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Skype co-founders invest in Asian 3D social networking company

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frenzoo.jpgAmbient Sound Investments (ASI), established by the four co-founding engineers of internet telephony software company Skype, will acquire a stake as part of a Series A funding round in 3D social networking company Frenzoo, to bring to market an exciting new online experience across the region.

Frenzoo enables teenagers and young adults to connect with their friends and become budding fashionistas. Frenzoo users can express themselves by personalizing their own virtual 3D characters, and play mix-and-match with a variety of branded clothes, footwear, accessories, furniture and lifestyle items.

“We are attracted to Frenzoo’s unique technology and business model” said Toivo Annus, Managing Partner at ASI. “Integrating 3D and social networking opens up a world of opportunities for both users and advertisers. Asia is a dynamic and growing market, and we look forward to helping Frenzoo bring this service to life.”

The Frenzoo experience utilizes the company’s RealFashion 3D Engine that simulates users’ character, clothing and living environments in true 3D, leveraging recent advances in graphics hardware.

Originally posted on May 29, 2007 @ 7:31 am

Apple retail stores ban MySpace

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applestore.jpgApple confirmed that it has blocked access to MySpace in its retail stores. Their reasoning is straight and simple: “Nearly 2 million people visit Apple stores every week. We want to provide everyone a chance to test-drive a Mac, so we are no longer offering access to MySpace in our stores,” a statement from Apple said.

An Apple store employee told CNET that “MySpace is a big issue for the Apple stores because people come in, Photobooth themselves (using Macs’ built-in webcams), then stick their picture up on their MySpace account and loiter at machines for hours.”

Originally posted on May 26, 2007 @ 9:15 am

EU Grills Google Data Retention Policies

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eu.jpg The European Commission’s Freedom, Security, and Justice Division has requested Google to provide additional information about its data-retention policies.

Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, a group of data protection officials coming from 27 countries, is helping the Commission to validate if there is any violation of EU privacy laws.

Earlier, the Article 29 Working Party the Chair Peter Schaar informed the Mountain View-based search engine that it failed to meet the EU data-retention policies despite making some major readjustments.

Google has not responded to the letter but its Global Privacy counsel Peter Fleischer is quick to defend this new feature.

“Google recently announced a new policy to anonymize our server logs after 18-24 months. We’re the only leading search company to have taken this step publicly. We believe it’s an important part of our commitment to respect user privacy while balancing a number of important factors, such as maintaining security and preventing fraud and abuse,” said Fleischer.

The company expresses its willingness to meet with different privacy stakeholders to improve the system and protect privacy of Internet users.

Originally posted on May 29, 2007 @ 5:04 am

Wis.dm officially launches

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wisdm.jpgAfter raising $5 million in venture capital last year, Wis.dm has finally launched. The Cambridge, Mass. company is an online community where you ask questions to the wis.dm crowd and get back useful answers. It is for people who are looking for something more meaningful than they get from “popularity” based social networks. It’s a place to engage around asking, sharing, growing and learning. It’s where you get to question everything.

Okay, let me ask this question to the wis.dm crowd… why only now?

Originally posted on May 28, 2007 @ 10:20 am

Digg now banning users for blindly Digging

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SEOpedia is reporting that Digg is now banning users who Digg stories too many stories too quickly without actually viewing or reading the content. This is something that has long been advocated for by the community, particularly when the community sees spam reach the Digg homepage, before they can bury it.

Myself and others have noted that they are several legitimate reasons to not click a link and read or view the content of a Digg submission. However, the explanation given for this banning by Digg makes it appear as though the user was regularly digging stories at a volume and rate at which they were clearly either too lazy to read beyond the title and description, or that they were simply gaming the system and inappropriately inflating digg counts. The latter wouldn’t be very surprising given that I have witnessed my fair share of SEO circle jerk gaming on Digg, especially considering the banned user was part of this SEO’s discussion group.

Your account was banned for the rate of Digging activity you’ve engaged in. We’ve determined that the time in which your Diggs happen, it isn’t possible to actually read the stories. Please read each and every story before you Digg or bury a story. Once you agree that you will Digg/bury more responsibly and read the stories, we will unban your account.

Digg founder Kevin Rose took the opportunity to answer questions the community had after this news hit Digg.

This is extremely rare. We have automated systems that flag abnormal digging behavior (eg. hundreds of diggs in an hour). If the user is banned due to an alarm being set off – in all cases, they are given an opportunity to be re-instated. We strive to keep digg as bot free as possible.

When asked how to get an account reinstated, Kevin replied, “Just email us.”

This automated system appears to be intended catch bots that are used to game the system, but can likewise be used to catch diggers who do the same thing manually. Digg will continue to develop algorithms to detect and prevent diggers from misusing or abusing the system, as they become a greater target crossing the chasm into mainstream culture.

Originally posted on May 25, 2007 @ 2:18 pm