http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...6/21/womb21.xml
Womb transplants 'possible in 5 years'
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 21/06/2006)
Women with damaged or missing wombs could, within five years, have transplants that would allow them to have children naturally, scientists said yesterday.
Researchers said experiments carried out in animals had brought them a step closer to being able to carry out womb transplantation in humans.
Uteruses removed and later restored in sheep have for the first time been shown to be functioning normally.
If the operation can be perfected for humans, it could help thousands of women with Rokitansky syndrome, a rare congenital condition that affects one in 5,000 women in which the uterus develops abnormally but the ovaries still function.
It could also offer the chance to conceive naturally to those who have suffered damage caused by cervical cancer or fibroids.
The procedure would give the approximately 200 UK women per year who attempt to have their own biological children using surrogate mothers the chance to give birth naturally themselves.
Prof Mats Brannstrom, of the department of gynaecology at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, presented the findings of his research on sheep at the annual meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (Eshre) in Prague yesterday.
Prof Brannstrom said: "Uterine transplant has a number of advantages over surrogacy. If you put your embryo in another woman you give up control and you don't know if she might be smoking or taking drugs.
"There is also the issue of the bonding between the mother and the baby that takes place during pregnancy and childbirth.
"There are still many questions to answer but I hope we will be able to refine this technique and make it safe enough to use in women within five years."
Prof Brannstrom and colleagues removed the uteruses of 12 sheep, kept them outside the body for an hour and then replaced them.
Blood flow was reinstated and then tests were carried out to check that they functioned as normal. The transplantation was successful in 10 of the animals.
Three years ago Prof Brannstrom announced that he had performed successful womb transplants in mice that then gave birth to healthy offspring.
Before trying to use the technique on humans, work will be required in primates.
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Wi-fi pioneers offer cheap router BBC News
A Spanish firm is to sell subsidised routers as part of a plan to turn domestic wi-fi networks into public hotspots. Fon will sell wi-fi routers, which allow people to surf the net wirelessly, for $5. The company, which has financial backing from Google and Skype, aims to create public wi-fi networks street by street across the US and Europe. "Wi-fi is universal in cities, but access isn't," said Juergen Urbanski. Mr Urbanski said Fon was aiming to have 50,000 working hotspots worldwide by September, 150,000 by year-end and one million hotspots by the end of 2007. To date, 54,000 people worldwide have signed up to become "foneros," up from 3,000 in February, according to the company.
'Social movement'
The company is hoping to create a "social movement" as well as a business.
The router offer is designed to overcome obstacles to helping consumers quickly set up hotspots using Fon software. In exchange for receiving a router, users must agree to share their wireless connections with other Fon users for 12 months, the company said. Users register their router with Fon via a PC which then lets other people access their wi-fi network safely - if they can pick up the signals from outside their homes.
'Changing economics'
"We are changing the economics of wi-fi," Mr Urbanski said during a conference in San Francisco. "We are just piggy-backing on the back of existing wi-fi connections." But Fon faces challenges - from technical limitations to legal obstacles. Current wi-fi networks have a limited operating range and Fon will need an army of "foneros" if the public hotspots they are advocating take off. They will also face a challenge from firms planning to offer free, ubiquitous wi-fi in cities such as San Francisco. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and broadband carriers are also unwilling to allow a user's private broadband connection to be used publicly. Mr Urbanski said Fon was seeking to win over carriers who lease the underlying internet connections by arguing its strategy could expand the market for wi-fi by giving customers a way to roam away from home, making them more loyal subscribers at home. "The reality is that we are all talking with... many of the large ISPs in the United States."
A Spanish firm is to sell subsidised routers as part of a plan to turn domestic wi-fi networks into public hotspots. Fon will sell wi-fi routers, which allow people to surf the net wirelessly, for $5. The company, which has financial backing from Google and Skype, aims to create public wi-fi networks street by street across the US and Europe. "Wi-fi is universal in cities, but access isn't," said Juergen Urbanski. Mr Urbanski said Fon was aiming to have 50,000 working hotspots worldwide by September, 150,000 by year-end and one million hotspots by the end of 2007. To date, 54,000 people worldwide have signed up to become "foneros," up from 3,000 in February, according to the company.
'Social movement'
The company is hoping to create a "social movement" as well as a business.
QUOTE("Juergen Urbanski")
We are just piggy-backing on the back of existing wi-fi connections
The router offer is designed to overcome obstacles to helping consumers quickly set up hotspots using Fon software. In exchange for receiving a router, users must agree to share their wireless connections with other Fon users for 12 months, the company said. Users register their router with Fon via a PC which then lets other people access their wi-fi network safely - if they can pick up the signals from outside their homes.
'Changing economics'
"We are changing the economics of wi-fi," Mr Urbanski said during a conference in San Francisco. "We are just piggy-backing on the back of existing wi-fi connections." But Fon faces challenges - from technical limitations to legal obstacles. Current wi-fi networks have a limited operating range and Fon will need an army of "foneros" if the public hotspots they are advocating take off. They will also face a challenge from firms planning to offer free, ubiquitous wi-fi in cities such as San Francisco. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and broadband carriers are also unwilling to allow a user's private broadband connection to be used publicly. Mr Urbanski said Fon was seeking to win over carriers who lease the underlying internet connections by arguing its strategy could expand the market for wi-fi by giving customers a way to roam away from home, making them more loyal subscribers at home. "The reality is that we are all talking with... many of the large ISPs in the United States."
Open your wallet to Google CNET News.com
Give Google credit for one thing: The search giant has a way of generating a lot of buzz. This week, possibly as soon as Wednesday, Google is expected by many to unveil a new Internet payment system. It may start out as an online wallet but could become a PayPal-like infrastructure for payments across the Web, handling everything from skis to music and videos, analysts said Tuesday. Interesting as that may sound, Google execs have actually said little about this service publicly. But--as has been the case with most other assumed product launches, from the successful Google Earth to the so-called Google Cube co-founder Larry Page was supposedly going to unveil at the Consumer Electronics Show in January but never did--that hasn't stopped Google watchers on Wall Street and in the blogosphere from going into high predictive mode. "There is quite a bit of excitement and buzz among merchants," about Google Gbuy, as reports have called it, said Safa Rashtchy, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. Rumors of a Google payment system have been circulating for months. Two weeks ago, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt confirmed that the company was testing a system that aimed to speed online purchases, but he said it would not compete directly with eBay's PayPal. The system is targeted at advertisers and not general consumers, Schmidt said during a meeting in New York hosted by Conde Nast's Portfolio business magazine, without elaborating. Google released a vague statement Tuesday saying: "Billing and payments have historically been a part of Google's advertising programs and online services. As we've previously announced, we offer users the ability to buy items on Google Base and at the Google Store as well as pay for services like Google AdWords, Google Video and Google Earth. We have nothing specific to announce at this time." Perhaps coincidentally, company executives also were scheduled to host a talk on "Micro-payments trends and news" at Google's Mountain View, Calif., office Thursday night. The talk was part of a scheduled meeting of BayPay, a networking group for people who work in the payment industry in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even if Google isn't publicly spelling out the details of its payment system, other people are doing it for the search king. As a wallet system, Gbuy would let shoppers carry their payment information around to multiple different merchants and save them the time of having to enter their credit card and billing data every time they shop, Rashtchy said. Users are expected to be offered rebates, and merchants can get discounts on ads. Gbuy has been billed by some reports as a "PayPal killer," but it's likely to be much more, Rashtchy and other analysts said. "I think that if this thing succeeds, it will eventually succeed where PayPal hasn't...as an efficient payment mechanism for a wide range of e-commerce transactions," Rashtchy said. It would also succeed where Yahoo and Microsoft have failed, he predicted. Rashtchy said he used to use Yahoo Wallet, which lets people store their credit card and billing information when shopping on the Yahoo network. However, it didn't gain traction with merchants, he said. Yahoo did not respond to a request for comment. Two years ago, Microsoft began paring back its Passport service, which provided authentication and centralized storage for credit card numbers, and single sign-in for Microsoft accounts. Last year, eBay announced it would no longer allow its customers to log in through Passport. Passport is evolving into Windows Live ID. Analysts said Google's system could solve the so-called micropayment problem, enabling people to pay for services and products in small increments and for single items. For example, a user could buy one news article at a subscription-only site, rather than having to shell out for a monthly membership. "It's not an efficient use of credit card charges for just $1 or $2," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "While people are surfing around, and they see a Web page and a piece of content they want, they can be charged a small amount for it." Google could syndicate the payment system, much as it does with its AdSense program, which lets Web sites host advertisements and receive money when people click on the ads. Such a "payment solution would grease the wheels...and allow anybody to start selling on the Web through Google," Barrett said. A Google payment system could also pose a threat to credit card companies, Rashtchy said. "Eventually, people could fund their Google Wallet directly from their bank accounts, and merchants would be paid directly by Google, eliminating the 3 percent they have to pay to credit card companies," he said. Existing credit card processing is too expensive for a lot of smaller merchants, who typically pay about 3 percent commission to credit card companies, Rashtchy said. "Three percent is too high if the margins are 10 to 15 percent," he said. In a research report released June 9, RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan said Google was set to launch Gbuy on June 28 and said it would be a direct competitor to PayPal's "off-eBay" initiative, which refers to Web sites not related to eBay. While Gbuy would be focused on consumer-to-merchant transactions, it could be expanded to consumer-to-consumer, Rohan said. The transaction charge would be expected to be about 2 percent, in line with PayPal's, he said. With Gbuy, Google would be able to capture all transaction data flowing through the system, enabling it to use that data for targeting in future searches and to identify which categories and keyword bids are offering the highest return on investment for advertisers, Rohan wrote. "Longer-term, it could be a game-changer," he said. A Google payment system could allow bloggers and other types of Web publishers to easily sell anything they wanted and even to have items aggregated by Google, Forrester analyst Charlene Li wrote in a blog last week. "It doesn't make sense for Google to only challenge eBay/PayPal in this area--even though it will bring in close to $1 billion in revenue for eBay this year," she wrote. "Instead, I think (and hope) that Google is thinking much, much bigger." PayPal spokeswoman Sara Bettencourt said, "We don't comment on other companies' products, especially this one, because it is not even in the marketplace." But the rumors have undoubtedly been on the minds of eBay executives, who announced a partnership with Yahoo in May under which Yahoo will feature PayPal on its Web sites and eBay will use Yahoo ads. Forget about PayPal, said Stephen Arnold, author of "The Google Legacy." Google's wallet product is one small piece of a much larger puzzle, he said. "The (payment) plumbing has been there since they took the first credit card payment for an ad about two-and-a-half or three years ago," Arnold said. "What the heck is Google doing with all this financial plumbing?"
By Elinor Mills, Staff Writer
Give Google credit for one thing: The search giant has a way of generating a lot of buzz. This week, possibly as soon as Wednesday, Google is expected by many to unveil a new Internet payment system. It may start out as an online wallet but could become a PayPal-like infrastructure for payments across the Web, handling everything from skis to music and videos, analysts said Tuesday. Interesting as that may sound, Google execs have actually said little about this service publicly. But--as has been the case with most other assumed product launches, from the successful Google Earth to the so-called Google Cube co-founder Larry Page was supposedly going to unveil at the Consumer Electronics Show in January but never did--that hasn't stopped Google watchers on Wall Street and in the blogosphere from going into high predictive mode. "There is quite a bit of excitement and buzz among merchants," about Google Gbuy, as reports have called it, said Safa Rashtchy, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. Rumors of a Google payment system have been circulating for months. Two weeks ago, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt confirmed that the company was testing a system that aimed to speed online purchases, but he said it would not compete directly with eBay's PayPal. The system is targeted at advertisers and not general consumers, Schmidt said during a meeting in New York hosted by Conde Nast's Portfolio business magazine, without elaborating. Google released a vague statement Tuesday saying: "Billing and payments have historically been a part of Google's advertising programs and online services. As we've previously announced, we offer users the ability to buy items on Google Base and at the Google Store as well as pay for services like Google AdWords, Google Video and Google Earth. We have nothing specific to announce at this time." Perhaps coincidentally, company executives also were scheduled to host a talk on "Micro-payments trends and news" at Google's Mountain View, Calif., office Thursday night. The talk was part of a scheduled meeting of BayPay, a networking group for people who work in the payment industry in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even if Google isn't publicly spelling out the details of its payment system, other people are doing it for the search king. As a wallet system, Gbuy would let shoppers carry their payment information around to multiple different merchants and save them the time of having to enter their credit card and billing data every time they shop, Rashtchy said. Users are expected to be offered rebates, and merchants can get discounts on ads. Gbuy has been billed by some reports as a "PayPal killer," but it's likely to be much more, Rashtchy and other analysts said. "I think that if this thing succeeds, it will eventually succeed where PayPal hasn't...as an efficient payment mechanism for a wide range of e-commerce transactions," Rashtchy said. It would also succeed where Yahoo and Microsoft have failed, he predicted. Rashtchy said he used to use Yahoo Wallet, which lets people store their credit card and billing information when shopping on the Yahoo network. However, it didn't gain traction with merchants, he said. Yahoo did not respond to a request for comment. Two years ago, Microsoft began paring back its Passport service, which provided authentication and centralized storage for credit card numbers, and single sign-in for Microsoft accounts. Last year, eBay announced it would no longer allow its customers to log in through Passport. Passport is evolving into Windows Live ID. Analysts said Google's system could solve the so-called micropayment problem, enabling people to pay for services and products in small increments and for single items. For example, a user could buy one news article at a subscription-only site, rather than having to shell out for a monthly membership. "It's not an efficient use of credit card charges for just $1 or $2," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "While people are surfing around, and they see a Web page and a piece of content they want, they can be charged a small amount for it." Google could syndicate the payment system, much as it does with its AdSense program, which lets Web sites host advertisements and receive money when people click on the ads. Such a "payment solution would grease the wheels...and allow anybody to start selling on the Web through Google," Barrett said. A Google payment system could also pose a threat to credit card companies, Rashtchy said. "Eventually, people could fund their Google Wallet directly from their bank accounts, and merchants would be paid directly by Google, eliminating the 3 percent they have to pay to credit card companies," he said. Existing credit card processing is too expensive for a lot of smaller merchants, who typically pay about 3 percent commission to credit card companies, Rashtchy said. "Three percent is too high if the margins are 10 to 15 percent," he said. In a research report released June 9, RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan said Google was set to launch Gbuy on June 28 and said it would be a direct competitor to PayPal's "off-eBay" initiative, which refers to Web sites not related to eBay. While Gbuy would be focused on consumer-to-merchant transactions, it could be expanded to consumer-to-consumer, Rohan said. The transaction charge would be expected to be about 2 percent, in line with PayPal's, he said. With Gbuy, Google would be able to capture all transaction data flowing through the system, enabling it to use that data for targeting in future searches and to identify which categories and keyword bids are offering the highest return on investment for advertisers, Rohan wrote. "Longer-term, it could be a game-changer," he said. A Google payment system could allow bloggers and other types of Web publishers to easily sell anything they wanted and even to have items aggregated by Google, Forrester analyst Charlene Li wrote in a blog last week. "It doesn't make sense for Google to only challenge eBay/PayPal in this area--even though it will bring in close to $1 billion in revenue for eBay this year," she wrote. "Instead, I think (and hope) that Google is thinking much, much bigger." PayPal spokeswoman Sara Bettencourt said, "We don't comment on other companies' products, especially this one, because it is not even in the marketplace." But the rumors have undoubtedly been on the minds of eBay executives, who announced a partnership with Yahoo in May under which Yahoo will feature PayPal on its Web sites and eBay will use Yahoo ads. Forget about PayPal, said Stephen Arnold, author of "The Google Legacy." Google's wallet product is one small piece of a much larger puzzle, he said. "The (payment) plumbing has been there since they took the first credit card payment for an ad about two-and-a-half or three years ago," Arnold said. "What the heck is Google doing with all this financial plumbing?"
By Elinor Mills, Staff Writer
PayPal Need Not Fear Google -- Yet Forbes
Unconfirmed reports that Google will soon launch a payment service to rival eBay's PayPal dealt a blow to the online auction company's shares on Tuesday. But eBay could conceivably weather the competition thanks to its significant brand-name advantage, according to a new report from Standard & Poor's Equity Research. On Tuesday, shares of eBay fell 5% on news that Google is readying a test version of its online payment service, dubbed GBuy, for as early as today, Wednesday. Reports stated that Google will likely offer a rebate to customers who make online purchases using GBuy. In a report published Wednesday morning, S&P Equity Research analyst Scott Kessler said he expects GBuy to leverage Google's Internet advertising relationships to garner merchant adoption. He also expects Google to offer discounts to AdWords participants. AdWords is a Google service that allows businesses to create their own online ads and keywords. The analyst emphasized that eBay's PayPal still commands a formidable position in the online purchasing market. "We think PayPal has significant competitive advantages in the payments area, with over 105 million registered users," the analyst said. He noted that PayPal has an exclusive partnership with Yahoo! and that eBay has a "substantial" technological lead over Google in this space. S&P Equity Research currently has a "strong buy" rating on eBay shares and a "hold" rating on Google.
By David Ng
Unconfirmed reports that Google will soon launch a payment service to rival eBay's PayPal dealt a blow to the online auction company's shares on Tuesday. But eBay could conceivably weather the competition thanks to its significant brand-name advantage, according to a new report from Standard & Poor's Equity Research. On Tuesday, shares of eBay fell 5% on news that Google is readying a test version of its online payment service, dubbed GBuy, for as early as today, Wednesday. Reports stated that Google will likely offer a rebate to customers who make online purchases using GBuy. In a report published Wednesday morning, S&P Equity Research analyst Scott Kessler said he expects GBuy to leverage Google's Internet advertising relationships to garner merchant adoption. He also expects Google to offer discounts to AdWords participants. AdWords is a Google service that allows businesses to create their own online ads and keywords. The analyst emphasized that eBay's PayPal still commands a formidable position in the online purchasing market. "We think PayPal has significant competitive advantages in the payments area, with over 105 million registered users," the analyst said. He noted that PayPal has an exclusive partnership with Yahoo! and that eBay has a "substantial" technological lead over Google in this space. S&P Equity Research currently has a "strong buy" rating on eBay shares and a "hold" rating on Google.
By David Ng
Interpublic partners with Facebook.com CNET News.com
Marketing services firm Interpublic Group has announced a partnership with the social networking Web site Facebook to pursue youth-market advertising online.
IPG has committed $10 million in advertising to Facebook.com, Melanie Deitch, director of marketing for Facebook, told CNET News.com. IPG has also agreed to acquire less than one-half of 1 percent of Facebook. In exchange, IPG said, it will participate in market research, polls, surveys, promotions and "pilot programs involving sponsorships" on the social networking site. "Facebook's users represent a difficult-to-reach, but very key, audience for many of our clients. Young and tech-savvy consumers are increasingly shunning traditional media vehicles and defining themselves and their community online," Interpublic CEO Michael Roth said in a statement. "Facebook is among the top 10 most-trafficked sites in the United States." IPG will plug companies into Facebook's already-established levels of advertising, said Deitch. Facebook offers typical banner ads and local advertising, as well as what are known as Facebook Sponsors, who interact with Facebook members on a seemingly casual level through something called Sponsored Groups. For example, the Microsoft Student Group offers free software promos, news on college campus events, and videos from Microsoft employees. It also welcomes feedback. "But this isn't a one-way deal. If you've got comments or questions, POST THEM! We'll answer--promise!
," says the Microsoft Student Group page on Facebook. It's a heterodox advertising method that may be new to many of IPG's clients. Many people still debate the prospects for longevity among social networking sites. Others are betting on them. In April, Facebook, a competitor of MySpace, received $25 million in second-round funding. "The piece that's really unique with IPG is that we both have strong strategic focus on consumer insight. The 19-to-24-year-old demo is really hard to reach, and the consumer insight is a focus on really trying to understand that demo much better," Deitch said. Facebook may already be reaching that evasive demographic. In June, a poll by student market researcher Student Monitor showed that 71 percent of college students considered Facebook.com an "in" thing on college campuses, compared with 58 percent for MySpace. Facebook tied for second place with beer, while iPods were first. But college students won't find any beer ads on Facebook. "No gambling, firearms, tobacco, alcohol, no pornography--we don't accept any advertisers in any of those. We are constantly asked by poker sites, just because it's so popular right now, but we just don't do it," Deitch said.
By Candace Lombardi, Staff Writer
Marketing services firm Interpublic Group has announced a partnership with the social networking Web site Facebook to pursue youth-market advertising online.
IPG has committed $10 million in advertising to Facebook.com, Melanie Deitch, director of marketing for Facebook, told CNET News.com. IPG has also agreed to acquire less than one-half of 1 percent of Facebook. In exchange, IPG said, it will participate in market research, polls, surveys, promotions and "pilot programs involving sponsorships" on the social networking site. "Facebook's users represent a difficult-to-reach, but very key, audience for many of our clients. Young and tech-savvy consumers are increasingly shunning traditional media vehicles and defining themselves and their community online," Interpublic CEO Michael Roth said in a statement. "Facebook is among the top 10 most-trafficked sites in the United States." IPG will plug companies into Facebook's already-established levels of advertising, said Deitch. Facebook offers typical banner ads and local advertising, as well as what are known as Facebook Sponsors, who interact with Facebook members on a seemingly casual level through something called Sponsored Groups. For example, the Microsoft Student Group offers free software promos, news on college campus events, and videos from Microsoft employees. It also welcomes feedback. "But this isn't a one-way deal. If you've got comments or questions, POST THEM! We'll answer--promise!
," says the Microsoft Student Group page on Facebook. It's a heterodox advertising method that may be new to many of IPG's clients. Many people still debate the prospects for longevity among social networking sites. Others are betting on them. In April, Facebook, a competitor of MySpace, received $25 million in second-round funding. "The piece that's really unique with IPG is that we both have strong strategic focus on consumer insight. The 19-to-24-year-old demo is really hard to reach, and the consumer insight is a focus on really trying to understand that demo much better," Deitch said. Facebook may already be reaching that evasive demographic. In June, a poll by student market researcher Student Monitor showed that 71 percent of college students considered Facebook.com an "in" thing on college campuses, compared with 58 percent for MySpace. Facebook tied for second place with beer, while iPods were first. But college students won't find any beer ads on Facebook. "No gambling, firearms, tobacco, alcohol, no pornography--we don't accept any advertisers in any of those. We are constantly asked by poker sites, just because it's so popular right now, but we just don't do it," Deitch said.By Candace Lombardi, Staff Writer
Google to launch payment service BBC News
Search giant Google is set to launch an online payments system which is set to compete with auction giant eBay. Dubbed Google Checkout, the system is designed to boost Google's main source of revenue - selling advertising.
The service offers some free order processing to Google's millions of advertisers, but will initially be available only to stores in the US. EBay unit Paypal is the market leader in online payments. EBay stock slipped ahead of Checkout's launch. Checkout's long testing process - it has been in the works for a year or more - has meant that rumours have been rife about the service, which many had dubbed "Gbuy" .
Simple system
Google says it will enable shoppers to set up a single account with all their credit card and delivery details, allowing online merchants to sell through their Google advertising. For every dollar they spend on advertising, merchants will get $10 off the cost of processing orders they receive.
Competition heats up
Commentators have also warned that the move puts Google in direct competition with one of its biggest advertisers - eBay. EBay's shares have suffered as a result, dropping some 7% in the past week. In a pre-emptive strike against the plans, last month eBay signed a deal with Google rival Yahoo. Under the deal, Yahoo, the largest internet media firm, will be the exclusive provider of branded advertising on eBay's site while Yahoo will use PayPal to let its customers pay for Yahoo services. Of the names to sign up to Checkout so far, Starbucks and Buy.com have also retained Paypal as a method of payment as well.
Checkout alternative to PayPal San Francisco Chronicle
Google to launch online payment processing system People's Daily Online
Financial Times - New York Times - Los Angeles Times - This is Money - all 372 related »
Search giant Google is set to launch an online payments system which is set to compete with auction giant eBay. Dubbed Google Checkout, the system is designed to boost Google's main source of revenue - selling advertising.
The core of Google's business is selling advertising
The service offers some free order processing to Google's millions of advertisers, but will initially be available only to stores in the US. EBay unit Paypal is the market leader in online payments. EBay stock slipped ahead of Checkout's launch. Checkout's long testing process - it has been in the works for a year or more - has meant that rumours have been rife about the service, which many had dubbed "Gbuy" .
Simple system
Google says it will enable shoppers to set up a single account with all their credit card and delivery details, allowing online merchants to sell through their Google advertising. For every dollar they spend on advertising, merchants will get $10 off the cost of processing orders they receive.
QUOTE("Greg Sterling @ analyst")
It's not going to kill Paypal
"It's a really smart move by Google, a wonderful way to close the loop with its advertisers," said Charlene Li of Forrester Research. But she pointed out that since Google would be hanging onto information about customers, large retailers might be reluctant to give up the chance of collecting valuable marketing information themselves. And others said that Paypal's position was strong enough to resist the Google onslaught. "It's not going to kill Paypal," said Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence, saying that there was room in a market long dominated by Paypal for several such services. Commentators pointed out that the two services would not strictly be in direct competition, as Checkout relied solely on credit card payments. The Google service will simply act as a transferring house, whereas Paypal has the facility for users to set up their own accounts to pay into - as well as offering credit card payments.Competition heats up
Commentators have also warned that the move puts Google in direct competition with one of its biggest advertisers - eBay. EBay's shares have suffered as a result, dropping some 7% in the past week. In a pre-emptive strike against the plans, last month eBay signed a deal with Google rival Yahoo. Under the deal, Yahoo, the largest internet media firm, will be the exclusive provider of branded advertising on eBay's site while Yahoo will use PayPal to let its customers pay for Yahoo services. Of the names to sign up to Checkout so far, Starbucks and Buy.com have also retained Paypal as a method of payment as well.
Checkout alternative to PayPal San Francisco Chronicle
Google to launch online payment processing system People's Daily Online
Financial Times - New York Times - Los Angeles Times - This is Money - all 372 related »
Discovery prepares for lift-off BBC News
The Discovery shuttle is being prepared for launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The weather situation for the planned lift-off time at 1549 EDT (1949 GMT) is looking more favourable than earlier. Meteorologists say the chance of poor conditions preventing the flight have lowered from 60% to 40%. Discovery is going to the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver supplies and equipment and to drop off a new resident crewman, German Thomas Reiter. He is set for a six-month stay aboard the orbiting platform, becoming the first European Space Agency astronaut to experience an extended tour on the ISS. A technical problem with a heater used to keep propellant from freezing in a firing thruster has raised concerns. The thruster is not used during launch but can control the shuttle's orientation in orbit and during a rendezvous with the International Space Station. "The heater failed when it was switched on, which basically indicates that the thruster is going to be non-functional," Nasa spokesman Bruce Buckingham said. He added that managers were working "aggressively" on the problem. The process of loading the bright orange, 15-storey-tall external fuel-tank with more than 500,000 US gallons (two million litres) of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen began shortly before 0600 EDT (1000 GMT) on Saturday. Discovery's crew was expected to begin entering the orbiter's cockpit at about 1230 EDT (1630 GMT), with the hatch due to be closed just over an hour later. There is much at stake for the mission. In the eyes of some observers, the shuttle still has to prove its safety as a launch system following the disastrous loss of the Columbia ship and its crew of seven in February 2003.
'No issues'
A suitcase-sized chunk of insulation foam broke away from the Columbia's external tank on lift-off and punched a hole in the vehicle's wing. This allowed super-heated gases to get inside the orbiter's structure and tear it apart as it made its descent towards Earth.
Foam was also shed during the first post-Columbia launch in July 2005, and engineers have made further modifications to the tank. Managers at the US space agency Nasa are confident the changes meet the standards required and have passed Discovery as fit to fly. "I very strongly feel that we are not risking crew for foam, or I wouldn't feel comfortable launching," said Nasa Administrator Mike Griffin on Friday. Another vehicle loss would almost certainly shut down the shuttle programme, which is due to be retired anyway in 2010. It would also leave the half-finished ISS project in crisis as the orbiter fleet has been integral to its construction. Nasa has plenty of time to get Discovery airborne. The demand for a daylight lift-off combined with the right orbital opportunity to reach the ISS affords the ship a launch window that runs until 19 July. Beyond that date, Discovery would have to wait for an August slot which is currently earmarked for a flight by the Atlantis shuttle.
The Discovery shuttle is being prepared for launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The weather situation for the planned lift-off time at 1549 EDT (1949 GMT) is looking more favourable than earlier. Meteorologists say the chance of poor conditions preventing the flight have lowered from 60% to 40%. Discovery is going to the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver supplies and equipment and to drop off a new resident crewman, German Thomas Reiter. He is set for a six-month stay aboard the orbiting platform, becoming the first European Space Agency astronaut to experience an extended tour on the ISS. A technical problem with a heater used to keep propellant from freezing in a firing thruster has raised concerns. The thruster is not used during launch but can control the shuttle's orientation in orbit and during a rendezvous with the International Space Station. "The heater failed when it was switched on, which basically indicates that the thruster is going to be non-functional," Nasa spokesman Bruce Buckingham said. He added that managers were working "aggressively" on the problem. The process of loading the bright orange, 15-storey-tall external fuel-tank with more than 500,000 US gallons (two million litres) of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen began shortly before 0600 EDT (1000 GMT) on Saturday. Discovery's crew was expected to begin entering the orbiter's cockpit at about 1230 EDT (1630 GMT), with the hatch due to be closed just over an hour later. There is much at stake for the mission. In the eyes of some observers, the shuttle still has to prove its safety as a launch system following the disastrous loss of the Columbia ship and its crew of seven in February 2003.
'No issues'
A suitcase-sized chunk of insulation foam broke away from the Columbia's external tank on lift-off and punched a hole in the vehicle's wing. This allowed super-heated gases to get inside the orbiter's structure and tear it apart as it made its descent towards Earth.
Foam was also shed during the first post-Columbia launch in July 2005, and engineers have made further modifications to the tank. Managers at the US space agency Nasa are confident the changes meet the standards required and have passed Discovery as fit to fly. "I very strongly feel that we are not risking crew for foam, or I wouldn't feel comfortable launching," said Nasa Administrator Mike Griffin on Friday. Another vehicle loss would almost certainly shut down the shuttle programme, which is due to be retired anyway in 2010. It would also leave the half-finished ISS project in crisis as the orbiter fleet has been integral to its construction. Nasa has plenty of time to get Discovery airborne. The demand for a daylight lift-off combined with the right orbital opportunity to reach the ISS affords the ship a launch window that runs until 19 July. Beyond that date, Discovery would have to wait for an August slot which is currently earmarked for a flight by the Atlantis shuttle.
Discovery ruled safe for lift-off BBC News
The space shuttle Discovery will launch as planned on Tuesday despite the discovery of a defect on its fuel tank, Nasa officials have confirmed. Engineers in Florida said a crack in the insulation foam lining the tank was not considered to be a serious problem and did not need to be repaired. A small triangle of material was seen to flake away from the container during a routine check. Lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center is expected at 1438 EDT (1838 GMT). Two countdowns at the weekend had to be cancelled because of stormy weather around the space centre.
Ice build-up
Nasa's mission management team confirmed late on Monday that the launch would go ahead as planned, as all safety criteria had been met. Officials said the damaged foam had been inspected and was found to be structurally intact, with no repair work needed. "We've laid out the data. We've looked at it calmly. We're ready to go fly," said Bill Gerstenmaier, Nasa's associate administrator for space flight.
The flake fell from a cracked region of foam covering a bracket on the tank which holds a fuel pipe carrying liquid oxygen. It is a region that is known to expand and contract during launch activities. Engineers believe ice built up in the area after rainfall on Sunday, and that it crushed the piece of foam when the tank expanded on being drained after the cancelled launch. Foam-shedding has been a persistent problem for the American shuttle programme, and was responsible for the catastrophic loss of the Columbia vehicle and its crew of seven in 2003. On that occasion, a suitcase-sized chunk of material punched a hole in the ship's left wing during take-off, opening the orbiter to the destructive superheated gases experienced in a re-entry. "If this would have happened in flight... would that have been an issue? The answer is 'no, absolutely'," John Shannon, deputy manager of the space shuttle program had said earlier on Monday. "It is less than half the size that we think can cause damage to the orbiter."
European focus
Nasa has spent some $1.3bn over the past three years redesigning the external tank to try to prevent foam breakaway, and to make other safety upgrades to the remaining orbiters in its fleet. Another vehicle loss would almost certainly shut down the shuttle programme, which is due to be retired anyway in 2010. It would also leave the half-finished International Space Station (ISS) project in crisis. The orbiter fleet has been integral to its construction. Components such as Europe's $6.5bn Columbus science module were designed with the intention that they be carried into orbit by a space shuttle. Columbus arrived at Kennedy last month to await its ride into space. It is booked on a shuttle launch for next year.
The US space agency has until 19 July in the current launch window to get Discovery and its crew of seven astronauts airborne during daylight, as demanded by post-Columbia launch rules. Beyond that date, the orbiter would have to wait for an August slot which is currently earmarked for a flight by the Atlantis shuttle. The latest mission expects to spend just under two weeks at the ISS, delivering supplies and equipment. It would also drop off German Thomas Reiter, who would become the first European Space Agency astronaut to experience an extended tour of six months on the orbiting platform.
The space shuttle Discovery will launch as planned on Tuesday despite the discovery of a defect on its fuel tank, Nasa officials have confirmed. Engineers in Florida said a crack in the insulation foam lining the tank was not considered to be a serious problem and did not need to be repaired. A small triangle of material was seen to flake away from the container during a routine check. Lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center is expected at 1438 EDT (1838 GMT). Two countdowns at the weekend had to be cancelled because of stormy weather around the space centre.
Ice build-up
Nasa's mission management team confirmed late on Monday that the launch would go ahead as planned, as all safety criteria had been met. Officials said the damaged foam had been inspected and was found to be structurally intact, with no repair work needed. "We've laid out the data. We've looked at it calmly. We're ready to go fly," said Bill Gerstenmaier, Nasa's associate administrator for space flight.
- Mission known as STS-121
- Discovery's 32nd flight
- 18th orbiter flight to ISS
- Lift-off: 1549 EDT, 1 July
- Location: Kennedy Space Center, Launch Pad 39B
- Objective: To test new safety equipment and procedures
- Payload: Cargo bay has 12.75t of equipment and supplies
- Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson, Sellers, Reiter
- Sellers ready for 'big walk'
European focus
Nasa has spent some $1.3bn over the past three years redesigning the external tank to try to prevent foam breakaway, and to make other safety upgrades to the remaining orbiters in its fleet. Another vehicle loss would almost certainly shut down the shuttle programme, which is due to be retired anyway in 2010. It would also leave the half-finished International Space Station (ISS) project in crisis. The orbiter fleet has been integral to its construction. Components such as Europe's $6.5bn Columbus science module were designed with the intention that they be carried into orbit by a space shuttle. Columbus arrived at Kennedy last month to await its ride into space. It is booked on a shuttle launch for next year.
See where the foam problem occurred
The US space agency has until 19 July in the current launch window to get Discovery and its crew of seven astronauts airborne during daylight, as demanded by post-Columbia launch rules. Beyond that date, the orbiter would have to wait for an August slot which is currently earmarked for a flight by the Atlantis shuttle. The latest mission expects to spend just under two weeks at the ISS, delivering supplies and equipment. It would also drop off German Thomas Reiter, who would become the first European Space Agency astronaut to experience an extended tour of six months on the orbiting platform.
Discovery docks after 'backflip' BBC News
The space shuttle Discovery has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a two-day trip from Earth. It arrived at the orbital outpost at 1052 EDT (1452 GMT), and the hatches between the two craft were opened around 100 minutes later. Discovery performed a "backflip" before docking so the ISS crew could inspect the ceramic tiles on its underbelly. These tiles form part of the shuttle's heat shield, vital for protecting the craft on its fiery descent to Earth. Discovery's seven astronauts - five men and two women - were greeted with hugs and smiles by the ISS crew Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams as they entered the space station. Before docking, Commander Steve Lindsey took manual control of Discovery about 300 metres (1,000ft) from the ISS. He performed the flip about 180m (600ft) below the station, so that Vinogradov and Williams could take pictures of its belly. The nine-minute, 360-degree manoeuvre is among several measures Nasa has taken to increase safety since the Columbia disaster in 2003. Live pictures of the docking sequence were broadcast around the world as it began about 220 miles (350km) above Earth, each craft travelling at about at 17,500 mph (28,200km/h). As the shuttle's jets cut off and space station latches automatically hooked onto the shuttle, a Nasa mission control commentator - at the Johnson Space Center in Texas - said: "Contact confirmed."
Delivering the payload
Discovery is making the 115th flight of the American shuttle programme.
The spacecraft will unload almost 13 tonnes of equipment and supplies to the space station. One of the shuttle's crew members, Thomas Reiter from Germany, will also stay on at the ISS for a six-month mission, along with Vinogradov, a Russian, and Williams, an American. This will make Reiter the first European Space Agency (Esa) astronaut to get an extended stay on the platform. Fellow Discovery crew members Mike Fossum and British-born Piers Sellers plan to carry out two or three space walks during their visit to the ISS. At least one of these will be devoted to testing techniques that could be used to repair small defects on the shuttle's surface tiles. Discovery is expected to spend at least eight days docked with the space station, before beginning the return journey to Earth. It is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Center on 16 July.
Extensive checks
On Wednesday, Nasa flight director John Shannon said photographs of the shuttle taken by the crew had found no apparent damage. Some unusual streaks on the right wing were thought to be bird droppings. "Overall the tank performance was really outstanding," said Mr Shannon. "It has just been a great day in space for the crew and the vehicle." Nasa officials hope the clean bill of health so far indicates they have solved the problem of falling foam from shuttle fuel tanks that caused the Columbia disaster in 2003. A suitcase-sized chunk of insulation foam broke away from Columbia's external tank on lift-off and punched a hole in the vehicle's left wing. This allowed superheated gases to get inside the orbiter's structure, causing it to tear apart as it made its descent towards Earth. Some foam was also seen to break away from Discovery's tank during Tuesday's launch but Nasa officials do not believe they were of sufficient size, or moving at sufficient speed, to damage the orbiter.
The space shuttle Discovery has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a two-day trip from Earth. It arrived at the orbital outpost at 1052 EDT (1452 GMT), and the hatches between the two craft were opened around 100 minutes later. Discovery performed a "backflip" before docking so the ISS crew could inspect the ceramic tiles on its underbelly. These tiles form part of the shuttle's heat shield, vital for protecting the craft on its fiery descent to Earth. Discovery's seven astronauts - five men and two women - were greeted with hugs and smiles by the ISS crew Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams as they entered the space station. Before docking, Commander Steve Lindsey took manual control of Discovery about 300 metres (1,000ft) from the ISS. He performed the flip about 180m (600ft) below the station, so that Vinogradov and Williams could take pictures of its belly. The nine-minute, 360-degree manoeuvre is among several measures Nasa has taken to increase safety since the Columbia disaster in 2003. Live pictures of the docking sequence were broadcast around the world as it began about 220 miles (350km) above Earth, each craft travelling at about at 17,500 mph (28,200km/h). As the shuttle's jets cut off and space station latches automatically hooked onto the shuttle, a Nasa mission control commentator - at the Johnson Space Center in Texas - said: "Contact confirmed."
Delivering the payload
Discovery is making the 115th flight of the American shuttle programme.
German Thomas Reiter will stay at ISS for six months
The spacecraft will unload almost 13 tonnes of equipment and supplies to the space station. One of the shuttle's crew members, Thomas Reiter from Germany, will also stay on at the ISS for a six-month mission, along with Vinogradov, a Russian, and Williams, an American. This will make Reiter the first European Space Agency (Esa) astronaut to get an extended stay on the platform. Fellow Discovery crew members Mike Fossum and British-born Piers Sellers plan to carry out two or three space walks during their visit to the ISS. At least one of these will be devoted to testing techniques that could be used to repair small defects on the shuttle's surface tiles. Discovery is expected to spend at least eight days docked with the space station, before beginning the return journey to Earth. It is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Center on 16 July.
Extensive checks
On Wednesday, Nasa flight director John Shannon said photographs of the shuttle taken by the crew had found no apparent damage. Some unusual streaks on the right wing were thought to be bird droppings. "Overall the tank performance was really outstanding," said Mr Shannon. "It has just been a great day in space for the crew and the vehicle." Nasa officials hope the clean bill of health so far indicates they have solved the problem of falling foam from shuttle fuel tanks that caused the Columbia disaster in 2003. A suitcase-sized chunk of insulation foam broke away from Columbia's external tank on lift-off and punched a hole in the vehicle's left wing. This allowed superheated gases to get inside the orbiter's structure, causing it to tear apart as it made its descent towards Earth. Some foam was also seen to break away from Discovery's tank during Tuesday's launch but Nasa officials do not believe they were of sufficient size, or moving at sufficient speed, to damage the orbiter.
Astronauts prepare for spacewalk BBC News
The first spacewalk on the Discovery shuttle's latest mission will take place on Saturday. The British-born astronaut Piers Sellers and colleague Mike Fossum will carry out repairs to the exterior of the International Space Station. They will also test a boom-arm which Nasa hopes future missions could use to go under a shuttle to carry out inspections and repairs. The spacewalk is expected to last about six and a half hours. It will be Fossum's first Extravehicular Activity (EVA); Sellers was a spacewalker on a previous shuttle mission, in 2002. Both men have practised the walk back on Earth, in a virtual reality simulation and in the US space agency's (Nasa) Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. The latter is a giant swimming pool that goes some way to replicating the "weightless" conditions of space. Of particular interest will be the boom tests. The shuttle's 15m-long (50ft) robot arm will be coupled to a new 15m-long inspection rod. The astronauts will bounce up and down on the extension to see if it is strong enough to serve as a work platform in case astronauts one day have to make repairs on a shuttle's belly. "It's essentially one big stick," Sellers told the BBC News website before launch. "We're going to stand on the end of that and do a whole lot of variations." The ISS repairs involve cabling work on a mobile transporter system on the exterior of the station. Discovery docked with the ISS on Thursday and on Friday attached an Italian-built cargo module. The mission will deliver almost 13 tonnes of supplies and equipment. In addition to food, clothing and other essentials, Discovery has brought a freezer for experiment samples, a European Space Agency (Esa) incubator to grow plants in space and a new oxygen generator so the station's crew size can eventually be doubled to six.
Once all the new deliveries have been safely stowed aboard the ISS, the module will be loaded with rubbish for return to Earth. One of Discovery's most important deliveries has been an astronaut: the German Thomas Reiter. He is going to stay on the ISS when the rest of the Discovery crew returns to the ground. Reiter's presence on the platform brings the resident crew up to three - the first time this has happened since ISS numbers were reduced in the wake of the Columbia disaster in 2003. The German becomes the first Esa astronaut to experience an extended tour on the orbital outpost.
The first spacewalk on the Discovery shuttle's latest mission will take place on Saturday. The British-born astronaut Piers Sellers and colleague Mike Fossum will carry out repairs to the exterior of the International Space Station. They will also test a boom-arm which Nasa hopes future missions could use to go under a shuttle to carry out inspections and repairs. The spacewalk is expected to last about six and a half hours. It will be Fossum's first Extravehicular Activity (EVA); Sellers was a spacewalker on a previous shuttle mission, in 2002. Both men have practised the walk back on Earth, in a virtual reality simulation and in the US space agency's (Nasa) Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. The latter is a giant swimming pool that goes some way to replicating the "weightless" conditions of space. Of particular interest will be the boom tests. The shuttle's 15m-long (50ft) robot arm will be coupled to a new 15m-long inspection rod. The astronauts will bounce up and down on the extension to see if it is strong enough to serve as a work platform in case astronauts one day have to make repairs on a shuttle's belly. "It's essentially one big stick," Sellers told the BBC News website before launch. "We're going to stand on the end of that and do a whole lot of variations." The ISS repairs involve cabling work on a mobile transporter system on the exterior of the station. Discovery docked with the ISS on Thursday and on Friday attached an Italian-built cargo module. The mission will deliver almost 13 tonnes of supplies and equipment. In addition to food, clothing and other essentials, Discovery has brought a freezer for experiment samples, a European Space Agency (Esa) incubator to grow plants in space and a new oxygen generator so the station's crew size can eventually be doubled to six.
Sellers will test a robotic arm boom extension on the flight
Once all the new deliveries have been safely stowed aboard the ISS, the module will be loaded with rubbish for return to Earth. One of Discovery's most important deliveries has been an astronaut: the German Thomas Reiter. He is going to stay on the ISS when the rest of the Discovery crew returns to the ground. Reiter's presence on the platform brings the resident crew up to three - the first time this has happened since ISS numbers were reduced in the wake of the Columbia disaster in 2003. The German becomes the first Esa astronaut to experience an extended tour on the orbital outpost.
The NSA is tap, tap, tapping - Spy agency misses the big picture as it targets all the dots San Francisco Chronicle
The National Security Agency is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a code. Secrets lie within. Located in Fort Meade, Md., it dwarfs the CIA. Its budget is black, unknown. And, most disturbing of all, it is the world's largest employer of mathematicians. One of its secrets, recently revealed, is that it's monitoring millions of phone calls to learn just who was calling whom. (Technically, only telephone numbers are being recorded, but you don't have to be Q from James Bond to get a name from a number.) This information was being used to determine who might be a terrorist. Legal or not, the spying program isn't worth violating our civil liberties for. The information one can glean will hardly help us win the war on terror. With the NSA data, you can draw a picture with nodes or dots representing individuals, and lines between nodes if one person has called another. Mathematicians who work with pictures like this are called graph theorists. The field of social network analysis deals with trying to determine information about a group from such a graph, such as who the key players are or who the cell leaders might be. But even when you know everyone in the graph is a terrorist, graphs don't contain information about the order or hierarchy of the cell. Researchers look instead for graph features like centrality: They try to identify nodes that are connected to a lot of other nodes, like spokes around the hub of a bicycle wheel. Monterey Naval Postgraduate School researcher Ted Lewis, in his textbook "Critical Infrastructure Protection," defines a critical node to be such a central hub. There are two problems. First, the central player might not be as important as the hub metaphor suggests. Jafar Adibi of the University of Southern California looked at e-mail traffic between Enron employees before Enron collapsed, and drew the graph. He found that if you naively analyzed the graph, you could mistakenly conclude that one of the central players was CEO Ken Lay's ... secretary. But that wasn't the person who ran the company into the ground. Second, as the journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism reported in 2003, you can kill all the central players in a terrorist cell and still leave the cell with a complete chain of command -- still capable of carrying out a devastating attack. Expert Kathleen Carley of Carnegie Mellon was able to correctly predict -- twice -- who would take over Hamas when its leaders were assassinated, and her analysis used detailed information about the individuals in the organization, not just what anonymous nodes were linked with what. The moral is that the graph theory approach is inadequate. For useful results, it's important to utilize the lattice theory approach, which takes into account order and hierarchy. The other questionable aspect of the NSA spying program is that it seeks to work out who might be a terrorist based on their calling patterns. While I agree that anyone calling 1 (800) AL-QAEDA is probably a terrorist, guilt by association is not just bad law, it's bad mathematics, for three reasons. The simplest reason is that we're all connected. Not in the Haight-Ashbury/Timothy Leary/late-period-Beatles kind of way, but in the sense of the Kevin Bacon game. Sociologist Stanley Milgram took individuals unknown to each other, separated by a continent, and asked one person to send a package to the other -- but only by sending the package to an individual he or she knew, who could then only send the package to someone he knew, and so on. While Milgram's interpretation of the results has since been questioned, the conclusion that emerged is that it took only six mailings, on average, for each package to reach its intended destination. For example, President Bush is only three steps away from Osama bin Laden. And terrorist hermits like the Unabomber might be connected only to very few people. So much for guilt by association. The second reason the NSA methodology is flawed is the concept "strength of weak ties," made famous by Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter. Robert Spulak of the Joint Special Operations University puts it this way: You might not see your college roommate for 10 years, but if he were to call you up and ask to stay in your apartment, you'd let him. This is the principle under which sleeper cells operate: There is no communication for years. The links between nodes that the NSA is looking for simply might not exist for the real threats. Formal concept analysis, a branch of lattice theory, helps rectify this situation. Individuals who share many of the same characteristics are grouped together as one node, and links between nodes in this picture, called a concept lattice, indicate that all the members of a certain subgroup, with certain attributes, must also have other attributes. For instance, you might group together people based on what cafés, bookstores and mosques they attend, and then find out that all the people who go to a certain cafe also attend the same mosque (but maybe not vice versa). While this tool has in fact been used by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory to sift through hundreds of terrorism-related reports, it's still dangerous to rely on the math. The NSA data mining is flawed because, as Kennedy and Lincoln buffs know, two people can be a lot alike without being the same person. Even if there is only a 1 in 150 million chance that someone might share the profile of a terrorist suspect, it still means that, in a country the size of the United States, two people might share that profile. One is just minding his own business. The other is Cat Stevens. This isn't to say mathematicians are useless. In September 2004 -- 10 months before the July 7 bombing of the London Underground -- mathematician Gordon Woo warned that London was a hotbed of jihadist radicalism. But Woo, who works for the Bay Area company Risk Management Solutions, didn't anticipate the bombings using math. He used his knowledge and experience of London, especially the Wood Green area. That's what law enforcement officials should be doing. As for tracking terrorist financing, it may already be too late. The terrorism of the future, according to mathematician Stefan Schmidt of the Technical University in Dresden, Germany, may be the terrorism of the futures -- when bombs explode, the stock market drops. Schmidt wants to quantify the impact on the market of a terrorist incident. The only people who know when a bomb will explode are the terrorists. By playing the market, they may already have obtained as much money as they need -- in perfectly legitimate ways -- thus stifling Treasury Department efforts to cut off the source of their funding. Math is just a tool. Used wisely, math can indeed help win the Battle of Britain (by breaking the German codes). But used unwisely -- as seems to be the case in the NSA telephone caper -- your approval rating might just hit an all-time low. Jonathan David Farley is a mathematician and Science Fellow at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation. A version of this essay was published in the New York Times. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com.
The National Security Agency is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a code. Secrets lie within. Located in Fort Meade, Md., it dwarfs the CIA. Its budget is black, unknown. And, most disturbing of all, it is the world's largest employer of mathematicians. One of its secrets, recently revealed, is that it's monitoring millions of phone calls to learn just who was calling whom. (Technically, only telephone numbers are being recorded, but you don't have to be Q from James Bond to get a name from a number.) This information was being used to determine who might be a terrorist. Legal or not, the spying program isn't worth violating our civil liberties for. The information one can glean will hardly help us win the war on terror. With the NSA data, you can draw a picture with nodes or dots representing individuals, and lines between nodes if one person has called another. Mathematicians who work with pictures like this are called graph theorists. The field of social network analysis deals with trying to determine information about a group from such a graph, such as who the key players are or who the cell leaders might be. But even when you know everyone in the graph is a terrorist, graphs don't contain information about the order or hierarchy of the cell. Researchers look instead for graph features like centrality: They try to identify nodes that are connected to a lot of other nodes, like spokes around the hub of a bicycle wheel. Monterey Naval Postgraduate School researcher Ted Lewis, in his textbook "Critical Infrastructure Protection," defines a critical node to be such a central hub. There are two problems. First, the central player might not be as important as the hub metaphor suggests. Jafar Adibi of the University of Southern California looked at e-mail traffic between Enron employees before Enron collapsed, and drew the graph. He found that if you naively analyzed the graph, you could mistakenly conclude that one of the central players was CEO Ken Lay's ... secretary. But that wasn't the person who ran the company into the ground. Second, as the journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism reported in 2003, you can kill all the central players in a terrorist cell and still leave the cell with a complete chain of command -- still capable of carrying out a devastating attack. Expert Kathleen Carley of Carnegie Mellon was able to correctly predict -- twice -- who would take over Hamas when its leaders were assassinated, and her analysis used detailed information about the individuals in the organization, not just what anonymous nodes were linked with what. The moral is that the graph theory approach is inadequate. For useful results, it's important to utilize the lattice theory approach, which takes into account order and hierarchy. The other questionable aspect of the NSA spying program is that it seeks to work out who might be a terrorist based on their calling patterns. While I agree that anyone calling 1 (800) AL-QAEDA is probably a terrorist, guilt by association is not just bad law, it's bad mathematics, for three reasons. The simplest reason is that we're all connected. Not in the Haight-Ashbury/Timothy Leary/late-period-Beatles kind of way, but in the sense of the Kevin Bacon game. Sociologist Stanley Milgram took individuals unknown to each other, separated by a continent, and asked one person to send a package to the other -- but only by sending the package to an individual he or she knew, who could then only send the package to someone he knew, and so on. While Milgram's interpretation of the results has since been questioned, the conclusion that emerged is that it took only six mailings, on average, for each package to reach its intended destination. For example, President Bush is only three steps away from Osama bin Laden. And terrorist hermits like the Unabomber might be connected only to very few people. So much for guilt by association. The second reason the NSA methodology is flawed is the concept "strength of weak ties," made famous by Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter. Robert Spulak of the Joint Special Operations University puts it this way: You might not see your college roommate for 10 years, but if he were to call you up and ask to stay in your apartment, you'd let him. This is the principle under which sleeper cells operate: There is no communication for years. The links between nodes that the NSA is looking for simply might not exist for the real threats. Formal concept analysis, a branch of lattice theory, helps rectify this situation. Individuals who share many of the same characteristics are grouped together as one node, and links between nodes in this picture, called a concept lattice, indicate that all the members of a certain subgroup, with certain attributes, must also have other attributes. For instance, you might group together people based on what cafés, bookstores and mosques they attend, and then find out that all the people who go to a certain cafe also attend the same mosque (but maybe not vice versa). While this tool has in fact been used by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory to sift through hundreds of terrorism-related reports, it's still dangerous to rely on the math. The NSA data mining is flawed because, as Kennedy and Lincoln buffs know, two people can be a lot alike without being the same person. Even if there is only a 1 in 150 million chance that someone might share the profile of a terrorist suspect, it still means that, in a country the size of the United States, two people might share that profile. One is just minding his own business. The other is Cat Stevens. This isn't to say mathematicians are useless. In September 2004 -- 10 months before the July 7 bombing of the London Underground -- mathematician Gordon Woo warned that London was a hotbed of jihadist radicalism. But Woo, who works for the Bay Area company Risk Management Solutions, didn't anticipate the bombings using math. He used his knowledge and experience of London, especially the Wood Green area. That's what law enforcement officials should be doing. As for tracking terrorist financing, it may already be too late. The terrorism of the future, according to mathematician Stefan Schmidt of the Technical University in Dresden, Germany, may be the terrorism of the futures -- when bombs explode, the stock market drops. Schmidt wants to quantify the impact on the market of a terrorist incident. The only people who know when a bomb will explode are the terrorists. By playing the market, they may already have obtained as much money as they need -- in perfectly legitimate ways -- thus stifling Treasury Department efforts to cut off the source of their funding. Math is just a tool. Used wisely, math can indeed help win the Battle of Britain (by breaking the German codes). But used unwisely -- as seems to be the case in the NSA telephone caper -- your approval rating might just hit an all-time low. Jonathan David Farley is a mathematician and Science Fellow at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation. A version of this essay was published in the New York Times. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com.
MySpace is America's top site CNN Money.com
Social networking site ranked No. 1 last week, Internet tracking firm says.
Online teen hangout MySpace.com ranked as the No. 1 U.S. Web site last week, displacing Yahoo Inc.'s top-rated e-mail gateway and Google Inc.'s search site, Internet tracking firm Hitwise said Tuesday. News Corp.'s MySpace accounted for 4.46 percent of all U.S. Internet visits for the week ending July 8, pushing it past Yahoo Mail for the first time and outpacing the home pages for Yahoo, Google and Microsoft's MSN Hotmail. Hitwise does not provide figures for the number of unique visitors to a site. MySpace, which dominates social networking on the Web, also gained share in June from other sites that aim to create virtual communities online for sharing music, photos or other interests, Hitwise said. MySpace captured nearly 80 percent of visits to online social networking sites, up from 76 percent in April. A distant second was FaceBook at 7.6 percent. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought MySpace for $580 million one year ago as part of a strategy to rapidly build up the media conglomerate's Internet presence.
Social networking site ranked No. 1 last week, Internet tracking firm says.
Online teen hangout MySpace.com ranked as the No. 1 U.S. Web site last week, displacing Yahoo Inc.'s top-rated e-mail gateway and Google Inc.'s search site, Internet tracking firm Hitwise said Tuesday. News Corp.'s MySpace accounted for 4.46 percent of all U.S. Internet visits for the week ending July 8, pushing it past Yahoo Mail for the first time and outpacing the home pages for Yahoo, Google and Microsoft's MSN Hotmail. Hitwise does not provide figures for the number of unique visitors to a site. MySpace, which dominates social networking on the Web, also gained share in June from other sites that aim to create virtual communities online for sharing music, photos or other interests, Hitwise said. MySpace captured nearly 80 percent of visits to online social networking sites, up from 76 percent in April. A distant second was FaceBook at 7.6 percent. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought MySpace for $580 million one year ago as part of a strategy to rapidly build up the media conglomerate's Internet presence.
Microsoft hit with 280m euro fine BBC News
Microsoft has been fined 280.5m euros ($357m; £194m) by the European Commission for failing to comply with an anti-competition ruling. The software giant was hit by the fine following a long-running dispute between the US firm and EU regulators. The move follows a landmark EU ruling in 2004, which ordered Microsoft to provide rivals with information about its Windows operating system. EU regulators also warned Microsoft it could face new fines of 3m euros a day. The daily fines will come into force from 31 July if Microsoft fails to supply "complete and accurate" technical information to rival developers, the EU said. Microsoft has insisted it is meeting the Commission's demands, and says it expects to deliver the final bundle of information for use by rival software firms by 18 July.
'Illegal conduct'
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said she had "no alternative but to levy penalty payments" against Microsoft, adding that "no company is above the law". "I regret that, more than two years after the decision... Microsoft has still not put an end to its illegal conduct," Ms Kroes said. Brussels had warned Microsoft in December that it would face fines of 2m euros a day if the firm failed to meet the Commission's demands. Under the 2004 ruling, Microsoft was told to provide rival firms with more information about its software, in order to enable them to write programs that could run more smoothly on Microsoft's widely-used Windows operating system. The judgment also called for Microsoft to debundle its Windows Media Player from its Windows operating system, and slapped the software firm with a record fine of 497m euros.
Microsoft has been fined 280.5m euros ($357m; £194m) by the European Commission for failing to comply with an anti-competition ruling. The software giant was hit by the fine following a long-running dispute between the US firm and EU regulators. The move follows a landmark EU ruling in 2004, which ordered Microsoft to provide rivals with information about its Windows operating system. EU regulators also warned Microsoft it could face new fines of 3m euros a day. The daily fines will come into force from 31 July if Microsoft fails to supply "complete and accurate" technical information to rival developers, the EU said. Microsoft has insisted it is meeting the Commission's demands, and says it expects to deliver the final bundle of information for use by rival software firms by 18 July.
'Illegal conduct'
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said she had "no alternative but to levy penalty payments" against Microsoft, adding that "no company is above the law". "I regret that, more than two years after the decision... Microsoft has still not put an end to its illegal conduct," Ms Kroes said. Brussels had warned Microsoft in December that it would face fines of 2m euros a day if the firm failed to meet the Commission's demands. Under the 2004 ruling, Microsoft was told to provide rival firms with more information about its software, in order to enable them to write programs that could run more smoothly on Microsoft's widely-used Windows operating system. The judgment also called for Microsoft to debundle its Windows Media Player from its Windows operating system, and slapped the software firm with a record fine of 497m euros.
Final spacewalk for astronauts BBC News
Astronauts on space shuttle Discovery are carrying out the third and final spacewalk of the current mission. Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum headed outside on Wednesday to practise repair techniques for the ship's heat shield. They are testing a sealant for fixing cracks in wing panels which must be able to survive searing temperatures when the shuttle returns to Earth. The US space agency, Nasa, has given Discovery a clean bill of health and cleared it for a return to Florida. The repair techniques were developed as part of Nasa's attempts to improve flight safety in the wake of 2003's Columbia disaster. "Our number one goal is to never have to use them," said Nasa lead flight director Tony Ceccacci.
Polymer filler
At 0720 EDT (1120 GMT), Sellers and Fossum began making their way to the back of Discovery's cargo bay to open a box that contains a pallet of 12 pre-damaged panels made of the composite material Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC). These panels are identical to those which line the shuttle's wing leading edge protecting the orbiter's aluminium shell from re-entry temperatures that get as high as 1,700C (3,000F). During the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, the astronauts filled cracks in the panels using a caulk gun loaded with a gloopy sealant called Noax. Wearing bulky spacesuit gloves, Sellers and Fossum massaged the sealant with a putty knife to keep it from bubbling in zero gravity. "Those bubbles behave differently in [low gravity] - they don't rise to the surface," Mr Fossum said on Tuesday. "If you have too many bubbles trapped beneath the surface, then you're not going to get the repair you want." The Noax substance - which is a polymer with the consistency of peanut butter - was tested during the first post-Columbia mission last year. The follow-up studies aboard Discovery will help engineers understand how temperatures affect the material's performance. It was RCC panels on Columbia that were pierced by flyaway foam from the vehicle's external tank during launch - damage that led directly to the ship's destruction on re-entry. Discovery's own surface tiles were subjected to a thorough examination following the vehicle's launch from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida last week; and although the investigation found some defects in the heat shield they were not considered serious enough to prevent the orbiter's safe return to Earth. A landing at KSC has been scheduled for 0914 (EDT) on 17 July.
Astronauts on space shuttle Discovery are carrying out the third and final spacewalk of the current mission. Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum headed outside on Wednesday to practise repair techniques for the ship's heat shield. They are testing a sealant for fixing cracks in wing panels which must be able to survive searing temperatures when the shuttle returns to Earth. The US space agency, Nasa, has given Discovery a clean bill of health and cleared it for a return to Florida. The repair techniques were developed as part of Nasa's attempts to improve flight safety in the wake of 2003's Columbia disaster. "Our number one goal is to never have to use them," said Nasa lead flight director Tony Ceccacci.
Polymer filler
At 0720 EDT (1120 GMT), Sellers and Fossum began making their way to the back of Discovery's cargo bay to open a box that contains a pallet of 12 pre-damaged panels made of the composite material Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC). These panels are identical to those which line the shuttle's wing leading edge protecting the orbiter's aluminium shell from re-entry temperatures that get as high as 1,700C (3,000F). During the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, the astronauts filled cracks in the panels using a caulk gun loaded with a gloopy sealant called Noax. Wearing bulky spacesuit gloves, Sellers and Fossum massaged the sealant with a putty knife to keep it from bubbling in zero gravity. "Those bubbles behave differently in [low gravity] - they don't rise to the surface," Mr Fossum said on Tuesday. "If you have too many bubbles trapped beneath the surface, then you're not going to get the repair you want." The Noax substance - which is a polymer with the consistency of peanut butter - was tested during the first post-Columbia mission last year. The follow-up studies aboard Discovery will help engineers understand how temperatures affect the material's performance. It was RCC panels on Columbia that were pierced by flyaway foam from the vehicle's external tank during launch - damage that led directly to the ship's destruction on re-entry. Discovery's own surface tiles were subjected to a thorough examination following the vehicle's launch from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida last week; and although the investigation found some defects in the heat shield they were not considered serious enough to prevent the orbiter's safe return to Earth. A landing at KSC has been scheduled for 0914 (EDT) on 17 July.
Panama approves canal expansion BBC News
The Panamanian congress has formally approved a $5bn plan to widen the Panama Canal, its biggest expansion since it opened in 1914. Some modern ships are now too wide to go through the canal, and those ships that can pass have to queue for hours. The project will now go to a binding referendum to be held later this year. Opinion polls show that voters in Panama are in favour of the plan, but critics say the completed project will still not meet shipping needs. The 80km (50-mile) Panama Canal, which was controlled by the United States until 1999, handles nearly 5% of global trade. At present, it can only handle ships carrying up 4,000 containers, known as Panamax vessels.
The Panamanian congress has formally approved a $5bn plan to widen the Panama Canal, its biggest expansion since it opened in 1914. Some modern ships are now too wide to go through the canal, and those ships that can pass have to queue for hours. The project will now go to a binding referendum to be held later this year. Opinion polls show that voters in Panama are in favour of the plan, but critics say the completed project will still not meet shipping needs. The 80km (50-mile) Panama Canal, which was controlled by the United States until 1999, handles nearly 5% of global trade. At present, it can only handle ships carrying up 4,000 containers, known as Panamax vessels.
The canal carries about 5% of world trade
But with wider locks and deeper and wider access canals it could take ships carrying up to 10,000 containers. The current locks are 33 metres (108 feet) wide, but the new locks would be 50 metres (150 feet). A third lane of traffic would be able to handle the wider loads. Panama says the cost of the upgrades would be met from increased tolls, supplemented by a $2.3bn loan. But opponents say that when the work is finished in 2014-15, the canal will still be inadequate. An alternative plan of new terminals at the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the canal to handle containers in transit is proposed. The canal is mainly used by the US, Japan, China and Chile.
Space shuttle moves away from ISS BBC News
Space Shuttle Discovery has undocked from the International Space Station and is moving away in preparation for a return to Earth on Monday. Six astronauts are on board, after German astronaut Thomas Reiter was left behind for a six-month ISS stay. Before re-entry Discovery's team will conduct a final scan of the craft's heat shield to check for impact damage. It will stay just 46 miles (74km) from the ISS until the scan is done so it can return if serious damage is found.
Micrometeoroid scan
The shuttle is scheduled to land at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday. The mission is just the second to be carried out since the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere in January 2003, killing all seven crew on board. Accident investigators said the disaster had been caused by insulating foam falling from Columbia's external fuel tank during launch and striking the shuttle's wing, compromising the heat shield needed to protect it during re-entry. The heat shield scan will done with the same laser and camera system which was used to check for possible damage from flying debris during launch earlier in the flight. In this instance it will check for micrometeoroid impacts which could have occurred during the stint in space. The post-launch inspection found no damage and the astronauts are confident that this will be the case again. "We've been flying space shuttles for a long time and we've never had any kind of critical damage from a micrometeoroid so it's pretty remote," pilot Mark Kelly said "Based on what we've seen over the last 10 days, the inspections we've done... we've got a great ship. It's ready to come home," he added. The nine-day mission has included three spacewalks and repairs vital to resuming building work on the ISS.
Space Shuttle Discovery has undocked from the International Space Station and is moving away in preparation for a return to Earth on Monday. Six astronauts are on board, after German astronaut Thomas Reiter was left behind for a six-month ISS stay. Before re-entry Discovery's team will conduct a final scan of the craft's heat shield to check for impact damage. It will stay just 46 miles (74km) from the ISS until the scan is done so it can return if serious damage is found.
Micrometeoroid scan
The shuttle is scheduled to land at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday. The mission is just the second to be carried out since the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere in January 2003, killing all seven crew on board. Accident investigators said the disaster had been caused by insulating foam falling from Columbia's external fuel tank during launch and striking the shuttle's wing, compromising the heat shield needed to protect it during re-entry. The heat shield scan will done with the same laser and camera system which was used to check for possible damage from flying debris during launch earlier in the flight. In this instance it will check for micrometeoroid impacts which could have occurred during the stint in space. The post-launch inspection found no damage and the astronauts are confident that this will be the case again. "We've been flying space shuttles for a long time and we've never had any kind of critical damage from a micrometeoroid so it's pretty remote," pilot Mark Kelly said "Based on what we've seen over the last 10 days, the inspections we've done... we've got a great ship. It's ready to come home," he added. The nine-day mission has included three spacewalks and repairs vital to resuming building work on the ISS.
Space shuttle moves away from ISS BBC News
Space Shuttle Discovery has undocked from the International Space Station and is moving away in preparation for a return to Earth on Monday. Six astronauts are on board, after German astronaut Thomas Reiter was left behind for a six-month ISS stay. The Discovery team conducted a final scan of the craft's heat shield to check for impact damage. The results of the inspection will be released on Sunday to clear the shuttle for its return home. So far Nasa engineers have not reported any problems with the shuttle heat shield. The shuttle has been kept 74km (46 miles) from the ISS so it can return if serious damage is found.
Micrometeoroid scan
The shuttle is scheduled to land at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday. The mission is just the second to be carried out since the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere in January 2003, killing all seven crew on board. Accident investigators said the disaster had been caused by insulating foam falling from Columbia's external fuel tank during launch and striking the shuttle's wing, compromising the heat shield needed to protect it during re-entry. The heat shield scan was done with the same laser and camera system which was used to check for possible damage from flying debris during launch earlier in the flight. It checked for micrometeoroid impacts which could have occurred during the stint in space. The post-launch inspection found no damage and the astronauts are confident that this will be the case again. "We've been flying space shuttles for a long time and we've never had any kind of critical damage from a micrometeoroid so it's pretty remote," pilot Mark Kelly said "Based on what we've seen over the last 10 days, the inspections we've done... we've got a great ship. It's ready to come home," he added. The nine-day mission has included three spacewalks and repairs vital to resuming building work on the ISS.
Space Shuttle Discovery has undocked from the International Space Station and is moving away in preparation for a return to Earth on Monday. Six astronauts are on board, after German astronaut Thomas Reiter was left behind for a six-month ISS stay. The Discovery team conducted a final scan of the craft's heat shield to check for impact damage. The results of the inspection will be released on Sunday to clear the shuttle for its return home. So far Nasa engineers have not reported any problems with the shuttle heat shield. The shuttle has been kept 74km (46 miles) from the ISS so it can return if serious damage is found.
Micrometeoroid scan
The shuttle is scheduled to land at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday. The mission is just the second to be carried out since the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere in January 2003, killing all seven crew on board. Accident investigators said the disaster had been caused by insulating foam falling from Columbia's external fuel tank during launch and striking the shuttle's wing, compromising the heat shield needed to protect it during re-entry. The heat shield scan was done with the same laser and camera system which was used to check for possible damage from flying debris during launch earlier in the flight. It checked for micrometeoroid impacts which could have occurred during the stint in space. The post-launch inspection found no damage and the astronauts are confident that this will be the case again. "We've been flying space shuttles for a long time and we've never had any kind of critical damage from a micrometeoroid so it's pretty remote," pilot Mark Kelly said "Based on what we've seen over the last 10 days, the inspections we've done... we've got a great ship. It's ready to come home," he added. The nine-day mission has included three spacewalks and repairs vital to resuming building work on the ISS.
Discovery makes Florida landing BBC News
The Discovery space shuttle and its six-strong crew have returned to Earth after a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. The orbiter touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1314 GMT. Mission control had raised concerns about weather conditions, but gave the go-ahead shortly before the ship began its hour-long descent. Nasa hopes the mission's success has drawn a line under doubts over the shuttle programme's safety. "Welcome back Discovery and congratulations on a great mission," mission control told shuttle commander Steven Lindsey, as the orbiter came to a halt on the runway after deploying its parachute. "It was a great mission. A really great mission," Lindsey replied. Discovery was cleared for re-entry over the weekend when inspections revealed no signs of damage to the craft. The orbiter's flight was only the second shuttle mission since the Columbia broke up on re-entry in 2003 killing everyone on board and grounding the rest of the shuttle fleet.
Six-month stay
Crew members were woken early on Monday to begin preparations for re-entry, one of the riskiest phases of a shuttle mission. Mission control waited until almost the last minute to confirm the weather was good enough for the shuttle to return. There had been some worry over a bank of rain clouds in northern Florida which were expected to head towards the landing site. Once the go-ahead was given, Steven Lindsey and co-pilot Mark Kelly started the spacecraft's plunge out of orbit. The shuttle reached a velocity of nearly 25 times the speed of sound as it hurtled through the atmosphere, generating huge amounts of heat. No problems were reported with the ship's heat shield, and the shuttle touched down on schedule under overcast skies. The orbiter has returned a man lighter than at take-off, having left German astronaut Thomas Reiter on board the International Space Station (ISS) for six months.
'Enormously successful'
After landing, Lindsey said he and the crew had accomplished both their major objectives - completing the post-Columbia testing of the shuttle and its redesigned fuel tank, and preparing the way for Nasa to restart building work on the ISS. The work was halted after the Columbia disaster.
The Discovery space shuttle and its six-strong crew have returned to Earth after a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. The orbiter touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1314 GMT. Mission control had raised concerns about weather conditions, but gave the go-ahead shortly before the ship began its hour-long descent. Nasa hopes the mission's success has drawn a line under doubts over the shuttle programme's safety. "Welcome back Discovery and congratulations on a great mission," mission control told shuttle commander Steven Lindsey, as the orbiter came to a halt on the runway after deploying its parachute. "It was a great mission. A really great mission," Lindsey replied. Discovery was cleared for re-entry over the weekend when inspections revealed no signs of damage to the craft. The orbiter's flight was only the second shuttle mission since the Columbia broke up on re-entry in 2003 killing everyone on board and grounding the rest of the shuttle fleet.
Six-month stay
Crew members were woken early on Monday to begin preparations for re-entry, one of the riskiest phases of a shuttle mission. Mission control waited until almost the last minute to confirm the weather was good enough for the shuttle to return. There had been some worry over a bank of rain clouds in northern Florida which were expected to head towards the landing site. Once the go-ahead was given, Steven Lindsey and co-pilot Mark Kelly started the spacecraft's plunge out of orbit. The shuttle reached a velocity of nearly 25 times the speed of sound as it hurtled through the atmosphere, generating huge amounts of heat. No problems were reported with the ship's heat shield, and the shuttle touched down on schedule under overcast skies. The orbiter has returned a man lighter than at take-off, having left German astronaut Thomas Reiter on board the International Space Station (ISS) for six months.
'Enormously successful'
After landing, Lindsey said he and the crew had accomplished both their major objectives - completing the post-Columbia testing of the shuttle and its redesigned fuel tank, and preparing the way for Nasa to restart building work on the ISS. The work was halted after the Columbia disaster.
The crew posed for photographs after clambering out of the shuttle
"We're ready to go assemble station," Lindsey said, "and we're ready to start flying shuttles on a more regular basis." Nasa chiefs were delighted with the landing, and declared the flight "enormously successful". "This is as good a mission as we've ever flown but we're not going to get over-confident," Nasa administrator Michael Griffin said. Accident investigators said the Columbia disaster had been caused by insulating foam falling from the vehicle's external fuel tank during launch, striking the orbiter's wing and damaging the heat shield needed to protect it during re-entry. Discovery's heat shield was examined in detail just after launch and just before re-entry. Astronauts used a laser and camera system to check over the ship's nose and belly. The final inspection was geared in particular to look for micrometeoroid impacts that could have damaged the shuttle during its stint in space. The Discovery mission undertook three spacewalks, including doing repairs on the ISS that were vital to resuming building work on the platform. Before the space shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, Nasa hopes to carry out many more missions, with the goal of completing work on the ISS. Its shuttle programme will continue next month, when the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to blast off.The US space agency will take great heart from the success of the mission
Senate approves stem-cell funding MarketWatch
The Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would allow federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, but backers appear unlikely to override a promised presidential veto. The Senate voted 63-37 to lift restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research put in place by President Bush in 2001. The House passed the bill last year. It now goes to the White House, which this week has repeatedly reiterated Bush's plan to veto the bill. The move would mark the first veto of Bush's presidency. Both the House and Senate appeared unlikely to come up with the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. Tuesday's vote came after the Senate unanimously passed two non-controversial stem-cell bills. One would prohibit a practice dubbed "fetal farming," while the other would encourage federal funding of research into methods for obtaining stem cells without harming embryos. But Democrats charged that Republicans were offering those pieces of legislation merely to provide political cover to the White House and to lawmakers who vote against federal funding for embryonic research. The embryonic stem-cell bill passed with the support of the chamber's Democrats and a large chunk of Republicans after nearly two days of often emotional debate. Bush, in a 2001 executive order, restricted research to embryonic stem-cell lines already in existence at that time. Advocates of embryonic stem-cell research contend the administration's restrictions have slowed the development of treatments for those suffering from spinal-cord injuries and a range of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and diabetes. "It is a clear cut question to use embryos to save lives because otherwise they will be destroyed. There are some 400,000 frozen embryos, and the choice is between discarding them or using them to save lives," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a co-sponsor of the bill. Opponents, including the White House, contend the research destroys human life and shouldn't be funded by taxpayer dollars. "The president is not opposed to stem-cell research, he's all for it. But there is one kind of research and that is that which involves the destruction of human life that he does not think is appropriate for the federal government to finance. He's been absolutely clear about it," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "Just because the budding lives would not survive does not mean that we should ghoulishly conduct experiments on them," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. The legislation would require the federal government to support research using stem cells from excess embryos created as part of fertility treatments and that were due to otherwise be discarded. The written consent of the embryo donors would also be required. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., surprised colleagues last year when he announced he would back an easing of longstanding White House restrictions on federal funding. The White House also issued statements Monday backing passage of the other two other bills being considered by the Senate. "Fetal farming" refers to the use of fetal tissue obtained from a pregnancy initiated for research purposes. The other measure would encourage federal funding of research into methods for obtaining stem cells without harming embryos.
Senate Approves Embryonic Stem Cell Bill ABC News
Senate Approves Bill to Expand Wall Street Journal (subscription)
WHO-TV - Center For American Progress - Kaiser network.org - Sky Valley Journal - all 1,438 related »
The Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would allow federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, but backers appear unlikely to override a promised presidential veto. The Senate voted 63-37 to lift restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research put in place by President Bush in 2001. The House passed the bill last year. It now goes to the White House, which this week has repeatedly reiterated Bush's plan to veto the bill. The move would mark the first veto of Bush's presidency. Both the House and Senate appeared unlikely to come up with the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. Tuesday's vote came after the Senate unanimously passed two non-controversial stem-cell bills. One would prohibit a practice dubbed "fetal farming," while the other would encourage federal funding of research into methods for obtaining stem cells without harming embryos. But Democrats charged that Republicans were offering those pieces of legislation merely to provide political cover to the White House and to lawmakers who vote against federal funding for embryonic research. The embryonic stem-cell bill passed with the support of the chamber's Democrats and a large chunk of Republicans after nearly two days of often emotional debate. Bush, in a 2001 executive order, restricted research to embryonic stem-cell lines already in existence at that time. Advocates of embryonic stem-cell research contend the administration's restrictions have slowed the development of treatments for those suffering from spinal-cord injuries and a range of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and diabetes. "It is a clear cut question to use embryos to save lives because otherwise they will be destroyed. There are some 400,000 frozen embryos, and the choice is between discarding them or using them to save lives," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a co-sponsor of the bill. Opponents, including the White House, contend the research destroys human life and shouldn't be funded by taxpayer dollars. "The president is not opposed to stem-cell research, he's all for it. But there is one kind of research and that is that which involves the destruction of human life that he does not think is appropriate for the federal government to finance. He's been absolutely clear about it," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "Just because the budding lives would not survive does not mean that we should ghoulishly conduct experiments on them," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. The legislation would require the federal government to support research using stem cells from excess embryos created as part of fertility treatments and that were due to otherwise be discarded. The written consent of the embryo donors would also be required. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., surprised colleagues last year when he announced he would back an easing of longstanding White House restrictions on federal funding. The White House also issued statements Monday backing passage of the other two other bills being considered by the Senate. "Fetal farming" refers to the use of fetal tissue obtained from a pregnancy initiated for research purposes. The other measure would encourage federal funding of research into methods for obtaining stem cells without harming embryos.
Senate Approves Embryonic Stem Cell Bill ABC News
Senate Approves Bill to Expand Wall Street Journal (subscription)
WHO-TV - Center For American Progress - Kaiser network.org - Sky Valley Journal - all 1,438 related »
PayPal spawns scores of tech entrepreneurs MSNBC
Top talent began exodus following eBay acquisition in 2002
Maybe there was something in the beer at Fanny and Alexander's. During the height of the first Web boom, the Palo Alto, Calif., hot spot doubled as a clubhouse for PayPal employees, who frequently gathered at the restaurant's large outdoor patio during the online payment company's early days. But after online auction giant eBay bought the startup for $1.5 billion in 2002, the tight-knit group dispersed. Many have gone on to found some of Silicon Valley's most talked-about companies: The PayPal diaspora includes the founders of such trendy Web sites as YouTube and LinkedIn, as well as heavy-hitters at prestigious investment firms like Clarium Capital and Sequoia Capital. "I really haven't seen so many entrepreneurs spin out of a single company before," says Jeremy Stoppleman, former vice president of technology at PayPal, and the current chief executive of local-reviews site Yelp.com. It's not uncommon for startup founders to leave after selling their company, particularly when they're rolling in cash. Former PayPal Chief Executive Peter Thiel, for instance, owned shares worth about $68 million at the time of the eBay acquisition. That kind of money makes it easy to start over again. But years later, PayPal is still losing some of its top staff. Last year, Chief Technical Officer Chuck Geiger left the company. And last week, eBay said PayPal president Jeff Jordan will leave the company after a two-year stint at the top, a move viewed negatively by some analysts. "We view the senior management changes with concern, as they come at a critical time for eBay," wrote Douglas Anmuth, an analyst with Lehman Brothers. Last month, search heavyweight Google launched Google Checkout, an online payment system aimed directly at PayPal and eBay.
RELATED SLIDESHOW: Where PayPal's veterans are now
Former PayPal employees estimate that half of the 200 or so employees who worked at the company's headquarters before the 2002 acquisition have left; of the company's original 50 employees, they estimate, fewer than a dozen remain. "There's brain drain at PayPal, and it reflects how things are going over there," says Eric Jackson, a former interim vice president of marketing at PayPal who left the company in 2003. Jackson, who now runs World Ahead Publishing, is the author of “The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia and the Rest of Planet Earth.” While PayPal's original vision may remain, the startup's culture is long gone, Jackson says. He points to Jordan's replacement: Rajiv Dutta, the former head of Skype, the Internet telephone service eBay bought last year. "Elevating an eBay executive to run PayPal instead of finding someone within PayPal to do it made a statement about how they wanted to run things," Jackson says. EBay spokeswoman Amanda Pires says the company has been able to hang on to many original PayPal employees. "Four years later, we're still proud of our retention of those people," she says. "We were able to keep PayPal's vision--and after some acquisitions, that's just not the case."
RELATED SLIDESHOWS FROM FORBES.COMBut PayPal vets say their former company had a particular spirit that would have been hard to sustain, no matter who bought the company. Before the eBay acquisition, for instance, young engineers without any business background were encouraged to talk back to executives. "I was a 22-year-old whippersnapper, and I remember firing off this e-mail that disagreed with the entire executive staff," says Yelp's Stoppelman. "I didn't get fired — I got a pat on the back." It was this freewheeling management style, along with a shared struggle and a thriving alumni network, that has allowed ex-PayPalers to succeed after leaving the company, argues PayPal co-founder Max Levchin. "A lot of the things that happened to us were inspirational," he says. "We went through this insane rollercoaster — 'rags to riches' doesn't even begin to describe it." That may be why many PayPal alumni tend to end up working with each other at their new ventures — most companies founded by ex-PayPal employees feature at least two high-level PayPal vets. "You can skip the courting period — those [PayPal] ties drive businesses today," Levchin says. "Look at YouTube [co-founded by two PayPal veterans]. It's like a reunion over there."
By Rachel Rosmarin, Forbes
Top talent began exodus following eBay acquisition in 2002
Maybe there was something in the beer at Fanny and Alexander's. During the height of the first Web boom, the Palo Alto, Calif., hot spot doubled as a clubhouse for PayPal employees, who frequently gathered at the restaurant's large outdoor patio during the online payment company's early days. But after online auction giant eBay bought the startup for $1.5 billion in 2002, the tight-knit group dispersed. Many have gone on to found some of Silicon Valley's most talked-about companies: The PayPal diaspora includes the founders of such trendy Web sites as YouTube and LinkedIn, as well as heavy-hitters at prestigious investment firms like Clarium Capital and Sequoia Capital. "I really haven't seen so many entrepreneurs spin out of a single company before," says Jeremy Stoppleman, former vice president of technology at PayPal, and the current chief executive of local-reviews site Yelp.com. It's not uncommon for startup founders to leave after selling their company, particularly when they're rolling in cash. Former PayPal Chief Executive Peter Thiel, for instance, owned shares worth about $68 million at the time of the eBay acquisition. That kind of money makes it easy to start over again. But years later, PayPal is still losing some of its top staff. Last year, Chief Technical Officer Chuck Geiger left the company. And last week, eBay said PayPal president Jeff Jordan will leave the company after a two-year stint at the top, a move viewed negatively by some analysts. "We view the senior management changes with concern, as they come at a critical time for eBay," wrote Douglas Anmuth, an analyst with Lehman Brothers. Last month, search heavyweight Google launched Google Checkout, an online payment system aimed directly at PayPal and eBay.
RELATED SLIDESHOW: Where PayPal's veterans are now
Former PayPal employees estimate that half of the 200 or so employees who worked at the company's headquarters before the 2002 acquisition have left; of the company's original 50 employees, they estimate, fewer than a dozen remain. "There's brain drain at PayPal, and it reflects how things are going over there," says Eric Jackson, a former interim vice president of marketing at PayPal who left the company in 2003. Jackson, who now runs World Ahead Publishing, is the author of “The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia and the Rest of Planet Earth.” While PayPal's original vision may remain, the startup's culture is long gone, Jackson says. He points to Jordan's replacement: Rajiv Dutta, the former head of Skype, the Internet telephone service eBay bought last year. "Elevating an eBay executive to run PayPal instead of finding someone within PayPal to do it made a statement about how they wanted to run things," Jackson says. EBay spokeswoman Amanda Pires says the company has been able to hang on to many original PayPal employees. "Four years later, we're still proud of our retention of those people," she says. "We were able to keep PayPal's vision--and after some acquisitions, that's just not the case."
RELATED SLIDESHOWS FROM FORBES.COMBut PayPal vets say their former company had a particular spirit that would have been hard to sustain, no matter who bought the company. Before the eBay acquisition, for instance, young engineers without any business background were encouraged to talk back to executives. "I was a 22-year-old whippersnapper, and I remember firing off this e-mail that disagreed with the entire executive staff," says Yelp's Stoppelman. "I didn't get fired — I got a pat on the back." It was this freewheeling management style, along with a shared struggle and a thriving alumni network, that has allowed ex-PayPalers to succeed after leaving the company, argues PayPal co-founder Max Levchin. "A lot of the things that happened to us were inspirational," he says. "We went through this insane rollercoaster — 'rags to riches' doesn't even begin to describe it." That may be why many PayPal alumni tend to end up working with each other at their new ventures — most companies founded by ex-PayPal employees feature at least two high-level PayPal vets. "You can skip the courting period — those [PayPal] ties drive businesses today," Levchin says. "Look at YouTube [co-founded by two PayPal veterans]. It's like a reunion over there."
By Rachel Rosmarin, Forbes
E-mail losing its clout Yahoo! News
E-mail is so last millennium. Young people see it as a good way to reach an elder — a parent, teacher or a boss — or to receive an attached file. But increasingly, the former darling of high-tech communication is losing favor to instant and text messaging, and to the chatter generated on blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The shift is starting to creep into workplace communication, too. "In this world of instant gratification, e-mail has become the new snail mail," says 25-year-old Rachel Quizon from Norwalk, Calif. She became addicted to instant messaging in college, where many students are logged on 24/7. Much like home postal boxes have become receptacles for junk mail, bills and the occasional greeting card, electronic mailboxes have become cluttered with spam. That makes them a pain to weed through, and the problem is only expected to worsen as some e-mail providers allow online marketers to bypass spam filters for a fee. Beyond that, e-mail has become most associated with school and work. "It used to be just fun," says Danah Boyd, a doctoral candidate who studies social media at the University of California, Berkeley. "Now it's about parents and authority." It means that many people often don't respond to e-mails unless they have to. Boyd's own Web page carries this note: "please note that i'm months behind on e-mail and i may not respond in a timely manner." She, too, is more easily reached with the "ping" of an instant message. That said, no one is predicting the death of e-mail. Besides its usefulness in formal correspondence, it also offers the ability to send something from "one to many," says Anne Kirah, a senior design anthropologist at Microsoft who studies people's high-tech habits. That might include an announcement for a club or invitation to a party. Quizon e-mails frequently in her corporate communications job at a hospital, and also uses it when she needs documentation — for instance, when dealing with vendors for her upcoming wedding. In those cases, she says e-mail "still holds more clout." But when immediacy is a factor — as it often is — most young people much prefer the telephone or instant messaging for everything from casual to heart-to-heart conversations, according to research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "And there is a very strong sense that the migration away from e-mail continues," says Lee Rainie, the director at Pew. For many young people, it's about choosing the best communication tool for the situation. You might use text messaging during a meeting that requires quiet, Rainie says, or make a phone call to discuss sensitive subjects so there's no written record. Still, some who've gotten caught up in the trend toward brevity wonder if it's making things too impersonal. "Don't want to see someone? Then call them. Don't want to call someone? E-mail them. Don't want to take the trouble of writing sentences? Text them," says 33-year-old Matthew Felling, an admitted "serial texter" who is also the spokesman for the Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington. "It's the ultimate social crutch to avoid personal communication." But others don't see it that way. They think the shift toward IM and text is simply more efficient and convenient. Chintan Talati, who is 28, often uses instant message with other younger peers at his work, a California-based Web site that provides automotive information to consumers. He prefers IM over e-mail. "It's a way to get a quicker answer," he says. His baby boomer colleagues don't necessarily share that view — and often find instant messaging overwhelming. Boyd has found much the same in her research at Berkeley. "Adults who learn to use IM later have major difficulty talking to more than two people at one time — whereas the teens who grew up on it have no problem talking to a bazillion people at once," Boyd says. "They understand how to negotiate the interruptions a lot better." Kirah, at Microsoft, even thinks young people's brains work differently because they've grown up with IM, making them more adept at it. For that reason, she says bosses should go right ahead and use their e-mail — and shouldn't feel threatened by IM. "Like parents, they try to control their children," she says. "But companies really need to respond to the way people work and communicate." The focus, she says, should be the outcome. "Nine to 5 has been replaced with 'Give me a deadline and I will meet your deadline,'" Kirah says of young people's work habits. "They're saying 'I might work until 2 a.m. that night. But I will do it all on my terms.'"
On the Net: Pew: http://www.pewinternet.org
By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National Writer
E-mail is so last millennium. Young people see it as a good way to reach an elder — a parent, teacher or a boss — or to receive an attached file. But increasingly, the former darling of high-tech communication is losing favor to instant and text messaging, and to the chatter generated on blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The shift is starting to creep into workplace communication, too. "In this world of instant gratification, e-mail has become the new snail mail," says 25-year-old Rachel Quizon from Norwalk, Calif. She became addicted to instant messaging in college, where many students are logged on 24/7. Much like home postal boxes have become receptacles for junk mail, bills and the occasional greeting card, electronic mailboxes have become cluttered with spam. That makes them a pain to weed through, and the problem is only expected to worsen as some e-mail providers allow online marketers to bypass spam filters for a fee. Beyond that, e-mail has become most associated with school and work. "It used to be just fun," says Danah Boyd, a doctoral candidate who studies social media at the University of California, Berkeley. "Now it's about parents and authority." It means that many people often don't respond to e-mails unless they have to. Boyd's own Web page carries this note: "please note that i'm months behind on e-mail and i may not respond in a timely manner." She, too, is more easily reached with the "ping" of an instant message. That said, no one is predicting the death of e-mail. Besides its usefulness in formal correspondence, it also offers the ability to send something from "one to many," says Anne Kirah, a senior design anthropologist at Microsoft who studies people's high-tech habits. That might include an announcement for a club or invitation to a party. Quizon e-mails frequently in her corporate communications job at a hospital, and also uses it when she needs documentation — for instance, when dealing with vendors for her upcoming wedding. In those cases, she says e-mail "still holds more clout." But when immediacy is a factor — as it often is — most young people much prefer the telephone or instant messaging for everything from casual to heart-to-heart conversations, according to research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "And there is a very strong sense that the migration away from e-mail continues," says Lee Rainie, the director at Pew. For many young people, it's about choosing the best communication tool for the situation. You might use text messaging during a meeting that requires quiet, Rainie says, or make a phone call to discuss sensitive subjects so there's no written record. Still, some who've gotten caught up in the trend toward brevity wonder if it's making things too impersonal. "Don't want to see someone? Then call them. Don't want to call someone? E-mail them. Don't want to take the trouble of writing sentences? Text them," says 33-year-old Matthew Felling, an admitted "serial texter" who is also the spokesman for the Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington. "It's the ultimate social crutch to avoid personal communication." But others don't see it that way. They think the shift toward IM and text is simply more efficient and convenient. Chintan Talati, who is 28, often uses instant message with other younger peers at his work, a California-based Web site that provides automotive information to consumers. He prefers IM over e-mail. "It's a way to get a quicker answer," he says. His baby boomer colleagues don't necessarily share that view — and often find instant messaging overwhelming. Boyd has found much the same in her research at Berkeley. "Adults who learn to use IM later have major difficulty talking to more than two people at one time — whereas the teens who grew up on it have no problem talking to a bazillion people at once," Boyd says. "They understand how to negotiate the interruptions a lot better." Kirah, at Microsoft, even thinks young people's brains work differently because they've grown up with IM, making them more adept at it. For that reason, she says bosses should go right ahead and use their e-mail — and shouldn't feel threatened by IM. "Like parents, they try to control their children," she says. "But companies really need to respond to the way people work and communicate." The focus, she says, should be the outcome. "Nine to 5 has been replaced with 'Give me a deadline and I will meet your deadline,'" Kirah says of young people's work habits. "They're saying 'I might work until 2 a.m. that night. But I will do it all on my terms.'"
On the Net: Pew: http://www.pewinternet.org
By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National Writer
Social Networking Sites Help Businesses Gain Exposure, Says StartupJournal.Com
For start-ups on a shoestring budget, the opportunity to gain widespread exposure at no cost may seem too good to be true, says StartupJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's guide for entrepreneurs. But networking sites like MySpace allow groups -- including businesses -- to create online communities for free. As a result, new ventures eager to establish an initial customer base can benefit by creating a network on MySpace and inviting "friends." A page on MySpace usually includes a photo and description of what the group or business is about, as well as additional pictures or artwork, video, audio and links to Web sites, such as a company home page. Groups also can post news bulletins and launch user discussions. To get members to join, a group must make or receive membership requests. A group's members are listed on its page and vice versa. Facebook.com is another networking site aimed at college and high school students. "Software tools and online services can help generate sales leads without the usual legwork and the often-inefficient cold calling," said David Patton, editorial director, StartupJournal.com. "Entrepreneurs can choose from a host of tools that help them address an old problem: how to sign up new customers when you have small or nonexistent sales resources -- and must compete with corporations with deep pockets and big reputations." Some online networks, like LinkedIn, let you find sales leads through mutual acquaintances. Others are more like beefed-up phone directories, offering exhaustive lists of corporate personnel and their contact information. Still others offer comprehensive background information on prospective clients, culled from press releases, news reports and other sources. Some offer a combination of these features. "Online networking can help small businesses generate sales leads without the usual legwork and the often-inefficient cold calling," said Mr. Patton.
For more information and guidance on starting and running a business or franchise, visit http://www.startupjournal.com/.
For start-ups on a shoestring budget, the opportunity to gain widespread exposure at no cost may seem too good to be true, says StartupJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's guide for entrepreneurs. But networking sites like MySpace allow groups -- including businesses -- to create online communities for free. As a result, new ventures eager to establish an initial customer base can benefit by creating a network on MySpace and inviting "friends." A page on MySpace usually includes a photo and description of what the group or business is about, as well as additional pictures or artwork, video, audio and links to Web sites, such as a company home page. Groups also can post news bulletins and launch user discussions. To get members to join, a group must make or receive membership requests. A group's members are listed on its page and vice versa. Facebook.com is another networking site aimed at college and high school students. "Software tools and online services can help generate sales leads without the usual legwork and the often-inefficient cold calling," said David Patton, editorial director, StartupJournal.com. "Entrepreneurs can choose from a host of tools that help them address an old problem: how to sign up new customers when you have small or nonexistent sales resources -- and must compete with corporations with deep pockets and big reputations." Some online networks, like LinkedIn, let you find sales leads through mutual acquaintances. Others are more like beefed-up phone directories, offering exhaustive lists of corporate personnel and their contact information. Still others offer comprehensive background information on prospective clients, culled from press releases, news reports and other sources. Some offer a combination of these features. "Online networking can help small businesses generate sales leads without the usual legwork and the often-inefficient cold calling," said Mr. Patton.
For more information and guidance on starting and running a business or franchise, visit http://www.startupjournal.com/.
Today's Google Bots and What They Do SiteProNews
Google currently indexes over 8 billion web pages. However, before these pages were placed in the index, they were each crawled by a special spider known as the GoogleBot. Unfortunately, many web masters do not know about the internal workings of this virtual robot. In fact, Google actually uses a number of spiders to crawl the Web. You can catch these spiders by examining your log files. This article will attempt to reveal some of the most important Google spiders, their function, and how they affect you as a web master. We'll start with the well-known GoogleBot.
GoogleBot
Googlebot, as you probably know, is the search bot used by Google to scour the web for new pages. Googlebot has two versions, deepbot and freshbot. Deepbot is a deep crawler that tries to folow every link on the web and download as many pages as it can for the Google index. It also examines the internal structure of a site, giving a complete picture for the index. Freshbot, on the other hand, is a newer bot that crawls the web looking for fresh content. The Google freshbot was implemented to take some of the pressure off of the GoogleBot. The freshbot recalls pages already in the index and then crawls them for new, modified, or updated pages. In this way, Google is better equipped to keep up with the ever-changing Web. This means that the more you update your web site with new, quality content, the more the Googlebot will come by to check you out. If you'd like to see the Googlebot crawling around your web property more often, you need to obtain quality inbound links. However, there is also one more step that you should take. If you haven't already done so, you should create a Google Sitemap for your site. Creating a Google sitemap allows you to communicate with Google, telling them about your most important pages, new pages, and updated pages. In return, Google will provide you with some valuable information as well. Google Sitemaps will tell you about pages it was unable to crawl and links it was unable to follow. This allows you to pinpoint problems and fix them so that you can gain increased exposure in the search results. The next Google bot in our lineup is known as the MediaBot.
MediaBot - used to analyze Adsense pages
useragent: Mediapartners-Google
MediaBot is the Google crawler for Adsense Publishers. Mediabot is used to determine wich ads Google should display on Adsense pages. Google recommends that webmasters specifically add a command in their robots.txt file that grants Mediabot access to their entire site. To do this, simply enter the following code into your robots.txt file:
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
Disallow:
This will ensure that the MediaBot is able to place relevant Adsense ads on your site. Keep in mind that ads can still be shown on a page if the MediaBot has not yet visited. If that is the case, the ads chosen will be based on the overall theme of the other pages on the site. If no ads can be chosen, the dreaded public service announcements are displayed instead. There is a strong debate over whether or not the MediaBot is giving websites with Adsense an advantage in the search engines. Even Matt Cutts has confirmed that the Adsense Mediabot has indexed webpages for Google's main index. He states, "Pages with AdSense will not be indexed more frequently. It's literally just a crawl cache, so if e.g. our news crawl fetched a page and then Googlebot wanted the same page, we'd retrieve the page from the crawl cache. But there's no boost at all in rankings if you're in AdSense or Google News. You don't get any more pages crawled either." Matt Cutts claims that your website does not get any advantage by using Adsense. However, in my mind, simply getting your site updated in and of itself is an advantage. This is very similar to Google Analytics, which also promotes a slightly higher degree of spider activity. Those who run Google Analytics on their site can expect additional spider activity. However, you certainly shouldn't depend on any of these tools for getting your site indexed. The key to frequent spidering is having quality inbound links, quality content, and frequent updates. Have images on your site? If so, you have likely been visited by our next Google spider, the ImageBot.
ImageBot - used to crawl for the Image Search
useragent: GoogleBot-Image
The Imagebot prowls the Web for images to place in Google's image search. Images are ranked based upon their filename, surrounding text, alt text, and page title. If you have a website that is primarily image based, then you would definitely want to optimize your images to receive some extra Google traffic. On the other hand, some web sites may not benefit from Google image search. In most cases, the traffic from the Image search engine is very low quality and rarely converts into buyers. Many people are often just looking for images that they can swipe. So, if you want to save some bandwidth, use your robots.txt file to block ImageBot from accessing your image directory. One of the few exceptions I would make is if you have a site dedicated to downloadable images. Our final bot is completely dedicated to the Google Adwords program.
AdsBot - Checks Adwords landing pages for quality
useragent: AdsBot-Google
AdsBot is one of Google's newest spiders. This new crawler is being used to analyze the content of advertising landing pages, which helps determine the Quality score that Google assigns to your ads. Google uses this Quality score in combination with the amount you are willing to bid to determine the position of your ads. Therefore, ads with a high quality score can rank higher even if other advertisers are paying more than you. This is one of Google's many efforts to ensure that they are delivering the best results to their users. Can you still block being spidered? Of course, but it will lower your overall Adwords quality score, which could end up lowering the positioning of your ads. If possible, it is best to give AdsBot complete access to your site. Today's Google bots are becoming more advanced all the time. However, nothing beats relevant, quality, updated content. Deliver that and the search engines will eat it up.
By Kim Roach
Google currently indexes over 8 billion web pages. However, before these pages were placed in the index, they were each crawled by a special spider known as the GoogleBot. Unfortunately, many web masters do not know about the internal workings of this virtual robot. In fact, Google actually uses a number of spiders to crawl the Web. You can catch these spiders by examining your log files. This article will attempt to reveal some of the most important Google spiders, their function, and how they affect you as a web master. We'll start with the well-known GoogleBot.
GoogleBot
Googlebot, as you probably know, is the search bot used by Google to scour the web for new pages. Googlebot has two versions, deepbot and freshbot. Deepbot is a deep crawler that tries to folow every link on the web and download as many pages as it can for the Google index. It also examines the internal structure of a site, giving a complete picture for the index. Freshbot, on the other hand, is a newer bot that crawls the web looking for fresh content. The Google freshbot was implemented to take some of the pressure off of the GoogleBot. The freshbot recalls pages already in the index and then crawls them for new, modified, or updated pages. In this way, Google is better equipped to keep up with the ever-changing Web. This means that the more you update your web site with new, quality content, the more the Googlebot will come by to check you out. If you'd like to see the Googlebot crawling around your web property more often, you need to obtain quality inbound links. However, there is also one more step that you should take. If you haven't already done so, you should create a Google Sitemap for your site. Creating a Google sitemap allows you to communicate with Google, telling them about your most important pages, new pages, and updated pages. In return, Google will provide you with some valuable information as well. Google Sitemaps will tell you about pages it was unable to crawl and links it was unable to follow. This allows you to pinpoint problems and fix them so that you can gain increased exposure in the search results. The next Google bot in our lineup is known as the MediaBot.
MediaBot - used to analyze Adsense pages
useragent: Mediapartners-Google
MediaBot is the Google crawler for Adsense Publishers. Mediabot is used to determine wich ads Google should display on Adsense pages. Google recommends that webmasters specifically add a command in their robots.txt file that grants Mediabot access to their entire site. To do this, simply enter the following code into your robots.txt file:
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
Disallow:
This will ensure that the MediaBot is able to place relevant Adsense ads on your site. Keep in mind that ads can still be shown on a page if the MediaBot has not yet visited. If that is the case, the ads chosen will be based on the overall theme of the other pages on the site. If no ads can be chosen, the dreaded public service announcements are displayed instead. There is a strong debate over whether or not the MediaBot is giving websites with Adsense an advantage in the search engines. Even Matt Cutts has confirmed that the Adsense Mediabot has indexed webpages for Google's main index. He states, "Pages with AdSense will not be indexed more frequently. It's literally just a crawl cache, so if e.g. our news crawl fetched a page and then Googlebot wanted the same page, we'd retrieve the page from the crawl cache. But there's no boost at all in rankings if you're in AdSense or Google News. You don't get any more pages crawled either." Matt Cutts claims that your website does not get any advantage by using Adsense. However, in my mind, simply getting your site updated in and of itself is an advantage. This is very similar to Google Analytics, which also promotes a slightly higher degree of spider activity. Those who run Google Analytics on their site can expect additional spider activity. However, you certainly shouldn't depend on any of these tools for getting your site indexed. The key to frequent spidering is having quality inbound links, quality content, and frequent updates. Have images on your site? If so, you have likely been visited by our next Google spider, the ImageBot.
ImageBot - used to crawl for the Image Search
useragent: GoogleBot-Image
The Imagebot prowls the Web for images to place in Google's image search. Images are ranked based upon their filename, surrounding text, alt text, and page title. If you have a website that is primarily image based, then you would definitely want to optimize your images to receive some extra Google traffic. On the other hand, some web sites may not benefit from Google image search. In most cases, the traffic from the Image search engine is very low quality and rarely converts into buyers. Many people are often just looking for images that they can swipe. So, if you want to save some bandwidth, use your robots.txt file to block ImageBot from accessing your image directory. One of the few exceptions I would make is if you have a site dedicated to downloadable images. Our final bot is completely dedicated to the Google Adwords program.
AdsBot - Checks Adwords landing pages for quality
useragent: AdsBot-Google
AdsBot is one of Google's newest spiders. This new crawler is being used to analyze the content of advertising landing pages, which helps determine the Quality score that Google assigns to your ads. Google uses this Quality score in combination with the amount you are willing to bid to determine the position of your ads. Therefore, ads with a high quality score can rank higher even if other advertisers are paying more than you. This is one of Google's many efforts to ensure that they are delivering the best results to their users. Can you still block being spidered? Of course, but it will lower your overall Adwords quality score, which could end up lowering the positioning of your ads. If possible, it is best to give AdsBot complete access to your site. Today's Google bots are becoming more advanced all the time. However, nothing beats relevant, quality, updated content. Deliver that and the search engines will eat it up.
By Kim Roach
Social-Networking Site Gives Retailer a Start Startup Journal
Like many college students, Stephanie Madesh enjoys socializing online with friends through networking site MySpace.com. So when she began planning to create a Web-based apparel company this past spring, she thought MySpace would be an ideal place to court her target demographic -- young women like herself. Ms. Madesh created a profile for her start-up, Kalon Clothing (www.kalonclothing.com and groups.myspace.com/kalon), on MySpace a month before her Web site went live to create some buzz about the company. Since then her business's profile has drawn more than 850 MySpace members. The company also has posted about $1,000 in sales since May, netting the college senior a profit of about half that amount, she says. For start-ups on a shoe-string budget, the opportunity to gain widespread exposure at no cost may seem too good to be true. But networking sites like MySpace, purchased by News Corp. last year, allow groups -- including businesses -- to create online communities for free. As a result, new ventures eager to establish an initial customer base can benefit by creating a network on MySpace and inviting "friends." A group page on MySpace usually includes a photo and description of what the group or business is about, as well as additional pictures or artwork, video, audio and links to Web sites, such as a company home page. Groups also can post news bulletins and launch user discussions. To get members to join, a group must make or receive membership requests. A group's members are listed on its page and vice versa. Most of Kalon Clothing's more than 850 MySpace members were brought in by Ms. Madesh and her business partner sending invites to individuals one by one. "We had time and no money, so we were willing to do it," says Ms. Madesh, 21 years old. They invited MySpace users who were already members of other retail and fashion groups to join Kalon's group. They held a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret to entice users to accept their invitation. Participants had to complete an online survey about their impressions of products that Kalon was considering selling. "We got 300 respondents in two weeks," says Ms. Madesh. Soon after, the company set up a fashion panel inviting people to complete weekly online surveys in return for store discounts or gift certificates. Ms. Madesh says about 40 people joined the panel after seeing ads for it on MySpace and Kalon.com. "We take the feedback pretty seriously," says Ms. Madesh. "Sometimes it's surprising. You think something is God awful and people think it's amazing." Ms. Madesh says she and her partner, a friend and fellow business major at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., invested their savings to get Kalon Clothing started, spending about $4,500 on initial inventory that included women's tops, bottoms and accessories. A fellow student agreed to design and manage the Kalon.com site for a 5% share of the firm's sales. Ms. Madesh says she did not track where her company's initial sales came from -- shoppers who found it on MySpace or by going straight to Kalon.com -- but plans to do so going forward. The company has not done any other advertising, she says. MySpace users can find Kalon Clothing by doing a search on its name in the site's group section, which is organized by category. The business is listed in "Fashion & Style" among more than 43,000 other groups including big-name retailers like Urban Outfitters, though their profiles in many cases are not maintained by the actual companies. Instead, they may be hosted by members who voluntarily represent their favorite brands. The company gets its merchandise from four apparel manufacturers, two of which provide free photos of models sporting their goods, says Ms. Madesh, which they post on their site. Photos of their other products are taken by photography majors at Babson for free and their friends serve as models, she says. During the fall semester, Ms. Madesh says the company plans to hire an hourly worker to fill and ship orders. The employee will work out of Ms. Madesh's parents' home in Lebanon, Ore., where Kalon's inventory is stored, she says. Ms. Madesh says they wrap orders in colored tissue paper, ribbon and stickers at a cost of less than a quarter apiece. "We do that to make the package a little more unique," she explains. "We feel that every time you buy something from us, it should feel like you're getting a gift." The orders are then shipped in boxes that the post office provides free of charge for priority-mail users, she adds. The company charges customers separately for shipping. Kalon Clothing has room to grow on MySpace, which attracted more than 48 million unique visitors in April and is the eighth most trafficked site on the Internet by unique monthly visitors, according to comScore Networks Inc. For example, a page for fans of retailer Abercrombie & Fitch shows that the trendy clothing company has more than 122,000 "friends." Recently Ms. Madesh created a page for Kalon on Facebook.com, another networking site aimed at college and high school students. Ms. Madesh says she hasn't put much effort into growing Kalon's presence on Facebook because she says its membership is more niche than MySpace's. Last month, Ms. Madesh says she applied for a $10,000 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration for her business. The money would go toward developing a print catalog, advertising on search engines and additional inventory, she says.
By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN
Editor's Note: My Best Marketing Idea is a new feature about strategies entrepreneurs have used to promote their businesses. Have a successful marketing strategy you'd like to share? Send an email to sarah.needleman@wsj.com.
Like many college students, Stephanie Madesh enjoys socializing online with friends through networking site MySpace.com. So when she began planning to create a Web-based apparel company this past spring, she thought MySpace would be an ideal place to court her target demographic -- young women like herself. Ms. Madesh created a profile for her start-up, Kalon Clothing (www.kalonclothing.com and groups.myspace.com/kalon), on MySpace a month before her Web site went live to create some buzz about the company. Since then her business's profile has drawn more than 850 MySpace members. The company also has posted about $1,000 in sales since May, netting the college senior a profit of about half that amount, she says. For start-ups on a shoe-string budget, the opportunity to gain widespread exposure at no cost may seem too good to be true. But networking sites like MySpace, purchased by News Corp. last year, allow groups -- including businesses -- to create online communities for free. As a result, new ventures eager to establish an initial customer base can benefit by creating a network on MySpace and inviting "friends." A group page on MySpace usually includes a photo and description of what the group or business is about, as well as additional pictures or artwork, video, audio and links to Web sites, such as a company home page. Groups also can post news bulletins and launch user discussions. To get members to join, a group must make or receive membership requests. A group's members are listed on its page and vice versa. Most of Kalon Clothing's more than 850 MySpace members were brought in by Ms. Madesh and her business partner sending invites to individuals one by one. "We had time and no money, so we were willing to do it," says Ms. Madesh, 21 years old. They invited MySpace users who were already members of other retail and fashion groups to join Kalon's group. They held a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret to entice users to accept their invitation. Participants had to complete an online survey about their impressions of products that Kalon was considering selling. "We got 300 respondents in two weeks," says Ms. Madesh. Soon after, the company set up a fashion panel inviting people to complete weekly online surveys in return for store discounts or gift certificates. Ms. Madesh says about 40 people joined the panel after seeing ads for it on MySpace and Kalon.com. "We take the feedback pretty seriously," says Ms. Madesh. "Sometimes it's surprising. You think something is God awful and people think it's amazing." Ms. Madesh says she and her partner, a friend and fellow business major at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., invested their savings to get Kalon Clothing started, spending about $4,500 on initial inventory that included women's tops, bottoms and accessories. A fellow student agreed to design and manage the Kalon.com site for a 5% share of the firm's sales. Ms. Madesh says she did not track where her company's initial sales came from -- shoppers who found it on MySpace or by going straight to Kalon.com -- but plans to do so going forward. The company has not done any other advertising, she says. MySpace users can find Kalon Clothing by doing a search on its name in the site's group section, which is organized by category. The business is listed in "Fashion & Style" among more than 43,000 other groups including big-name retailers like Urban Outfitters, though their profiles in many cases are not maintained by the actual companies. Instead, they may be hosted by members who voluntarily represent their favorite brands. The company gets its merchandise from four apparel manufacturers, two of which provide free photos of models sporting their goods, says Ms. Madesh, which they post on their site. Photos of their other products are taken by photography majors at Babson for free and their friends serve as models, she says. During the fall semester, Ms. Madesh says the company plans to hire an hourly worker to fill and ship orders. The employee will work out of Ms. Madesh's parents' home in Lebanon, Ore., where Kalon's inventory is stored, she says. Ms. Madesh says they wrap orders in colored tissue paper, ribbon and stickers at a cost of less than a quarter apiece. "We do that to make the package a little more unique," she explains. "We feel that every time you buy something from us, it should feel like you're getting a gift." The orders are then shipped in boxes that the post office provides free of charge for priority-mail users, she adds. The company charges customers separately for shipping. Kalon Clothing has room to grow on MySpace, which attracted more than 48 million unique visitors in April and is the eighth most trafficked site on the Internet by unique monthly visitors, according to comScore Networks Inc. For example, a page for fans of retailer Abercrombie & Fitch shows that the trendy clothing company has more than 122,000 "friends." Recently Ms. Madesh created a page for Kalon on Facebook.com, another networking site aimed at college and high school students. Ms. Madesh says she hasn't put much effort into growing Kalon's presence on Facebook because she says its membership is more niche than MySpace's. Last month, Ms. Madesh says she applied for a $10,000 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration for her business. The money would go toward developing a print catalog, advertising on search engines and additional inventory, she says.
By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN
Editor's Note: My Best Marketing Idea is a new feature about strategies entrepreneurs have used to promote their businesses. Have a successful marketing strategy you'd like to share? Send an email to sarah.needleman@wsj.com.
MySpace Rules the Web ClickZ Stats
NewsCorp-owned MySpace garners the highest U.S. market share of visits on the Web, even beating out Yahoo Mail and portals. That's according to data released by Hitwise. For the week ending July 8, MySpace had 4.46 percent market share of visits, making it the top site on the Internet. The social networking site surpassed widely-used Web-based e-mail and portal sites including Yahoo Mail (4.42 percent); Yahoo (4.25 percent); Google (3.89 percent) and MySpace's own e-mail site (2.85 percent). eBay ranks eighth on the list with 1.59 percent market share. MySpace's growth rate was gradual, but it enjoyed a 4,300 percent increase over a two year period. "This site has increased more than we've seen in my memory of any of the sites we track," said Bill Tancer, general manager of Global Research at Hitwise. "There doesn't seem to be any end in sight. While Tancer said MySpace could maintain the top position; he leaves open the possibility for an incumbent. "We have to realize with the Internet there's always a chance someone can come up with a brand new way of doing things and take over the dominance of MySpace."
Weekly Market Share of Visits Ranking Among All Web Sites (U.S.) For Week Ending July 8, 2006
Rank Name Domain Market Share (%)
1 MySpace www.myspace.com 4.46
2 Yahoo Mail mail.yahoo.com 4.42
3 Yahoo www.yahoo.com 4.25
4 Google www.google.com 3.89
5 MySpace - Mail mail.myspace.com 2.85
6 MSN Hotmail www.hotmail.com 2.39
7 MSN www.msn.com 1.92
8 eBay www.ebay.com 1.59
9 Yahoo Search search.yahoo.com 1.36
10 MSN Search search.msn.com 0.93
Source: Hitwise, 2006
MySpace is the only NewsCorp property to reach the top 10-ranked sites, but other properties in the company's portfolio benefit from the social networking site's success. "This has been a brilliant move for NewsCorp," said Tancer. "What we've seen in relationships to other News Corp. sites is an increase in market share. I think we're going to see a lot of synergies created from all the NewsCorp properties." Among other social networking sites, MySpace remains out of reach in terms of visits. The site maintained a market share in that category of over 75 percent from April to June of this year, topping out in June with 79.97 percent market share. Competing sites like Facebook, Xanga and Yahoo's 360 site each held under 10 percent market share. Bebo's market share was 0.98 percent in June, but it increased its share of visits by 21 percent from the previous month when it held a 0.77 percent market share stake.
Percentage of Monthly Market Share of Visits Among Top Social Networking Web Sites (U.S.), April Through June 2006
Domain June 2006 May 2006 April 2006
www.myspace.com 79.97 77.20 76.07
www.thefacebook.com 7.58 8.73 8.24
www.xanga.com 3.81 4.40 5.29
360.yahoo.com 1.13 1.29 1.38
www.bebo.com 0.98 0.77 0.73
www.tagged.com 0.92 0.97 1.17
www.classmates.com 0.83 1.01 1.30
www.hi5.com 0.78 1.06 1.19
spaces.msn.com 0.75 1.29 1.41
www.sconex.com 0.64 0.70 0.81
www.gaiaonline.com 0.57 0.50 0.50
www.bolt.com 0.52 0.43 0.21
www.friendster.com 0.46 0.53 0.58
www.orkut.com 0.30 0.33 0.30
www.myyearbook.com 0.26 0.25 0.24
www.crushspot.com 0.18 0.18 0.18
www.migente.com 0.16 0.18 0.19
www.tagworld.com 0.13 0.14 0.14
www.faceparty.com 0.02 0.02 0.03
www.xuqa.com 0.02 0.02 0.04
Source: Hitwise, 2006
"We are still discovering the Internet laws of gravity as it relates to a site's potential to grow on the Internet," said Tancer. "The fact that MySpace was virtually unknown by the mainstream Internet users two years ago and now claims the top position demonstrates how hyper-competitive the Internet really is." Hitwise monitors top-level clickstream data for over 25 million Internet users who interact with over 500,000 Web sites across 160 industry categories. Data are collected via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in panels within local and International privacy legislation.
By Enid Burns
NewsCorp-owned MySpace garners the highest U.S. market share of visits on the Web, even beating out Yahoo Mail and portals. That's according to data released by Hitwise. For the week ending July 8, MySpace had 4.46 percent market share of visits, making it the top site on the Internet. The social networking site surpassed widely-used Web-based e-mail and portal sites including Yahoo Mail (4.42 percent); Yahoo (4.25 percent); Google (3.89 percent) and MySpace's own e-mail site (2.85 percent). eBay ranks eighth on the list with 1.59 percent market share. MySpace's growth rate was gradual, but it enjoyed a 4,300 percent increase over a two year period. "This site has increased more than we've seen in my memory of any of the sites we track," said Bill Tancer, general manager of Global Research at Hitwise. "There doesn't seem to be any end in sight. While Tancer said MySpace could maintain the top position; he leaves open the possibility for an incumbent. "We have to realize with the Internet there's always a chance someone can come up with a brand new way of doing things and take over the dominance of MySpace."
Weekly Market Share of Visits Ranking Among All Web Sites (U.S.) For Week Ending July 8, 2006
Rank Name Domain Market Share (%)
1 MySpace www.myspace.com 4.46
2 Yahoo Mail mail.yahoo.com 4.42
3 Yahoo www.yahoo.com 4.25
4 Google www.google.com 3.89
5 MySpace - Mail mail.myspace.com 2.85
6 MSN Hotmail www.hotmail.com 2.39
7 MSN www.msn.com 1.92
8 eBay www.ebay.com 1.59
9 Yahoo Search search.yahoo.com 1.36
10 MSN Search search.msn.com 0.93
Source: Hitwise, 2006
MySpace is the only NewsCorp property to reach the top 10-ranked sites, but other properties in the company's portfolio benefit from the social networking site's success. "This has been a brilliant move for NewsCorp," said Tancer. "What we've seen in relationships to other News Corp. sites is an increase in market share. I think we're going to see a lot of synergies created from all the NewsCorp properties." Among other social networking sites, MySpace remains out of reach in terms of visits. The site maintained a market share in that category of over 75 percent from April to June of this year, topping out in June with 79.97 percent market share. Competing sites like Facebook, Xanga and Yahoo's 360 site each held under 10 percent market share. Bebo's market share was 0.98 percent in June, but it increased its share of visits by 21 percent from the previous month when it held a 0.77 percent market share stake.
Percentage of Monthly Market Share of Visits Among Top Social Networking Web Sites (U.S.), April Through June 2006
Domain June 2006 May 2006 April 2006
www.myspace.com 79.97 77.20 76.07
www.thefacebook.com 7.58 8.73 8.24
www.xanga.com 3.81 4.40 5.29
360.yahoo.com 1.13 1.29 1.38
www.bebo.com 0.98 0.77 0.73
www.tagged.com 0.92 0.97 1.17
www.classmates.com 0.83 1.01 1.30
www.hi5.com 0.78 1.06 1.19
spaces.msn.com 0.75 1.29 1.41
www.sconex.com 0.64 0.70 0.81
www.gaiaonline.com 0.57 0.50 0.50
www.bolt.com 0.52 0.43 0.21
www.friendster.com 0.46 0.53 0.58
www.orkut.com 0.30 0.33 0.30
www.myyearbook.com 0.26 0.25 0.24
www.crushspot.com 0.18 0.18 0.18
www.migente.com 0.16 0.18 0.19
www.tagworld.com 0.13 0.14 0.14
www.faceparty.com 0.02 0.02 0.03
www.xuqa.com 0.02 0.02 0.04
Source: Hitwise, 2006
"We are still discovering the Internet laws of gravity as it relates to a site's potential to grow on the Internet," said Tancer. "The fact that MySpace was virtually unknown by the mainstream Internet users two years ago and now claims the top position demonstrates how hyper-competitive the Internet really is." Hitwise monitors top-level clickstream data for over 25 million Internet users who interact with over 500,000 Web sites across 160 industry categories. Data are collected via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in panels within local and International privacy legislation.
By Enid Burns
Zune challenge beckons for iPod BBC News
Microsoft has confirmed it is developing a "Zune" portable music player which analysts believe will compete directly with Apple's iPod.
'Coveting the market'
The iPod accounts for more than 50% of digital music players sold while iTunes, Apple's digital music store, has a 70% share of its market. Experts say Microsoft has long coveted the market for handheld entertainment devices as the market for its core desktop software products becomes saturated.
Microsoft has confirmed it is developing a "Zune" portable music player which analysts believe will compete directly with Apple's iPod.
Apple dominates the portable music player market
The software firm said it was working on a number of music and entertainment hardware devices, the first of which could launch later this year. Rumours of a rival to Apple's hugely successful music player - dubbed "iPod killer" by some - have long circulated. But experts said Microsoft would find it hard to compete with Apple.'Coveting the market'
The iPod accounts for more than 50% of digital music players sold while iTunes, Apple's digital music store, has a 70% share of its market. Experts say Microsoft has long coveted the market for handheld entertainment devices as the market for its core desktop software products becomes saturated.
QUOTE("Michael Gartenberg - Jupiter Research")
It is going to be hard for them to create the same level of cachet that Apple has with the iPod
Microsoft said it was working on products in this area under the brand name Zune but gave no further details. "Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products," said Chris Stephenson, the firm's general manager for marketing. "We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow customers to explore and discover music together." Experts said the success of the product would depend on whether users were able to download music and video wirelessly. "Creating a lifestyle device, Microsoft is clearly going to face a battle here," said Michael Gartenberg, from Jupiter Research. "It is going to be hard for them to create the same level of cachet that Apple has with the iPod."
Resistance to blogs Hindustan Times
In May last year, impressed with the idea of bloggers being allowed into US press conferences, India’s Principal Information Officer Shakuntala Mahawal told The Economic Times that the Indian government was considering doling out press accreditation to Indian bloggers. Not impressed, Indian bloggers responded with conspiracy theories about how this could be a step towards regulation. In May this year, lit-blogger Nilanjana S. Roy predicted a clash between bloggers and the Indian government in the next five years. She might as well have said five months, because three months after her prediction, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) asked Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to 17 websites, of which five were blogs. The incompetent ISPs ended up blocking the entire Blogspot and Typepad domains, thereby censoring, in effect, hundreds of thousands of blogs from all over the world. The error was corrected a week later after bloggers created a lot of hullabaloo. In the list, seven were Right-wing American sites. Some of these contain considerable anti-Islamic venom of the Holy Book-flushing kind, but in the post-9/11 world you will find so many such webpages that it is practically impossible to block them all. They also blocked three NRI Hindutvawaadi sites. Some of these sites are now thanking the Indian government for bringing them into the news and increasing their traffic. How do I know this? Simple: I can still read those sites via anonymisers like anonymouse.org. Let’s get this straight, once and for all: you can’t ban anything on the net. Imagine the national furore if we were talking here about banning 17 books. As Indian citizens, many bloggers are planning to ask the government to know, through Right to Information applications, why these 17 sites are being censored at all, and also challenge such censorship through public interest litigation. The issue has served as a moment of crisis. It has brought bloggers together, working collaboratively across five continents to resolve the issue, exchange information and email people for help and clarifications. Perhaps, most importantly, bloggers wanted to get the news into mainstream media to put pressure on the authorities. The last time there was a comparable crisis with a clear ‘enemy’ was when a management institute was criticised by a youth magazine. The story had a link on the magazine editor’s blog. It got linked with other bloggers, one of whom said that the institute “screws around with people’s lives”. This is language that a newspaper would never use. The management institute sent the two bloggers legal notices to scare them into deleting the posts. They didn’t and the institute only made a fool of itself and received adverse media coverage. In the event of a tsunami or terrorist attack, the ‘help’ blogs come into action, collating help-and-rescue information. Individual bloggers report their experience of such events on their blogs, the first-hand model that news channels are now trying to replicate in the form of ‘citizen journalism’. The idea of collaborative online help sites in times of disasters is very much Made-in-India, and replicated in tumultuous events like Hurricane Katrina’s lash in the US. The credit for this goes to Mumbai-based communications consultant Peter Griffin. Such collaborative online fire-fighting also brings into the ‘connectivity’ those who are otherwise not very active participants of the Indian blogosphere, such as Angelo Embuldeniya, a Bahrain-based geek. But crises strike only once in a while. For bloggers, blogging is part of their daily routine. Bloggers write (usually) short ‘posts’ and create meaning constantly through hyperlinks. They link to articles on websites and other blogs to discuss them; they link their favourite websites on their blogs’ sidebar, and ‘blogroll’ their favourite bloggers. Links are important because the more people link to your blog, the higher your site turns up in search engines, the more visitors you get, and the higher ranking you get in Technorati, which is to bloggers what Google is to journalists. They install a ‘sitemeter’ on their sites by which they can see exactly who visited their blog, when and from which link. Just like other online media, people meet each other through blogging, people make friends and enemies, find soulmates and jobs. Sitting alone behind a computer screen, writing whatever they feel like in whatever language they want to, being read daily by, at most, a few hundred people, bloggers often do not realise that their words are going to be on Google. Even when a blog is personal, it is very public. As a blogger grows in popularity, he realises the power of words, and with power comes responsibility. There is, of course, a lot of abuse (‘trolling’ and ‘flaming’) but that is par for the course. Anonymous blogs seek to push the limits of fearless speech. One Delhi journalist writes a chick-blog about her love and sex life. Can a woman do that under her own name in even a progressive English-language newspaper in this country? Considering that it is an ordinary activity, I wonder why blogging makes a sexy story. I was once on a TV channel talking about the pros of blogging. I was shown writing a post as though I were an animal from the zoo on public display. A fellow blogger-writer, Monica Mody, tells me that the marriage of alternative and mainstream media is not surprising because when the mainstream sees “something they don’t understand, with people all smug and satisfied about it, they want to know what’s going on”. Some journalists resent bloggers for their distrust of mainstream media (MSM, in blogging lingo). But individuals have always been distrustful of big media -- and for the first time they have a place to express it. Not long back, a journalist did a story about ‘splogs’ or ‘spam blogs’, and got his facts all wrong. A blogger, Saket Vaidya, panned the story on his blog, calling the journalist a ‘dolt’. The journo responded by attending a public bloggers’ meet in Delhi as a lay observer. He went on to do a story with lies about how bloggers were praising themselves. Vaidya and others responded by permanently defacing the Google search on the journalist’s name. The incident is fondly remembered as a ‘sting operation’ by bloggers. The blogs-versus-MSM balance gets complicated when you realise that many of the prominent bloggers are journalists. And so it was that a scurrilous blog called WarforNews came up in January this year, with loads of gossip and bitching about journalists in news channels. It is said to be the handiwork of a print journalist in Delhi, and has been blocked by some news channels in their offices. The writer blogs at National Highway www.shivamvij.com
By Shivam Vij
The Blogs: a story of internet folk Telegraph.co.uk
BLOG POWER Financial Express
TechWhack - WebProNews - ZDNetIndia - TechWhack - all 10 related »
In May last year, impressed with the idea of bloggers being allowed into US press conferences, India’s Principal Information Officer Shakuntala Mahawal told The Economic Times that the Indian government was considering doling out press accreditation to Indian bloggers. Not impressed, Indian bloggers responded with conspiracy theories about how this could be a step towards regulation. In May this year, lit-blogger Nilanjana S. Roy predicted a clash between bloggers and the Indian government in the next five years. She might as well have said five months, because three months after her prediction, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) asked Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to 17 websites, of which five were blogs. The incompetent ISPs ended up blocking the entire Blogspot and Typepad domains, thereby censoring, in effect, hundreds of thousands of blogs from all over the world. The error was corrected a week later after bloggers created a lot of hullabaloo. In the list, seven were Right-wing American sites. Some of these contain considerable anti-Islamic venom of the Holy Book-flushing kind, but in the post-9/11 world you will find so many such webpages that it is practically impossible to block them all. They also blocked three NRI Hindutvawaadi sites. Some of these sites are now thanking the Indian government for bringing them into the news and increasing their traffic. How do I know this? Simple: I can still read those sites via anonymisers like anonymouse.org. Let’s get this straight, once and for all: you can’t ban anything on the net. Imagine the national furore if we were talking here about banning 17 books. As Indian citizens, many bloggers are planning to ask the government to know, through Right to Information applications, why these 17 sites are being censored at all, and also challenge such censorship through public interest litigation. The issue has served as a moment of crisis. It has brought bloggers together, working collaboratively across five continents to resolve the issue, exchange information and email people for help and clarifications. Perhaps, most importantly, bloggers wanted to get the news into mainstream media to put pressure on the authorities. The last time there was a comparable crisis with a clear ‘enemy’ was when a management institute was criticised by a youth magazine. The story had a link on the magazine editor’s blog. It got linked with other bloggers, one of whom said that the institute “screws around with people’s lives”. This is language that a newspaper would never use. The management institute sent the two bloggers legal notices to scare them into deleting the posts. They didn’t and the institute only made a fool of itself and received adverse media coverage. In the event of a tsunami or terrorist attack, the ‘help’ blogs come into action, collating help-and-rescue information. Individual bloggers report their experience of such events on their blogs, the first-hand model that news channels are now trying to replicate in the form of ‘citizen journalism’. The idea of collaborative online help sites in times of disasters is very much Made-in-India, and replicated in tumultuous events like Hurricane Katrina’s lash in the US. The credit for this goes to Mumbai-based communications consultant Peter Griffin. Such collaborative online fire-fighting also brings into the ‘connectivity’ those who are otherwise not very active participants of the Indian blogosphere, such as Angelo Embuldeniya, a Bahrain-based geek. But crises strike only once in a while. For bloggers, blogging is part of their daily routine. Bloggers write (usually) short ‘posts’ and create meaning constantly through hyperlinks. They link to articles on websites and other blogs to discuss them; they link their favourite websites on their blogs’ sidebar, and ‘blogroll’ their favourite bloggers. Links are important because the more people link to your blog, the higher your site turns up in search engines, the more visitors you get, and the higher ranking you get in Technorati, which is to bloggers what Google is to journalists. They install a ‘sitemeter’ on their sites by which they can see exactly who visited their blog, when and from which link. Just like other online media, people meet each other through blogging, people make friends and enemies, find soulmates and jobs. Sitting alone behind a computer screen, writing whatever they feel like in whatever language they want to, being read daily by, at most, a few hundred people, bloggers often do not realise that their words are going to be on Google. Even when a blog is personal, it is very public. As a blogger grows in popularity, he realises the power of words, and with power comes responsibility. There is, of course, a lot of abuse (‘trolling’ and ‘flaming’) but that is par for the course. Anonymous blogs seek to push the limits of fearless speech. One Delhi journalist writes a chick-blog about her love and sex life. Can a woman do that under her own name in even a progressive English-language newspaper in this country? Considering that it is an ordinary activity, I wonder why blogging makes a sexy story. I was once on a TV channel talking about the pros of blogging. I was shown writing a post as though I were an animal from the zoo on public display. A fellow blogger-writer, Monica Mody, tells me that the marriage of alternative and mainstream media is not surprising because when the mainstream sees “something they don’t understand, with people all smug and satisfied about it, they want to know what’s going on”. Some journalists resent bloggers for their distrust of mainstream media (MSM, in blogging lingo). But individuals have always been distrustful of big media -- and for the first time they have a place to express it. Not long back, a journalist did a story about ‘splogs’ or ‘spam blogs’, and got his facts all wrong. A blogger, Saket Vaidya, panned the story on his blog, calling the journalist a ‘dolt’. The journo responded by attending a public bloggers’ meet in Delhi as a lay observer. He went on to do a story with lies about how bloggers were praising themselves. Vaidya and others responded by permanently defacing the Google search on the journalist’s name. The incident is fondly remembered as a ‘sting operation’ by bloggers. The blogs-versus-MSM balance gets complicated when you realise that many of the prominent bloggers are journalists. And so it was that a scurrilous blog called WarforNews came up in January this year, with loads of gossip and bitching about journalists in news channels. It is said to be the handiwork of a print journalist in Delhi, and has been blocked by some news channels in their offices. The writer blogs at National Highway www.shivamvij.com
By Shivam Vij
The Blogs: a story of internet folk Telegraph.co.uk
BLOG POWER Financial Express
TechWhack - WebProNews - ZDNetIndia - TechWhack - all 10 related »
Google gives PayPal a run for your money The Christian Science Monitor
Shoppers browsing online for new designer sunglasses or that ultrathin cellphone have a new temptation: a speedy-looking blue shopping-cart icon offering to whisk them to a purchase. Last month, Google, by far the most popular way to find things on the Internet (it processes about 45 percent of all searches), added Google Checkout to its burgeoning list of related products. By signing up, shoppers can quickly and painlessly (at least until the bill arrives!) click to buy anything where they see the Google Checkout shopping-cart symbol without entering their credit-card number or other information. Consumers can also keep track of what they've bought anywhere online in one place.
Google joins PayPal, a more full-service online- payment system owned by eBay, and others such as Bill Me Later, in offering an online "electronic wallet." These companies argue such systems are safer than punching in credit-card numbers all over the Net. Both Google and PayPal act as an intermediary and don't reveal the consumer's full credit-card number to the merchant at the site of the purchase. But others worry that Google, in particular, is beginning to accumulate a tremendous amount of personal and financial data on consumers. With Checkout, "Google has more data on you than before," says Philipp Lenssen, a full-time blogger in Stuttgart, Germany, whose Google Blogoscoped ( blog.outer-court.com) tracks developments at Google. "They have your e-mails [if you use Gmail], they have your search queries, they have what you shop for, they know which results you click on. If you have the Google Toolbar installed, they know where you're surfing." "We take the privacy of our users very, very seriously," says Benjamin Ling, product lead for Google Checkout. For example, buyers using Checkout can set up a special e-mail account to communicate with sellers so that their own e-mail address remains private. "We understand that we're playing a trusted role here," Mr. Ling says. "We seek to protect the privacy of our users while staying in compliance with the law." Google Checkout's privacy policy states that the company "will not sell or rent your personal information to companies or individuals outside Google," but will share information "[t]o detect, prevent, or otherwise address" fraud, security, or technical issues. Earlier this year, Google vigorously opposed in court a request from the US Justice Department to provide it with 1 million random Web addresses and records of one week of Google searches. A judge later ruled that Google must provide 50,000 Web addresses from its databank but would not have to reveal any terms users had searched for. Other than requests from the US government, Google has little reason to disclose the data it's accumulating, Lenssen says. "They don't have any [business] incentive to hand out your credit card [number]," he adds. Although Google is a widely recognized brand name, it still has some work to do to persuade shoppers that it will handle their money with care, says analyst Edward Kountz, who tracks online payments and financial services at JupiterResearch in Boston. "[Google's] very much a search 'brand.' It's not a trusted brand per se." The ultimate question, he says, is "Would you let them hold your wallet?" In the short term, Mr. Kountz says, "The credit-card companies still have the predominant share of the market space [online], and I would say of brand recognition as well, with the exception of PayPal." About three-quarters of those going on the Internet have purchased a product or service online in the past 12 months, according to a JupiterResearch/Ipsos-Insight survey. But among those who have not made a purchase, concerns about security for their credit card or person ranks as the No. 1 reason (37 percent of respondents) for hesitating. That may be why both Google Checkout and PayPal emphasize the security advantages of making purchases through them rather than entering credit-card information at each website. PayPal, online since 1998, has already staked out a large and growing presence. Last year, its total transactions amounted to $27.5 billion, a 45 percent increase over the previous year. Or, put another way, 10 percent of all the online sales in the United States were processed through PayPal, says Amanda Pires, a spokesperson for the company. But although PayPal administers 114 million accounts worldwide, there are still "a lot of people who've never bought anything online," especially outside the US, Ms. Pires says, meaning the market is far from saturated. Currently, Google requires a credit- or debit-account number to buy from participating merchants. At PayPal, consumers can transfer money in and out of bank accounts, too. While PayPal won't comment directly on Google Checkout, PayPal's parent company, the giant online auction site eBay, has said it will not allow Google Checkout to be used for eBay transactions. Google Checkout, with fewer features than PayPal, isn't "going to be a PayPal killer," Kountz says. PayPal is aimed at consumers and auction buyers, while Checkout is aimed at attracting merchants. Google launched Checkout < http://www.google.com/checkout > with a relatively modest number of online stores on board, including Jockey, Starbucks Store, Levi's, Dockers, Buy.com, Timberland, and Zales. Google's Checkout icon appears as an option on the checkout page of participating merchants. But the service may quickly prove attractive to the vast number of online merchants, large and small, who pay to advertise using Google's AdWords program. For them, Google places small ads on behalf of advertisers next to its search results and charges the advertisers based on the number of clicks their ads receive. Google will also make money, as do the credit-card companies, by charging a small fee to merchants for processing online transactions. However, for every dollar a merchant spends on buying AdWords, Checkout will waive the processing fee for $10 worth in sales. That's a symbiotic relationship that could drive more use of both services. In the end, Google simply wants to make money in as many places as it can as it creates more online tools, Lenssen says. "For them, [Checkout] is a very logical next step."
By Gregory M. Lamb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Shoppers browsing online for new designer sunglasses or that ultrathin cellphone have a new temptation: a speedy-looking blue shopping-cart icon offering to whisk them to a purchase. Last month, Google, by far the most popular way to find things on the Internet (it processes about 45 percent of all searches), added Google Checkout to its burgeoning list of related products. By signing up, shoppers can quickly and painlessly (at least until the bill arrives!) click to buy anything where they see the Google Checkout shopping-cart symbol without entering their credit-card number or other information. Consumers can also keep track of what they've bought anywhere online in one place.
By Gregory M. Lamb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
One man's spam is another's art CNET News.com
Most people see Viagra ads and Nigerian scams as simply more e-mail to delete. Alex Dragulescu sees art. For the last several years, the Romanian-born computer artist has applied techniques in computational modeling and information visualization to invent a new form of artistic expression. One of his more notable projects involved creating what he calls Spam Plants. He wrote algorithms that analyzed various text and data points of junk e-mail to produce "organic" images of plantlike structures that spontaneously grew based on incoming spam.
Now he's working on a software agent that can "write" experimental graphical novels based on a melange of text culled from thousands of like-minded blogs across the Net. When finished, the agent, called Blogbot, will include algorithms that apply computational linguistics to the blog text, so that it extracts meaning from the text. That way, the graphical novel might strike on profundity. "By analyzing text using computational linguistics methods, you can detect anger and sadness. Turning those into gestures in three dimensions, that would be interesting," said Dragulescu, who is now head of the Experimental Game Lab, a research lab at the Center For Research and Computing and the Arts (CRCA) within the University of California at San Diego. Dragulescu's work stands out at a time when scientists and technologists are struggling to harness the massive quantities of data online and make sense of it for fields like earth science, drug discovery, genetic research and U.S. security. Information visualization is a traditional scientific method that's getting a lot of attention now because it involves projecting a visual image of the data so that onlookers can make connections that might otherwise be lost. Making such conceptual leaps is often associated with art, and for Dragulescu, that's the point. Using scientific visualization methods to make art shows how technology changes art, he said. "My efforts (have been) to expose the ubiquitous forms in which data and technology are both actively and passively shaping the ways we perceive and construct ourselves and others," Dragulescu said. Spam, for example, has so blemished and clogged an otherwise revolutionary new form of communication that scientists have taken to storing and studying it in recent years. That's why, Dragulescu said, he decided to analyze it for artistic purposes and try to expose the hidden nature of junk e-mail, with its duplicitous headers and subject lines. He doesn't use Photoshop but simply writes code to create computer art. For the Spam Plants, he parsed the data within junk e-mail--including subject lines, headers and footers--to detect relationships between that data. Then he visually represents those relationships. For example, the program draws on the numeric address of an e-mail sender and matches those numbers to a color chart, from 0 to 225. It needs three numbers to define a color, such as teal, so the program breaks down the IP address to three numbers so it can determine the color of the plant. The time a message is sent also plays a role. If it's sent in the early morning, the plant is smaller, or the time might stunt the plant's ability to grow, Dragulescu said. The size of the message might determine how bushy the plant is. Certain keywords, such as "Nigerian," might trigger more branches. But Dragulescu did not inject any irony. Messages about Viagra do not grow taller, for example. "I mapped it in a way to control the complexity of the plant," he said.
History lesson
Dragulescu moved from Romania to the United States in 1997 to study film, photography and art history at Ithaca College. While there, he taught himself computer animation and programming, and after graduation, took a job in San Francisco writing code and working on Web, multimedia and game design. That's when he seized on the idea of using algorithms to harness the Net's mountains of data and produce art. After the dot-com bust, Dragulescu earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of California at San Diego. There, he studied computer science, cognitive science, media theory and visual arts and was inspired to experiment with art and data from the Net, including spam, music and blogs. One project from CRCA is called Scalable City, which creates procedural game assets and environments. Now he's working on taking the same principles and applying them to text and literature, so that one day he can create a visual image of a Hemingway novel, for example. He recently completed a project in music visualization called Extrusions in C Major. The project creates images from Mozart compositions. To do this, the software analyzes the note characteristics of the music, including the tempo of various instruments, and then pairs them with colors: white for piano, yellow for violin and blue for cello. With Blogbot, though it's not finished, he's already created a first graphical novel, called "What I Did Last Summer." The piece draws on writings about the war in Iraq from soldiers who have maintained blogs. To make the program even more sophisticated for his next novel, Dragulescu is learning computational linguistics methods to understand the logic and emotions embedded in language. Strangely enough, his interest in language analysis started with spam. "Spam is a random piece of literature, it has unseen effects, it changes all the time," he said. "And it's led me to see text differently."
By Stefanie Olsen, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Most people see Viagra ads and Nigerian scams as simply more e-mail to delete. Alex Dragulescu sees art. For the last several years, the Romanian-born computer artist has applied techniques in computational modeling and information visualization to invent a new form of artistic expression. One of his more notable projects involved creating what he calls Spam Plants. He wrote algorithms that analyzed various text and data points of junk e-mail to produce "organic" images of plantlike structures that spontaneously grew based on incoming spam.
History lesson
Dragulescu moved from Romania to the United States in 1997 to study film, photography and art history at Ithaca College. While there, he taught himself computer animation and programming, and after graduation, took a job in San Francisco writing code and working on Web, multimedia and game design. That's when he seized on the idea of using algorithms to harness the Net's mountains of data and produce art. After the dot-com bust, Dragulescu earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of California at San Diego. There, he studied computer science, cognitive science, media theory and visual arts and was inspired to experiment with art and data from the Net, including spam, music and blogs. One project from CRCA is called Scalable City, which creates procedural game assets and environments. Now he's working on taking the same principles and applying them to text and literature, so that one day he can create a visual image of a Hemingway novel, for example. He recently completed a project in music visualization called Extrusions in C Major. The project creates images from Mozart compositions. To do this, the software analyzes the note characteristics of the music, including the tempo of various instruments, and then pairs them with colors: white for piano, yellow for violin and blue for cello. With Blogbot, though it's not finished, he's already created a first graphical novel, called "What I Did Last Summer." The piece draws on writings about the war in Iraq from soldiers who have maintained blogs. To make the program even more sophisticated for his next novel, Dragulescu is learning computational linguistics methods to understand the logic and emotions embedded in language. Strangely enough, his interest in language analysis started with spam. "Spam is a random piece of literature, it has unseen effects, it changes all the time," he said. "And it's led me to see text differently."
By Stefanie Olsen, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Turning the web into 'sushi belts' BBC News
The way people find websites, blogs, and other content they like on the net is changing.
The way people find websites, blogs, and other content they like on the net is changing.
Like sushi, RSS lets people pick and choose
While the majority still seek out sites of interest through search engines and keep addresses bookmarked, others increasingly use "RSS" feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a way of keeping automatically aware of website updates. Like su