Will Speaking

• New API’s to Send an Instant Message from a Web page,  Not an entire client but ability to send IM’s over a Web API.   A widget can created and put on a web site.
• New API’s for AIM Messaging (such as the one above to send / receive). The AIM Express team should take a look at these (if not already).
• Location Service API to set and get location of a buddy.      Currently Triton has a plugin that uses this service.      Andy has a mashup application that shows the people using AIM and the location.    To get location info, they use things like the MAC address or IP address, and allow the user to override, which in turns teaches the location service.  Try this in Trion, and you’ll see what I mean.
• Buddy Feeds will soon support 3rd Party feeds, so willblog post on blogger.com.  Nice. allow your buddies to see feeds such as new photos posted to Flicker or new

• The Host Mail team had a few presso’s.  Junaid tag teamed with me and attended the “FX” presentation. 
• Open Storage API – File Storage System API – is currently under development.  Targeted internally for September and external beta December.   This gives developers a low cost file storage system.  Using a REST based API, you can PUT. GET, QUERY and DELETE files.  For example, you can upload or put any file type to the servers.       This is cool stuff, and could be very powerful for developers and applications to use (both internal and external). 
  
• Sree talked about (and stressed) that we must feed the Web Ecosystems, which means we must have Mail APIs  E/g a site like Netvibes should be able to show AOL Mail (allowing to get total mails, view mail, link back to product etc). that enable widgets to be created by us and other companies.

• Jeff Warrington gave a good pitch on an innovation project he has worked, which he said “Will enable the little guy” - Micropayments.     Example here: say a user is selling digital photos at $0.001 a piece. Once the amount gets to a certain level (maybe $10),  the system will transfer the funds to the seller.   It’s not cost effective to do it for the tiny amount.  He showed the prototype (built on the SOAPHP) that allows exchanges of the money through AOL and to Paypal.     All good, and great to see such passion and innovation in the area.
  

• The SNS team is made up of some smart people. It’s one of the teams that gets only negative feedback (when it’s down they hear, . .when things work well, they don’t).   But the team is great, Praveen is a star.  Can you imagine being the team that runs auth? (Note: I once managed the SNS team when auth was based in MV)        
• A couple ofsessions on SNS,  the challenges and a good open forum.    People dialed in from the West Coast for this one.      On Thursday, a session on the new  REST based APIs that’s under development, again with lots of input.
• One thing here: every now and then, use a bit of “honey” towards the SNS team – it goes further than a splash of vinegar, and that team sometimes needs a bit of love.