Google, the internet giant, is being sued by Northeastern University and an associate professor who runs a startup. The complaint states that Google is infringing on a 1997 patent. This patent relates to how data is pulled from a database. The suit, filed in a patent court of Eastern Texas, says Google is using their method of breaking up database queries into multiple portions and having each portion processed by a different computer. According to Boston.com, this allows for faster results displayed by Google.
While the legal merit of this suit is up in the air, there is some controversy surrounding it. Apparently, the university and Jarg Corp, the fore mentioned startup, were approached by a Boston law firm 2 and a half years ago in regards to binging this suit to court. The university and Jarg Corp waited 2 and a half years to file the suit because they were looking for a firm to take the case on a contingency basis. Duncan Riley over at Tech Crunch calls this ‘patent trolling’. I tend to disagree with him. I personally would not take on the 5th largest company in the US without being prepared. And let’s be honest, a lot of court battles comes down to who has more money to outlast the other. It is a sad fact of the US legal system, but it is true. A company could easily put millions and millions up for their legal efforts, be in the right, but still loose because Google just has more resources. Not to mention all the bureaucracy that has to happen for a university to do anything, yet alone sue. Seems like the commenters on his article may agree.
While the technology behind the patent seems like a natural progression for high traffic database computing, someone does own a patent on it. And as a patent owner, they have the right to defend their intellectual property. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future.
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Adobe, one of the leading providers of professional software, is binging one of their most popular applications to the web. Photoshop Express is a web based version of their desktop software Photoshop which will be shipping a beta version by the end of this year. It was demoed at Adobe MIX in Chicago last month and featured more consumer orietned features to altering photos like getting rid of red eye, cropping, getting ready of blemishes, and adjsuting color tones.
With the advances in web technologies and the continuing trend of more people using web applications, binging a desktop experience to the web is making more sense. However, I do not believe this can replace the desktop application. It will, however, make a good feature to other services or applications. This is how Adobe is planning on distributing Photoshop Express. They already have partnerships setup with some of the industries biggest players including Photobucket and Shutterfly.
I think for companies to stay on top of their industry, they need to hit new markets (obviously). The web is emerging as the medium of the future. I however, still prefer desktop applications. When it comes to collaboration or the need to access things on multiple computers, the web is the way to go. But, editing photos and such are better suited on the desktop.
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Valleywag is reporting that Digg is close to be acquired for a sum of $300-400 million. Sources close to the company have leaked the information, but no concrete evidence has surfaced. The company has been growing in traffic steadily and given Digg’s history of almost-acquisitions, I will believe it when I see it.
TechCrunch had the following time table of Digg “acquisitions”:
- Blogger Kevin Burton was infamously first
to bat with a statement that a sale of Digg to Yahoo was a near certainty in January 2006, for $30 million (he was wrong).
- We know with a high degree of certainty that Digg did try to sell itself to Yahoo, and probably others, for $20 million or more in May 2006. No offers were made, according to our sources.
- By the end of 2006 the price had increased – they were asking for $150 and turned down soft offers in the $100 million range. At the time, Comscore said they had just 1.3 million users.
- We have confirmations from potential buyers that Digg continued discussions throughout 2006 and into early 2007, looking for at least $100 million, but no offers were made.
- Over the last few months Digg has been shopping themselves again – and the price is at least $200 million according to a source who’s been pitched. Again, no offer.
Valleywag is speculating one the larger newspaper companies — The New York Times Co. or the Washington Post Co, — maybe the culprit buyer. I guess it would make sense for one of these two to buy Digg: traditional media, especially print, is dieing. Why not jump on one of the hottest, fastest growing startups?
To be honest, I would feel sorry for anyone who buys Digg. The Digg users are a fiery bunch. Any little disruption in their Digg regime sets them off like a time bomb. The attitude of Digg users is the only thing that keeps me from using the service. If I were Kevin Rose, on the other hand, I would sell sell sell. Move on to new things.
OpenSocial, the attempt by Google and the tens of other social networks, has been hacked twice within a few days. The first OpenSocial application to be hacked was the RockYou application on Plaxo called emote. Now, it seems the same hacker has compromised another OpenSocial application on Ning called iLike.
The hacker claims to be able to add and remove songs from user’s playlists. According to TechCrunch, you can “Give him a Ning username and he can give you details on their friends: relationship to user, last date of update, photo, profile creation date and part of their email address.” He’s even setup a blog which goes into the kind of “social hacking” that he does.
Is this foreshadowing of Google’s crash and burn with OpenSocial? I don’t think so, but it is a bad start. To take down Facebook, things are going to have to run a lot smoother. The worst part is the hacker claims to be an “amateur”. If this is true, I’d hate to see what a “pro” could do. Part of me can’t help but think this is what happens when you try to rush something out the door too quickly. I think it can be said that this is what happened with Google’s OpenSocial. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks and if any other vulnerabilities can be found.
Joost, the online TV-on-demand startup from the founders of Skype, has chosen Meebo to power their chat rooms. Joost and Meebo, arguably the best in their respective fields, make a great combo in my opinion. Other
internet TV startups such as WiTV have already integrated other chat solutions like Skype into their product.
Screenshot below:
Meebo recently released its developer platform in an effort to be integrated into other third party applications. I have used Meebo in the past, especially on my iPhone and have to say I love the company and their product. I will admit, I am a TV fanatic too. How cool would it be to chat in real time, or after a show, with other TV fans all over the world? I look forward to seeing these two services integrated and also to see if Joost is able to build a good enough catalog to be worth while for TV fanatics like myself.
San Diego County in California is facing some fierce fires that are ripping through neighborhoods and have forced more than 500,000 people to evacuate. The 4 different fires have burnt 263,000 acres and destroyed or damaged 1,750 homes and 100 businesses. 
I’m in the middle of the fires. No, not in the middle of an actual fire zone, but sandwiched between two fires. While I think my area is relatively safe, that is not the case for so many friends and colleagues. In fact, I am housing my old roommate who had to be evacuated from his house.
It has been pretty crazy trying to keep up to date with what is going on. News channels are all over the place along with local websites. But thankfully, I found a great Google map that gives me what I need to know. In a graphical manner (duh, its a map), I am able to see where the fire is, what areas have been evacuated, where local shelters are, what roadways are closed, where pets are being accepted, and which areas are safe to return to. I love this combination of technology and news and love how Google maps really can be customized so brilliantly. It has allowed me to stay on top of things without having sit in front of a tv for ages.
So, given the state of affairs here, I probably will not be posting for a little bit more. I will try to squeeze in some if I can. If you are from San Diego and you are reading this, I wish safety and good health.
