cynergygroup.com

One of the most interesting things is how the architecture isn’t dramatically different than it would be if you were to build an on-premise version–except that Soocial is able to take advantage the Amazon Web Services EC2’s scale, hot-standby, and backups. It’s definitely worth learning more about if you are interested in the cloud.

Examples of architectures designed to run on Amazon Web Services are a great way to illustrate the necessary design changes and patterns associated with a cloud deployment methodology.

(Credit: Soocial.com)

Soocial.com running on Amazon Web Services

Soocial.com, a “one address book solution to contact management” runs entirely on AWS and uses some interesting technologies to make their service work, including RabbitMQ, an open-source implementation of AMQP, the emerging standard for high-performance enterprise messaging. (I’ve written about AMQP and RabbitMQ here, and here in the past.)

Via Amazon Web Services blog.

Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said the company, which now has more than 10 million subscribers, has yet to pinpoint the cause of the malfunctions. He added that only a small percentage of customers have complained but that the company continues to look for a fix.

The other major complaint from Netflix customers who posted to the company blog this weekend is that it wasn’t made clear there was no way to opt out once they switched to the Silverlight player.

The complaints began accumulating soon after the Web’s largest video-rental service switched to Microsoft’s Silverlight in November. The posts appear to have trickled in until last weekend, when a score of customers began reporting problems.

“I certainly feel that Netflix was not forthright in getting me to ‘upgrade’ to the new viewer (Silverlight),” said someone who posted under the name Jerry. “I don’t have a beef with Microsoft. I’ll support most technologies that work appropriately–and that is where we have come to a problem. The new viewer simply does not work well enough.”

But after the conclusion of the games, NBC went back to using Flash. Another setback for Microsoft came when Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the group that streams baseball games over the Web, decided to drop Silverlight.

Netflix is trying to locate the source of a series of glitches that some users of the company’s streaming service are blaming on Microsoft’s Silverlight video player.

Swasey defended Silverlight. He said the company has received mostly kudos from customers after switching to the software last fall. A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment.

Over the weekend, a steady stream of angry messages was posted to Netflix’s blog. The complaints range from choppy video, to audio that doesn’t sync with the picture, to grainy image quality.

“The new player is far better. It’s faster, more reliable and provides greater stability. The vast majority of Netflix members have had a great experience.” –Steve Swasey, Netflix spokesman

“The new player is far better,” Swasey said. “It’s faster, more reliable and provides greater stability. The vast majority of Netflix members have had a great experience.”

Silverlight has received mixed reviews in the past year. NBC chose Silverlight to stream video of the 2008 Summer Olympics and the company won some favorable reviews. For the games’ opening ceremony, Silverlight helped deliver more than 70 million page views in one evening.

“The quality of the video looks like bad VHS,” wrote someone on the Netflix who identified themselves as Steve-O. “I use an Acer Netbook over my home network and the quality is poor. Also, I cannot even see the button to make the video full screen (using Acer One Netbook with
Firefox browser). However, I imagine this will make the quality even worse. What a disaster.”

2:22 p.m. Rafe Needleman: In related news, Yahoo announced that Sue Decker has resigned.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz

2:37 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Bostock on Bartz: “Proven track record on driving growth and shareholder value”

2:43 p.m. Rafe Needleman: “I’m eager to roll up my sleeves and get started…I feel honored to take on this responsibility.”

2:43 p.m. Rafe Needleman: No new news here–plans, directions, Microsoft. No surprise on that front.

2:34 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Expect participation from Bartz, ex-CEO Jerry Yang, and Chairman Roy Bostock. Also, expect a lot of grand statements, such as Bartz’s official statement in the press release: ” Yahoo! is a powerful global brand with a great collection of assets, strong technology, and enormously talented employees. The Company has accomplished a great deal in its relatively short history and I look forward to working together to take it to the next level. There is no denying that Yahoo! has faced enormous challenges over the last year, but I believe there is now an extraordinary opportunity to create value for our shareholders and new possibilities for our customers, partners and employees. We will seize that opportunity.”

2:41 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Bartz: Yahoo has “powerful global brand, good cash flow, enormously talented employees. Value for shareholders. New possibilities for customers, partners, employees.”

2:22 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Good afternoon! We will be covering the Yahoo press conference on new CEO Carol Bartz when it kicks off.

2:39 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Bostok: Bartz was only person to be offered the job

2:39 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Bostock: Bartz “transformed struggling business into a world leader of CAD software” Revenues increased 5x, share price increased nearly 10x. Plus board experience on Cisco, Intel, NetApp. “Carol more than meets the criteria for the seach.”

(Credit:
Autodesk)

2:33 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Related: Ex-Yahoo executive Rosensweig joining Adobe board (per Marketwatch)

“She is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that the board was looking for, and we are thrilled to have attracted such a world-class talent to Yahoo,” Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said in a statement Tuesday. “The board is united in its view that her energetic and decisive leadership style, coupled with a proven track record of driving growth, operational excellence and shareholder value, is exactly what Yahoo needs to get back on a path toward achieving its full potential.”

2:37 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Chairman Bostock: Bartz is a “seasoned and highly regarded technology executive..impeccable track record of leadership and success…people skills…decisive leadership style.”

Stay tuned to this post for more details as they come from a news conference at 2:30 p.m. PST. We’ll be live-blogging the event.

2:44 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Ben Schacter from UBS: What were key factors into decision to take the role? And what do you bring to the party?

2:43 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Bostock reiterates his pleasure. Now for brief Q&A.

2:36 p.m. Stephen Shankland: OK, Roy Bostock is starting up.

In addition, Yahoo announced the departure of President Susan Decker.

2:40 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Bostock: “We are delighted Jerry will remain with the company… to assist Carol”

2:42 p.m. Stephen Shankland: But Bartz is gonna stay mum on search deal and other strategic options.

2:35 p.m. Stephen Shankland: For background on the challenges facing Bartz, and the generally warm reception she’s receiving, check this earlier story.

2:35 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Spokesperson: “This is not a business update” about results and financials.

2:42 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Bartz: “My focus is on turning the company around and creating opportunities for employees and customers and creating value for shareholders. I would not be here if I thought these objectives were not achievable.”

2:51 p.m. Stephen Shankland: That’s it. I guess Yahoo wanted to keep her from saying too much. Stay tuned for earnings on January 27.

2:45 p.m. Stephen Shankland: She said she was approached in December. Yahoo board decisive, she said.

2:39 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Bostock: Thanks to Yang for stepping into CEO role 18 months ago at board’s behest. “unwavering enthusiasm and unique perspective”

2:45 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Bartz: “Yahoo…a company with great assets that frankly could use a little management.”

2:52 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Thanks all!

2:50 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Bartz: “I’m having my first manager meeting in 10 minutes. I can’t give you a timeline. I’m very good at listening, digging around, finding out what’s going on. I don’t expect it’ll take an extraordinary amount of time, but this is a big company. Let’s not put ourselves in some crazy timeline. Let’s give this company some frigging breathing room. Everybody on outside deciding what Yahoo should or shouldn’t do–that’s going to stop.”

2:52 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Thanks for tuning in.

Bartz, 60, spent 14 years as Autodesk’s CEO before becoming executive chairman in 2006. At Yahoo, Bartz’s challenges will include adapting from a successful but relatively unknown software company to a struggling media company whose Internet properties used by hundreds of millions of people.

Carol Bartz, Autodesk’s former executive chairman, has replaced Jerry Yang as Yahoo’s chief executive.

“The Board thanks Sue for her service as President, the important contributions she has made to Yahoo!’s development in a variety of roles over the past 8-1/2 years, and her willingness to work with Carol Bartz to ensure a smooth transition. We respect her decision to move on to other challenges and wish her only the best,” Bostock said in a statement.

2:46 p.m. Stephen Shankland: She says lack of media experience is nonsense. “I didn’t know CAD when I joined Autodesk, I didn’t knew hardware when I joined Sun. I have brain power to understand what it takes.”

2:48 p.m. Stephen Shankland: Mark Mahaney: How long for due diligence, exploring options?

2:40 p.m. Rafe Needleman: Bartz’s first word on press call: “Yahoo.” (no exclamation)

It is, no doubt, a browser for geeks. It is incredibly full-featured. It has native support for RSS feeds, inlcuding podcasts. It saves data–not just passwords–that you enter into forms, so you can get info back if your page closes or crashes before you submit. The browser supports mouse gestures for navigation, and it has more menu access to engine tweaks than any browser I’ve seen. It’s the antithesis of the super-simple Chrome interface, but if you want to do things like quickly extract all the images on a page to a directory on your system, it might be the tool for you.

See also: The IE Tab plug-in for Firefox.

You know what I’m sick of? Running three browsers on my Windows system. Not because I want to, but because I have to. I need Internet Explorer (which uses the Trident engine) for some CNET corporate pages and to run Outlook Web Access. I have to use
Firefox (Gecko engine) for our blog publishing system and to run all the plug-ins I like. When I want to just browse quickly I turn to Chrome (Webkit). This is no way to live.

But a new browser, Lunascape, handles all three of the rendering engines at once. When you open a new tab or click on a link in Lunascape, you can tell the browser which engine you want to use. You can also set up certain sites to open using a particular engine. If you’re trying to figure out which engine is best for a given page (or if you’re a Web developer and need to test your site in the three engines), you can reload any page with another engine.

I wouldn’t recommend Lunascape 5 alpha to anyone in the real world. I’m going to continue to run the three browsers I do instead of moving over to this product. I may change my mind as the product matures, though. Developers and Web geeks might get a kick out of it right now.

Pick your poison.

The developers claim the browser is faster than all others, thanks to its optimized implementation of Gecko. That may be, if you’re running benchmarks, but I found the alpha version of Lunascape 5 (the version coming out today) to be very slow to start up and with some user interface quirks that slowed me down.

It does it all. Some might say it does too much.

Lunascape supports its own plug-ins and themes, as well as the add-ons for IE. It does not, however, support Firefox add-ons, which is a real drag. The browser’s address bar is also bare-bones, lacking the useful intelligence of the Firefox “awesome bar” or Chrome’s even-better psychic search and URL entry field.

Of course, Google Mobile can still be found on the App Store. A Google representative said the company had no immediate comment on the reports, and an Apple representative did not return a call seeking comment.

Two, if you play by the rules of the developer program, your application won’t be able to compete against those created by developers who violate the rules and get away with it because either Apple missed the violation or because they are politically connected industry titans.

One, as we already knew, the App Store approval process doesn’t make sense: applications that don’t violate any public guidelines are rejected for nebulous reasons, while applications that violate the rules sail through.

Apple lets developers create applications that access some parts of the iPhone–such as the accelerometer for spacial controls and GPS for navigation–but it considers other parts of the phone’s technology off-limits to anyone but Apple. Nonetheless, Sadun observes that there are tons of applications within the App Store that do what Google has done with its mobile application: take advantage of technology that is accessible, such as the proximity sensor, but go beyond the basic things you’re allowed to do with that technology by using “unpublished” APIs that exist but are not publicized by Apple.

Google’s application also uses the proximity sensor to detect when the phone approaches your head. That is is kosher under the iPhone application guidelines given to developers, as long as it is used solely for that on-off functionality. But Google uses it to let you search the Web with your voice, just as if you were making a phone call.

It seems that Apple has been rejecting applications that compete with its future plans. Might the company also be extending that courtesy to favored partners?

That’s because Google Mobile is tapping into iPhone technology that is supposed to be off-limits to third-party developers, according to research done by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber and Ars Technica’s Erica Sadun.

When you make a phone call on the iPhone, a proximity sensor detects when the phone is right next to your head, and it turns the screen off to prevent you from inadvertently hanging up the phone with your face.

Google’s application both activates the proximity sensor and delivers an audible prompt to voice your search terms, and the only way it can do this is by using an API that isn’t part of the public list Apple has put together for developers, according to Gruber. Think of an API as helpful code that an operating system shares with an application to make it easier for that application to get things done.

So what can we conclude?

iPhone applications are streaming into Apple; CEO Steve Jobs told financial analysts last month that he’s never seen anything like it in his career. So it’s not hard to believe that Apple is simply overwhelmed and does not have the manpower to comb through each application to make sure that it is toeing the line. However, that was the main selling point for Apple’s strategy to completely control iPhone application distribution; that it would be able to prevent poorly written or insecure applications from poisoning the iPhone by vetting every single application.

(Credit:
Apple (App Store))

Three, since Apple is under no obligation to support applications that make use of unpublished APIs or private frameworks, future firmware updates or operating-system releases could break those applications.

But further research done by Sadun shows that Google is actually going beyond its use of unpublished APIs in the Google Mobile application to call on so-called “private” frameworks that are supposed to be strictly off-limits to anyone but Apple, an offense that can result in banishment from the App Store. A framework is a more general set of building blocks for an application that requires more custom development work than an API.

The latest version of the search giant’s mobile iPhone application has been well received, but it might be impossible to duplicate or improve upon the application, unless developers are willing to break Apple’s rules for iPhone applications.

Based on most accounts, Google Mobile is an excellent iPhone application. But would a similar application created by an average developer have been allowed to make it onto the App Store?

Sadun compares this to jaywalking: Sure, you might get hit by a bus, but you probably won’t, if you’re careful. And the cops aren’t exactly going to launch a three-state manhunt for you, if you make it across the street.

Google, of course, is a little different than your average iPhone developer. CEO Eric Schmidt sits on Apple’s board of directors, and the company has received favorable treatment before from Apple with regards to the iPhone, such as Apple’s decision to grant YouTube and Google Maps prominent placement on the home screen of the iPhone before the device was officially open to third-party developers.

Last week, Apple rejected an update to an application called CastCatcher that had already been approved three times, and then this week, it approved the update without requiring any substantial changes, according to the developer.

“If regular developers are forced to play by the rules, but Google is allowed to use private APIs, just because they’re Google, the system is rigged,” Gruber wrote.

If Google wasn’t Google, there’s a fair chance that its new mobile application for the
iPhone wouldn’t be allowed in the App Store.

Google Mobile lets you search the Web using your voice in a way that is technically off-limits to iPhone developers, according to a report.

Filter company MemPro Ceramics has developed what it calls the NoxFox, a “catalytic filter” designed to neutralize air pollutants from lawn mower engines.

When fully implemented, the rules will annually reduce 600,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 130,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, 5,500 tons of particulate matter, and 1.5 million tons of carbon monoxide, according to the EPA. It will cut gasoline consumption by 190 million gallons each year.

The company has an exclusive license from the University of Akron to commercialize a method for manufacturing fibers made from nanoparticles.

Lawn-care products and boats contribute significantly to air pollution. An hour of operating a lawn mower pollutes as much as 34 hours of driving a
car, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

MemPro Ceramic’s NoxFox device is designed to do exactly what car catalytic converters do: greatly reduce the carbon monoxide and nitric oxide pollutants from gasoline engines. It can also eliminate unburnt fuel in gaseous form.

The company chose to apply the technology to gas-powered small engines because that represents a clear addressable market worth about $140 million, he said.

Catalytic converters aren’t the only way for manufacturers to comply with the EPA ruling. Some companies are developing fuel cells, which emit water vapor, for use on boats and forklifts.

Update on September 12, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. PT: corrected projected market size for lawn mower air filters.

After a number of delays, the Environmental Protection Agency last week passed more stringent regulations to curb smog-causing hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, and other air pollutions.

The company may try to sell the device as an after-market attachment to lawn mowers, rather than fitted on by mower manufacturers, but it’s unclear what the consumer demand for an add-on product is, Finley said.

Sen. Kit Bond, a Republican from Missouri, opposed the regulations, which led to a study as to whether catalytic converters on lawn mowers would create enough heat to start fires, according to an Associated Press article. The EPA concluded there is no safety concern.

The company plans to produce the small devices–sized a few inches by a few inches–next year and is seeking to partner with small engine manufacturers, according to John M. Finley, CEO of MemPro Ceramics.

Cleaning up around the yard–a catalytic converter for gas mowers.

(Credit:
MemPro Ceramics)

If you’ve ever choked on a lung-full of exhaust from a lawn mower or motor boat, you might appreciate this product idea: a catalytic converter for small motors.

Longer term, MemPro Ceramics intends to target coal-fired power plant generators as well as power boats, motor cycles, and agricultural equipment.

“It fits very nicely on the muffler of a lawn mower, leaf blower, or power washer, which are just empty metal cavities,” he said.

“It’s a little like cotton. It’s a fibrous filter that a has a lot of surface area in it, which means it does a good job of exposing the catalyst to the bad gases,” Finley explained.

The rules are set to take effect in 2010 and 2011, depending on the product category, and are expected to lead to the use of catalytic converters in lawn mowers and boats for the first time, according to the EPA.

One product has already come out of the center. The Soldier Flex PDA, developed by Inhand Electronics, was introduced for military testing in 2007. It’s a rugged glass-free PDA containing a screen developed by the Flexible Display Center.

The center even started a Flexible Display Center YouTube channel for showing the public its latest prototypes.

So why is the military so keen on flexible displays?

That commercial value is something the military, ASU, and its partners clearly have in mind.

That doesn’t just make them good for the military; it also makes for cool tech products.

A mock-up of a roll-out electronic map provides just one creative example of how flexible displays might be useful to the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army has committed to renewing its partnership and providing another $50 million to Arizona State University’s flexible-display research facility, the university announced on Thursday.

In addition to the design and development of things like integrated circuits and thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays, the Flexible Display Center has facilities for early-stage prototyping and low-volume production.

(Credit:
Andricka Thomas, RDECOM (Research Development and Engineering Command, U.S. Army) )

(Credit:
U.S. Army)

Those partners include the Center of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Lehigh University, Boeing, E Ink, Hewlett-Packard, LG Display, Raytheon, and Plextronics.

That brings the Army’s total investment since the Flexible Display Center (FDC) started in 2004 to $100 million.

It’s all about information and communications…and possibly profit.

Flexible displays are paper-thin electronic screens that can be bent, mounted onto objects, and sewn into clothing. Soldiers could easily wear them on their sleeves or wrists, and use them to receive critical data in real time in the form of instructions, photos, or maps.

(Credit:
U.S. Army)

The announcement comes in conjunction with a two-day event in Tempe, Ariz., near ASU, in which the U.S. Army and Flexible Display Center plan to showcase their progress to the public.

In addition, flexible displays can be made more durable than regular LCD screens, allowing them to get banged around in combat and still work. They also consume only a fraction of the power of LCDs.

A scientist demonstrates a piece of flexible display made with stainless-steel foil.

The Flexible Display Center’s partnership with ASU and the U.S. Army also extends to the private sector, as well as other universities.

The Soldier Flex PDA, which has an integrated flexible display from the Flexible Display Center, was tested by U.S. Army riflemen in 2007.

The News Corp.-owned social network has been eclipsed by Facebook in worldwide traffic, but relatively recent ComScore statistics have shown that MySpace users stick around for about twice as long on each visit.

MySpace has brought on board some Web-based image-editing tools from FotoFlexer so that members can fool around with the photos they’ve uploaded to the site.

The new image-editing tools on MySpace.

This move makes sense for MySpace. Not only does image editing tie in nicely with its longstanding express-yourself, customize-anything vibe, but it’s also a way to keep users on the MySpace domain.

(Credit:
MySpace)

It’s no Photoshop. But FotoFlexer can perform basic editing tasks (cropping, resizing, flipping, red-eye removal), as well as distortion, color effects, and some decoration and “bling” features (always important).

So far, FotoFlexer on MySpace is available only to U.S. users. The tools will roll out internationally soon, however.