David Notik

An updated Google Video, announced Friday during Google's keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas has just been launched. It's complete with the ability to purchase high quality content from a wide selection of initial premium content providers like CBS and the NBA. In tandem, Google now allows anybody to upload video content and set a price, with no minimum or maximum.

It's all part of a new era of television, micropayments, and more choice in how we get and use all types of content. Things I'm passionate about. I'll have more to say later this week.

The high-tech sector in Israel is booming once again, with the amount of workers this year reaching levels just shy of those seen before the dot com bust. Intel, the world's leading computer chip maker and one of Israel's largest private sector employers, announced it plans to spend $3.5 billion dollars to build another Israel-based plant.

Read the full article from News.com.

Things have come a long way for Israel. As the story says:

"...in 2000, Israel was hit not only by the dot-com collapse, but also by the Palestinian uprising, which drove away foreign players who had been crucial to high-tech development here."

Now, Israel's economy is growing steadily, with the tech sector playing a vital role.

"Israel now has more than 70 companies listed on the Nasdaq, more than any other country outside of the United States."

Yet another sign that the technology sector is doing well worldwide. And being Jewish (though I am American born and I have yet to visit Israel), a testament to the Jewish state's growing contribution to the information revolution.

There's news today that Google has filed documents with the SEC that shed new light on its alliance with AOL. Google plans to create a separate Limited Liability Company to hold its AOL interests (called HoldCo in the documents), and in July of 2008 Time Warner has the right to buy it back for appraised fair market value, or the holding company can go public itself.

This of course shows that Google really isn't concerned with diluting its own business with AOL assets, and their main concern is the attention of AOL's userbase. I believe Google wants AOL to succeed on its own, as its still an easy way for many to get onto the otherwise unwieldily Internet. The more people on the Internet, the more people can use Google's services.

Google will show AOL how to be viable on the open Internet. After that, it might make more sense for Time Warner to manage it themselves. My prediction is that Google proves to be the best thing that ever happened to AOL. On the other hand, not everyone agrees it's good for Google.

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Also of note in the SEC filings about the alliance is the detail that Google Talk users will have to first register with the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service to be able to communicate with AIM users. (One implication of this might be that rather than blindly let Google users connect to AIM users, AOL instead has knowledge of these users and can count them as part of their own userbase.) The filings clearly state that you'll be able to connect to AIM via the Google Talk client, and they make no mention of other clients.

But Google is firmly and publicly about open communications and the ability to choose your client. So it seems safe to say that when I register my Google Talk account with AIM, I will be able to (eventually perhaps) then speak to AIM users from any client that supports the Google Talk service (and any client can, really).

With this scenario, Google makes inroads towards open communications on an open Internet.

Updated.

In a great example of Google's superior communication skills, they've posted a statement to their blog that's aimed to quash concerns that the Google/AOL deal will tarnish the service with banner ads, biased search results, and other negatives.

I expected them to address this. Google knows that its success is due to its clear, uncontaminated search results and services, and they plan on preserving that quality.

As users, we've all been burned as capitalist forces have got the best of other companies and their services. Google has demonstrated that you can monetize this whole Internet thing without doing evil.

Just one reason why I'm a Google fan.

I've read opinions from across the board about Google's decision to invest $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL, and I thought I'd weigh in. I started life on the Internet with AOL, I'm now a big Google fan, and I'm very familiar with the services of each.

A History of AOL

In the early 90's, the Internet at large was a tangled jungle occupied mostly by hardcore geeks and savvy elitists -- your friends definitely weren't in the mix. AOL saw opportunity, and moved to open the Internet up to everybody -- ironically, by closing out the Internet as it was, effectively creating an exclusive walled garden.

Back then, the only way to get online was to use a dial-up modem -- you picked the best local access number from a list and waited for your computer to tie up your phone line so it could communicate with other computers on the Internet. Where other providers at the time (CompuServe was a popular one AOL later bought) connected you, then left you to your own, AOL took it further. Users of its service were greeted with a friendly "Welcome, you've got mail!" and were instantly privy to plush content and exclusive services.

The Internet is a power to behold. It gives us the ability to instantly connect, to share, to be on the same page (literally). Nobody disputes its inherent shining qualities, as we all at some time or another have e-mailed a friend, checked the latest stock information, or streamed music from our favorite band. We've sent flowers to Mom, talked worldwide for free, or auctioned off an item. The daring ones amongst us have joined discussion groups, started a blog, or collaborated on a document.

Yet, for all its brilliance, the Internet and its WWW offspring have managed to confuse us all -- starting with its biological parent, the computer. What program do I need for this file to open? Where did it download to? Sure, I'll accept cookies. Which of my 32 passwords is for nytimes.com? Why are my friends sending me viruses? Yikes! The computer just showed me a blue screen and mentioned something about terminating and fatal and -- ohhhh, help me Dave! Yea, they usually call the "computer guy", and I never even certified the damn thing gold.

Chances are you intents were pure and simple. You wanted to check out the picture from Jill, save it for later, read the article Jack sent, share your comments, and do it all without the fear of viruses, Viagra ad overload, or fatalities. You wanted to check the latest weather, purchase advance movie tickets, or compare prices on a new stereo, and not be overwhelmed and frustrated or launched into a sea of techno-babble. Heck, the TV just works -- why can't your computer?

There's no doubt that computers and the Internet have alot to offer, if only it wasn't so geeky or made us feel dumb. That, however, is one reason there are people like me, and collectively an entire industry, dedicated to making it work.

The Internet, nay computing itself, is immature -- but the things it already can do for us can't be ignored, so we end up participating anyway, using the nascent, clumsy tools we've got now. The good news is, it's evolving -- and fast.

And most aren't even aware of what it really makes possible. Suffice it to say, when one billion people (and growing) can connect instantly, and can do so in a way that lets us take advantage of our computers to sort and process vast amounts of information -- wow. You've been blown away by what you can do today, but there are people creating tomorrow.

Rest assured, dear friends, the future is bright.

And it's all about You.

Hang in there.

I'll be sharing news and other happenings I find interesting, particularly in the realm of technology and the Web, hopefully as it happens. I'll try to include useful information for those within the industry as well as everyday people who use the Web. This post is my first such attempt, and your comments are welcome.

Google has just announced a new API (Application Programming Interface) that lets developers build custom components for its personalized homepage service. The Google Homepage API, as it's called, was released along with documentation and a directory to showcase new modules. Google has already populated the directory with a few modules created by its staff.

I'm personally a huge fan of the Google personalized homepage. I use it to watch my e-mail inbox, monitor news I care about, check the weather, and a slew of other things -- all within one clean, colorful, and friendly page. I can't tell you how much cooler and convenient this has made my Web experience.

The new API means Web developers can now get to work creating these new components, and it means we'll soon see a host of new features you and I can add to our very own, personalized page -- making the Web an even friendlier place, courtesy of Google.

(Updated 12/14. Included definition of "API".)

Hello world.

These two words, especially familiar to anyone who's ever taken a computer programming tutorial, now serve as my own opening salvo.

I'm Dave. David Notik (pronounced nuh-tick). Do a Google search on me and you don't get much -- mostly just various technical posts I've made related to web development. Dig deeper and you might find some other randomness. But in a world where who you are is increasingly tied to how many results Google's got for you, I'm nobody.

But I've been watching.

Sure, I've been participating. I've been active on the Internet since at least 13, and had my first full-time job in the industry at 16 (more on that story later). I've started a consulting company, and have logged countless hours making the Web work for all kinds of organizations. I've immersed myself in understanding the Internet, the technologies that make it work, and what it means for us all, now and in the future.

Still, it seems, I've mostly been watching. Listening. Learning.

Along the way, I've been formulating and debating my own ideas and opinions, sharing my visions, and consequently scaring my friends and family.

So I'm nobody to Google. But I've yet to start talking to the world. This is my hello.

Hello world.

(Updated 12/13. What can I say, I'm a perfectionist.)