New York – May 20, 2008. This morning, digital music service Napster, Inc. made a splash with their new MP3 download store, being touted at the world’s biggest, with over 6 million songs. Posing a direct challenge to Apple’s iTunes, songs from all major music labels, as well as independent labels, will be available to users in a format compatible with most digital media devices–including the Apple iPod and iPhone.

Who can forget the Napster that made headlines in the late 1990s and early 2000s when they were sued by heavy metal band Metallica and A&M Records, among others, for copyright infringement. That’s all in the past, though. Most recently, Napster has peddled a monthly subscription service for access to its streaming music, none of which could be transfered to portable devices.

Pulling out all the stops to compete with iTunes, Napster has made all of their downloads DRM-free, which means they will be of higher quality and can be used with any device (not just limited to the iPod). All Napster MP3s (99 cents each and $9.95 per album) will be automatically synced into your iTunes library. How do you like them apples?

The Ultimate Networking Site

New to a city? Salesman looking for business? Lonely? Got a peculiar fetish? Whatever you are looking for, www.Meetup.com likely has it. I first discovered Meetup.com when I was in Denver. My purpose was two-fold:

1. I was new to the area, new to an industry, was in sales, and needed a source of prospects
2. My wife had no family, friends, or support network

So, I turned to Meetup.com as my source of social and professional networking.  You will find everything from people interested in bicycling to coffee to wine to divorce to business to knitting to parenting to spanking. 

• Photoshop Geek?   Go to meetup.com
• Need a spanking?  Go to meetup.com
• Looking for play dates for your kid?   Go to meetup.com
• Want to hook-up with other wine lover?       Go to meetup.com
• Thinking about starting a business?      Go to meetup.com
• New to a city?      Go to meetup.com

Whatever you are looking for, likely, you will find it at www.Meetup.com.  It takes social networking to a physical level where you can actually meet real, live, people in person and press the flesh.

Hurling Stick, The Bird Watcher

inQbation™ and Brian Evans, creator of The Bird Watcher and The Hurling Stick, are thrilled to announce the launch of Drago Vista Productions.

Sources and References

IMDB: Brian Evans
IMDB: The Hurling Stick

NEW YORK – 15 May 2008. I’ve only got one thing to say … remember on January 10, 2000 just as we were sliding into a major recession when the first Internet bubble burst? AOL announced plans to buy Time Warner for $350 billion. Fast forward 8 1/2 years as we head into a second major recession and the second Internet bubble burst, CBS announces plans to buy CNET for an overpriced $1.8 billion. By the way, most of you are too young to remember, or smoked too much pot and have lost your short-term memory, but there was a housing recession from about 1989 to 1996 where the average price of homes dropped year after year after year after year. I remember because I bought a house in 1989 and sold it almost 10 years later for the exact same price I paid for it. So, for those of you who think the real estate market has bottomed out in 2008 and is on its way back up next year, I’ve got some news for you.

Grow traffic when friends connect on your site

This is Google’s introduction to Google™ Friend Connect. Google™ is actually trying to help you drive traffic to your site in ways other than AdWords™.

Google™ Friend Connect is a technology that allows you to turn any website into a social networking site where visitors who are attracted to a site can interact with other visitors who are attracted to the same site.

So, what are the implications of this innovation?

1. Social networkings sites like Facebook and MySpace may lose some of their appeal
2. It lowers the barrier to entry for social networking sites, which costs tens of $1,000 to build
3. It allows raving fans to rave together
4. It allows disgruntled fans to collectively voice their opinions (until the website owner removes it)
5. It reinforces the concept of web 2.0 user generate content
6. It takes social networking to a whole new level

Google™ Friend Connect is not even released in beta version yet. But, they are taking applications for early adopters who want to jump on the Google™ Friend Connect bandwagon.

PALO ALTO – May 12, 2008, Hewlett-Packard  Co. (HP) is apparently in talks to buy Electronic Data Systems (EDS), founded by former Presidential Candidate, Ross Perot, who went on to found Perot Systems after being booted out of EDS by then majority owner, General Motors (GM).

What is interesting about this acquisition is that EDS is a major IT consultant and software developer of enterprise wide systems. But, that is not what is quite so interesting.  About a year ago, HP purchased LogoWorks, a leading distributed web-based graphic design service provider, which targets small businesses.

It seems obvious that HP, the company that started out building Oscillators in the 1930′s, radar-jamming devices in the 1940′s, frequency counters in the 1950′s, computers in the 1960′s, calculators in the 1970′s, laser jet printers in the 1980′s, personal computers in the 1990′s, and plasma TV’s and laptop computers in the 2000′s now seems to be poised to build websites, both large and small in the 2010′s.

Online Presidential Marketing

If you want a good lesson in how the Internet and effective online marketing is changing the way American politicians compete, see www.barackobama.com.

Looking at his website, he has done a very effective job of striking a balance between good design and search engine optimization. His site ranks extraordinarily well on the search engines while looking very attractive and professionally designed. He has made good use of CSS and has created clear and compelling calls to action: Donate Now.

Obama ’08 has unique relevant content and makes effective use of TITLE and H1 HEADER tags. He posts his videos on YouTube and links them back to his site. In short, his entire site is very effective and well done.

In the lower right hand corner of the website, you can see that he is making effective use of social networking sites like:

• Facebook
• MySpace
• YouTube
• Flickr
• Digg
• Twitter
• Eventful
• Linkedin
• BlackPlanet
• Faithbase
• Eons
• Glee
• MiGente
• MyBatanga
• AsianAve
• DNC Partybuilder
  

www.MotorsportSimulators.com

Mark Nixon and inQbation™ are pleased to announce the successful and rapid launch and redeployment of www.MotorsportsSimulators.com, a website that promotes the brand and equipment of Motorsport Simulators for the Professional Driver.

Omniture > Visual Sciences > Web Side Story > HBX™

October 25, 2007 – Omniture, a leading website analytics company agreed to acquire Visual Sciences, formerly known as Web Side Story, creator of web analytics software Hit Box (HBX) for $394 million.

HBX™ Analytics provides data analysis and metrics to consumer-oriented companies. HBX Analytics also provides the ability to measure key performance indicators (KPIs) within its interactive dashboards. The reporting modules and dashboard feature provide insight into site traffic and its source, key search terms, numbers of new and return visitors, site abandonment statistics and related site visitor information, such as how much time is being spent on the company’s Web site and related conversion rates.