Social Blogging

"It's the national character of Japanese. They want to be passive, rather than create something out of nothing on their own"

Orderly, pornography-free and safe for children, 'meet-me,' an online interactive virtual Tokyo, is Japan's answer to 'Second Life.' Or so its creators hope.

Kunimasa Hamaoka, who oversees 'meet-me' at digital marketing company Transcosmos Inc., is banking on the cultural differences between Japanese and Americans to compete against the world's top virtual community.

Japanese are so well-behaved and conformist, he says, they would prefer a more predictable and secure virtual environment over the free-spirited anything-goes of 'Second Life,' created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. Read more

"The speed with which this storm is developing is forcing us to react as fast as we can"

Hurricane Lorenzo hits Mexican coast Lorenzo made landfall early Friday after strengthening rapidly into a Category 1 hurricane as it bore down on Mexico's Gulf Coast with powerful winds and rain, forcing ... via KansasCity.com

Giving into user demand, the networking site LinkedIn will soon start letting its users post photos with their personal profiles.

LinkedIn Corp. has long resisted photos, seeing itself as a site for professional networking and job-seeking and desiring to set itself apart from social-oriented hangouts like News Corp.'s MySpace and Facebook. In addition, LinkedIn didn't want to open potential employers to discrimination complaints.

But Adam Nash, LinkedIn's senior director of products, said photos remain one of the most requested features, and the site will start allowing them this Friday _ with limits. Read more

I wrote a while back how I thought that Facebook may be painting itself into a corner with respect to a potential exit. On one hand, they're spurning billion dollar acquisition offers, but at the same time, their revenue numbers can't justify a multi-billion dollar public offering - so what to do?

"The response from MySpace users and politicians has been really positive"

MySpace has teamed up with Network Ten to provide a mouthpiece for voters in the lead-up to the federal election. via The West Australian

Submitted by webitpr on Wed, 2007-09-26 17:31. Truphone will today give the first public demonstration of a Voice over Internet Protocol over Wi-Fi phone call on the Apple iPhone. via Huliq.com

"A lot of people really questioned 'Is this going to happen?' This is one of the ways we can make it real."

The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture launched on the Web Wednesday - eight years before the museum's physical doors are scheduled to open. via The San Diego Union-Tribune

"It's therefore my view that Facebook is no more than a step along the way and that there's something further to come. Maybe we need bubble 2.0 to burst before we can get to that - but let's hope not."

The web is awash in rumors that Microsoft or Google might buy into Facebook and that the company's value could be as high as $10 billion. via MarketingShift

Exalead, a global provider of search software for business and the web, has introduced BAAGZ, a service that brings together semantic search and social networking. via EContent

AN investigation has been launched into an apparent internet death threat against the judge presiding over Phil Spector's murder trial, court officials say. via News.com.au

Santa Monica-based Demand Media has raised $100M in a 3rd-round funding with Goldman Sachs stepping in to write a big check. via Alarm

September 25th, 2007 by James in Tech News , Audio/Video Gadgets No longer satisfied with being a mere shareholder, Echostar, the satellite broadcasting service that offers Dish Network, has paid nearly four ... via Coolest Gadgets

"It excludes music you haven't acquired from iTunes, including music you have ripped from your own CD collection. And is not a full look at a person's music collection"

Social networking and music seem to go hand-in-hand, with lots of sites and third-party operations delivering myriad ways for music lovers to connect with one another over their favorite artists. via E-Commerce Times

"Working together drives progress faster than working alone"

Drawing on its history of building online communities, Sun Microsystems today launched OpenEco.org, a new community to help organizations calculate, compare, and reduce green house gas emissions. via Aspstreet.com

"Until now, Friendster.com has only been available in English, yet Friendster is the No. 1 social network in the Asia Pacific region and the 14th largest Web property in the world in terms of traffic"

Friendster, Inc. today announced that Friendster.com is available in Traditional Chinese. via New Straits Times