Google vs. Cuil

via Seth Godin

Seth is comparing both search engines, not on a functional or on a “index-size” level, but on an “icon” level.

Interesting, and, in my opinion, true!

Markets love icons. We seek them out. […]

Once there's an icon in place, it's there because it's working. It serves a purpose, it carries useful information and performs a valuable function. There will never (or not for a generation, anyway) be the next Marilyn Monroe because this Marilyn Monroe isn't broken.

Google, of course, is the Marilyn Monroe of search.  […]

The challenge for organizations is this: the easiest projects to start and fund are those that go after existing icons. The search for the "next" is easy to explain and exciting to join because we can visualize the benefits. But success keeps going to people who build new icons, not to those that seek to replace the most successful existing ones.

The current claimed differentiations (privacy, size of index) are perhaps not so evident, so that cuil can win enough market-shares against google.

My Digital Identity certified by MyID.is

Charles Nouÿrit (I have met him at the last leweb3 – cgs dinner last year) kindly asked me to join the private pre-alpha-test of MyID.is.

 

What is MyID.is?

MyID.is trying to answer a simple question, how can we provide our users with a digital ID that have been certified with the same level of trust as if we met in real life with a valid ID delivered by a government administration but without the need to actually meet in real life?

By certifying your ID you’ll be able to certify all of your online presence, such as your blogs, your Facebook, LinkedIn… profiles, your comments,… and any kind of online presence that is part of your Identity 2.0.

After months of developing our solution, we are now ready to open our platform to the public.

Status of my certification and first feedback

 

Since Friday, July 25, I am a certified user and I have a certified Digital Identity :-)

The whole certification costs some EUR and is very simple to follow. So, till now, everything is fine.

Congrats to the MyID team for the preparation work.

I have already started to play around with the badges and I could already certified my blog ;-)

You can follow the project on their blog here and on twitter here.

PS: and yes, MyID is clearly supporting interoperable data portability (dataportability.org)

What Marc Fleury is now doing

via CAOS Theory

Marc Fleury, the founder and former CEO of jBoss, has left RedHat after some months of incorporation. He seems now again to be quite busy with his next project called OpenRemote.

The OpenRemote team also includes the creator of Asterisk Mark Spencer, JBoss veterans Juha Lindfors, Christian Bauer, Java X10 project creator Wade Wassenberg, and Linux Home Automation founder Neil Cherry.

Together they, and others, plan to create a complete open source home automation including the OpenRemote Controller hardware, OpenRemote Console Applications to make use of the iPhone and iTouch as a universal remote (although any device with browser will work), the OpenRemote Manager, and the Beehive Database.

“Figuring out the business model, this is one thing I can help with. But for right now, let’s focus on a community. Without a community, there is no OSS model. The community is what you do with it.”

Exciting idea and project!

Modular Navi System launched under 100 EUR!

Our business colleagues from logix-tt (a Swiss company specialized in tracking & tracing solutions, navigation systems and security techniques) has just launched their new modular Navigation System, which is not only incredibly cheap (99 EUR incl. VAT) but also seems to be very easy to use. On top, the system is very modular and is delivered with its own SDK!

From the press release:

GoTo® is not only unique regarding the price-performance ratio, it is the only navigation system with a complete module concept.

By simply adding modules, the navigation system turns into a TV (DBV-T), an internet terminal (GSM, 3G), a DVD-Player, a hands free mobi le phone and lots more.

The software is modular, too. Based on eCos1, Swiss company logix-tt has created its own operating system lbcs2-that enables you to fit additional software to your GoTo®.

Scripting language Pawn 3 (based on Javascript or C) makes it possible to create your own software to be run on the device. GoTo® uses Enlightenment as user interface, so the device is not only available in many colours - but the user interface will fit perfectly.

More about the product at http://goto.ag.

Seesmic founding and launch

Very interesting insides about how Loic has launched and founded seesmic.

I like very much this way of making business, which has more something to do with trust, with support & help, and with commitment of people concerning a vision.

I understand also Loic who is saying that being in a positive environment - which knows the risks und doesn't underestimate them - is great. I hope that this will be also the case at a time in Europe... It is still more or less a pain to found a new venture here, and mostly because of the negative spirit around new founding and the risks taken...

Thanks Loic for sharing this piece of business and, at the end, much more this piece of your life!

And good luck with seesmic!