I have been saying that it’s not a bubble until uncle Henry and aunt Alice are building up pets.com storck in their 401K.  A couple of months ago, I had called the IPO filing of Classmates.com the first sign of a new internet bubble.

Well, the IPO is pulled.  Henry and Alice can relax.  It’s still not a bubble!

Om reported this a few days ago and I have been meaning to touch on it, because I think it’s very, very important.

Mozilla is contemplating offering syncing services, which would
allow profile data to be synced between various computers; third
parties eventually will be given some kind of access to this
information as well. Typically such syncing services would be the
preserve of Google, Yahoo or Microsoft. Among the services Beard
mentions are:

• provide a basic set of optional Mozilla-hosted online services
• ensure that it is easy for people to set up their own services with freely available open standards-based tools
• provide
  users with the ability to fully control and customize their online
  experience, including whether and how their data should be shared with
  their family, their friends, and third-parties
• respect individual privacy (e.g. client-side encryption by default with the ability to delegate access rights)
• leverage existing open standards and propose new ones as needed
• build a extensible architecture like Firefox

The meme that’s been around for a while, "the internet is the social network", makes sense.  After all, if it’s the profile information that provides the pivot for the successful social networks, it’s trivial for people to publish that information themselves (think of a broader OpenID).  Open Social and Grou.ps are steps in this direction, as well.

However, I think the browser is a natural platform for users to manage this information.  Wİth extentions, I am doing this everyday in some areas such as managing my bookmarks (via del.icio.us).

Firefox‘s moves in this area will be interesting to watch.

When TBL speaks, I listen:

"Right now, so many people are complaining that they have told one Web
site who their friends are, and another one who their friends are…In
five years time, I hope people will be programming not at the document
level, but at the application level.  You will have something
which is an application which is consistent for looking at different
aspects of people. It (will use) your role as their friend for putting
together a very powerful, all-encompassing view of them (online)."

Just saw this on Sİgnal vs. Noise and found it interesting:

The Guardian reports on an interesting study that suggests police should skip photofit composites and go with exaggerated caricatures of criminals instead.
…
A photorealistic sketch is an exercise in accuracy, but an exaggerated
caricature is an exercise in identity. Of course this is just one
study, but it’s an interesting look at what really matters to get a job
done.

We have been noticing at Mondus that people use exaggeration in their online social networking profiles, as well.  Perhaps profiles should not be exercises in accuracy, but exercises in efficiency.  If your profile gets you interacting with the people you’d like to connect with, it’s successful.

gPhone turns out to be Android, previously-notoriously-closed Verizon goes open.  Is there a fundemental change in the mobile world?  This may be the best thing that’s happened to the industry.

Will we see similar trends in Turkey, with its uniquely un-competitive wireless market?