Sweetcron is a service that brings you the features of friendfeed and tumblr. Apart from the fact that it’s build for being hosted at your own web server. Kind of a wordpress for feeds. Check the developers site yongfook.com for a working demo blog.

Update: Sweetcron Beta is out for evaluating:

• Sweetcron program files
• Seetcron documenatation

It’s closed beta right now, but the developer, Yongfook, promises to launch it soon. It is going to be 100% open source and offers some more features:

• Automated Imports: Uploaded a photo to flickr? Bookmarked a new site? In a few minutes it will show up on your blog, thanks to the power of RSS feeds
• Easily Customisable: Edit simple templates to change your Sweetcron look.
• Self Hosted: You can keep alll the data safely on your own server and run Sweetcron on your own domain.
• Fully extensible: Write your own php classes and slot them right in!

Check the Interview with Yongfook on Lifestreamblog.com

via t3n

I just gathered some interesting news from Mister Wong:

Zattoo is a RIA [Uhm, just call it a program] that let’s you watch TV on your Compu without extra hardware [PCI tv-card] or a subscription to a commercial service. Zattoo is currently focussed on European channels and licensed content, and it’s completely free.

I was disappointed when I realized that I can’ watch BBC2 or Canal+, because my IP address is recognised as being German, and legal regulations prevent us to watch programs we probably haven’t payed broadcasting fees for. Maybe you can bypass this limitation using an Open Proxy Service, see the link below.

On the other hand, it’s just as simple as switching on the Telly.

Zatto is based on peer-to-peer technology, just like Hobnox, Pando, Joost: or Miro. In a Peer-to-Peer TV system, each user is simultaneously downloading the program to watch it, but also uploading the video stream to other users. This way, all users contribute to the overall bandwidth of the service. The streams are usually slightly delayed to the original sources. But the video quality is better if there are more users, which makes powerful servers farms needless.

Zattoo itself provides very smooth streaming quality and might be considered the service experts were waiting for - due to it’s simplicity.

Check the links for more information:

• Open proxy Services
• Quick summary on popular TV streaming services on ReadWriteWeb
• Interviewing zattoo.com’s co-founders

Zattoo delivers live TV legally, just like a cable network. Presently Zattoo doesn’t create its own channel from archival contents, nor do we yet carry user-generated content. Instead, we work with broadcasters to re-distribute their content simultaneous, unaltered, and unabridged. Compared to Joost, we provide live TV viewing instead of archival content delivered on-demand.

Sugih Jamin, Chairman and Co-founder of Zattoo

Great news for everyone who can not decide about going open source from the scratch:
You can now download the [stubidnamed] software Wubi from wubi-installer.org. Wubi installs a full Ubuntu Hardy Haron system within windows.

No need to burn a CD. Just run the installer, enter a password for the new account, and click “Install”, go grab a coffee, and when you are back, Ubuntu will be ready for you. You keep Windows as it is, Wubi only adds an extra option to boot into Ubuntu. Wubi does not require you to modify the partitions of your PC, or to use a different bootloader, and does not install special drivers.

After starting the application, you have options for the user interface to choose from:

• Ubuntu with GNOME interface
• Kubuntu with KDE interface
• Xubuntu with XFCE [for older computers]

Then, Wubi starts to download the operating system from a Ubuntu server repository and installs it automatically regarding to your hardware. After rebooting, you can choose whether to start your computer into Windows or Ubuntu. As simple as making a sandwich.

Minimum requirements:

• 256 MB memory
• 5 GB harddisk space
• Windows 98, 2000, XP or Vista

Sounds great. I am trying it just now. Really curious if it can compete in the everyday system battle.

I stumbled across a popular buzzword just a few days ago: OpenMac, a promising base operating system that is ready to be obtained from a company called Psystar in a bundle with an “Open Computer”. Based on this, customers are able to install MacOS Leopard on a simple Intel / x86 hardware:

With the EFI V8 emulator it is possible to install Leopard’s kernel straight from the DVD that you purchased at the Apple store barring the addition of a few drivers to ensure that everything boots and runs smoothly

Psystar is marketing this as a cheaper and more expandable alternative to a genuine Apple Mac. I don’t know what these machines are capable of. We all think: Hopefully, finally, a legal MacOS Clone might hit the scene. Perhaps it will help people who don’t want to afford expensive Apple hardware to run Apple software on their cheap machines?

Actually, the OpenMac company Psystar clone is close to a Cease and Desist order tasked by Apple. Which basically means that Apple will make use of their copyright rules included in Leopards License Agreement:

You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so.

Let’s wait and observe. Surely Apple will not tolerate that. Either by weapons of law or by technical regulations [That means non-compatible updates].

BTW: There is another open source project called “OpenMac” powered by Meshnetics, but this one regards to the Medium Access Control Layer and not to the Apple computer.

Here is a new toy for wannabe graphic designers and photographers:

Adobe just released it’s online image proccessing tool Photoshop Express. After creating an account, you are able to upload, edit and publish your photos. Let’s see if this becomes a valuable photo community.
Some info:

• It’s 100% Flash
• There are functions to integrate your work into Facebook, Photobucket and Picasa. Why not Flickr?
• The interface actually does not convince me: Too slow, too much fading effects and shaded buttons.
• Image processing capabilties are reduced, somehow. Do not forget: It’s an online tool, not an replacement of a desktop version of Photoshop.

And Beware: In Adobes General Terms and Conditions it says:

Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later developed.
“Publicly accessible” areas of the Services are those areas of the Adobe network of properties that are intended by Adobe to be available to the general public.

Did I get that right: Adobe is allowed to earn as much dough with my pics as they want to? Without sparing me a dime? No way, this is not going to be used by me. No matter what you think about it - think twice.

Here’s a demo video:

[via]

Recently on a party we started chatting about Skype. But nobody was able give a precise answer to the question how Skype makes money.

It’s a free-to-use service with more than 220 million users - where does the cash come from? To forestall this: Skype does make money, but yet no profit.

Skype Technologies do not need to provide an expensive server infrastructure because Skype is based on Peer-to-Peer technology.

• Skype was founded and created by Niklas Zennström who is also responsible for Kazaa and Joost. These programs also base on Peer2Peer principles
• Skype was launched in August 2003 in an open beta version
• Skype is available free for all major platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile devices)
• Ebay aquired Skype in September 2005 for 2.6 billion Dollars
• In the beginning of 2008, Skype has more than 220 million users

Now, more than two years after the deal, Ebay had to admit that this was far too much: They had to take an impairment write-down of 900 million $, which means that they have taken a loss on its original investment.
To present, Skype earns money only when people use its Skype-In or Skype-Out services:

• Skype-In allows users be called from regular phones
• Skype-Out allows users to call outwards to regular phones or cell phones

And this is charged.
[News.com]

There were plans to integrate Skype into Ebay accounts. By that, buyers and sellers micght simply click a button on the screen to talk to each other, for example when a buyer has a lot of questions about pricy products or when an auction is only minutes from closing. So far, this did not work out. [USAToday]

As a conclusion, Ebay will start rebuilding th whole service:

The Skype service has been tremendously popular as a free service. But at some point, free doesn’t work anymore. It’s not a management problem. It’s a business model issue

[Jordan Rohan, RBC Capital Markets]

With an revenue of only 90 million in the 2nd quarter of 2007, we can’t talk of profit. Ebay is now desperately searching for new possibilities, as Hani Durzy utters:

Skype has been focused on user acquisition, and it’s done a great job. But we also feel like we can find new ways to monetize those users

Some ideas on that:

• Skype can start parsing voice conversations, like Google does by parsing email content with GMail [via]
• They can deliver advertisements on the program’s interface or during phone calls. That might leed to a loss of users who prefer ad-free services.
• Also, Skype might transform the software to open source and develop an additional charged version [A 2nd version of Skype Plus?] with extended VOIP options for companies, such as improved security, intranet functions etc.

Let’s observe it! I want to know how I will be monetized.

Well, thank God Brazil will not take part in the Euro 2008 this year:

It’s an assignment piece for a videogame. Fake or not - it stuns you!

Euro 2008 is coming on in big steps. Time to integrate the match timetable into your personal or business calender.

Check out these Euro 2008 iCal-Files that can be imported to Microsoft Outlook, Apple iCal or Mozilla Sunbird:

• Euro 2008 iCal / WebCal Calendar provided by iCalShare
• UEFA Euro 2008 provided by datasafehaven.co.uk

If you are using the iCal files, make sure to link to the original destination so your program can always use the latest schedule version (updates are promised).

Below you can find a link to calendar files in german, thanks to the football centered blog fussball-szene.de:

• iCal (for Apple, Sunbird or Thunderbird with Lightning, also for import to many other applications like OpenXchange, WebCal)
• PST (can be directly opened in MS Outlook and MS Exchange)
• Excel (for the guys who like lists and to printouts)

Check the list here: Spielplan und Spieltermine EM 2008 at fussball-szene.de