Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the Web, has embarked on a trip through Africa on behalf of the non-profit Web Foundation- which today announced two new projects. The Web Foundation exists to bridge the 'digital divide' in Internet usage. Only about 25% of the world population uses the Web today, however more than 70% of people have access to mobile or fixed communication devices capable of displaying Web content. According to the W3C, "the gap in Web usage is partly attributable to the lack of accessible or relatable content, and the lack of available training on how to use the Web to its full potential."SponsorOn his African trip, Berners-Lee will visit Kenya, Nairobi and Uganda. There he will meet with government leaders, development workers and educators to help support local Web initiatives - such as improving local health and education.The Web Foundation was founded in 2008by Tim Berners-Lee, with the aim of studying the Web and expanding access to the billions of people worldwide who aren't currently online. Today, the Web Foundation launched a fundraising campaign and announced two partnerships. On the former, Web Foundation CEO Steve Bratt hopes to raise $10-20 million per year, much of which will be put towards programs that train people to use the Web. One of the partnerships is with the University Amsterdamin the Netherlands, which aims to expedite "re-greening" initiativesthroughout the African continent. The other partnership is with the CDI(Center for Digital Inclusion), a social enterprise based in Brazil dedicated to educating disadvantaged youth about information technologies. The Web Foundation and CDI plan to develop training programs to teach young people how to create accessible Web content. It's interesting to note that many of the Web Foundation initiatives have a big Mobile Web component. In the CDI partnership, Web-based applications are being created that will be "mobile ready." Accessibilityis also a key aspect of these projects. The CDI web apps will integrate voice and graphical elements.In a previous trip to Africa in September, Tim Berners-Lee visited Ghana to meet with officials and educators. He's currently at the 2009 Internet Governance Forum in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt - where he made today's announcements. Starting next week, Berners-Lee will travel to Kenya, Nairobi and Uganda. Below is a video of Berners-Lee in Ghana, courtesy of BBC's Digital Revolutionprogram, talking with a Ghanaian about why he values the Web. You can see more of these videos here.Discuss

  Google's Chrome, the fastest major browser on the internet, appears set to launch an official gallery of browser extensions in the very near future. In the latest nightly build of the app an extension logo and a link to a gallery page appear when you open a new tab. Right now that link redirects to Google.com, but we assume the gallery's launch must be right around the corner.Chrome is deliciously fast compared to other browsers, but the very limited extension support and ecosystem are hard for Firefox-lovers to swallow. Firefox advocates always question Chrome converts about just how fast Chrome will be when it gets weighed down with extensions. It looks like we're about to find out.SponsorLee Mathews at Download Squadappears to have noticed this change first tonight among tech blogs. I've been struggling all night with an obnoxious Chrome extension that makes my page scroll much faster than is useful. Lee says extension support is expected in early December, but it's hard to imagine a dead link sitting on a Google product like this for too long.We wrote about some of the first unofficial extensions to hit Chrome this Springand then some code upgrades intended to shore up extension support this Fall. An unofficial directory of Chrome extensions can be found at ChromeExtensions.org. Install them with caution, it's not yet as simple as managing Firefox extensions is.What's your #1 request for a Chrome extension? I want Firefox Drag and Drop Zonesor the GCal pop-up plug-infor Chrome. Greasemonkeywould be nice too, though user scripts can be added manually to Chrome already.And I want it to sing with speed, just like Chrome does today!Discuss

  Barack Obama spoke to a group of Chinese students tonight at a town hall in Shanghai. The meeting was streamed live, worldwide on the Whitehouse website and on the Whitehouse's Facebook page. He was asked a limited number of questions by the audience and one was about Twitter, which has been blocked in China since July.tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/obama_i_have_never_used_twitter.php';tweetmeme_source = 'rww';Got that? The President went to China, was asked about Twitter and it was streamed live on his Facebook page. How the world has changed.SponsorObama was asked by a student, "Do you know about the great firewall and should we be able to use Twitter?" His reply: "I have never used Twitter but I'm an advocate of technology and not restricting internet access." (via Breaking News Online)He's never used Twitter! Shocking, given that his accountwith 2.6 million followers has even been "verified" by Twitter headquarters! (Update: As a reader points out in comments below, the Twitter website says that verification is given to accounts representing organizations and public figures, but doesn't verify who's actually Tweeting the Twittle.)Of course Obama needn't use Twitter or Facebook at all, much less effectively, so long as he hires people who are capable of making effective use of cutting-edge communication technologies in his Administration's name. Clearly, he can. It might not hurt to add a staffer's initials to the messages that are not paraphrases of any official statement, though. That's what Britney Spears does with her Twitter account.Twitter is ImportantDid you believe that Barack Obama was personally using Twitter?(surveys)Meanwhile, is this not a changed international communication landscape? In these frictionless self-publishing tools, with real-time worldwide message delivery and network effects in listening, distribution and learning - there is something so powerful that it's a matter of international diplomacy.Whitehouse Press Secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at Twitterthis summer and told CNN the site was blocked on Whitehouse computers, something that subsequent reports apparently disproved but interesting none the less. It's no laughing matter, though. The impact of Twitter-like services really is like, in type if clearly not intensity, the changes the world saw with the advent of the telephone and the railroad. CNN and live cable coverage of Tiananmen square, Twittering (or not) from China: these fit into the same category of disruptive tools for international communication.Maybe you should try it sometime, Mr. Obama. And while you're at it, you should ask someone to brief you on the movement for distributed social networking standards. A speaking gig in China would have been a great opportunity to sing the praises of decentralized, standards-based, interoperable, free-market competition in communication technologies. That's the next part of the Twitter story.If you'd like to join the ReadWriteWeb team in discussing matters of global importance (or not) on Twitter, you can find us here.Discuss

  In a breathtakingly riskymove, a former Russian police officer has taken to the Internet in full uniform to detail the corruption, danger, and brutality of his line of work.In an open video address to Prime Minister Vladmir Putin, Alexei Dymovskysays, "Maybe you don't know about us, about simple cops, who live and work and love their work. I'm ready to tell you everything. I'm not scared of my own death." How much does Dymovsky have to fear? The answer might surprise those of us who are accustomed to the relative freedoms of self-expression.SponsorOver the past week, Dymovsky's videos have gotten more than a million views altogether and have created quite an uproarin Russia. In the videos, he speaks with an air of desperation, frustration, and resignation rarely seem on camera. He speaks of the ten years he spent serving and protecting his country.Dymovsky served in the Russian army from 1996 until 1998. After that, he worked as a district commissioner of the city police in the Amur region. In 2004, he was transferred to the city of Novorossiysk police department, where he eventually advanced to the post of senior security officer and oversaw crimes related to drug trafficking."We are working as hard as we can with all our souls," Dymovsky says. After referencing losing two wives, who refused to put up with his work, and problems with "relationships with the bosses," Dymovsky says, "I want to talk about it now." He speaks of being denied leave of absence or medical treatment for illness, about police taking bribes, and about pervasive corruption. "I am not afraid," he says, "I am telling my name... But I cannot stand detecting the nonexistent crimes, imprisoning people who are not guilty. I can't stand it anymore."Take a look one of the videos Dymovsky has posted so far:These videos bear significant political impact, but they also speak to the importance of the Internet in acting as our generation's soapbox. Any wronged person has an almost infinite capacity to express, persuade, and convince. Currently, a source at the Russian Interior Ministry's internal security department has confirmed to at least one publicationthat representatives of several human rights organization actively support Dymovsky.The officers mentioned in Dymovsky's reports have filed libel suits against him, and the Russian interior minister has said his office is investigating the former police officer's claims.Discuss

  At a UN-sponsored event today in Egypt, UN officials demanded the removal of a poster that alluded to the issue of Internet restrictions in China.The poster was an advertisement for Access Controlled, an MIT publication about the so-called Great Firewall of China, one of the first national Internet filtering systems and a policy that has come under harsh international criticism. The poster was being displays at the fourth annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forumin Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The purpose of the forum is to support UN mandates regarding the sustainability, robustness, security, stability, and development of the Internet.SponsorIts mission makes the poster's removal all the more puzzling. The poster, displayed at an Open Net Initiativereception, was apparently removed because it contained a sentence that violated UN policy. The sentence in question reads as follows:The first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous "Great Firewall of China" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems.The goal of the Open Net Initiative is to investigate, expose and analyze Internet filtering and surveillance. We remain unclear on the exact policies the poster violated; however, we must strongly question the act of its removal, which amounts to censorship of protest of censorship - a censorship sandwich, if you will, which few of us can find appetizing."It is ironic that while people are allowed to gather here to discuss freedom of expression online, censorship, and surveillance practices on the Internet, we are being restricted in expressing our views," said Al Alegre of the Foundation for Media Alternatives, a member of the ONI Network, to reporterstoday. We couldn't have said it better ourselves.In our previous coverageof Chinese censorship of Internet access, we alerted readers to the fact that every new computer sold after July 1, 2009 would be equipped with software "intended to block pornography and possibly filter politically disruptive material, all while quietly gathering private user data." This "Green Dam Youth Escort" software is closely related, both ideologically and politically, to the "Golden Shield Project," China's national firewall aimed at censorship and surveillance of user activity.Discuss

  There are organizations out there embracing social media with open arms, open hearts and open minds.But others aren't nearly as welcoming. And if you're working for such an organization, you've probably felt a little like a space alien when you try to advance even the most modest of social media projects: "See, if we had a Twitter feed, then we could monitor customer service issues and resp-" "Twitter?! Why, it's full of viruses, spam, pornography and Ashton Kutcher! Speak to me no more of this apostasy!"Which means you, my friend, are what I've come to call a stranded evangelist: a stranger in a strange land.SponsorChances are you spend your days banging your head against the brick wall of an organizational culture of fear, hierarchy and entrenched power, and your nights tweeting your frustration to friends living with the same pain.There are ways of changing your stranded status: building trust and alliances within your organization, going for the smallest of small wins and expanding from there, gaining insight into your organization's strategic goals so you can find both pain points and sweet spots where social media can help. But while you're waiting for those efforts to take off, you can at least take some comfort in the knowledge that you have company.So the next time you're proposing a Facebook Page or a blogger outreach initiative, and getting the kind of reaction usually reserved for stories of alien abduction (or, worse, getting the same kind of probing often featured prominently in those stories), then just smile, nod, and remember:We are not alone.More Noise to Signal.Discuss

  Our mission at ReadWriteWeb is to explore the latest Web technology products and trends. We're fortunate to have a great group of sponsors who support this goal. So, once a week, we write a post about them; about who they are, what they do, and what they've been up to lately. Pay them a visit and show your appreciation of their sponsorship of this site. Pay them a visit or tweet them a "Thank you" (see link below each sponsor) to show your appreciation for their sponsorship of this site. You can also start following some or all of our sponsors on Twitter with a few clicks on this TweepML page.Interested in being a ReadWriteWeb sponsor?ReadWriteWeb is one of the most popular blogs in the world and is read by a sophisticated audience of thought leaders and decision-makers. We have several innovative new features in our sponsor packages that we'd love to tell you about. Email our COOfor all the details.SponsorReady to learn more about the smart companies that support this site you love to read? Read on...Skip to info about:Mashery: API management services |Rackspace: cloud computing experts |Aplus.net: Web hosting |Crowd Science: demographic data |Hakia: semantic search |Domain.ME: .me domain registrar |Codero: Managed hosting |Groupsite: Social collaboration |NaviSite: Managed hosting |Faroo: Real-time search |Search Engine Strategies: Conference |MyDomain.com: Domain registrar |Backupify: Online backup |Media Temple and SixApart: our hosts and blogging softwareCrowd ScienceCrowd Sciencegives online publishers reports on the demographics and attitudes of their audience. We at ReadWriteWeb have signed up to this new service, because demographic data is something we've struggled to get in the past. 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Check out the white paper "Five steps to scaling your business development using Web services" to discover how you can use APIs for your business.You can find out more about APIs and their business use at www.mashery.com.Thank Mashery on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.RackspaceRackspaceis one of the world's largest hosting providers, but it's also competing in the cloud computing arena. Rackspace Cloud Hosting offers a suite of services which combines a scalable web and application hosting platform (Cloud Sites) with a cloud storage solution (Cloud Files) and on demand server instances (Cloud Servers). The addition of SliceHosta popular cloud computing and hosting provider and JungleDisk, a favorite online backup servicethat supports Cloud files, makes the Rackspace Clouda powerful cloud hosting solution.Explore Rackspace's hosting and cloud computing solutions.Thank Rackspace on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.Aplus.netAplus.netoffers a variety of services relating to Web hosting, including shared hosting, Web design, marketing and online advertising services, search engine optimization, e-commerce solutions, and domain registration.You can register for Aplus.net here.Thank Aplus.net on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.HakiaHakiais a semantic search engine. It delivers a new search experience based on focus, clarity, and credibility. You can compare Hakia to Google and Bing here.Hakia currently powersthe contextual advertising link engine at ReadWriteWebwith its semantic advertising module, Contexa. Contexa provides page-level contextual analysis (in this case, of blog posts) on the fly and outputs keywords that represent the meaning of the page along with their meaning score. The Contexa system then matches ReadWriteWeb sponsors' requirements with the contextual representation of the page to provide relevant ads for readers. Contexa is offered as a service and can be integrated into any ad system.Learn more about Contexa.Thank Hakia on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.Domain.ME.Meis a true phenomenon among TLDs. With its unforgettable meaning and limitless word combination possibilities, .Me gives a truly personal tone to your domain name. If you are looking for a name that speaks for itself .Me is your best choice. Let .Me speak for your online business or personal blog..Me potential is enormous and it simply asks for you to be creative and coin the name that suits you best. If you have a great, original idea for a domain name, register .Me before it's taken. To check out other ideas, explore the world of .Me.Thank Domain.ME on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.CoderoCoderois a former division of Aplus.net. Codero became a separate entity focusing on dedicated and managed hosting solutions after the acquisition of Aplus.net's shared hosting, web design, and domain registration services by Hostopia. "Codero" stands for collaboration, engagement, focus, reliability, and flexibility. It means a more secure computing experience for email, shopping, and data transfer.Codero is a dedicated and managed hosting company focused on the real needs of today's small and mid-sized businesses. The company believes in supporting robust websites, storefronts and online communities that will grow and adapt.GroupsiteGroupsite.comis a self-serve platform for creating social collaboration communities called Groupsites. Groupsites combine the most useful features of social networking and collaboration tools enabling groups large and small to communicate, share and network. Groupsites are currently in use by more than 30,000 groups as user communities, intranets, member communities, team workgroups and social networks. Each Groupsite can be branded and customized and includes discussion forums, calendaring, file sharing, member profiles (professional or social), activity feeds and full-featured sub-groups among other group-centric features.Sign up and createa free Groupsite in minutes.Thank Groupsite on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.NaviSiteNaviSiteis a leading provider of enterprise hosting and application services for a diverse client base. Leveraging a diverse network of 16 enterprise-class data centers across the US and UK, NaviSite offers a predictable technology environment and a complete suite of infrastructure and application solutions.NaviSite's product and service offerings include:Vast custom application development capabilities, including SOA solutions, eCommerce, and Web 2.0 applications.Full stack of enterprise hosting services for mid-market companies, including shared, dedicated, and complex hosting, SaaS enablement, and colocation.Best in class managed hosting, such as virtualization and utility computing.Thank NaviSite on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.FarooFaroois a peer-to-peer Web search engine that has no centralized index and crawler. Each web page visited by users is automatically included into the distributed index. 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MyDomain's complete range of solutions include Web hosting and VPS hosting, email, SSL Certificates and more.Search Engine StrategiesFrom social media to local search to video SEO, Search Engine Strategies Chicagoputs you in front of the experts who will help you sort which technologies and channel will take you to the next level and which are just hype.Search Engine Strategies is the pioneer of educational conference series in search engine marketing. It's the venue where the industry visionaries and thought leaders gather each year to discuss the newest trends, share insights and present the strategic action plans you need to grow your business.Thank Search Engine Strategies on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.BackupifyBackupifyprovides reliable online backup services for a range of products, including Twitter, WordPress, Facebook,Delicious, Basecamp, Google Docs, Gmail, Zoho, Flickr and Photobucket. Backups are secure, automatic and easy to set up.Thank Backupify on Twitterfor making ReadWriteWeb possible.Our Gracious Hosts and Blogging SoftwareReadWriteWebis hosted by Media Templeand is published using SixApart's Movable Type.If you've ever wondered what ReadWriteWeb looks like behind the scenes, or if you've never seen the Movable Type publishing interface - that's it on the left. We recently upgraded to MT 4.23, which is the latest version. We got onto this release as soon as it was available - in fact our contacts at Six Apart emailed the actual codeto us before it was up on their website. That's customer service for you!Thank Media Templeand SixAparton Twitter for making ReadWriteWeb possible.The companies above pay our rents or mortgages and we appreciate it. We hope you'll stop by their sites and see what they've got to offer.Have you got a smart company that could use some more visits by the sophisticated readers of a blog like ReadWriteWeb's?Drop us a lineand let's talk.Thanks to all our sponsors and our readers for your support!Discuss

  We've added a couple of more events to this week's events guide. You can download the entire event calendarin iCal format or import it into your Google Calendar. You can also import individual events using the link beside each entry. This events guide is a weekly feature here on ReadWriteWeb. We publish it every weekend, as good a time as any to review your conference plans.Know of an event taking place that should appear here? Let us know in the comments below or contact us.Sponsor18 – 19 November 2009: San FranciscoGreenBeat 2009VentureBeat, the leading innovation-focused business blog, will host the seminal conference on The Smart Grid, November 18-19 in San Francisco. GreenBeat 2009 brings together the nation's 500 leading entrepreneurs, investors, utility and technology executives, policymakers and press to affect accelerated development of a leaner, more efficient electrical grid. With participation by Al Gore, former Vice President and Nobel Prize Winner; John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins; and industry leaders, including from Cisco, Tendril, PG&E, expect lively discussion and power networking. The program will highlight new technologies and explore the opportunities afforded by the stimulus package. For more, visit www.greenbeat2009.com.ReadWriteWeb readers, save 20% on regular price tickets with discount code GREENRWW09 here.19 November 2009: Mountain View, CaliforniaUnder the RadarFeaturing the most cutting-edge mobile startups from around the globe, Under the Radar will get you dialed in to what the 2010 mobile innovation marketplace will look like. It's a must-attend event for dealmakers from global carriers, brands, media companies, and handset manufacturers responsible for helping their companies leverage new mobile technology and innovation in the fast-evolving digital landscape.Save $200: book by 2 October 2009, and get the early-bird rate.30 November 2009New Way to WorkDo you have a great story about your work environment? Job marketplace Elance and Vator.tv have partnered to host the "New Way to Work" competition, with a grand prize of $10,000 in cash or health insurance for the most compelling story. You can tell your story on Vator.tv, the premier platform for entrepreneurs to broadcast their voice, by uploading a video, posting an update, linking to a blog entry, or sharing a photo. Hurry, the competition ends on 30 November 2009.1 – 3 December 2009: London, EnglandOnline Information &IMS 2009Online Information and IMS together create the largest event dedicated to the information industry. Consisting of an exhibition delivering over 9,000 visitors from 70 countries, a conference and a show-floor seminar program, the event provides an annual meeting place for the global information industry.Online Information is once again set to play host to thousands of information professionals, information end-users and publishers from around the globe, meeting suppliers of online content, e-publishing, and library management solutions. IMS provides a forum for IT, business, and information management professionals to find unlimited, relevant advice, educational content and compare solutions under one roof. Attend IMS and meet suppliers of content management, search solutions, and Web 2.0 technologies.1 – 3 December 2009: Boston, MassachusettsGilbane Conference BostonJoin us at the sixth annual "Gilbane Conference Boston: Content, Collaboration and Customers."Your content is your business, and you need to make your Web content part of an integrated platform for customers. You need to know solutions and technologies that are ready to be implemented today. Gilbane Conference Boston is built around the four major areas of how enterprises use Web and content technologies:Web business and engagement;Managing collaboration and social media: internal and external;Enterprise content: searching, integrating and publishing;Content infrastructure.Visit www.gilbaneboston.comfor conference details. ReadWriteWeb readers, use the discount code "GILBANE" to save an additional $200. Register today!1 – 3 December 2009: San FranciscoSupernovaThe Supernova Conference is the thought-leadership forum for the network age. It brings together over 500 business, government and technology influencers to understand how decentralization and pervasive connectivity are changing our world. It's the only conference to focus on how networks have become the main instruments of change from both business and social perspectives.An ever-evolving network itself, the conference has become the place for highly interactive and spirited debates, making significant business connections and revelations on new innovation.ReadWriteWeb readers get a discount of $700 off the regular price when registering by 16 October 2009. Use code "RRW09". After October 16th, the discount changes to $200 off the regular price. Register here.7 December 2009: San FranciscoSF MusicTech SummitThe SF MusicTech Summitbrings together 600+ visionaries in the music/technology space, along with the best and brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. We meet to discuss the evolving music/business/technology eco-system in a proactive environment, highly conducive to deal making. Register with a great ReadWriteWeb 15% discount.7 – 11 December 2009: Chicago, IllinoisSearch Engine Strategies 2009From social media to local search to video SEO, Search Engine Strategies Chicago puts you in front of the experts who will help you sort which technologies and channel will take you to the next level and which are just hype.Search Engine Strategies is the pioneer of educational conference series in search engine marketing. It's the venue where the industry visionaries and thought leaders gather each year to discuss the newest trends, share insights and present the strategic action plans you need to grow your business. Sessions include:SEO Through Blogs and FeedsDuplicate Content and Multiple Site IssuesWhat's the Link Between Search and Social?Online PR: Where to Next?Search AnalyticsSee more at www.SearchEngineStrategies.com/chicago. ReadWriteWeb readers receive a 15% discount when registering hereusing RWW15 code.11 December 2009: Mountain View, CaliforniaAdd-on-ConAdd-on-Con is a single-day conference focused on the future of the browser and its emergence as a platform.Developer sessions will cover best practices, cross-browser development and mash-ups. Marketing sessions will focus on monetization opportunities, distribution strategies and stats. Join 200+ individuals involved in add-on development to help define an emerging new market in the Web's eco-system.ReadWriteWeb readers save $50 by using the discount code "addoncon09RRW."11 January 2010: Nashville, TennesseeSocial Fresh NashvilleThis is the social media conference that comes to you. Social Fresh is a one-day, case-study-rich conference targeted for marketers. Social Fresh Nashville will have 30+ speakers, including Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer, Gavin Baker of Ruby Tuesday and John Andrews of Collective Bias (formerly of Walmart).ReadWriteWeb readers get a 15% discount with the code "RWW15".27 – 28 January 2010: Amsterdam, The NetherlandsEnterprise Social 2.0: Rip or ROI?This senior executive event will bring together decision makers from the Top Fortune companies to discuss innovative strategies on how to maximise business performance through social media engagement. The event will include keynote speeches, best-practice presentations as well as interactive discussion sessions.The summit will provide excellent opportunities for you to hear international experts discuss best practices on how to drive business performance using Web 2.0 and social media. Key issues to be discussed include:How to integrate social media programs successfully into business strategies?Building business momentum, visibility and market growth through social mediaMeasuring success and influence using metrics and analytics: what are the tools and techniquesIntegrating viral marketing and social media into traditional marketing mixDeveloping and activating audiences using social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs8 February 2010: Tampa, FloridaSocial Fresh TampaThis is the social media conference that comes to you. Social Fresh is a one-day, case-study-rich conference targeted for marketers. Social Fresh Tampa will have 30+ speakers, including Chris Barger of GM, Maggie Fox of Social Media Group and John Andrews of Collective Bias (formerly of Walmart).ReadWriteWeb readers get a 15% discount with the code "RWW15".15 – 16 March 2010: London, England2nd Annual Social Networking World Forum — LondonThe 2nd Annual Social Networking World Forum takes place at the Olympia Conference Centre in London. The two-day event features four dedicated conference streams:Social Networking World ForumEnterprise social mediaSocial TV World ForumMobile Social Networking ForumThe event features key speakers from global brands, organizations, social networking publishers and developers, pioneering social media leaders, top agencies, content producers, and more.Full workshop program within exhibition areaEvening networking receptionPre-show online meeting planner for delegatesFree pass for exhibition onlyDownloadthis entire events calendar in iCal format.Discuss

  The chief executive of Rackspacesays the company has closed the gap with Amazon, gaining significant market share in its cloud computing compared to a year ago. In an interview with Reuters, Chief Executive Lanham Napier said a year ago Amazon was "incredibly far ahead," of Rackspace in the cloud computing market. But this year he said Rackspace has closed the gap with Amazon's web services business.SponsorNapier did not provide details about the gap nor how much Rackspace has gained on Amazon. He did say the Rackspace cloud business contributed 10 percent to the company's revenue in the third quarter. Business for cloud computing services has been growing in excess of 100 percent per year. In the second quarter, the Rackspace cloud business grew 17 percent.The cloud business does have its pitfalls, in particular in respect to the tight margins that come with offering the service. Napier said those tight margins have been offset by its hosting business. Rackspace provides hosting to large enterprises. Cloud computing services are primarily provided to customers for hosting websites and renting servers that can be scaled up and back down at any time.But can this scenario continue? Competition is only starting in the cloud computing market. Rackspace competes with other cloud computing providers such as Joyent. Microsoft will soon enter the game. The key will be in how to add margins to the cloud business. Depending on traditional hosting business may get tricky if more of that business goes to the cloud, too.Amazon seems to be fighting that battle on a daily basis. They continue to add features but have to respond to market pressures with competitive pricing. The companyrecently announcedit was dropping prices for its EC2 service.Disclosure: Rackspace is a RWW sponsor.Discuss

  Six years after creating Second Life, Philip Rosedale announced that he would be focusing on a new project. Shrouded in mystery, the Linden Chairman and fellowtweetmeme_url = 'http://www.readwriteweb.com/readwritestart/2009/11/second-life-founder-launching.php';tweetmeme_source = 'rww';Lindenite Ryan Downe began work in October on Love Machine Inc. Said Rosedale in today's blog post, "Yes, we are working on making a version of the Linden Lab LoveMachine (and some other tools too)...hopefully we can sell [this] to some companies and help them out." ReadWriteWeb sought to answer the immortal question - What is love? SponsorLoveMachine is best known amongst Linden employees as a method of peer review. According to a 2006 Second Life Herald article, it was once used as a points-based employee incentive tool. Linden employees gave and received "love" for a job well done. If an employee was well-received amongst his or her peers, their accumulated love currency was redeemable for a cash bonus at the end of the month. Similar to social capital systems like Whuffie Bank, it appears that LoveMachine may become a reputation currency system for businesses. Intrigued, we visited the location of LoveMachine's virtual officefor more information. Judging by the posh waterfront property and lack of outside distractions, the real world's down economy has not affected the peaceful Second Life metaverse. While startup companies in San Francisco are downsizing from their SOMA lofts, Rosedale and Downe have built themselves a tropical paradise. The duo have left their boardroom open for potential contractors to view the company worklist. Contractors have a choice of being paid in US or Linden dollars and must complete an initial project before becoming a long term employee. From the projects given to potential employees we know there is an iPhone app and database involved. At this early stage, other tasks include setting up a server, printing 50 decks of cards and delivering Ryan Downe a steak burrito. For the sake of the company we're hoping the burrito is a lower level priority. Given Rosedale's success at Linden, it will be interesting to see if the plucky entrepreneur can infiltrate middle management and monetize employee incentive programs. While the Second Life universe has been a boon for virtual learning environments, widespread adoption in the boardroom has yet to materialize. Depending on the barrier to technical entry, Rosedale may find more mainstream appeal in this latest venture. Discuss

  News reverberated through the developer community that long-time and highly prominent community contributor Joe Hewitt has quit developing the iPhone Facebook application. While Joe said that Apple has the right to do what it wants, he does not agree with its policies and has chosen to move on. Joe posted this tweetin the afternoon of November 11th:"Time for me to try something new. I've handed the Facebook iPhone app off to another engineer, and I'm onto a new project."SponsorThis guest post was written by Elia Freedman.The ProblemApple's App Store is a mess for small and independent developers. Very few developers are making even a livable wage, and the approval process is a black box.Let's start with making money. Pinch Media reportsthat the average iPhone application has netted (for the developer) a grand total of $8,500, and 80% of developers have made less than that. That's not per month - which would be a starting point for a two-person team - but rather total revenue earned.And as reported a few thousand times, the approval process is a black box. For the most part, developers don't know whether their app will be approved or in what timeframe, making the entire experience a nail-biter.Should Apple Care?Well, of course, Apple should care. Apple should be inclusive of its community and encourage small developers to grow and make a living from developing for the iPhone. Apple rightly views the App Store as a competitive advantage and should continue striving to keep its developers in-house.On the other hand, Apple is not responsible for marketing and selling for its developers. The App Store is a distribution medium, not a marketing and sales platform. Apple has a system in place for enabling customers to quickly and easily purchase and download software for their devices. And it has been a massive success, with over two billion downloads.The difference, though, is that the apps that Apple needs in the App Store most - gaming and entertainment titles - are getting in. And they are being developed by some of the biggest brands in the world. After all, the iPhone and iPod Touch are, first and foremost, entertainment devices.Note that these big brands do not face the same problems as the rest of the developer community. Many have contacts deep in Apple, are magically ushered through the review process in a few days and get great placement on Apple's virtual store shelves. Electronic Arts, for example, has no public rejection stories and currently has titles throughout the list of top grossing apps, suggesting that it is in the top 10% for App Store revenue generation.And so, Joe Hewitt has quit the App Store. It's a great show of unity for small developers, but Apple has clearly linked successful applications to big brands, and those brands continue to clamor for iPhone presence.Guest author: Elia Freedman is the CEO of Infinity Softworks, the leading provider of software calculators with over 15 million distributed. In its 13-year history, Infinity Softworks has developed applications for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows, Palm OS and Windows Mobile. Elia writes about tech, mobile and running a business on his blog, eliainsider.comand at Twitter as eliajf.Discuss

  The Google executive in charge of Google Enterpriseis talking smack about Microsoft Office, saying that firms will be able to get rid of the software suite in one year's time.Man, those are some fighting words. The remarks came from Dave Girouard, president of Google's enterprise division, in an interview with ZDNet Asia.SponsorIn context, what Girouard says does make sense. Open formats are the rule these days and proprietary formats like those from Microsoft will have less of an appeal. But it may not be just Google that rules the enterprise. Microsoft SaaS offerings will become more robust and a number of new players are making headway.Girouard, one of four presidents at Google, said that in a year's time, Google Docs will have a "point of capacity," that will be enough for people to make the switch from Microsoft Office.He admitted that at this point, Google Docs is much less mature but efforts are underway to add 30 to 50 new features and performance upgrades that will put it in a position to work for the "vast majority" of users.He added that Microsoft Office will never go away but as it stands it is overkill for most users. In his words, Office will be more for specialty users.Hubris? Perhaps. Microsoft still has a huge lead and its Sharepointproduct is really the future for Microsoft's place in the enterprise.But open formats are what's hot. Young people are used to the way the Internet works. They have access to so much information that it is critical for them to port it to where they want it to be. Girouard says this movement will spread into the enterprise.Discuss

  Adobe announcedearlier this week that it plans to lay off almost 10% of its workforce. At the same time, though, the company also announcedthat it plans to expand its investment in e-books and digital publishing. Adobe is creating a new organization within the company that will focus on products for book, newspaper and magazine publishers. With Bill McCoy, however, the company is also losing one of its most visible advocates for open e-book standards in this week's layoffs.SponsorReorganizing Adobe's E-Book GroupsThis new organization within Adobe will bring together the e-book business groups that worked on the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK, Adobe Content Server, Adobe Digital Editions, as well as the group that worked with the New York Times on the Times Reader 2.0. The new group will focus on developing products and business opportunities for digital publishers. These will include support for business models like subscription, advertising and retail. Sony, for example, currently usesAdobe's Content Server to power its DRM solution for e-books. While Sony offers its e-books in the ePub format, it also uses Adobe's Content Server to wrap a proprietary DRM solution around the open ePub format.Bill McCoy is Leaving AdobeBill McCoydrove Adobe's push towards making ePub the default format for eBooks. McCoy, however, is leavingAdobe as part of the restructuring. We can only hope that the company will continue to push for open standards in McCoy's absence. More details about McCoy's role at Adobe can be found at TeleRead.Discuss

  Sometimes, it feels like terms we thought had some meaning really don't apply as much anymore.Take the term "social media," as an example.It's like every SEO marketer decided that "social media," was the ticket to a sweet consulting gig. Just look at Twitter. You find a lot of social media experts with tens of thousands of followers. Kind of feels like you are looking down a street filled with hucksters.SponsorSocial media once served as a term to help people understand the concepts that have risen over the past several years. It helped people understand the tools that can be used to gain a web presence. But the term took too broad of a meaning. At some point, a nervous rush ensued. Everyone needed a social media strategy. In the process, the term and the rush for "social media" adoption became ripe for satire:A More Holistic ApproachBut that's only part of the story. The other, more accurate story, reflects a trend toward a more holistic approach in the enterprise. Social media may only represent the tools we use but social computing reflects a deeper view of how the enterprise will adopt this new generation of lightweight technologies. We disagree that executives will continue to shun the term "social." If they continue to do so, they will be swept out by a generation of far more modern managers.Still, companies lack the capabilities and the discipline to develop operations that integrate lightweight applications into the enterprise. They need help. They use the new tools available but lack the experience for implementation. There is a need for more community managers who can help with the overall approach. These people are not "social media" managers. They use social media tools to help join a culture that is fragmented in part due to the "data silo" approach that has become predominant in the enterprise.We spoke with the people behind two consulting companies about their approach to social computing in the enterprise: Pragmatic Enterprise 2.0and the Dachis Group.Pragmatic Enterprise 2.0Pragmatic Enterprise 2.0 is a new consulting company started by Dion Hinchcliffeand Michael Krigsman. The enterprise, in their view, is still wary of social computing. They are primarily concerned about risk, control and trust. To succeed with social computing, the enterprise has to work toward three major goals:Address key business concernsDemonstrate business valueAcquire social computing competencyBoth Krigsman and Hinchcliffe are respected members of the Enterprise 2.0 community. Hinchliffe is the founder of Hinchliffe and Associates. Krigsman leads Asuret, a company that focuses on project intelligence and risk navigation. They work exclusively with Socialtext, led by Ross Mayfield. Socialtextpredates the Enterprise 2.0 movement.Their approach is a combination of Hinchliffe's 20 years of experience as an enterprise architect and Krigsman's long time work examining IT failure. Sociaitext is their defacto technology environment, which they chose after a review of about 70 companies. The company begins its project by gathering intelligence, followed by tool integration, community management development and a degree of project intelligence to define the risks involved. "We gather strategic intelligence to avoid the downsides and reduce project waste," Krigsman said in an interview. "We leverage best of breed social tools and build social computing competency."Here's a full look at their approach:Pragmatic Enterprise 2.0 OverviewView more documentsfrom Dion Hinchcliffe.Dachis GroupDachis sees the enterprise going through an age-old transformation. Traditional software is essentially adapting to a new age. They call their approach: "Social Business Design." Social Business Design, as they view it, is the process of creating socially calibrated and dynamic business systems, process and culture. That's a mouth full but it reflects the enterprise demand for measured systems that show people are being productive and getting the work done.Unlike Pragmatic Enterprise 2.0, Dachis is technology agnostic, partnering with vendors when it makes sense.The Dachis approach puts a large emphasis on the need to focus on process, culture and technology. This means creating a plan for systems architecture, helping companies adapt to the cultural changes involved and all the aspects of the enterprise that need to be taken into consideration. This means understanding issues about governance and having a pretty keyed in measurement strategy.Here's their slide deck. It's a long one but it moves along. Pretty good, overall:Social Business Design: The Enterprise is Dead. Long Live the Enterprise!View more presentationsfrom Jeffreydachis.Last Words About Social MediaSocial media is still a term we use. But it has become so cliche that it is somewhat of a turn off. It's important to distinguish that the people who have championed the cause for social computing are often deeply involved with the "social media" community. They are important people in the enterprise who should be sought for leadership in bringing the world of social computing to the ways we conduct business.Social media sounds too much like buzz hype. We need to get down to business. Social computing is a good thing. But even better is the proof that these practices work so we may use tools that help get the work done.Discuss