Won’t be Binging anytime soon.

I just read the brief but interesting Mashable article on “Microsoft’s Plan to Win the Search War“.

Made me think about how there’s a a general sense of geeks setting the new trends, but at the same time there’s a generalization of geeks. At least in the circles I run with the separation is not as clear, and it does make a hell lot of difference, especially for brands.  Won’t be addressing anything directly from the points given in the post, will however reflect on a few things that the post made m,e think about.

What lead me to this? The article made me think about how likely I’d be switching to Bing as my default search engine, and that’s very unlikely. (Hey, Microsoft, at least you made me talk about it, that must be for something, right?)

I think there are at least two very major types of geeks that must be considered, especially for brands. As usual the classifications below will go into some stereotypical simplification, but try to get the essense of what I’m pointing at.

– There is the Pioneer, this is the person who always on the edge of things. These are the people, that before Ashton Kutcher and Oprah made Twitter the new cool thing, even before it was widespread among their peers were already using it back in 2006. For them it is already old news, such old news, that they might already have given up on it, and are testing or trying out something else. Generally when something becomes cool for the general public, it’s already uncool among them like 10 minutes ago. They are the main characters in the eternal struggle of the “Early Adopters Vs. the New Users”. What this means for brands? Forget brand loyalty, they’re the ones who ‘ll move on for the next best thing without hesitation, and they won’t stick with the “new thing” because it’s the newest thing, but it has to be a good new thing. Does this help Bing? I don’t know, but microsoft move of making it friendly for third party apps, will definitely help.

– Then there is the Fan, this is the person who already has the latest Iphone, but you’ll probably see him/she in line when Apple releases the next iteration. Yes, as a fan you might also find this person in fan gatherings, such as Harry Potter fans, Lost fans, or in my case Joss Whedon fans. Those fans can be overlapping or have no relation at all. They’re not necessaily the people on the edge of things like the Pioneers, but they’re always ready to get into the newest creation from their favorite series or creator. They’ll fight for the things they’re fan of: you know the eternal struggle between Star Wars and Star Trek fans, and there are people who are fan of boths. What this means for brands? Brand loyalty all the way. You’ll have a really hard time to convince this geek to change, if it means a big change to another brand. Unless their favorite brand screw ups really big, you won’t seem this person changing. This person might even try out the new stuff from another brand, but if it’s mostly the same as the one they can get from their favorite brand, they’ll just shift back without any regrets.

What type I am? I’m a fan. Not just because I might be the first line of defense for anything Joss Whedon, for that we can discuss it in the Whedonesque threads.

As I reflected on other things that I use or have or consume,  I can easily conclude that I am a very brand loyal person. Brands matter to me. A google brand with a new product does reflect as endorsement in my opinion. I’ve only been wearing Timberland boots for over ten years, and plan to buy another one in a few months time. Been using the same brands of toothpaste for years. Bought Listerine’s PocketMist for the first time in 2007, because that brand means something for me. Not that I won’t try anything new, but while choosing similar things, I tend to side with the one I trust the most.

At the same time that I still consider Guaraná Antartica the bestof it’s kind in the market and will not order any other brand unless it’s unavailable, but currently I’m really digging Kuat Eko, which is a spin off from Coca Cola Guaraná drinks, which combines guaraná extract with green tea. I will drink Kuat Eko whenever I can, but for the normal type of guarana soft drink, I will still go for Guaraná Anatartica.

Note for the reader: Guaraná- Brazilian soft drink produced from the extract of the namesake fruit. Sales are close or even surpasses of the Cola softdrinks. Wikipedia entry can be found here.

As Ben puts it well in his analysis, Microsoft has a long road ahead. I know the final goal is to claim who is the leader in the field, but just like my thoughts onto the Twitter Vs. Facebook subject, I hope they can co-exist, as they find a proper role for each. I still prefer Twitter over Facebook, but that just reflects on how I use and explore the tools, not in the sense of which one is better. Maybe that could be a solution fo Bing, make it different from Google, not just another search engine, but something that can do some of the same things, but at the same time is somewhat different. Maybe then, I’ll try Binging something.

BBC’s Digital Planet Radio Programme in Brazil.

A couple weeks ago BBC’s Gareth Mitchell and Michelle Martin were in Brazil where they produced content for their Radio programme “Digital Planet”, the first show of the series was already on the air / on the web, when they were still here.

Jorge Franco (school teacher), student, Gareth Mitchell, Michelle Martin, Roseli Lopes and Johny Ho.

You can check out this week’s show, which it’s the second part of the Brazil Coverage in the link below, in which I make a special appearance, sounding as weird as possible (please remind me to breathe before speaking – now I’m worried if our Tales from the Verse story readers understand the Translation Tips I sent in to help them).

Digital Planet in Brazil Part 2

Here’s a backstage video.

G1, the Google’s phone powered by Android.

For some weird reason, I’m incredibly excited for the G1 (aka. Gphone), not so much about how the device can be compared to Apple’s Iphone, but mostly for the things that the Android software will be able to provide.

And I wonder, if this one is called G1, will the following generations or upgrades, be called G2, G3? (For some reason I sense Toei writers smirking a lot for the amount of gadgets with G prefix in their current Super Sentai show, Go-onger. Must be good for merchandise sales).

The Android Software

T-Mobile and Google Unveil the G1, the First Phone with Android

The Android platform will offer Google applications such as Google Maps with street view, push Gmail, and YouTube that’s integrated into the device. There’s also one-touch access to the Amazon MP3 store, allowing you to download music directly to the phone. We’ll have a hands-on with it later today, but you’ll be able to pick one of these bad boys up starting on October 22 for $179.

Google Introduces an iPhone Rival Open to Whims

Analysts said that the G1 did not represent the kind of revolutionary change in design and function that Apple introduced last year with the iPhone. But the G1 is likely to further accelerate two trends that will have a lasting impact on the wireless industry: the growing use of the Internet on the go, and the ability of consumers to customize their phones with their favorite functions.

Wonder when will it finally be available overseas. The Iphones for instance are only officially porting here in Brazil next month today, the two companies which will be providing official service and retail of the devices, have just announced the different service packs you can acquire. The competition is getting so fierce, that the scheduled simultaneous release events for today.

The G1, which is made by the Taiwanese electronics maker HTC, has a large color touch screen that slides out to expose a full keyboard. It also has a 3-megapixel camera, G.P.S. navigation, Wi-Fi access and an Internet browser. It will sell for $179, or $20 less than the iPhone, with a two-year voice and data plan.

I remember seeing some phone from HTC back in November last year, when I was back in Taiwan, that already started the work to compete with Apple, so the real differentiating point from G1, is really the Android software.

While the G1 is expected to compete with high-end smartphones like the iPhone and the BlackBerry line of devices made by Research in Motion, Google’s aims are far different from those of its rivals.

Google makes the Android software available for free to carriers and handset makers who want to use it to power their own devices. Google hopes that many will choose to do so, populating the market with mobile phones that have easy access to Google’s services. Just as it does on the PC-based Internet, Google hopes to earn money from advertising.

“For Google, Android is a cash drain,” said James Faucette, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. “They are going to lose money on Android as an operating system. They hope to make it up from the services that they are delivering through their infrastructure and servers.”

While Google is betting on the success of Android, it also stands to benefit from the success of other smartphones, as their owners tend to surf and search the Internet much more actively than users of less advanced phones. Indeed, Google said earlier this year that its mobile service received a disproportionate amount of traffic from iPhone users.

“We want people out there to use the Internet on their phones a lot,” Mr. Brin said in an interview. “It actually doesn’t matter if it is Android, the iPhone or something else.”

Twitter, MSN and other resources are blocked in public schools in São Paulo.

Twitter, MSN and other resources are blocked in public schools in São Paulo.

Remember the Internet Freedom Law, I mentioned back in July, which was approved by the Brazilian Senate. If the limitations it created weren’t enough, the backlash has even worse, and will stop students to access some really useful resources for digital literacy.

Prof. Sérgio Amadeu is one of the professors at Casper Líbero, and actually my sister one his student for a few of his classes there, he maintains a great blog about digital literacy, social media, open source softwares and new technology. He got an email from a public school teacher pointing to what happening in schools in São Paulo, and further the post pointing to the articles from the new law that actually allow these kind of things to happen.

One thing is just to blankly blame these resources as source of danger, other is actually use them as educational tools, teaching students not only how to use them, but how to deal with the darker side of it.

A World Without Google – 10 Years of Google

A World Without Google. – The 10 years of Google.

Don’t have much to talk about it, jsut thought this was a great piece reflectin about this subjects, just like how mp3 changed the way people enjoy music, Google is part of something of the change from recent years. And day after day, is hard not to take as joke, remarks of Google being God, or if you’re not in Google you don’t exist.

As change seems to occur faster than fashion sense from teenagers, it’s good to take this marks to reflect on the past.

Here’s another piece about the changes or almost lack of changes from the Google’s early days, to current one.

YouTube – Bill Gates & Jerry Seinfeld – Shoe Circus Commercial

This must ‘ve been the most talked commercial last week (as always I’m late into the game).

Definitely a curious move. It doens’t make me any friendlier towards Windows Vista, or the fact that I’d rather I was even more tech savy, and be able to really use open source based systems.

But hey, buzz, a lot of BUZZ. It must be what PT Barnum said about news.

Amazon deal with OLPC confirmed, excluding Windows XP.

Amazon deal with OLPC confirmed, excluding Windows XP.

Just like my boss, Prof. Roseli de Deus Lopes tell to the press everytime she’s asked about it, when Negroponte announced that he would be working for the production of US$100 laptops, he’d be creating a new niche market, that most companies were yet aware of.

Back in November 2007, it was just around the time ASUS released the first few models of their EEE Pc. I was just back in Taiwan, and decided to check it out, they were definitely visually friendly.

But I had several issues with it.

– The Linux based operation system, suffered from the same issues from the first linux based Intel Classmates. Bulky and linear, and attempts to recreate traditional educational models inside these lowcost laptops.

– The design. It’s friendly depending to the target public, it definetely does not consider the strain for heavy use from smaller kids.

Despite all the criticisms towards the XOs, especially for the fact it does look like a toy, they considered a lot things to solve these issues.

I’m definitely not a business men, and that was the approach I had to take everytime people mocked the XOs, for the somewhat more powerful Classmates, and later on the EEE PCs. From the first moment on, people were mistakenly considering these new devices as potentially susbtitutes for traditional laptops, instead of a new niche by their own.

But just like most of the software design, the other devices were created with too much adult thinking in mind, instead of thinking about how small children would use them, as digital inclusion tools. XOs being from the OLPC – One Laptopn Per Children, takes the children part with more importance, and was not designed to substitute more powerful devices.

Another thing that is also stated to the press, is how this is not a replacement, that it is an intro tool, if you need to acomplish more complex taks, you look for more powerful computer, but you won’t try to accomplish those complex tasks while just begining to learn how to use a computer, or just trying to get digitally savy.

The result from this deal with Amazon, is definitely something interesting to watch.

Brazilian Senate Approves anti freedom law for Internet

I’d like to share the the following Press Release from the Brazilian Senate, it concerns some issues I’ve discussed last week. The Release was found through estadao.com.

The means are definitely justifiable, but the way is too limited. As I said before, people have to realize that there’s a need for new solution.

Won’t have time for any additional posts this weeks, but will be back earlier next week, for the first official installment of my recurring column, Culture Conundrum.

Senate approves proposal that typifies crimes on the Internet

Piracy, paedophilia and unauthorized transfer of data are included; providers will have new rules Piracy, paedophilia and unauthorized transfer of data are included; providers will have new rules

Vallone Giuliana, Giuliana estadao.com.br Vallone, the estadao.com.br

SAO PAULO – The Senate approved the night of Wednesday, 9, a draft law that has the objective to adjust the laws of the country to crimes committed on the Internet and thus more rigid way of punishing these irregularities. The project typifies the crimes on the Internet, helping to Justice to try them, extends the penalties for violators and requires providers to store the data of connecting its users for up to three years. The project typifies the crimes on the Internet, helping to Justice to try them, extends the penalties for violators and requires providers to store the data of connecting its users for up to three years.

Such information can be accessed by police if necessary, through a requisition order. Such information can be accessed by police if necessary, through a requisition order. Moreover, the text puts responsibility as the provider inform the authorities about any evidence of crime on the network. Moreover, the text puts responsibility as the provider inform the authorities about any evidence of crime on the network. Those who do not comply with the determinations are subject to fines, which can vary between RS 2 thousand and $ 100 thousand. Those who do not comply with the determinations are subject to fines, which can vary between RS 2 thousand and $ 100 thousand.

The amendments adopted in plenary address also the more controversial issues such as piracy and activity of paedophiles. The amendments adopted in plenary also address the more controversial issues such as piracy and activity of paedophiles. The new text typifies the crime of access to facilities or networks with the breach of security in environments that have “expressed protection.” The new text typifies the crime of access to facilities or networks with the breach of security in environments that have “expressed protection.” Similarly, the criminal will be considered unauthorized transfer of data and information on units or systems which access is restricted and expressly protected. Similarly, the criminal will be considered unauthorized transfer of data and information on units or systems which access is restricted and expressly protected.

The project also considers crime falsifying public documents or electronic data and real; falsify data or private documents and true; create, distribute or maintain files with pornographic material containing images and other information involving children and adolescents; does estelionato; capture passwords from users ecommerce and disseminate images of private character. The project also considers crime falsifying public documents or electronic data and real; falsify data or private documents and true; create, distribute or maintain files with pornographic material containing images and other information involving children and adolescents; does estelionato; capture passwords from users and ecommerce disseminate images of private character.

Services of public use

Among other crimes provided by the substitute is also of undermining the safety or operation of the department of water, light, power, heat, information, telecommunications or any other public utility. Among other crimes provided by the substitute is also of undermining the safety or operation of the department of water, light, power, heat, information, telecommunications or any other public utility. It also will be punished crimes involving the interruption, disruption of telephone service, telephone, electronic, computer and other telecommunications devices. It also will be punished crimes involving the interruption, disruption of telephone service, telephone, electronic, computer and other telecommunications devices.

International treaties international treaties

Changes in legislation will allow the United States participate in international agreements and treaties on the subject, making the global fight against crimes on the Internet in Brazil Changes in legislation will allow the United States participate in international agreements and treaties on the subject, making the global fight against crimes on the Internet in Brazil One of these treaties, the Convention of Budapest, was ratified by all European countries in the Hungarian city, November 2001. One of these treaties, the Convention of Budapest, was ratified by all European countries in the Hungarian city in November 2001. This is a document of Public International Law and that, despite its European origin, has become universal with the accession of countries from outside the European Union, such as the United States. This is a document of Public International Law and that, despite its European origin, has become universal with the accession of countries from outside the European Union, such as the United States.

One of his goals is to promote the equalization of criminal laws that address the topic in the countries in view that this is essential to have efficient means of combating such crime. One of his goals is to promote the equalization of criminal laws that address the topic in the countries in view that this is essential to have effective means to combat this type of offence. Moreover, the agreement specifies specific mechanisms of international cooperation in the area of cyber crime. Moreover, the agreement specifies specific mechanisms of international cooperation in the area of cyber crime. Countries that join the Convention become part of an international network of cooperation in the fight against crimes committed via the Internet. Countries that join the Convention become part of an international network of cooperation in the fight against crimes committed via the Internet.

The country’s accession to the Convention of Budapest would allow international cooperation in combating crimes on the Internet, such as paedophilia and racism and even financial scams. The country’s accession to the Convention of Budapest would allow international cooperation in combating crimes on the Internet, such as paedophilia and racism and even financial scams.

The matter is now for the Chamber of Deputies. The matter is now for the Chamber of Deputies. Below the main points of the project approved on Wednesday: Below the main points of the project approved on Wednesday:

The three goals of the draft law: The three goals of the draft law:

Tipificar link the crimes on the Internet (which are classified and what they mean) Tipificar the crimes on the Internet (which are classified and what they mean)

Larger link the penalties for violators Increase the penalties for violators

Fighting link in a wider network in the crimes Fighting in a wider network in the crimes

Crimes:
Unauthorized access to the network of computers – imprisonment of 1 to 3 years
Get, carry or maintain data without authorization – imprisonment of 1 to 3 years and fine
Dissemination of information or misuse of the database – detention of 1 to 2 years and fine
Insert or send malicious code – imprisonment of 1 to 3 years and fine
If the crime results in destruction or damage of the network – imprisonment of 3 to 5 years and fine
Copy or falsify instrument which allows access to the network – imprisonment of 1 to five years and fine
Be offensive to the security service of utilities (water, light, etc.) – imprisonment of 1 to 5 years
To publish, sell or provide personal information improperly – 1 to 2 years and fine

The responsibilities of providers:
Maintain data connection of users for up to three years
Information will be provided only through judicial requests
linkInformar no evidence of crime on the Internet

Subject to a fine of $ 2 thousand to $ 100 thousand more claims for damages.

(from Agência Senado)