Voice of a Russian: Meanwhile in Russia: A Proud Father...

Voice of a Russian: Meanwhile in Russia: A Proud Father...: I am! On Sunday authorities presented the name of Stanislav Zhuk , the legendary Soviet figure skating (well, I promised I would touch th...

Waterworld and Oil?

I was watching TV the other night when a CNN news story caught my attention. The bouncy anchor seamlessly took the audience to the North Pole where any number of countries are "claiming" territorial rights for either the fatherland or motherland. At the center of the controversy (and story) lies about 25-30 percent of the world's known remaining oil reserves. Yes that's right, directly under all those polar bears millions of barrels of bubbling crude.

If this is not fantastic enough, the side story - the one the anchor and most viewers probably missed- was the fact that the ice cap is melting. I was amazed, not that the US, Norway, Russia, Canada and others are trying to claim something they could have cared less for 20 years ago, but that the anchor just skipped by the part about the meltdown. Apparently the same people that first argued there was no global warming and then that we do not affect it - simply acknowledge it now as a variable for oil exploration.

The visuals for this news segment showed melting ice being navigated by ships representing explorers (or the symbolic representations of them) from various nations. According to the bubble headed anchor the ice will be sufficiently melted by 2015 for massive drilling to take place. If you do not see the bleak irony of this then perhaps you should turn CNN back on. "Never fear SUV drivers, soon the polar ice caps of Earth will be gone and Exxon can get you more gas!" My God, I just wonder at how many people thought what I was thinking (and my 12 year old son).

I guess the larger issue still is the apparent unconcern of Russia or any of these other countries for the environment or any other issue as being more paramount than seizing the last drop of a depleted and overused resource. I can't wait until we are totally on solar so we can watch these morons try to plant a national flag on the Sun! That is if we are not underwater or in boats by then.

Melting Ice Off Denmark

Photos Courtesy AP

Web 2.0 at 2 AM

I have not posted to my little blog here in some time and at the behest of my great friend Mig, I thought I would relate some thoughts for my friends and collaborators. I have had the great pleasure and privilege of writing for ReadWriteWeb these last several weeks. The task has been both rewarding and challenging, and my good friends have been so very helpful.

The most interesting thing happened the other night as I was pondering these last 7 months as a blogger. I expect we all have late nights where we either ponder our own relative insignificance and sometimes our value to ourselves and those we interact with. On this particular night I was feeling rather more on the tail end of things and was very tired from having tested several applications for review. I was actually pondering bidding a fond farewell and moving to the 2007 equivalent of "Green Acres" when I saw my little mail notifier pop up.

To make one of my long stories short, I opened the note to find a very uplifting message from a prominent and respected member of our world community. This person is one of those that possesses what I call "the true spirit of excellence", and one who ultimately will contribute substantially to web development for years to come. The name is not important, but the essence of this particular contact was what struck me as 'symbolic" of all our desired or shared visions of Web 2.0.

The note simply thanked me for essentially being kind and honest about something rather simple to recognize for me. The interesting and "familiar" aspect of this discourse (which it became as we sat at our relative consoles and emailed back and forth) became apparent only after the interaction had ended. Here we were emailing messages back and forth - the creator of some of the most sophisticated technology in the world emailing someone who tests innovations light years ahead of anything possible a decade ago. It was a surreal moment on Web 2.0 at 2 AM. No IM, drag and drop, streaming video or even a chat window - just two people relatively spent at the end of a long day.

I know, you are saying; "Phil has gone all sentimental or goofy on us", but if you think about it this is why we are here. Web 2.0 is not about the technology or the money in the end (sure some people think it is because all they think about it money), but it is about people collaborating and validating other people. In this way, and only in this way, are we led to a state of higher values and goals. Sure we are "stimulated" or "assisted" by the innovation and technology - but in the end it is what we value that makes this version of the web mean something.

These types of communications and moments where we are just human are the ones we appreciate most. These ethereal connections often made over thousands of miles between people who seemingly have little in common. We find though that quite often we have much more in common than we realize. This is particularly true when people share deep considerations or ideas whatever the subject matter. A CEO of a great company sits at a desk atop some skyscraper and relates "human" thoughts and expression to another person in the woods with only a strand of cable wire connecting them to what most would consider civilization.

So here we are, all of us in the same boat - so often at odds with one another - and yet we are now linked (digitally yes) but never the less linked to our fellow man. This kind of thing gives us hope, this is why we come back here to our little machines. We don't realize it fully, but we are on the threshold of actually "knowing" and helping on a level we once just dreamed of. It is a slow progression sometimes and we all get mightily frustrated and even pissed much of the time. But if we could just somehow push through to the other side - then teaching, learning, entertainment, business and ultimately understanding could reach a level far beyond what we currently experience. This is why we are here - to understand.

Email on top of starships, fascinating and as appropriate as a campfire. Consideration and kindness are only difficult in situations where neither of these abound. It is amazing how easily we connect even at the end of a hard day or under the most interesting circumstances with our fabulous little Web. Each one of the letters you see was typed (laboriously for those who know me) at 1 AM at the end of a long long day. Consider the person on the other end of that video or business application. This is my humanistic diversion, my user generated content for the puzzle we are trying to complete. recognizing Web 2.0 for what it is may be the first step toward that nebulous vision stuck in all our minds. Human goodness expressed via a fantastic tool toward other people - 21st century conduit for expression and communication. Web 2.0 at 2 AM!

Urban Ninja

Radical Ninja Dude

This guy is fantastico! He should be a secret agent or stunt man at the least. I have run accross his exploits several times but I am testing Flock and wanted to see how this blogging aspect works out. Watching the guy I wonder how many sprained ankles he has endured?

So, for those of you checking this out on Titter or at Blogger, please bear with me as I ramble into the superficial zone for a bit. You can look for a cool review on this Flock innovation on ReadWriteWeb Monday probably - but for now am am off to see how this works out.

You know, I think I would have made a decent crash test dummy. Cheers for now and I will be back in the blogosphere after testing more stuff for you guys. You might also want to check out a post at Profy on Monday also as I talked with WebX's CEO on the other day about their latest addition.

For now I will leave you with this whacko Ninja dude!

Blogged with Flock

Bustin It

This post is for all my friends who do battle in the trenches of the blogosphere. I feel your joy and you pain guys. I just recently was added to the fine staff of ReadWriteWeb to do stories about the latest technology of Web 2.0 or 3.0 (that was a good day), wherever we are exactly now. Richard MacManus has been kind if particular about everything R/WW as it should be. I hope I can help him take his effort to the next level. I have been "bustin it" for the better part of 6 months now. I thought I would share some stuff with the people who drop by this unpublicized (sorta) personal site of mine, so here it is!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Blogging

Good days are those where you find something really great to share. Sometimes other people share fantastic things with you and then you get to pass them along, or perhaps you get some kudo or other for having "approached" excellence. These good days are made up of kind people, professional behavior, sunshine and a generally confident and secure atmosphere here on the blogosphere. This state of euphoria usually lasts for about 24 hours but can span an entire week in rare cases. I am sure this is just a reflection of the physical world, but the Internet has always had this veil of magic about it. One almost expects harry Potter to wave a magic wand over the endeavors we undertake here and on these good days it almost seems as if it is true. Blogging can be very rewarding, and I love the really good days.

Bad Days are the ones when nothing seems to go right. Everything about blogging seems to run contrary to the rest of your life. The Internet goes down, a page won't load, an editor is being unreasonable, your friends seem to have abandoned your kids won't stop harassing you and the dog has to go to the vet. I have found that bad days almost always follow good days in some sort of universal balancing act. A bad day blogging often starts with either now decent news to talk about where you have to perform the literary equivalent of making bricks with not straw. However, a bad day can also result from too much news and distraction so that anything you write is somehow less because of the pace being forced upon you. Bad days make one wonder why they exposed their "soft underbelly" to the world in such a way? Bad people, bad news, bad communication, anything can go bad in a second on the blogosphere.

Ugly Days are the very worst part of any endeavor and especially blogging. An ugly day usually begins looking like a really great one and slowly, methodically turns to shit before your eyes. You probably have busted your butt to do all, see all and satisfy all in a sometimes daunting effort to "create" a good day, but to no avail. Ugly days have not rhyme or reason to them, they just happen in an out of control fashion that creeps up like some monster in a B horror flick . You always catch an ugly day happening seemingly just in time to rescue all yourself from all the BS bearing down on you, but this only exacerbates its ugliness further. Your every effort is thwarted at each turn and you are left daydreaming of some Utopian paradise. Ugly blogger days often start with a really crappy comment on something you know will be fantastic in the long run. You write about something that is truly revolutionary and some dimwit sees fit to just flame your ass without the slightest investigation of what you have tried to express. In the end these days are ugly because you know that 6 months later whatever it was that you found excellent or beautiful about a subject will be worth millions and your observations will be lost in the grime on the floor of an ugly day.

Anatomy of Days on the Blogosphere

The substance of blogging and the resultant ambient days we experience can be hammered down into one word - people. People's reactions, consideration and dispositions toward us make up our days. Think about it, a flat tire is a pain in the ass, but if a stranger stops to help and you make a new friend the event can be positive. The dynamic of events is unchangeable intrinsically except for the actions and considerations of other people. That is why we are here blogging, to interact and express and help one another along this path of unchangeable events we call life. The impact we have is all that we are. I only know how I approach others and that I am certainly not perfect. Everyone who knows me knows this though, if I make some crappy assed comment on something of yours you can rest assured it is time to rethink it. The point is, I seldom make a comment at all unless I think it will help someone.

Logo courtesy Kuribo

VeohTV, Powerset, Wikia and Friends

I have been delinquent in posting her for your guys and thought I would iterate a little bit at this late hour about what I have been doing these last few days. Over the last 6 months I have been very fortunate to have been associated with some of the most excellent people on the Interent and in the world. From Jimmy Wales, Barney Pell and Marty Wells to Dmitry Shapiro and Dr. Riza Berkan it has been a great pleasure to report and be involved in a small way with some of the most innovative and inspiring people and companies anywhere.

Luck of the Irish
I was initially lucky enough to be associated with Svetlana Gladkova the managing Editor of Profy from where we endeavored to approach and report on so many of these Web 2.0 startups. Subsequently a host of people all over the Web have either befriended me or become close associates. I am simply humbled by the experience and have no real way to mention every one of them or the fantastic accomplishments they have contributed to us all. I just thought the few super kind people who visit this small chunk of my time would like to know that I appreciate them.

Where Ya Been?
This week has taken me into the development of Powerlabs where Barney Pell's legion of super programmers are creating another Web 2.0 search marvel. My good friend Dmitry Shapiro of Veoh invited me to see a first hand look at perhaps the finest Web
TV innovation of the year in VeohTV. Today a wonderful lady named Sierra Lovelace who works with Jimmy asked if I would like to talk with Wikia CEO Gil Penchina. Their Webware 100 award winning development will be out on ReadWriteWeb tomorrow and their numbers and vision are quite fantastic. So, as you can tell I have been typing my little fingers off lately.

Thanks
This prestigious list of Web celebrities would not be complete without mentioning one of the nicest and most intelligent bloggers in the world. Richard Macmanus allowed me to write a few posts on his great blog R/WW and it looks like I may have the great pleasure of writing there about my favorite topic - startups. My genuine appreciation goes out to all these notable innovators and also to my friends at Me.dium who have been straightforward always and kind to a flaw. But the people who keep me smiling and help me make it through those days when the rest of the world seems to have forgotten the little author are people in the same boat with me: Mig, Mike, Jawad, Billy, MJama, Steve, DJ, Mick, Dekrazee, Robert S., Sheilah, Ellen, Sunshine, Alexia, Populist and sheeesh I am trying Dean, Tra and about 200 others are so vital to this thing we call the Internet. One day I hope all these wonderful people will have a spot like I find myself in sometimes.

I know Mushy Right?
Well, I would rather be talking about the top 10 percent than griping about Google's latest goof up or machination. If you visit in the next few days and I am not around please leave me a message. It there is something that concerns you, please tell me and I will hunt it down and kill it. I am off for now, but wanted to leave at least something for you great people.

Let's Talk Fast! Scramjets At Mach 10

Something I just realized is that this is my blog and I can write stuff I think my readers want to know about even if it is not Web 2.0! News today from Reuters in Australia ab out an experimental jet engine is quite fascinating if oy are a "go fast" techno geek. The fantastic "scramjet" engine is reportedly capable of 10 times the speed of sound. You read rigth "10" times, or 6,835 mph. The engine is being tested in the outback by defese scientists from the U.S. and Australia at the Woomerang test facility (what a cool name).

Scram
Scramjets require a rocket to propel the vehicle to high-speed where the engine takes over in the thin atmosphere. Scramjets, short for Supersonic Combustion Ramjets use supersonic combustion air for super-maiximized combustion have a theorietic speed capacity of up to Mach 24 without the addition of oxidizers for combustion. By comparison, the fastest conventional jets only approach Mach 3.5. So, scramjet equipped aircraft could porivide the ultimate adrenalin ride for some luck test pilot. The testing is likely being done in Australia because at that speed the test vehicle would be over Nebraska before it could be slowed down to land.

Welcome Aboard
Imagine taking off from New York and being in Paris in half an hour. I can just hear the pilot saying: "Welcome about Bomerang filght 123, fasten your seat belts, place your head between your knees and kiss your asses goodbye because we will be landing in 15 more minutes." I love Web 2.0, but nothing quite tintilates the senses like the thought of raw speed.

The tests were successful according to officials from the U. S. Defense Advacned Research Porjects Agency or DARPA. The results are being evaluated and scientists are exvcited about the potential for using scramject technology for high speed flight on long range missions and for a cheap method of lauching satellites.

Technology is so cool, isn't it? Now if we could just learn to apply it to more humane endeavors, there is no telling what could be accomplished. For now it is still nice to know that your rocket scientists can come up with faster and faster stuff. There is a certain securtiy in that after all.

Is Google on Self Destruct?

Holy cow! I did not crank up my little blog here with the intent to write ab out Google every day, but every time I log on there seems to be another story about some Google blunder or other. The "one" that caught me eye today was about eBay pulling all their ads from Google's Adwords.

According to a story via Yahoo! News Google has been lobbying eBay to accept their "Checkout" online payment system, which is a competitor to eBay's PayPal system. So, Google decides to throw a party at the same time eBay is holding a conference for its merchants. What a way to treat a zillion dollar client huh? EBay tried to down play the whole issue and had this to say initially: "This is part of an ongoing experiment to look at how we market across all media channels, " said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy.

Adwords = Google

For those of you who don't know Adwords is Google's primary source of ad revenue and Yahoo! sources revealed that the eBay pullout was in response to Google's inappropriate behavior toward them. Durzy finally responded to questions about the Google party saying essentially that eBay did not think this was a way to treat a valued partner. No kidding? Well , don't expect them to apologize eBay, Google is above all that as we are seeing in other news.

Seriously folks, I do not just look around for goofy Google stuff to write about. I do not even like Google and would much rather write about other companies. However, they are a huge Internet presence that should have their act together. I guess that is how I am amazed at the arrogance and stupidity that abounds from them.

Where Do They Get Off?

Privacy, insults, international goofs, copyright issues and enough lawsuits to choke Harvard Law school. One stupid thing after another and everyone seems to just get all googly eyed every time they add some gadget. I don't get it. I applaud eBay for snatching their ads, perhaps if some more companies would grow a pair Google would act civilized, maybe even say when they are wrong or something big like that.

Google Gives A Little, Very Little

Google and the great data gathering factory.
Google is apparently backing up again today announcing that they will cut back on how long the company keeps Web search histories of users from 2 years back to 18 months. Search information will become anonymous after the year and a half. I am not sure what how 6 months less time in the Google vaults could be anything to cheer about in regard to privacy issues but it is something. Google just seems to step on more and more toes in an almost effortless jaunt across the Web 2.0 landscape.

Why
In an article yesterday Paul Glazowski reflected on the Privacy International issue I reported on in this blog. Paul points out potently that Google users are not going to be exactly thrilled to find out their histories are saved for even ten minutes let alone 2 years. Here we have another situation where Google simply backs up after going too far. This is the same tactic being employed in then YouTube copyright cases.

In a letter to Google mentioned in Paul’s post Privacy International pretty much hammers Google with what appear to be legitimate issues in light of Google’s claims against the non-profit privacy organization. Essentially the letter from Simon Davies Director of Privacy International demands an apology from Google for trying to discredit the otherwise untarnished organization.

Who Do They Think They Are?
The latest news via the New York Times reveals Google’s intentions more clearly. Google says that it shares general information on search trends, but does not release this personal information outside the company. In my post yesterday I pointed out that THEY DON”T HAVE TO! Half of the advertising on the Web is filtered through Google one way or another. The same holds true for any manipulation or machinating where user preferences, trends or privacy might enter into the equation. Google went on thumbing their nose at the Web according to this NYT article.

“We believe we can still address our legitimate interests in security, innovation and antifraud efforts with this shorter period,” Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel, wrote in the letter. He added that the company would “firmly reject” a retention period that was any shorter.

According to Google’s global privacy Czar Google could not look at other companies and find any clear privacy policies. This is tantamount to telling Google users that “no policy means we do what we want.” The absence of clear policies for the world’s most powerful Web entity should indicate the need to supply their users with one don’t you think? Google is open to dialogue according to Fleisher, but given the statement about shorter data holding, it sounds like doubletalk to me.

Conclusion
Google just announced today that they would be testing technology to recognize copyrighted video and audio in response (after months) to the Viacom and Premier League lawsuits. I just reported at Profy about the latest companies to jump on YouTube in the class action suit. This is all becoming so systematic and predictable and really sickening in my book. Google is stacking up like one of those bullies you have to stomp an apology out of when they go wrong. In fairness to them (why I do not know) the other big companies practice some of the same tactics and use people’s information. However, no other entity has nearly as much control over the data collected. Maybe 20 or 30 million users migrating somewhere else because they were not aware of Google’s practices would equate to a good “stomping”

Privacy, Google, Web 2.0 and You

What do they want? This is perhaps the most revealing question any Internet user/consumer could ever ask. We all marvel and enjoy the great faculty that Web 2.0 platforms afford us, yet the ever present cloud of monetization looms over the whole infrastructure. The news that led me to this post is yet another finger pointed at Google, this time indicating practices no Web 2.0 user wants or needs.

Privacy International, a UK based activist group, released a report entitled: “Race to the Bottom – Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies” wherein Google rates last among 20 highlighted sites. According to a Reuters story via Yahoo! Google is described as having an entrenched hostility with regard to privacy. The report outlines a handful of specific concerns but is primarily focused on the growing concern in regard to Google’s dominance of the Web.

The Method
Privacy International performed this study of both Web 1.0 and 2.0 Internet companies in order to rank the best and worst performers with regard to their privacy practices. The analysis is based around 20 core principles that help rank the particular companies across the spectrum of search, email, e-commerce and social networking. The report was compiled from public sources (newspapers, blogs and etc.) and from company employees, technical analysis and interviews with company reps.

Say it Isn’t So
The details of this interim report are interesting if not totally conclusive to say the least. Without going into a quantitative analysis of my own, let me point out a simple fact that possibly lends credibility to this report. Even if Google did not share information with outside parties at this point, the inside track for sharing data within the Google virtual monopoly would be immense and counter to person privacy integrity for users. If Adsense, Doubleclick or other advertising dynamics are privy to your personal preferences and habits then we are all essentially being spammed in the most effective and Machiavellian way possible.

The use of Doubleclick’s Dynamic Advertising Reporting & Targeting (DART) is a borderline abuse of personal privacy given the breadth of Google’s reach. Simply put, Google no longer needs to share your information in order to manipulate you as a consumer for the can do it even more efficiently than the worst spammers. Would Google or any of these other entities take advantage of your information if they could?

The Good Guys
There are a few companies that get decent marks according to this report including; BBC.com, eBay Inc. and Last.fm, but even their track records are not pure as their rating is reflected as: “generally privacy aware but in need of improvement.” Microsoft was chastised for “serious lapses”, however most of this criticism resulted from serious past infractions. Google and the rest would certainly impose their unique brand of manipulation on companies they acquire, so looking for a real “good guy” in the online ad game might get harder as time goes on.

The Bad Guys
We used to view SEO companies who tried to manipulate the search engines as the bad guys, but what Google and the rest appear to be doing is not fighting manipulative SEO practices as much as “supplanting” them. The simplicity or this tactic is rather amazing if you think about it, just get rid of competing ads so that you can have your own advertising “cowboys” herd the huddled masses to the products and sites you get money from. So where is your privacy in all this high tech digital manipulation? In this writer’s opinion, you don’t have any.

Sleeping With the Fishes
The old saying is: “If it smells like a fish then if probably is one.” Just take a look at the Doubleclick website; it looks like an SEO vampire site with its fangs directly into the neck of every consumer. The wording, charts, data and tempo of the whole site leave little room for doubt as to what the goal is. The most intriguing (and scary) thing on Doubleclick is a video by Personal Life Media’s CEO Susan Bratton. Susan “power” sweet talks potential clients into some kind of Ivy League reworking of a used car sales pitch. I don’t think I have ever heard the term “beautifully leveraged” when referring to marketers taking advantage of a medium. The only flaw in this well scripted video is the last glances on each segment (spooky) by Susan and her unavoidable tendency to show off her 3 (ok 5 maybe) carat diamond ring. The whole video is reminiscent of the dressing room scene in The Devils Advocate (spooky).

Conclusion
I know some of you are thinking: “What has this got to do with me?” Well, I just don’t like the idea of people walking around thinking they are safe or are being treated fairly when nothing could be further from the truth. There is no definitive proof that Google or any of these other companies are misusing personal information, but the symbolic, logical and circumstantial evidence is all around. Vampires and other predators are no less obtrusive if they take blood directly from their victims or from the blood bank. From the craps table in Vegas to the Ford dealership in your home town and across Personal Life’s “Expanded Lovemaking” series, these bozos have us covered. I don’t like the insult, the invasion of my space nor do many of our readers I expect.

Fig. 1.1 mashup from Doubleclick and Personal Life.

Testing Spinlets on My Blog

The following is a test of the emergency Spinlet system that has been in private beta testing for a while now. If this Twitter example shows up properly we will know that both Spinlets and Philbo have done good!

Now let's go and see if this great tool renders what it should have shall we? Okay that worked really well, now let's see if the Digg Spinlet does as well.

Where are we now?

Web 2 point what? In about 100 blog posts I have covered so many aspects for the "new web" that I think I have become disoriented. O'Reilly coined the phrase, probably invented most of it to promote a whole new breed of web ventures for all we know, and now we find ourselves surrounded by it!
So where does that leave us? I really want to know? Certainly we are somewhere past the 1990's, but where. If Sony came up with a whole series of new TV's and other gadgets, would we call that Sony 2.0? Maybe we should devise a new terminology to simply say "new" or improved or different than before.
Is the web different than before though? I am not so sure that it is people. I love the user generated stuff sure, but just how much of the web is user generated and is it any good for anything? I get this image of a sheep herder watching 1000 sheep scurry around in a pasture, knowing full well that they are about to be sheared, and telling them: "good sheep, keep going you are doing great!"
There is no discounting the tons of user created videos, blogs, chats, forums and endless arrays or creative license. However, if all this content just leads to more web content, what are we accomplishing? These are questions I want my readers to answer. I would like for people to think a little bit about this. It is okay if you just want to comment by giving me the finger to get rid of some adolescent angst, I don't mine. It is a blog after all, but just for once I would like to feel the presence of something more than an abbreviated wb, np, wtf, afk or other dehumanizing brevity of contact. Do you feel me folks?
Please have at it then :)