The Rub
If you feel concerned that Google has been saturating its search results with Google-related sites, you may want to try Google Minus Google.

The Solution
Google Minus Google is both a site and a tool devised to address the growing issues about Google stepping on someone else’s business or turf. The issue surfaced and grew stronger with the introduction of Knol, a space where experts could come together and contribute information, hoping to create a Wikipedia-like store of information. Knol is different from Wikipedia because latter is edited collectively and is ad-free. Knol, however, has the contributors keep control over content and Knol contributors sign their write-ups in. They may even opt to place ads in their pages, sold by Google, too.

Google Minus Google is both a site and a tool devised to address the growing issues about Google stepping on someone else’s business or turf. The issue surfaced and grew stronger with the introduction of Knol, a space where experts could come together and contribute information, hoping to create a Wikipedia-like store of information. Knol is different from Wikipedia because latter is edited collectively and is ad-free. Knol, however, has the contributors keep control over content and Knol contributors sign their write-ups in. They may even opt to place ads in their pages, sold by Google, too.

These Knol pages have ranked high despite having been in the traffic for only three weeks, which caused the growing concern regarding Google’s deemed monopoly.

Integrity Questioned
A lot of people pointed out that if Google-owned websites such as Knol, YouTube, and Blogger account kept popping up during a visitor’s search as the top results, the objectivity of the searches will be compromised. Worse, not only is the fairness of the search questioned, but also, the professed friendship of Google to media companies is at an even greater stake.

Google Minus Google
A blogger in Finland, Timo Paloheimo, has thought of a brilliant idea. A tool excluding Google-owned websites could be placed to serve as an option for visitors to search Google, sans the risk of top ranking Google domains dominating the searched list. This tool is extremely helpful in filtering out websites operated by Google, thus giving other websites better chances of being found through their SEO’s.

Paloheimo said that on its first day, the site got a remarkable 3,000 hits attracting comments from people from as far as Argentina. Other blogs suggested improvements to it such as filtering out Wikipedia.

What Google Says
Right now, Google has professed no copyright or trademark issues regarding the advanced search feature. In fact, it welcomes the efforts warmly, if only to deliver useful information and most importantly, for the benefits of the users.

Cloud computing is proving to be an evolving technology of data storage. In fact, while many large companies would decide against availing them at present, a lot of small to medium scale businesses are doing so because the cost is relatively affordable (paid by the month and by the user, so no need to shell out a large amounts of cash all at once) compared to the benefit of security; knowing that your data won’t clog up your computer or company server which might cause a possible crash (or worse, reformatting). That alone saves a good deal of one’s sanity.

To cite an example, Doug Menefee, the company’s chief information officer of Schumacher Group’s multimillion-dollar data center in Louisiana, turned to the cloud computing after the hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. He was only so thankful that the center had not gone down or managing the staffing of emergency room physicians would be an impossibly daunting task.

But what is really in cloud computing for you? Here is your list of considerations before you plunge all the way down to the cloud.

Data access. Educate yourself as to who will see your data. Some data can be very sensitive and if accessed and used improperly by unauthorized people, might cause more discomfort than ease. In addition, some trades (such as the health care industry) have privacy regulations which might render cloud computing inappropriate.

Payment concerns. It is a good rule of thumb to set clear expectations. One might need to ask what happens to the data if there is a missed payment. This is something crucial that needs to agreed upon and written in black and white.

Backing up. Seeing that the technology is still new, it is recommended to inquire if they back up your data in case their own system backfires. A usual contract stipulates that the data owner is solely accountable for data backup, protection, and even security.

Consider the possibility of your cloud entering the same business as yours. By entrusting them with your data, you are almost inevitably selling your own wares to them and inviting your own competitor.

Think ahead if you’re doing business abroad. You may have opted for a cloud that is based offshore. Consider the probability of your data being searched under certain circumstances. For example, if your cloud is situated in US, your data may be subjected to the USA Patriot Act searches.

Expectations. Expectations. Expectations.  Discrimination of any form might not allow you to store your data at Amazon and infringe copyrights might rule out Google. How about access controls such as passwords? Does your cloud charge for freeing up advertisements in your employees’ emails? In the event you are unhappy with the cloud’s service, how do you terminate their services and at what costs?

Once all these are considered, follow the three fundamental principles that can save you lots of headaches in the future.

Triage, or keep a very close eye and tight fist on anything (be it data or something else) that will render your business paralyzed if lost or copied.

Secure, or take advantage of the tools available in the software to encrypt and hide information which are ultra-sensitive. Educate yourself and the other users. It might save your life.

Backup; this is the most basic of all. It never hurts to cover your bases by having updated backup copies of everything your cloud has. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound cure as they say.

Cloud computing using Google Apps was first patronized by only a handful of staff at Sanmina-SCI (SANM), a company with a $10.7 billion of revenue annually, using the applications to send emails, create documents, and schedule appointments and commitments. After six months, the handful went up to a thousand users of the electronics manufacturing company going online to use Google applications, shunting Microsoft tools to one side.

According to Manesh Patel, the chief information officer of Sanmina-SCI, the Google Apps make a difference between a poorly collaborated cluster and an organized, well-coordinated project teams. He even projected the Google Apps users to increase by 25% (totals 10,000) in the next three years.

Sanmina (which is based in San Jose, California) and Google spearhead a significant shift in the way organizations avail of software and computing capacity as well. Amazon, Salesforce.com, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft aid corporate clients in exploring the Internet from extra server space down to software which manages customer relationships more effectively.

So What Exactly Is “Cloud Computing”?
The computing tasks (referred to as “cloud computing”) are assigned to a remote location rather than to the company’s own server. Cloud computing services are delivered all over the Internet depending on the demand from massive data centers. A million-dollar enterprise, Merrill Lynch’s estimate is that the annual international demand for cloud computing will be up to $95 billion. Based on May 2008 report, 12% of software market worldwide would choose cloud computing, in fact, IBM, DELL, and Hewlett Packard are looking to shift to cloud computing in the near future. Even IBM professes its willingness to spend $36-M to build cloud computing data center in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Michael Dell, DELL CEO, stresses that they’ve put together a new industry building custom products for customers with specific needs to address.

Question of Reliability
Some companies have qualms regarding the system’s reliability, but Daryl Plummer, managing vice-president of consulting firm Gartner, reasoned that technologies take some time to achieve that perfection which everyone might be looking for. Google Apps as an example might not offer the same features as Microsoft Office Professional, but is effective in maintaining collaborations among employees globally.

Dave Girouard, of Google, stressed that things are not expected to turn out as smoothly or as perfectly as one hopes to be but Patel of Sanmina said that in the long term, it shouldn’t pan out so badly. Girouard noted that more than half of the 500,000 organization use the free version of Google Apps.

Cloud computing might give HR a run for their money because the idea of moving attendance monitoring and expense reporting into Google Apps is something that is explored by Patel. Taking baby steps, as per Patel’s remark coupled with trying lower-priority applications will help them get the results they are aiming for. Cloud computing might not be applicable to storing financial and health records due to rules for security and privacy but a private cloud may be a possibility.

Generally, most feel that the system has to iron out things first before anyone adopts it on larger scale. An upswing in revenue is expected as more companies become more comfortable with the system. Google Apps will be provided for free, too. As Girouard at Google puts it, they intend to “generate millions of users for life”.

What makes for a good social networking website?

Is it the look and feel of the website, the ease of navigation, the tools and features?

For Facebook, it is the pleasant mixture of all three with a slightly more focus on technology-driven tools that has enabled it to overtake its close competitor, MySpace.

The Beginning
Ever since its birth in February 2004, Facebook, the privately owned and operated social networking website has been enticing and accumulating followers, being a free-access website where people from all walks of life can join networks (organized by cities, workplaces, schools, or regions) to interact with others, and to some extent, rekindle old friendships and reconnect past relationships.

Beyond the Face Value
Four years have passed and Facebook has managed to remain virtually on top while undergoing a lot of progress in terms of applications. Starting from an idea (the website’s name came from the “paper facebooks” illustrating members of a campus community that some American colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, or staff aiming to familiarize them with the other people inside the campus) of a then Harvard sophomore student, Mark Zuckerberg, the website turned out to be a major hit as a multi-million dollar enterprise.

Bridging Gaps and Cultural Differences
The CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, describes the impact of Facebook through a story about a group of young militants from Lebanon who have reconciled their views of Western culture by way of Facebook friendships. The story spoke of the free expression of ideas which the World Wide Web allows, thus making people rise above their cultural disparities.

On Expansion and Language Translation
Facebook has reached a great number of users, as it quickly expands to other regions, internationally. In fact, the website stands unruffled to the top as a global social network. The numbers released in August 12 by comScore says it all. There are about 132 million followers of Facebook, 63% of which are outside North America. It helped that the network has been translated to 20 languages such as French, Spanish, and Mandarin. Recently, it has added 69 more languages. The international manager of Facebook, Javier Olivan views this as more than just enabling everyone to understand one another. The translations, according to him, will jumpstart astronomical growth internationally.

Growing and Thriving
To date, Facebook faces tough competition with MySpace and News Corp.’s to name a couple. They not only focus on their local markets, but are also meaning to saturate the global scene to amplify audience growth, thus making them very attractive to advertisers and prospective investors.

MySpace has spread out in 29 countries such as India and Korea. Based on a study from Pingdom, a Swedish website availability monitoring website; it is mostly frequented by users in US, Puerto Rico, Australia, Britain, and even in Asian countries such as Malaysia.

LinkedIn is another social network catering to professionals. According to Pingdom, it is popular in India, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and US.

Despite all these, a staggering 153% increase in new members last June has thrown other social networks off-balance, in terms of the website’s success through a purely user adoption.

Tech-Savvy Socialization
Facebook proved to have more ease conquering the international market through its technology-driven strategy. The social network boasts of translation tools, enabling users to take their existing sites and personalize them using their native tongue. The tools proved to offer very accurate translations, setting it apart from the other social network websites. The senior analyst of comScore, Andrew Lipsman, said that it is indeed, a very scalable process, with the audience’s number multiplying really fast.

MySpace on the other hand follows a different route. Facebook’s close rival opens offices in countries where ad dollars and friends are probable. This strategy definitely slows down their expansion internationally but this approach is deemed to be a surefire way to better reflect the cultures of new countries while racking up dollars from advertisers, too. Soon, according to Jeff Berman, MySpace’s president of sales and marketing, MySpace’s non-US users will cover half or 50 percent of the its total revenue.

Hi5 language translation tool applications strategy resembles that of Facebook’s, except that this social network from San Francisco initially hired a third-party service provider, Lionsbridge, to translate the social network to languages such as Japanese. This strategy increased its popularity, making the base users amount to a hefty 56 million. According to Pingdom, the site remains immensely popular in Latin America.

More Possibilities
The Facebook executives, though focused at present on the website’s tools, have not closed their doors on the possibility of opening offices in other countries to make their website more culturally-relevant, similar to the strategy employed by MySpace. Right now however, Olivan stresses that as long as there are users, advertisers will continue to create campaigns and put ads on their sites, making Facebook remain universal.

Former executive David Katz may have already left his post as the head of sports, entertainment and studios in Yahoo.com in 2006, but he never really left what he has always cared about and loved to do: write about sports and offer something relevant to sports enthusiasts.

A Healthy Competition
At age 36, Katz will wage war against the other Internet powerhouses such as ESPN, Yahoo, Fox Sports, Major League Baseball, and AOL with his website, sportsfanlive.com. Sportsfanlive.com is looking to be released within the week, boasting of Katz’s versions of customized contents, social networking, and even fantasy games. Katz felt that the other competitors have become a lot more complicated and difficult to navigate, so sportsfanlive.com is what he thought would enjoy quite a good number of followers.

Everything But Traditional
What sets sportsfanlive.com apart from the rest is that it is built for the next generation and with their evolving needs in mind. Katz stressed that the other sports websites have what he calls the “traditional media DNA”, fooling around with the site here and there but keeping them basically the same and generic.

Six months of planning in his Hollywood Hills abode have made him very positive and confident that the website is up to the challenge. The site’s features are naturally-flowing, allowing a visitor to create a community which is projected to have a viral growth. SportsFanLive is aimed to become the sports enthusiast’s Facebook, rather than connect to existing social networking websites.

Similar to MyESPN  and MyYahoo, the users can customize their site, mixing in together the teams they love and hate. Additionally, the users will receive news from 4500 aggregated sources which are regularly updated.

The Secret Sauce
Katz believed that aggregation will be SportsFanLive’s secret weapon. Because unlike Google, which is definitely useful in searching for general needs of visitors, it has no clear perception of the specific sports needs of sports fans.

Through the FanFeed feature, sports-minded pals can easily share articles with one another or they can opt to use FanFinder application to alert their sports buddies to sports bars where they come together to cheer on their favorite teams. FanFinder is a zip code and map -based function which is a visual update of forums on rivals.com (which happens to be a Yahoo subsidiary).

A Sports Facebook
Katz also commented that SportsFanLive aimed to be everyone else’s Facebook, at least for the sports enthusiasts, that is. According to him, without a doubt, Facebook is commendable for doing a really good job at connecting people all over the globe, but like Google, Facebook is not specifically geared towards sports-related matters. The site aims to be apart from the other social networking websites by keeping sports their focal point.

Traditional fantasy games are out of the question at this point as he feels that fans may not have a lot of time to tend to season-long fantasy games.

Gaming Features
SportsFanLive offers gaming features that will enable them to challenge one another by posting or accepting wagers (this is akin to an online casino sports book which is user-generated) allowing them to either earn or lose Buxbets (SportsFanLive’s version of funny money). The feature is interesting (“they can compete on any topic they want against anyone at any time”) because he designed it based on the assumption that fans like to test their wits about anything they felt they know best.

Mouse Voting
Jeff Price, Sports Illustrated Group president for digital, commented that Katz may very well understand and know sports fans’ hearts, but he has misgivings on how SportsFanLive can sustain traffic and engagements. Voting depends on a sports fan’s mouse. Price also noted how interesting it is the way people can embrace the games made available to them.

An analyst for Jupiter Research, Bobby Tulsiani remarked that if Katz succeeded in his plan, he would be similar to other new web entrants who will defy the pioneers in existing categories. The recent research on Internet sports users showed that evidence is yet to be confirmed regarding sports fans who wanted to switch to other online sports space.

Full of Hope
Katz’s belief on his success remained unfazed. SportsFanLive may be self-funded for the time being, but then, he is positive that individual investors will be interested though he put off dropping a name for now. Samsung though, has already signed on as an early sponsor of Katz’s project.

He is happy to note that sports fans may not see it at present, but soon, they’ll realize that SportsFanLive is something they just have to use and will be unable to live without.

Admit it. At one point in time, you became curious, even a little interested. You want to know why people are so hooked on this tech-savvy social networking site people call “Facebook”.

Well, Facebook is free and what have you got to lose?

Sign up today! Here are some ideas to get you started.

More is more. Relationships are at an all-time high. At first glance it may not seem to matter, but it does. Your Facebook friends are your connections. The more Facebook friends you have, the more connections you are exposed to – thus the more opportunities. If you are managing your own business or are thinking of starting one, you may want to consider taking advantage of the endless possibilities that Facebook offers.

Facebook friends may not only be that; they can also be your future contacts or investors, or customers. It is a business tool that’s both cost-effective (it’s free!) and relatively convenient. Launch your companies, create jobs for people, introduce new industries, make a world of difference, the list just goes on and on. Now how good does that sound?

Facebook friends go beyond the word “friend”. We don’t mean just because you have the name of someone on your friend’s list does not mean that he or she is someone you are really close to. Some of them are just friends of your friends or someone you met casually at some place you probably have forgotten about already. The word here is “connection”. You connect with anyone and everyone in the World Wide Web. But at any rate, you may never know when that connection will come in handy someday.

Photos make you. It is never debatable to say that the photo application of Facebook is by far one of the most popular applications on the said social networking website. It is always recommended to show your own picture on Facebook. The whole point of social networking websites is to socialize, not to hide. People might think that you are concealing yourself and your identity by putting photos that are not exactly relevant to you (or that’s not you, simply put). It is also a good idea to change your photos and by changing we mean updating them or adding to them from time to time. Updating them gives the impression that you are dynamic and you like to move forward.

Facebook, surprisingly, can accomplish as much as your Rolodex can do. Sometimes, business executives won’t have time to communicate through phone calls and emails, but with the advent of Facebook, they found themselves making more room and time in their schedule to check their accounts. A message sent through Facebook provides a more refreshing change from the stiff business emails business executives get all the time. Take advantage of this and you might make more business deals than you normally do the traditional way.

Update your status, people care. Another tool made available in Facebook is the status of the account user. The status lets people in on your feelings and the current status of your life. This is mostly useful in terms of expressing yourself; but is also helpful for other people to know you more. Once again, use good judgment. Make it a point to express yourself simply and without much detail. It is possible to express yourself without losing your privacy.

Relationships are currency, so they say. There’s nothing wrong with thinking along these lines as long as one continues to be responsible and honest with his dealings with other men and women. Use it to build good and honest relationships, whether platonic, romantic, or business-related. Beyond the idea of not having a social network being ‘uncool’, it all boils down to being able to keep up with technology. Anyway, the whole point of technology is to make people’s lives better and more meaningful.

DIPlife.com is a social utility, like Facebook but without all the clutter. The site was created so that student-run organizations (Greek houses, student clubs, college houses, etc) can communicate their events, activities, and parties with the F&M student body via an Event Calendar and personal invitations. Over the next few weeks, student-run organizations will be posting their events to the calendar. All students can send/receive private messages, send/receive personal invitations to events, and post/view attendance to events. Each student has a profile page, which lists basic info and allows you to claim membership to any student-run organizations you are a part of. By filling out your profile it allows student run organizations to reach you based on the categories you are in (Gender, Class, Over 21, Affiliations, etc).  

DIPlife.com also has a Directory, which is a data search engine (like Google) giving students the ability to search and view profiles filled with menus, text, photos, daily specials, rates, and DIPlife deals from the most prominent local businesses by: Dining, Shopping, Nightlife, and Entertainment & Recreation.

It was announced that Google takes into consideration, amongst a plethora of other variables, the location of your server that hosts your website. Although this was known before it helps to have it confirmed by Searchnomics 2007.

Really, it makes perfect sense.

If you search for the same phrase on Google.com and Google.co.uk you will get different results. What this tells us is that if you are an American company selling to American consumers you should host your website on an American server - not a server in another part of the world.

Thank goodness my server is only up in Michigan. Just a short (well not really short) drive away.

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In an industry where it is a dog eats dog battle, it is crucial to come up with a marketing strategy that will make your wares sellable, if monopolizing a target market is not an option.

How does one set his products or services apart from the rest? Take a leaf out of Universal Pictures, Carl’s Jr., and Southwest Airlines’ book and try counterprogramming.

Counterprogramming operates under the assumption that a particular product or service has a target market. Rarely does one encounter a product that answers everyone’s needs. Therefore, there is always a need to fill and address, and with filling that void comes your target market.

Timing may also be a key. When a competitor launches a product or a service, a counter to that product or service may be presented, too. Consumers would always need an option and would welcome a refreshing one at that.

Starting for example with the case of Universal Pictures which chose to show Mamma Mia amidst the hype of Batman: The Dark Knight, Universal Pictures saw the possibility that the older, female demographic would not be as thrilled as the young, male audience to see Batman hurrying off to free Gotham. They would probably prefer Meryl Streep’s hilarity of having to solve the riddle of her daughter’s paternity (her daughter who is a would-be bride had three alleged fathers).

Counterprogramming is another avenue opened to competitors to offer an alternative when another competitor’s creation is less appealing.  For example, the proliferation of fast food fare coupled with Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary “Super Size Me”  gave McDonald a run for their money. To repair the damage, McDonald and Taco Bell started offering slightly healthier fare (not that any fast food is really healthy). Crusades against trans fat and fast food restaurants sprouted up faster than one can say “fast food”, causing a ban against them. Despite the growing resistance to the fast food way of life, there were still those who craved “real [fast] food”.

This made Carl Jr. tout its own sandwiches, in terms of size and sloppiness, to tap the once big market for fast food. The result is a 730-calorie, 47-fat-grams Monster Breakfast Sandwich, tagged as “Breakfast as Big as Our Burgers”. Up to this day, Carl Jr. continues to serve and feed the hungry stomachs of young men.

Southwest Airlines follows a different lead but with a similar tactic. While most airlines would charge for every single thing a passenger would ask for during a flight, Southwest Airlines is very proud to say that “Fees Don’t Fly with Us”. Never charging for second suitcase, snacks, a choice to sit in a window seat, pillows or blankets, bottles of water, and fuel (though most airlines would disguise it under the term “surcharge”), the airline racked up more dollars than those who do.

The bottom line of counterprogramming is to make your ware different so it would stand out. Put more items for consumption than frills. Sell to an untapped market (a market where there is only a few selection or  a narrow array of choices), allow for something (this really depends on your own considerations) that others will not allow. One man’s loss is another man’s gain anyway.

Going against the flow may just give you the sales that you are aiming for. If you like more risks, do not only take the road less traveled; instead, blaze new trails. You will never know what treasures you might unearth.

EBay has admitted that it has been eyeing up the Korean auction site and Internet retailer, Gmarket.

About 40% of Gmarket is owned by Seoul-based Inter Park and the brothers Lee Ki Hyeong and Lee Sang Kyoo, who founded the online store in 1999. Gmarket went public a couple years back (in 2006), and just last June, it racked up a whopping $15.4 million on fees charged from the $927.7 million worth of goods sold over the auction site.

EBay’s pending transaction with Gmarket might seem minor, but is largely strategic as the stake would be a rich opportunity to reach the market of a region where the American-owned online store had some difficulties before.

According to eBay, it is true that the company (eBay), Interpark, and Interpark’s Chairman, Ki Hyung Lee have sat down together to discuss the probability of eBay buying up enormous shares of Gmarket. It is too soon to tell what the result of the discussions will be, but a voluntary preliminary filing has been made with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) together with seeking KFTC’s preliminary approval. At present, no word is out about KFTC’s approval. Nor is there an assurance that a final agreement will be signed. Neither the people behind Gmarket nor eBay are set to give remarks on the issue, until such time, if opportunity permits, that a definitive agreement is reached.