Monthly Archives: April 2007

Attack of the wireless patent trolls

Posted on April 9, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I did a vanity search last night on the patent office’s published application database looking for some patents I’ve submitted. I came across a lot of patents submitted by Strategic Patents, P.C. The name itself screams patent troll. Trolls are … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, intellectual property, yahoo | Comments Off

On the road

Posted on April 8, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’m in NYC much of this week (will be popping in and out of SES). Stop by the AOL Search booth and see the AOL gang. Next week, I’m in San Francisco for the Web 2.0 Expo.

Posted in rocky's travel | Comments Off

Advertisers disintermediating newspapers, too

Posted on April 8, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I wrote yesterday about content providers disintermediating newspapers. Advertisers are doing the same. We’ve all heard about the effects that craigslist has had on the three pillars of the classified business: real estate, automotive and recruitment. Direct-to-consumer email poses a … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, local search, media, newspapers, publishing | 3 Comments

A traveler’s toolkit

Posted on April 8, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Here’s a look at the contents of my laptop bag on my recent trip to Colorado. Click through to flickr to identify each item. Missing from the picture: the camera used to take it, camera charger and the vehicle mount … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer electronics, gps, wireless | 4 Comments

Disintermediating newspapers (and the most useless RSS feed ever)

Posted on April 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I mentioned earlier that one of the big challenges facing newspapers is that much of what they do is unoriginal; many newspapers are just aggregators. Comics are an example of content that many people looked to newspaper for. Mislead the … Continue reading →

Posted in media, newspapers, publishing | 4 Comments

Newspapers vs. search engines

Posted on April 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

The Tribune company’s soon-to-be owner, Sam Zell doesn’t like search engines. From the Washington Post: In conversations before and after a speech Zell delivered Thursday night at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, Calif., the billionaire said newspapers could not … Continue reading →

Posted in google, media, newspapers, publishing, web 2, web 2.0 | 7 Comments

Snow on the cherry blossoms

Posted on April 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

We got a rare April snow today, leaving a dusting on the cherry blossoms for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. See all my pictures from around the Tidal Basin. Zoom in three levels for optimal effect. Boo to Canon for … Continue reading →

Posted in flickr, google, gps, maps, yahoo | 1 Comment

Google launches free 411 (beta)

Posted on April 6, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Om Malik reports on Google’s beta free 411 service. Call 800-GOOG-411 to get free business listings. The service uses voice recognition technology to let you search business listings. Unlike Jingle’s 800-FREE-411, you can choose to be connected to the business … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, mobile, mobile search | 1 Comment

Map your world with Google Maps

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google today released a feature I’ve been wanting for a long time — the ability to make your own maps. You can add placemarkers and draw lines and shapes on the map. You can also add pictures to a map, … Continue reading →

Posted in flickr, google, local search, maps, personalization, web 2, web 2.0 | 7 Comments

A new local platform from Topix

Posted on April 2, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve written before about the need for newspapers to go hyperlocal — allow readers to get ultra-targetted news about where they live from their neighbors. Topix, a company owned by newspaper companies, is offering a platform to do that. Topix … Continue reading →