'Net Features : saturday-special

Yahoo! BOSS v2 Arrives

Pete Prestipino — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:03:00 GMT

This week Yahoo! launched version two of BOSS (a "build your own search service"), a data API that gives developers access to web search, image and news content for a usage fee. Version one of BOSS will be shut down this summer, scheduled for July 20, 2011.

The primary changes in version two are that web and image search results and now sourced from Microsoft's search engine, Yahoo branding attribution is now required (the first version allowed for white labeling), and arguably the most significant in that developers are now charged based on query volume.

The Yahoo! Search Boss v2 API Guide can be found here which includes information on using oAuth with the new API, syntax specification on querying the API and the formats, and syntax for calling ads from the platform.

SugarCRM Gets Social with IBM, Google, Cisco and Citrix

Pete Prestipino — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:00:00 GMT

CRM solution SugarCRM released several additions to Sugar 6 including most notably integration with applications from IBM, Google, Cisco WebEx, and Citrix Online.

“Today’s professionals are demanding business tools that enable them to work the way they want to work – in a connected, always-on world with fewer barriers,” said Larry Augustin, CEO of SugarCRM. “No other CRM platform offers the breadth of social business and collaboration offerings in such and open and flexible manner.”

Sugar 6 improved its integration offerings for the IBM Lotus Collaboration product family, resulting from the recent acquisition of iExtensions CRM from iEnterprises. SugarCRM and IBM are also announcing general availability of Sugar for IBM LotusLive, first introduced earlier this year, which lets users schedule/host Web meeting from inside their CRM solution and creating a more broader social collaboration platform.

Better collaboration tools are definitely in focus right now. For example, the latest edition of Sugar 6 will offer integrations with popular web meeting tools including Cisco WebEx Meeting Centre and Citrix-GoToMeeting, and let users upload, manage and share Google Docs right inside the Sugar 6 user interface.

Activity streams in Sugar 6 also got a few new features. Sugar Activity Streams include the ability to reply to individual posts, view user profile photos within posts, integrate a Sugar user’s Facebook news feeds, as well as integrate the Twitter streams that a Sugar user follows.

WordPress 3.1.1 - Recommended Security Update

Pete Prestipino — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:30:00 GMT

Popular self-hosted blogging platform WordPress received an update that brings it to version 3.1.1.

This version contains several important security fixes including two relating to the media uploader, an XSS flaw, and one that caused a PHP crash in certain conditions when handling "devilishly devised links in comments."

Keep in mind that failing to upgrade may leave your blog vulnerable to attacks. Current WordPress users should have already received notified about the update in their Dashboard. If not, or if you aren't a user just yet, you can download WordPress 3.1.1 from the official website.

Alongside the security patches come performance improvements, fixes for taxonomy and some permalinks, as well as various things that have been causing plugin compatibility issues.

Discussing Do Not Track Legislation with Carl Szabo

Mike Phillips — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:50:00 GMT

Do Not Track legislation is one of the hottest topics on the Web. Advertisers have a vested interest, as some proposed legislation would strip away the ability to serve targeted ads completely. But it's not just advertisers who are in danger. Do Not Track has the potential to cause a trickle down effect, meaning publishers, merchants and all kinds of Web businesses could face serious consequences including lost revenue. This week on Website Magazine Radio we talk with Carl Szabo from NetChoice about this very important topic.

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