Adobe teams up with Google and Yahoo.

Today Adobe announced (press release) that they will be teaming up with Google and Yahoo to enhance search engine indexing of flash files. Until now, sites using flash where unable to expose content to search engines directly from the flash. This new technology will give websites, that are primarily in flash, better rankings for relevant search terms.

With 98 percent of the computers today connected to the Internet have Adobe Flash installed I think this may be good move. But it brings up 3 concerns:

  1. Will this technology take in account for flash developers that use dynamic text areas to display content in flash? Does the content have to be in the first frame of the flash application?
  2. If Google/Yahoo will be able to somehow decompile the swf files to extract the strings within, whats stopping them from browsing the flash’s source code of competitors flash products? As you may know, I’m a senior developer at vSocial, I mostly deal with the flash development there and I find it a little unsettling that youtube (Google) may have the capabilities of seeing how I built the vSocial Social Media Player (which is awesome by the way). (insert sky-net reference)
  3. I think this will give some developers the nod to develop their sites entirely in flash; sure go ahead and make your anime fan fiction sites entirely in flash, it doesn’t bother me, but there goes the usability on sites that are moderately usable. For most sites being entirely in flash isn’t the best decision, some sites just don’t need to be in flash, there just isn’t a point.

If you listen closely you can hear the simultaneous groan of developers around the world. They know that as soon as their customers read this they are going to demand their site to be something “flashy”. So I both praise and shun you Adobe for allowing this.

Mark/Space Missing Sync 4.0.3 Problems

For those of you out there using Missing Sync to sync your Windows Mobile device with your Mac I would hesitate to update to the recently released version (4.0.3). I found that the application is having problems connecting to Windows Mobile phones. I’m running on OSX 10.5.3 and WM6. Now I’ve tried connecting through the USB (which I normally do) and Bluetooth but it dies in the first few seconds of a connection attempt. I’ve gone through and done all of the basic technical support found on the website with no solution. Hopefully the company fixes these issues soon.

For those who wish to downgrade to 4.0.1 here is the link: http://mirror.markspace.com/missing_sync_winmobile4.0.1.dmg

4.0.2 (thanks Lola): http://mirror.markspace.com/missing_sync_winmobile4.0.2.dmg

Email correspondence with Bruce St. James Program Director

I received an email about some email correspondence with Bruce St. James the Program Director for the Edge And Melissa G. (”former loyal listener”). Here is what they had to say:

Melissa G:

Bruce,

Please feel free to pass this along to the rest of those who should hear this, but won’t care any more than you do. I am a fiercely loyal fan of The Edge. Or, I was, until Riviera came in and begin to systematically wipe out all that the INDEPENDENT Edge stood for. Since then, programming has steadily dropped in quality. And my husband and I, both loyal listeners, have begun to drift among the other valley stations when The Edge isn’t offering quality music. Sadly, this has been happening more and more often.

But the final nail in the coffin of what was once right up at the top of my list for best radio stations I’ve ever listened too (and I grew up in California, mind you), was getting rid of Chuck Powell and the Morning Ritual. He was a great man and a great DJ and has kept me entertained every morning for years. His show was the only thing I still consistently listened to on your station. Getting rid of him is an atrocity and an insult to your loyal listeners.

To add insult to injury, you are bringing in Adam Corrolla of all people. He and his inane show have already failed here in the valley on more than one occasion. He has done nothing to better himself or his appeal (or lack thereof) since his last failure here. What makes you think we, as the listeners, have changed so much since then as to even want to give him another try?

I have a personal blog that I use to keep in touch with family and friends. This morning I posted my own heartfelt farewell to Chuck Powell and The Morning Ritual, as well as my official farewell to The Edge. My husband and I will no longer listen to your station, buy tickets to your events, or have anything to do with 103.9 KEDJ. The funny thing is, we are far from alone in this. I have had hundreds of hits on my blog this morning from places all over the Phoenix valley, from people I don’t know who found my blog while searching for info on Chuck. Many have left comments about how they, too, are appalled by your stations actions and will follow Chuck wherever he may end up. Many also have agreed with my sentiments about boycotting The Edge 103.9 in search of greener pastures.
What a shame. In fact, shame on you! Shame on all of you corporate sellouts who are only interested in the bottom line and could care less about loyalty or local talent or the feelings of your fan-base. For your sakes, I hope your little business venture with Corrolla turns you the profit you are hoping for. However, in the interest of justice, I hope your station tanks as your listeners all leave you and your sponsors stop writing those big checks to a dying station, one more in the long line of great radio stations killed off by corporate “formula” radio that no one with any semblance of taste cares for.

Most Sincere Regrets,

Melissa G, former loyal listener


Bruce St. James - Program Director:

Melissa,

We are in the business of gathering the largest possible audience. Obviously, we wouldn’t make any change if we thought it would be a step backwards. Chuck Powell’s Morning Ritual has a loyal following and we respect that. Unfortunately, it’s not a large enough following for us to build a station upon. I’m sure you’ve heard the definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We need some different results and hope you will give Adam a chance.

As for Adam failing, 1 year ago he was ranked 4th while we were 12th. I guess success is relative, but we would take 4th any day of the week.

I’m not sure what you mean by “Independent”. If you mean small and unprofitable, then we would like no part of “Independent”. We do not have the luxury of a large corporate owner to carry us through the hard times. We must succeed on our own and do it now.

We all like and respect Chuck and hope he finds a new home quickly.

Thanks for your e-mail,
Bruce St. James
Program Director

Has my favorite morning show lost its spark?

This morning Molly showed me an interesting link from the Phoenix Business Journal:

Adam Carolla is bringing his crass humor back to the Phoenix airwaves. The Comedy Central and MTV personality will anchor the morning drive shift for KEDJ-FM 103.9 starting May 5.

His new employers couldn’t be happier.

“We are all excited to bring Adam back to Phoenix. It is our belief that he is the piece of the puzzle required to take The Edge to the next level, despite his performance on ‘Dancing With The Stars,’” said Bruce St. James, KEDJ’s program director.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/04/21/daily55.html?f=et73&ana=e_du

Now this is very interesting since my favorite radio personality Chuck Powell hosts the Morning Ritual. Does this mean he is no longer employed for the edge? If so I want to know where he went so I can listen to him. Now I know Adam Carolla has a large fan base but I really think Chuck made the morning show his own. If you’re gone chuck, I’ll miss you, we will all miss you.

Update 2: It’s official Chuck Powell is no longer on the Edge 103.9. At 8:00am today he said his goodbyes. I don’t think I can listen to the edge anymore.

Update 3: BOO! http://theedge1039.com/content/adam/index.php

Update4: Chuck’s Final message

Contact the edge and tell them how much of a bad idea this is. http://theedge1039.com/contact.php

Chief Executive Officer: Tim Pohlman - tim@rivierabroadcast.com

Program Director: Bruce St. James - bruce@rbgphx.com

Update5: A response from Bruce St. James

Out for the weekend.

This weekend I’ll be in California for Coachella and knots berry farm! But you can follow my twitter and twiddeo updates on the right side of this page! Luby out.

What is social media marketing?

What is social media Social media marketing is sometimes hard to describe but you know what it is when you see it. Today millions of people are connected through social networks such as Myspace and Facebook. Social media marketing allows brands to use social technologies such as blogs, interactive websites, and video, just to name a few, to entice users to contribute to the brand’s messaging creating their own buzz about the brand. Users virally spread their messages through the use of the social media technologies. These like-minded individuals build their own communities around the brands they like and use. Through the use of these technologies a greater percentage of the brand’s target audience can now be reached, tracked and serviced. I guess in a way social media marketing puts the power in the hands of the users and in turn the users basically do the rest of the work for the brands.

http://theanswer.ad-tech.com/view/answer/What-is-social-media-marketing-6

To Steve

Here is an update to my “damn blog”. See what you did! I hope you’re happy with your self now.

KudoStar: The mobile social rating system. (For Android)

KudoStar is a mobile social rating system, based on Google’s Android mobile phone operating system, connects your contacts and favorite locations. People and places accumulate positive and negative Kudostars (KudoScore), with relevant sound, images, and video while keeping the user interface intuitive and simple to use. KudoStar then uses this information and ties it in with not only other Android phones but also your social networking sites. KudoStar will also utilize Facebook’s F8 and Google’s opensocial platforms to virally spread the collected data to a multitude of users. Tying Google Maps, and v:social’s media platforms KudoStar will allow a vast array of viewing options for the data that is collected.

Any Comments, Questions, or Suggestions please contact kudostar@gmail.com

http://code.google.com/p/kudostar/

http://www.kudostar.com/

KudoStar Screenshot

On your marks, get set, code!

Google has announced the Android Developers Challenge. The purpose of the challenge is award the top 50 most promising entries. The entries are suggested to focus on these areas:

  • Social networking
  • Media consumption, management, editing, or sharing, e.g., photos
  • Productivity and collaboration such as email, IM, calendar, etc.
  • Gaming
  • News and information (weather, traffic, sports, stocks, etc.)
  • Rethinking of traditional user interfaces
  • Use of mash-up functionality
  • Use of location based services
  • Humanitarian benefits (monitoring and response for diseases, climate change, natural disasters, etc.)
  • Applications in service of global economic development for the 3 billion people living on less than $2.00 per day
  • Whatever you’re excited about!

So Here are the important dates:

  • January 3, 2008: Start date for application submissions for Android Developer Challenge I.
  • March 3, 2008: End date for application submissions.
  • March 31, 2008: $25,000 awards are announced for 50 most promising entries.
  • May 1, 2008: Deadline for 50 eligible entries to apply for additional $275,000 and $100,000 awards.
  • Late May, 2008: $275,000 and $100,000 awards are announced.
  • Second half, 2008: Android Developer Challenge II launched.

So please wish Justin and I luck and check out our submission.

http://code.google.com/p/kudostar

http://www.kudostar.com/

Old Project, new improved taste.

Happy New Year!

One of the projects that I have dabbled in off and on ( mostly off ) for that past 2 years has been KudoStar. Well I have revived it, and it’s here to stay. Lets start out with a little history of KudoStar for the kiddies out there that don’t know what I’m talking about. Initially KudoStar started off as a site where users and give positive or negative KudoStars to people, places, things, websites…etc. pretty much anything you can think of. These positive or negative KudoStars would be used to calculate the item’s KudoScore ( the net score of positive and negative KudoStars ). Well this was short lived because of life, it was never finished. Then when Facebook released their application platform, f8, I decided to bring Frankenstein back to life and build KudoStar for Facebook, It’s still currently working has about 74 users but nothing special. I stopped developing it again. Now I have retooled KudoStar once again this time for the mobile phone platform Android.

This iteration of KudoStar has the same basic idea as the previous versions. It will now allow people to use their Android cellphones to submit KudoStars and attach images, videos, and audio to each. The goal of KudoStar is to create a social mobile rating system of your contacts and locations through common connections. KudoStar then uses this information and ties it in with your social networking sites such as Facebook and any other site that is using Google’s opensocial platforms. Now the information will be spread across all platforms.

More info on KudoStar to come later.