We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again…when it comes to staying current with the trends of this crazy thing we call the Internet, it looks like the only way to do so is to jump on the ‘real-time’ bandwagon.  One of the leaders in that, up to this point, has actually been FriendFeed, the one stop shop for all your social networking activity, and it looks like they’re going a step further and even making their search results real-time.

That’s right, they’ve done it again and updated their platform to include real-time search results to go along with everything else that is actually real-time on their site.  While other sites CLAIM to be real-time, a lot of them are actually lacking the continuous data stream that actually makes something real time or not.  That said, starting today when you search for something on FriendFeed, the results that come in will be constantly updated based on the data in your network, and the things you choose to follow.  Cool.

According to reports:

“Enter any query into FriendFeed’s search box and you’ll see a constantly updating stream of items related to it. It works for advanced searches too. Best of all, it also searches through comments left below items. And these results can even be embedded in other blogs, as you can see right now on the FriendFeed blog.”

It will be interesting to see where they take things next, and who else will follow suit.  Real-time is really popular, and we’re beginning to wonder just how high the bar is going to be set for even more applications of real-time technology.

by Senior Staff Writer – Tyler Knott Gregson

If you’ve ever been on Facebook directly after their team rolls out one of their many changes to either the site, the news feed, the privacy settings or just about anything, you know exactly how users can feel when a product they’re used to suddenly changes.  Hint:  It’s usually not good.

Looks like eMusic got a healthy dose of just that after they rolled out a few changes to their policies.  Changes, when it comes to technology, often results in some extremely unhappy customers, and unhappy customers tend to band together.  When that happens, watch out because you have a revolution.  So what are these changes, and why are they unhappy?  Well in addition to raising the price per song, it looks like some new policies have filtered down:

“Until yesterday, for example, users could just re-download songs they purchased from the service (quite useful when your hard drive or MP3 player dies on you). Now, however, most likely in order to combat fraud, eMusic has put some restrictions on the number of downloads it permits per song…Also, while even long tracks (often in the classical or electronic music section) used to cost just one credit (users get a certain amount of credits per month, depending on their subscription plan), a lot of albums now cost 12 credits even when they only feature four or five tracks. The 12 credit idea was actually sold as a positive by eMusic, as it would allow users to download any album without having to pay more than 12 credits. That’s great for albums with lots of short tracks, but now, for a lot of users, this actually brings down the value of their subscriptions and raises prices significantly.”

Considering the fact that only 50% of the albums are actually showing this new 12 credit price, this looks to be a pretty major blunder on the part of eMusic.  While this sounds like a whole lot of bad, there is some good.  Apparently they have a new feature that analyzes what you’ve downloaded before, and then finds the rest of those albums easily so you can decide whether or not you want the full album or other songs from it.  Snazzy.  Also, they still sell DRM-free MP3’s, which is highly desirable.

As mentioned by ReadWriteWeb, however, they missed the boat by not actually communicating with its members before rolling out these massive changes.  Remember, the Customer is Always Right…especially when all those customers have blogs, and Twitter accounts.

by Senior Staff Writer – Tyler Knott Gregson

Well it’s about TIME!  While China waited until the absolute Last minute to finally retract their ridiculous and extremely controversial policy they were rumored to be passing that required forced manufacturers to bundle Internet filtering software with personal computers sold in the country.  Just a few short hours before the policy was scheduled to begin, China backed out and delayed the plan…for now, indefinitely.

That’s right, according to reports by the official Xinhua news agency:

“the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology would “delay the mandatory installation of the controversial ‘Green Dam-Youth Escort’ filtering software on new computers.”

The “Green-Dam” Plan, which was aimed at filtering out pornography that is banned in China has been nothing but a target for controversy since it’s conception.  Everyone from critics against censorship to people in Washington are saying that not only is the plan “politically intrusive” but it’s also completely ineffective and unfair to manufacturers.  Touche.

Nevertheless, for now no new dates of enforcement have been given and it is beginning to look like none ever will.  Could this plan do what everyone is hoping it does and just drift off into nothingness once again?  Time will tell, but we certainly hope so.  When are people going to realize that censoring people only makes them want the thing they are working so hard to keep out, all the more?  We’re all for protecting your people, but when it comes at the cost of their freedom, that’s where we all have an issue.

So, for now, Good work China on backing off your silly plan.  The city of Bozeman, Montana would be proud, as they too have gone down a road very similar to your own.

by Senior Staff Writer – Tyler Knott Gregson

Like it or not, Twitter is rapidly becoming the default way that people are communicating online.  Whether or not it will replace email remains to be seen, but for now, Twitter is hot and it’s only getting hotter.  That said, it’s not without some flaws, and it looks like a new product is emerging that aims to fix those flaws, and help you bring those “default conversations” to your very own home on the web.

That’s right, Tweetboard wants to first bring the conversation to you, and then it wants to make that conversation much, much easier to follow.  According to TechCrunch:

“All the conversations are threaded, and comments appear on Twitter as well, potentially drawing in a larger audience into the specific conversation…One of the difficulties of following a conversation on Twitter itself is that replies to particular threads aren’t threaded together. On Tweetboard, all the discussions are threaded and nested together, similar to what you’d find on FriendFeed or Facebook. Site publishers can choose to set up a Tweetboard using their personal Twitter accounts or create a new one specific to each Tweetboard.”

Apparently this is the first project for a startup called 140ware, and if this is the quality they are putting out, I’m excited to see just what they’ll come up with next.  Give it a try, see how you feel about it!

by Senior Staff Writer – Tyler Knott Gregson

If you consider that as we speak, Africa is currently the number one highest mobile phone growth rate, and that mobile phone penetration can indeed go much, much deeper than the internet, Google is going to be making a few changes and adding a few new services to the huge continent…starting with Uganda.  Now, Google will be able to reach more potential users than ever, and offer them some things they can really use at the same time.

That’s right, Google just today announced that they are going to be adding a ton of SMS-based services into the African market.  Their services will provide access to news, local weather, sports and even tips on agriculture, and even gives them access to a ‘classified’ type system called Google Trader where both sellers and their hopeful buyers can meet in the middle.

As mentioned, Google is starting all this in Uganda first, but plans to target Africa as a whole sometime in the future.  Users on MTN Uganda’s network will be able to access these services as soon as they are up and running.  According to Google:

“We’re just beginning. We can do a lot more to improve search quality and the breadth — and depth — of content on Google SMS, especially on Tips and Trader. Google SMS is by no means a finished product, but that’s what’s both exciting and challenging about this endeavor.”

Personally, I think this is a great move, and a great thing for Africa.  I can’t wait to see what comes next.