I created this video a while back about my upcoming company (http://www.chide.it)… you can check out the alpha version here: (http://alpha.chide.it)… We’ll actually launch this on the 26th and not the 15th… but, I created this video a while back and since I won’t delete, I’m posting it…
Remember the race to register all the domain names in the world? Remember how registering www.your_name.com was a big deal (still is) and lots of people did so in order to prevent so-called “identity theft”? Well, here is a very sneaky marketing tactic that Facebook could use to help accelerate its growth…
Facebook could basically start injecting into the media a multitude of stories that show how a lot of people are getting their identities stolen on Facebook… This is not necessarily false… remember the Moroccan man who got arrested for creating a fake Facebook profile (see story from TechCrunch here)? Ok, so if there was this fear in people that “if” they did not go ahead and register their facebook profiles themselves, then other people might… this might trigger more of the people who say things like “oh… I’m not really a social networking person…” to reconsider…
Yes, this is sneaky… but, who’s to say Facebook is not already doing this? could the story of the Moroccan Man just be a plotted attempt to do exactly this?
Aydin.
Testing can be annoying and boring… so, what if you could crowdsource your testing? i.e. pay people from across the world to test your software instead of hiring full time personnel to do it… I like the concept and I like it a lot… We might end up using a company called uTest that lets you do exactly this… We haven’t used it yet so I don’t know how great they are… but if anyone out there has tried uTest and likes it, make sure to make me aware of it 
of course, the reverse side of this model also works for people who like testing software and finding bugs… if this is you, by all means try uTest.com and make money!
Aydin.
Quick Update: I registered http://www.beUnreasonable.org as a domain name (it was the only beUnreasonable domain that was available)…
nothing has really changed, now there is a shorter address for the blog…
btw, if you are registering domains, make sure to use http://www.godaddy.com since you’ll probably be able to get the cheapest prices with these guys…
Aydin.
This is the story that has been making the headlines in the past little while… Microsoft could acquire Yahoo for a deal that might become worth more than $50 billion once all the bidding is over. The reality is, that while the merger would be interesting, to say the least, a lot of companies out there (a.k.a competitors) probably don’t like the idea. In other words, it is possible that a few competitors will try and bid up Yahoo’s prices so that Microsoft has to pay more (if they still pursue the deal).
oh yes, let’s not forget about Google… I’m sure they’ll be talking to the regulators to make sure that this merger has a hard time being approved… heck, Microsoft was a pain when Google acquired doubleclick (deal still hasn’t been approved everywhere)… its probably time for revenge as far as Google is concerned…
Aydin.
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Is the 5000 friend limit on Facebook a myth? not really. Renowned Silicon Valley blogger Robert Scoble, reached this limit a long time ago. Mark Cuban (billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks) just reached the limit. Jeff Pulver has about 4,200 friends and is fast approaching the limit. I would’ve assumed that with the weight that their names carried, exceptions could be made for them? Maybe 5,000 friends is all they need?
Aydin.
If you are like the other 8 million people around the world that have BlackBerries, you are in luck! RIM has recently added an integrated Facebook Application to its popular mobile phone. The BlackBerry Facebook application is based on the Facebook Mobile API, which is still fairly new.
To be honest, I am very impressed and delighted by RIM’s move to integrate Facebook into its phones. If you have a BlackBerry, just go to m.facebook.com (on your phone) and you will be given the option to download this application.
Aydin.
Many people applauded Facebook when they launched the Facebook Platform and allowed third party developers to build applications on their website. In fact, this was somewhat of a revolutionary move that contributed to Facebook’s estimated $15 billion value today. Naturally, all the other guys wanted a piece of this pie: MySpace, Six Apart, Orkut, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Ning, Hi5, Plaxo, Friendster, Viadeo, Oracle and the Undisputed King of the Web: Google. So, these companies teamed up and under the umbrella of Google and launched OpenSocial. OpenSocial is a platform much like Facebook’s, except its not a closed platform… i.e. the applications can be installed on any of the previously mentioned networks.
This move by Google and the rest is very interesting… At the end of the day, its just a classic case of ganging up on the center of attention and bullying it out of the way…. Fortunately, Facebook has the Giant Microsoft as a friend and investor and a few other backers… so its not alone in the game.
In a previous post, I mentioned how the most valuable asset that Facebook currently has is the intimate knowledge of its 50 million members and their relationships with each other. This is exactly what makes Facebook sticky. In other words, you wouldn’t leave Facebook to go to another social network as that would mean finding and re-adding all your friends. They have to be very careful going forward as its a chess game from here… Google has made the first move… but a good chess player can predict his oponnents moves. In this case, Google is slowly attempting to get Facebook to give up some preliminary assets (proprietary platform), before it goes after the main treasure: Facebook’s Social Graph.
Despite what most of the blogs and the web says, Facebook can’t give in to Google and risk becoming just another social network.
Aydin.
As the advertisement above shows, we may be seeing the iPhone a lot sooner than I had originally assumed. If you’ve had a chance to play with the iPhone, you’ll have realized what an amazing toy it is. If you think about it, you probably payed $200+ for you iPod and now you can get an iPod, Camera, and Phone all in one. Good deal, yes. The user interface is also genius.
However, I dislike the fact that even though the Canadian Currency is worth more than the American Dollar, that the price of this phone is still a lot higher in Canada. The phone is about $120 USD more expensive in Canada. Not only that, data charges are a lot higher in Canada so you can’t really use the phone to its fullest. Should Canadians be angry, yes.
Reference: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/28/iphone-going-to-be-expensive-in-canada-eh/
Aydin.
If you ever heard of the beginning of Apple and Steve Jobs, you’ll appreciate the significance of this news. Steve Jobs, since the very beginning, was looking to beat IBM. That moment has finally come. At the current stock price of $186 per share, Apple is worth $162 Billion, whereas IBM is worth $159 Billion. A true milestone in history indeed.
Watch the video above. Its the movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley.” Its an amazing movie that will give you some insights into the beginning of the personal computer (pc) as we know it…
Reference: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/10/23.12.shtml
Aydin.
