The future is big news this week. Or perhaps the past. Dave discusses the merits of time travelling web browsers and the ability to stare back into the internet of 1997, Geocities and all. IBM features again with the news of a computer that simulates a cat's brain and Nick debates whether this means the end for the human race.

Also this week, I take a look at Goldman Sachs, which has been in the news after it undertook a survey to find out how cloud technologies will benefit big business. Adrien also discusses some interesting news for the gaming community regarding an endless trial on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and the website of the week, while visually beautiful, is likely to confuse you.

I hope you enjoy the issue. If you do, why not visit our blog? And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @PromptLondon and @PromptBoston.

Hazel Butters
CEO
Prompt Communications

Time-travelling web browsers from Los Alamos

By Dave Wilby

I really enjoyed reading all about "time travelling web browsing technology" this week. In fact I was a little surprised that more wasn't made of it by tech hacks. Perhaps they are getting excited about it in the future and I actually read a report that won't be written until next week. It's possible. Or is it?

Well, no, to be honest, it really isn't. The latest time-browser technology pioneered at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico isn't about seeing into the future at all - it's all about accurately reliving the past. Researchers have developed a web browser with a "time-travel" mode which they claim will allow users to find web pages from particular dates and times without having to navigate through archives.

Called Memento, the system uses an HTTP function called content negotiation to allow one URL to send multiple types of data, depending on the settings of the browser that contacts the URL. "Your browser does this negotiation all the time, but you don't notice it," explained Los Alamos scientist Van de Sompel to New Scientist. "But HTTP content negotiation is not limited to arbitrating between, say, media formats and languages. So the team is adding another dimension. In addition to language and media type, we negotiate in time. So Memento asks the server not for today's version of this page, but how it looked one year ago, for instance."

The team has already thrown together a rough time-travelling plug-in for Firefox, but work is ongoing. Check out the demo. In your own time, of course.

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IBM-powered cats: coming soon

By Nick Keetch

About a year ago the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) enlisted IBM to create a computer that could simulate the brain of a cat. DARPA gave IBM, well known for creating computer chess geniuses, $5 million, and commissioned a machine that would have the brain power to know distinctly how to get everything from its owner and then act as if it had been slighted in some way so as to keep their human task master in check.

This week IBM announced that it has indeed managed to produce a computer, that in complexity and scale, mimics feline intelligence. In addition IBM claimed that it is making significant strides toward mapping the human brain. This mapping is intended to eventually lead to a full reverse engineering of human intelligence and computers that simulate natural brain structures; an endeavour termed as cognitive computing.

While it is thrilling to learn that there are now computers out there that can be easily distracted by shiny objects, DARPA sounds a lot like it hasn't seen the Terminator films. Isn't it aware that the end of the world starts with the innocence of simulating a cat, and then suddenly you have an artificially intelligent system which becomes self-aware, revolts against its creators, and destroys the human race?

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Goldman Sachs not high on the cloud

By Hazel Butters

Goldman Sachs undertook a recent survey of CIOs to examine how cloud computing and the open source technology underpinning it may play a role in global IT spending over the next three years. In recent times open source has played a prominent role in driving IT spending, especially in areas in which IT budgets have been cut, but there is still a need for IT infrastructure. The question is: will open source benefit the economy overall?

The picture presented by Goldman Sachs is cloudy. In the short term, it expects next generation data centres optimized for virtualization and the cloud to be a major area of investment for IT.

Major companies that are expected to benefit the most are IBM, HP, Cisco, Red Hat and EMC among others. It is interesting to note that the majority of vendors that are expected to come out on top are traditional vendors who have the largest portfolios of software and hardware. The dominance of the big players, however, is dependent on their ability to adapt to the new environment. The large vendors have been making moves in the area, but a lack of urgency means there is room for smaller vendors to compete.

The outlook is also much brighter for open source vendors than the report might suggest. In certain areas of the cloud there will be a lot of consolidation, but the management layer of the cloud still holds a lot of opportunity, and the embedded and mobile spaces are still wide open.

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Warhammer Online takes a page out of Dungeons & Dragons Online codex

By Adrien Bignet

When Mythic announced that it was going to do a Warhammer MMO, dubbed Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (or WAR), I was at first ecstatic. As a long-time player I loved the Warhammer (and 40K) universe and felt that the shift to MMO was a great idea. But after playing the game for a month I was disappointed. Apparently I was not alone, as WAR membership declined from 750,000 to 300,000 subscribers in the space of a year, and in the world of MMOs the inability to retain subscribers can be a death sentence.

So, taking a page out of the D&D Online book, Mythic decided to introduce the idea of an 'endless free trial' in order to try to revive the ailing game a week ago. Will this tactic work? It is too early to say, but if the success of Turbine's re-launch of D&D Online as a free to play game (more 'freemium' than free that is) then the future looks bright for WAR.

For more information on this please visit our blog.

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By Vicki Kim

...I say 'I should coco'

I've worked for Prompt for a while now, and as a passport-holding American who has lived in London, I like to think I'm immune to many British phrases and sayings. But yesterday morning as we were on a Prompt London/Prompt Boston call to discuss a new client and ideas that work well across the Atlantic, I was stumped by Max saying 'I should coco'. In fact, our whole team was confused as to whether this was a reference to the hot drink, a dance, or whether the old Polycom phone was just playing up.

But no, fellow North Americans, it's just British slang for someone agreeing with you - apparently originating from Brit rhyming slang for 'I should say so'.

Careful though; used with the wrong tone of voice, it can be a very sarcastic expression to mean 'yeah right, I really don't think so'. Perhaps this is one piece of slang we'll leave for the Brits to use. I should coco...

Have you ever been in a similar awkward, funny or interesting situation? We'd love to know! Share your stories by emailing us patattah@prompt-communications.com or even potato@prompt-communications.com.

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20th November 2009

Welcome

Technology News

Time-travelling web browsers from Los Alamos

IBM Powered Cats: Coming Soon

Goldman Sachs not high on the cloud

Warhammer Online takes a page out of Dungeons & Dragons Online codex (get it?)

Media News

US

UK

You Say Patattah...

The Unravelling of the Real 3D Mandelbulb

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By Adrien Bignet

In the world of video games, Massively Multiplayer Online games (or simply MMOs) are big business. "How big?" I hear you say, well read on to find out more:

• World of Warcraft has the lion's share of the 2009 subscription market with 56.6% and last year collected $1 billion in subscription revenue alone
• Chinese MMO Fantasy Journey Westward has the highest Peak Concurrent Users (highest number of players online at the same time) with 2.6 million people in 2009. World of Warcraft (Western and Asian servers combined) on the other hand hits 2 million
• According to analyst group Screen Digest the western MMO market could be worth $2 billion by 2013 while Asian market was worth more than that, 2.5 billion USD, 2 years ago
• 46.5% of active MMOs use a subscription based model while around 50% use either a 'freemium' or 'Free-to-play' model (where players can play a limited version of the game for free and/or buy in-game content)
• Finally about 50% of global World of Warcraft users are in Asia, yet due to the different payment methods used over there (Western subscription system vs. Asian pay-to-play) they only account for 6% of the revenue

US

By Vicki Kim

Popular tech blog Nerd World on technology has relaunched as TECHLAND, a new web magazine that also covers comics, movies, TV and more. Peter Ha, a technology editor for Time.com, helms the editorial staff.

Bloomberg has added Ted Fine, formerly of CNN, to its staff as an executive producer for Bloomgberg Television's afternoon programming. He will officially begin in his new position December 7. Also, fresh off its acquisition of BusinessWeek a few weeks ago, Bloomberg has named Josh Tyrangiel the new editor of the weekly magazine. Tyrangiel had previously been the managing editor for Time.com.

CNN's Lou Dobbs announced his departure as anchor of Lou Dobbs Tonight. Replacing him will be John King, who will host State of the Union with John King in Dobbs' former slot.

ABC has promoted several staff members. Dierdre Michalopoulos has been appointed senior managing editor for ABCNews.com. Taking over her duties is Ed O'Keefe, a former managing editor of the site.

Gizmodo's Joanna Stern has left the publication where she had covered mobile technology news since August.

Millimeter, a Penton Media publication serving the motion picture and TV production industries, announced that it is suspending its print version to become an online-only magazine.

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UK

By Laurie Santalucia

Haymarket is closing two of its media-related publications, Mediaweek and Revolution Magazine. As of 17 November, Mediaweek had its last print edition, but it will remain as an online publication. As a website, it will have content integrated into BrandRepublic and have contributions from Haymarket staff. Along with the new structure, 18 positions will be made redundant. Revolution Magazine will become a quarterly supplement for Marketing magazine, and in 2010 is expected to show up online and in blog-form.

London Lite flies away: The free newspaper produced its final edition on Friday 13 November. After three years of publication and over one million readers, Daily Mail & General Trust decided to shutter the publication and find jobs for its 36 staffers elsewhere in its organisation.

BskyB will be in charge of Viacom's UK and Ireland ad sales after striking a £375 million five-year deal. Viacom's channels include MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and BET. The staff of Viacom and Sky Media both face redundancies when they are combined on 1 January.

Global Investor/isf, a publication on asset management distributed ten times per year, has appointed Craig MacDonald to the role of editor, where he replaced Caroline Allen.

Mobile Business Briefing, a daily news service the GSMA produces for the mobile industry, relaunched and revamped its website, with an increased focus on social media.

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