Topix reinvents itself as citizen journalist site
Topix is reinventing itself from a software-based news aggregator site to a citizen journalist hub where anyone can submit news and photos and sign up to be a volunteer editor selecting featured stories.
Topix is following the user-powered models of the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia and the Open Directory Project (ODP) of Web links in which volunteers are responsible for creating and editing entries. Topix will avoid the spam problem that sites like Digg have by requiring people to sign up with their real names, said Rich Skrenta, chief executive officer.
Source: Elinor Mills, CNET News.com, April 1, 2007
Researchers at University College London are developing a wireless system that could allow continuous, real-time radar-style detection and tracking of people or objects in any area with wireless network coverage.
According to UCL’s researchers, WiFi-based tracking could be developed using low-cost wireless hardware. It would be able to be used indoors and outdoors and would allow monitoring to take place without the subject’s knowledge or co-operation.
Source: The Engineer Online, March 26, 2007
Blog refuseniks facing the sack?
We’ve all heard about employees being sacked for blogging. But as the fad begins to wane, will staff soon be sacked for failing to blog? Last week, Sony BMG UK issued a new corporate marketing strategy.
According to an official release from the group, Ged Doherty, chairman and chief executive of SonyBMG in UK and Ireland, said the company “has made it obligatory for all senior staff at both Columbia Records and RCA Records to start blogging actively”. So what happens to staff who refuse to toe the corporate line, or perhaps fail to produce the required quantity of blog blather?
Source: Andrew Orlowski, The Register, April 2, 2007
Mozilla gets social bug with The Coop
The Mozilla Foundation’s Labs has started a project to add social-networking features to the Firefox browser. Called The Coop, the project aims to build a browser add-on that will let people share and receive links or other Web-delivered content, such as photos.
Source: Martin LaMonica, CNET News.com, April 4, 2007
Google makes mashups easy, even for me
Mashups that overlay any kind of data on top of an online map are all the rage. But up until now I didn’t know that even I, with no coding experience whatsoever, could make a customized map of my own. I did, and it took less than an hour. And it can even be found in the Google Maps index if I want it to. Google allowed me to preview a new feature of its maps service that it plans to launch on Thursday called My Maps. It lets anyone create mashups by essentially pointing, clicking, dragging and dropping.
Source: Elinor Mills, CNET News.com, April 4, 2007
The venom of crowds isn’t new. Ancient Rome was smothered in graffiti. But today the mad scrawls of everyday punters can coalesce into a sprawling, menacing mob, with its own international distribution system, zero barriers to entry, and the ability to ransack brands and reputations. No question, legitimate criticism about companies should get out. The wrinkle now is how often the threats, increasingly posted anonymously, turn savage. Even some A-list bloggers are wondering if the cranks are too often prevailing over cooler heads.
Source: Michelle Conlin, BusinessWeek Magazine, April 16, 2007 issue
“Check this out. Amazing!” It took just a brief sentence, and after those four words a revolution followed. The first entry on Scripting News effectively ushered in the first blog 10 years ago. In the intervening years these online diaries have been touted as the future of media, labelled “pathetic drivel”, and caused court cases, prison sentences and international incidents. But love them or loathe them, bloggers around the world have ensured incredible growth for the medium. Latest figures indicate an estimated 70m blogs in existence, with around 1.5m posts being written every day.
Source: Bobbie Johnson, The Guardian, April 7, 2007
