web 2.0

Phishers hook up to Web 2.0

There's something unusual about a phishing scam doing the rounds, which uses a news hook--a fake report that Australian Prime Minister John Howard has had a heart attack--to try to lure in victims. That's not new--worm wranglers have turned to Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein to get people to click on dodgy links. What is interesting is that the hackers are using Web 2.0 technology in their scam.

People who fall victim to the scam download a Trojan horse to their computer that records their keystrokes and Internet activity, according to security company Websense. So far, so … Read more

The Brave New Web? It's all business

Boston -- I moderated a panel entitled "Where Do I get My Web 2.0?" at the MIT Enterprise Forum's "Brave New Web" event this morning. We had four execs from companies that make Web tools (Phil Hollows, FeedBlitz; Brian Shin, Visible Measures; Scott Smigler, Exclusive Concepts; and David McRaflane, Nexaweb) and services on the panel, talking to an audience of entrepreneurs about business models, customer interaction, and start-up funding.

What I found most interesting about this audience was how quickly it steered the conversation towards big business. Out here, it appears, entrepreneurs want to … Read more

Advice for start-ups: Don't solve cheap problems

Boston -- I'm at the MIT Enterprise Forum's Brave New Web event today, and later I'll be moderating a panel about starting Web 2.0 businesses. But this morning we're all listening to Brightcove CEO (and local hero) Jeremy Allaire talk about how to start a technology business today.

He said that unlike a lot of current Web 2.0 businesses, he started a business that "we knew would require a lot of capital." He raised $6M early on, far more than most current Web start-ups have in the bank when they get going. … Read more

Web gurus launch CarGurus.com

A bunch of Web veterans are teaming up to offer an online forum for gearheads, giving car owners the chance to submit, edit, and control car-related content. Built on an open platform, CarGurus.com gives users a place to post their own reviews, photos, and wiki entries, and to ask questions of an audience of like-minded drivers.

The site, which has been in beta since March 2006, is the brainchild of Langley Steinert, co-founder and former Chairman of Trip Advisor; Simon Rothman, founder of eBay motors; and Matt Rightmire, a former vice president at Yahoo, among others. It will formerly … Read more

A gift idea for the geeky entrepreneurs

I saw this on Uncrate a few days ago and even though it's not a gadget, per se, I knew I had to give it a mention on Crave. It's a very "Where's Waldo"-inspired ode to all things Web 2.0 (or at least the most recognizable players), plastering a busy city scene with logos from Flickr to Foobar. Recently I've covered a bunch of homegrown NYC start-ups for Crave's sister blog Webware, so I've come into contact with plenty of geeky, bouncy, AJAX-spouding, highly caffeinated Manhattan tech entrepreneurs. I'm … Read more

CanvasPaint is everything Web 2.0 should not be

What is Web 2.0? It's freeing computing from the shackles of individual computers. It's using the Internet to make both machines and people part of a community. We all benefit from that. One of the side effects of Web 2.0 is that a lot of the things people do with traditional software (write, edit, plan, calculate, and so on) gets put on to the Web. Usually there's a worthwhile trade-off: we lose the speed of a local app, but in return, we get access from anywhere and features that connect us to others.

Just putting … Read more

Dos and don'ts of community Web sites

Just building a Web site is not enough for a blog or online community to thrive--Web site owners have to welcome the members, be diplomatic when disagreements arise and, above all, be honest and ethical, experts at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco said on Tuesday.

The biggest no-no for a Web site or blog is to lie, said Lisa Stone, co-founder of women's blogging site BlogHer, at a session titled "BlogHer Presents: World Domination via Collaboration." Wal-Mart learned that hard lesson after the blogosphere criticized the chain for not revealing that the writers behind a travel blog … Read more

Jangl gives phone numbers to relationships, not individuals

Like most people my age, I guard my cell phone number closely--so closely that I cut myself off from people with whom I might otherwise want to talk. Some new services, like GrandCentral, give me control that the phone carriers don't by putting a second phone number between callers and me. GrandCentral will let me screen calls and determine who can reach me and when. That's great. But as soon as I call somebody from my cell phone, Caller ID gives me away--and my privacy and control evaporates.

Jangl is a very weird and potentially very useful service … Read more

The first Web 2.0 camcorder

Pure Digital has upgraded the el cheapo flash memory camcorder it's been selling since May through retail stores, such as Target. See our previous blog post and review. The new version, which sells for the same price ($129 for a unit that will record 30 minutes; a 60-minute version is also available), has improved audio and video quality and longer battery life, company reps told me. The external hardware is the same: a generic-looking white case with one very interesting feature: a USB port that swings out to transfer data.

The real news is the improved software. Once you … Read more