Short Roundup of Things

Here are some pieces of "news" that I think were quite "newsworthy" for me. (It's my blog, anyway)

I. Yahoo Closing Down Yahoo! Photos

For some time now we’ve supported two great photo sharing services, Yahoo! Photos and Flickr. But even good things come to an end, and we’ve decided to focus all our efforts on Flickr – the award winning photo sharing site that Time Magazine has even called “completely addictive.”

Source: Why If Yahoo! Photos Closing?

Get it straight from the source: Yahoo! Photos FAQ Section (Found via Wired Blogs)

On the plus side, Yahoo! will be offering a three (3) months free Flickr Pro membership account for those who make the switch from Yahoo! Photos to Flickr.


II. Finished My LLM Exams!

On the personal side, I finished off my last LLM paper. Here with the very fun, very memorable ADR (Alternative Disputes Resolution) class, taught by the unforgettable Ms. Guna & Mr. Foong.



III. Blake on American Idol -- "You Give Love A Bad Name" REMIXED



Caught this on TV while doing my revision. Quite an unforgettable performance, and the good thing is he managed to pull it off. I think this performance is the most memorable performance for me so far, on the same level with William Hung (but in a good way).

Bookmark: Photoblogging etc

Bookmark post. What a thing to do, when my ADR (Alternative Disputes Resolution) paper is tomorrow at 9.00am. :)

Photoblogging sites

1. cdd.cn -- Chinese photoblogging community.
2. fotologue.jp -- Japanese photoblogging community. Flash interface, very cool.
3. aminus3.com -- Photoblogging community. Unlimited storage.
4. zooomr.com -- Photoblogging community powered by a 21 year old programming whizkid. (I blogged about it earlier.)
5. Flickr -- The market leader. How could I forget?

Another two useful sites to check out:

• Directory of Web 2.0 websites -- Quite Complete!! (Very useful)
• yotophoto.com -- Search index of photoblogging communities for images tagged "Creative Commons".

(Both discovered via stylistic.net)

Zooomr: Catching Up With Flickr

Dear Reader,

Today I ran across a piece of news¹ in CNet News which talked about Zooomr, a photo sharing site, undergoing a revamp in order to offer its users the feature of selling their photos online.

A subsequent search on Google News revealed that the genius behind Zooomr is an 18 year old programming genius, Kris Tate.² The site was originally meant for personal friends of Tate but the blogosphere picked up on the service. The sudden spike in users brought down the servers. A subsequent cash injection from investor Ron Conway of USD$50,000 gave Tate the funds needed to convert the project into an entrepreneurial effort.³

Zooomr has a CEO, Thomas Hawk, who together with Kris Tate are aiming to turn the site into a stock photo enterprise. They estimate the world stock photography business to be valued at USD$2bil per annum.⁴ The plus point is that users can leave the transaction to be conducted automatically by Zooomr while snagging 90% of the profits.

Advantages

It may be prudent to note at this point some attractive features of Zooomr. This is a simple list:

1. Tag Map
   This application, basically an integration of Google Maps with Hello Bots, enables users browse a world map and check out photos from different regions and from different people. [link]



2. Zooomrtations
   This feature allows sounds to be attached to photographs. [link]



3. Multiple language
   Well, I don't know how else to express it, but the bar at the bottom allows for selection of the following languages:
   
   • Dansk
   • Deutsch
   • English (UK)
   • Español
   • Français
   • Italiano
   • Nederlands
   • Polski
   • Português (BR)
   • Slovenčina
   • Suomi
   • Svenska
   • Türkçe
   • Монгол
   • 中文 (簡體)
   • 中文 (繁體)
   • 日本語
   
   



4. Lightbox!
   This cool feature is derived from a certain Javascript project. Quite interesting to see it integrated into such a gallery, effectively rendering it Web 2.0/AJAX cool. [link]

Who knows, I may even try signing up for an account in due course. :)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Notes

1. S. Shankland, Zooomr reverts while debugging upgrade, CNet News, 19th March 2007, accessed at http://news.com.com/2061-12572_3-6168529.html

2. D. Waters, Web 2.0 Wonders: Zooomr's Kris Tate, BBC News, 28th March 2007, accessed at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6502611.stm
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.