Kameir

Rumors have been floating throughout the blogosphere for a while now that FaceBook is planning an Initial Public Offering, IPO. But the according to the latest interview with Facebook investor Peter Thiel FaceBook is not likely to go public for at least another two years (watch interview below).

For iTunes version number 10 Apple came up with a potential MySpace killer: music-centric social networking. It goes by the name ‘Ping’.

To start with ping you have to download the new iTunes 10. Once it’s installed, you’ll notice a new link under the iTunes Store tab on the left side of the iTunes interface.  The service is opt-in, so you’ll have to turn Ping on and sign in with your Apple account. After that comes a simple profile form that gives you the opportunity to upload a profile picture and write the standard social media “About Me” section.  Additionally you can “like” three genres. After that, you get to make some privacy choices. You can specify how music you like, rate and review is displayed on your profile; you can also decide whether or not people can follow you and if they need your approval to follow you. Even if you don’t allow others to follow you, you can still follow anyone you like.

It’s a fairly common friendship model, much like Twitter’s. You can also choose to connect your profile on Ping to your Facebook profile, if you wish. Once your accounts are connected, you can also follow your Facebook friends on Ping. Try it!

I just got my Google PowerMeter set up and it works 🙂

Google PowerMeter is a software application being developed by Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org to help consumers track their home electricity usage. The development of the software is part of an effort by Google to invest in renewable energy, electricity grid upgrades and other measures that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The software is able to record the user’s electricity usage in near real-time. According to the company, if half of America’s homes’ energy use was cut by ten percent, it would equal taking eight million cars off the road.

It is hoped that this tool will raise the home-owner’s awareness of how much energy they use and make users more energy efficient. PowerMeter is intended for use with a smart meter which is able to track electricity usage much more frequently than standard electric meters. According to Google, there are approximately 40 million smart meters in use worldwide. By early 2009, approximately 7% of US homes had a smart meter installed. – Some other types of electricity meters and in-home energy use displays may also be used with PowerMeter.

Watch this video from the Google Analytics homepage. Is Google Analytics now just a feature of Google AdWords?

In March 2005, Google acquired Urchin Software Corporation, a Carlsbad-based web analytics company. A few months later, Google Analytics was unveiled, which was based on “Urchin On Demand,” Urchin’s javascript-based “Software as a Service” (SaaS) web traffic analytics solution. Urchin customers were generally thrilled about the acquisition, because it was assumed that it meant great things were in store for all of Urchin’s customers. In reality, Urchin’s core customers have been ignored, product development has stopped on everything but Google Analytics, and companies are wondering why Google took the money and, well, ran.

The problem seems to be that Google’s interest in Urchin Software Corporation was limited to its SaaS offering. Google has since developed Urchin On Demand into a complete analytics suite, and given its ease-of-use and cost (“free”), it’s amazingly popular. The problem is that Urchin’s other analytic tools have been ignored since the acquisition took place, but they weren’t supposed to be.

Urchin’s most successful analytics software was a server-based log analysis suite simply labeled “Urchin.” Urchin 5 came in a variety of flavors, priced according to tiers. It could be had for under $1,000, or you could easily pay more than $10,000, depending on the features and support you needed.

Urchin’s log-based analysis gave webmasters access to data that is not available to javascript-based solutions. Many customers would much rather have Urchin updated than turn to Google Analytics. In the wake of Google’s purchase of the company, inquiring customers  were told that support and updates would continue. Companies that had purchased support contracts were expecting version 6 any days. What really happened is this: Google focused its attention on Google Analytics, put all updates to Urchin’s other products on the back burner, and rolled out a skeleton support team. Everyone who forked over for upgrades via a support contract never got them, even though things weren’t supposed to have changed.

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SAN DIEGO, June 30 /PRNewswire/ Anametrix, a leader in cloud-based business analytics technology, and The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego County‘s leading local media company, announced that The San Diego Union-Tribune has selected the InstaVista™ platform for both web analytics as well as real-time strategic insights across more than a dozen data sources, both online and offline.

Anametrix CEO, Blaise Barrelet added, “The San Diego Union-Tribune was one of the first publishing companies to understand the value of real-time business insights over a decade ago, with several Anametrix team members having worked on SignOn San Diego™ original web analytics initiatives.  We are thrilled to now offer The San Diego Union-Tribune the next evolution of cross-channel data aggregation, visualization, reporting, and more at a significant cost savings compared to Omniture.”

InstaVista™ is the ideal solution for multi-platform publishing companies, especially those with online newspapers, magazines and directories.  The San Diego Union-Tribune can deepen its customer relationships, both online and offline, by anticipating future interactions and buying decisions to deliver appropriate content to each individual visitor.  The San Diego Union-Tribune will also be able to offer its advertising partners self-service analytical dashboards through a cloud-based delivery model to create smarter, more effective campaigns.