Once there was a war between the search engines. We all know who the won that war: Google. We can hardly remember what we used before Google (Altavista? Yahoo?). A new war is raging. Facebook is stepping up and is putting the pressure on Google. But it’s Google throwing the first punch.

Last week a lot of Google  Software Engineers deactivated their Facebook accounts. This exodus started because of to the announcement on Facebook’s F8 conference concerning the change in privacy settings. Facebook is opening up to third party sites (such as Yelp) to make your surfing a more personal experience. This move by Google’s employees is interesting because the whole things looks orchestrated. Is this a spontaneous reaction or were these Google workers encouraged?

The decision by Facebook to open up is making the social website a serious competitor for Google. The way Google indexes the web is very theoritical, very ‘mechanical’. The 100+ factors in the algorhythm decide the ranking of websites depending on the search query. The machine is the boss. Facebook is going to do the opposite. It is now possible for website owners to place a Facebook ‘I like it’ button on their website. This way the website which is ‘liked’ the best will get higher in the rankings. An added layer is that you see how your (Facebook) friends have interacted with the website you’re looking at. So instead of asking help of a machine (Google) with a search query you now turn to your friends (Facebook). What do they reccomend? Which websites do they like? This technique is not new (delicious is already doing this) but the big difference is the huge user base. Some sources even claim that Facebook’s traffic is surpassing Google’s. This in combination with the opening up to third parties is creating a very powerfull new way to surf the web. If we now look at the Google developers shutting down their accounts in perspective it looks like a pre-emptive strike. To openly question Facebook’s privacy settings and make a public stance means the war has started. Or maybe it already started when Facebook denied Google from crawling their website? Anyway the next couple of years we are going to see some fireworks with Google and Facebook going head to head.

In the end we, the users, are always the winners because this means both parties have to be creative and innovative to obtain a loyal userbase. So I encourage this battle: Go war!

With the introduction of the iPad a new device is added into our (already heavy) backpack. Is this device going to change the future of websites? Are websites doomed as claimed by Boris in his post on thenextweb.com? Boris thinks websites will be replaced by Apps. I beg to differ. I don’t think it is about the device, the App or the website. I thinks it’s about data and services. I don’t care if I have to use an App or a website as long as I get to do the things I want to do WHERE I want to do them. For example if I want to check IMDB on my phone I would like to use an App, but if I want to check it on my laptop I would rather use the website. The App or website is just a tool, not the goal. The goal is to get information as quickly as possible.

More likely future websites will have added layers enabling Voice Control or simplified touch controls. Making websites easier to use on the iPad and future iPad competitors without compromising experience for users viewing the website in an ordinary browser. Because it will take a very long time for the iPad (or any similair iPad-like device) to become a household product. Take a look at the penitration of smartphones. In 2009 only 17% of every mobile phone was a smartphone. Offering your data and services merely through Apps won’t cut it! You still need a website to please the biggest share of users. Websites are not dead, they are ready for their second life.

Newspapers are having a though time. Circulation is declining , ads are declining and worst of all there seems to be less and less audience. Needless to say it’s time for something new. In this post I will introduce a system combining existing technologies which, in my opinion, is the new newspaper.

The device

Paper is a good medium. It’s easy to read articles on paper and it’s very portable. But it is a bitch to update. Newspapers have to put out a new version almost daily. Currently there are devices on the market which are easy on the eyes and portable as well. Such as the Amazon Kindle. Although the reviews aren’t great this device offers the basic functionality needed for the New Newspaper (the more costly iRex Illiad could do the trick as well). It’s portable, easy to read and updating the content is simple, which I will get to next.

The content

The user needs to decide when the content will be updated. This could be every minute, hour, day, week, etcetera. This is possible through the Wireless internet access which is available on the Kindle as well as on the iRex Illiad. Making use of RSS Feeds the user can select all the news sites he or she wants to follow.

For example: I want to follow at least 100 websites posting around 5 posts a day. I add the feeds to a newsreader like Google Reader. But I don’t have time to read 500 articles a day. I only want the most valuable news and not waste any time on uninteresting articles. This is where AideRSS comes in. By implementing AideRSS in your Google Reader I’m able to filter posts. I can set my own filter level if I want more or less articles. The same way as traditional newspapers filter all the incoming news and only publish the best. Only this time I’ve selected my own sources, the news is specified to my own taste. All you have to do is hook up your Kindle to Google Reader.

Bonus: The Form

And, if you are a bit nostalgic, you can even use the traditional form. The application Times takes your feeds and puts them in a traditional newspaper format. This enhances scanning articles and makes it easier to read. Too bad it’s only available for the Mac at the moment. So it’s waiting for someone to port it to the Kindle or Iliad.

The Problem:

I’m watching a DVD with my girlfriend. An actor enters the scene and my brain wakes up. I know this guy from another movie but for the love of god I can’t remember which one. For the next couple of minutes I’m wreckhing my brain ignoring the plot of the movie. Eventually I give in, pause the movie, dodge the evil eye of my girlfriend, boot my computer and go to IMDB. The “AHA” moment is satasfying but now I have to rewind the movie.

The Solution:

An integration of a DVD with IMDB. As soon as this mystery actor or actress appears you can retrieve their IMDB details with the push of a button. You don’t have to pause the movie because you get a simple overview in a small seperate screen which you can easily turn off. Of course you want your DVD player to be connected to the tubes of the interweb delivering real-time data, but for now I think settling for (static) data to be retrieved from the DVD a more realistic option.

How it could work:

Below I have made some screens detailing the way it could work.
You see an actor you want to know more about and you hit the IMDB button:

And when you click on Robert Downey Jr.: