btrax blog

前までよく利用していたのはLive365。
最近はすっかりLast.fmで音楽を楽しんでＬｉｖｅ３６５にアクセスすることも無くなった。

Last.fmとは音楽のソーシャルネットワークサイト。サイト側がユーザーがつけたＴａｇや最近聞いた曲などによって
そのユーザーの好みそうな曲をながしてくれて
2007では50 Best Websites 2007
にも選ばれています。

違いはやはりlive365のようにただひたすら曲が流れるのと違って、(しかも基本的にＬｏｏｐで曲が流されているため、好きなＲａｄｉｏも毎日は利用しようとは思えない)
Last.fmは他のユーザーのつけるＴａｇ効果だろうか、好みの曲が流れることが多い。
もし聴いている曲のアーティストが好きならばさらに他の曲も簡単に聞くことができる。
そのうえAmazonやiTuneは３０秒しか試聴できないがLast.fmならフルで聴けるのも嬉しい。

前々から好きな曲だけど曲名やアーティストが不明だったのまでこのLast.fmによって
解決されたこともあってさらに私のLast.fmへの高感度もあがる。

btrax visited clients and colleagues at Itochu, Google, Intel, Stanford University and B-Bridge International. Itochu is ranks among the world’s largest companies with 1,027 subsidiaries operating in over 80 countries, including btrax client Itochu Technology. B-Bridge International is the largest private biotechnology incubation center in the U.S. founded by Japanese entrepreneur Hiro Masumoto. B-Bridge (BBI) facilitates the exchange and commercialization of novel biotechnology between North America and Japan.

Wii Fit is coming to the United States! Nintendo’s Wii Fit is an interactive fitness game that takes Wii Sports to the next level. Instead of using a remote, players stand on a pressure-sensitive Wii Balance Board to play games that are designed to improve their fitness through yoga, aerobics strength training and balance exercises. Wii Fit assesses your body mass index (BMI), posture, weight distribution and balance levels and keeps a record your progress over time.

Unlike the many games out on the market that focus on combat, warfare or role playing, Wii Fit is a lifestyle training game that engages a new generation of gamers. The motion sensor remotes and the new Wii Balance Board make game play more intuitive than button mashing. With a wide selection of games that keeps players off their couches and on their feet, Wii games can capture a larger audience including those who normally wouldn’t be interested in more traditional genres.

Nintendo announced that it has already sold more than 1.4 million Wii Fits in Japan since its release date in December 2007. Wii Fit will go on sale on May 19 in the United States, and many people are　rushing to pre-order their Wii Fit before it goes out of stock.

Though YouTube remains the most popular video sharing site for most of the world, Japan has given birth to its own version of the streaming media sharing genre called Nico Nico Douga (translated literally as “Smiling Videos”). What makes this site stand out is the way it simulates a real-time conversation between users, as their comments are overlaid and synched with on-screen video footage of the user’s choice. The site proved immensely popular with Japanese audiences as a recipient of the Good Design Award in 2007 and ranked in at #6 on the list of Japan’s top web sites as of April 2008. The site has received some bad press, however, due to it being frequently trafficked by Akihabara-going otaku types, though the videos on the site are as diverse as what one would find on YouTube. According to the traffic ranking website Alexa.com, the site’s popularity transcended Japanese borders and spread into other parts of Asia. Take a look at the following breakdown of the top four access rates by country in 2008:

Japan – 82.1%, China – 4.8%, Taiwan – 3.4%, Hong Kong – 3.3%

WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg and btrax CEO Brandon Hill chat at a SF Entrepreneur Meetup event. The 24-year old MULLENWEG was named #16 of the 50 Most Important People on the Web by PC World in 2007. His open source-based company has become the world’s largest blog platform and recently garnered $30 million from investors, including a sizable stake by the New York Times. WordPress has no physical office and its staff work from home around the world. Out of 700 million Internet users worldwide, more than 200 million people read a WordPress blog each month.

Comscore社の最新 インターネット利用者動向調査によると、2008年1月時点で全世界でのインターネット利用者は8億２４００万人。アジア・パシフィック地域のインターネット利用者数(15才以上)は前年比14％の伸びで、 3億人を越え、昨年に続いて地域別で最大となった。

■その他地域での利用者数■

欧州　2億3000万人

北米　1億8000万人

南米　5900万人

中 東・アフリカ4000万人

＊これらの数字に携帯電話やPDA、インターネットカフェなどからの利用は含まれません