Friday, September 28, 2012
Google Algorithm change. What it could mean to search.
Matt Cutts Just Announced A Google Algorithm Change
By Chris Crum
9 hours ago · 1
inShare
5
Google’s Matt Cutts just announced a new Google algorithm change via Twitter. He says it will reduce low-quality “exact-match” domains in search results.
It sounds like an extension of the last change he tweeted about, which was aimed at improving domain diversity. Here’s the new tweet:
Matt Cutts
@mattcutts
Minor weather report: small upcoming Google algo change will reduce low-quality “exact-match” domains in search results.
Reply · Retweet · Favorite
13 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Update: Cutts tweeted a follow-up:
Matt Cutts
@mattcutts
New exact-match domain (EMD) algo affects 0.6% of English-US queries to a noticeable degree. Unrelated to Panda/Penguin.
Reply · Retweet · Favorite
7 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Probably good of him to clear that up right away.
Google is about due to publish its big list of algorithm changes for the months of August and September. When that happens, it will be interesting to see how many entries are related to domains. It seems like there are typically visible themes in the lists. For example, in the June list, there were a lot of changes related to improving how Google deals with natural language.
Have you seen any effects from this update? Let us know.
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About Chris Crum
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow Chris on Twitter, on StumbleUpon, on Pinterest and/or on Google: +Chris Crum.
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BB 10 on YouTube
BlackBerry 10 OS Tutorial Videos Find Their Way to YouTube
Sep 28th, 2012 by the BerryReview Team
It seems like BlackBerry 10 just doesn’t want to stay secret anymore. The latest leak comes from BlackBerryItalia (via BBIN) showing off the tutorial videos for BlackBerry 10 on video. There is nothing groundbreaking here but it is some nice explanation of how the device works. Let us know if you spot anything interesting! (This is a video of a video so the quality is a bit off)
Sep 28th, 2012 by the BerryReview Team
It seems like BlackBerry 10 just doesn’t want to stay secret anymore. The latest leak comes from BlackBerryItalia (via BBIN) showing off the tutorial videos for BlackBerry 10 on video. There is nothing groundbreaking here but it is some nice explanation of how the device works. Let us know if you spot anything interesting! (This is a video of a video so the quality is a bit off)
Schumacher out, Hamilton in at Mercedes F1
Hamilton to replace Schumacher at Mercedes
Mercedes have confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will replace Michael Schumacher for the 2013 season and beyond, following news that Sergio Perez will join McLaren.
The 27-year-old has signed a three-year deal to partner Nico Rosberg, though it's believed he has been offered clear number one status within the Anglo-German team.
Speaking about the move, the 2008-champion said he was ready for a fresh challenge at a team he can grow and win championships with.
"It is now time for me to take on a fresh challenge and I am very excited to begin a new chapter racing for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team," Hamilton said in a statement. "Mercedes-Benz has such an incredible heritage in motorsport, along with a passion for winning which I share.
"Together, we can grow and rise to this new challenge. I believe that I can help steer the Silver Arrows to the top and achieve our joint ambitions of winning the world championships."
Team principal Ross Brawn welcomed Hamilton's arrival and the potential he brings to the team which now has "the most dynamic and exciting driver pairing on the grid.
"I am delighted to welcome Lewis Hamilton to our team. The arrival of a driver of Lewis' calibre is a testament to the standing of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One and I am proud that Lewis shares our vision and ambition for the success of the Silver Arrows. I believe that the combination of Lewis and Nico will be the most dynamic and exciting pairing on the grid next year, and I am looking forward to what we can achieve together.
"Over the past three years, we have been putting in place the foundations and building blocks that are needed to compete regularly for the world championship. Behind the scenes, we have assembled a team that is technically stronger, more experienced and better resourced, thanks to the support of Petronas and all of our loyal team partners. The potential is now there to match any other team on the grid, which is the minimum standard for a Mercedes-Benz works team. Our task is now to translate that potential into on-track performance for next season and beyond."
Mercedes have confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will replace Michael Schumacher for the 2013 season and beyond, following news that Sergio Perez will join McLaren.
The 27-year-old has signed a three-year deal to partner Nico Rosberg, though it's believed he has been offered clear number one status within the Anglo-German team.
Speaking about the move, the 2008-champion said he was ready for a fresh challenge at a team he can grow and win championships with.
"It is now time for me to take on a fresh challenge and I am very excited to begin a new chapter racing for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team," Hamilton said in a statement. "Mercedes-Benz has such an incredible heritage in motorsport, along with a passion for winning which I share.
"Together, we can grow and rise to this new challenge. I believe that I can help steer the Silver Arrows to the top and achieve our joint ambitions of winning the world championships."
Team principal Ross Brawn welcomed Hamilton's arrival and the potential he brings to the team which now has "the most dynamic and exciting driver pairing on the grid.
"I am delighted to welcome Lewis Hamilton to our team. The arrival of a driver of Lewis' calibre is a testament to the standing of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One and I am proud that Lewis shares our vision and ambition for the success of the Silver Arrows. I believe that the combination of Lewis and Nico will be the most dynamic and exciting pairing on the grid next year, and I am looking forward to what we can achieve together.
"Over the past three years, we have been putting in place the foundations and building blocks that are needed to compete regularly for the world championship. Behind the scenes, we have assembled a team that is technically stronger, more experienced and better resourced, thanks to the support of Petronas and all of our loyal team partners. The potential is now there to match any other team on the grid, which is the minimum standard for a Mercedes-Benz works team. Our task is now to translate that potential into on-track performance for next season and beyond."
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Maps saga, Apple vs Google.
IOS 6 MAPS
Why Apple Really Ditched Google Maps
By Kyle Wagner, Sep 26, 2012 4:16 PM
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It's been a curious thing, wondering why Apple dropped Google Maps in iOS 6 in favor of its own, half-baked mapping system. According to AllThingsD, the answer could be pretty simple: Turn-by-turn voice navigation.
According to ATD's sources, basically, Apple's deal with Google never included turn-by-turn, even though Android has had that feature for years. It put the iPhone at a huge disadvantage in that regard, and Apple couldn't stomach Google calling the shots.
There was a chance things could have been worked out on turn-by-turn, but only if Apple gave up some control of iOS to Google, like what went into the feature set of iOS Maps. Obviously, that was never going to happen.
Clearly the decision to change over from Google Maps was a little more complicated than just voice navigation, but AtD's sources make it clear that it was the main detail:
"There were a number of issues inflaming negotiations, but voice navigation was the biggest," one source familiar with Apple and Google's negotiations told AllThingsD. "Ultimately, it was a deal-breaker."
So there you go. Apple has crappy maps because it couldn't stand not having a killer feature. [AllThingsD]
Is shopping about to reach the Big Thing?
To help get the word out about its new foray into savory snacks, Kellogg’s has opened a dedicated store in London where Twitterers can trade tweets for treats.
If Kim Kardashian can earn $10,000 for tweeting about a company, perhaps the rest of us schmoes at least deserve to earn a bag of chips for the same. Well, now we can.
The Tweet Shop is a retail outlet from Special K that opened this week in London, the brand’s first. Rather than money, the shop thrives on the social currency of its patrons. Created by U.K. agency Slice, the new shop was built to promote Special K Cracker Crisps; another first for the brand, a savory snack. Londoners near Soho can visit the shop from 9a.m.-5p.m. until Friday, September 28, pick out a form tweet from a menu of options, and walk out quenched.
(Sample form tweet: “Special K has gone savory. 3 flavors to try--salt and balsamic vinegar, sweet chili, sour cream and chives #tweetshop #spons”)
These free chips will be sure to tide Twitterers over this week when they’re not smacking a political candidate or trying to win an Audi.
If Kim Kardashian can earn $10,000 for tweeting about a company, perhaps the rest of us schmoes at least deserve to earn a bag of chips for the same. Well, now we can.
The Tweet Shop is a retail outlet from Special K that opened this week in London, the brand’s first. Rather than money, the shop thrives on the social currency of its patrons. Created by U.K. agency Slice, the new shop was built to promote Special K Cracker Crisps; another first for the brand, a savory snack. Londoners near Soho can visit the shop from 9a.m.-5p.m. until Friday, September 28, pick out a form tweet from a menu of options, and walk out quenched.
(Sample form tweet: “Special K has gone savory. 3 flavors to try--salt and balsamic vinegar, sweet chili, sour cream and chives #tweetshop #spons”)
These free chips will be sure to tide Twitterers over this week when they’re not smacking a political candidate or trying to win an Audi.
Android is having trouble holding developers interest
by KIM-MAI CUTLER Sep 25, 2012 9:00AM
Even as Android has blown past iOS in terms of total device activations versus Apple’s cumulative device sales, developers still remain more interested in building for iOS, Appcelerator found in a survey of more than 5,500 developers. This could be either because Apple’s iOS continues to monetize better than Android or because there is a lag time. It may take many more months (or years) before developers adjust to understanding that Android likely has a larger active installed base of devices. The Blackberry platform showed a far more precipitous decline, but the reasons for that are far less puzzling.
Appcelerator found that the platform features developers were most interested in included Apple Maps (hah!), followed by the mobile wallet Passbook and then standard upgrades like a faster processor.
Naturally, Apple holds a much stronger lead in the tablet category with the iPad, than it does in smartphones. Apple said it had 68 percent market share from April through June in the tablet category, during the iPhone 5 launch event.
The irony of the split between Android and iOS developer interest is that developers told Appcelerator that the most important factor for them in determining which platform to build for is having a “large installed base of devices.” While no one knows the exact active installed base of devices, the number of daily active users that Facebook’s Android app sees recently surpassed Facebook’s iOS app. On top of that, Android head Andy Rubin said that the platform had seen 500 million activations, while Apple last said it had seen 400 million in cumulative device sales.
As for cross-platform development, developers remain deeply dissatisfied with HTML5 — mostly because of monetization and security issues. And it looks like those won’t be solved anytime soon, especially given that Facebook has now reversed course and is shifting away from HTML5 toward native development. With nearly 1 billion users and a rich ecosystem of developers, they would have been one of the companies that would have been most able to support payments and monetization on the web. Apple, Amazon and Google, meanwhile, are all putting resources behind their own app stores.
Speaking of Facebook, two-thirds of developers think that a mobile-first startup could disrupt the social networking company’s hold on the entire marketplace. One big piece of evidence in support of this has been Instagram’s quick run to accumulate more than 100 million users, attracting enough momentum to force Facebook’s hand with a near $1 billion acquisition.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg really tried to emphasize how mobile has become the company’s top priority at TechCrunch Disrupt earlier this month. He said in the last six months, the company had overhauled its native applications, added a mobile revenue stream in the form of advertising and launched a deep integration into iOS6 with Apple. Yet that may not be enough. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before someone emerges that won’t cave in the face of a $1 billion offer (not unlike how Zuckerberg turned down Yahoo five years ago).
Lastly, developers see smart TVs as the most likely candidate for the next big platform, followed by connected cars and then game consoles. Wearable computing, like Google Glass, comes in at fifth place with two-thirds of developers saying they’d be willing to build apps for by 2015.
Even as Android has blown past iOS in terms of total device activations versus Apple’s cumulative device sales, developers still remain more interested in building for iOS, Appcelerator found in a survey of more than 5,500 developers. This could be either because Apple’s iOS continues to monetize better than Android or because there is a lag time. It may take many more months (or years) before developers adjust to understanding that Android likely has a larger active installed base of devices. The Blackberry platform showed a far more precipitous decline, but the reasons for that are far less puzzling.
Appcelerator found that the platform features developers were most interested in included Apple Maps (hah!), followed by the mobile wallet Passbook and then standard upgrades like a faster processor.
Naturally, Apple holds a much stronger lead in the tablet category with the iPad, than it does in smartphones. Apple said it had 68 percent market share from April through June in the tablet category, during the iPhone 5 launch event.
The irony of the split between Android and iOS developer interest is that developers told Appcelerator that the most important factor for them in determining which platform to build for is having a “large installed base of devices.” While no one knows the exact active installed base of devices, the number of daily active users that Facebook’s Android app sees recently surpassed Facebook’s iOS app. On top of that, Android head Andy Rubin said that the platform had seen 500 million activations, while Apple last said it had seen 400 million in cumulative device sales.
As for cross-platform development, developers remain deeply dissatisfied with HTML5 — mostly because of monetization and security issues. And it looks like those won’t be solved anytime soon, especially given that Facebook has now reversed course and is shifting away from HTML5 toward native development. With nearly 1 billion users and a rich ecosystem of developers, they would have been one of the companies that would have been most able to support payments and monetization on the web. Apple, Amazon and Google, meanwhile, are all putting resources behind their own app stores.
Speaking of Facebook, two-thirds of developers think that a mobile-first startup could disrupt the social networking company’s hold on the entire marketplace. One big piece of evidence in support of this has been Instagram’s quick run to accumulate more than 100 million users, attracting enough momentum to force Facebook’s hand with a near $1 billion acquisition.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg really tried to emphasize how mobile has become the company’s top priority at TechCrunch Disrupt earlier this month. He said in the last six months, the company had overhauled its native applications, added a mobile revenue stream in the form of advertising and launched a deep integration into iOS6 with Apple. Yet that may not be enough. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before someone emerges that won’t cave in the face of a $1 billion offer (not unlike how Zuckerberg turned down Yahoo five years ago).
Lastly, developers see smart TVs as the most likely candidate for the next big platform, followed by connected cars and then game consoles. Wearable computing, like Google Glass, comes in at fifth place with two-thirds of developers saying they’d be willing to build apps for by 2015.
Pollution eating clothing? What?
Pollution-Eating Clothing Heads Toward Commercialization
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by GREGORY FERENSTEIN posted 1 Hour Ago
A new laundry detergent that coats clothing in pollution-eating nano-particles is on its way to store shelves. The “CatClo” detergent would expand the hot new trend in green fashion to those environmentally consciousness consumers who want to purify the air without buying from couture brands. “If thousands of people in a typical town used the additive, the result would be a significant improvement in local air quality,” said University of Sheffield Professor Anthony Ryan. “This additive creates the potential for community action to deliver a real environmental benefit that could actually help to cut disease and save lives. In Sheffield, for instance, if everyone washed their clothes in the additive, there would be no pollution problem caused by nitrogen oxides at all.”
So-called Catalytic Clothing utilizes “Nano-titania, or nanosized particles of titanium dioxide, [which] work as powerful catalyst agents that speed up the conversion of harmful NOx air pollutants to harmless byproducts that can be washed away with the rain,” explains Scientific American magazine.
The trend began at a chance meeting between Ryan and fashion designer Helen Story at SciArt, an initiative to bring scientists and artists together. The next step is to turn the product into a detergent. ”We’re now working closely with a manufacturer of environmentally friendly cleaning products to commercialize our laundry additive,” Ryan said.
The detergent might cost a bit more, but given the heavy toll that air pollution takes in asthma, cardiac and other diseases, Ryan says it’s worth the price. “We believe that using the additive in a final rinse with a full washing load could potentially cost as little as 10 pence [about 16 cents] – a small price to pay for the knowledge that you’re doing something tangible to tackle air pollution and increase the life expectancy of people with respiratory conditions. We’re confident there’s a really big market out there for this product.”
[Via Pys.org]
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10
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203
by GREGORY FERENSTEIN posted 1 Hour Ago
A new laundry detergent that coats clothing in pollution-eating nano-particles is on its way to store shelves. The “CatClo” detergent would expand the hot new trend in green fashion to those environmentally consciousness consumers who want to purify the air without buying from couture brands. “If thousands of people in a typical town used the additive, the result would be a significant improvement in local air quality,” said University of Sheffield Professor Anthony Ryan. “This additive creates the potential for community action to deliver a real environmental benefit that could actually help to cut disease and save lives. In Sheffield, for instance, if everyone washed their clothes in the additive, there would be no pollution problem caused by nitrogen oxides at all.”
So-called Catalytic Clothing utilizes “Nano-titania, or nanosized particles of titanium dioxide, [which] work as powerful catalyst agents that speed up the conversion of harmful NOx air pollutants to harmless byproducts that can be washed away with the rain,” explains Scientific American magazine.
The trend began at a chance meeting between Ryan and fashion designer Helen Story at SciArt, an initiative to bring scientists and artists together. The next step is to turn the product into a detergent. ”We’re now working closely with a manufacturer of environmentally friendly cleaning products to commercialize our laundry additive,” Ryan said.
The detergent might cost a bit more, but given the heavy toll that air pollution takes in asthma, cardiac and other diseases, Ryan says it’s worth the price. “We believe that using the additive in a final rinse with a full washing load could potentially cost as little as 10 pence [about 16 cents] – a small price to pay for the knowledge that you’re doing something tangible to tackle air pollution and increase the life expectancy of people with respiratory conditions. We’re confident there’s a really big market out there for this product.”
[Via Pys.org]
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