If you haven’t heard about SOPA and its ugly stepsister PIPA yet, here’s a quick summary:

SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a bill that, in the name of preventing online piracy of copyrighted work, creates a horrifyingly large censorship authority for the Internet. Among other things, it requires service providers (which have come out opposing the bill) to block access to entire sites if a user on the site is accused of copyright infringement

Key problems with SOPA:

Problem 1: Your site can be shut down whether or not you’ve done anything wrong

Have a commenter who links to a site that uses a copyrighted image inappropriately? SOPA says that makes you liable to the full extent of its broad enforcement powers. Those include shutting off your domain name to censor your site, or cutting off your PayPal account. A site can be shut down for a single infringing link — even if it’s a link you didn’t post. (As you can imagine, this makes life pretty much impossible for FaceBook, Twitter, or YouTube, which is why they’re fighting SOPA.) The only way you can defend yourself is after your site has already been taken down. And if it turns out you haven’t infringed anyone’s copyright in the first place … oh well.

Problem 2: SOPA is ineffective against real pirates

Allegedly infringing sites are blocked by domain name, not IP address. Real pirates have no problem using IP addresses to continue to download copyrighted content illegally. Your customers, however, won’t know how to find you by IP address alone. If your domain name is blocked, they won’t be able to get to you anymore. If they can’t read your blog, or order your products … you won’t exist.

Problem 3: You are not bad, but you’re the one who will get punished

There’s actually a provision that says that an ordinary user can go to jail for five years for posting any copyrighted work. Yes, that’s a penalty of five years in prison for putting an iPhone video on your blog of you singing your inimitable version of “Don’t Stop Believing.” It seems insane (and it is), but the entertainment industry has a history of going after ordinary people, including kids, for copyright infringement — and pushing for maximum penalties.

Problem 4: SOPA is bad for the economy, at exactly the wrong time

The worldwide economy is in fairly horrible shape. Small, privately held companies are where the new jobs are coming from. They’re where game-changing innovation is coming from. And they’re where the jobs are coming from … the kinds of jobs that can’t readily be outsourced and don’t lend themselves to automation. As anyone who’s ever worked in (or founded) a small company knows, the little guys tend to live on the edge. They don’t necessarily have six months of payroll in the bank. They don’t keep an attorney on retainer to fight a fraudulent accusation. The last thing in the world we need right now is a law that puts small businesses, especially small web-based businesses, in danger.

Problem 5: It’s not just small business that takes the hit

It’s not just small businesses that will be affected — the big technology-based companies (you know, the kind that create tens of thousands of excellent jobs) are intensely worried about SOPA. They’re afraid that they can’t build the next chapter of the web (which will almost certainly continue to be based around sharing and social activity) if they’re thwarted by a ridiculous law. That’s why Reddit has already committed to an internet blackout day to raise awareness of the dangers of SOPA.

Problem 6: It backs the wrong industry

The entertainment business adds lots of dollars to our economy. But it doesn’t add nearly as many jobs and dollars as the technology industry does. The internet is our economic future. It’s the essential infrastructure of modern business, from yoga studios and one-person service businesses to giants like Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Internet-based tech — whether that’s a blog that supports your coaching business or the next blockbuster product from Apple — is what will bring us through the economic crisis and into the next period of prosperity. Making it (slightly) harder for people to illegally download War Horse is pretty trivial by comparison. The benefits are puny compared with the costs.

I’d like to make it clear that I’m not crazy about people who steal content either. I’m not arguing in favor of copyright infringement. Such actions are clearly illegal and wrong. But the DMCA and other copyright laws provide ample protection and remedies designed to compensate copyright holders and bring copyright violators to justice. Also I do believe:

• Most people are honest and will pay what they owe even if they could get it for free on a pirate site,
• Dishonest people will go to almost any lengths to steal, even if it takes hours and hours and they could buy the material for a penny, and
• (The most important one) Piracy has pushed us to be creative with business models, making stolen versions of our products less attractive than products that are paid for.

If small companies can come up with creative ways to get customers to pay a fair price for our products, why can’t the entertainment industry?

What you should do next

I totally get that you may have neither the time nor the inclination to do a lot of political activism around this. Fortunately, there are some very quick and easy things you can do that will help Congress understand that this is a job-killing, unfair law.

Visit www.americancensorship.org. Scroll down for lots of options at various commitment levels, whether you’re a political junkie or someone who can’t stand politics.

There are options there if you’re not a U.S. Citizen (and yes, SOPA affects you even if you’re not in the U.S. — in fact, it’s explicitly directed against sites in other countries)

Stepping off the soap box now.

1.    Cloudburst

We have all been hearing about cloud computing as the way of the future. As consumers and businesses, are taking advantage of smaller, lighter, and faster technologies it only seems logical that the next step is to “take it to the cloud.” Cloud computing is advancing incredibly quickly, and with it companies are moving their data at significant savings. I think the benefits will outweigh potential security threats.

2.    SEO will become SSEO

We all know a good Google ranking is vital. Companies are profiting from creating (poor quality) content, answering questions, and paying per article to get to that coveted top spot on Google. As social media continues to grow, the trend in content will change from being just something consumers need (searchable) to something they need but also enjoy (sociable). If content is not being shared, Google will not consider it. SSEO: search and social engine optimization.

3.    Facebook will Integrate Search as a Core Feature
2011 was a year-long war between Google and Facebook. Each of these companies have an incredible amount of data that they can capitalize on but each is missing the piece that the other possesses. Facebook, first time ever, has persona valuables:  what you like to do, how old you are, who you associate with, what school you go to, your interests, etc. Google has the keywords people search without the personas to attach them to. Their answer to obtaining the social graph was Google+ …whoops. So, in order for Facebook to get the search graph, they must launch their own search function.

4.    Total smartphone market share will hit 40%.

Ice Cream Sandwich has consumers chomping at the bit. Apple held off on the release of the iPhone 5. Nokia and Microsoft partnered to produce Windows Phone handsets. Google is set to purchase Motorola, and hopes to fare better than AT&T did with its failed acquisition of T-Mobile. If smartphones have already arrived, 2012 will be the year that they take over.

5.    E-Commerce stomps traditional retail

Just as big box stores slowly dominated smaller retailers by having inventory and pricing systems that the little guys couldn’t match, internet retailers can implement a similar strategy regarding inventory, real-time pricing and home delivery to challenge the big box stores.

In other words, “read,” “watch” and “listen” will be applied to the “Like” button. The result? Buttons that will allow you to indicated that you have “Read” books or articles, “Listened,” to music, or “Watched” videos or other content.

So far, multiple reports have confirmed the “Read, Watch, Listen” theme, including TechCrunch, AllThingsD, and others. One industry source has also confirmed the theme to PCMag.com, although the source said he wasn’t sure if that was going to be an official motto, or just the substance of the talk.

TechCrunch is the source of the reports that claim that the buttons will be rebranded, however. A “Want” button might also appear. The New York Times has also reported that the site will launch a media-sharing service for movies, music, and other content at the F8 developer conference.

Facebook has already confirmed that it is rolling out a real-time ticker and an updated News feed, which will surface more relevant content to the user. You’ll see the top photos and statuses that were added in your absence, marked by a blue “Top Story” corner on the top left. If you sign in more frequently, the news feed will feature most recent stories first. Photos will also be bigger.

Facebook also confirmed three speakers for an F8 session on digital music: Bob Pittman, the chairman of Clear Channel, Daniel Ek, the chief executive of Spotify, and Troy Carter, the chairman and chief executive of Atom Factory, which represents artists like Lady Gaga, among others. That appears to confirm the reports of the so-called “Facebook Music” portion of the platform, which companies likeRdio, MOG, Rhapsody and others are participating in.

While Facebook hasn’t tipped the products it will launch at the show, it will be answering questions on “Location and Events,” “Photos,” News Feed,” “Distribution,” “Profile,” “Pages,” “Social Plugins,” and “Credits,” according to an agenda of the show.

source: (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393293,00.asp#fbid=FyEhmRzeygP)

Kevin was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. He graduated from Oakland Community College’s Culinary Studies Institute in April of 2009. Kevin has worked at Oakhurst Golf and Country Club for almost four years. Starting as a banquet cook, Kevin began to truly get his feet wet in the culinary industry. After his first year he was promoted to a sauté position in the restaurant’s kitchen. It was a true opportunity to get hands on experience with many different types of fresh seafood and fish, meats, vegetables, and a wealth of experience from a Chef with years of experience on the American Culinary Olympics team. Over the next few years he has moved up through the ranks of the restaurant and now works as the Chef de Cuisine. He is skilled in multiple styles of cooking and is teaching himself how to work with pastries. Kevin works to make sure that the food he serves is always the best it can be, hits on multiple levels of flavor, and that his guests have a memorable dining experience.

source (http://kevinbooms.com/about/)

His site can be found by going to http://kevinbooms.com

The 10 most popular Android apps capture 43 percent of all the time spent by Android consumers on mobile apps, according to new data released today from market researcher Nielsen. When broadening that sample to the top 50 Android apps, Nielsen found that group of applications accounted for 61 percent of all time spent.

“With more than 250,000 Android apps available at the time of this writing, that means the remaining 249,950-plus apps have to compete for the remaining 39 percent of the pie,” wrote Don Kellogg, Nielsen’s director of telecom research and insights.

Also in Nielsen’s findings was this factoid: Most Android mobile users spend just about one hour each day using apps and mobile web browsers. Of that hour, around 67 percent of time is spent in applications, and 33 percent is spent browsing the web.

Nielsen has been tracking Android phone usage in a new way. Rather than relying on user-reported survey data, the firm is metering media usage on individuals’ phones the same way it does with individuals’ and families’ televisions. All this is done with the individual’s permission, of course. Called Nielsen Smartphone Analytics, the new meters and methods give an interesting and accurate picture of actual iOS and Android and app usage.

Image courtesy of laihiu.

Source (http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/18/android-app-market-share/)

Top 10 tech we miss

By Rafe Needleman
Technology evolves. Good technologies and products usually survive; poor ones usually go extinct. But not all of the technologies and tech products that have swirled down the drain of the tech gene pool deserved their fate. Here are some big, and some small, ideas that we thought we’d have with us forever, but that unfortunately have gone the way of the dodo.

	Manned space exploration It’s been 33 years since humans have set foot on the moon or journeyed beyond the close orbit of the Earth. In other words, we’ve stopped exploring. Sure, robotic spaceships and Mars rovers are adding to our knowledge of the universe, but the last people to explore the final frontier are past retirement age–and so are the engineers who put them there. In other words, next time we go into space, we’re going to have to retrain people from scratch. There may be no firsthand knowledge of what it’s like to be in space or to build a space vehicle. This is progress?
	Kozmo.com At the height of the dot-com bubble, you could get a candy bar delivered to your door for the price of…a candy bar. Kozmo, an online store and delivery service, promised fast, friendly delivery of almost anything: a DVD rental, a bag of groceries, or just a single pack of gum. It was incredibly convenient and a heck of a bargain. It was also too good to be true. The cost of the small-time deliveries contributed to the demise of this great idea.
	Napster This is the one that started it all: The peer-to-peer network let you share your music collection with anybody in the world, and more importantly, get all the world’s music tracks downloaded to your computer. The only problem: Sharing digital assets this way was decreed to be illegal, which was not helped by the fact that on the original Napster, you couldn’t pay for music even if you wanted to. Napster was summarily shut down by the authorities. The brand has since been resurrected as a paid music site. It’s not the same.
	The Concorde Many of us thought that one day, when we were millionaires, we’d take a jaunt around the world on the supersonic jet. If you’re still waiting for fortune to knock on your door, you’re too late: the Concorde stopped flying in 2003, victim of economic factors and the aftermath of its only fatal crash. It’s ironic that as aeronautical technology has moved ever forward, the only supersonic aircraft the public could fly on has been retired. Now all of us, rich and poor alike, have to obey the pedestrian speed limit of sound.
	GM’s EV1 Even today’s superclean hybrid cars are still polluters–their electric batteries are recharged by small gas engines. But up until 2003, you could lease a true zero-emission electric car from General Motors: the EV1. It was a science-fiction car of the first order, and it looked it–all swoopy lines and space-egg aerodynamics. None were made available for sale. When the leases on the EV1s expired, GM recalled the cars, over the ardent objections of many of the lessees, who protested, begged, and lobbied GM to let them buy their vehicles. GM would not relent, and, citing concerns over liability and parts availability, even took to crushing some of these high-tech marvels to keep them off the road.
	The original Palm Pilot Introduced in 1994, the original Pilot was a model of simplicity. It was an excellent pocket calendar and address book, and it synchronized sufficiently well with a desktop computer to make it a solid PC companion. With so many new Palm Pilots shipping today, why do we miss the original? Because the 1.0 Pilot never crashed. Its simplicity was its blessing. You’d think that after 11 years, this is the one feature that we’d keep.
	Good keyboards Once upon a time, using a computer was a loud, tactile affair. The keyboards on early IBM PCs were heavy, had a great feel, and made a satisfying clacking noise when you typed, thanks to the expensive “buckling spring” design for the switches. They could also take a beating, which was important for people who were making the transition from pounding on manual typewriters. Nobody ships a PC with a good keyboard anymore, although you can still get IBM-style keyboards from Unicomp.
	Wires Try to buy communications equipment today–it’s all wireless. Wireless networks, cellular phones, Bluetooth headsets. We say, bring back wires. Wired communications are faster, cheaper, and less prone to interference and don’t need batteries. Want to make a clear phone call? Pick up an ordinary telephone with a good old coiled handset cord. Want really fast networking? Use wired Ethernet for a gigabit a second. We like portability, but our lust for cord-free technology has gone too far.
	LPs This is an argument for the ages. Many music lovers say the analog technology of vinyl records, where sound waves are recorded as bumps and waves in the record groove, provides a more authentic, warmer sound than the digital recording technologies of CDs and MP3s. Today, LPs are the province of music collectors and scratch artists. Many people still have substantial collections of LPs and no way to play them. Our recommendation: record your prized LPs to digital files while you still have a working record player. You won’t be able to completely capture the analog sound, but at least you’ll preserve the memories of this ancient technology.
	The Newton When Apple gets things right, it’s spectacular (think iPod), but when the company messes up, it’s a hoot. The first popular pen-based PDA, the Apple Newton, was big, expensive, and too smart for its britches. Early models tried to interpret handwriting with often amusing results, making words out of users’ scrawls that often combined into surreal “Newton Poetry.” We miss the Newton because what it thought we meant was often far more interesting than what we were really trying to say.   source (http://www.cnet.com/1990-11136_1-6259955-1.html)

A customer has gone through a tramatic experience in his life. His dog was poisoned. This is nothing anyone wants to go through. The customer decided that he wanted to spread the word to the world about what to and what not to feed your dog. Not only that, but if he does eat it what do you do to save your dogs life.

 This customer wants to I sat and pondered which direction to go. Do we focus on his goal and what means a lot to him? Maybe we choose a domain that has the company name in it. Or do we choose a domain name based upon the project name itself? A better question we should ask is WWGL (what would google like)?

In regards to the first question we would think about using the domain www.projectlibby.com. This would include the dogs name and what he is doing, a project. Though he would be able to include his dogs name in his url and it would be easy to spell and quick to type, this isn’t really what Google is looking for. When we are dealing with a Dog being poisoned, we wouldn’t think to search for project libby. Sure his meta tags and text on his page might be relevant, maybe even his title would be easy to search for, but the bottom line is your domain name matters.

This leads me to the second choise, company name. If you notice our company name is Logistics Info Tech, therefore our domain www.logisticsit.us makes sense, but in this customers situation this wouldn’t work for him. www.melvinsavesdogs.com might work out with the “saves dogs” in the url, but not the Melvin part. That part doesn’t really sit well with Google.

Lastly, there is option 3.  Option 3 would register a domain that deals with the the project at hand. The domain of “www.whattodowhenyourdoghasbeenpoisoned.org would be an AMAZING URL! Now some of you might ask, “why the hell would you want a domain that long?” Simple… customer’s won’t be typing it, they will be searching for it.  I can guarantee you with a domain like that will bring instant page rank and instant climb in Google.

SEO is not only important for your site, it is vital! It starts with a great domain name, and continues over the years with tweaking meta tags, mirco tags and adding fresh content to your site to getting you to that place everyone wants to be… number 1 on Google!

Well as of today that growth continues as we are now able to accept the following forms of payment: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Paypal, Google Checkout, Check and Cash.

We are also rolling out a payment plan schedule. We understand that the nation as a whole is in a recession and maybe your business can’t afford up front costs for new technologies such as new marketing packages, custom developed websites and social media marketing campaigns. We are excited to see the possibilities that are in store for our business as well as yours.

For a few years to come yet, fresh BI talent entering the corporate workforce will more likely be carrying newly minted IT-related degrees in their briefcases than business school diplomas. That’s the cold, hard fact as garnered from a survey of hundreds of professors, students, and practitioners/recruiters conducted under the auspices of BI Congress II. As I mention previously (Where BI Education Is Headed), this should change as more and more business schools embrace the BI discipline and integrate related coursework into their curricula.

The evolution is necessary, as the BI Congress II survey results also show. Consider this: Among the 176 practitioner respondents who participate in the hiring process, 104 said business analyst jobs were available for hire, compared to 84 who identified IT analyst positions. Placing analysts in the business, where the data-driven decision-making takes place, is a need we’ve talked about before — and these statistics bear that out.

Perhaps that’s a reason business-related acumen captured two of the three top spots when practitioners were asked to consider what skills they consider most important for BI jobs. The ability to communicate and business knowledge hold the one and three spots, with data management (modeling) sandwiched in between them. Knowledge of software development, research methods, and BI software fell at the other end of the important-skills spectrum, according to the survey.

That BI is not a mature enough discipline within academia is definitely puzzling to some practitioners, as expressed through survey-takers’ responses. “Without real-world experience, I would assume any new grad knows something, but not enough, to be of real value until they got trained up a bit,” one respondent noted.

“That being said,” the respondent added, “I would rather hire someone with a BI theory background than someone without that view.”

Another practitioner was more specific, identifying the ability to find candidates with “better analytical questioning” as a challenge. “No business user adequately can define ‘real’ needs. A good BI professional can interpret needs and deliver above and beyond initial scope,” the respondent said.

Clearly a business-take-charge advocate, this respondent went on to say:

My basic belief is the best BI comes directly from the business line. The more business professionals who have BI/systems knowledge, the better BI will be. BI and data analysis should be just as core a staple at universities as finance, accounting and marketing!!!! Much of the next century will be driven by professionals who can process, interpret, and act on the huge data that businesses and the Internet produce.

source: (http://www.allanalytics.com/author.asp?section_id=1411&doc_id=232092&)