Click here to check if anything new just came in.
March 11 2010
Evri Acquires Radar Networks In Semantic Search Consolidation (Erick Schonfeld/TechCrunch)
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Evri Acquires Radar Networks In Semantic Search Consolidation — After shopping itself around to all the major search engines, Radar Networks finally found a buyer in another semantic search startup. Today, Evri is announcing that it will be acquiring Radar Networks, along with its core technical team and its main product, Twine.
Google Cuts Milo At The Knees With Its Blue Dot Specials

Google just launched a new feature on the mobile version of Google Product Search which could take local shopping search startup Milo out at the knees. Whenever you do a Google product search from a mobile phone, blue dots will appear next to items which are in-stock at nearby stores. The image at right is from a search I just did for “HDTVs.” The blue dots are subtle, but they certainly distinguish those results. Google has partnerships with Best Buy, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and West Elm to show local inventory, and it is inviting other merchants to apply to participate as well.
Highlighting local inventory in product search results is exactly what Milo does, although it works on the Web as well as mobile. Milo will have to try to keep one step ahead of Google now that its business has been targeted as a feature of Google Product search.
The good news for Milo is that nobody really uses Google Product Search. It is not even highlighted as one of the products on the Google iPhone app, for instance. Maybe that will change, now that it has a geo-enabled set of results.
When you are looking for stuff to buy, it always helps to know where you can buy an item nearby. The vast majority of people who shop on the Web actually just use it for research, and then go local to buy.
eBooks: B&N eReader for iPad Coming Soon (Paul Hochman/nook and BN eReader Blog)
Paul Hochman / nook and BN eReader Blog:
eBooks: B&N eReader for iPad Coming Soon — We've been getting lots of questions from customers, so we wanted to confirm that we will soon be adding a new B&N eReader for iPad - continuing to fulfill our promise of providing consumers any book, any time, any where.
Finally, a Major New Reason to Use Blogger: Easy Custom Templates (Harry McCracken/Technologizer)
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Finally, a Major New Reason to Use Blogger: Easy Custom Templates — At this point, blogging has been around so long that there's nothing extraordinary about almost anyone-from an eleven-year-old to a grandma-having his or her own blog. One basic thing about blogging, however …
SecondMarket: Facebook And Zynga Dominate Transactions In February
In January, private company stock marketplace SecondMarket published data on private company stock sales that they helped complete in 2009. And February’s report showed the transactions that took place in January, which showed a strong demand for consumer products and services startups. The majority of transactions in January were sales of Facebook stock. SecondMarket just released its February report, which you can download here.
Transactions more tripled in February, from $13 million in sales to $43.8 million in sales last month. A full 48% of the transactions were sales of Facebook stock, compared to 38% in January. And last month, we reported that sales are being completed for as high as $40 per share (or a $17.6 billion valuation). But we learned this week that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in no rush to take the company public. LinkedIn took 18% of the transactions, and sales of both Twitter and Zynga stock were each 15% of the total. LifeLock rounded the group out with 4% of the total.
The transactions concentrated mainly in consumer products and services (85%) and media and entertainment (15%). Similar to January’s trends, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter attracted the most transactions on SecondMarket.
On the buying side, Facebook led the way with one-third of all buyside demand followed by Twitter (7%) and LinkedIn (5%). Interest in Zynga (3%) also rose in February. On the seller side, ex-employees of start-ups stepped up their selling activity in February, comprising over 80% of sales, the highest percentage in the past nine months.
Noticeably missing from the report was Tesla, which filed for a $100 million IPO in late January.
TechCrunch_Private_Company_Presentation_Final_2010_03_09
JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback ... (Nilay Patel/Engadget)
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback — and changes color — The JooJoo tablet's launch date might have been pushed back a month while Fusion Garage sorts out issues with the capacitive touchscreen, but it looks like the extra time has given the company a chance …
Barnes & Noble Uses Crunchies Endorsement On In Store Nook Posters. We Want One.


We were somewhat sad when Barnes & Noble sent their PR firm to accept their award for the Nook for Best Gadget of 2009 at the Crunchies in January. Traditionally only Apple blows off the awards, and we’ve always been able to work around that.
But apparently Barnes & Noble are at least aware that they won the award. They are using it to promote the Nook on in-store posters, we learned recently. We sent TechCruncher Laura Boychenko over to the local Barnes & Noble last night with strict instructions to rip one of the posters off the wall and run like hell back to the office with it.
She failed in her task, but did take a few pictures and a video and promised to ask Barnes & Noble for one of the posters for our office. Less dramatic, but just as effective I guess.
I’m not suggesting anyone should commit a crime, but if someone were to obtain one (legally, mind you) and show up at our office with one of these we’d likely send them away with a thank you and a TechCrunch tshirt. No questions asked. Video is below.
Pink Floyd win EMI court ruling (BBC)
BBC:
Pink Floyd win EMI court ruling — Pink Floyd tracks may be removed from digital music services like iTunes after a High Court ruling went against record label EMI. — The band's latest record deal, signed before services like iTunes appeared, said their songs must not be sold individually without their permission.
In stock nearby? Look for the blue dots. (Google Mobile Blog)
Google Mobile Blog:
In stock nearby? Look for the blue dots. — Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering, demonstrated last December a preview version of Product Search for mobile with local inventory, which lets you see right in your search results whether items are in stock at nearby stores.
苏州大学生演讲风靡网络遭删除(图,视频)
2010-03-11
一个据称是苏州大学课堂演讲的视频作品在网络上被疯狂转载,引起轰动,演讲者痛批了中国的政治制度,并调侃宣传机器和所谓的和谐社会,但此段视频不久之后被中国各大网站删除。自由亚洲电台驻香港特约记者心语的采访报道
图片:苏州大学学生演讲揭示了中国当今社会的所有弊病 (心语拼图制作)
"西厢计划":中国破网技术新突破(组图)
2010-03-11
中国境内的技术人员近日成功研发出一种穿墙工具--“西厢计划”,帮助中国用户突破互联网封锁,这也是中国国内第一个自己研发的反审查技术,众多网民们对此感到振奋。自由亚洲电台驻香港特约记者心语的采访报道
图片:西厢计划名称借用了中国古典名著的浪漫 (网络资料/记者心语)
本台1月22日曾经报道过,美国国务卿希拉里发表的“互联网自由”宣言,誓言保护网络自由,并作为基本外交政策。希拉里还表示要支持美国公司开发先进的破网工具,帮助各个国家的网络用户实现自由访问互联网。据报导,“谷歌”(Google)高层主管星期三表示,如果北京要求谷歌必须审查网络搜寻结果,谷歌准备撤离中国大陆。
星期三,在一个叫做"GFW 技术评论”的博客上出现一份标题为“西厢计划”的帖子,表示这个项目组已经发布了一项新的产品系列,能够马上突破长城防火墙(GFW)的作用,让用户轻松访问被中国政府封杀的各种网站,包括Youtube, Twitter 等。这个计划同时借用了中国古典名著《西厢记》作为名称,其中有一段张生为了与莺莺自由恋爱,而偷偷翻墙的情节。这份帖子链接的技术网站说,“其命名是为了向中国古典文学史上翻墙的先驱者张某致敬。”
已经研究过“西厢计划”的网络技术专家东小兴星期四就此向本台表示,“这个软件的原理是利用防火墙上的漏洞,通过忽略一种叫做RST的数据包,让双方的连接不被(防火墙)打断。中国有一句话叫做:道高一尺,魔高一丈。可能技术上的战争会永远持续下去,封锁和反封锁。” 此软件目前已公布在网络上,东小兴说相信不少技术人员会将它不断推广。
根据近年来各国科技人员对中国审查技术体系尤其是长城防火墙(GFW)的研究,发现GFW是一个耗费资源的防御检测系统, 目前已经结合了多种手段,把所有不喜欢网络活动行为作为入侵行为,进行监控处理。所谓混合多种手段,就是从最基本的流量分析,域名服务器,直到上层的关键词分析都做了控制。因为中国政府投入巨资,在这样一个复杂系统导致GFW很难被克服。
但是西厢计划指出,这个长城防火墙体系其实还有很多漏洞,而且难以持续。于是他们提供一组工具 <http://code.google.com/p/scholarzhang/wiki/README> ,使得用户在一次设置之后,干扰到长城防火墙的耳目,然后直连目标网络,从而避免防火墙的大部分影响。“西厢计划”在初步的测试中可以让用户以普通浏览器无障碍地直连 Youtube等网站。
中文维基百科负责人时昭表示,“它不像以前的那些代理翻墙,需要连接到国外某一个服务器,通过那个服务器再访问你要访问的网站。‘西厢计划’不用连接国外(中转)服务器,直接连被封的网站,就能访问,现在主要针对关键字过滤”。 时昭还认为,根据目前的GFW技术限制,在一段时间内,西厢计划完全占据了优势,很难被GFW所反制。
有网友评价,“西厢计划”是我两年里面见到最振奋人心的东西,值得密切关注。还有有网友说,这套工具标志着与长城防火墙的猫捉老鼠游戏结束,翻墙软件进入主动攻击的时代。
在“GFW 技术评论”的博客上,也披露了几年来中国网络技术人员的努力过程:首先是几篇显著的文章出现,之后几个技术小组又参与了绿坝推倒的工作,提供几份重要文档的来源,再之后GFW的实体被匿名网民进一步揭露,方滨兴这个名字和中国国家互联网应急中心(CERT)浮出水面,因此这次的突破性技术并非一日之功。
著名博客作者郭卫东表示,“眼睛看到的东西在互联网或新闻上看不到,能够通过另外一种方式获取的时候,就有一种念头,原来我看到的东西是不真实的,是被屏蔽的、处理过的,是假的,就会去寻找真相,这种探寻真相的欲望和自由思想、自由思考、自由表达的信念一旦在人们心中种下一个种子,这是GFW屏蔽不了的。”
以上是自由亚洲电台驻香港特约记者心语的采访报道。
AOL, Intel, And The New York Times Help betaworks Raise a $20 Million Series B

Betaworks, the New York City-based holding company investing in the realtime Web, just raised a $20 million Series B. The round was led by RRE Ventures and Intel Capital, DFJ Growth, AOL Ventures, The New York Times, Softbank Japan and Softbank NY, Lerer Investments and Founders Collective, also participated, along with investors from the last round, which was $7.5 million
The company both invests and incubates realtime media startups, including Summize (acquired by Twitter for realtime search), bit.ly, TweetDeck, StockTwits, SuperFeedr, Outside.in, OMGPOP, and gdgt.
CEO John Borthwick says that the funds will be used to do more of the same, invest in and create realtime media startups.
Consumer Reports Says Apple Has The Best Tech Support, Acer/Gateway/eMachines The Worst
Consumer Reports has a new report on which computer company has the best tech support. Apple wins! That's what happens when the same company controls the hardware as well as the operating system (and several of the most prominent pieces of software). The highest ranking PC manufacturer is Dell for desktops and Lenovo for laptops.
Evri Acquires Radar Networks In Semantic Search Consolidation

After shopping itself around to all the major search engines, Radar Networks finally found a buyer in another semantic search startup. Today, Evri is announcing that it will be acquiring Radar Networks, along with its core technical team and its main product, Twine. Rumors surfaced yesterday on ReadWriteWeb that Evri was being acquired, but that is not the case. Evri is the acquirer.
I spoke with both CEOs this morning. They would not disclose the terms of the deal, but it is safe to assume that it was largely an equity-based transaction. Both Evri and Radar Networks share Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital as their largest shareholder. Radar has raised $24 million in total capital, while Evri has raised $8 million. Radar was unable to raise more during the recession and kept pushing out the release of its next product, T2, an ambitious project to create a semantic index of the Web. Using this semantic index, T2 can do a better job understanding what each Web page it indexes is about.
Evri, on the other hand, has been focusing more on filtering the realtime Web and then creating a semantic index of those pages based on matching similar content. One of the big drivers of the deal was the promise of combining Evri’s realtime filtering with T2, which is ideal for more evergreen and authoritative content.
“We had to find a home,” explains Radar CEO Nova Spivack. “Fortunately, we had T2 and a portfolio of fundamentally valuable IP. And user growth is holding steady even though we are no longer working on Twine” He also confirmed that he was “in discussions” with larger companies. Why did he choose Evri? “At the end of the day, not only was it a better offer, but Evri is more compatible with our team. Joining one of the larger players was a possibility, but it meant we would not get to work on T2.” Spivack will be an advisor to the combined company.
Semantic search is still in its infancy. Consolidation among startups could give the acquirers more firepower, but eventually the bigger search engines are going to start getting serious.
Maybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...







