Core Focus

A team of ex-Googlers, with backing from Y Combinator, the Friendfeed founders and others, have created what might be both the ugliest and most useful group productivity app we’ve seen. Etherpad, a new product from Appjet, launches this morning, and you must try it out. It’s comparable to Google Docs or a wiki, but it’s far more useful. You start off by creating a new workspace. You type basic text on numbered lines at will. Then invite someone else in and have them type as well. Each user’s edits are highlighted a different color. Changes are made in absolute... [Tags: bling, co founder, color changes, controlled access, core focus]

Microsoft and the Unwanted Modeling Language — Microsoft's off and on relationship with UML, the Unified Modeling Language, indicates how the company both competes with and supports various technologies. At first Microsoft refused to support UML, but when the company set its sights on software modeling as a core focus, developer demand for UML proved too much to ignore. At Microsoft TechEd, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pre-announced Microsoft's intent to sup-port UML, and then the company an-nounced plans to support UML in Visual Studio and via the Microsoft Oslo modeling technology. Meanwhile, UML co-creator Grady Booch says he is happy to see Microsoft come around. - Although,... [Tags: bill gates, chairman bill gates, core focus, grady booch, language uml]

It’s All About Growth for Facebook — Earlier this week Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, had an opportunity to address an audience at the American Magazine Conference. At the event Sandberg highlighted many of the challenges for Facebook that have been covered numerous times on this site. First and foremost, “Users are not on Facebook looking to buy something” while on Facebook. Sandberg also suggested what is widely known and that is “We need to find a new model and new metrics.” In an interview the following day with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Zuckerberg suggested that monetization is still not a core focus at... [Tags: audience, business relationship, challenges, chief operating officer, core focus]

VeriSign Exits Mobile; Sells Remaining Stake In JV To News Corp For $200 Million — VeriSign's (NSDQ: VRSN) effort to capitalize on mobile through its acquisition of Jamba is officially over. VeriSign tried to keep skin in the game through a JV with News Corp (NYSE: NWS). selling 51 percent in May 2007 for $187.5 million and a merger with Fox Mobile Entertainment. Today, the two companies said VeriSign has sold its remaining 49 percent to News Corp for approximately $200 million, suggesting that the value of the JV, which has struggled with leadership and strategic issues, has been static at best. VeriSign's sale has been expected for months given the company's switch to a... [Tags: arbitrage, content company, core focus, games development, interim head]

Microsoft joins OMG — Senior Vice President Bob Muglia shares perspective on future of model-driven development and announces Microsoft’s participation in OMG. Microsoft Corp. today outlined its approach for taking modeling into mainstream industry use and announced its membership in the standards body Object Management Group™ (OMG™). Modeling is a core focus of Microsoft’s Dynamic IT strategy, the company’s long-term approach to provide customers with technology, services and best practices to enable IT and development organizations to be more strategic to the business. To make model-driven development a reality, Microsoft is focused on providing a model-driven platform and visual modeling tools that make it... [Tags: application development, bob muglia, business analysts, core focus, database architects]

How to Avoid Feature Creep [del.icio.us] — 3. The Scope Test: Engineering and design resources are a scarcity at every company. Respect them. Understand the scope of what you’re doing, and if a single feature is going to hijack your team for months, be wary.... [Tags: addition by subtraction, behemoth, best seller, company respect, core focus]

Roundup: Facebook suspends Super Wall, Khosla joins Obama and more — Here’s the latest action:Facebook suspends RockYou’s Super Wall – The social networking site has turned off the Facebook application’s viral aspects, like invitations and notifications, presumably as part of its efforts to crack down on spammy app activity. RockYou chief executive Lance Tokuda says he’s working with Facebook to get the suspended features restored soon. The move follows the shutdown of RockYou competitor Slide’s Top Friends application at the end of June due to a security issue. (Top Friends is back up now.) Vinod Khosla joins Obama — The famed venture capitalist spread his bets during the primary season, giving... [Tags: 10 year olds, attractive markets, barack obama, core focus, facebook]