Many newspapers and other traditional media entities still think of themselves as delivering their content in a specific package, although most are trying hard to build an online readership as well, or experiment with iPad and Facebook apps (not to mention paywalls). But few are thinking about their businesses in radically different ways — as content-generating engines with multiple delivery methods, or as platforms for data, around which other things can be built. USA Today  appears to be moving in this direction, by opening up its data for others to use and even commercialize, following in the footsteps of The Guardian and its ground-breaking “open platform.”

USA Today has had an API (an “application programming interface,” which allows outside developers and services to access its content) for some time now, as many other newspapers such as the New York Times  do. But like most of those other media outlets, the terms of the USA Today content API said it could only be used for personal or non-commercial uses, which meant the range of applications that could make use of the paper’s content was extremely limited. Now, the Nieman Journalism Lab notes that the newspaper has changed the terms of its API, and will allow commercial licensing of its data, with no rate limits or data caps for these “premium” licenses.

Opening up a relationship with outside developers

The paper’s APIs include one for all of its news articles, one for reviews of books, movies and other entertainment, and one for its census data — which is made up of public data, but has been collected by USA Today and made available in a more usable format than the original government version (although most of its APIs require non-commercial use, the New York Times allows commercial use of its government-info API, which is also made up of public data). Stephen Kurtz, VP of digital development at USA Today, told the Nieman Lab that most of the developers interested in using the paper’s APIs for commercial use are “mom-and-pop” shops, or a couple of guys in a garage, mashing up the content they get with other sources — such as combining USA Today movie reviews with data from Netflix. Said Kurtz:

We encourage that, and they give us good feedback of what they’d like to see and how they would like the API to grow. So for us, it’s very symbiotic.

This is a smart way to think of what an open API accomplishes. It’s not so much that it’s going to generate huge sums of money for a newspaper that offers it, but it allows for experimentation outside the traditional confines of the publication itself — and that can generate valuable ideas and feedback. For The Guardian, which launched its “open platform” approach last year, the opening up of its API was very much an extension of editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger’s belief in what he calls a “mutualized newspaper,” one in which readers and those outside the publication help on both the journalistic side and the development side.

Those outside the paper have good ideas too

As Chris Thorpe, then the Guardian‘s developer advocate, described in an interview with me last year when the open platform launched, the paper’s API allows for access on several levels: one is the original free level, which allows anyone to use the data for personal or non-commercial purposes; the second is a commercial license, which allows developers to make use of the API provided they agree to accept advertising within the content; and the third is a “bespoke” arrangement, in which developers can request specific data and work with the paper to build a service or app — and then share in the revenue generated from it.

The British paper has been inviting outside developers to make use of its APIs through a series of “hack days,” and they have come up with some interesting ideas. For example, Thorpe has a prototype of a site he calls the “Later Today” Guardian: the site takes the newslists that the newspaper recently made public, which detail which stories it is working on for a particular day, and then maps them against the stories that the paper actually produces. Not only that, but it also notes which ones are in the process of being updated, so readers with useful information can contact the author via Twitter or email.

It’s great that newspapers like the New York Times have “labs” like Beta620, where their staff can experiment with different formats and services based around their content. But one of the driving forces behind the Guardian open platform was the idea that the paper itself couldn’t possibly think of or develop every interesting or worthwhile project involving its content — so why not “crowdsource” that effort via the API? That’s a worthwhile attitude that more traditional media outlets could benefit from. Embedded below is the video interview I did with Thorpe when the open platform launched.

Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr users Arvind Grover and George Kelly

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It’s gotten its own photo shoot, some cool animation, and the interest of James Cameron — and now Curiosity finally has a destination. NASA’s pluckily-named Mars rover is set to land next to a mountain inside the red planet’s 96-mile-wide Gale Crater. Curiosity is scheduled to touch down in August 2012 in search of life on the fourth rock from the sun. The crater, one of 60 suggested sites, was chosen due to its potential for a safe landing and the possibility of scientific discovery, thanks in part to nearby geographical formations that may have been created by water. Here’s hoping it encounters some serious space oddities when it gets there.

Continue reading Curiosity rover to land in Mars’s Gale Crater to look for life, finally answer Bowie’s nagging questions

Curiosity rover to land in Mars’s Gale Crater to look for life, finally answer Bowie’s nagging questions originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg might be Time’s reigning Person of the Year, but when it comes to influencing the distribution of online news, he’s still no match for Matt Drudge.

Facebook is closing in on 700 million users, but according to a new study by the Pew Research center, the Drudge Report sends more than twice as much traffic to the nation’s top news sites. According to the report:

• Overall, Drudge accounts for 7 percent of all traffic sent to news sites. That’s more than Facebook (3 percent) and Twitter (1 percent) combined.
• “Drudge Report drove more links than Facebook or Twitter on all the sites to which it drove traffic” (emphasis added). In other words, for every single news site Drudge was ranked as a traffic source, it maintained its lead over the social networking sites.
• Drudge drives traffic to sites across the ideological spectrum. Fox News (11 percent), Washington Post (15 percent), ABC News (11 percent), USA Today (8 percent), and Boston Globe (11 percent) all receive significant portions of their traffic from Drudge.
• Only Google tops the Drudge Report as a traffic source.

PBS created an infographic contrasting Drudge with Facebook and Twitter. A caption on the graphic puts it all into perspective: “Five of the top 21 news sites receive more than 10 percent of their audience from the Drudge Report.”

It’s time to give Drudge his due

Forget the wisdom of the crowd. When it comes to online news, Matt Drudge is the one friend that news outlets really need to have.

Given how news outlets have struggled to adapt to the rise of the web, this should make Matt Drudge a hero. He’s sending outrageous amounts of traffic to traditional news outlets, giving them a chance to monetize their professionally generated content. But if you mention Matt Drudge in the tech world, the best you can hope for is a smirk.

Drudge is seldom lauded in Silicon Valley as a web innovator — much less an amazing entrepreneur — which is a shame. Maybe it’s because the design of his website has changed little in 14 years. He’s not on the cusp of the latest web technology to deliver content. Plus, he is politically conservative, which is at odds with the Silicon Valley area’s liberal ethos.

It’s time to give Matt Drudge his due as an Internet pioneer. Before blogging and the rise of the citizen journalist, there was the Drudge Report. In 1998, he was the first to break news linking Bill Clinton to Monica Lewinsky, a scandal that would later lead to impeachment charges being approved in the House of Representatives for only the second time in our republic’s history. That might have been the rocket that took Drudge to the top, but it’s been his own hard work and journalistic instincts that have kept him there for well over a decade.

Drudge’s game-changing design, data-driven approach

Matt Drudge used the web to change the way media works. He showed us that the Walter Cronkites of the news world — curators working at massive conglomerates — shouldn’t have a stranglehold on information. In that sense, he paved the way for subsequent online content entrepreneurs like Arianna Huffington, Mike Arrington, and Om Malik.

He also set a paradigm for web design that still stands to this day. Critics who call his site ugly miss the point. It’s easy to navigate, doesn’t hide important information under sub-sections, and has a minimalist approach to layout. It’s also data-driven. Visit the Drudge Report several times in a day and you’ll see how he tweaks headlines and moves articles around to get the optimal configuration.

Will the Drudge Report’s importance to online news compared to Facebook and other social networks diminish over time? Of course. Social networking is becoming too big a part of our lives to think otherwise. But that’s missing the point. Matt Drudge is an Internet pioneer who’s been at the top of his game since the early days of the web, and he’s disrupted an entire industry in the process.

Eric M. Jackson is the CEO/co-founder of CapLinked, an online platform for private companies, investors, and their advisors to network, manage a capital raise or asset sale, and exchange updates. He previously ran the marketing team at PayPal and is the author of The PayPal Wars.

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OK, here’s the deal. A big corporate PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, tried to entice USA Today to lambaste a Google feature called Social Circle, on privacy grounds. It also encouraged a security blogger to write an op-ed attacking Google on the product. Burson would not say the name of its client. But instead of taking the bait, USA Today did due diligence and consulted experts who said that Social Circle was small potatoes compared to more pressing privacy stories. Instead it published a story about the Burston ’whisper campaign’ against Google on behalf of a secret client. This is a stunning story for a number of reasons.

Wired Top Stories

How many Nintendo 3DS handhelds got sold stateside after Triforce Johnson got one? Enough for Nintendo to boast. “U.S. day-one sales numbers for Nintendo 3DS were the highest of any Nintendo hand-held system in our history,” the company claimed today, adding that the volume of tech support calls it received was also “well below the rate experienced during past hardware launches,” and that there are no widespread issues with the handheld. That may sound a bit premature, considering Nintendo won’t provide actual sales figures until April 14th, but we’re willing to consider the possibility that the Virtual Boy’s legacy is done: perhaps this time, the only major headaches Nintendo’s handheld will create are for the likes of Sony and Microsoft.

Nintendo says 3DS sets day-one handheld sales record, doesn’t quantify it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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convert VOB to MP4

Over the subsequent few years, several businesses are planning begin promoting dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi phones, which is able to could make calls using both a cellular network or a wireless Internet connection.

These telephones are likely to alter the telecommunications business and change the way in which shoppers use telephone service. They may spell the end of standard wired telephone services.

As a lot as 30% of mobile phone calls at the moment are made inside homes. If these calls may very well be made more cheaply by means of the web, wireless companies might unlock capability, and each businesses and customers may save money.

The expertise is still in an experimental stage, however some companies have already begun to offer cell-Fi telephones on a limited basis.

USA Today August 24, 2005

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Dr. Mercola’s Comment:

Earlier this week New Scientist reported that 4G cell phones(not land traces)in Japanusing this technologycould obtain knowledge at one hundred megabits per second on the move and at up toone gigabit per second while stationary. To present you an idea of that bandwidth power, you could possibly take a look at 32 high definition (not regular TV) video streams directly while you have been travelling in your car.

The US is making some restricted progress in 3G cellphone networks.

Verizon has already rolled out its 3G networks in 14 US citiesand you possibly can connect limitless wirelessly to the Internet for $60 a month in these cities. Unfortunately Chicago will not be one of many cities, however within a 12 months they should have a lot of the US covered.

The Dash Nextell mergeris quickly following with their 3G EVDO systems. Nonetheless, it is my belief that you simply and I can’t have to wait ten years for 4G telephones or expensive 3-G wireless as Wi-Max is on the way and can be here in 1-2 years.

Wi-Maxis already being tested in remoate areas of Argentinafor widespread access to the Internet.

WiMax isshort for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Accessandcomes in {two} flavors. The primary, generally known as fixed wi-fi, is similar toWi-Fi, however on a much bigger scale and at faster speeds.

In contrast to Wi-Fi, Wi-Max can transmit as much as 30 miles. Sure, you learn it proper, 30 miles. It doesn’t take many Wi-Max towers to cowl most cities. Most communites will only require a handful of Wi-Fi transmitters to offer protection to their residents.

Thereally thrilling developement though is nomadic Wi-Max whichwould keep WiMax-enabled units (like your “cell” telephone)connected over giant areas. Intel is projecting that they will have this deployed of their notebooks in late 2006 or early 2007.

I have had typical VoIP (voice over web protocol) cellphone service for practically three years and over 2. 5 million Americans have now made an analogous choice. Subsequent year, WiMax will be widespread.

What is the Thrilling News for You?

Within the next few years it’s clear to me thatyou could have the power to connect wirelessly to the Internet nearly all over the place in the country.

If in case you have a VoIP wireless telephone that connects routinely to the Internet you can also make a call on the Internet. Just like current systems like Vonage, there is a fastened month-to-month charge and you may make as many calls as you need for a set amount. This includesmany international locations like Canada and Mexico.

Other plans let you add up to 35 international locations to the list.

The main innovation right here is that you’ll do this wirelessly and never be mounted to the few hundred feet you can walk in your home on your portable phone.

So moderately than use your mobile phone, you’ll hook up with the Web wirelessly and use VoIP as an alternative to your cellphone carrier. These new VoIP wireless phones are essentially alternate options to your cell phone.

Simply as many people dropped their land strains almost everyone might be dropping their mobile phone carriers. The reason? All-time low prices. Not will you pay over $100 a month to your cell phone. You’ll pay $25 on your home AND cell phone for UNLIMITED use. Also keep in mind that you keep away from paying taxes or hidden fees. Just $25 a month.

So you possibly can name anyplace in the United States and Canada for one low monthly fee. If it’s important to name internationally the charges are usually 3 cents a minute. Evaluate that to the almost universal $1 per minute or more for most worldwide cell phone calls.

Very exciting and one of the main fruits of Moore’s Law.

In one month my technical staff is deploying an open supply VoIP system in our office called Asterisk that’s equally amazing. I have to make a one time buy of about $10,000 inhardware and hire a voice T1 line for about $500 a month, however after doing that I will have practically 200 telephone lines that I can have unlimited calls on.

Completely wonderful considering that this is able to costs hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in standard PBX techniques and tens thousands of {dollars} in monthly cellphone fees.

It couldn’t be clearer that the dying bell is tolling for the conventionalAmerican telephone system.

One factor you’ll be able to rely on on this life is change.

Who would have thought thatAT&T would have ever collapsed as in its hey day it was one of many largest and most powerful companies on earth.

Well expertise can do that.

That is why I’m equally satisfied that despite the fact that the top ten drug companies have extra wealth than the rest of the Fortune 500 firms combined, it is clear that they, just like the cellphone corporations, will fall.

You and I’ll catalyze that process. Mark my words. That is taking place as you learn this page.

Related Articles: Low-cost High-Speed Internet Revolution Next YearTelecommunications MeltdownHigh-Velocity Wireless Modems

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