Open Social gaining support

Yahoo! has just announced that is backing up Open Social.

Google created OpenSocial. From Google website:

OpenSocial defines a common API for social applications across multiple websites.
The ultimate goal is for any social website to be able to implement the API and host 3rd party social applications. There are many websites implementing OpenSocial, including Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING.

To encourage its support, Google has created with other industry players the Opensocial Foundation.

Facebook has not yet joined the initiative, but probably will follow soon..

social networks & music

Yahoo messenger lets you listen radio and you can check out other Yahoo! members who like your style of music.

With Google talk you can let your friends see what you’re listening to by selecting “Show current music track” in your status menu and check out what Google Talk users are listening to across the world. Check also Google Music Trends.

Last.fm is a website (with an associated program) that tracks what you listen to, learns what you like, and suggests music you might like. These preferences are also extracted from your social network and from people with your similar music taste.

All of these programs have more or less the same features and propose the same concept. The scope is clear, offer users the music they like, and eventually, monetize the service somehow.

Mashups from Google Docs spreadsheet

There are not limits on the ways mashups can be created and applied.

Google is creating new ways to create content on top of Google Docs, with the Visualization API, and it is pretty interesting. For example, charts created in Google Doc spreadsheet can be easily exported, with a few clicks, to a webpage or in iGoogle.

Check their blog post: Opening Google Docs to users and developers via Gadgets and Visualization API

The Mckinsey Quarterly

The Mckinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.
If you are interested in management, business strategy and corporate strategy, (and finance, marketing, operations, etc.) the The Mckinsey Quarterly website is the right place for you.

Most of the articles are available for free and with the free registration you can receive news on various topics by email.
The premium subscription allows you to receive the magazine plus it gives you full access to all articles in the website.

A great source of insights!