Showing posts with label Quora. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quora. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Beaming Satellite Internet Into China


For China To Achieve Double Digit Growths Again
Sergey Brin's Is The Right Stand

I have been curious. And Quora has the answer. As suspected, the technology is there, it is the law that seems to be the problem. My definition of free speech in the 21st century is unfettered internet access.

The US bombarded Libya. Beaming satellite internet into undemocratic countries fits my definition of nonviolence beautifully. And I am guessing it is way cheaper than warfare.

Another would be the ring of fire concept. You would beam satellite internet along the border of a country and, oops, sorry some of it spilled over into your country.

Why hasn't anyone beamed satellite-based internet service to China to undermine the Chinese firewall?
There is satellite Internet service available in China - however it's generally subject to the same restrictions, and costs significantly more. In order to get a license to broadcast the signal over the country, the satellite ISP's usually need to either route the traffic through that country (which is transparent to you - i.e.: doesn't show up on a trace route), or support lawful/legal intercept/wiretapping by the country in question. See news last month RIM and India - even though it wasn't satellite, the Indian government wasn't satisfied until RIM put servers in country to allow the government to do lawful/legal intercept.

Due to international rules + regulations, you can't just 'Beam Satellite signals' into a country without their permission.
Satellite Internet access
Internet in China
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Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Snapchat, Poke And Facebook

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase
You end up feeling like you have seen this movie before. Facebook tried to do in FourSquare. FourSquare's popularity skyrocketed after Facebook's try.

Pokey
Snapchat, the trendy smartphone app that lets you send photos and videos that self-destruct after a few seconds ....... Facebook constantly “roams the tech universe in search of interesting technology, then mercilessly assimilates all the best stuff into its ever-larger catalog of features.” Over the last couple years it has copied the defining ideas behind Foursquare, Twitter, Google+, Groupon, GroupMe, Instagram, Quora — and now Snapchat. .... The only reason that the app could acquire millions of users in a few months’ time is because Snapchat spread through each of its users’ Facebook friends. Instagram and Pinterest, the two other recent social-networking successes, also benefited tremendously from their users’ Facebook’s connections. .... Every photo that people were sharing through Instagram was a dagger at the heart of Facebook, the world’s largest photo site. That’s why Facebook attempted to copy Instagram—see its Camera app—and then had to buy it. Similarly, every message that you send to your Facebook friends through Snapchat is a lost opportunity for Facebook. That’s why Facebook had to squash it. ... But Poke is already losing to Snapchat in the app standings. Like Facebook’s failed imitations of Instagram and Quora, Poke’s quick decline shows that if Facebook wants to stay on the vanguard of online communication, it needs to act even before it sees an opportunity—by the time somebody else has had success with something, Facebook’s version isn’t going to catch on.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Vimeo, Circa, Instapaper All Look Good

Image representing Yahoo! as depicted in Crunc...
Image via CrunchBase
But she does not have the money for Pinterest. She gave it away.

I am not that sure about Quora. It might be too expensive.

Vimeo would be a must in my book, and Circa would be a great foray into mobile.

I don't think Path is for sale.

Flipboard and Circa are both interesting. News is a major consumption item on mobile, just like on the web.
"Search is a core daily habit for all of us and a fundamental user behavior, the top priority for Yahoo," she said. "We'll focus on reshaping Search, driving smart distribution deals and making organic investments to grow our market share. There's a clear upside potential here, and it's time now to execute against it...... Mayer will likely be courting search start-ups that can beef up Yahoo's algorithmic chops in the ad-tech space."
When Mayer takes on Page on search, sparks will fly.

She has a better chance of competing with Google in the ad space than search. A number two position in search is pretty good too.

I am not familiar with Criteo, but if it is like Google AdWords, that would be swell.

A Roadmap of Yahoo's (Potential) Acquisition Targets

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Monday, July 30, 2012

The Commandos Behind Facebook's Growth

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase
If you are like me you though the massive growth happened on its own.

Chasing Facebook's Next Billion Users
The growth team was formed in late 2007, when Zuckerberg decided expansion was so important that it warranted a unit with its own resources. The site was approaching 100 million members, but its growth rate had cooled. ..... the growth team struck a deal with Google to let the search engine show Facebook profiles in its results. They also launched a feature called “People You May Know” ....... a companywide push to create a translation tool that let users in Spain, France, and Germany navigate the site in their native languages. Within two years of its creation, the team had expanded Facebook’s roster of users sevenfold, to 360 million. ..... a key to building more active members is spotting what she calls “magic moments.” That’s when a new user moves from thinking, “‘What the hell is this Facebook thing all about’ to ‘Aha! I understand, this is cool,’” says Gleit. Facebook tries to get users to experience this moment as early as possible by helping them find friends effortlessly. ...... her job entails wrangling with other teams at Facebook to highlight features on the site that improve engagement ..... “The next billions of people, we believe, are going to come through mobile” ...... governmental barriers like in China, and occasionally Vietnam, or competitive barriers like VKontakte in Russia ..... Quora, online storage company Dropbox, and Twitter now have their own growth teams
I was going to say Facebook's next billion will come from China. Zuckerberg's marriage to a Chinese woman, was that strategic?
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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Google Plus' Quora Quality

w2e alumni lunch 2Image by Eva Blue via FlickrOne of the first things I noted about Quora at the beginning of the year was that people I wished blogged but were not blogging were active on Quora. They were speaking. I am feeling the same way about Google Plus.

Look at this Hilary Mason post for example. Hilary is a big tech brain at Bitly, the URL shortening service. I think this woman has data for breakfast while the rest of us are still asleep. And she is a permanent fixture on the speaking circuit of the NY tech ecosystem. You go to some random event and there she is on a panel.

Did I Get An Email From Hilary Mason?

The discussion she has started has generated some intelligent comments. It is a robust discussion. This is not exactly Fred Wilson's comments section, but it is pretty good.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Google Plus Will Get Many People Blogging


2011: Quora's Year?

I noticed this about Quora in January. A lot of tech entrepreneurs who I wished were active bloggers were waxing eloquent on Quora. But they did not have blogs. And Google Plus might facilitate even more than Quora ever did. More people might speak up now.

Google Plus Has Buzz

Google Plus is for real.
Larry Page - CaricatureImage by DonkeyHotey via Flickr
Larry Page At The Helm
Permanent War
I Will Not Miss Eric

Thursday, June 23, 2011

That Would Be Adam D’Angelo In 2010

Why I Quit My CTO Job At Facebook And Started Quora http://t.co/Mw8agUAless than a minute ago via Tweet Button Favorite Retweet Reply


@paramendra Nice. I need to talk with you. check me out on LinkedInless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply


@ilsabartlett That was not me, that was Adam D’Angelo, and that was last year, not recently.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply