Toward A Better Online Petiton
LivePetitions, an Italian startup, just launched with Italian, British and U.S. localized websites. It’s meant to be a much cleaner and functional online petition service than PetitionOnline, the big player in online petitions.
Users can quickly create an online petition, set an optional end date and enter categories and tags. Various required and optional fields can be added (email, name and zip code are default settings, along with a comment field), but those can be removed and anything else added. The creator and any signers can also choose to import their Gmail or Yahoo address books and notify their contacts of the existence of the petition.
The company makes money by placing ads on the petition pages, although those can be removed by paying a fee, which also allows customization of the petition page with a logo and other stylistic changes. A domain name for the petition can also be purchased so that the petition does not point to a livepetitions.com sub domain. One of the better features - a couple of options to embed a widget promoting the petition on third party blogs and other websites
It’s a good service with lots of flexibility and an easy to use interface. It does suffer from a few translation snafus (a lot of the English content is improperly translated, or not translated), but it is certainly better than existing options. Like other services, signatures must be from unique email addresses, which allows for a lot of fraud. It probably won’t become a big business, but it will be useful for the proactive types who like to stir the pot and get people behind whatever causes they are currently promoting. I expect the inevitable Facebook application to be released shortly.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/163471533/
Facebook To Launch Friend Grouping. Competition Can Suck.
So Facebook will finally allow users to group friends and control information flow based on friend type. For guys like Robert Scoble, who have 5,000 friends (the limit), this may be a way to finally sort through the real friends from the fans. It’s a much needed feature that people have been requesting for a long time.
It also shows the steady maturity of Facebook from a college network to a full on world network, where friendships, business contacts, family and other types of relationships need to be more fully described. And this is also as much about privacy as it is about organization - users will be able to limit the information that certain friend groups receive.
A few existing applications are going to be affected, like Slide’s Top Friends application, the most popular third party app on Facebook. Lots of other applications will likely need to be tweaked to work properly when this launches (so many of them access the friends list). And this will shut down at least one “startup” we’ve been tracking that was creating this exact feature as an application. At least they can quit now and stop putting good time and money after bad.
Building Facebook applications is a big dice roll. If it’s too popular or too obvious of an idea (even if it hasn’t been done yet), Facebook is just as likely to compete with you as pay a few bucks and just buy you (they are probably more likely to compete with you than buy you, actually).
Some developers will probably wonder if getting a cash grant from Facebook’s just-announced fbFund will lessen the likelihood of direct competition from the company. Only time will tell.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/163155508/
Have An Old, Broken iPod? Get Cash For It Fast
Sure, you can always sell those old iPods (working or not) on eBay, but it’s far easier to use BuyMyBrokeniPod, a site that promises to buy any model of iPod, working, broken or in between, with no questions asked. You even get an estimate of the price before you send it to them.
Since launching earlier this year, the guys who run the site say they’ve purchased more than 1,000 iPods from happy customers. The average price paid for a working iPod is $100 (range from $10 to $330). A broken one fetches an average of $30 (range from $2 to $216). You have to pay to ship the unit to them in Colorado, and they pay you via paypal or check.
The price they’re offering on my slightly used (and currently bricked) 8GB iPhone is $213. My last generation 60 GB iPod is worth $63. That’s competitive with eBay prices, without the hassle. And if your iPod is broken, these guys may be one of your only choices.
Broken iPods are sold in bulk to third parties or broken down for parts. Working iPods are refurbished and resold directly to to resellers.
The site is full of happy customer testimonials. If any readers have direct feedback, let us know.
See CrunchGear’s coverage of TheGadgetLocker’s iPod Recycling Program as well.
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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/163147262/
NetBank Joins The Deadpool
NetBank, one of the first online banking startups and a survivor of the first web bubble, was closed Friday after intervention from the US Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
NetBank had been in trouble for some time with failed mortgages and serious operating deficiencies. The service, which floated at $12 a share in 1997 hit a high of $249/ share in April 1999 until settling to a price of $15 a share in mid 2004. The company was delisted from the NASDAQ on August 3 this year and last traded at $0.068 on the OTC board on Friday.
An interesting comparison can be drawn between NetBank’s model and a number of verticals being targeted by startups today. In 96 internet banking was new and the big players were only just starting to roll out internet banking services, and even then they weren’t very exciting. Services such as NetBank offered a product suite that was innovative at the time; however the major players saw a demand for online services and eventually caught up. It’s not too dissimilar today to the various Google Maps mashup services that have launched, only to find Google 6 months later offering the same features themselves. We’ve seen it a little bit with MySpace add-ons and I suspect we’ll see it with Facebook in the months to come as well.
Existing NetBank accounts have been acquired by ING Direct. NetBank joins the veiled halls of the TechCrunch Deadpool.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/163143260/
YouTube Gets Adsensed
Google has launched YouTube Adsense video units that let users monetize a YouTube video embed with text or image ads.
The product is not dissimilar to one of the multitude of slide products currently on the market, essentially you use the unit as a display point for your favorite content (in this case from YouTube). Site visitors get to play videos from your list with the ads displayed when these videos are played, and like Adsense you get paid when people click on the ads.
As Google Operating System points out, it’s not clear as yet exactly what videos will be available; whether it’s a run of site option excluding premium videos that don’t allow embedding, or just particular content partners, like the creators currently part of the YouTube advertising program.
According to Google, the YouTube units can be delivered by category or perhaps more interestingly: contextually, “Bringing users to your site more often and keep them there longer with highly relevant, frequently refreshed video from popular content providers.”
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/163130409/
Canvas Loading Indicator for the iPhone and beyond
Adam van den Hoven wrote a Canvas Loading Indicator after he realised that animated gifs and the iPhone didn't mesh.
First he wrote the basic spinner:
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function getLoading(context, bars, center, innerRadius, size, color) {
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var animating = true,
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currentOffset = 0;
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function makeRGBA(){
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return "rgba(" + [].slice.call(arguments, 0).join(",") + ")";
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}
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function drawBlock(ctx, barNo){
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ctx.fillStyle = makeRGBA(color.red, color.green, color.blue, (bars+1-barNo)/(bars+1));
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ctx.fillRect(-size.width/2, 0, size.width, size.height);
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}
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function calculateAngle(barNo){
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return 2 * barNo * Math.PI / bars;
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}
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function calculatePosition(barNo){
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angle = calculateAngle(barNo);
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return {
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y: (innerRadius * Math.cos(-angle)),
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x: (innerRadius * Math.sin(-angle)),
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angle: angle
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};
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}
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function draw(ctx, offset) {
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clearFrame(ctx);
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ctx.save();
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ctx.translate(center.x, center.y);
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for(var i = 0; i<bars; i++){
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var curbar = (offset+i) % bars,
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pos = calculatePosition(curbar);
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ctx.save();
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ctx.translate(pos.x, pos.y);
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ctx.rotate(pos.angle);
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drawBlock(context, i);
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ctx.restore();
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}
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ctx.restore();
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}
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function clearFrame(ctx) {
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ctx.clearRect(0, 0, ctx.canvas.clientWidth, ctx.canvas.clientHeight);
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}
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function nextAnimation(){
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if (!animating) {
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return;
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};
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currentOffset = (currentOffset + 1) % bars;
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draw(context, currentOffset);
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setTimeout(nextAnimation, 50);
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}
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nextAnimation(0);
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return {
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stop: function (){
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animating = false;
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clearFrame(context);
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},
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start: function (){
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animating = true;
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nextAnimation(0);
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}
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};
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}
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And then to use it:
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var controller = getLoading(canvas.getContext("2d"), 9, {x:100, y:100}, 10, {width: 2, height:10}, {red: 0, green: 17, blue: 58});
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Source: Ajaxian
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ajaxian/~3/162895219/canvas-loading-indicator-for-the-iphone-and-beyond
Rilasciato Ext 2.0 Alpha
Tutti gli amanti di Ext, l’ottima libreria Javascript per creare ricche interfacce grafiche, saranno felici di sapere che stata appena rilasciata la prima versione Alpha, ancora sperimentale, di Ext 2.0. La nuova release decisamente pi potente della precedente e anche la documentazione stata decisamente arricchita. Fra le nuove funzionalit vi segnalo:
- Tabs con scrolling
- Possibilit di creare righe di raggruppamento nelle tabelle
- Tabelle ad albero con sottolivelli
Ecco un piccolo esempio delle nuove funzionalit presenti per le tabelle:
Vi consiglio di leggere il post sul blog ufficiale con una descrizione pi dettagliata delle nuove funzionalit e link ai nuovi esempi.
Source: On Ajax
Original Article: http://www.onajax.com/rilasciato-ext-20-alpha/
Xoom Raises $20.29 Million Series E
International payments processor Xoom has raised $20.29 million Series E in a round led by DAG Ventures and joined by previous investors Fidelity Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Sequoia Capital.
Xoom’s international payments platform allows users to transfer money to overseas accounts; think Western Union without the excessive fees, and you can use funds in your PayPal account for the payment.
I’ve used Xoom in the past, and it’s a great service that steps in when Paypal withdrawals (or in some cases Paypal altogether) isn’t available in the country your paying to. The fees are reasonable, varying between 4% for a small payment down to 1.1% for larger payments. The service is also a convenient way to make international wire transfers that compare well in price to most major banks.
The Series E round takes Xoom’s total funding to in excess of $50 million.
(via PEHub)
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/162662483/
Note to Apple: Stop thinking Like a Phone Company
As we all know by now, the latest software update to the iPhone may in some cases turn it into a useless brick—if you happen to have put hacked software on it or unlocked it (ahem, John) in order to make it work on a non-AT&T carrier (such as T-Mobile, in the U.S.). Apple, of course, is free to try to lock in customers to its partner AT&T and to control what software will work on the phone. That’s just the way the cell phone business works. Right? It’s all about customer lock-in and reducing churn.
But Steve Jobs might be better served here to take his own advice and think different. Because, as he has so elegantly demonstrated with the iPhone, these devices are finally becoming little computers. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that consumers will expect them to act like computers. They will want to modify them to their exact, quirky predilections. They will want to use them any way they want, as a general-purpose device.
That is why PCs took over the world. They could be tuned a million different ways to the needs of a million different customers. You don’t ask Apple permission to download software off the Web for your Mac. And you would never agree to buy a laptop that only worked with only one broadband provider. Why should the iPhone be any different?
The uproar today may be limited to hackers and the digerati. But soon everyone will want the same thing. And if they don’t get it from Apple. They may look somewhere else. Google Phone anyone?
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/162641364/
Highly Entertaining: Realtors Suing Other Realtors
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said that “Real Estate is by far the most screwed up industry in America.” That may or may not be true, but one thing is certain: a lot of people have had negative experiences with realtors and wish there was a better way to buy and sell houses.
And whenever we write about how screwed up that industry is, the realtors come out and start trolling in the comments. The professions seems to attract a fairly outgoing group; individuals that like the sound of their own voice. That may explain the success of Active Rain, a blogging platform for real estate professionals. It launched in June 2006, and by March 2007 had 20,000 bloggers, 12,000 of whom were real estate agents.
Now the service is in litigation with Move.com, a company with a collection of websites (including the official site of the National Association of Realtors). In late 2006 ActiveRain entered into discussions to raise money or be acquired by Move.com. In January 2007 the two companies signed a nondisclosure agreement. Two months later Move.com sent Active Rain a letter of intent to acquire the company for $30 million, although it isn’t clear that either side actually signed the letter and made it binding.
Then things started getting interesting.
According to a lawsuit filed by Active Rain, Move.com kept telling the company the acquisition was on track, and also kept asking them for lots of information about their business. Active Rain said they complied, occupying weeks of the owners’ and officers’ time. Move.com supposedly told Active Rain that the deal had been unanimously approved by Move.com’s board of directors and that the closing was contingent only on the tweaking of a few minor details.
Then the coup de grace: Move.com asked Active Rain for, effectively, a database download, including “highly sensitive information about its members and its network.” On May 3, 2007 Active Rain complied and sent the data.
Within “hours” Move.com notified Active Rain that they were pulling out of the deal. A few days later Move.com announced that they were “rolling out free blogs for realtors” and competing head on with the service. A press release on the new product was issued in August.
The $33 million lawsuit is pending. Move.com filed a answer denying some of the claims and demanding a jury trial.
There isn’t much more to go on at this point. Active Rain look like absolute fools for trusting Move.com with their core customer information before a deal was locked up, and Move.com look like serious jerks. It will be fun to see how this sorts itself out. Meanwhile, the good guys continue to disrupt the whole shady realtor business model. I hope, in the end, they win.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/162631474/