COLUMN: Facebook – will it still be around in five years?

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Facebook’s now been around for five years, but will it still be around in five years’ time? There’s a long and a short answer to that question. The short answer is yes. A website, operating at www.facebook.com, will still be going in five years. That, assuming the internet survives the next five years, is a given.

But will it still be the cultural force that it is today – 150 million users worldwide, twice the size of its nearest competitor, leading to academic misconduct, arrests, multiple lawsuits, house-trashings and viruses? I suspect the answer might be no. Click over the jump to find out why.

Epson shows off new EB-8 Series desktop projector range

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Epson has decided that it’s time to produce some more “projectors that work well from a table top” and to that end has introduced the EB-8 Series.

Aimed primarily at the educational and business markets, the series offers up to WXGA resolution, a colour light output (Epson’s new measurement system that for the moment makes it impossible to compare this to any other manufacturers’ models) of up to 3,000 lumens from a 200W lamp, white light output (brightness) also up to 3,000 lumens, optional wireless functionality, and the ability to be used with Epson’s new Document Camera (basically enabling you to present things via USB without the need for a computer or laptop)…

Twit4Hire – a company who'll Twitter on your behalf, for cash

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I can understand people not having the time to update a blog. To grow a blog properly it needs time, effort and careful feeding of the community. A Twitter account, on the other hand, requires considerably less effort – 140 characters, perhaps twice a day? Well, if even that’s too much for you or your business, then Twit4Hire is the company for you.

It’s targeting business who want to “get on the Twitter” but haven’t got a clue how to go about it. Or they might have a clue, but can’t spare the resources. Either way, Twit4Hire will sit there and chat to legions of followers about nothing your business on your behalf.

I’m not sure I could recommend employing Twit4Hire. Do it yourself. For top tips on how best to use Twitter for marketing and PR, visit this handy site, instead.

Twit4Hire (via TechRadar)

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Windows 7 gets schizophrenic, multiple personalities emerge

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Oh dear. It’s the move that everyone was hoping Microsoft wasn’t going to make, but it looks like it’s going to make it. Seems that Windows 7 will come in a bunch of versions – much like Vista – titled Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate.

The news surfaced in a screenshot on a Chinese blog depicting Beta build 7025. Most people are running 7000 – which is the version currently (but not for much longer) available to the public.

Microsoft’s forthcoming OS has been getting rave reviews from all corners of the internet – even those traditionally very pro-Apple. I’m a big fan myself – I’ve got it installed on a laptop that struggled with Vista, and it runs like a dream. It remains to be seen exactly how cut-down the ‘Home’ versions will end up being, and if unlike Vista, the Ultimate edition is worth the extra cash.

(via Engadget, image courtesy of regular commenter Leon)

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Helphound.com – local business review site, plus dispute resolution

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I know what you’re thinking, yet another business review site. On the face of it, that’s true – at first glance there’s nothing separating Helphound from Yell, WeLoveLocal or TouchLocal. Look closer, however, and you’ll find plenty to like.

Much like the aforementioned sites, Helphound provides a community centered around reviewing organizations and businesses. Helphound’s differentiating factor, though, is a dispute resolution mechanic, where businesses can dispute a bad review, allowing them to remove it temporarily from the site and try to engage the customer instead. If they fail, the review goes straight back up.

Belkin is 'extremely sorry' for buying good reviews on Amazon

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Belkin’s slapping its own wrists, after The Daily Background caught them offering 65 cents for every good review posted on Amazon.com, and asked participants to “Mark any other negative reviews as not helpful”. Rather shady, no? Well, it turns out that Belkin’s upper management agree, and have issued a full apology.

The upper echelons claim not to have been aware of the tactic, which was instigated by one Michael Bayard, a Business Development Representative at Belkin. All the requests are now down, and any reviews posted have been removed. Still, I suspect Mr Bayard is now either out of a job, or keeping his head way down.

Belkin’s apology (via Geek.com)

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NOISE GATE: 6 Tenets for a New Music Industry – Conclusions

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It’s okay, you can open your eyes again. I’ve reached the end of my Six Tenets series. I hope it’s proved interesting and perhaps even useful. The way people consume music is changing very fast right now, faster than it ever has done before. At the end of it, will there still be the same infrastructure we have now? I highly doubt it. So, in full then, here are my recommendations:

  1. Music must be sharable – word of mouth is more important than ever
  2. Revenue must come from multiple sources – if one bit of the industry becomes obsolete, it shouldn’t sink the whole ship
  3. New technologies are to be welcomed and understood, not feared and litigated against
  4. A&R can be crowdsourced, but remember the long tail
  5. “Added value” is key – give people a reason not to pirate things
  6. Your artists are your most important spokespeople

Acer intros S1200 HD-capable video projector

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Acer may not be the first name you think of when it comes to home cinema, but for a bit of business use and some sneaky Wii gaming, the S1200 could be a decent bit of kit.

This DLP-based projector features Acer’s ColorBoost II technology for enhanced colours and picture quality, and has a brightness of 2,500 ANSI lumens and 2,000:1 contrast ratio. It can also push out up to 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, so it won’t do a terrible job of high definition content…

Google withdraws advertising deal from Yahoo!, Yahoo! pleads with Microsoft to buy it

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Search giant Google has withdrawn its potential advertising deal with Yahoo! due to fears of regulatory denial and the hassle of associated lawsuits. It’s a move that leaves Yahoo! floundering without a clear direction, and has led many bloggers to call for the head of CEO Jerry Yang.

Yahoo! has a lot of good stuff in the pipeline, and it’d be a great shame if it goes under. After rejecting a deal with Microsoft earlier this year, however, they’re now pleading with the software giant to buy them. CEO Yang says: “We’re willing to sell the company.”

It remains to be seen what’ll happen, but one thing’s for sure – there are rocky times ahead for the owner of the most popular portal on the internet.

Yahoo! (via BBC)

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