Facebook open

Facebook, a formerly 'closed' American social network, is open. Open to anyone, but they also released an open API recently. Not many Dutch profiles, so I don't have friends yet;-)

"Facebook is now offering open APIs for people, friends, hptos and events! Can life get any better than that! Think of all the coolio things that can get done now! Legally - without any mishigas. A full 6-12 months ahead of schedule Facebook has - in a single blow - broken open this whole game. Now the race begins to build out services and applications (even content) around these APIs. Anyone wish to guess on how long it’ll take MySpace and Bebo to respond? Now I hate to say I told you so - but…... I TOLD YOU SO!"

The Internet Address Book

Pete Cashmore writes about the Internet Address Book, a venture from the Dutch Fresheads. You can find me here, but I can't enter all the profilepages I have at various services throughout the web. This service is more symptomatic for a specific need (managing your online identity), the implementation itself is not so interesting. Jason Kolb's six posts on this topic are very interesting, he comes to a different solution for the same problem. As do for example ClaimID and PeopleAggregator I wrote about earlier.

"The Internet Address Book, which launched this week, is a new service from the Netherlands that brings together all your online identities in one place - social networking URLs, instant messaging IDs and web addresses. You create an account, then add your IDs from Fotolog, Facebook, Webshots, Gaia Online, Photobucket and the usual suspects (including MySpace, of course). There’s also a live search that finds people across multiple social networks - the results seem pretty good, but it works best when the user is already registered. They’re also working on a “wanted” section, where you can list people you’re looking for. What’s more, you can add people you know to your contacts."

Killing MySpace

Here's a thought....

"But more importantly, I think the real MySpace killer is eventually going to be when the average person grasps this key idea: "Your online identity is valuable. It is making money, whether you realize it or not. Would you like to A) Keep the money for yourself, B) Give the money to charity, or C) Continue giving it to Fox News Corporation."

SMBs should outsource IT

I often find my self discussing this topic and I sometimes wonder why it isn't obvious to everyone that it makes a lot of business sense to outsource these kinds of IT affairs....

"On the e-mail backchannel, Nick said "there are 10-person firms that have Exchange servers running in closets. It's crazy." Agreed. It's completely nuts. If you must have Microsoft's Exchange Server, there are probably hundreds of companies like Centerbeam that you can outsource Exchange Server hosting to (and they'll even hook you up with Blackberries and stuff like that if you need them) and then, once you outsource, all you have to do is modify the MX record on your company's DNS entry."

Virtual world mashups

Next week I will present a nice example at PICNIC '06 using the webservices of both Eccky and Second Life to create an interesting mix of two virtual worlds. More of these crossings are showing up, this is an interesting concept developed by World of Warcraft players discussing their strategies in Second Life. SL as a platform, WoW as a game... (Thanks EJ!)

The boss’s inbox...

... is where all good ideas go to die. Email is a lousy tool for exchange of knowledge and ideas.

"It sounds like philosophy, but if a piece of business intelligence or internal discussion doesn’t have a URL, does it really exist? You’re in a competition for the best ideas, and then executing on them. Any friction to the exchange of ideas needs to be removed, and that includes nasty communications silos like email. (“The boss’s inbox is where all good ideas go to die.”) There are big, traditional companies out there that have completely re-invented how they work together, and documented the process. Now’s the time to make blogs, RSS feeds, wikis, and advanced communications tools part of your standard internal repertoire."

Not (just) a game

It is often said that Second Life is not a game and should not be seen like one. It's a virtual environment which is all about socializing, creating, experimenting, etc. But when you look at World of Warcraft, it's not much different except there is a gameplay to facilitate everything which makes it extremely popular. In the end however, it's not a game...

"Edward Castronova sees all this as an early indicator of what will become a vast participation in synthetic worlds, with fuzzier and fuzzier lines between virtual and physical realms. "In 20 or 30 years the technology will be here to create incredibly more realistic and immersive worlds," he says. "There will be a world that fits the fantasy of any life you want to lead." Those deep into WOW, of course, are already living that future. "Yes, it's just a game," says Joi Ito. "The way that the real world is a game."

Small business services driving innovation

BusinessWeek is running an article on 'Big Help for Small Businesses', explaining the fact that it is so easy nowadays to start a business online. I'm sure these developments will be a main driver of innovation on the web.

"How Hill transformed his hobby into a business is illustrative of what many small business owners can do with relatively little money and Internet experience. Hill got his site up and running four years ago with the help of a Web design firm that charged $3,000 to develop the site and a Web host company that stores Hill's data and connects him to customers for roughly $10 a month. Hill now fills several orders a week. "I am not a computer guy at all and the site works very nicely," he says."