So what is LinkBee all about? Basically it’s a TinyURL type service but they insert an ad on the site that you’re linking to and YOU make money off it! That’s right, they share 50% of the revenue with you. Its easy to create and manage a collection of links using their site and they also tell you how much money you have made so far. There is even the ability to refer friends and earn revenue from the links they share!

It’s easy to Sign Up for LinkBee, it literally takes 5 seconds. If you have a decent twitter following this is definitely something to check out.

What I probably liked most about the article wasn’t even android related. Instead, they question Google’s various revenue generating strategies.

Still, if this is a technical issue, it speaks to Google’s deeper issues of creating new revenue streams in-house, rather than going out and acquiring the technology instead. Google still hasn’t come up with a way to make money from YouTube; the company has had enormous difficulty breaking out of its search-advertising-only model; DoubleClick gets them into display advertising but Google had to spend billions to buy it, rather than developing the technology on its own.

Android puts Google into arguably the most dynamic sector in tech, but it seems like the company is having difficulties, either with its potential customers, or with the software itself.

I also would like to point out this comment that made me laugh from the WSJ article.

But some developers say it is easier to work with Apple’s programming tools than Google’s because of the familiarity with the company’s Macintosh operating system. As a result, a wide range of software companies have been scrambling to build new iPhone applications.

Obviously people familiar with the Macintosh operating system are going to find making apps for the iPhone easier. But what about the fact that there are a LOT MORE java developers who work on Windows or Linux than those familiar with the Mac platform?  FACT:  C# > Java > Objective C

I have already posted a few things about the new MVC framework so I won’t explain why Im excited for it. But, I havent talked about PostSharp so lets go over that really quick. First, you NEED to watch this video. It goes over exactly what I am using PostSharp for and shows off its power in just a few minutes. Next, you need to read up on what Aspect Oriented Programming means. The wiki article is pretty complex though. What you need to take away from it is how it helps programmers ’separate concerns’, modularize your code, easily apply ‘aspects/modules’ to various parts of your code and avoid maintenance problems. Another good link is http://www.postsharp.org/aop.net/.

Let’s talk about the sample project now.

I needed a nice, clean way to add extra behaviors to the MVC Controllers as well as the Action methods within them without copy pasting code. More specifically, I needed the ability to run code before and after each method call. Usually, to achieve this you would add extra methods calls with the Action method to run your code and make a decision based on the results… BUT I didn’t want that! So here’s a simple example of how to apply security to Action methods as well as logging each invocation of an action.

To create the sample project I first created a new MVC Web Project and added the references from PostSharp (PostSharp.Public and PostSharp.Laos). In this example I required the user to be authenticated before they can click and visit the About page in the sample MVC site. To do this I created a new class that inherits from PostSharp.Laos.OnMethodBoundryAspect and implemented the virtual methods available. I then added my new Attribute to the About action method in the HomeController. Now everytime the About action is called it will actually run my authentication code BEFORE running the About code and I can make a decision about whether to let the user continue or not. I can even inject a different return value for the method!

I know I was pretty vague on the actual coding details, but you can just look at the simple solution itself.

Download It Here!

“The SP1 release of Visual Web Developer 2008 Express adds support for both class library projects as well as web application projects (previously only web site projects could be used with it).  This new support is useful in itself, as well as in enabling both ASP.NET MVC and Silverlight project support with VWD Express.  If you install the Visual Web Developer Express SP1 Beta you can start using ASP.NET MVC Preview 3 with it immediately.”

Its about time! I hated the fact that you couldnt create Web Application and Class Libraries in the express edition. Now you can do it all! You even get Asp.Net MVC support!

So, how does it work? How much does it cost? Check out their site for a bit more information.
http://www.s5w.com/Products/FAQ.html

Also check out some other articles people have written about them.
Gizmondo - Poor Man’s LoJack
ABC News - Utah company takes crack at problem of tracking

UPDATE:

I found a article that covers a Q&A session with the CEO of S5 Wireless and its very interesting. There is a bit more information in this one. Check it out here - S5 Wireless Interview with David Carter, CEO

Here are some parts I found the most interesting:

“If you just imagine all of the things that are of value to you, would you pay $10 or less for a tag and a couple of dollars a month to keep up with them, to know where your children are when they’re out with the family car or on a camping trip in the mountains with the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts?”

“The location and telemetry information is then sent to the customer in near real-time. The tracking accuracy is comparable to GPS, and we can deliver about 60 bits of telemetry with every transmission, enabling monitoring of fuel levels, temperatures, heart rate, etc.”

This is a pretty good Q&A article that covers how the Windows Mobile team views the mobile OS market and their competitors. The vibe I got was that they have no fears because they have been in the market for so long and any new-comers are entering an already croweded market (Android). There are also a few comments on the iPhone and the App Store.

Video: http://azarask.in/blog/post/firefox-mobile-concept-video/

Two people forwarded this article to me yesterday saying this is where we should create a startup. But, as most of you know I’m not really a fan of social networking. Dont worry though this article isn’t another rant about that…

A recent study pridicts that wireless social networking is going to boom and generate $2.5 Trillion by 2020. With a headline like that you could be convinced that wireless social networking is THE market to enter RIGHT NOW! Well, wait just one minute. First, they are projecting the market to be that big in 12 years. Can anyone REALLY predict what mobile devices and the internet are going to look like that far into the future?! Where were we 12 years ago in technology?

Of course, you could argue that even a small slice of that market early on could be profitable now and even more so in the future. But I have one question… is this article assuming that someone has invented a good way to make money of social networking besides ads? If not, then wouldn’t you think you should be getting into mobile online advertising instead? I also think the fact that sites like YouTube and Facebook have yet to earn a profit should be somewhat of a warning to those thinking that social networking is an easy cashcow.

In conclusion I want to state that I’m not saying this is a market everyone should avoid. I just think that things grew and boomed so fast in the world of social networking that no one really knows how it is goign to evolve or how we’re really going to turn a profit. With users expecting everything to be free and with the majority of social networking users being young adults without a single dollar to spend, I would need to see a better business model before I get even a little bit excited about this market.

Does anyone really think that Apple can sell 10 million iphones by the end of this year? Are you going to buy one? As a developer, the reasons I wont buy one are that you can only develop apps for it on a Mac and that you must distribute it through the apple store. Those are some pretty heavy restrictions.

Come on Android, save us already!