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Netbook Applications

By Dominic Gallello on June 29, 2009 3:49 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks
Michael here.

There is no denying that the netbook boom, started in Fall 2007 by the ASUS Eee PC was one of the biggest computer stories of 2008.  Many would consider 2008 the year of the netbook but 2009 promises to offer users even more choices than before.  For those that are not in the circle of the knowing, a netbook is defined as a small portable laptop designed for wireless communication and access to the internet.   It is no secret that these "new" machines are merely repackaged terminals of the past.  Of course a few improvements have been made to increase battery life and usability, the sole technology dates back many years.  Since most road warriors and students have invested in one of these low cost machines, it is probably a good time to introduce some of my favorite non-resource hog and free applications.  After all the economy isn't great and I wasn't willing to shell out for my trusty MSI U100, why should my software cost more than the computer itself? 

My Favorite Software:

Google Chrome- Although I use Firefox with its millions of extensions on my main computer, I have found that Chrome is an excellent alternative for Firefox.  According to many industry tests, Chrome is the fastest most light weight browser available.  Although it is only available for Windows users at the moment, a linux version is in the works. 

VLC Player- Although it is still considered in a beta stage, VLC Player is the least bulky and offers the most codecs for your media needs.  It plays just about everything. 

Rocket Dock- A dock maximizes your valuable screen space on an 8 or 10 inch netbook.  It works much better than short cuts and is fun to customize during boring business meetings.  Rocket dock is a free alternative for object dock (a free version is also offered with reduced functionality). 

Foxit Reader- It doesn't matter where you go Adobe's PDF is going to follow you like the plague.  It may only be me but Adobe Reader crashes my netbook and sometimes even my gaming computer.  The remedy for this is Foxit Reader.  This light weight PDF reader is more powerful than the free Adobe Reader.   

TeamViewer- I don't like keeping a million files on my netbook so I use Team Viewer (free for personal use) so I can access files on my home PC.  The encryption and speed is the best offered on the free market.

Starcraft- All work and no play makes Michael a dull boy.  Those long meetings or boring lectures need the destructions of siege tanks and dragoons to make life more bearable.  Blizzard's hit classic is one of the best remedies. Although the constant movement of the mouse may give you away, sitting in the back usually helps.   

Those are the main applications I run on my trusty netbook.  Now, some people may ask why I don't have an antivirus installed.  It's simple, it aint worth it for a low power netbook.  Careful computing does just fine. 

That's all for now.  

Tokyo 2.0 June 2009: Language and the Web

By David on June 10, 2009 2:11 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks

Shack here. We celebrated the second anniversary of Tokyo 2.0 Monday, with the biggest meetup in the history of the event. Some of the attendance was probably due to Geeks on a Plane, Dave McClure's traveling band of VC's and innovators.

Geeks On A Plane Overview

There were some great presentations...

...a huge crowd...

...and excellent networking, in the small amount of downtime between presentations. I met some VC's from the bay area, had some conversations about the state of venture capital and angel investment in Asia, and caught up with buddies from the Tokyo tech world. The crowd was a little bigger and louder than optimal for deep conversation, but it was still a great time.

Dominic and I are on the steering committee for Tokyo 2.0, and we'll be working together on the July event. It's a great chance to learn something and start building a network here, so if you've got Monday, July 13th free, come on down to Super Deluxe at 6:30!

For more photos and thoughts from the event, head over to my personal blog, Shack in Japan.

Reactions to MySpace's XShibuya Event

By Dominic Gallello on May 28, 2009 11:49 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks
Dominic here.

Myspace  entered the Japanese market 2 and a half year sago in November 2006, and has been moderately successful. However over the past years, it is possible to see how Myspace Japan has begun to shrink from when it first entered (with great initial investment from LA Headquarters) to now. I had the chance to visit them at their beautiful Shiodome office just after they arrived in Japan; they were aggressive and eager to take on the reigning Japanese champion of Mixi. 2.5 years later, they've downsized into a smaller office removed from the offshoots Shibuya, due to what they claim as `A move to integrate ourselves away from the manufactures in Shiodome to the hustle of Shibuya`, an interesting claim to make as they had once shared a building with media giants like Yahoo! Japan and Softbank.

XShibuya x Myspace.jpg

So, MySpace held an event last night event, entitled `コミュニティを創造するコンテンツーー注目アーティストと世界最大SNSのコラボ` to underscore how MySpace has been successful at attracting and maintaining musicians and their fans on their SNS. What was indicative of MySpaces evolution was how they continuously labeled themselves, orally and on print media, as an `Entrainment SNS`.  The artists they featured, both painters, were Yorke and Akira Osawa, who they claimed to be the types of creative professionals using MySpace with great success.

MySpace Promotion Director Mr. Saitou outlined the three promotion channels MySpace is using. 1) A magazine called MySpace From JP which essentially repackages online content coupled with interviews to print form, and it has achieved very moderate success according to his own account. 2) MySpace Cafes, where they have arrangements with 100 or so cafes in Japan that carry their logo, though the effectiveness of this type of promotion is harder to assess and 3) a radio program hosted by JWave called RadioxSpider.

XShibuya x Myspace II.jpg




Shack and I both had the impression however, that MySpace has some serious problems that it doesn't appear to recognize:
  • Though MySpace has seen some rewards from their large investments in building communities around artists, it has left the individual user alienated as they try to navigate between different communities which are not their own. Further, MySpace has over commercialized their website to the extent that the degree of freedom to self express, which is more than most other SNSes with more relaxed HTML/CSS input, has been crushed by raging advertisements and in your face promotions of artists.
  • Mr. Saitou made one of the most horrifying comments of the night by essentially defining Web 2.0 as "the ability to get products delivered to your door really fast, like Amazon." Shack and I were in bewilderment that he worked at one of the biggest social media companies in the world without understanding the basic tenants of the industry he was a part of. 
  • The artists did not add much value to the event, at times they would make a statement that hurt MySpaces imagine. An example was: "MySpace doesn't really effect my sales." They had a moderate attitude about the event and MySpace, which turned off much of the audience, as sleeping audience members could be spotted at any given moment.
  • The entire event held its focus more on where MySpace had come from, and hardly any talk of where it was going. A complacent attitude could be felt as statements like "I couldn't imagine something like MySpace 10 years ago" were repeated consistently. What happened to the MySpace of 2002 which was fighting vigorously like a web company should? I wonder if its organizational expansion and take over by News Corp has made it resemble a weighty, lethargic traditional media giant.
In all, the event did not reflect positively on MySpace. Users are increasingly turning away from MySpace for being messy, over-commercialized, and inattentive of users.

You can read a more positive review of the event from XShibuya, the hosts of the event. 



A Leap Towards Web 3.0 - Wolfram Alpha

By Dominic Gallello on May 4, 2009 2:50 PM | 1 Comment | 0 TrackBacks
Dominic here.

In tech, people always have their eyes peeled for the next big thing. Many see the potential for the latest internet revolution with the expected release of Wolfram Alpha, sometime this month. Wolfram Alpha dubs itself the computational knowledge engine, an extension and evelotion of the past decade`s search engine.

With Google`s search engine, we were able to search the internet for webpages relevant to our queries. Information became accessible, but Wolframs hyperintelligent search engine takes the next step by making the information tailored. Wolfram understands questions, and is able to deliver grammtically correct, analyzed information back to the user. These characteristics are similar to what many theorized what web 3.0, or the semantic web, would look like.

Users can enter questions like "How tall is Mount Everst" and recieve not only a direct answer, but an organized array of related information such as maps of nearby towns and surrounding mountains. Of course, it comes coupled with visual aids like charts and graphs. The real power of Wolfram is its ability to function even under more difficult queries.

 "If you ask it to compare the height of Mount Everest to the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, it will tell you. Or ask what the weather was like in London on the day John F Kennedy was assassinated, it will cross-check and provide the answer. Ask it about D sharp major, it will play the scale. Type in "10 flips for four heads" and it will guess that you need to know the probability of coin-tossing. If you want to know when the next solar eclipse over Chicago is, or the exact current location of the International Space Station, it can work it out." - Dr. Stephen Wolfram

The broader implications of this revoluitionary search engine beyond becoming a powerful tool for students to do research papers is a paradigm shift in the way people interact with the web. Web 3.0 will allow the internet to respond to questions like "I want to see a funny movie and go for burritos afterwards". In the Google era, this would mean laboriously checking out times on Toho Cinemas time table, and looking through google for a resteraunt. Web 3.0 will be able to do this automatically, and based on our location, preferences and history will be able to compile and present a list of options. (Go see Burn After Reading and try Akasakas Junkadelic Resteraunt). Perhaps Web 3.0 will even book our tickets and make a reservation for us.
  
To take a look at Dr. Wolframs showcase of Wolfram Alpha at Harvard University, click here.



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