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In 2010, Twitter Doesn’t Need Growth To Fail!
Jun 16th, 2010 by Shohat

Personally, I am not a big fan of Twitter even though I’ve been using it for several years now for what can almost be called business – my Facebook fan page accounts are connected to Twitter, so site updates from Facebook are auto-posted into the feed.

During its meteoric growth period, Twitter would go down every time something hipster-oriented would occur. Nowadays,  with twitter growth relatively stable and all infrastructure in place, the occasional fail whale is just a sign of good ol’ incompetence. Can you imagine Google being down? How about Facebook? Amazon (expect for the occasional DDoS attack)?  It’s quite amazing that even with so many gifted and driven individuals on board, and with such a basic feature set, the service still can’t simply manage 100% uptime.

The Year is 2010, Failwhale is alive and well

FaceBook Uber-Exclusive Beta Try Outs
Jun 15th, 2010 by Shohat

Its seems Facebook are Going Google. And by Going Google I mean the much loathed habit of doing massive semi-public beta tests, effectively crowdsourcing their QA to a select, yet unpaid, group of capable of individuals.

Having noticed the following link on my “Home” tab, I decided to check it out

Facebook Beta Application form

The link took me here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/product_application/

Ready to get started?
Before we can give you exclusive beta access, we’d like you to submit three great sample questions and answers. We’re looking for evidence that you can write clearly and authoritatively on familiar subject matter.

Here are some guidelines to follow when submitting your questions and answers:

Choose provocative questions. Write about things you know. Some examples:

  • How can I get over my fear of flying?
  • What are some fun family activities to do with two small children on the weekend?
  • What caused the U.S. stock market to crash in 2008?
  • What’s the secret to throwing a great housewarming party?
  • What are the main differences between Google Chrome and Internet Explorer?
  • What are women looking for in a relationship?
  • What methods has BP tried to clean up the oil spill?
  • What should I do to prepare for the Bar exam?
  • How did The Beatles find success?

Write detailed, articulate answers.
Where relevant, cite and link to third-party sources such as Wikipedia.
Your answer must be original. Plagiarism is unacceptable.

Facebook Beta Application Q&A Example

If you have the time and will to apply for this exclusive beta, you will  have to write 3 detailed Q&As. According to the page, applicants should be expecting a reply containing more information within 24 hours of submitting their application.

Putting My Time and Money Where My Mouth Is
Aug 17th, 2007 by Shohat

IxeestSeveral months ago, I had the pleasure of arguing with a young and gifted individual with a self-inflicted CEO position, a title that was claimed upon the launch of his small Web2.0 company. Being a low tech industry person with decent experience in operating commercial projects online, I stated that the Internet’s only real economy are merchants(sometimes of digital content) and services providers, and everything else is nothing but an advertising platform for these sites. So technically, no matter what kind of online company or project you lead, its complexity simply cannot compare to the challenges of managing the design and production of real product, even as simple as lets say, bottles.
I certainly went too far with that statement, but it was made in the heat of the argument and to emphasize a certain point. Surely enough, the response I got was “Why don’t you do it?“.

None of my acquaintances or even friends are aware of the full scale of my online projects, due to the simple reason that I never use my real name or claim any credit for running the communities, blogs, video services, directories, and ClickBank projects I own and operate on a daily basis. Anonymity has great advantages online, especially when you are in it for the money and the challenge, and not just ePenis. But running a full-scale company requires networking, and a certain amount of exposure in order to fit into your own industry, and in the Web2.0 “industry” exposure sure means a lot.

So, in order to prove a certain point, here “I am, doing it“.
You can visit Ixeest to see the company’s logo and the supported services. We are actually in early closed beta at this point, and when Ixeest enters any sort of open or invitation based beta stage, both Ixeest’s website and this Blog will be updated.

In the mean time, feel free to contact me via (shohat AT ixeest.com), and find more about me via my LinkedIn Profile.

The Worst Web2.0 Page in the World
Feb 4th, 2007 by Shohat

Slashdot has an item about Tech Heroes and contributors to internet technology -

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/04/1357230
Nothing too fancy or informative in the summary or comments , so I headed to the article . This is what the http://web2journal.com/read/331813.htm page looks like : Click here to see the worst adsoup on the web.

Brilliant table-based (not very Web 2.0) design , with a HUGE moving ad in the middle of the screen, and 12 more scattered around it .

Real Economy Versus Web 2.0 – UTube VS Youtube
Nov 4th, 2006 by Shohat

Universal Tube, which sells used machines that make tubes, has said it “has lost business because customers have had trouble accessing its site.” So now Utube is suing YouTube seeking a cease and desist on the youtube domain.

But this isn’t news now, at least not in internet terms – the story has reached every major technology/web2.0/news site on the (pla)net.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/02/0357210&from=rsse

http://digg.com/tech_news/Breaking_UTube_Sues_YouTube

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/02/pipes_youtube/

The readers’ reaction was the same pretty much everywhere; be it in direct responses to the news item, blogs and forums, everyone were talking about how stupid Utube is, and how it should “cash-in” on it’s traffic and free publicity. Because hey, when sites are being acquired for millions (and billions…) of dollars based solely on the amount of their monthly visitors and Alexa ranking, who the hell are Utube to say that traffic is worthless?

Who are UTube

utube

UTube is a real company, the kind of company that depends on its revenue stream to survive, has a budget and client list, and is operating in a competitive market. Established in 1985, and led by a person with 30 years of experience in tube and pipe industry.

From the Company’s overview:

“We have one of the largest selections of used tube and pipe mills in the world. Utilizing over 125,000 square feet of warehouse space…. “

An example from their product line:

Machine

Replacement Cost for a New Machine is approximately $1,900,000.

The company was also smart enough to get a website early on, when most companies weren’t considering the Internet as part of their business model at all:

Domain Name: UTUBE.COM
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Updated Date: 10-oct-2006
Creation Date: 26-oct-1996

(Youtube was registered in 2005)

But still, why not monetize the incoming traffic?

This question has been asked in many places (especially SEO and webmaster related parts of the blogosphere and forums), and the simple answer is - SMALL MONEY. Considering the amount of confused visitors (which will drop by around 90% when the lawsuit issue ends), this could probably bring in no more than 1500$ a day using the standard advertising methods. Which is less than what your local coffee shop makes, and is probably less than 1% of what UTube makes in a day. They stick to piping and don’t expand their business to the Online Advertising niche for the same reason webmasters stick to advertising and don’t expand their business to the Tube and Pipe business niche. Because it’s not their core business, and both companies and people should stick to what they know. Especially when what they don’t know brings a lot less money than what they do know.

For Dessert -the UTube Trademark

This is where things get funny, and somewhat ugly. It’s only two weeks old.

Word Mark

UTUBE

Goods and Services

IC 007. US 013 019 021 023 031 034 035. G & S: Tube and pipe mills, rollforming lines, and slitting lines. FIRST USE: 19961231. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19961231IC 037. US 100 103 106. G & S: Refurbishing of tube and pipe mills, rollforming lines, and slitting lines. FIRST USE: 19961231. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19961231

Standard Characters Claimed

Mark Drawing Code

(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK

Design Search Code

Serial Number

77023852

Filing Date

October 18, 2006

Current Filing Basis

1A

Original Filing Basis

1A

Owner

(APPLICANT) Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corporation CORPORATION OHIO 26202 Glenwood Road Perrysburg OHIO 43551

Attorney of Record

Richard G. Martin

Type of Mark

TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK

Register

PRINCIPAL

Live/Dead Indicator

LIVE

This information was taken from the USPTO.gov website – notice the date, 18 October 2006. Just 9 days after Google bought Youtube for 1.65 Billion dollars in stock.

So, bottom line is : Yes, UTube is after Google’s money.

»  Substance:WordPress   »  Style:Ahren Ahimsa