Eweek Videos

The IT Link podcast discusses the pressing enterprise IT issues of the day and ways that IT executives are dealing with them, hosted by Mike Vizard. In this episode: Security Outlook 2009.

Universal annotation system DotSpots, created by BizRate and Shopzilla founder Farhad Mohit, made quite a splash at the TechCrunch50 conference last week. Wired's Besty Schiffmann blogged that she had it pegged as the probable TechCrunch50 winner. DotSpots wants to bring a Wikipedia-like annotation system to every meme on the web, but is currently focusing on the news, COO Navid Aslani told me in an interview last Monday. Bloggers and citizen journalists can contribute to text content--like an AP news story--by posting corrections, opinions, links, YouTube videos, and Flickr photos and the Dotspots semantic matching system will distribute the annotation to wherever else the story appears. Google's Marissa Mayer, one of the judges for the presentation, said it was a "beautiful idea," according to a report by Clint Boulton at eWeek. Boulton thinks DotSpots would be "fantastic as part of a larger portfolio in the arms of Google, Yahoo, MySpace or Facebook" to help it gets the reach it needs, and we agree. Aslani told me the company's main focus at this point is ubiquity and that monetization is on "the backburner"; achieving that ubiquity would certainly be easier if the system were incorporated into Google News. DotSpots long-term business model is to have publishers attach "commercial dots" from advertisers into the DotSpots code, according to Boulton. --Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer

eWeek reporter Eric Jackson asks Will Microsoft try again to buy Yahoo as he expects Microsoft to return with yet another merger proposition for Yahoo next year because Microsoft still needs big help in online services.

The Last Show: Check out the PCMag Radio Feed for Further Gearlog Exploits.

The Apple iPhone SDK announcement: What it means for developers and consumers; Boycotting eBay: Why sellers did it and what they’ll do next. Brian Heater and Carol Mangis host.

Hunting for Terrorists Online, the Latest Hi-Tech Cars, Boycotting eBay for Fun and Profit, the Five Hottest Blog Stories in Five Minutes, plus Weird Gear. Dan Costa, Jen DeLeo, and Brian Heater host.

Blu-ray Wins battle, but Will Lose War; The Latest Smartphone News from MWC, Reports from the ToyFair 2008, plus the Hot Five in Five and Weird Gear. Dan Costa, Jen Deleo and Carol Mangis.

Hot Five in Five, Classmate PC compared with the OLPC XO, buying Yahoo!, the Freaky Geek’s love-tech, and Weird Gear. Carol Mangis and Jen Deleo host.

The Best Free Music Sites, Reports from the Greener Gadget Show, LeapFrog’s New Learning Path, Hot Five in Five and Weird Gear. Dan Costa and Jen Deleo host.

Scoops on AppleTV, a new iPhone dock, and Slacker, The Latest Good Clean Tech News, The Five Hottest Blog Stories Read in Five Minutes, plus Weird Gear. Hosted by Dan Costa, Carol Mangis, and Brian Heater.

Killer Cameras to Launch at PMA, Jumping Through EULA Hoops, the Future of the OLPC. Plus, 5 Hot Blog Stories in 5 Minutes and Weird Gear. Hosted by Dan Costa, Jen Deleo, and Carol Mangis.

Analyzing the Apple MacBook Air and an Update on High-Fed Porn, The Five Hottest Blog Stories in Five Minutes, Weird Gear. Dan Costa, Jen Deleo, and Carol Mangis host.

The Most Unusual PC Upgrades; Our 2008 Tech Predictions; A Gaming Extravaganza; The Hot 5 in Five; and Weird Gear. Dan Costa and Jen DeLeo host.