Recent studies indicate 70% of Twitter members joined the service this year, and 35% have 10 or fewer followers. An estimated 5,000 to 10,00 new accounts are being opened daily, according to a HubSpot study. Principle medium for Twitter is mobile devises, supporting texting. The snippets are posted both to mobile as text messages and online for select readers or public  to view.

Example usage is tweets between virtual work group members, allowing members to keep in contact throughout the day with immediate messages received by mobile. The messages are also posted and retained online, like a blog, so may be reviewed, as needed, by those with access.

Twitter Continues to Gain Momentum - MediaPost (free membership required) >>

Good explanation on “cloud computing” on Website Magazine, today. A large shared network of servers allows expandability without the restraints of partitioning.

We’ve seen the biggest advantage of cloud computing for our users who are storing their growing library of email on their webserver rather than locally on their computers, eventually taxing server resources. A partitioned system requires that when a growing business’s online data system reaches capacity, it either be moved or provided with additional resources under separate logins, fractionating resources.

Cloud computing allows massive amounts of online data to be kept together under the appearance of one resource with seemingly infinite capacity for expansion.

Example of this is Google services including Google Mail, Google applications — all provisions that are widely distributed across multiple servers located around the world.

If you’ve considered backing up your business data, off-site, by subscribing to automated online storage services, cloud computing technology comes into play. Equitable online storage providers are well-versed in cloud computing and offer the best prices if their cloud computing systems are already solidly in place. Google, Amazon, AOL, Windows Live all use cloud computing for their primary services and as a result can offer online terabyte storage subscriptions to individuals and small business, at the best prices around.

Disadvantage at the individual level is that you need decent bandwidth depending on the applications you are using. 10 Mb minimum, in many cases. As bandwidth continues to get faster for the average user, we expect cloud computing will grow exponentially. Couple that with decreased storage costs, and bingo!, we’ll all be moving to online storage. Contrast this to the 1980s when desktop computers first hit the market, taking data storage away from the expensive mainframes that ran IT. And, as with the 1980s and shared services, privacy returns as the issue des jour.

Website Magazine — Good Cloud Definition >>

“Google’s Cloud Looms Large“  by Kate Greene in Technology Review published by MIT>>

Gosh, I hope Yahoo! stays around. I love My Yahoo! homepage. Lists all the RSS feeds and blogs I follow, with summary statements and click-thrus to the sites for detail. Can drag and drop sections of My Yahoo! home page to organize the display. So easy. I can see in an instant what my LinkedIn buddies are doing. Such a busy bunch!!

I like the tag suggestions Yahoo! gives in Wordpress, through the Wordpress plug-in, Tag Warrior (author Christine Davis). Very nice, automatic.

From Smartbrief on Social Media: (sign-up here: http://www.smartbrief.com/socialmedia/)

Layoffs at Yahoo! Leave a trail of Tweets.
As expected, about 1,500 workers at Yahoo! lost their jobs as part of cost-cutting moves designed to save the portal about $400 million in annual operating expenses. Some laid-off and remaining Yahoo! workers blogged about the experience via Twitter or left comments on industry site Silicon Alley Insider. Yahoo! co-founder and onetime Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang announced the move on the company blog.

http://ycorpblog.com/2008/12/10/tough-times/

Research and Markets LTD surveyed over 1400 companies about global market valuations and strategies through 2012. Their study confirms that the G-apps type environments with file sharing, staff shared calendars, and large disk space are the wave of the future. Here their findings. Complete summary is purchasable on their website:

Key Findings:

- High-definition and file-based workflows will continue to be the key market drivers over the forecast period

- IP infrastructure has started to have a major impact on video transfer and storage, with hard disc storage now significantly undercutting tape storage

- Growth peaked in 2007-2008 and is expected to slow in most markets through 2009 and 2010 before picking up again

- Emerging markets in China, Eastern Europe, India, Latin America and the Middle East will continue to experience double digit growth to 2012

- China now dominates the Asia-Pacific market with a larger market than Japan

- Broadcasters are starting to make purchase decisions based on operational functionality rather than technology, opening the market further for complex ’solution’ provision and third-party service providers

- Services have become an increasingly important portion of the market as broadcasters disassociate risk and supplement project decisions with consultation for more complex workflow and cross-platform transmission

- New buyers are entering the market from other industries, such as publication, online, mobile, government,
corporate and faith, utilising professional video equipment. In addition, new applications for profession technologies such as digital signage and digital cinema offer new market opportunities

- New vendors are following these major trends, especially taking advantage of IT trends and the movement towards cheaper (and often more open) software platforms for multi-channel and low-end video delivery

Research and Markets LTD.: MORE>>

DNForum.com and DNJournal.com report these new domain name sales during the Thanksgiving short week:

1. Kredit.de €892,500 = $1,169,175 - Sedo
2. Loto.com $91,331 - SnapNames
3. Vida.com $50,100 - NameJet
4. ABL.com $50,000 - Sedo
5. Glow.co.uk = $31,015 - Sedo
6. Internet.eu $26,250 - Sedo
7. Haarverlaengerung.de
(”hair extensions” in German) = $26,200 - Sedo
8. Lets.com $25,700 - NameJet
9. Mijn.nl €19,500 = $25,545 - Sedo
10. EverestBets.com €18,500 = $24,235 - SedoTechnorati Tags: domain name registration, domain name investments, selecting your company name wisely

brandUNITY advises our clients that domain names, when selected wisely, can become a major business asset. This week DNForum News reports that domain name registrar, Sedo, registered three names that broke the six figures: LowFare.com for $365,000, Banners.com for $360,000, and Pisos.net (means “apartments” in spanish) for $187,500. Sedo also sold AED.nl (Netherlands) for $31,975. Alice.com went for $250,000 in a private sale.

Top domain names sales for year-to-date were Fund.com for $9,999,950 on 3/11/08, and Cruises.co.uk for $1,099,798 on 2/5/08. Both were private sales, that is, re-sold directly by the people who had originally registered the name to an inquiring business.

DNForum News

Top 100 Name Sales: Year-to-Date Chart

TechCrunch on Alice.com

YouTube announced this week that it completed agreements with MGM, Lionsgate and CBS to run full length TV shows on the YouTube.com website. This places YouTube neck-in-neck with Hulu.com for online TV show airings.

NBC and Fox own the joint venture, Hulu.com, while Google owns YouTube. All parties have indicated they will start slowly, limiting program options. YouTube hinted that more deals are in the works, increasing support for professional video services on its site. Up until this point YouTube has been entirely focused on home-made movie sharing. To add this new approach to its offerings, YouTube will be increasing copyright safeguards, in direct contrast to its previous stance.

New York Times

Fast Company

Professional groups in the NorthWest region of the U.S. have been overwhelmingly focusing their 2008 Fall monthly presentation themes on the favorite trendy subject of the past year, “Going Green.” Like many trends that take hold, “Green” momentum continues to rise, gaining acceptance and distribution as the topic des jour.

In Seattle, professional commercial real estate organizations have brought in LEEDs speakers and panelists to discuss how they are implementing green decisions in project planning. Technology engineering groups have developed meetings around new inventions and the process of obtaining venture capital for green start-up ideas in a time when credit is tight.

If Green really is the new Blue, here’s the next question –  what specifically is evolving from all this talk? Is there focus on the atmosphere, the drinking water, the soil? Where are earth-saving changes taking place?

The Green Daily blog reported today that environmental scientists from MIT have found that methane levels in the Earth’s atmosphere rose sharply in 2007. The rise was measured at various points around the world and not just in the Northern Hemisphere near known sources of methane emissions.

Because the rise appeared across the globe and not just the usual locations, scientists are puzzled. Pre-industrial concentrations of methane were 700 parts per million. They’ve remained steady at 1773 parts per billion during most of the 20th century, but rose sharply to 10 pbb in 2007.

Reuters article

The Green Daily Blog: Methan Levels Up

Data released today from comScore shows the largest purchaser of iPhones since the G3’s launch in June 2008 are those with household incomes of $25,000 to $49,999. Coming in second is the $50,000 to $75,000 income group.

Since the release of the first iPhone in January 2007, 43% of all existing iPhone owners earn over $100,000 annually. comScore suggests that the middle income markets are the most active iPhone buyers, right now, because the unit is small and covers multiple functions, eliminating the need to also purchase other devises, hence a savings.

Perhaps the middle market comScore describes are iPhone patrons, earlier in their careers and in their 20s or 30s, catching on more quickly to new technology, favoring a small unit that encompasses more functions, eliminating the need for toting multiple other devises.

For commuters, in particular, less rather than more to tote across town to work is attractive. For long commutes, entertainment is a plus.

Still, Blackberry does continue to be savored for its professional image and lower price tag among business and finance professionals, linking Office email, calendar and contact functions to the phone. It is a good buy.

Like the Blackberry or its equivalant, iPhone also links desktop functions and offers greater flexibility to those using Apple compatible products. iPhone does provide greater options for entertainment through iTunes, games and music. It is first-rate for either office or recreation.

ComScore.com/phone

Economic pessimism is just so totally futile. And, with everyone, everywhere talking about it, it’s also sort of boring. The over-abundance of focus on it obscures those parts of business, community, and industry that are actually making gains, at this very moment, propelling us into a new decade of next level technology with emerging possibilities. Here’s some of the good news:

• Cicsco Systems quarterly growth: 17%
• Google quarterly growth: 39%
• IBM announced better than expected quarterly earnings
• Oracle posted 28% profit
• LinkdedIn received $22.7 million in new venture capital funding
• Amazon.com posted a 48% rise in profit and 31% gain in revenue
• AT&T profits rose 5.5% with brisk iPhone 3G sales

Wall Street Journal - October 10, 2008

Wall Street Journal - October 23, 2008

Social Times Blog - October 23, 2008

NoSlang.com is an internet slang and acronym interpreter that we StumbledUpon. You enter the slang, it gives you the translation.  Gotta love these:

j%2Ft  (Just talking)
dmi  (Don’t mention it)
wayn (Where are you now)
ayst (Are you still there)
ph33r (Fear)
tbh (To be honest)
tbnt (Thanks but no thanks)

Interesting. For the first half of 2008, internet advertising revenue was up 15% over the previous year, according to a recent study released by IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers. With this financially eventful last couple of months, it will be interesting to see how the second half of 2008 performs, comparatively.

IAB Report >>

We’ve just distributed the October issue of eFAQs, a compilation of educational articles by brandUNITy about social networks, emarketing, and expanding presence on the internet. To subscribe to this monthly resource: MORE>>

Here’s one: Tweetup — a gathering of Twitter-ers for the purpose of saying hello in person. Or, “Auto-Nudge”. You schedule to be nudged if you haven’t twittered in 24 hours.

StumbleUpon has made discovering new websites an adventure like no other. In the first few moments of use, StumbleUpon served up more fascinating, new expert web pages in our interest categories than we knew existed.

StumbleUpon members submit favorite web pages, then members rank the submission with a thumbs up or thumbs down. Sites with the most thumbs up filter to the top.

In your StumbleUpon account, you select your interest categories, then begin clicking the StumbleUpon button to explore. Away you go, across the internet to superb resources that have filtered to the top via thumbs up.

StumbleUpon is said to be attracting a staggering 35,000 new URLs each day by over 6 million registered members.

Members may now install a StumbleUpon toolbar directly on their webpages, foregoing the browser plug-in. Visitors can then give the thumb directly on your site.

Resources:
StumbleUpon

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