Maelstrom: Martin's Musings

Re-Emergence of Pownce as Motion

Looks like the move of Pownce to SixApart -- Has emerged has Motion -- as part of TypePad (which is the blogging service I use. It (Motion) is mainly a developer preview. I would like to get it going but I am getting a little confused on the setup. I have an API key and I am not quite sure what to do with (;-) ). However, it looks like fun. I like the idea of creating a centralized blogging platform. Recently, SixApart added PubSubHub as part of their TypePad blogs automatically. TypePad seems to be finally recognizing some of the potential it has alluded to in the past.

Technorati Tags: blogs, evolution, twitter, microblogs, social, transaction

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iPod Apps

Well, I have to say that having the ability to add applications (apps) is good -- many of the apps including free and low cost (like $0.99) are going to take a little maturing it is aleady showing promise. After the initial euphoria of trying to download everything in sight, I am still finding that this could be really useful.

Yahoo! in Play

All the talk about Microsoft or News Corp. acquiring Yahoo has to do with maybe creating a Twitter or Pownce clone (among other things). I am not sure why they would not just buy Twitter or Pownce. But with Yahoo you are getting a lot of stuff that Microsoft cannot seem to do well (Sell ads, get serious traction in search and IM, etc.).

Interesting development in yahoo ordeal.

Also News Corp is more information-based and think will play to Yahoo's strengths a little bit better. Even if it is MSFT I think strategic partnerships make more sense.

eBay is not social?!?

I find it very odd that eBay is not more social (see Why eBay Isn't More Social - Forbes.com). It seems like they are almost doing too little too late. However, I am not sure that it is too late. There does seem to be a little bit of correcting going on there. With taking the charges for the Skype acquisition (suggests that they not integrated as much as they would like). They have added the home "pages" that buyers and sellers can create, and also the Neighborhoods (areas that people can discuss on similar subjects). I would think they would have been much farther along at this point. Maybe they can get it in gear and try getting more community focus and sharing both inside and outside the company.

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Tags: ebay, social, community, skype

The Face(book) of the future

Facebook seems to either sparking a trend or is at least on the beginning of one. It is the creation of a framework for apps. I suppose Ning and some others; the gadget frameworks (Google, Yahoo, Mac, Vista); and the start pages (Netvibes, Pageflakes) might be the beginning of this. However, Facebook has really seemed to spark some energy. Thomas Power of Ecademy made a comment (on Facebook) that it was kind of like a videogame for adults. It at least seems to be more of an adult version of MySpace. I cannot tell if Facebook is just the darling of the moment or whether it has legs. But for the moment it is definitely capitalizing on a trend.

Tags: gadgets, apps, applications, facebook, myspace, ning, yahoo, google, mac, vista, netvibes, pageflakes

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Mac & Darwin

Interesting, I was poking around the environment variables while in iterm, and found that they refer to powerpc as machine-type, etc. seems a little odd -- is it iterm or Apple that is defining this?!?

Tags: iterm, mac, apple

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VOIP and Vonage

I have had Vonage for a few year now and it has been Ok. But I am hearing about some issues they are having (stock, patent infringements, etc.) and I was thinking of moving elsewhere. Phone number mobility is important to me as is quality, uptime, etc.

Tags: voip, vonage, phones, telecom

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who am i?

Which Programming Language are You?

Not sure it would have been the one that I would have thought...

Tags: small talk, programming, languages

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Death of the Renaissance Man

It seems to be that there is the death of the Renaissance Man. If you are skilled in many areas it seems much harder to get a job these days. Searching through a job board does not do it. Unless you get so vague that you get thousands of items to mull your way through.

Matt Mower and I have been discussing this lately, and it is getting quite frustrating -- Maybe we should jump to the Startup we have been talking about (Metaxio).

We are two great guys that seem to be languishing away to oblivion.

Tags: jobs, careers, startups, renaissance, resume, matt mower, docmartin, martin hall, metaxio