Posts Tagged ‘Add new tag’
Its Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and …
Monday, February 8th, 2010Businesses today are compelled to have active presence in popular social media sites. And when we say social media, its Facebook, Twitter and Linked in. Facebook has some 100 million users and its pretty easy to spread the word virally. Twitter is convenient for sharing news and real time events. Linkedin enhances professional identity and reputation. In addition to Facebook page, Linked in profile and Twitter updates, Ning community is also becoming mandatory for businesses.
What is Ning?
Ning is an online platform for creating social networks. More than 2.5 million networks have been created so far and there are 41 million registered users. The number of people visiting Ning sites in a month come to around 92 million. Similar to Facebook, Twitter and Linked in, Ning also does not have a direct competitor. However Crowdvine, KickApps, CollectiveX, ONESite and few more companies offer similar services. Let us capture few of the features that Ning provides.
1. White Label – Ning allows its platform users to customize it with their own brand. There is no fixed frame or color scheme which has to be followed. The entire site can be created in the user’s interests.
2. Domain Name – There’s more than just vanity URLs in Ning. It provides options to create new domain names and map already existing ones. Community links for most of the companies in their website are mapped to the Ning site.
3. Even More Social Experience – Ning provides a deeper social experience. Interaction with brands, celebrities, musicians go to the next level here: Personal profiles, events, forums, chats and many more.
4. Ads and Other Premium Features – Best of all, Ning platform also allows its network creators to generate money from their networks through ads. Premium features like virtual gifts also does the same.
None of the popular social networks offer all of the above features. It convinces us to conclude that Ning stands in a different dimension without aligning itself along any other already existing social networks and therefore compel businesses to be a part of it. Let us also look at a few networks created in Ning.
Ning Networks
(a) Gaither
Gaither.com is the official website of the Gaither vocal band. The band has a Ning network for its community. The community has sub-groups, micro blogging, forums, latest events and many more for their fans. The Connect section in the snapshot below shows links to various social media links from the Gaither website including Ning.
One of the popular show in the United States, the Ellen Degeneres Show has many active members in its Ning community. The sub domain http://community.ellen.tv is being mapped to the Ning network.
The above snapshot is taken from the Ellen official website. We can see the links to Twitter, Facebook, Ning (community) along with the other main links .
(c) Techcrunch (Zorapcrunch)
Techcrunch, one of the leading reporters of web developments and happenings are also having their presence in Ning.
(d) Content Wrangler
Content Wrangler is a popular destination for communication professionals seeking information about content management. This is an initiative of Scott Abel, a content management strategist. The screen shot below shows the community created in Ning where a global network of content professionals from around the world meet and collaborate.
Similar to these communities, there are more than 2.5 million networks created so far. Celebrities, politicians and established organizations have already made their presence. For more information on Ning, visit Ning Help.
Triggering Your Sixth Sense
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009Who wouldn’t want to trigger their sixth sense, if it is as easy as wearing a pendant around your neck? With this ground breaking invention from Massachusetts Institute of Technology you can do just that if you are willing to spend a meager $350. Soon you will check emails on your palm or a nearby wall, show pictures to your friend standing next you in a crowded street or take snaps with your bare hands.
The project pet named “Sixthsense” is the brain child of Pranav Mistry an Indian Grad student at MIT and his project guide Pattie Maes, at MIT Media Lab. In Pranav’s words “‘SixthSense’ is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information”.
How does it work?
A miniature camera captures your hand gestures that are communicated wirelessly to your mobile phone, which in turn processes your signals and connects to the internet. A small, but powerful projector will project the results back, which are reflected by a mirror to any opaque surface. In short, the hardware consists of a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera all compressed into a wearable pendant. Simple! The software mostly tracks the user’s gestures using computer-vision based algorithms.
At the recent TED India conference held in Mysore in November 4 – 7, Pranav announced his desire to open-source his project. Mistry pays tribute to his architect dad for his innovative spirit.
Read more about Mistry and his revolutionary project here and in this article that appeared yesterday (Nov 8, 2009) in The Hindu.
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