26th Jun2007

Should Links Open in a New Window?

by Jon Beattie

There is an interesting discussion going on at ProBlogger.com on the subject “Should Links Open in a New Window?“. Five years ago, I would said yes. Now, I agree with Darren, if you use a tabbed browser (and who wouldn’t?) then having them open in a new window is very annoying. This is one feature of Gmail that really annoys me, all external links open in a new window.

I have been thinking for some time that actually what we need is a new target attribute for the hyperlink target. Obviously this would only be supported by tabbed browsers but it would be great if you could specify a link to open in a new tab.

<a href=”http://www.problogger.com” target=”_tab”>ProBlogger</a>

What do you think?

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Category : Blinks, Blogs, Technology
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25th Jun2007

Carbon Neutrality – The Unleaded Petrol of our time?

by Jon Beattie

I have been in the UK for over 2 weeks now and am astounded at how much the issue of carbon footprint/credits/neutrality has just exploded since I was here last in January. It is everywhere. Maybe I’m overly sensitive as I’m far from carbon neutral at the moment with the amount of flying I am doing. I realised my luggage has Gold frequent flyer tags on them and I’m wondering if these are like fur coats? WIll I get protesters coming up to me in the street and throwing a cup of soot in my face to teach me a lesson for my garish display of carbon deficit?

I can’t help feeling an overwhelming sense of deja vu. In the late 80′s I was living in the UK and the issue of unleaded petrol swept the nation seemingly overnight. It was suddenly the very worst social faux pas you could do. People desperately converted their cars to accept unleaded or traded them in for new cars, hopefully with a catalytic convertor.

The problem I have is that scientists promised me global warming would be well in effect by now when I was at school. It is nearly July in the UK and it is freezing!

Luckily the airlines now have an answer for you. Along with the ability to check-in online, change your seat etc, you can now “Offset Your Carbon Emissions”. My carbon emissions, don’t try and make me your scapegoat? This is a screenshot from BA.com and the link to Offset your carbon emissions doesn’t actually work. Oh well, I’ll just need to live with my carbon deficit fueled guilt a little while longer.

BA.com

Stu Parker has a lot more to say on the subject with his post “Want to save the planet? Buy a HUMMER.“.

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Category : Blinks, Other, Travel
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25th Jun2007

MySpace vs Facebook – evidence of the new class system for American Youth?

by Jon Beattie

Social scientist Danah Boyd has posted a draft of a paper entitled “Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace“. Essentially she is suggesting that MySpace represents the working class kids, whereas Facebook is the social network for the university grads and undergrads.

Danah observes that definitions of “class” in the US are incredibly complex. It is not like the old British system, it is much more tied to education and values rather than necessarily income and where you grew up.

Even in the military the officers are on Facebook, whereas the grunt soldiers are generally on MySpace. The military have now blocked access on their network to MySpace, but they can still access Facebook.

All I can say is that in the last 9-12 months nearly all my friends who are university educated have abandoned MySpace in favour of Facebook. I have also noticed a number of posts out there on the subject.

I originally found this via the eclectically brilliant Boing Boing.

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Category : Blinks, Blogs, Consumer Generated Media, Web 2.0
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11th Jun2007

YouTube in Google Search Results

by Jon Beattie

I haven’t seen this before. YouTube videos integrated with Google search results so you can actually view the video right there within the page:

You Tube integrated with Google Search Results

You Tube integrated with Google Search Results

I took these screenshots on Friday when I was in the US and now I can’t seem to replicate this, so maybe it is something they are only doing in the States at the moment. The concept of one search with video, images, RSS feed etc all in the results is very appealing in my opinion.

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Category : Technology, Web 2.0
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10th Jun2007

Impressions of America

by Jon Beattie

Just about to leave the US after my first trip here in nearly 10 years. It has been fantastic. I’ve been to San Francisco and New York so have had the West Coast/East Coast experience.

Here are my parting shots before my flight gets called:

  • Healthcare Capitalism – I never knew I potentially had so many ailments and afflictions. Luckily, the friendly drug companies have a pill for nearly everything…including ladies with PMS (seriously!). You can’t watch TV for more than a few minutes without seeing a healthcare related ad. It is big, big business here.
  • Beer – The local stuff “sucks”
  • Capitalist Backlash? – I heard a few people now talk about not being “venture funded” and just planning to retain ownership of their companies and grow them aggressively, but in modest terms (i.e. not grow from 10 to 200 employees overnight). When you consider how popular the Michael Moore movies have been and then books/movies like Fast Food Nation, The Corporation, An Inconvenient Truth, and Who Killed the Electric Car? have been, perhaps there is starting to be change in thinking. Maybe not everyone here wants to be the next huge multi-national like Google. How very un-American. Maybe they just got turned down for funding?
  • Times Square – It isn’t really very square, which makes it quite confusing when you’re pressed up against a few thousand tourists.
  • Big – Nothing new here, but it is just an overriding impression of the US. Everything is big, the meal sizes, the roads, the cars, (some of) the people.
  • Blackberry – They are everywhere. They completely dominate this market in terms of PDA/handheld devices.
  • Optimists – In general, Americans are “glass half full” people, even the more serious New Yorkers. There is an overwhelming feeling of positivity and high expectations for the future. They are also prolific networkers and easily introduce themselves to strangers. It is quite engaging and infectious. I like it.
  • A new Die Hard movie! - Released 27th June 2007
  • New York (Manhatten) – Everything I had expected…and more.

I hope to come back soon.

DSC00024.JPG

Category : Travel
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08th Jun2007

Wireless Power

by Jon Beattie

Some smart people at MIT have apparently invented WiTricity. This would be so great if they crack this.

Category : Blinks, Sweet, Technology
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08th Jun2007

Future of Online Advertising

by Jon Beattie

I’m at Gotham Hall in New York City attending the Future of Online Advertising conference. I’m going to post summaries of presentations and thoughts throughout the two days. Posts are going up on the Marker Blog.

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Category : Blogs, Consumer Generated Media, Measurable Marketing, Technology, Web 2.0
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07th Jun2007

Are There Alternative Search Options to Google?

by Jon Beattie

It is a valid question. It is not inconceivable that there might be other search engines.

Ask.com (previously Ask Jeeves) has recently relaunched their site. They are advertising quite heavily (offline which is probably not a good sign, when did you last see a Google billboard?) in the US at the moment.

The user interface is very good and has a very slick Web 2.0 feel to it. I like it a lot and for someone who highly values the aesthetics of websites, it is a pleasant change to the decidedly basic look and feel of Google. I’m the number one search result for “Jon Beattie” (of course, there can be only one), but the rest of the results are quite different from Google. They have indexed my Linked-In profile, all my Flickr photos, and a whole bunch of links I’ve never seen before, including my submission to thisisbroken.com, which I didn’t even realise was posted until now. The key difference I think is that Google automatically assumes that you actually wanted to search for John Beattie (with an H) which is very annoying, as people continually put the unwanted H in my name. Sugarrae has recently posted about this issue. I think she has a point, is the “Did you mean” functionality of Google actually that clever?

Ask.com

Over in China, the leading search engine is not Google, but Baidu.com. This must be somewhat annoying for Google as they have basically just copied their interface design. Not sure about their search algorithm, it is apparently very old school according to the chatter on Webmaster World (only looks at meta tags and keyword content and doesn’t take into account incoming links). They have just announced that they intend to launch in Europe soon. This will be interesting to watch. Apparently it is very good for finding illegal MP3 and video downloads, perhaps that will be their niche.

Baidu

I think I’ll stick with Google for now as my default search engine, but Ask.com is going into my Firefox Search Bar.

Category : Consumer Generated Media, Technology, Web 2.0
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05th Jun2007

Xero Raise $15 million (NZD)

by Jon Beattie

Xero Live is an online Web 2.0 accounting software as as service company. What makes their listing on the NZAX public market quite so remarkable is that the product is barely out of beta, and is only available as a limited public release to New Zealand companies. They obviously plan to take on offshore markets, with the UK and Australia being top of their list, however, at the moment their revenues are negligible, like $4 grand per month. The offer was fully subscribed, but they had hoped they would get up to $18 million. Founders and strategic investment partners made up about $6 million so that is still about $9 million in public money.

The brand, website, software and offer document all looks fantastic, and is a credit to whoever put it all together, but this is still an unprecedented event I believe. The CEO Rod Drury, has a great track record, and I know he is very smart, with his most recent success being the sale of Aftermail for $60 million and assisting in the sale of TradeMe. Even so, I’m pretty amazed that this went through. I’m also a little confused as to why someone like Rod would want to go public so early. He could easily raise that sort of money elsewhere without the expense and hassle of an IPO. Maybe he is just proving a point that it is possible to raise significant funds from the New Zealand public markets.

It is without doubt a pioneering move and will hopefully pave the way for future listings like this. It also comes with a huge responsibility, if things don’t go well, they will be used as the benchmark example for other companies.

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Category : Technology
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05th Jun2007

California

by Jon Beattie

I haven’t been to California for many, many years, although I have fond memories from my last visit.

It is good to be back. San Francisco and the surrounding areas are really fantastic. This is sort of like my Graceland, being the hub of all things tech and Internet related. It has been very cool to drive past some of the head offices of the US tech giants and I was pretty pleased with the view from my hotel room:

Apple Store

Stock full of Apple goodness.

Apple Store - San Francisco

iPod Vending Machine

If you need a reminder of how deeply consumerism is integrated into America.

iPod Vending Machine

Freeway to San Jose/Silicon Valley

The freeways are in terrible condition. Maybe it is the earthquakes and constant sunshine?

freeway

San Francisco International Airport

No queues, friendly customs agents and easy to get around. Are you sure this is America? The complete opposite of LAX.

SFO

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Category : Apple, Travel
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