Always On Top 100 of 2007

If you want to track whats going to be hot over the next 12 months (or know where to invest your startup's energy) then no better place to look than the Always On Top 100 of 2007


Consumer & Media
Associated Content
Azureus
BabelGum
Baynote
Bebo
Booking Angel
Flixster
Gaia Online **OVERALL WINNER**
Genius.com
JaJah
Jaxtr
Kaneva
Loopt
Netvibes
Oodle
Paltalk
Pando
Platial
Stardoll
Tabula Digita
Topix
Trulia
Viagogo
Wikia
Zcubes

Devices & Components
Artimi
Azaire Networks, Inc.
Azul Systems
BroadLogic
Identity Engines
Myvu
RGB Networks

Enablers
Active Network, The
Ad it Last
Aggregate Knowledge
Box.net
Choicestream
Coemergence
Collarity
Critical Mention
Doba
Log Savvy
Metaweb Technologies
NearbyNow
Nextrials
Oversee.net
Payscale
Pluggd
Quigo Technologies
ScanScout
Singlefeed
Think Passenger
Vivox
Vizible
YouSendIt

Enterprise
3VR Security
41st Parameter
Bit9
Codenomicon
Coghead
Coverity
Diaphonics
Group Systems
Mimosa Systems
MuleSource
Ring Cube
SOA Software
SuccessFactors
Untangle
Visible Path

Green
Amyris Biotechnology
Ausra
GridPoint
Hydroxyl Systems
Solaicx
Verdiem

Infrastructure
Arch Rock
Blue Lane Technologies
Carbonite
Etelos
rPath
Scalent
Sea Mobile
SiBEAM
Stoke
Teneros
Wefi

Mobile
4INFO
Admob
Apptera
Digit Wireless
Funambol
Intercasting Corp.
iqzone
Jingle Networks
JumpTap
Mobivox
Mspot
TeleNav
Unwired Buyer

I'm sure you'll find some exciting companies to watch on the list - you might also like to check out the webcasts from the event here .


Cheers,
Dean

Mark Cuban is wrong

Well this time anyway (it's hard to call foul on a guy that in my opinion is a legend and worth $5.7b so was obviously right more than a few times in his life).....but in this case Mark you are just plain wrong.

So go and read this article and come back to read the rest of my post.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6463169.html

So here is where he is wrong

"Developers will figure this out and develop applications to match. If, for instance, a developer wanted to build suites of office applications, he said, the better environment would be servers on local cable systems"

This would be correct if you ran a cable network 'AND' had the worlds best developers on your payroll (apart from the obvious point about you couldn't make a profit with this big a staff) but the value of the internet is that any tom dick or harry working in his mothers basement can create the next Digg or Flickr.

Its the collective brain power of all the people working, creating, dare I say even blogging that creates the massive value or worth that we have today.

Walled Gardens never work, will continue not to work, and consumers are tired of being 'penned' in by them.

He then goes on to say

"so-called clustered collections of cable networks provide an enclosed environment that allows high-bandwidth, complex applications to thrive".

So the issue isn't a requirement for walled content BUT for an internet of higher bandwidths.

By breaking down the barriers between all networks - the network here in my office, the network of servers a Blogger, the network of servers at Flickr for the photo I'll insert into this post we can create interactivity.

We just need higher bandwidths and more exposed API's between these applications (oh and a way to pay developers/web site owners for creating those API's - but thats a story for another post) the last thing we need is a You Tube that only works on Time Warner and a Flickr designed only to be optimal on Cablevision.

Cheers,

Dean

Global Disparity

So some of you may, or may not know, that my dad also works in the IT space as well, though we come from very very different backgrounds in that he is an old school telco guy who for the last 20 years or so has work on some amazing projects all around the world often in third world countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia (though that's hardly 3rd world), but also in some middle eastern countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Lately he's been specialising in implementing GSM networks in greenfield sites and with my involvement in Voip and smart voice applications it's been an interesting dichotomy between our views (not that I have anywhere near his experience).

Currently he is in Sierra Leone as a turnaround CTO of a GSM carrier there.

When talking with him recently he commented that this carrier was still yet to even implement GPRS services and that it wasn't even on the radar.

As I look down at my $500 cingular 8525 - 3g handset with Windows mobile 5 push email, internet explorer browser and 2gb SD card.......you really have to wonder how fair is this?

And what can i do about it?

....or even a deeper question - Should (even if I could) do something about it or is this the way it is and always meant to be?

Any thoughts?


Cheers,
Dean

What are you doing that's so different with your life?

If offered a one way mission into outer space leaving our solar system and for the next few hundred years/next few generations are just going to be flying to 'get' there...
Would you take it?
Would you take it if there was no predetermined destination?


Cheers,
Dean

Lybia-Bulgaria HIV bullshit

So I invited a friend to dinner last night. We had a great meal and while he was helping me clean up the plates after eating he accidentally broke a plate.

I immediately arrested him. Threw him into jail (kept in the corner of my living room for occasions just like this).

Then after 8 years later I said - if you want to go home you are free to leave as long as you give me that big flat screen tv you have in your apartment.

Once he gave me the tv I let him out and he went home and we became best of friends again......


Exactly that wouldn't happen between friends in a personal one on one situation so why do people think it's ok in a country to country basis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6912965.stm
Six Bulgarian medics who were serving life sentences in Libya have arrived in Bulgaria following their release, ending their eight-year incarceration.

They were immediately pardoned by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The five nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor were convicted of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV - charges they have always denied.

The release was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.


When are people in power going to realise that just because you run a country you cant do crap like this (and anyone reading this who doesn't think the USA does similar stuff is kidding themselves).

When are we as a human race going to grow up and get beyond all this petty crap.

Bring on the 'star trek' generation where everyone is working/existing for similar principles for the betterment of all people by improving yourself.

I'm sick of all this stuff. Makes me wonder if going and living on an island in the pacific isn't the right thing to do.

Or if any kazillionaire rich dudes want to put together a team to go out into a one way mission in outer space I'm ready to sign up - we need something, anything to demonstrate to Earth that we need to think big and get bigger than all this petty stuff.


Cheers,
Dean
P.S. I just read this article from newsweek on August the 2nd. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079136 I want to puke and I feel like I need a shower.

Spectrum....

Spectrum Spectrum what to do with Spectrum....

Great article here about the concept of open spectrum I posted a few weeks ago. Could be very very interesting.
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/07/20/google_fcc/

Maybe an Asterisk/OpenMoko tie-in?


Cheers,
Dean

Ekranoplanes

Wow I had never heard of Ekranoplanes until 30 mins ago.

Basically it's a vehicle that act's like a plane and uses bernouli's principle to fly at very high speeds but low to the water so it's more like a boat.

The advantage is these things can get really really big.











Super trippy apparently it's not science fiction and have the ability to cover open seas. This seems to be the best website with lots of info on both old and new designs.

http://thrillingwonder.blogspot.com/2007/05/ekranoplans-showcase.html

Have fun digging around.


Cheers,
Dean

Canada's Snow Valley?

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=200900554

Interesting followup from my post last Tuesday about Indian Immigration.

Will we see a northerly movement of Silicon Valley to Snow Valley? Are there any readers who have been knocked back for US visas but were able to secure Canadian visas/residency?


Cheers,
Dean

CableCard causes rate hikes

I read this Digg post today and wanted to share but technically I'm on holidays today so I'm not even interested in raising my blood pressure by talking about CableCard and how the CableLabs consortium are screwing us over.

http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Cable_companies_blame_CableCARD_for_coming_rate_hike
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070705-cable-companies-blame-cablecard-for-coming-rate-hike.html

If you are interested Google my name and CableCard and you'll find all the rants you need or want.

All I can say is you are dinosaurs roar all you want as you are dead and dieing and you don't even know it.

On a lighter note :) If you think like I do this from Skinkers in the UK will put a smile on your face. http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=4da4263c-68a0-411f-8eec-58dc81bf22da&wa=wsignin1.0


Cheers,
Dean

Rubiks Cube robotic solver video

Having trouble with your Rubik’s cube? Daniele Benedettelli has created an automated Rubik’s cube solver called the LEGO Rubik Utopy.

This is seriously way too cool for school. Someone give this guy a job http://daniele.benedettelli.com/index.html

Cheers,
Dean

DVD Jon cracks the Iphone (lol-already??)

http://nanocr.eu/2007/07/03/iphone-without-att/

iPhone without AT&TJuly 3rd, 2007
I’ve found a way to activate a brand new unactivated iPhone without giving any of your money or personal information to AT&T NSA. The iPhone does not have phone capability, but the iPod and WiFi work. Stay tuned!

This was just posted a couple of hours ago. Lol trust DVD Jon to be one of the first to crack this (I guess thats what happens when you have such a fat ass target of 500,000 hanging out there to crack).

It doesn't allow you to swap your sim out to other providers.....yet but hey the 4th of July holiday hasn't even really started yet.

Cheers,

Dean

Google Acquires Grand Central

Ooops did Google just become a carrier :)
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/all-aboard.html

I hear stocks crumbling worldwide as I type.


Cheers,
Dean

Indian Wages

Interesting article in PC World yesterday;

Rising Wages Prompt Riya to Pull Out of India
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,133663-pg,1/article.html

Although I dont contract a lot of work to India I do from time to time and I recently assisted a client source some voip developers for an internal application and whilst the man hours quoted were a little over the top I thought the hourly rate was very reasonable - especially as I wasn't contracting a single self employed individual but a company with corporate overheads/structure etc.

My issue with Indian resources have always been a communication 'percentage' that needed to be buffered into any project (lol - before you ask chill - my first wife was Indian and half my friends in Australia are Indian). It's just a fact that whenever dealing with people who dont have the same background it takes extra time to communicate with them.

Could explain why I find it easier to deal with Canadians :P
http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/canada-nicer-littler-brother.html

Having said this I have spoken with people who've said it's out of control and they have had projects fail because key staff have left projects mid implementation.

I guess it's part of life and to be expected over time salaries would go up but I'm just wondering how viable the Indian outsourcing market really is if they are on a 50%-75% salary par with Australians/USA/Europeans etc.

The bigger question of course is has the windfall in outsourcing over the last few years being turned into a viable long term market (eg like Dubai's oil money) or squandered among a select few (e.g. Saudi Arabia).

What happens to India if the worlds outsourcing markets finds a new vendor just as fast as it found India?

Will people be making jokes about calls being answered in Indonesia next year?

Has enough infrastructure been put in place to develop on an ongoing basis without the major USA contracts or will it slide backwards just as fast as it shot forward in the first place?

Any thoughts?


Cheers,
Dean

Inventions - The Little Guy

Great great article in the NY Times today (is it just me or is the niche for newspapers really evolving into a sweet spot for authoriatarian indepth articles and leaving the breaking 'headlines' to the online press).

The article covers a number of topics, from government sponsored competitions to patents but part that really got me was the inventiveness of the little guy and how great ideas are definately still out there to be thought of and implemented.....oh of course and the rewards to be plundered :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/magazine/01nasa-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1


Cheers,
Dean