TechImpact / it happens there first

I just read an article about car sales taking a nosedive. I honestly don't expect to see the result of this where I live because I have been fortunate enough to find one of the pockets of America that has so far been un-effected. Of course, I could have been more fortunate if I were those lucky few that joined in on the bail-out lotto we just had, but that's another story.

Anyway, this article was particularly touching to me because, during a month of extreme bad luck (battery exploded in my car and my wives car, water leak somewhere in the walls of our house, and really just everything around me breaking), I gave up on trying to maintain an older car. So, I picked up my family, and we drove to the near-by Honda dealer. Found a very nice brand new 2008, and asked them to offer me a price on it. It was a 2008 after all, so I figured we should probably get a good deal. Well, Mr sales guy runs into his office to talk to the manager, and comes out fifteen minutes later. All this time, I am toting my 2 year old around the sales floor trying to keep her entertained. So, after 15 minutes he emerges from their salesman panic room.

"I think we can make you a good deal on this car. Tell me about your trade-in and what you want to pay monthly".

I was stunned. I asked for a price for the car. I had no intention of financing through these guys, I just wanted a price. And I re-iterated that, again. I did however cave on the fact that we had not discussed trade-ins, and although a trade-in is just a coy way for them to invent another way to rip you off, I gave him the details of my car. By this time, my 2 year old was cranky, I was hungry, so I asked him to call me on my cell phone when they had rubbed their magic 8 ball enough to come up with an answer. He agreed and I went on to find food.

30 minutes later, my phone rings. It's the sales guy, and he was ready to give me a price. Just kidding. We talked for 5 minutes where he tried to convince me to drive my trade in to their shop so they could fully investigate the car. Now, having done this dance before, fully investigate means "bring us your only way to escape so we can torment you until you agree to pay whatever we demand to release you".

"Ok, let's skip the trade-in," I said. "Just tell me what it will cost to buy the car in cash. What is the price."

His response: "If I gave you a price, you could just do to another dealer and get that price from them."

I hung up the phone and decided that I could maintain my cars a bit longer.

Of course there is a point to this story. We are seeing dropping sales numbers from a lot of organizations these days, and the blame is running like wild fires. Yes, I completely agree that the market is righting itself, but wouldn't a 24,000 dollar sale have helped that dealerships numbers a bit. So if the economy is really that bleak, why are they still treating weary consumers like targets?

here I am, in the magical world of Disney after a 3 hour flight with my 2 year old daughter. I was initially going to blog about the less than warm welcome, capturing images of cast members who obviously hate their job. Then I recalled that iPhone safari lacks an upload control. Not devastating, but in this age it's a terribly annoying non feature

But I move on. Apple really does have some great hardware. When it works, the 3g connection is good enough that I would consider using this phone for just text blogging. And their Bluetooth keyboard is amazing. So, I thought, let's pair the two and do some work. Oh, except as of iPhone 2.1, it doesn't support a keyboard profile. I guess I'll just imagine the impact of a good pda phone, and hope y'all will read my mind. In the mean time, thumbs off to you.

BlizzCon isn't exactly our under our standard banner of operation, but a show that sells out 16,000 tickets in 10 minutes bears mentioning. This weekend, despite the utter failure of Wall Street, Anaheim California witnessed an influx of something no disaster, whether is be natural, economic or political, can conquer. It, and I as a proud participant, witnessed the spirit of gamers. Men, women and children who routinely defeat monsters and demons, saw no challenge in making their way to the marvelous ocean state, and leaving their mark as they endured the patient pleasure of the newest games from Blizzard Entertainment. Follow our photo reporting below to see the wanders of BlizzCon.

October 1, 2008 was a dark day. Not because the stocks went on a wild ride, crashing and thrashing any thought of retirement. No, October 1 was much worse.

While we are all patiently waiting for the full disclosure some time around the 16th, the basics released are that TCP has been shown universally vulnerable to denial of service attack using as few as a handful of bots. Back in the beautifully naive days of September, a denial of service attach (DOS) required thousands to millions of computers programed to launch their assault at an unsuspecting target. This was mostly achieved by various techniques including flooding the target server with enormous amounts of initial connections (SYN), then abandoning the conversation. Back then, it took effort to take a system down.

Flash forward to black Wednesday, the new techniques discovered allows this same effect with 9 - 10 connection attempts, a small enough number that the entire attack could be carried out from a single machine. Such an effect could prove disastrous for web sites, national security, and our prized waffle recipe.

So, is this the end of the world, or just media hype? Well, since all of the attacks being discussed are theoretical, the only way to really know is wait for full disclosure at the T2 conference in Helsinki, Finland on October 16 - 17 2008.

For up to date news on this issue: see Robert Lee's blog on Sock Stress.

During the off-time, we work on our casual gaming system (see http://www.virtuaguild.com). We haven't had a lot of time to invest yet, but have already come up with some extremely useful tools. My favorite of our tools is the Flash XML socket system used for real-time communications. A lot of design time was put into making the system pluggable and extensible, using tools such as desktop scripting, jndi, and XML to make a product that would work for any of our games.

Building this system required a lot of resources from the internet. Research, open source libraries, and the generous help from the community. Which is why I want to give it all back. In the next two weeks, we will provide the Dingo source code open source to anyone who feels it may help them in their own ventures. Stay tuned as we get the pieces setup, and if any of you have good suggestions where to host etc etc, leave a message at contact-AT-crgmedia-DOT-com.

** Update **

We now have a SourceForge Project Approved at http://sourceforge.net/projects/dingoflashxml/

I think Nokia must be allergic to success.

And this time I am not referring to the lack of support for obvious features of a smart phone missing from most of their devices, or the fact that it will be 2009 before the company finally releases a touch phone (way to "get there first and take the high ground", Nokia).

This time I am referring to the many things that you CAN get on the Nokia N95 (and other Symbian 3rd Edition) phones.

First up is an actually pretty good free Internet radio client.

I've been using this for several days and I am impressed. It's simple and doesn't offer most of the 'nifty' features of LastFM or Pandora, but since those services have by-passed the Symbian platform (even though they both have IPhone clients), I'll take what I can get.

As an aside, there are 'work-arounds' to getting at least parts of Last FM service on Symbian 3rd Edition phones: the brave can find more details HERE.

Nothing was mentioned about the availability of this client in the last update for the Nokia N95, and it doesn't come preinstalled. The app was not mentioned on the Nokia N-Series web site. In fact, I wasn't able to find mention of this app in any of the Nokia or Symbian related webs site that list applications available for download. It was an accident that I ran across a link about the client on a Nokia users' site. Why the secrecy Nokia? The RIAA will probably soon kill Pandora and LastFM along with all of Internet radio anyway, so maybe they didn't consider it important enough to mention.

Next up - Japanese input on your Nokia N95 (Symbian 3rd Edition).

I've seen NUMEROUS requests for this feature in Nokia user forums, and I have been looking for a solution for some time.

Option #1. M-FEP60: This is an apparently open source solution that allows Japanese input in some of the applications on the Nokia N95. The downsides are many. First, it doesn't work with the Nokia browser which is a show stopper for me. Second, it's not a simple install — you have to sign the app yourself. This is not the developer's fault. It's part of the problem with releasing free apps for the Symbian 3rd edition OS. Further, most of the instructions are in Japanese. There are simplified English instructions that might be sufficient as long as you don't run into trouble (the developers deserve kudos for taking the time to put together an English site). The third problem is the reason I don't run this app. When signing the application, you have to be willing to grant ALL permissions including network access. I am not sure why an application that provides alternative character input needs permissions to use network features. I have no reason to distrust the people that put this application together, but until I someday have the time to scrub every line of the source code and recompile it myself, this application is not going on my phone.

Option #2. Psiloc Crystal Japanese : This application will give your Nokia N95 the ability to enter Japanese text, and having tested the app in almost every program on the N95, I can attest that it works – barely. The big problem with the app is the input method. Rather than supporting an "IME-style" input where "ki" translates to "き", Crystal Japanese assigns the Japanese alphabet sequentially to the number keys. To generate the symbol "う" for example, you press the "1" key 4 times. This is bad enough for the first five symbols in each series (1), but to create a symbol such as "ぼ" requires 10 key taps. I was also not thrilled with the fact that in addition to the two applications the program installs to function, Crystal Japanese installs TWO! DRM applications (Digital Rights Management applications - programs that clog up your phone and suck away resources because the developer doesn't trust you not to rip off their products). Add that to a $90 price tag and I'll pass.

(1) If you aren't familiar with Japanese enough to understand what I am referring to, you can consult this helpful Wikipedia article.

Requests to the Nokia Support forums for official support have apparently fallen on deaf ears. Depending on how badly you need kana input on your phone, one of these options may be for you. Personally I am left writing in romaji and contemplating flashing my phone with the Japanese version of the OS, but I digress...

And last up, the Nokia Wellness Diary.

The app is pretty much what you would expect — it allows you to record data about your health such as weight, blood pressure, stress levels, amount of exercise, etc... The app now supports Metric and Imperial measurements (previous versions only allowed Metric measurements).

Admittedly, how cool you think this app is will depend on how obsessive compulsive you are about your health. Personally, I find this to be a great tool and you can't beat the price tag (FREE!).

The Wellness Diary is available from Nokia Beta Labs, but the application is in version 1.18 and seems very complete. There are several other applications on this site worth noting, such as the Nokia Chat IM client, but having tested the most recent versions I can say that the "beta" tag on most of the other applications is well deserved.

There are numerous other interesting applications for the Nokia N95 and other Symbian 3rd edition phones available, but as with the applications I've mentioned, Nokia just doesn't seem to be in all that much of a rush to let us know about them. The "official" application sites such as NSeries.com are often incomplete, don't work well, and require searching on a PC to use them. The Nokia mobile platform is in need of a centralized application site with a good phone client and some marketing effort similar to Apple's App Store. And while I am wishing in fantasy land, a little more variety to the games in the N-Gage store and World Peace would be nice too...

A few notes as to what I have found regarding Google Chrome's installation and the supposed installation of hooks into other browsers.

1. Google does install a Mozilla plugin called "Google Update" during the installation of Chrome. The plugin and related files are installed into the directory:

C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Update

You can see an indication of the integration of the plug-in to Mozilla in the registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MozillaPlugins\@tools.google.com/Google Update;version=5]

2. Removing Chrome does NOT remove the plug-in.

I 'googled' for the referenced .dll (the irony is almost crippling). According to the source here (http://groups.google.com/group/chromium-discuss/msg/8eedfbbf7b9bc9b6), npGoogleOneClick5.dll is a plug-in that automates the process of installing software from Mozilla browsers. That post doesn't mention anything about npGoogleOneClick5.dll forwarding search results to Google.

Still, I am somewhat disturbed by the fact that this software, whatever it does, was installed without asking and that the software does not remove itself when I remove Chrome.

Further, I don't WANT installing software from a web page to be any easier. Even if you ignore the possibility that this plug-in could be compromised to act as security hole, reducing the install process to a single click makes my system less secure. I don't appreciate Google installing this plug-in of their own volition.

More information hopefully to follow.

(9/17/2008) Update: I was watching Twit TV a short time ago, and there was some discussion that the Mozilla plug-in installed by Chrome WILL remove itself some time after the program is removed. I did not notice this myself. I don't have the details as to how long it takes after removing Chrome for the plug-in to be removed, or how that process even works. I'll post again if I get more details.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=130895

Wendy's just released viral video has stirred a bit of attention, but failed to really get Gen Y in the mix. Sorry for the bad pun, but I think this type of misuse of the YouTube/MySpace video crowd merited it. Mind you, I see nothing wrong with using these captive-by-choice audiences to market your self or your product. In fact, in a rather striking way, this is becoming the only way to guarantee survival of a brand.

Many have said time over time that Gen Y is anti-marketing. Indeed this generation has shown a gross rejection of the overt and forceful marketing that traditional ads (and this Wendy's video) covet. I see this as the exact opposite of the problem. Gen Y is in fact an amazing force at providing the means to advertise, and brand building. It was this generation that made YouTube and MySpace a household name, and multi-billion dollar companies. The question is how? The answer is genuine and subtle. Neither of which is in this video.

Television, newspaper, billboards, old marketing. Today, users spend 40+ hours a week in front of a computer, many of those hours find themselves filled with web page after web page. So how do you get users attention, stand out from the millions of web sites each vying for 5 seconds attention?

First, you have to be found. news.com is easy to type, on everyone's mind, gets hit thousands of times an hour, and unless you have a few million dollars to spend, a name you will never get your hands on. In fact, every recognizable, easy to remember, simple to type domain name is taken and is either for auction at a higher cost than you SHOULD reasonably pay, or being used by your competitor. But notice, the one key word there. SHOULD. In the 90's, a good name would make or break your new web venture because there was no other way to be found. If you couldn't get pets.com, your pet food franchise was failed before your business model could sabbatoge you. Suddenly, to get started, your new web venture was subject to traditional media television, newspaper, and billboards just to get noticed.

New times ahead. The world has a new name, and that name is Google. The internet was supposed to be the great leveler, but at that it alone failed. And where the internet failed, Google succeeded beyond anyone's wildest imagination. Traditional media marketing was now replaced by "search". Whether is be by MSN, Yahoo or Google, the internet's new friends heralded a new age of marketing, and a new way to build a brand.

The question is: how do you build a brand that target's the great Google algorithm. No longer does psychology and user studies get that attention you deserve. Now its facing off against an algorithm that choses those already most popular. But what does most popular mean? It's the groups that people are talking about -- not just talking about but socially involved with. Of course, you still have to start -- and everything starts with the search engines.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the corner stone of being relevant to yourself. SEO is the process of optimizing the words, links, and design of your page. But this design is different. This design is the technical innards of HTML code, the code that many HTML designers let Frontpage or Dreamweaver automatically spew into the page that they never see. Of course, this is why so many pages have difficulty getting seen on the internet. So suddenly, design has two sides: what your users see, and what their browser sees. And to be relevant, you have to cater to both at the same time.

Of course, old marketing does mean it's useless marketing. In fact, as the web moves mobile, bill boards and newspapers are getting a second chance. Semacode, Q-Codes or whatever marketing name the technology gets, is a new barcode format that allows your cell phone to browse the web based on pictures it takes. We reviewed semacode last month, but any discourse on Brand 3.0 must consider the impact of this technology to have any semblance of completeness.

So there you go. Web 2.0 was the social web, Web 2.5 was the mobile web, and Brand 3.0 is using all of those to succeed on the ether.

After reading the numerous complaints on the internet about how the 2.0.2 update took too long, and did nothing to fix the "real" problems with the platform, I installed it anyway.

The install process was not as monumental for me as others have reported. The download took roughly longer than a lifetime -- possibly two, but that gave me ample time to scavenge for sustinence. I had expected from reports so far that I was in for a long night to just survive the backup level, so food would be needed.

Sadly, by the time I had returned pizza and coke in hand, the stupid thing had completed the entire process. Now in all fairness, I have not used my entire 8g of storage for movies and music, so your experience may vary. But over all I was please. Time to start the tests. Of course, all extremely informal since there was no official changelog or notification of any sort of what was "fixed".

First informal test -- open my contacts. Admittedly, this is hardly a test of os, processor or anything. I have only a few dozen individuals listed in my phone book. Still, at the mighty Rev 2.0.1 it took a countable 20 seconds on first open. I had grown to fear needing to contact my friends in the early days of the old release, and instead opted to start scribing their every detail onto cocktail napkins that I stashed inside the fresh leather case for my iPhone. The moment of truth. I reboot, I click contacts and get the coffee maker ready... IT OPENS! Not only does it open, but its reasonably fast. One small step for the oversize gizmo! Likewise, I have in fact noticed that all screens appear a bit more tolerable.

But I didn't but this overpriced toy for contacts or any business purpose. I bought it for YouTube! So I fired up my handy YouTube app. It works still. Good start. Search videos -- because I am not of the unwashed masses. I refuse the "most popular". Instead I open the search box, type in my super secret video desires "Nelly Furtado", and click. It plays. Its fast, its 3g! I'm in love all over.

Of course, this is all still plugged into the wall. Over the last few weeks of 3g, I have come to learn that my phone was to never be used away from my wall charger. It was just -- bad. So slowly, I dare pull away from the wall. The cord falls to the floor, and the battery light comes on. I wait, a few seconds more, and its not completely drained! Life as I know it has meaning again. Of course, the real test was the over night stand-by. Stand-by.

So I woke up this morning fresh and ready to type all of my experience in, fully expecting to see my phone self powered down. So I click the little button at the top, and find once again to my surprise, not only is there still power, but the stand-by has drained very little. Its moved just enough so that I don't think the battery bar was broken.

Happy -- not until my camera has a zoom and I can keep a call active while walking. But at least I feel more confident that I may some day be able to use my shiny new toy outside of the confines of my tiny box and all of its glorious artificial lighting.