yahoo plans to incorporate streaming video into Flickr, and the video clips will be managed just like photos on the site, the only exception being that video clips will feature a selection of playback controls. The videos will be shown as a thumbnail image along the users other photos. Comments can also be added, as well as captions, geo tags and privacy restrictions to make the videos private or public.
With most digital cameras now sporting video capability, Yahoo is making the decision to incorporate these clips as “long photos.” Yahoo is attempting to encourage original video clips, not television episodes or DVD captures, and a strict copyright infringement policy will be in effect to discourage the type of video “borrowing” that is so common on YouTube.
Flickr has been wildly successful as a photo and image sharing site, leading to some speculation that the move into video could threaten the dominance of Google’s YouTube. For the time being though, Flickr should pose no serious competition to YouTube, which is capable of handling much longer videos and greater file sizes.
Another big difference is that only Flickr users with Pro subscriptions will have the opportunity to publish videos. The site will convert various formats of video, including AVI, MPEG, and MOV into a standard streaming flash video format. Flickr will also store the original video, and the sites existing uploader will be used to upload video as well as images.
According to industry experts, the biggest hurdle Yahoo will face in incorporating streaming video is the 90 second clip limitation, which is likely to be a big problem for many users. But where Flickr video may succeed is in posting personal and family video clips to share with relatives and friends, an area where YouTube is weak. After all, many families with video clips of children would not consider putting them on YouTube — but families who have already used Flickr to upload photos would likely consider uploading short video clips as well.
The other big hurdle for Yahoo will be convincing Flickr users to sign up for a $25 per year Pro account. Only time will tell if Yahoo will be able to convince users that signing up for a $25 Pro account is worthwhile to include their short video clips alongside photos.
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Back in the “wild west” days of the Internet (the 1990s), there was a mad dash by many entrepreneurs to purchase as many unique domain names as possible. Back then, a savvy entrepreneur could buy a popular one word domain name for less than a 20 spot. But times have changed, and the Web is now big business. Accordingly, companies now spend hundreds of thousands of dollars — or even millions — purchasing just the right domain name to brand their online business.
One entrepreneur who made a particularly good investment back in the 90s is Chris Clark of Maryland. Chris managed to purchase the domain name “pizza.com” way back in 1994 for a paltry $20. He has held on to the name all these years and just recently sold it at auction this March for a staggering $2.6 million. The winning bid is more than 13,000 times Clark’s original $20 investment.
Clark decided to auction off the name last month, and let the bidding begin at a humble $100. The final winning bidder chose to remain anonymous, but it is widely believed that one of the main pizza retailers in the United States (Pizza Hut, Domino’s or Papa John’s) ended up with pizza.com.
Clark’s purchase of the domain name for $20 in 1994 is surely one of the greatest investments of the last century. If only there were some kind of savings account where one could invest $20, wait 14 years, and then collect $2.6 million! A windfall by any standard.
Clark decided to auction off pizza.com after noticing that the domain name “vodka.com” was sold for an incredible $3 million in January of this year. He seemed absolutely ecstatic over the winning bid for his domain name (and frankly who wouldn’t be?), and reportedly wishes that he had purchased many more single word domain names back in the 90s, when they were both cheap and plentiful.
These days, just finding an easy to remember one-word domain name can be a Herculean task. Major corporations have swooped down upon the Internet, purchasing hundreds or even thousands of domain names related to their industry, products and marketing. For this reason, “dot com” domain names that are short and easy to remember can be extremely difficult to find. Many online companies have resorted to using “dot info” or “dot net” domain names because of the shortage of quality “dot com” names available.
All this just goes to prove that Internet millionaires are still being made. And even if the “wild west” days of the Internet are long gone, there is still gold out there just waiting to be mined.
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As the most popular social networking web site in North America, MySpace has a huge membership, especially among the younger generation. MySpace has now announced that it is negotiating with Sony, Universal and Warner Music in order to create its own digital music portal and compete with the likes of Apple’s iTunes and Amazon.com’s MP3 store.
The company says that the new site will be introduced in the next few months, and will be a “transformative music experience for the user.” MySpace currently has over 110 million registered users, and an estimated 30 million of those regularly use the site’s built in music features. In addition, many big-name music acts have music embedded on their MySpace pages.
Their transition from social networking to downloadable music provider could be a smooth one, considering that MySpace already features MP3 players and other music and media tools on its flagship web site. Of course pricing and inventory will play a big part in the success or failure of the new site.
MySpace has not discussed the pricing of their music tracks yet, but a company spokesman reported that the pricing is “going to be very competitive and in the formats that they want.” The company has also announced that many of their music downloads will be available without any digital rights management technology, so that consumers are free to use the music on any device.
This is a stark contrast from Apple’s iTunes, which offers only a very limited selection of music without digital rights management. It appears that the new MySpace music portal will follow in the footsteps of the Amazon.com music store, which uses no digital rights protection, and makes music tracks unavailable in a variety of formats, including standard and high quality unprotected MP3 files.
The online music market is beginning to get pretty crowded, and MySpace’s new music site will only increase the competitiveness. Apple’s iTunes recently surpassed Wal-Mart as the biggest music retailer in the United States, and there is plenty of other competition in the digital music world. Besides Amazon.com, music portals such as eMusic and SpiralFrog are expanding their reach, hungry for a share of the huge online music market.
In order to compete with the growing competition online, the new MySpace music site will also sell concert tickets, band T-shirts and other related paraphernalia. The company is hoping they can convert their 110 million members into MySpace Music consumers. By integrating the music site closely with their current site, MySpace could have a very good chance of successfully competing with iTunes, and becoming a major player in digital music sales.
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