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June 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Less than a year after agreeing to buy YouTube, Google is finally throwing its considerable development resources behind the massive video sharing site and tying its content more tightly into its Google's sprawling searchtopia. The first domino to fall was Google Universal Search, unveiled in May, which changed the way Google search results are displayed so that video and map information was grouped in with regular news and Web site content. As the searchengineland blog notes, the algorithm tweak has boosted YouTube traffic by around 8 percent since May.

Now YouTube is readying a new API for YouTube that will greatly expand on developers ability to manipulate video, creating all manner of new YouTube mashups. The folks over at Programmableweb.com point to news out of Google's Developer Day last week about the new API, which will be based on the Google Data (GData) standard.

According to the YouTube Developer Blog, the new GData API will eventually replace the YouTube API and provide more scalability, better integration with existing GData APIs, libraries and development resources.

Currently, Google is still taking requests for new features in the API, with calls for better hooks into the API that would allow developers to extend player functionality (play, seek, pause) to their Web pages tops the list, along with calls to bring back searchable user playlists.

Posted by Paul Roberts on June 8, 2007 09:39 AM

June 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Movable Type has delusions of CMS grandeur

Ubiquitous blogging platform Movable Type launches the beta of version 4 today, with a new architecture, a slew of Web 2.0-ish features, and the stated intention of standing in as a full-blown (if lightweight) content management system.

(Full disclosure: InfoWorld is a customer of Six Apart, Movable Type's parent company. I am writing this posting in Movable Type, an oddly reflexive exercise.)

Concurrent with the beta, the company announced the Movable Type Open Source Project, an open source version of MT due in Q3. Six Apart is already an open source proponent, having contributed OpenID and other OSS in the past, so this piece of news is welcome but not surprising.

But back to Movable Type 4: It's wildly ambitious. Not content with being the social software of choice for everything from one-man megaphones to major corporate sites, it now wants to function as a content management system (CMS) for whole Web sites. Two years ago, this would have been laughable. Today, it may not be. Blogs are at the center of many major sites, and a basic template approach to everyday Web pages (not just ones we think of as blogs) is viable. That assumes, of course, that MT 4 is still a competent blogging platform -- a reasonable assumption, given the quality of both the current MT3 and MT Enterprise edition 1.5. InfoWorld will put the beta through its paces over the next several weeks, though we'll be doing so gingerly. "This is a real beta, not a Google-style beta," according to Six Apart EVP Chris Alden; in other words, beta testers should not think about running MT 4 in a production environment.

The dev team's most far-reaching decision is the introduction of a "plug-in" architecture. The new base platform rolls up the code base of MT 3, MT Enterprise 1.5, community-contributed enhancements, plus some core technologies from hosted blogging platform TypePad and consumer lines Vox and LiveJournal (all part of the Six Apart family). Feature packs will sit on top of MT for specialized functions and community-based add-ons, ideally avoiding code bloat of the base platform. The architectural change is intended to make MT more flexible and scalable, a primary development goal of the new release.

The laundry list of new features is long and needed: installation Wizard, new UI, system dashboards, better image insert feature (yes!), redesigned template management tools and WYSIWYG editor, and so on. Even more significant, assuming they work, will be community-management tools for managing readers' comments. Readers who wish to respond to a blog will be able to join the Web site's community (through MT tools) and post their own photos, videos, audio, as well as text.

Exciting stuff. Still, I don't foresee many large, complex sites dumping their industrial-strength CMSes anytime soon, no matter how solid the new MT may turn out to be. The fact that it's even a consideration, though, proves how far blogging software has come.

Posted by Steve Fox on June 5, 2007 12:01 AM

May 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)

News Corp., NBC doing content deal with CNET

Online news outfit CNET Networks Inc. announced a deal today to provide online video to News Corp and NBC Universal. According to the announcement, the multi-year deal will have CNET providing "thousands of clips" to a video sharing Web site run by News Corp and NBC Universal jointly.

CNET Networks also agreed to distribute the new site's library of licensed content on its Web sites. CNET has done similar deals in recent months, as established media firms look for promising online outlets for their content.

"CNET Networks is proud to be the first online-focused content company to offer its original video to this new venture," said Neil Ashe, CEO of CNET Networks. "We are excited to bring video from NBC Universal, Fox, and other high - quality content providers to our users. This relationship further demonstrates our commitment to creating an engaging online experience at our market-leading brands."

The new video site was announced in March and will launch this summer with thousands of hours of full-length TV programming, clips and movies culled from around twenty networks and two major film studios.

In addition to CNET, Comcast Corporation has joined with News Corp and NBC as a non-exclusive content provider and has agreed to contribute content from E!, Style, G4, Versus and Golf Channel, according to the statement.

The jointly managed video site is just the latest establishment challenge to Google's YouTube video sharing site. In addition to competition from sites like Joost and Brightcove, Google faces lawsuits from Viacom for copyright infringement,

Posted by Paul Roberts on May 8, 2007 11:07 AM

April 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Fake news gets top bill at MySpace

MySpace went live today with a news aggregation Web site: news.myspace.com. The site is based on technology MySpace parent Fox Interactive acquired when it scooped up zgotic startup Newroo back in March, 2006. According to the folks over at TechCrunch (and who are we to question!), Newroo's technology indexes and groups blog posts based on topic, showing emerging news in real time.

TechCrunch, reporting today, quotes Newroo cites Brian Norgard and Dan Gould as well as Fox Interactive Labs head Dan Strauss (talk about well-sourced!) saying that MySpace news will pull news items from "a number of trusted sources via their RSS feeds."

News items are organized into 25 main categories and 300 sub-categories. The order of the news items is set by user voting, taking into account the freshness of the news. So far, however, users can't submit stories directly, according to TechCrunch.

MySpace and Fox are hoping to tap into some of the link love that sites like news.google.com and Digg.com have enjoyed. In particular, the site takes a page out of Digg's book, allowing readers to vote for stories they like, giving those stories top billing on the site. The technology used to select stories for Google's news site is more opaque, though the company does allow that it crawls designated news sources, then uses computer algorithms to select news stories.

But allowing anybody to promote a story for a self-described "news" Web site were immediately apparent on Thursday, hours after news.myspace.com launched. The top billed story on the page:
"Brady Quinn: 'I'm Going to Be a Bust," is actually a spoof sports story from The Onion about Notre Dame Quarterback and top NFL draft prospect Brady Quinn who, according to The Onion, told scouts interviewing him that he'd likely fail in the NFL.

That story was accompanied by coverage of Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle's no hitter against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.

News from astrology Web sites ranks high on the news site, as did a vitriolic piece from right wing political blog Scrappleface with inflammatory and invented quotes attributed to Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in response to the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the 2004 Partial Birth Abortion ban. More mainstream coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings from the New York Times, MSNBC and Reuters also ranked high.

Of course, even established news aggregation sites like News.google.com have their eccentricities. And news.myspace.com is only a few hours old, so it has yet to attract the following that make sites like Digg.com and slashdot.org entertaining, interactive and mostly accurate. Time will tell whether this site ends up being a source for news...or just entertainment.

Posted by Paul Roberts on April 19, 2007 08:47 AM

April 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Web 2.0 surprise: Let's hear it for old folks

Bill Tancer, GM at Web research firm Hitwise, shook up the crowd yesterday at the Web 2.0 conference by revealing that the emperor --while possibly not stark naked -- is severely underdressed. According to Hitwise research, only a minute fraction of users are generating and uploading content to all those Web 2.0 sites built around "user-generated content." Just .16% of users are adding their own content to Web 2.0 poster child Youtube, and photo site Flickr does only a little better, with .2 %. The winner here is Wikipedia, with 4.5% participation. The rest of the crowd is just voyeuristic Then again, I've never noticed Youtube suffering from a lack of content, so maybe a fraction of a percent is a completely sustainable model.

But the real story, to me, is the surprising age distribution of Web 2.0 content generators. Pundits always hold up Gen X and Y -- born to the Web -- as the participatory generation. But -- surprise -- it turns out that Wikipedia is built on the backs of participating 35-55 year olds. Even YouTube skews older than you'd think, with most active uploaders weighing in north of 35. In other words, old farts rule. As a card-carrying oldish guy myself, I say bravo. Now it's time for my nap.

Posted by Steve Fox on April 18, 2007 02:07 PM

March 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)

InfoWorld folds print mag to focus on online and events

Yes, the rumors are true. As of April 2, 2007, InfoWorld is discontinuing its print component. No more printing on dead trees, no more glossy covers, no more supporting the US Post Office in its rush to get thousands of inky copies on subscribers' desks by Monday morning (or thereabouts). The issue that many of you will receive in your physical mailbox next week -- vol. 29, issue 14 -- will be the last one in InfoWorld's storied 29-year history.

But let me dispel any other rumors. InfoWorld is not dead. We're not going anywhere. We are merely embracing a more efficient delivery mechanism --the Web -- at InfoWorld.com. You can still get all the news coverage, reviews, analysis, opinion, and commentary that InfoWorld is known for. You'll just have to access it in a browser (or RSS reader) -- something more than a million of you already do every month.

Frankly, the editorial staff foresaw the demise of print from a long way off and began making preparations for that inevitable day. Now that it is here, InfoWorld is well positioned to serve our readers, both through InfoWorld.com and our burgeoning events business. Keep in mind that for several years now, we have been posting all of the magazine's content online first, sometimes as early as six days before the print issue arrived anywhere. But that content was just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the articles we had prepared for print, our staff and contributors create and post the equivalent of a full magazine online every day, featuring 25 blogs, bundles of daily online-only news stories, columns, articles, regular videos, slideshows, and podcasts. The limited confines of a print magazine, with 32 pages of editorial content each week, simply couldn't begin to address the needs of an information-hungry IT audience.

Now, I don't want to sound glib about print's demise. I've worked on print publications for nearly 30 years, and I enjoy the physical feel of a magazine, its portability, the way you can spread it out in your lap and dog ear pages for future visits. Online bookmarks may be more efficient, site searches retrieve information faster, but it's hard to beat a magazine for its tactility and visceral thrill. On a personal note, I'll miss creating covers, working with my art director and other editors to develop a concept, then reviewing the sketches and tweaking until everything works. And it's hard to imagine I'll never have to create another InfoWorld "coverline" -- the only-in-magazine-style type that graces each cover, combining equal parts information and tease. For an editor, few jobs are as satisfying, especially when the finished product arrives, all shiny and new.

InfoWorld, though, is a for-profit business not unlike the businesses many of you run or work for. I am an editor, which means I answer to the readers, not the advertisers. That will never change. Nonetheless, I also know how the business works, or in some cases, doesn't work. The ad-driven economic model that supported print magazines for years (publishers deliver a steady stream of highly qualified readers, and advertisers pay for the privilege of putting ads in front of them) is unraveling. Given the alternative, advertisers want more immediate gratification and measureable results than print can afford them. On the Web, they can know who and how many people are viewing their message; they can target specific audiences and know exactly what they are getting. They can engage potential customers directly in ways print magazines never allowed. There's no more guesswork.

And what if advertisers want even more intimate face-to-face contact? They can sign on as sponsors for events, which puts them in front of several hundred influential, spectacularly targeted attendees. InfoWorld.com is benefiting greatly from this business shift; InfoWorld Events is also prospering. InfoWorld print simply couldn't keep up with the rest of our product line.

So this is publishing's immediate future, and I expect other trade publications will be following InfoWorld's lead soon enough. Some things shouldn't change, however: The basic principle of separation of church and state -- that advertisers must not influence what editors say, write, or cover -- is still sacrosanct. We remain committed to holding that line and serving our audience, whether they are readers, video viewers, podcast listeners, or conference attendees.

I'd like to make this more of a dialog than a soliloquy. So tell me what you think, or share any memories of InfoWorld print here. Let the conversation begin.

-- Steve Fox, Editor in Chief, InfoWorld

Posted by Steve Fox on March 26, 2007 06:00 AM

December 07, 2006 | Comments: (0)

CNET's James Kim: 1971-2006

Greg Sandoval for CNET News.com has written an obituary for CNET gadget editor James Kim, who was found dead in the Oregon mountains Wednesday, noting he was a respected expert on cutting-edge digital devices, an owner of a trendy clothing store and a lover of the futuristic-sounding music known as electronica. Yet, according to friends, most of Kim's life revolved around old-fashioned values: sacrifice, friendship and family.

Those who knew him say they aren't surprised that Kim, in the last act of his life, demonstrated the ultimate expression of devotion to his wife and daughters.

Read in full at CNET.

There's also a video tribute, and a place to leave your thoughts.

Wired News also remembers James Kim.

Posted by Mike Barton on December 7, 2006 10:40 AM

December 06, 2006 | Comments: (0)

CNET editor James Kim found dead

CNET News.com is reporting the body of missing CNET editor James Kim has been located, according to authorities.

Arrangements are being made to transport Kim to an undisclosed location, according to police. Kim had been missing in the remote southwestern Oregon wilderness for 11 days. The Kim family has asked not to be contacted at this time.
"They have been true champions throughout this whole ordeal," Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said of the family at a press conference. "We just want them to know our prayers have been with them from day one."

Our thoughts at InfoWorld go out to Kim's family and friends.

Posted by Mike Barton on December 6, 2006 01:43 PM

December 05, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Yahoo, Reuters go YouNews

Yahoo and Reuters will seize the armies of cameraphone and PDA-toting citizenry in a new user-generated news program, the New York Times reports.

The initiative kicked off Tuesday at Reuters.com and at Yahoo's YouWitnessNews.

Yahoo will carry the user-gen material on its news pages, and Reuters will go a step further, distributing the content over its wire to newspapers, magazines, and Web sites.

The Times reports: "The project is among the most ambitious efforts in what has become known as citizen journalism, attempts by bloggers, start-up local news sites and by global news organizations like CNN and the BBC to see if readers can also become reporters."

"There is an ongoing demand for interesting and iconic images,” said Chris Ahearn, the president of the Reuters media group. He said the agency had always bought newsworthy pictures from individuals and part-time contributors known as stringers.

"This is looking out and saying, 'What if everybody in the world were my stringers?' " Mr. Ahearn said.

Michael Richards, the actor who played Kramer on “Seinfeld,” was recorded last month responding to hecklers in a nightclub with racially charged epithets, The Times reports.

Lloyd Braun (Seinfeld likeness noted), who runs Yahoo’s media group, said: "People don't say, 'I want to see user-generated content.'
They want to see Michael Richards in the club. If that happens to be from a cellphone, they are happy with a cellphone. If it's from a professional photographer, they are happy for that, too."

That was certainly the case in the Asian Tsunami. The global pictures editor at Reuters, Tom Szlukovenyi, told me when I was a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald that pressure was coming from everywhere to have images at the ready. He said "near real-time photography" had become possible since his agency moved into the digital era in 1998.

The Herald's cover photograph, two days after the Boxing Day tsunami, of a man swept away in Phuket had been downloaded from a Web site where an artist had posted it.

TV News is always on the hunt for moment-of video and pics now. Australia's Channel Seven was one of the first crews to land at Phuket after the Boxing Day tsunami. The crew found home video the next morning that became the first and "most widely syndicated" footage of the disaster, according to the deputy news director, Tony Ritchie.

So, is this good for news and journalism or just a way to get free content?

From my Jan 8, 2005, report for the Sydney Morning Herald, with The New York Times:

Siva Vaidhyanathan, an assistant professor of culture and communication at New York University - and a blogger - said personal reporting made blogs compelling and therefore essential reading. "Right after BBC, I went to blogs," he told The New York Times.

Xeni Jardin, an editor at the Weblog boingboing.net, said bloggers at the scene were more deeply affected by events than journalists who roam from one disaster to another. "They are helping us understand the impact of this event in a way that other media just can't," she told The Times.

Mr. Vaidhyanathan said: "This notion that we now have eyes and ears around the world is more than something we've grown accustomed to; we've grown to demand it."

Talk back to us, below.

Posted by Mike Barton on December 5, 2006 05:18 PM

November 06, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Journalists 'crowdsourced' out?

User-generated content is generating a lot of buzz as media corporations look to lower publishing costs, but will you trust news gathered by the masses?

Wired News reports that, based on internal documents provided to it and interviews with key executives, Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and 90 other U.S. daily newspapers, will begin "crowdsourcing" (Wikipedia entry) much of its newsgathering.

The initiative is said to emphasize four goals:
--Prioritize local news over national news;
--Publish more user-generated content
--Become a 24-7 news operation, in which the newspapers do less and the websites do much more;
--Use crowdsourcing methods to put readers to work as watchdogs, whistle-blowers and researchers in large, investigative features.

Er, well, that last point sounds pretty practical to me given the way people are glued to the Web, and the human nature of wanting to share information.

That's just good journalism, and this example of use at The Sydney Morning Herald is a no-brainer:

But, hey, I think reading on most Web sites is pretty lame. So this style of active/participatory journalism may be more engaging, and it's no wonder Gannett is giving it a run.

For more info on the program, see Jeff Howe's blog, crowdsourcing.com.

Posted by Mike Barton on November 6, 2006 02:39 PM

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