Plaxo Would Be Great…. If It Actually Worked

The idea behind the Plaxo 3.0 (Beta) is one that has value – a hub that syncs all of your online address books, calendars etc.

However, it only works sometimes. By downloading the provided software for your client, you can sync with Outlook and Thunderbird (contacts only), but with Web properties, it’s really hit or miss.

My Windows Live Hotmail sync point seems to work fine almost all of the time, but the Google sync point, which only syncs calendar and contacts (one way), does work half the time, and my Yahoo sync point has been in the process of synchronizing for 15 hours now. The only sync points that are 100% reliable are the desktop mail clients.

I realize the nature of Web 2.0 services are that they are perpetually in beta, but in this case, one the core features simply isn’t anywhere near reliable in a production environment. That’s more like alpha to me.

How Poopy is Your Diaper?

In a few weeks, two Harvard graduates, both in their early 20s, will unleash to the world a new social networking site. Call it a Facebook for fetuses.

In the meantime, I will be playing in traffic.

If You Could Sell Children Online, I’d Be A Father Several Times Over

Parents arrested after baby offered on Craigslist. This comes on the heels of a German woman who put her baby on eBay as a joke.

Dot Bomb 2.0?

There has been a lot of chatter about the reliability of Twitter and just as much about its lack of a business model.

Despite the user uptake of Web 2.0 services, I still don’t understand how these services intend to monetize themselves, even if they are very useful – Remember the Milk comes to mind.

Facebook has yet to make money and even Google’s Eric Schmidt admitted recently that it has yet to figure out how to make money off YouTube.

Mark Evans has a quick post with some links that further explore the business models of Twitter and FriendFeed.Technorati Tags: Web 2.0, social networking, FriendFeed, Mark Evans, Twitter, Facebook, Remember the Milk

Twitterless

Supposedly Twitter can deliver news quicker than traditional media.

Except when it’s offline. Again.

Blogger code of conduct favored by near-majority of internet users

Nearly half (46%) of internet users favor the creation of a voluntary code of conduct for bloggers and online commentators, shows a survey by legal firm DLA Piper.

Technorati Tags: Web 2.0, media, journalism, blogs

Journalistic Ethics Should Apply To Bloggers

That’s an issued Wired has raised on the heels of the Washington Post syndicating content from the popular TechCrunch blog run by Michael Arrington.

Wired notes that it’s odd the Washington Post, one of the nation’s most trusted and revered newspapers, would run stories written by an ex-lawyer who admits he may advise or invest in companies that are covered on his site.

While I appreciate that Arrington discloses his ties to the companies he covers, this is one instance where I think Journalism 101 rules apply to Web 2.0.
Technorati Tags: wired, journalism, blogs, Web 2.0, techcrunch, michael arrington

Yahoo Is Trying To Herd Too Many Cats

Mark Evans says Yahoo’s Smorgasbord is the Problem. And he’s right.

If Yahoo is going to survive on its own, then it must stop trying to be all things to all people.
Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Mark Evans, Web 2.0, Internet

Twitter Jitters

I’ve recently started using Twitter, if only to see what all of the fuss is about. Truth be told, I only have three people following me and I’m only following them.

I’m actually using it more as a tool to update my Facebook using a Facebook application called TwitterSync as well as a method of updating my Remember the Milk tasks via SMS, Google Chat or by sending an e-mail.

The latter use is starting to become almost essential, but as Matthew Ingram points out, for a service that is supposed to be all about real-time communication, Twitter has been doing very little to address recent reliability issues.

Whether you believe Twitter is merely a fad or a legitimate new method of communication, anything that markets itself as “real time” should take reliability seriously.
Technorati Tags: Twitter, Matthew Ingram, Web 2.0, social networking, blogging, micro blogging, Remember the Milk, Facebook

Belt-tightening not limited to deadtree media

New York blog czar Nick Denton, founder and publisher of Gawker Media, is selling three of the new-media company’s properties: Idolator, Gridskipper, and Wonkette, according to CNet blooger Caroline McCarthy.

Denton is quoted saying these properties were editorially successful but that someone else might have better luck selling the advertising to support them.

[via the social]

Technorati Tags: new media, Web 2.0, blogs, Gawker Media, Idolator, Gridskipper, Wonkette, Caroline McCarthy, web publishing