Alan Moore points to a presentation by Nova Spivack:

Web 3.0. -- Using the same pattern as the above Wikipedia definition, Web 3.0 could be defined as: "Web 3.0, a phrase coined by John Markoff of the New York Times in 2006, refers to a supposed third generation of Internet-based services that collectively comprise what might be called "the intelligent Web" -- such as those using semantic web, microformats, natural language search, data-mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies - which emphasize machine-facilitated understanding of information in order to provide a more productive and intuitive user experience."

Web 3.0 Expanded Definition. I propose expanding the above definition of Web 3.0 to be a bit more inclusive. There are actually several major technology trends that are about to reach a new level of maturity at the same time. The simultaneous maturity of these trends is mutually reinforcing, and collectively they will drive the third-generation Web.

Tomi Ahonen suggests looking at Finland for future directions: "In Finland last year already 18% of all phones sold were smartphones. Worldwide it was only 8%. Cameraphones? Around the world, more than half of all phones sold last year were cameraphones, but in Finland, 60% of all phones sold were high resolution cameraphones of 2 megapixels or above. While worldwide 32% of phones sold were musicphones (with in-built MP3 players) in Finland over half of all phones sold were musicphones. Does that spell good news for the industry which also sees India, China and Brazil as the big growth countries where bargain basement phones rule? The average retail price for phones sold in Finland grew by 10%. And finally an interesting argument for simultaneous convergence and divergence - while cameraphone sales kept expanding, the sales of stand-alone digital cameras also reached an all-time record in Finland."

Alan Moore writes:

89% of UK households with children have a games console, and 80% of those who play video games are aged 15 to 44. Further studies show that 40% of people who view ads in games are more likely to buy the advertised product.

Now, what I have been thinking is that gaming by its very nature is immersive, a form of engagement.

Does this suggest completely new ways to communicate with your audience? And I do suggest we are going way beyond branded entertainment or yawn, product placement... where the content is the advertising and the advertising is the content, where the advertising is the conversation and the conversation is the advertising.

I am an investor in mchek, a mobile payments company based in Bangalore. Full List is here.

[via Yuvaraj] Bob Sutton writes:

1 Producing smart individuals is the first step; teaching them to collaborate is the second step.

2 Teach people how to fight as if they are right and listen as if they are wrong.

3. Teach experts to seek out novices, and novices to seek out experts.

4. Teach people to treat innovation as an import-export business.

5. Teaching people how to succeed isn’t enough; teach them how to fail too.

The time around which the Time Asia cover story came (March 2000) was a world in which the dotcom reigned as king. Valuations of Internet companies were skyrocketing, and everyone wanted the .com suffix in their name. It was, as we found later, the peak of the Internet bubble.

Time contacted me through Saritha Rai in Bangalore for the story. Saritha spoke to me on phone and then Time sent a photographer from Delhi and we did a photo shoot early one morning at Gateway of India with me holding a laptop.

The story almost did not happen. I had been very reluctant to talk to the media (and in fact, still am). I had had a bad experience immediately after the IndiaWorld deal was announced with a leading Indian financial newspaper published an in-depth interview with me and published things which I had clearly asked the journalist not to. When I contacted the paper later, I was told that it added to the spiciness of the story. It is an experience that I have not forgotten. After that, I just figured that the best way not to quote misquoted is not to get quoted!

Even now, I decline to give interviews unless I believe that the writer can be trusted and has done homework before talking. I point everyone first to my blog stating that everything that I need to say is out there. Most journalists want that quick short quote and so don't bother to come back. Some do – and in that case, I ask them to email me the questions, and I email them the answers back. My reason for not wanting to give interviews is simple: I'd much rather like my actions speak rather than the words. Also, now, the blog gives me a great vehicle to speak my mind – and it is unfiltered. I have the same reluctance to being photographed. In general, I ask them to just something from the archive if they can manage it!

So, when Jason Overdorf, a Delhi-based freelance journalist, contacted me, that is exactly what I told him.

Tomorrow: Jason and Jude