Category: Random, But Interesting

Brief Orkut Thoughts

When Friendster started, it was something of a first of breed. It was a club that you had to know about to get in, I'm told (by Scott Rafer, with whom I shared coffee and chat yesterday afternoon. Scott was one of the first few hundred or so into that…

When Friendster started, it was something of a first of breed. It was a club that you had to know about to get in, I’m told (by Scott Rafer, with whom I shared coffee and chat yesterday afternoon. Scott was one of the first few hundred or so into that particular club). It wasn’t like a million people rushed to sign up – no one knew about it unless they were told by someone else. It was a true Friend of a Friend network, growing organically. There was no need to put a velvet rope at the door – only those who knew where the door was could get in anyway. Friendster remains a place you can sign up for without an invitation.

Now, fast forward to today. There’s simply no way that Orkut could launch with the same approach. Too many folks would rush the door, and they’d swamp the system, which has to scale up from somewhere. Hence, Orkut is by invitation only, and in the past few days, an invitation into Orkut has been a something of a quiet wish for many in the Valley.

Now that I’ve poked around for a couple of days, it’s quite interesting to see how the network is growing. Not surprisingly the folks with the largest networks are nearly all employees at Google, who must have been testing the system for some time. This makes Google the Eden, of sorts, the point from which the entire network will grow (yes, for those of you reading closely, I chose Eden on purpose). It makes for an interesting anthropological study, in particular to watch how Google employees’ networks metastasize outwards to the Valley and beyond. I hope for history’s sake, someone is recording this progression.

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Davos: Joi and Sergey Talk Blog

Joi Ito is at Davos, as are a lot of folks (including Orville, my Dean at Berkeley). About this time I get Davos regret, as I am invited each year but simply don't want to spend the dough, nor (this year) do I want be that far from my new…

Joi Ito is at Davos, as are a lot of folks (including Orville, my Dean at Berkeley). About this time I get Davos regret, as I am invited each year but simply don’t want to spend the dough, nor (this year) do I want be that far from my new baby. I went in 2001, when I was a GLT, and I am sure I’ll go again, once things settle down here. In any case, this post from Joi was interesting, as he teased out some thoughts from Sergey on the role blogs play in PageRank (net net: Sergey doesn’t think they should be treated as distinct from any other web page). Davos also had a panel on blogging, Joi has a post on that here.

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Esther Got a Blog

Esther Dyson of Release 1.0, PCForum, et al, has a blog now. It'll be a day or so before she's hectored into getting an RSS feed! Update: as a reader astutely posted, she does have one: http://weblog.edventure.com/blog/index.xml…

Esther Dyson of Release 1.0, PCForum, et al, has a blog now. It’ll be a day or so before she’s hectored into getting an RSS feed!

Update: as a reader astutely posted, she does have one: http://weblog.edventure.com/blog/index.xml

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The Times Notices Google Bombing

And does a fine job, noting interesting, lesser known examples. Sheesh, Circuits might actually be getting better – this week anyway they seem to be more focused on culture/policy and less focused on gadgets. Good move. The piece covers the SEO world, quotes Danny, talks about other engines as well….

And does a fine job, noting interesting, lesser known examples. Sheesh, Circuits might actually be getting better – this week anyway they seem to be more focused on culture/policy and less focused on gadgets. Good move.

The piece covers the SEO world, quotes Danny, talks about other engines as well. Apparently some libertarians are hard at work making the IRS the #1 SERP for the phrase “organized crime.” They have a way to go.

An interesting meme in the piece: The growing popularity of Google bombing can’t be a welcome development for a company that is expected to begin selling stock to the public in a few months.

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The Standard, Now Blogging

As I've said many times, it's always good to see something you care about live on, no matter what the form. Matt is now bringing guest bloggers (so far, all were connected to the old Standard in one way or another) to The Standard. Don't get all excited (or don't…

As I’ve said many times, it’s always good to see something you care about live on, no matter what the form. Matt is now bringing guest bloggers (so far, all were connected to the old Standard in one way or another) to The Standard. Don’t get all excited (or don’t sharpen your knives, whichever works for you), it’s still under the control of IDG.

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But Wait! There’s More!

I just got Ronco spam! This marks a special moment in the the maturation of the Web – Ronco has taken its marketing tactics to email. Sure, I know they've had a site for a while, but man, ain't it great to see it shine online? The spam was lame,…

I just got Ronco spam! This marks a special moment in the the maturation of the Web – Ronco has taken its marketing tactics to email. Sure, I know they’ve had a site for a while, but man, ain’t it great to see it shine online? The spam was lame, the site is lame, the marketing tactics are lame – it’s simply wonderful!

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Get In Early…

Ross Stapleton Gray, who in this site's short existence has challenged and extended my thinking on search, has started a blog of his own on a topic near and dear to him: RFIDs. It's called Surpriv (a very cool name.) I think of RFIDs as an extension of search, he…

Ross Stapleton Gray, who in this site’s short existence has challenged and extended my thinking on search, has started a blog of his own on a topic near and dear to him: RFIDs. It’s called Surpriv (a very cool name.) I think of RFIDs as an extension of search, he thinks of search as an extension of RFIDs. Check it out….

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RSS Conference/Webcast This Week

Dan Gillmor, Dave Winer, Ross Mayfield, and many others are gathering virtually to discuss RSS and its implications at the RSS Winterfest Jan 21 and 22 (agenda). I'm particularly interested in the conversations around the future of RSS, and how it will evolve to support subscription and advertising models (yes,…

Dan Gillmor, Dave Winer, Ross Mayfield, and many others are gathering virtually to discuss RSS and its implications at the RSS Winterfest Jan 21 and 22 (agenda). I’m particularly interested in the conversations around the future of RSS, and how it will evolve to support subscription and advertising models (yes, a publisher’s question – how can we monetize this!?).

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eBay = The Fed

OK, that's a stretch. But via Mediapost we learn that Washington Mutual, a major bank, is using an eBay auction to set interest rates for its CDs. This is a stunt, certainly, but an interesting one. I've always been fascinated by the use of eBay as a "meta" pricing mechanism…

OK, that’s a stretch. But via Mediapost we learn that Washington Mutual, a major bank, is using an eBay auction to set interest rates for its CDs. This is a stunt, certainly, but an interesting one. I’ve always been fascinated by the use of eBay as a “meta” pricing mechanism for markets outside of individual items. For example, Dale Dougherty over at O’Reilly recently turned me onto the idea of using eBay to create markets that might predict the half-life/value of new gizmos by comparing what past iterations sell for in aggregate on eBay.

From the story:

In a promotion beginning today, the bank is using eBay to auction interest rates for its certificate of deposit accounts. But instead of posting a low rate and letting consumers bid them higher, Washington Mutual will offer the CDs at a relatively high interest rate, which eBay members will bid down. …. Aside from being a radical form of banking, the promotion is the latest in a series of innovative marketing deals to come out of eBay’s new Strategic Partnerships Unit, which also developed such surprising stunts as Seven-Up’s “Liquid Loot” and Hasbro’s “Jedi Knights” promotions.

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