November 7th, 2008 / No Comments » / by oddbits
Usually one hears about companies offering a product for free during a beta phase and then making it a for-fee product. In an unusual move, SportSims.net today announced that Franchise Football Simulation, formally $9.95 per month, is now free.
Franchise Football Simulation is an online football fantasy game that simulates every facet of a professional football franchise. The game takes about ten minutes to play –making it convenient for break time- and has features including; game plans, trades between team owners, and a live, online draft. According to SportsSims the game utilizes a precise simulation engine and statistical model which USA Today has used for predicting the Super Bowl for twenty years.
David Holt, Vice President of Development at SportSims said, “Here we are in 2008, and my biggest dream has been realized: that football fans around the world can play in organized leagues using their coaching and managerial savvy and lead their team to victory… for free!”
I don’t get the appeal of fantasy football personally, but companies offering popular products for free is always worth a mention.
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Posted in: News
Tags: Fantasy Football, Football, Free, online, Sports, SportsSims
November 7th, 2008 / No Comments » / by oddbits
This week, Army Veteran, Michael Aiesi, launched Armed Forces Community, a social network for the troops and their families. The site is free and allows users to create profiles, showcase ribbons and badges, post videos, create blogs and participate in forum discussions. Users can also search for others based on service background and zip code. The only draw back is that the site is not linked with iLink and therefore may not be accessible to some military personnel depending on where they are deployed.
iLink is not a social network. It is a sophisticated social network analytics technology from SRI International that has been integrated into online communities used by the military. On its website iLink writes about the military’s decision to bring social networking in-house:
It was only a year ago that the military shut down access to several social networking web sites, including MySpace and YouTube, to users of the military networks. However, that shutdown was not so much a criticism of the social networking technology itself - only the public nature of those “civilian” networks. Concerned that users would share secure information like schedules or locations (for example: “Hi Mom! We’re sailing into Dubai tomorrow!”), the military opted for a “better safe than sorry” policy. They also cited bandwidth concerns - sharing videos and photos can use a lot of bandwidth and not all areas of the world have much to spare.
According to the iLink website,
iLink is being used in the military communities to help recognize “who knows what” within a community, connect members to each other, and point members to valuable content, discussions, and others who share their same interests. Those connections between members and resources are made with iLink’s machine-based learning to model the users and the content in order to facilitate the information sharing.
The military is using iLink with at least three social networks. The first one links the troops with each other and their families. The last two are targeted toward specific audiences within the military.
Army FRG (Family Readiness Group) connects Army families to the troops and also connects military personnel to each other. The site has friendly social network features such as YouTube-style video email and discussion forums. Membership to this forum is strictly limited to Army personnel and their families. Members will be verified during the sign-up process. Information is available in the FAQ.
The following forums are closed to anyone not meeting the member requirements (specific ranks within the military) so the descriptions are direct copies from the front page, which is visible.
Platoon Leader - PL connects leaders in the experience to leaders with the experience, and enables future platoon leaders to prepare to lead more effectively. By joining PL, you are choosing to participate in a voluntary community of professionals who love leading Soldiers and who are committed to building and leading combat-effective platoons!
Company Command - CC is company commanders. We are a grass-roots, voluntary forum that is by and for the profession with a specific, laser-beam focus on company-level command. By joining, you are gaining access to an amazing community of professionals who love Soldiers and are committed to building combat-ready teams.
These sites focus on the Army. If you know of sites for other branches of the armed forces, please list them here. Helzerman’s Odd Bits is always happy to give a shout out to any sites supporting the troops so if you know of a site hosted by any branch and would like to have it featured in a separate post, send details in an email to editor@helzerman.com.
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Tags: Army, Military, social network, Troops
November 5th, 2008 / No Comments » / by oddbits
In an announcement this morning Yahoo! stated that Google has terminated the advertising agreement that it announced with Yahoo! earlier this year. The agreement had been in danger ever since the Justice Department threatened to block it.
From the Yahoo! announcement:
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that Google has terminated the advertising services agreement the companies announced in June. Yahoo! continues to believe in the benefits of the agreement and is disappointed that Google has elected to withdraw from the agreement rather than defend it in court. Google notified Yahoo! of its refusal to move forward with implementation of the agreement following indication from the Department of Justice that it would seek to block it, despite Yahoo!’s proposed revisions to address the DOJ’s concerns.
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Tags: Advertising, DOJ, Google, Legal, Marketing, Search
November 2nd, 2008 / No Comments » / by Carlos Cisneros
Are you trying to conceive or expecting a baby in the next few months? Perhaps you’ve been a mom for years already. Have you been awaiting a social networking site full of moms? Well, the wait is finally over.
BMums.com is a social networking site for women trying to conceive, pregnant and women who already are moms.
Started by Sinead Hoben, the mission of Bmums.com is “to share the trials and tribulations of motherhood… the sleepless nights, the things your kids say, the things you’ve learnt, the things you want to learn… and make lots of new friends along the way!” Many moms-to-be become part of the network since it provides a place where women who have already experienced pregnancy can offer sound advice and tips on raising their new born child. Bmums also offers a forum where you can post your experiences as a pregnant mother or any questions you might have for the more experienced moms. At a glance, some of the topics range from contraceptive pills, temper tantrums during pregnancy, to sex after pregnancy. Judging by member enthusiasm, its unique concept, and active membership; Bmums.com has strong potential.
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Posted in: News, Social Networks
Tags: bmums, moms, pregnancy, social network
November 2nd, 2008 / No Comments » / by oddbits
For anyone who has ever asked, “Does anyone really fall for those lottery emails?” the answer is a resounding “Yes.” According to research commissioned by Microsoft on lottery scams, one in 44 Internet users has been a victim of Internet fraud in the last 12 months. Those who do not think they’re winning the Lottery may be victims of other variations of advance-fee fraud including inheritance “419” scams, lonely hearts, and a variety of opportunistic scams playing on disasters in the news (scams involving fake charities, abandoned travelers/workers, etc.).
Tim Cranton, associate general counsel for Worldwide Internet Safety Programs at Microsoft, said, “This online threat differs from those that try to exploit software code or attack computers. Lottery scammers prey not on software, but on the hope of their victims — and with scams that can be so creative and plausible, internet users simply don’t know whom they can believe. Microsoft is announcing this coalition with the African Development Bank, Western Union and Yahoo! today with the goal of helping to better ensure end-to-end trust in the internet for everyone.”
Much of the money changes hands through Western Union which has branches throughout the world.
“It’s a common perception that only naive and extremely gullible people fall victim to lottery scams. However, it can happen to anyone, especially those who are experiencing financial pressure,” said Christopher Fischer, senior counsel EMEASA, Western Union Financial Services.
Last week, Microsoft Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Western Union and the African Development Bank announced the formation of a coalition to raise global awareness among consumers of the threat posed by lottery hoax e-mails. Through this collaborative effort, the coalition members will educate internet users so they are better able to protect themselves against fraudulent activities online.
The companies provided detail in their announcement:
Lottery scammers often misappropriate or misrepresent established and credible brands to add authenticity to their hoaxes. The huge volume of e-mails they send coupled with the fact that their use of the internet enables them to transcend national borders makes it hard to understand the true scope and range of their activities.
To address this, victims of lottery scams that involve any of the coalition companies’ brands or services can report their experience to their local police authority. Interpol will communicate with national law enforcement agencies to inform them of the initiative and provide guidance on critical information to collect.
Victims will be invited to send a copy of the police crime report to the relevant coalition company member. Each company can then apply its own in-house investigative expertise in an effort to identify trends and common patterns, such as multiple scams emanating from the same geographic region.
“All four companies share a common interest in addressing cybercrime and online scams,” said William Godbout, chief security officer at African Development Bank. “There has been an exponential increase in the volume of online criminal activity using our trademark. Although there is no financial loss to the bank, these crimes impact our reputation and image. The reputation of African banking, of African development institutions and of the African continent in general are significantly jeopardized by the explosion in cybercrime falsely using African entities. With the assistance of our partners, in conjunction with both international authorities and local African law enforcement organizations, we will prosecute this criminal activity to the greatest extent possible.”
Victims of lottery scams can report cases by sending their police crime reports to the following dedicated and security-enhancedaddresses:
African Development Bank - security@afdb.org
Microsoft - lotfraud@microsoft.com
Western Union - spoof@westernunion.com
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Posted in: Crime / Scams, News
Tags: 419, Crime / Scams, Dating, Lottery, Microsoft, Scam, Western Union, Yahoo
SportSims Announces That Franchise Football Simulation is Now Free
