Google amends Chrome license agreement after objections

Google said it borrowed language from other products, "in order to keep things simple for our users," when it inserted the copyright provision in the Chrome license.

"Sometimes, as in the case of Google Chrome, this means that the legal terms for a specific product may include terms that don't apply well to the use of that product," Rebecca Ward, senior product counsel for Chrome, said in a statement. "We are working quickly to remove language from Section 11 of the current Google Chrome terms of service. This change will apply retroactively to all users who have downloaded Google Chrome."

[PJ: They said they wouldn't do evil, not that they'd never make a mistake. And this is how legal documents are drafted every day -- you take another one, and you copy what you need, which is why lawyers ought to be able to understand the value of the Open Source development model. But the downside in legal work is that sometimes you get so used to a particular paragraph always being there, you don't think it through carefully enough in the new document. Then you fix it.] - Grant Gross, InfoWorld

Submitted by New Media Rights on Thu, 09/04/2008 - 2:40pm

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Google hopes to shape web's future with Chrome

Submitted by dillon coil last modified Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:56pm

After much anticipation, Google's beta release of their Chrome browser (based largely on Webkit) was launched on September 2nd. During the morning leading up to the release, tech forums were buzzing with rumors, screenshots of deleted but previously cached pages appeared, and speculations raged. After downloading and tinkering with Chrome, developers and users alike are impressed with what they see. Chrome is not only stable and fast, but shows promise to weaken the dichotomy between browser and operating system; in other words, Chrome is "cloud" friendly.

On its surface, Chrome is beautifully simple and extremely fast. Beneath these obvious qualities, Chrome also delivers some powerful and innovative features and is extremely robust in its ability to handle heavy web activity. I haven't ran any benchmark tests myself, but ZDNET's test results look extremely promising, showing Chrome performing at speeds significantly faster than any of its veteran rivals. Chrome also appears to be very stable. While competing browsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 crash entirely when one tab crashes, Chrome processes each tab separately, closing only the tabs that crash, not the entire browser.

Chrome has also been released under a fully open source license, which stands as a powerful example of how open source licenses can be very beneficial commercially. By releasing their code, Google hopes that developers and users will not only help help them make Chrome more user friendly, but also change the direction of web development so that other Google products can stay functional and relevant in a fast changing technological landscape. As Google provides more online applications on the cloud such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, Google will increasingly face challenges in meeting compatibility requirements; Chrome seems to be a defense against such incompatibility issues. 

While the Chrome is currently only available for Windows users, Google plans to release Mac and Linux versions in the near future. 

Hakone OAM: Chrome Spere is shared on Flickr.com under an Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivitives CC License by jpellgen

 

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Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Guide Aug31 08

If you need to edit your images without installing or paying for any professional software, today's visual communication centered Sharewood Guide can really help you out. Great tools personally selected by Robin Good, concerning video and image research, color schemes and visual charts, are waiting for you: check them out! visual-communication_id50606_size485.jpg Photo credit: Villedieu Christophe Here the visual communication tools I have picked for you:
  1. Pixlr: Edit all of your images online with no software to install
  2. FlickrBabel: Search for Flickr images, browse results and download the pictures you like
  3. Dumpr: Apply effects to your images without registering to any service
  4. ChartGizmo: Create free charts online that you can embed anywhere
  5. Color Schemer: Get a list of the color used in a picture with their HEX codes
  6. Picfont: Add captions and text to all of your pictures online
  7. Upimg: Upload your pictures and get codes to share or embed them
  8. YouTube Podcaster: Provide a YouTube search page and get an RSS feed out of it
  9. VTubeTools: Create custom players with YouTube videos
Here all the details:


Visual Communication Tools

  1. Pixlr Pixlr is an online image editing application that anyone can use to modify pictures online. Without any registration you can jump in, open any picture and start editing it: you can resize it, crop it, apply effects and filters, use layers, and every other thing you would do using a normal standalone software. Pixlr is free to use with no signup needed. http://pixlr.com/


  2. FlickrBabel FlickrBabel is an image search engine that makes Flickr's results better. After you type a query, you can start browsing results in a more efficient way than you would normally do on Flickr, with 50 image results per page. You can then click on any image and download it from its Flickr page. Free to use. http://www.flickrbabel.com/


  3. Dumpr Dumpr is an image editing app that allows you to apply cool effects with one click. To start, just select an effect from the home page, upload any image from your computer, Flickr, or URL, and wait for the process to complete. You can then have a preview of the image, with the provided sharing and embedding code. Free to use, no registration is needed. http://www.dumpr.net/


  4. ChartGizmo ChartGizmo is a free tool that lets you create chart online. With a free signup, you can start creating charts of any type (Pie, Bar, Line, Ring, 3D Pie, 3D Bar, 3D Line): just select the chart type, provide a title, select the size, choose the background color and whether to provide a legend or not, and add your items. When your chart is ready, you can easily save it locally or embed it anywhere. Free. http://chartgizmo.com/


  5. Color Schemer Color Schemer is a free online service that enables users to get a color scheme out of any JPG or PNG image. After you upload an image, the software will automatically analyze it and provide you with the list of colors that appear in that image, with their relative HEX color code. The application is free to use without any registration. http://www.atalasoft.com/31apps/ColorSchemeGenerator/default.aspx


  6. Picfont Picfont is a web based app that you can use to easily add text on any picture. Just upload a picture from your PC or URL, input the canvas size and background color, and start adding text to it. You can modify the text-size, color, find and even position and, when done, you can download the final image in JPG format. Free. http://picfont.com/


  7. Upimg Upimg is a free service for hosting your pictures online easily. Just select the image you want to put online (soon also with multiple uploader) up to 2MB, click upload, and wait for the process to complete: you can then retrieve the embed code to insert your image anywhere, or simply a direct link to share it with people. Free, no registration needed. http://www.upimg.net/



Video Publishing Tools

  1. YouTube Podcaster YouTube Podcaster is a free tool that enables you to turn any YouTube result page into an RSS feed. Just go on YouTube.com, make a research, and paste the URL into the box. Now, everytime a new item is added to that research, you will be immediately notified in your RSS reader or iTunes. Free to use. http://vixy.net/podcaster


  2. VTubeTools vtubetools_logo.gif VTubeTools is a set of online video applications that allow you to download YouTube videos or embed them in custom players. To create a custom player, provide the video ID, customize the settings (player size, color, border, quality and loop settings), click OK, and the HTML embedding code will be shown to you. Else, if you just want to download a video, paste its URL into the box and get the FLV file (works also with other video sharing sites). Free. http://www.vtubetools.com/


Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on August 31st 2008 as "Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Picnic Aug31 08"

Submitted by New Media Rights on Sun, 08/31/2008 - 2:40am

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New Media Rights files comments in Copyright Office music licensing rulemaking regarding Section 115 Compulsory Licenses

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Wed, 04/20/2011 - 10:03am

On July 16 the Copyright Office released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking soliciting commentary on various issues concerning the treatment of digital phonorecord deliveries with relation to compulsory copyright licenses. A major piece of the discussion was the characterization of buffer reproductions of digital sound recordings under copyright law, an issue which could have a profound effect on innovation in new media. We have issued our comments to the Copyright Office and have posted them here.

The proposed rulemaking was especially disconcerting because it directly contradicted the recent Cablevision decision from the Second Circuit which we discussed in a previous post. The Second Circuit reversed the district court's previous decision which in part ruled that buffer reproductions of digital information were considered copies, a ruling which would place the transmission of any digital information under copyright regulation. Such a ruling threatened to chill of innovation in digital information technology.

Under the Copyright Act, a reproduction of a work must be embodied or fixed in a tangible medium so that it can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a transitory duration, or in other words, to come under copyright regulation a reproduction must meet the embodiment and duration requirements.

The embodiment requirement is easily identifiable as it is necessary to buffer digital information in a tangible medium (typically RAM) in order to transmit it. The duration requirement is significantly more difficult to analyze as the durability of reproductions varies dramatically between technologies and as technology changes.

Unfortunately, the durational requirement is more fleeting, which led the district court in the Cablevision case to essentially ignore it, a choice which the Copyright Office blindly followed in their proposed rulemaking. Judge Walker of the Second Circuit explicitly rejected the district court's omission of the duration requirement from their analysis of buffer reproductions for various reasons as discussed in our comments.

Considering the widespread attention received by the Cablevision decision other organizations following this matter will likely echo our concerns. Hopefully they listen.

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Blogger Arrested for Leaking Songs from Unreleased Guns N' Roses Album

Kevin Cogill, a blogger on Antiquiet, a site that provides "uncensored music reviews and interviews," was arrested yesterday at his home near Los Angeles on suspicion of violating federal copyright law after he allegedly posted nine songs from the unreleased -- and highly-anticipated -- Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy."

Here is how his fellow Antiquiet bloggers described the situation facing Cogill, who posts under the name Skwerl:

Axl Rose didn’t call the FBI, but today it became more than obvious that someone really was serious about that threat. Johnny and I sat on a pew in the U.S. District Court building in Downtown L.A. as Skwerl sat behind glass, in handcuffs, and still in his jammies since the FBI arrested him at 6:59 this morning. . . . 

The U.S.A. requested bail be set at $50,000. Skwerl’s court-appointed attorney thankfully called B.S. on that one and recommended his bail be $5,000 and that this case is the kind of case where the defendant should have been summoned to appear instead of being accosted by five F.B.I. agents at his home in a quiet neighborhood.

Interestingly, the Judge chimed in to add that he had actually recommended that it be a summons case and wasn’t sure why it went down as it did. He also dismissed the idea presented by the U.S.A. that squirrels be forbidden to use the internet.  In the end, the Judge ruled that his bail be in the form of a signature bond at $10,000. 

Cogill allegedly posted the tracks back on June 18, noting at the time that "I always said that the more that Axl and Geffen jerked around trying to figure out how to release this finally finished album that we’ve all been waiting over 13 years for, the greater the chances would be that it would slip out of a pressing plant or office somewhere and wind up in the hands of some asshole with a blog. So… Hey, I told you so." 

According to Rolling Stone, Cogill said he acquired the tracks from “an anonymous online source,” which he then allegedly made available through a streaming player on the blog.   Within hours, however, the tracks were taken down, but the cat was already out of the bag, so to speak.  A nine-song zip file containing the tracks is widely available via file-sharing sites. 

The FBI took an interest in the case shortly after the songs appeared on Cogill's blog, sending two FBI agents to visit him at work and at home, Rolling Stone has reported.   Evidently feeling the pressure, Cogill posted a plea for legal help earlier this week, writing that, "more and more each day, it looks like I may be indicted."

While I haven't seen the formal charges yet, it is likely that Cogill has been charged under the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, which makes the willful infringement of unpublished copyrighted material a felony punishable by up to three years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. Cogill is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on September 17th.

(You can follow further developments in the case by going to our legal threats database entry, United States v. Cogill.)

 

Submitted by New Media Rights on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 10:38am

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Required Reading for "User-Generated Content" Sites: Io Group v. Veoh

In an important ruling handed down yesterday, a federal district court threw out a copyright infringement suit brought by adult video producer Io Group against Veoh, concluding that the video hosting site qualifies for the DMCA safe harbor. The ruling should be required reading for the executives of every "Web 2.0" business that relies on "user-generated content."

Veoh, like YouTube, is a streaming video site that hosts videos uploaded by users. Io Group sued Veoh in 2006 after finding clips from 10 of its copyrighted adult films on the Veoh site. So far, this is a familiar story -- user-generated content site gets sued by copyright owner for naughty uploading habits of users (see, e.g., lawsuits against MySpace, iMeem, YouTube, Redlasso, Hi5, Multiply, Stage6, MP3tunes, Scribd, Usenet.com, Bolt, and Grouper). But this is the first case to get to a final ruling, and it's a total victory for Veoh.

The key to Veoh's victory was its scrupulous attention to the DMCA safe harbors. Veoh responded to compliant DMCA takedown notices on a same-day basis, it notified users of its policies against copyright infringement, it registered a Copyright Agent with the Copyright Office, it terminated users who were repeat infringers and blocked new registrations from the same email addresses, it used hashes to stop the same infringing videos from being uploaded by other users. These efforts actually go beyond the requirements of the DMCA safe harbors, and made it clear that Veoh was serious about responding to copyright infringement notices.

This ruling provides valuable guidance to companies that host video, audio, and text files on behalf of users (see, e.g., Muxtape). Too many "Web 2.0" start-ups are careless about the requirements of the DMCA safe harbors. They don't register a Copyright Agent, or keep good records of their responses to takedown notices, or have a demonstrable policy of terminating "repeat infringers." Sure, doing this "compliance" work costs time and money. But, as the Veoh decision demonstrates, the payoff can be enormous, since copyright is almost certainly the biggest liability risk these sites face.

The ruling also debunks some of the favorite anti-safe harbor arguments bandied about by entertainment industry lawyers (and gives a boost to YouTube in its fight with Viacom). The court specifically rejects the argument that "transcoding" content to facilitate access disqualifies a service provider from the safe harbor (Veoh automatically transcodes uploaded videos into Flash). The ruling also joins other courts in concluding that, even if Veoh made money from advertising around the videos, it still qualifies for the safe harbor because it lacks the "right and ability to control" (see Section 512(c)(1)(B) of the Copyright Act) the infringing activities of its users.

While there are still plenty of unexplored legal questions surrounding the DMCA safe harbors, this ruling provides important practical guidance for companies that host user-uploaded content.

Submitted by New Media Rights on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:03am

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Online Ad Management And Optimization: The Google Ad Manager Is Here

Google has just announced the public release of Google Ad Manager, a hosted platform for the full management and optimization of online advertising campaigns. To access it one needs only to have an existing AdSense account. Google-Ad-Manager-beta.jpg Google Ad Manager has been designed to serve and track the performance of both directly sold ad units sold as well as those arriving from third-party networks you may be associated with. What ad management problems is Google Ad Manager designed to solve? According to Google these that follow are the typical
  • Confusing, slow, and complicated sales and trafficking workflows
  • Inflexible site tagging
  • Uncertainty about which ad source to deliver to optimize yield
  • Unreliable inventory forecasting
  • High ad-serving costs
In response to these challenges, Google Ad Manager has been designed to offer:
  • A clear user interface: Increase your staff's efficiency and productivity.
  • Simplified tagging: Tag your site only once.
  • Yield optimization: Automatically maximize your CPMs.
  • Reliable inventory forecasting: Always know what inventory is available to sell.
  • Higher ROI: Save costs, because Google Ad Manager is free.
Google Ad Manager is particularly useful if you fall in one of these categories:
  • Operate a large website with reserved and remnant ad inventory.
  • Sell your ad inventory directly to advertisers (or plan to sell directly to advertisers in the future).
  • Want to improve the efficiency of the sales process and feel confident in your forecasting.
  • Need a consistent way to deliver ads that make you the most money.
  • Find that some of your inventory always remains unsold because you couldn't accurately forecast availability.
A key characterizing point of the Google Ad Manager is that it can use AdSense to fill unsold inventory or compete on price against other ad networks, thus optimizing revenues for publishers by serving up the most profitable ads from campaigns competing for the same ad space on a web page. Google Ad Manager key features include:
  • Inventory Management
  • Yield Optimization
  • Ad Targeting
  • Trafficking, Ad Delivery, and Order Booking
  • Creatives and Rich Media Management
  • Reporting
  • User Interface
  • Administration
Overall, Google Ad Manager appears to be perfectly suited for adoption by small and medium-sized professional web publishers who need a simple ad management tool that provides them with the opportunity to simplify ad maintenance and tracking while providing a way to further optimize and increase total ad revenues. Here all the details: google-ad-manager-interface-a.gif


Google Ad Manager Overview

Google Ad Manager is a hosted ad serving and management service for small business publishers. Google Ad Manager key purpose is to help web publishers manage and optimize ad inventory in the best possible way by centralizing in one tool everything you need to schedule, enable, measure and delivery ad campaigns for your web site(s). Furthermore, the Google Ad Manager fully integrates with your existing AdSense account in order to fully optimize unsold advertising inventory. In Google's own words:
"Ad Manager can help you sell, schedule, deliver, and measure both directly-sold and network-based inventory. It offers an intuitive and simple user interface, Google serving speed and reliability, and significant cost savings. Best of all, Ad Manager can be optionally integrated with Google AdSense to offer you an automated way to maximize the revenue of your unsold and network-managed inventory." (Source: Google)
One thing to note is that Google Ad Manager is strikingly similar to OpenX, an open-source ad manager software which has been available since over a year. But while the Google Ad Manager runs on Google own servers, OpenX requires installation of its software on your own server. One may also consider looking at Google Ad Manager as an effective complement to the Google-DoubleClick Revenue Center and to DART for Publishers, which have been marketed mostly to sites with large advertising sales forces, as it provides new and complementary opportunities for increasing ad revenue for all online media publishers.


Google Ad Manager - Key Features

Google Ad Manager integrates a long list of excellent ad management, targeting and serving features. Here is a detailed features list to give you a better idea of the depth and scope of this new Google web service:

1) Inventory Management

  • Ad Network Management: Easily manage your third-party ad networks in Ad Manager to automatically maximize your network driven revenue.
  • Inventory Levels: Define inventory at granular levels for more efficient line item creation and trafficking. Use ad slots to generate Ad Manager tags for your pages, ad placements to group related ad slots, and ad products to bundle and sell inventory packages with the same cost and targeting criteria.
  • Inventory Availability Tracking: Easily confirm whether ad impressions are available for specific dates, placements, and targeting criteria. Avoid overbooking and underselling.
  • Simple Ad Tag Generation and Management: Copy and paste tags directly into your HTML. Avoid the need to re-tag your site when you change the way you sell your inventory. (Available upon request: iframe tags.)

2) Yield Optimization

  • Optional AdSense Integration: Use AdSense to fill unsold inventory or compete on price against other ad networks.

3) Ad Targeting

  • Day and Time Targeting: Don't want your orders to run on weekends? No problem. With day and time targeting, you can set any new line items you create to run only during specific hours or days, or as little as 15 minutes per week. Use day and time targeting in addition to geography, bandwidth, browser, user language, operating system, domain and custom targeting.
  • Built-in Targeting Options: Target ads to your site visitors' geography, day and time, bandwidth, browser, browser language, operating system, and domain.
  • Customizable Targeting Criteria: Target ad impressions by passing your own custom key-value pairs to Ad Manager.

4) Trafficking, Ad Delivery, and Order Booking

  • Delivery Options: Choose one of five delivery types (exclusive, premium, standard, remnant, or house) to determine, automatically, how ads may be delivered.
  • Frequency Capping: Set multiple levels of frequency capping, which limit the number of ads the same visitor sees over a minute, hour, day, week, month, or lifetime.
  • Roadblocking: Deliver multiple creatives together on the same page.
  • Proven Google Infrastructure: Enjoy fast, reliable ad delivery and load time.
  • Support for Various Ad Pricing Models: Choose from cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM), cost-per-click (CPC), and cost-per-day (CPD).
  • AdSense Integration (optional): Consistently deliver the highest-paying ad by enabling AdSense.
  • Ad Network Management: Easily manage your third-party ad networks with network orders.

5) Creatives and Rich Media Management

  • Rich Media Support: Use tags from a variety of rich media providers. Automatically detect macros.
  • Free Ad Creatives Hosting: Save bandwidth and costs.
  • Redirect Creatives Support: Easily track ads from a third-party network, affiliate provider, or other URL you provide.

6) Reporting

  • Multiple Reporting Options: Run reports on order delivery, inventory performance, or overall sales.
  • Detailed Reporting: Break down reports by date, line item, placement, advertiser, and other categories.
  • Fast Report Generation: Create reports in seconds.
  • Interactive Views: Sort data, add or remove columns, review different data subsets, and make other edits without having to leave the page or run a new report.
  • Media Rating Council (MRC) accredited: Feel confident in Google Ad Manager's ad impression measurement process, accredited by the Media Rating Council to be fully compliant with Interactive Advertising Bureau standards.

7) User Interface

  • Creative Preview on Live Site: Preview the look and feel of ads on your live site to ensure ads look as expected before you start the campaign.
  • Search Functionality: Locate order, inventory, or advertiser data from any page in Ad Manager.
  • Intuitive Workflows: Quickly and easily create orders, approve orders, and review status of orders. Decrease training time and trafficking steps.
  • AdSense Channels Integration: Import your existing AdSense channels into Ad Manager (optional).
  • Browser Session Support: Use your browser's 'Back' button and other built-in navigation without losing data.

8) Administration

  • Access Controls: Set various viewing and editing permissions for your team.
  • Contacts Organization: Store and manage advertiser and agency company information.
  • International Language and Currency Support: Use Google Ad Manager in your native language and currency. Interface available in 32 languages.
  • Automatic Macro Insertion: Save time and avoid tagging errors since Ad Manager now automatically detects and inserts macros from most popular 3rd party vendors.


How To Get Started with Google Ad Manager

Google-Ad-Manager.jpg If you’re already an AdSense web publisher all you need to do is to sign up for Google Ad Manager here. If you’re not an AdSense publisher - you will need to sign up for a Google AdSense account first. If you have an AdSense account, you can sign in to Ad Manager today. A Google AdSense account is a technical requirement for creating an Ad Manager account. When you create a Google Ad Manager account, this is automatically linked to your AdSense account. The two can be fully integrated so that AdSense can be enabled to serve ads to some of your unused online unsold advertising inventory. In my initial tests Google Ad Manager appeared to be relatively easy to setup and use. Once you have defined your own campaigns and selected ad networks, you can automatically backfill empty ad slots with AdSense ads.


Editor's Comments

For those having a hard time maximizing their sites’ ad inventory, Google Ad Manager provides a very cost-effective (read free) solution to maximize your online ad revenue on existing small and medium-sized web sites. In essence, the Google hosted Ad Manager is a very useful tool to sell, schedule, deliver and measure directly sold and network-based ad inventory. The Ad Manager offers up a simple ad management interface and an effective ad serving and inventory management facility for serious web publishers. Darren Rowser at Problogger reports:
"Ad Manager is going to be most useful to bloggers who have a decent amount of traffic and who are wanting to start selling ad placements directly to advertisers. If you’re still at the stage of just running AdSense on your blog then this will probably something you’ll want to grow into. It is reasonably easy to use and set up however unless you’re wanting to sell your own ads there isn’t much point."


Learn More

Get started with using Google Ad Manager. Full list of Google Ad Manager features. Read about Google Ad Manager success stories.

Originally written by Robin Good for MasterNewMedia and first published August 27th 2008 as "Online Ad Management And Optimization: The Google Ad Manager Is Here"

Submitted by New Media Rights on Wed, 08/27/2008 - 4:58am

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Business Planning: Key Action Steps To Build A Successful Internet Startup

Launching a new Internet startup? Wondering what are the key things to worry about before it's too late? Do you need a business plan or do you need a great team and a cool idea to run with? startup_id9111352_size365.jpg Photo credit: Leli456 When launching a new Internet startup, that is a company proposing to the market a new product or service, are there definitive priorities and must-do steps to follow or just having a bright and useful idea is the only thing that really counts? Here my simple suggestions:


How To Put Your Small New Startup On The Right Track From The Very Start

If you are just about to launch your first small start-up with a bright idea and a bunch of friends who are passionate about launching a new technology product, here is my personal advice on what to lookout for:

1) Have Clarity of Intent

business-startup-advice-clarity-of-purpose_id849511_size180.jpg
  • Synthesize what your new product / service is all about. Then go to the corner snack bar and tell the barman your synthetic definition. Can he understand it? Can she repeat it meaningfully to someone else?
  • Don't try something too complex or ambitious. Stay with your feet on the ground.
  • Go after an idea where you personal contribution can be very significant. If your idea relies all on someone else making it possible, I'd suggest not to pursue it.



2) Go After Monetizable Markets

business-startup-advice-large-markets_id10879671_size240.jpg
  • Identify markets that are already active and growing, and in which your product / service can fulfill a specific niche / need.
  • Make sure, that the market niche you have identified is made up by a majority of people who have both the need and possibility to spend.
  • Don't go after a great idea that caters to a marketplace of bankrupt people with very little money to spend.
  • Look around and consider adopting some of the alternative monetization approaches available to you. Don't go the advertising way by default.



3) Find Affordable Customers

business-startup-advice-rich-customers_id10983421_size200.jpg
  • Choose a niche in which your potential customers are willing to pay higher prices for a product / service like yours.
  • Make sure your product / service offers them a benefit that is worth the cost you are going to charge them many times over.



4) Have Focus

business-startup-advice-focus_id553321_size200.jpg
  • Keep in mind that customers mostly buy a simple product / service with a unique value proposition.
  • Identify what that product is and create a unique value proposition for it early in the process.



5) Relieve Your Customer Pain

business-startup-advice-pain-killers_id436008_size200.jpg
  • Identify the key one "pain" that hurts the most your potential customers and go after it.
  • Design and deliver a truly effective and reliable pain killer.



6) Be Unique

business-startup-advice-think-different_id5130981_size155.jpg
  • Constantly challenge conventional wisdom.
  • Embrace innovation and breakign away from conformity.
  • Invite your customers and stakeholders into the design process.
  • Stay ahead of the game by knowing well your competitors and following major trends.



7) Build A Passionate Team

business-startup-advice-dna_id494788_size150.jpg
  • A company’s DNA is set in the first 90 days.
  • Build a team based on passion and affinity for collaborative work.
  • Build a team that shares the same ethics, values and life goals.



8) Be Swift

business-startup-advice-agility_id2449481_size130opt.jpg
  • Rapid action, clarity of plans and an invisible landing strategy can often guarantee success over more potentially capable competitors.



9) Be VERY Cost-Conscious

business-startup-advice-frugality_id1376931_size195.jpg
  • Limit your expenses on what's really critical.
  • Spend only on what is high-priority and think always about profitability.



10) Don't Fall Prey of Startups Spending Spree Temptations

business-startup-advice-inferno_id726326_size150.jpg
  • Start with only a little money.
  • Limit your spending to what directly impact your productivity bottom line




Preparing A Business Plan For Your Start-Up

A good business plan for a startup should be as simple as possible and it should communicate very clearly: a) what the nature of the business is, b) who are the customers and c) what are they key strengths and advantages of your new product / service. The simpler and more straightforward the above information, the better. Here is a basic guideline to follow to start creating your own.

1) Define Your Goals

business-startup-advice-company-purpose_id178342_size135.jpg
  • Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence.



2) Identify The Problem(s) You Are Going To Solve

business-startup-advice-problem_id395490_size130opt.jpg
  • Identify with surgical precision your customer pain(s).
  • Uncover key customer frustrations in trying to resolve it.



3) Create The Solution

business-startup-advice-solution_id10841711_size145.jpg
  • Demonstrate your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better.
  • Create a solution based exactly on what your taret audience asks you.
  • Showcase specific uses and applications.



4) Lay Out Your Time Plan

business-startup-advice-why-now_id11167851_size170.jpg
  • Set-up the historical evolution of your category.
  • Analyze recent market trends and results from similar companies
  • Evaluate time to market required for your new product / service.



5) Invest In Market Analysis

business-startup-advice-market-size_id717599_size195.jpg
  • Identify the customer profile your product caters to.
  • Learn everything about your competitors communication and marketing strategy



6) Do Competitive Research

business-startup-advice-competition_id754624_size158.jpg
  • Know everything about your competitors product
  • Learn and research their key competitive advantages
  • Uncover and analyze their key weaknesses
  • Identify your key competitive advantages realtive to theirs early in the game



7) Define Your New Product / Service

business-startup-advice-product_id403412_size200.jpg
  • Survey your potential customers
  • Look closely at your competition
  • Make it unique and identifiable



8) Select Your Business Model

business-startup-advice-business-model_id531227_size200.jpg
  • Revenue model
  • Give before asking
  • List building forever
  • Set pricing after distribution is well defined
  • Make your customers your best marketing agents



9) Make Your Team Work Efficiently

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  • Adopt a sport team's communication approach
  • Enable everyone to participate
  • Go open - all communications are shared - Everyone is a leader.



10) Secure The Economic Side

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  • Learn to use a balance sheet
  • Keep your cash flow under tabs
  • Prepare yourself to go without financial backers
  • Make it sustainable before making it cool



Originally written by Robin Good for Master New Media and first published on August 26th 2008 as "Business Planning: Key Action Steps To Build A Successful Internet Startup".

Submitted by New Media Rights on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 4:30am

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Media Literacy: Making Sense Of New Technologies And Media by George Siemens - Aug 23 08

How can the educational system we pay for via our taxes change and transform itself into a new way to prepare our young people for an even faster-changing future? Are there alternatives out there? George-Siemens-by-Darcy-Norman-2498889348_ac865dd27fo.jpg Photo credit: D'Arcy Norman As I have promised you last week, George Siemens has made himself available for a short, informal video conversation in which we have discussed several interesting topics that some of you had also suggested. [I was not able to bring in all of your suggested questions, both because of the limited time available in this conversation (the video runs about 32 mins) and also because I have gotten some of your suggested queries way too late to use them in this videoconference.] If you are interested in seeing me and George talk about the state of education and schooling today and the down-to-the-ground issues a parent of any teenager meets today you may find this enjoyable to watch. The other topics we cover include a simplified explanation of connectivism and its relevance to non academics, as well as education future direction and social media hype. Here the video interview and, right after it, George's habitual quality selection of issues, topics and resources to keep an eye on while trying to make sense of it all. Robin Good interviews George Siemens on connectivism, learning, social media and the future of education.


eLearning Resources and News

learning, networks, knowledge, technology, trends by George Siemens

20 Free Ebooks On Social Media

media-literacy-George-siemens-ebook.jpg I haven't read all of the ebooks listed... but this is a useful listing of 20 free ebooks on social media. The list includes resources on podcasting, blogging, usability and related subjects. I'm not entirely convinced I like the term social media anymore. In the sense that all media (whether creation/production, transmission, reception...and even when media is treated as storage, it still aspires to be viewed) require a producer and consumer, doesn't the notion of media have an inherent social trait?

NSF and The Birth Of The Internet

media-literacy-George-Siemens-nfs-birth-internet.jpg Ray Schroeder provides a link to a great resource: NSF and the Birth of the Internet. The site includes a mix of timelines, images, videos, interviews, etc. As prominent as the internet is in our lives, it's worth having at least a functional understanding of the stages of development as well as future directions. We need something similar for the development of educational technology...

Social Media Classroom

media-literacy-George-Siemens-social-media-classroom-logo-black.jpg Howard Rheingold has been working on a project called Social Media Classroom to incorporate emerging technologies into classrooms. An instantiation of his platform can be seen here for an upcoming course he is teaching. The software - SMC - pulls together wikis, blogs, tagging, media sharing, and other tools familiar to the read/write web crowd. This type of centralized tool set is important for introducing the next wave of adopters to distributed social media. I'm unsure at this stage whether Rheingold's software allows for incorporation of learners blogs that exist outside of the software - i.e. if I have an existing blog, can I post there? Or do I have to use the course software exclusively? I'm of the mindset that developers of software, such as LMS', need to design for two groups: the majority who are just starting to adopt social media and the minority who are well on the journey and want to keep their existing space and identity. Rheingold provides a short introduction to the software in this 8 minute presentation. Key quote: don't worry about keeping up with the technologies so much as keeping up with the literacies the technologies enable.

Explaining Leads To Information

media-literacy-george-siemens_437962_size0.jpg I've been trying to gain a better sense of the role universities will play in society in the future. At one point, we thought content was the value point of universities. Wrong. MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative changed that. Ok, then the interaction with faculty is the value point. And wrong again. Open communication and collaboration in online environments with networks of peers and experts gave us control over our interactions. Fine. Then the value point is accreditation. Yes, for now. Our ability to rate, review, comment, and provide feedback has increased with the development of the read/write web. I'm not sure how long we can build education's value on the concept of accreditation. As I've frequently suggested, we can glean much insight from a field that has spent more time journeying down the path of shifting value from content to something else: the news/journalism/media industry. Jay Rosen, in National Explainer, advocates a new role for journalists. Instead of presenting information, the objective is to assist readers and viewers in making sense of complex subject areas. The ability to do this rests on the journalists ability to provide coherent, memorable explanations. In my presentation at Madison a few weeks ago, I emphasized that the role of university may well become one of being a coherence-maker, helping learners make sense of information abundance and change. Sure, universities have always done this... but they have done so from a perspective of authority rather than engagement.

Facebook In Education

media-literacy-George-Siemens-facebook-degree.jpg I was interviewed by a radio program today on the role of Facebook in education. My view: very little research has been conducted on whether the high communicative value of Facebook translates into academic value. Do students want educators to integrate Facebook into instructional activities? Or do students prefer to use these tools for more social purposes? As educators we are often drawn to tools in popular use, assuming we can co-opt them for academic purposes. "Oh look, everyone has a mobile phone/Facebook account/Second Life avatar...let's use that for educational purposes". InsideHigher Ed asks the key question: Will Colleges Friend Facebook? In a related vein - the term creepy treehouse has acquired a fair bit of traction to draw attention to differences of intention in the use of popular technologies and processes for teaching/learning.

Web 2.0

media-literacy-George-Siemens-web-2.0-tag-cloud.gif/> One of my favorite past times is to whine about the term web 2.0. I don't like it. It turns what is inherently a process in to a product. It's a marketers dream. It smacks of hype. And so on. Yet the term appears with increasing frequency in books, articles, and conference themes. Don Hinchcliffe states that web 2.0 is the more popular "new internet" term. He then provides a good overview of how the term evolved, how Gartner presents it in their hype cycle, and how "2.0" is impacting the development of concepts such as enterprise 2.0.

Location-Based Learning and Working

media-literacy-george-siemens_3770731_size0.jpg For some reason, we like to do certain things in certain places. It's not as comical a statement as it first appears. Consider work: we go to work, sit at a desk, or lecture in a classroom. We have a habit of eating dinner at the table (well, for some, in front of the TV). We have a "go to" mentality. Why? I haven't a clue. But that mentality is changing in a few areas. Consider business - many workplaces are moving away from the traditional "go to work" mentality. Distributed workforces, increased travel, and internet connectivity leave many professionals with only a limited presence at a particular physical location. Consider another perspective: "we go to classrooms to learn". It may have been more valuable at one time, but with meetups and internet connectivity, I wonder if classrooms are going to go the way of business offices: distributed, open, mobile.

Are Social Networking Sites Good For Business?

media-literacy-george-siemens-social-network-business.jpg I often encounter this type of question with regards to education: Are social networking sites good for business? The question assumes that SNS possess some intrinsic value in themselves. Simply put, social networking services are good for communicating and connecting with others. If that's your aim - in education, business, or whatever - then, yes, these tools can be useful. Outside of an aim, in keeping with Gibson's concept of the need of an agent to perceive affordances or action potential of a tool, SNS have no value.

Presentation: Designing New Learning Landscapes

I delivered a presentation to ABEL at York University this morning: Designing new learning landscapes. While preparing for the session, I was looking back at what kinds of questions we are asking today as compared to questions we were asking only ten years ago. The types of questions we are asking obviously provide and indication of what we are seeking... i.e. questions reveal a mindset or goal-orientation. Many of us have moved from asking "is technology effective" to "how can we use technology as a lever for transformation". The new orientation makes an enormous difference in where we'll end up in the next decade...
Photo credits: 20 Free Ebooks On Social Media - One Laptop per Child NFS and The Birth Of Internet - Ray Schroeder Social Media Classroom - Howard Rheingold Explaining Leads To Information - Olaru Radian-Alexandru Facebook In Education - Facebook © edited by Daniele Bazzano Web 2.0 - Matteo Pompoli Location-Based Learning and Working - OSTILL Are Social Networking Sites Good For Business - Vincent Oliva Presentation: Designing New Learning Landscapes - George Siemens

Originally written by George Siemens for elearnspace and first published on August 22th 2008 as weekly email digest on eLearning Resources and News. About the author George-Siemens.jpg To learn more about George Siemens and to access extensive information and resources on elearning check out www.elearnspace.org. Explore also George Siemens connectivism site for resources on the changing nature of learning and check out his new book "Knowing Knowledge".

Submitted by New Media Rights on Sat, 08/23/2008 - 1:45am

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