By now all of us will have taken for granted (while quietly marvelling at) at Google’s new predictive search facility. Admittedly I find predictive text a pain on my phone, but extremely useful when I’m trying locate files on my overcrowded desktop.

Now every time we use Google’e search box it tries to second guess what we are about to type.  You may also have noticed that the suggestions are usually pretty close to what we are looking for.  In fact these searches process on the page asynchronously i.e. updating the search page results as we are typing our search terms.

All this mind blowing wizardry is made possible by Google’s sophisticated algorithms and indexing sytems.  But there is another intrinsic element in the personalisation algorithm that we often overlook, and that is US – our past choices, location, the browser we use etc etc.

But how much information is Google secreting away from our own online browsing habits?

According to  Rene Pickard there may be a whole gambit of ‘signals’ (50+) Google is discreetly storing and then asynchronously returning back to our browsers when we search.

This might not be just confined to our online Google searching.  More that a quarter of us are now using Google Chrome as our preferred browser, probably because of the way it seemlessly combines searching and web URLs in the same address bar space. So Google’s ‘personalisation’ has become part and parcel of our overall browsing experience.

It certainly appears to make life easier when it comes to navigating around the web –  especially when page URLs are not easy to remember and when searching by a word is much quicker and easier to do.

Bui it does raise some quite important questions in terms of user subjectivity and Google’s own objectivity:

• How ‘personalised’ is the Google predicting/interpreting the algorithmic process?
• Does Google reserve a covert commercial stake  in the way it prioritises its results ?

Before we get too paranoid about the Google Zeitgeist it might be worth a quick refresher on how search engines operate.

To try and illustrate (and running the risk of massive over simplification) Google’s original probablility algorithm has the browser’s actions at its heart of the calculation (see wikipedia article).e., it tries to predict ahead the liklihood of what you and me  browsers on the web are likely to look at and in what sequence.

Over the years by increasingly fine tuning the algorithm Google has maintained its competitveness as the number one search engine market leader. The holy grail  has been (or as we would hope) to return ‘clean’ search results faster than anyone else.

Undoubtedly the latest algorithms reflect this sophistication to the nth degree and to the point we have arrived at now i.e.,  personalisation (rather than from an assumption of user randomness – see original algorithm),.

But has the central philosophy changed?  And have the lines between ‘clean searches’ and  monetisation of results blurred beyond recognition?

I was recently discussing differences in search results based largely on another Google’s search innovation, Localisation – i.e. when we type in a product or service  Google switches into commercial mode- paid listings are the top three results on the first page. Local businesses may well feature on the first page results, and these results will differ depending where we are located.

I have got used to discounting the top 3 paid listings in Google although I inadvertently counted these in recently because they are now almost indistinguishable from the unpaid listings (following  a recent colour scheme change on Google’s search pages.) How much of this was a deliberate  blurring of  the distinction between paid (monetized or referred to as sponsored by Google) and unpaid (actual objective search results*) remains another of Google’s trade secrets.

(*objectiveness is also debabtable when we take into account optimisation methods by website owners)

Over recent years Google as the undisputed Search engine King does seem to have a adopted a carte blanche approach to collect and process vast amounts of our data world wide. The key to success has been monetising this information through the efficiency and speed of its algorithimic process, i.e. providing search results to you and me – the quicker this happens on the page the more likely we are to continue using Google services. It follows that if Google can turn more of this process into profit, the better its chances in staying ahead in an increasingly search orientated online environment.

Maybe we are happy to overlook and  accept the subtlteties of the switch into ‘commercial mode’ when we are looking to buy online, but we may not be so comfortable with the concept of manipulating search results based on what Google predicts for us.

We all would like to think  of a search engine as  a service is free in every sense of the word  i.e. searches clearly distinct from its advertising revenue stream, but as with everything else on the web perhaps we have become too accepting and trusting in the seemingly innocuous search engine, and to start to rethink of ourselves- our online relationships, conversations, wherabouts etc etc  as central in the stored repository of online search data. There is no doubting thefact that the the web user has always been at the centre of the search algorithm. Only now perhaps the focus is increasingly on me rather than us.

And maybe we should not be expecting Google to sit on its ethical laurels while trying to hold on to its market position as the dominant search engine.

Further Info:

http://www.further.co.uk/blog/Google-uses-57-signals-to-personalise-search-when-you-re-logged-out-332

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/072911-how-cloud-computing-will-change.html?hpg1=bn

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/04/youtube.google

http://www.rene-pickhardt.de/google-uses-57-signals-to-filter/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/7310084/Google-could-face-2.4bn-fine-in-EU-anti-trust-case.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10278068

                          

For some time the idea of cloud computing has been floating around (scuse the pun) on the web as the next emerging technology set to transform the way we all work, play think and breathe in cyberspace.

But the real meaning of what THE CLOUD is and does has for most of us been pretty much analogous  to the big white fluffy thing that floats around and keeps changing shape – which is about as close to any clear definition many of us have at the moment.

So I will continue to stretch the analogy and say that as with all ecological changes in the web landscape the actual form and definition of what the Cloud is (or what it might become ) is still taking shape, and will no doubt continue to change as consumers and infrastructure adapt to what will become this new modus operendii.

Bill Gates the Prophet (not the profit)

I remember listening to Bill Gates several years back saying that the Future of computing is in The Cloud i.e. all information will no longer be held locally on your our own PC  or devices – instead there will be massive remote array of interconnected servers doing all the stuff that we currently rely on our own trusty hard drives to store (and to protect to a greater or lesser degree)  That includes all our own data property private files, media and software stuff we have accumulated over the the years.

Maybe its due to the impracticalities of trying to store all this private data on ageing hardware, as well as having to update Operating Systems and software which has made us relax our grip on our locally stored stuff.  Storage of data after all takes up increasing amounts of drive space, is difficult to access when we are out and about unless we have set up secure VPNs and/or network access – which for most people is impractical.

The explosion in social networking also has perhaps unconsciously wrought a massive shift to a new era of personal data sharing – from a few tweets to youtube videos and through to the more intimate stuff that we perhaps we  now wish we hadn’t been quite so carefree about putting out there.

Along with the increase in connection reliability and speed we all are starting to feel that bit more confident about communing in a broad sense via the Cloud – which has subsequently responded by technologically stepping up to the plate.

What it is not…

I think one thing we need to get our heads around first of all is that the cloud is not simply data storage  - its a whole range of potential benefits where we no longer have to do the techie type stuff – from updating software, setting up networks, backing up our data etc etc.  An example to illustrate this might be Google Docs . Xref the old method of writing a Memo or article in Word and the saving to your local hard drive.  Who can access it apart from you? Before anyone else can acces it you have to email or share it on the network – or change into a compatible format etc etc for somebody else just to open it.

Google Docs changes this by offering a web based App(lication), so no installing from disks and no need to update to the latest version.  You just do the typing and then share.  In fact this can be dome in real time also so that another person working on the same document can  see the changes as they happen.

The above  example just illustrates the massive potential of cloud computing – and that includes increased security, data back up, reliability and potentially global networking without the overheads or hassles.

Yes it does seem to make a lot of sense.  The massive uptake of  ’mobile’ device and Apps and the impact of sales of iPads on conventioanl PC sales perhaps is indicative already to a consumer shift to doing things in the Cloud.

Predicting the future of Cloud computing very much depends on a number of factors, not least of which is the roll out of faster and more reliable web connection infrastucture. However our early adoption does not seem to be the issue as device vendors and consumers are chomping at the bit to rollout the latest techno toys and Apps – no longer is our own concern for data privacy the barrier to any  growth – in fact quite the opposite.

Cloud Vectors and Vendors

Surprisingly perhaps its Apple  who are taking the more cautious approach with iCloud- which may be partly down to a protection of their own revenues and their knack of interpreting (and creating) current market demand, despite their boldness with the iPad – now arguably the flagship of all cool cloud devices. They seem to be adopting a more centralised Hub approach (and no prizes for guessing in which direction the revenue streams will be flowing)

Meanwhile Google in the oppposite corner are very much ahead of the game with their roll out of ‘Cloudware’  (Open Source Android OS ,Google Apps etc ad infinitum) .  They still optimistically see the cloud as the ultimate liberation from local storage and control and are confidently pressing ahead with their vision of the Cloud as The Locus of control.

Whatever the definition as always it will be the consumer who will determine what is happening in the Cloud. As with all things on the Web, personally I see it developing way beyond expectations, current technologies and constraints – it will be what we want it to be -a bit like looking at a cloud really.

Oh, and I got through all that and didn’t mention viruses once.  Well just the once at the end then.

Useful free ‘Cloud’ stuff:

Google Docs:

Well worth watching the video clip of this

http://bit.ly/aOzRxy

DropBox:

https://www.dropbox.com/

Useful file sharing Web App – synchronises mobiles, laptops  and PC. A bit like having a desktop on the web so you can share files with friends and colleagues easily.

Webcam sharing:

http://www.ispyconnect.com

Arguably not strictly a cloud App ‘per se’  but  nevertheless a great web app which makes synchronising lots of different video cameras(security and otherwise) really easy.

Google’s Social networking offering looking really useful when its rolled out with  lots of easy web sharing tools and  more privacy control than Facebook:

http://www.google.com/+/demo/

MS Office 365 is a web based version of Word,Excel,Outlookwith website editing and collaboration tools (subscription based)

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/office365/what-is-office365.aspx

(I’ll add more when i get a mo but feel free to suggest any and I’ll have a look and maybe add them in.)

                          

Yes we know you can’t  trust rumours but like the iPhone 4 its only a matter of time before the next incarnation  is unveiled – rumoured to be in the next few months.
But whether it will generate as much excitement as the previous launch remains to be seen.
No doubt many were slightly disappointed when they discovered there was nowhere to plug in their USB pen or  SD camera card  - (why? so you can buy an Apple peripheral of course).

One of the rumours is that this will be corrected in the next incarnation although there won’t be much else to shout about – apart from maybe being 1 mm thinner and having an anti-reflective screen.
Sounds like its more likely to be more like an iPad 1.1 rather than a full 2, and more of an upgrade than having anything innovative on board to get excited about
No doubt Apple’s canny marketing machine will again get the checkouts bleeping, and perhaps if they squeeze in those all important ports along its very thin edge will convince those who held off splashing out the first time round.

                          

I think we would all admit to a degree of naivity about the way we approach online security. Possibly we  are hoodwinked into thinking that the devices we use to browse or  socialize online already provides all the protection built in and this is all we are ever likely to need.

In any other public space we would intuitively be much more guarded about who had access to our personal and financial information.  Perhaps we get a false sense of security from the privacy we  feel in our own ‘personal browsing space’, or through simply not being  aware of the potential dangers.

Whatever the reason the volume of malicious software (Malware) circulating continues to escalate massively.  Their insidious nature and design means that most go largely unnoticed on our PCs or mobile devices collecting and reporting details about our browsing activity.

What is Malware?

Collectively known as Malware, viruses, spyware, netbots etc  are a group of malicious hidden programs designed to corrupt, collect and/or hijack data from our online devices – usually for financial gain or some other form of malicious intent-  although occasionally just for the notoriety. Viruses as the name implies are designed not only to damage and compromise our own equipment, but have an inbuilt ability to spread and then replicate on other machines via a network connection, plug-in devices, email etc etc.

Spyware in contrast  covertly gathers and reports back any browsing activity and personal info from your machine or mobile device via the web.  The functionality of both is by no means mutually exclusive, and there are countless malicious variants being created – one every second last year (Sophos 2011 Threat Report).

Infection rates have massively increased largely due to the number of mobile devices connected to the web as well as the boom in Social Networking. This has been made much easier also by our   ‘always connected’ broadband; and as speeds increase so will the proliferation of attacks – and the lesser liklihood we will notice anything is actually going on in the background.

Why Attack?

Simple answer is money. Harvesting our private data is a lucrative business, especially in large quantities- the value of which  increases exponentially where it contains account information (access to credit card details, usernames, passwords).

There has been a massive increase in the demand for politically sensitive  or classified technical data as well as a rise in hacking online advertising campaigns  and online survey revenues from sites.

The 2011 Sophos Threats Report makes for some very sobering reading and hopefully will prompt us to take our online security much more seriously.

The number of unique malware pieces(viruses,spyware and botnets) detected by Sophos doubled in 2010.

The demand for illegally ‘harvested’ data such as  email addresses has continued to rise as well as data collected via keylogging, botnets (undetected but active malware linking together individual machines via the web) etc etc.

This huge increase was largely attributed to attacks which capitalised on the huge growth of  the smart technology market (mobile devices to browse the web) along with our massively increased use of Social Media.

And these attacks are getting ever more subtle:

• Fake anti-virus alerts – a virus alert warning appears on the screen often mimicking your anti-virus software.
• Clickjacking, a pseudo link behind a normal link which triggers a malicious attack  (e.g. by clicking on the Like button in Facebook)
• Social media vulnerabilities – e.g. Facebook Applications that have gone unvetted and unchecked- the user installs a game or downloads an update that has been infected.

Businesses have also seen infection rates rise largely attributed to the increased use of Social Networks at work with many companies  banning their use entirely. As most viruses are designed to spread through networks without being detected,  it has been essential to lock down the Social Networking  security loopholes.

Transmission

If  we haven’t taken the risks of Malware infection seriously so far  then the following is perhaps a good enough reason to reflect again:

One particular virus, STUXNET is so sophisticated that it can (and has) infected Nuclear program computers (in Iran) and altered the control process. Yet this type of infection can be transmitted through something as simple as plugging in a USB pen.

Although there has been a shift in emphasis for attacks: emails are still a major source of transmission. The cute animal pictures, and now increasingly more shocking links in emails, are frequently a disguise for something more sinister.
As always extreme caution has to be exercised when clicking on attachments and links, particularly from jokes or pictures circulated between colleagues and friends.

Prevention

Having an understanding of how Malware  is transmitted is half the battle to preventing attacks and  just as importantly prevent us passing them on to others.
And if you still are not quite sure about the other half  here are a few safeguard reminders :

• Having up to date anti virus/anti-spyware software properly installed – preferably configured so that it can detect atacks from all possible sources immmediately (e.g. timed virus scans may not pick up any recent ‘keylogging’ between scans).  Remember to scan  storage/plugin devices and media also
• Activating a Firewalls – can be deployed via Hardware (router) or software(Operating System)will block attacks trying to gain access by the ‘back door’
• Adopting a much more cautious approach to Social Networking -  particularly activities on Facebook and where individual user actions might compromise others or network security
• Clearing All browsing History regularly (daily if necessary) (cookies, saved pages etc etc- and  not just the last few days)  from ALL web browsers we use.  We may lose some quick access info but well worth the extra protection
• Uninstalling not needed browser toolbars  and Add-ons (appear at the top of the browsing window).  They are most likely relaying your browsing habits to an external agency unless you have configured them otherwise
• Take the possiblility of a virus attack seriously – if you make the assumption that you have been attacked then this may force a more cautious approach to online browsing (e.g. change passwords regularly)

One final tip (if you do not already do this).  Next time you click on  a download (possibly free), make sure you do a few checks checks before installing:

• is the company name in the address bar and the download site address reputable?
• scan the software before you install it (available usually if you hover over the download and right clicking)

2011 Future Threats

Its likely that the rapid growth and use of mobile browsing technology and Social Networking will increasingly be the soft ‘underbelly’ for malicious attacks.  Smartphones are likely to continue to be high on the agenda, particulalry where software has been compromised (jailbreaking iPhones, downloading unvetted apps)

If we are to protect ourselves in the future then having an awareness of how attacks can occur in the first places should make us much more cautious and vigilent.

Adopting a regular regime of good ‘PC  Hygeine ‘  will all help us steer clear of many potential threats and be in a better position to recognize them despite their many disguises.

                          

Its official - Apple has now taken the lead in ‘cool’ consumer smart technology. Proclaimed an outright winner by the quick consumer test on the BBC technology website when pitted against the Archos and Dell Streak, the iPad could now become yet another iconic gadget from the ever expanding Apple empire who clearly have the pulse of the business and  consumer market.

A trio of slick new devices has now seen Apple overtake Microsoft as the Global leader – On Wednesday, Apple’s capitalisation closed at $222bn compared to Microsoft’s $219bn.

Other manufacturers are not giving up the fight however, with Archos tablet and Dell streak also performing admirably using Google’s much acclaimed Android OS.

Its fair to say also that there has always been a degree of scepticism around the launch of Apple’s  Smart tech hybrid – maybe their  risky ‘toe in the water’  approach to re-launching a tablet format device has allowed others to profit in the wake of their trail-blazing.

Apple have shown themselves to be adept in translating what is ‘cool’ and ‘hot’   into a ‘must have’- which is why they have become the clear market leaders.  But perhaps it wasn’t such a risky venture?  They do seem to have impeccable timing for getting it right.

I remember Bill Gates declaring a few years back that there would be a wholesale change in the future  in the way we work – from local applications where the computing power and data is localised towards what is now loosely termed Cloud computing.  - but this would also need wholesale changes in thinking and attitude to the way we work (and play!).  And as  our Global internet usage accelerates astronomically it was was only a matter of getting the product launch timing right.   Apple have shown that they can do this with consummate ease.

Gathering Clouds

But lets rewind for a minute and explore the ‘cloud topography’.  Currently  Blogs, social media and the like are ‘remote’  media applications we can access through a browser.

These applications  are essentially about quick communications but now include a range of media tools  for photos, music and video.  An opportunity was looming large to link all of this activity up to mobile devices – at the same time there has been a seismic shift from users to browsers, from the PC work station mentality to mobile connectivity.

Apple foresaw this and stepped up to the plate by providing the complete package –  slick  mobile devices + the apps to go with them .  Almost  at the same time Google adopted a more more open source philosophy by  releasing the Android operating system which could be run on a range of devices and thus liberating users from the shackles of Apple’s cash cow.

But will it stop there? Why not have all our applications and data outsourced ,i.e. in the cloud, rather than have everything reside inertly on our PC or laptop or smart device? After all, the cost of the hardware as well updating applications is tedious.  If its all taken care of  ’in the cloud’ for us we’re left free to get on with the things we should be doing.

This is no longer a vision for the future but a reality for many businesses who now see outsourcing all their networking and IT administration requirements as the way forward rather than employ in-house expertise.

But maybe we’re all not comfortable with this concept just yet . I for one am still sceptical about uploading all my stuff to a remote centralised location with very little knowledge of where my bit of the cloud happens to be at any one time. Perhaps  we are rightly still  suspicious about the ‘cloud’ and view it as  a metaphor for ‘we really don’t know exactly where stuff  is or who can access it ‘.

Will this mindset change? I think it has to. Having recently emerged from a what was a almost a viral meltdown on my own home network, I now have to confess to a  false sense of security with all my data residing on my home and business PC network.

We have become so connected that perhaps we forget that we have now become  irrevocably interconnected.

So maybe its time to start handing over the reigns to the experts in the cloud…or maybe not just  yet.

                          

What does it take to get to number one in Google? – its easy!- copy a unique string of  words on your site that nobody else has on theirs…paste it in a search… and you’ll  probably be top or thereabouts

Thats the end of my post-  job done.

If it were only that simple!  But thats what most people want after all  - to be No1  in Google . . I’m stating the obvious but actually by going through the above simple exercise highlights a few  important questions before we even start:

• Is that phrase ever going to be type into a search engine ever again?
• does it describe accurately what we are promoting?
• when users find us what do we want them to do next ?

I’m assuming the answer to the last question is not ‘leave as soon as possible’ although you may be surprised how many do  if you look at your home page stats.
You may have a site that is primarily for generating advertising revenue and so you will want to generate maximum through traffic, where ‘success’ will be exiting your site via a ‘revenue juicy’ click through ad.

However if you have  an ecommerce site you will want to channel  attention to the right pages rather than allow them to leave straight away.  People in browsing mode have the attention span akin to a goldfish swimming in Jack Daniels, so plan how you can grab their attention pretty quickly before they exit without getting beyond your home page.

Either way the same formula applies: more traffic=more revenue. So the same general strategy to get them there in the first place should be the  same, i.e. choosing that all important search phrase for your pages.

Choosing the most effective search words

Wo we need to construct a search phrase that is  not too long and obscure (i.e., its never likely to be typed in a search) and not too short, otherwise the competition will leave you languishing in 10,000th position.

Ideally choose  2 or 3 words particularly relevant to the  page’s content on your website. Also  if the website address, page name (my-key-phrase.htm), page title and page content all have ‘related’ keywords then bingo! –  although its more than likely the web address will not be part of the key phrase.

Note of caution here – Google’s algorithmic nose can sniff out anything contrived, so always be cautious about overloading the page with the key phrase words etc. and start off your optimising by reading your page content first.  Check to make sure the content is relevant,  focused and high quality.

You can then start to tell the world about it by making  it more search engine  ’friendly’  by providing the contextual cues (appropriate page title headings, subheadings, image names).  I always recommend viewing your page in  a text based browser as this is how search engines index pages. ( Lynx is a traditional  text based browser although www.textise.net allows you to do the same thing much more quickly)

External links

Google ranks the importance of your site not just by its content but also by the links to it from other sites on the Internet.  The more reputable these other sites are the more ‘cred’ they add to your site in Google’s eyes, particularly if they have the key phrase words in the link itself, (e.g. ‘my unique search phrase‘  rather than click here)

Job done? not quite – I’ve saved the best till last.

Do Your Homework

Just before you go key search phrase crazy, you have to bear in mind one  minor inconvenience – your supremely crafted key search terms may never be entered in a search – double doh!! And the only way to find this out is to do a quick check to see how often its typed in.

Lots of tools out there to help with this, but Google’s keyword tool is the quickest and easiest.  If you’re not sure what is the best phrase try Google’s suggestion tool.  The difference between the two is subtle but important- the latter helps you come up with a  phrase better matched to your page content. (i.e you may think you have found a great winning phrase that matches your page content perfectly  but Google may not agree so best to get it from the horse’s mouth)

That’s certainly enough to get started, but to summarize just a couple of closing thoughts

Your site will get found if:

• the content is worth looking for
• it has a definite market  niche
• there is a market for it in the first place!

                          

The first mobile phone invented by Martin Cooper weighed a kilogram and cost $1m to produce.

“The battery lifetime was 20 minutes, but that wasn’t really a big problem because you couldn’t hold that phone up for that long.”

                          

The old saying ‘Information is power’ has never been more true in the Online environment. With Search Engines and Social Media sites ratcheting up billions in advertising revenue simply by collating all the data that is freely available out there, its becoming quite a literally ‘a free for all’.

But where do they get all this free information and data  from, and who writes it all?  From Us.  Me and you. As the amount of personal information about us all is being voluntarily uploaded via Social networking media,  the web Megaliths like Google with its massive collating  and repository resources, consume it heartily as  its daily bread and butter.

All tends to sound a bit neurotic I know, but I often talk to cautious web users who are almost phobic about signing up to anything that snaps of social media irresponsibility.  And in many ways I can’t blame them.  I did think this was more down to a fear of the great ‘online unknown’ and a paranoia of all things technological.  But could there also be a smattering of our naivity and passiveness creeping in,  as Google street view cameras capture us and our homes in greater and greater detail (now 3D!).

We can so easily fall in love  with our online social media apps and tools. They’re free but for a good reason. Very large amounts of data  yield a  proportionately increasing commercial return when packaged and served up correctly.

For a moment let’s indulge the scenario that all you have ever published on the web doesn’t ever disappear, but is archived. Archiving does make it sound all respectable and safe but data is archived rather than deleted for a reason, i.e. for future reference.

A recent move by US Library of Congress to archive every tweet ever posted publicly perhaps has come as a bit of a surprise.  Its reasoning is that all our tweets will form a valuable  social commentary of historical events – including all its momentous and trivial moments as they unfold in our public and often our private lives.

Is it my inherent distrust of government tinkering in our webspace or their moves to archive ‘Our’ information without ‘Our’ consent that sets my paranoic alarm bells clanging?

Embed me

There is also a massive surge towards sharing and embedding our social media interactions outside of their current Social Media framework, perhaps as a way of unifying all our separate online social involvements rather than having to start again from scratch every time there is a new kid on the block.

All reputable Social media sites and others including Google invariably have API tools so that content can hooked up to and extracted, repurposed, mashed up and processed on other sites.

A n example of this that proked some online controversy  recently was  the API-mashing of the site foursquare.com.  This site leverages Twitter/Facebook live tweets to provide geographical local town movements we care to relay via mobiles etc in real time.

The site Pleaserobme.com then used Foursquare’s API to build its own site  to highlight how easy it was to take all this shared information about individuals who had given their own home address, and using their realtime tweeting about their whereabouts could then publish which homes would be empty at any given (real)time.

The site now seems to have removed this feature, but made very a serious point: how easy it is  to ‘pull’ in real-time social media data and for the wrong purposes, and also the fact that no-one is really regulating this type of embedded exploitation (self regulation aside).

The embedding of data is now becoming much easier and commonplace.  Twitter has now announced its @anywhere tweet option, which will allow  you to tweet  your comments via other media sites that have this facility, (rather than  via the SM bookmark icon)

There may well be virtuous  ’drivers’ to develop a universally and socially coherent platform for us all to enjoy , although its more likely its do with a fear of a levelling off  in interest (as has happened in Twitter recently) and consequent financial freefall ( the demise of Bebo) which commercially motivates the drive for Social Media sharing  just to stay ahead of the competition.

And lets face it, their success and livelihood is built around how easy and  frequently we can post  our views and opinions,  including our most throwaway comments –  which of course aren’t actually thrown away.

Some web links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8621297.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8570293.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8521598.stm

http://foursquare.com/

http://pleaserobme.com/

                          

The launch in the US the other day of the iPad was another nail in the coffin towards the extinction of our little wired tail hand held buddy. In fact its what our right has been doing since the rise and rise of the desktop PC.  Ok, if we talk sematics the 2 fingered twiddling on the  laptop touch pad – (or 1 fingered in the case of the case of  the ThinkPad’s nub) has become second nature almost as much as that other  textual tool (what was it called again- oh yes a pen)

I can remember  back in 1988 first coming across the mouse for the first time and marvelling at the ingenuiuty and subtlety in terminology, and how we have so readily adapted to the apparent  eye to  hand juxtaposition tween desktop and screen (without realising it you’re doing it now aren’t you?).  I remember trying to master freehand drawing  for the first time as my  precise  mouse movements  ended up like a scrawl from a crayon which had been clenched between the rear facing parts of my anatomy.

Market leaders and Market followers

Its a case of ergonomics I suppose – I remember watching a programme (15 years ago) on the evolution of the  mobile phone and why they could never get any smaller than house brick size-  simply because of the distance from mouthpiece to ear had to align with the relevant human audio and sound appendages. We all laugh now at the housebrick mobile but will we look back at out mouse antics one day and snigger?

Seriously there has been an underlying argument to reinvigorate the tactile on screen experience. Sony TRV camcorders I think were ahead of the game on this one some years back. they ditched the multi-multi-multi function button in place for OSD touch screen buttons -and …problem solved! Its all about making life easier and not just quicker, and if toucing the screen instead of the table does it for you its a big step forward in human-digital interaction.

Yes, I know the screen will get covered in butter and marmalade from time to time, but should this hold technology back?  Not according to Apple who boldly reinvented where no other dared to reinvent. Enter the iPhone  – tara!  This little smartphone (there  – I got that keyword in) has seen unrivalled success and has been unaparalled in breaking our love affair with ‘proxy button’ gadgetry. Now every other phone is clamouring to keep up in its wake.

Where is this all going?

I know I have been rambling a bit here but there is a serious point to all of this.  There are two key drivers  -  as always is the consumer demand for a quicker and easier to use product, but secondly and more importantly perhaps, the ability to unshackle us from the workstation and do more and more from a mobile device – hence the reason and thinking behind the new iPad.
BUT guess what – the iPad doesn’t multi task and doesn’t come with 3G (wireless only) or Flash suppport (or..or..or)- what a huge DOH moment for Apple!  You have to remember Apple has a reputation for doing 99%  brilliantly and 1% a bit dopey when it comes to including the obvious (they would substitute the term dopey for protecting its market share)

Now if consumers are likely to access via mobile devices more and more – … you can guess where I am going with this perhaps… our associated thinking in terms of how we frame our offerings visually in the  web landscape  may also have to adapt .
Consider how an eCommerce site looks on a smartphone? More importantly the liklihood that shopping could be increasingly carried out through smartphone devices and IF (how big is that if) the iPad format takes off and spawns a whole generation of SmartPads.  Early days yet, but in our relentless mission to seek out new life  (went off topic there for a mo) and anticipate new consumer trends we will have to mark this one in our calendar… or in our  iPHone App… or on our iPad…. or whatever screen you are currently touching at the moment.

Also see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/seealso/2010/04/apples_ipad.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8484395.stm

http://www.news.com.au/technology/top-10-ipad-disappointments-and-magic-moments/story-e6frfro0-1225849521318

http://apcmag.com/top_10_reasons_to_hate_the_iphone_3g.htm

                          

The Chinese debarcle with Google has just escalated a few notches, as Google re-routes its operations to Hong Kong in an effort  to try and free up censorship of its Chinese search engine . But you have to question Google for ‘jumping in to bed’ with its unequal Chinese bedfellow , given that they did sign up for all the pre-conditions.

What I don’t quite understand is why Google agreed to the filtering of  its searches in the first place. Obviously it was more to do with the urgency to secure a lucrative foothold in the burgeoning online search engine sector in China rather, than a more noble desire to share its information resources to the largest populous in the world.

Possibly Google were a tad naive in thinking it could be bring about a change in the Government’s mindset on censorship. Perhaps Google thought the arena of cyberspace might somehow dilute the resolve of the State over time. The upshot of their actions could result in a massive missed opportunity financially -Google could now  lose out against other more commmercially driven competion in a market place that is growing at 40% per year.

Location Relocation

However this location change marks a more subtle retreat as Google seeks to restore its user control rather than an outright withdrawal altogether.  The practical implications are that the search results are only filtered according to location rather than at source – so if we type in Dalai lama or Tienanmen in google.cn we are not blocked by the Chinese filters.

Google’s recent actions were triggered  by the recent cyber attacks on Google’s Gmail servers – more specifically the accounts of Chinese Human Rights Activists. There is no doubt either way that China is determined to reinforce its ‘cyber walls’  to censor online forays into western liberalism, but also to protect itself against online internal dissident activity.

So perhaps the nature of the dispute does not appear quite as one-sided as initially portrayed by the media (i.e., western government agencies would never hack into emails would they?) and that we cannot always consider the global democratisation of the online environment as borderless and as a  ’given’  in terms of everyone’s human rights.

Further info:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8575476.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8582233.stm