Our beloved Twitter now has a chicklet for users to display the number of followers on their blog using TwitterCounter. TwitterCounter displays your stats just like FeedBurner and allows you to see your growth (or loss) over the a period of time.

Plurk

Plurk, the underdog that no one's quite sure about yet, also has a follower counter. However, those who are using Plurk and sport hard earned high karma stats can now wave that work around too with a Plurk karma counter that comes in 3 flavors.

ReadBurner

Google Reader is one of the most popular feed readers out there. One of the best features of Google Reader happens to be the "Shared Items" feature. Sites like ReadBurner and RSSmeme aggregate these shared items and from the looks of these sites, there's a ton of sharing going on. ReadBurner offers chicklets for just about every page on the site. Keep up with the number of items shared for an author, source, or a user. Just head to any of the aforementioned pages and you'll see a chicklet ready for the taking in the top right corner.

Share Your Popularity

There you have it. These are three of the most popular chicklets out next to the FeedBurner chicklet, which we already sport here on ReadWriteWeb. The point of showing them off is not only for narcissistic purposes, but in a way, they can help to make your authority known. You can share your growth with your community and they in turn will be just as happy as you to help your numbers to grow. So we'd like to ask you, what chicklets are you showing off on your blog

Just recently, Business Week ran an update to their 2005 study "Beyond Blogs," saying that today the title should be "Social Media Will Change Your Business." The story highlighted the current trend of workers not just using blogs, but also social networks and other Web 2.0 applications to spread news, connect, create buzz, interact and socialize with others -both for business and for pleasure.

While this lack of control frightens upper management and causes I.T. nightmares in some cases, businesses are already becoming aware of these new trends as the next Generation, Gen Y or the "Millennials," as they are sometimes called, enters the workforce.

Even 60 Minutes recently updated their story about this new generation, 80 million strong, who are rapidly taking over the web...and the world (as we said here). Besides their seemingly alien values - everyone's a winner, me-first, work isn't everything, I'm a commodity I can sell myself to the next business who wants my talents, needing to always know why?, and more, one of the most visible changes is their interaction with technology. Born into a time when computers had always existed, Gen Y embodies the definition of a digital native and they have mastered the tools of social media and use them as easily as we check our email.

Web 2.0 Numbers Reveal The Change Underway

As companies struggle to adapt to this new trend in order to deal with both their employees as well as their customers, the business of social media consulting has gotten a boost as the consultants teach the old school execs how to navigate this brave, new world. A recent book on this Web 2.0 movement dubs the change a "groundswell," and provides tools to these companies who have found themselves needing to adapt but that did not know what to do or how.

And adapt they must because the number of companies who are already integrating Web 2.0 technologies into their businesses processes and I.T. infrastructure is on the rise. A study by Forrester on this topic points to hard numbers that back this up.

In fact, the adoption rate of Web 2.0 technologies by I.T. is actually stronger in enterprises than it is in SMBs, with 42% of enterprise businesses now utilizing Web 2.0 technologies like AJAX, Flash, Flex, etc. to 32% of SMBs. Additionally, there is growth in the areas of Web 2.0 app investing, with a number of companies investing, piloting, or considering investment in Web 2.0 technologies like RSS, podcasting, wikis, and blogs.

Getting Web 2.0 Right

Internally, the trick to getting the right mix of Web 2.0 and other technologies has to do with the speed of change and the amount of risk to the business. Where risk is lot and speed of change high - in areas like web publishing, team management, and help desk technologies, for example - Web 2.0 applications and technologies can help the business become more efficient.

Externally, Web 2.0 technologies are used to take content to the customers. RSS, social networks, web and desktop widgets, blogging, user communities, and more can help a company easily reach customers to communicate a company's message and  increase brand awareness. This topic is discussed in more detail on the Employee Evolution blog in an article titled "Every Company Should Use Social Media," where the techniques for utilizing social media to improve credibility, brand, "coolness," and more are examined.

Ultimately, companies ignoring this shift will only do so their own peril. The numbers don't lie: your customers have adapted and your competition has adapted - turn a blind eye and prepare to lose marketshare. You may even just lose altogether. 

Let us know your feedback / suggestions in the comments - I will continue to add to and tweak this presentation as these Web trends evolve. Alert readers will notice one new slide, page 9 about The Social Networking Arms Race.

Note: click here and then click 'full' (bottom right) to view full screen and enable the links inside the presentation.

OK, Haque didn't actually use the phrase, "full of crap," but he may as well have. On a recent post on his blog at the Harvard Business Publishing web site, he calls out the so-called web revolutionaries of today, referring to them as:

"sheep in wolves' clothing...lost in the economically meaningless, in the utterly trivial, in the strategically banal: mostly, they're cutting deals with one another to...try and sell more ads. That is, when they're not too busy partying."

He continues to say that today's investors and startups are more interested in these deals and making money and not in anything that is so-called world changing. And he's not going to take it anymore.

Haque then issues an open challenge to Silicon Valley: find a problem to fix that will change the world for the better and he will help you do it.

His help will come in the form of free consulting time. Putting his money where his mouth is, Haque promises to take time away from setting up his lab to advise five startups, funds, or companies that he thinks have the most potential.

Perhaps serving as motivation for this idea, if not inspiration, Haque references Tim O'Reilly's speech at the Web 2.0 Expo (which we covered here, liveblogging style). O'Reilly's message was "not to follow the headlines" and the hot consumer apps, but go after "big, hard problems."

Does Web 2.0 Lack Innovation?

Those were harsh words by Haque...but are they accurate? Is Web 2.0 just a little self-obsessed? Are we wasting just a bit too much of our time throwing zombies at each other, watching YouTube videos, and posting ego-boosting tweets to revel in our 140 characters of micro fame to care about any big ideas?

Or is the problem even deeper than that? Jeff Nolan of NewsGator, for one, is concerned that all the money in the Valley is being funneled into businesses that are only offering incremental improvements over their predecessors. Sure, some will make it, he says, but only "a rare few" will find great success.

And while the VCs continue to fund startups in hopes one will be the "next Twitter," the real question remains unanswered. Nolan writes,

"What’s frightening is the inability to answer the basic question “What’s next?” The Valley thrives on “The New New Thing” (possibly one of the most poignantly titled books ever) and with every turn of a generation, there is an awkward moment where we’re just figuring out where we’ve been but have yet to see where we are going… Right now is that moment."

Tom Foremski of ZDNet agrees with Nolan, adding:

"Incremental innovation just won’t cut it...innovation has to be disruptive otherwise it won’t succeed, because there is little incentive to change."

So, will Haque be advising the next new thing, the disruptive technology which actually makes an impact on the world in a way that tweets never will?

We certainly hope so. However, in the meantime, we'll be tuned into Haque's blog, where he promises to post more about how these problems can begin to be solved in the coming days.

And then what happens?

Programs will fail, of course. Since they will see times not as being in 2038 but rather in 1901, erroneous calculations and decisions will occur. (It's true, I checked Wikipedia!)

We've actually seen fallout from the 2038 bug already, back in May of 2006 when the AOLserver web server software crashed. The software was designed so that database requests would "never" time out. Instead of assigning a "0" to the timeout, the software specified a timeout date one billion seconds in the future. One billion seconds (just over 31 years 251 days and 12 hours) after 21:27:28 on 12 May 2006 is beyond the 2038 cutoff date. The system calculated a timeout date that was actually in the past, got confused, and crashed.

The bug even affected the Mars Rover!

Want More Proof?

Check out the archived outputs from test scripts here:

• http://www.lugmen.org.ar/pipermail/lug-list/2005-May/035318.html
• http://www.sec.org.il/coverages.php?c=53
• http://unix.derkeiler.com/Mailing-Lists/AIX-L/2004-01/0011.html

What's Affected?

By 2038, it's likely that many of the susceptible machines will have been decommissioned before the critical date occurs. However, legacy systems and embedded systems could still be affected. These may include process control computers, space probe computers, embedded systems in traffic light controllers, navigation systems, routers, gas pumps, etc. It may not be possible to upgrade many of these systems, so they will need to be replaced.

I'm a Programmer - What Can I Do?

• Test your code or use utilities such as the FakeTime Preload Library.
• See the programming recommendations from The Open Group (formerly X/Open), which maintains the Unix specification and trademark.
• If you're working with Open Source code, this free library may be a useful reference for patching existing code for high-accuracy longterm time calculation.
• Read the Solutions to the Year 2000 Problem by Steve Manley. Many of his suggestions can be applied to the 2038 problem, too.
• Keep tabs on any recent updates on the 2038 Bug web site

(Source: the 2038 FAQ)

The End?

Before mass hysteria sets in, let's all remember that we have years, decades even, to deal with this latest programming glitch.

Well, I'm pretty sure that self-improving Artificial Intelligences will be running the world by then, so we probably don't need to worry too much about this.

(via guardian.co.uk)

]]>Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_internet_will_end_in_30_years.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_internet_will_end_in_30_years.php Trends Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:00:00 -0800 Sarah Perez Today I gave a presentation at the Media08 event in Sydney, entitled: What's Next on the Web? Web Technology Trends for 2008 and Beyond. It's an overview of some of the top trends we cover on ReadWriteWeb; such as Websites becoming web services, Semantic Apps, Open Data, Mobile Web, Recommendation Engines. The presentation is available as a slideshow (embedded below). Each slide has links to ReadWriteWeb content, should you wish to drill down on a topic more.

Note: click here and then click 'full' (bottom right) to view full screen and enable the links inside the presentation.

UPDATE: There is an newer version of this presentation here.

Trackur

To begin with, we'll look at Trackur. This new tool scours blogs, news sites, images, and videos for you to track your name, company brands, industry trends, or even news about your competitor. The tool allows you to search for a keyword or keywords, but also allows you to filter that search to include only instances where that keyword is coupled with other words and/or filter out instances where certain other keywords are present. Once the search has been customized, it can be saved and then subscribed to via an RSS feed or email. The items Trackur finds can also be bookmarked or emailed.

Google Alerts

One of the simplest and easiest ways to track something on the way, your reputation or otherwise, is to use Google Alerts. With this free service, you can search either all of Google's properties, or you can specify that only News, Blogs, Web, Video, or Groups is searched. You can then configure the Alerts results to be emailed to you either as it happens, once a day, or once a week. There is also a page where you can edit the alerts once they are created or delete them when they are no longer in use.

Technorati

The blog search engine Technorati is also a good free resource for tracking what's being said in the blogosphere. The service indexes posts as they are published and with any search you do on the site, there is an RSS button that you can use to subscribe to the search. When viewing the results on the web site, you can click between tabs to see just the Posts, Blogs, Photos, or Videos containing your search terms.

MonitorThis

A simple online tool called MonitorThis lets you subscribe to results of a search from 22 different search engine feeds at the same time. The engines searched include the main search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo, as well as smaller engines like Plazoo, Blogmarks, and Topix. The results are provided in OPML format. Although you have to copy and paste the code into a file you create on your computer in order to subscribe, it's still worth checking out as the list of engines searched makes this a good resource.

Naymz

Naymz is a web profile aggregator and reputation metrics service. Naymz's primary goal is to make sure you are in control of your name on the internet. To do this, it allows you to configure your profile with links to your other online profiles, contact info, endorsements, recent web activity, tags, and more. The service also buys your name as a keyword on Google to make sure people can find you. Naymz is free, but premium features are available for $9.95/month offering things like comprehensive search engine promotion and custom domains. However, even members using the free service have access to the Reputation Monitor section. This section searches for recent references to your name on the web and allows you to subscribe to an RSS feed of this information. If you find your reputation is not so good, you can subscribe to the Online Reputation Repair service, one of the premium offerings, to get it cleaned up. Naymz is a great alternative to the new Trackur service and much more affordable as even its premium features are a fraction of Trackur's price.

Rapleaf

Rapleaf is an online reputation lookup service that lets you look up someone by their email in order to view their reputation info on social networks, as well as profile stats and related info. The service returns a score and allows others to rate you as either positive, negative or neutral. By creating an account and claiming your Rapleaf profile page, you can take control of your information to build your reputation and manage your privacy.

Software

Although it seems counterintuitive to purchase and install software to monitor conversations on the web, at $49.95, the copernic tracker program is still much more affordable than one month of Trakur's service, so it's worth a look. The program looks for new content as often as you like and can provide notification either via email, desktop alert, or mobile alert. Both the tracking and the alerts can be scheduled and different versions of web pages can be saved. The program also offers integration options that allow commands to be integrated into the browser and the OS itself, if desired.

Create Your Own Custom Search

Use either Google's Custom Search or a service like Rollyo to create your own search engine to track not just the web, but specific web sites. This can be useful for companies, too, as something like Rollyo would allow you to you set up a custom search to just search sites where just companies and their behavior are mentioned, like the BBB and Planet Feedback.

Search Tags

A service from Keotag is a great tool for bloggers and those researching a topic in the blogosphere. The site lets you just search for items that are tagged with a particular keyword. To use the service, you enter in your keyword and then select the search engine to use. The engines available are Technorati, Blinklist, Del.icio.us, twitter, Google, Icerocket, BlogDigger, Tailrank, MSN, Bluedot, Newsvine, Blogpulse, Blogdimension, Bloglines, Digg, Reddit, Yahoo, and YouTube. Those results can then be subscribed to as an RSS feed or saved as an OPML file.

Conclusion

That's just a smattering of ways you can use the web and various applications to stay on top of your online reputation or track any keyword of your choosing without having to shell out a large, monthly fee.

However, if you are, in fact, looking for a professional reputation management service, you would do best to shop around before just jumping on board with the latest and greatest offering. Companies like Umbria, Advanced Media Productions, biz360, Visible Technologies, and more can go beyond simple reputation tracking to provide thorough and comprehensive reputation and trends analysis that can bring insight into not only your brand, but your consumers and market intelligence, too.

And for a great introduction on working with feeds for reputation tracking, check out this post from the Viper Chill web site on how to work with various online readers and this post on 5 feeds to get started with.

Below is Trendsspotting's image from our post, which neatly displays our picks:

Note that all the RWW authors contributed to the 10 Future Web Trends post, so they weren't just my ideas.

Trendsspotting came up with a tag cloud that combines the keywords from all of the 10 influencers:

It's very high level, but you can see that mobile, open, video, green, social, and networks are among the most popular tags.

Here is the full report, well worth a browse: