Filed under: Business, Internet, Blogging, Web services, web 2.0
OneSpot expands WSJ partnership
Back in June, we covered OneSpot -- a subscription service that allows publishers and businesses to deliver relevant content from across the web to a targeted audience. As I described the service then, think of OneSpot as a white-label Techmeme/Sphere/Digg solution for small and large publishers. OneSpot is a really great concept, because not only do publishers have the ability to supplement their own content with targeted and relevant content from around the web, they still have editorial control over what stories and sources appear on their site.
Today, OneSpot announced that it has closed a $4.2 million Series A round of funding, led by Silver Creek Ventures out of Dallas. With the economy being what it is, and with venture capital for start-ups becoming more and more of a scarcity, this is a big win for the Austin-based company. I caught-up with Matt Cohen -- OneSpot's founder and CEO -- on Friday and after hearing about what OneSpot has been up to since we last spoke, and what the plans are for the future, it was clear why these guys are succeeding despite the rough economic climate.
Since June of 2008, WSJ Online (the online arm of The Wall Street Journal) has been using the service on theWSJ Law Section and Law Blog, to supplement its own coverage with news from around the web. The integration has been a success and OneSpot is now integrated in the Technology, Health, Politics, Personal Finance and Business sections of the site. If you go to any of those sections, in either a sidebar or column, headlines related to that category appear from sources across the globe.
OK so a large publisher like WSJ can take advantage of OneSpot, but what about individuals? The details are still being tweaked, Matt told me OneSpot is working on a solution for individuals (think probloggers). That's really exciting to me, because I know that there are lots of individuals or smaller sites that would love the ability to supplement their own content with current stuff from around the web, without having to manually cull sites or feeds, only to post a link.
We're going to be hearing a lot more about content filtering and aggregation in 2009, whether it is through separate sites like Alltop and Regator or subscription services like OneSpot. OneSpot's funding shows that this is a real area to watch in the coming months.
Once upon a time, many a geek would fantasize about a knock-down drag 'em out deathmatch between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Well, it looks like chances of that are pretty slim. While it's well documented that these two industry icons haven't always had been particularly chummy, it appears that they are over whatever disagreements previously plagued their relationship. 
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
