This Week in Web Apps

This week has been very profitable for Oracle at the expense of SAP and tarnished their image by getting them branded pirates, the guys at 4chan found a new chew toy, the Facebook killer is off the ground and you might be sued for using the word “Face” in future.

Read on after the break for some of this weeks best web app news and updates.

4chan spoofs Wikipedia Founder’s Appeal

Once a year, Jimmy Wales amuses himself by pleading on the pages of Wikipedia (and this year with a photograph of himself) asking users to donate their money to “keep it free of charge and free of advertising”. It is so ridiculous to see the 5th largest website in the world holding the pot.

A single block of text ad could bring in tens of millions of dollars to Wikimedia coffers and just like Mozilla, this money could be used to promote open source software and its awareness. Just because Mr. Wales had a brilliant vision ten years does not mean he is always right. Folks at 4chan are making fun of this appeal (and rightfully so) on their homepage. Given their reputation, they are being so merciful with their comments!

SAP to pay Oracle $1.3 Billion for Software Piracy

I could not believe my eyes when I read this news. SAP did not infringe on copyrights or patents. They did indeed pirate Oracle’s software and sold it to customers! According to Bloomberg, the $1.3 billion award is the 23rd largest jury verdict of all time, and the largest amount for a verdict involving copyright, by far overtaking the previous $136 million settlement between the RIAA and Media Group Inc. Oracle is like Apple in the Enterprise business complete with a Steve Jobs esque CEO Larry Ellison. $1.4 Billion is chump change for them and this is verdict is more of a moral victory.

RockMelt gets its First Major Update

Social media browser RockMelt got a major update this week. In addition to bug fixes, the  underlying Chromium browser got upgraded to version 7. They have also enhanced Twitter and Facebook integration and sharing, and created a dedicated Gmail Notifier App. If you’re already using RockMelt, your browser will update automatically but you can download it immediately by opening the RockMelt menu in the upper left, choosing “About RockMelt,” and checking for updates. To know more about this newest browser in town, check out our review here.

Facebook about to trademark the word “Face”

USPTO has outdone itself by agreeing to trademark “Face” for Facebook pending a payment and few conditions. All Facebook needs to do is pay the fee within three months and the trademark will be issued and published in the official USPTO gazette.

While TechCrunch notes some legal points regarding the use of this word in conjecture with other words, it is a step in the right direction for Facebook. The sad thing is not a lot of people in the blogosphere are talking about this. How I wish they proceed to file a trademark for “Book” and get sued by Amazon and other publishing houses.

Diaspora opens to Private Alpha

The Facebook killer Diaspora opened its doors for private alpha testing. The goal behind this open source project is to share things openly in an open environment. You own your pictures, and you maintain ownership of everything you share on Diaspora, giving you full control over how it’s distributed. IMHO, their real success will remain if they could use your data downloaded from Facebook and pull your entire social graph from Facebook.  If you are interested, sign up for an invite at their homepage.

Facebook Removes Gmail from Find Friends page

Facebook and Gmail continue to fight amongst themselves at every chance they get. Gmail contacts import to Facebook has turned into a game of chicken in the past few weeks. Google is being a sore loser as they should have closed the door years ago. It’s funny how two corporate giants are deciding if “we” should be allowed to import our own contacts.

Share Your Thoughts!

What news from the app universe grabbed your attention in the past few days? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section. Thanks!