Prior to founding Values of n, Rael was Chief Technology Officer at O'Reilly Media and he is very well-known for his pioneering work on RSS as well editing O'Reilly's series of celebrated "Hacks" books.

The announcement also states that Values of n will be shutting down their existing products, though the intend to keep the technology behind the scenes alive and may potentially be integrated as part of Twitter's systems, services, user experience. The announcement also indicated that the technology might also wind up as open source libraries. As if now, the system is still taking sign-up submissions, and there's no indication as to when exactly they will be darkening the service.

What This Might Mean

The announcement creates questions on a number of levels, especially as Twitter grapples with how they intend to put their popular service on a course to generate revenue. When compared to open source micro blogging platforms like Laconi.ca, does Twitter's intend on making their semi-open platform a potential open source player by incorporating DNA like Dornfest's?

Photo Creative Commons by Flickr user ETech.