Comcast buys into Web3.0 with Plaxo...

A Letter from the CEO and Founders

Dear Plaxo member,

We are excited to announce some of the biggest news in the history of Plaxo. Plaxo has signed a definitive agreement** to be acquired by Comcast, the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services. We've got at least a few months to go before the acquisition is completed, but we wanted to send you this note to let you know what's coming up and how it affects you and your account.

Plaxo will remain an independent brand, organization and entity. We've been busy at work on our networked address book service and our next-generation social network, Pulse (if it's been a while, please come back and check out all the new features). And, through additional projects with Comcast, we'll be able to take these services to a lot more users and places than we could on our own... including the TV, phone and more.

If you'd like to read more about some of the great new things we're planning, please read our official announcement.

So, what does this mean for current Plaxo members like you? The services you know and enjoy from Plaxo will not only continue to exist, but will also continue to evolve and improve. We will continue to make our basic services free, and we will continue to serve customers in multiple languages across the world. But, we'll now be able to invest even more in our services, and we will enhance them with more users and more content available across a wider array of devices.

We will also continue to protect your privacy and give you control of your information. We will continue to protect your data with one of the strongest privacy policies, which will remain in effect even after the transition. And, we'll continue to be a strong advocate for the open social web.

We've put together a quick Q&A about your privacy, account and your data.

Last, we'd like to extend an enormous thank you. Whether you've been a Plaxo user for a long time or just recently joined Pulse, we'd like to thank you for making Plaxo a vibrant network. We are excited to open a new chapter today and look forward to helping you keep in touch with the people you care about.

Sincerely,

Ben Golub, Chief Executive Officer
Cameron Ring, Founder and Chief Architect
Todd Masonis, Founder and Vice President of Products

Racing to Web3.0

Joe Marchese of SocialVibe wrote his latest entry via Mediapost regarding MySpace, Facebook and Google racing to Web3.0.

It is clear that things are bubbling up and I have been preaching about social aggregation for years now...Its not a matter of whether "MySpace and Facebook play nice" its a matter of what users want. The nice part about web3.0 ubiquity is that neither "MySpace or Facebook have to win" one over the other. Those sites are there to serve the users and their need to connect- sure there is overlap but at the end of the day there are very clear user experiences that set them apart.

I for one would love to have the convenience of signing up to all the new sites (Although I'm not a big fan of Myspace) that interest me on Mashable posts which seems to be about 1 new site every 5 minutes but simply for the purpose of profile casting and search engine optimization as a social media practitioner.

FriendConnect is going to do what ClaimID has tried to do over the last couple of years and quite frankly what I originally wanted for SocialURL from the beginning.

SocialURL App?

Met with Pete from Mashable last week and he announced that they have an API out similar to Facebook. Asked if I would create a SocialURL App so that he can plug. Often wonder how everything would be completely different if we partnered up. Its one of those rare occasions of "What If".

Guess If we do win that IdeaBlob contest it could come true!

IdealBlob Winner!...(almost)

Got an email saying I'm just a vote away from winning the IdeaBlob contest for $10K- after that I'll go and collect my $950,000 from this other guy in Africa who just inherited the money from his family and is looking to invest in the US.

GrandCentral meeting at Google Campus

Visited the Google Campus the other day and met with the GrandCentral product manager, what an awesome place. First when arriving you see the employees riding the Google baby blue beach cruisers. When you sign in there is a screen that asks for your name and who you are there to see and it prints out your nametag sticker...ahh...makes you feel official.

The campus is only a few minutes from Ipevo's office but it felt like being on the movie set of Toys (that corky 80's movie with Robin Williams). The culture that they've created is one that all startups envy. Before going into the meeting conference room my colleague Ed and I pass through the cafeteria which is fully stocked with all the beverages and snacks you'll ever need to work 24/7...

Meeting was very interesting and crossing fingers for future integrations with IPEVO and Google...needless to say- I am an official Grandcentral member call me to test it out anytime: (408) 922-9933

MySpace Cancelled...

I cancelled my "MySpace" account today...It felt so liberating. I never used it so it was pretty easy to do so. I realized that it is a cause of a lot of drama in my domestic life and felt too much like high school with no end. I have kept in touch with my best friend since were were 12 and for the last 20 years we managed to keep in touch even without myspace.

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs is changing...it has gone from Self-Actualization as the pinnacle of needs to something needed as food and shelter. Many will deny it but it is a proven fact that people who are on social networks are spending more time on social networks than in real life networks replacing real friendships, family and/or even real sexual intimacy. It is a causing a false sense of "Self-actualization", a false sense of "Esteem" (reputation), a false sense of "Love/Belonging" and sadly a false sense of "Safety" to the ruin of many who are addicted to such websites like MySpace.

Facebook is also becoming much more like this and its initial purpose no longer exists. I will likely cancel that account soon too. Linkedin has provided me with support for my basic need- a network to help me find work in order to support my "Physiological" needs. Beyond that -most of the professionals that I am networked with I have met at functions or in business settings so it does not feel like another social network. Recruiters and Offshore engineers are starting to make it a bit concerning at times.

The Best Document Social Network Site

So as of late I've been finding some great resources via the web (go figure). I was on google searching for key word terms: "Common Stock Option Agreements" and it came up with a few listings.

1. www.slideshare.net

and

2. www.docstoc.com

I am a member of Slideshare and enjoy their powerpoint presentations and PDF exchange forum, but last night i found myself downloading about 15 documents from docstoc.com and really enjoyed the search function on it which was very accurate, resourceful and fast.

I recommend any startup entrepreneur who is in need of documents to visit both of these sites to gather their needed templates for startup work.

I would totally invest in these sites if they were interested in taking investors.