iPhone Problems

That appears to be the headline of the day and only 3 days after it's release.

To be fair to Apple, it should probably be AT&T iPhone activation problems.

There does not seem to be a lot of actual iPhone problems, but rather a slew of problems based on AT&T not being ready for the amount of activations.

It will be interesting to see if and when Apple can get the iPhone on other carriers.

iPhone Hits & Misses

The iPhone finally made it's debut Friday, and had early shoppers lined up for days to get the new wireless device. Initial reports are good so far...

Reuters reports thousands of faithful fans first to buy new iPhone.

Wired Blog Network shows the iPhone unboxed.

CNN Money...will it live up to the hype?

engadget iPhone Q & A

There are always exceptions when a new product rolls out to the public...
read www.applegazette.com

www.apple.com/iphone

Happy Birthday Computer

In 1951, the first commercial computer, Univac I, was unveiled.

The first UNIVAC was delivered to the United States Census Bureau on March 31, 1951 and was dedicated on June 14th that year.[1] The fifth machine (built for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission) was used by CBS to predict the result of the 1952 presidential election. With a sample of just 1% of the voting population it correctly predicted that Eisenhower would win. The UNIVAC I computers were built by Remington Rand's UNIVAC-division (successor of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, bought by Rand in 1950). Source : WikiPedia

It is amazing to think how far computers have come since that day. To most that is a long time ago, but in the scope of history, it is just a fragment of time.

News and information sources.

AR&D has an interesting post and graph on how Americans are getting their news.

No real surprises but it is clear that Television News and Newspapers are both in a world of hurt if they don't figure out new ways of reaching their audience.

Something else they may want to consider is updating their web sites, especially local news stations. Most the sites I have checked out are considerably outdated and slow due to being bloated with advertising.

Google Trends - Hot Trends

Google Trends has been a very helpful tool since it was released. And now the new Hot Trends is probably even more helpful.

With Hot Trends you can see the what is Hot Today at (close to) real time from Google searches being performed.

The real benefit is that you can see results from News, Google and Blogs at one glance.

Do not confuse this with the most popular searches on Google. Hot Trends has a little more going on in the background algorithm to find those searches that deviate from the basic stuff to a more unique search.

... It's a new feature of Google Trends for sharing the the hottest current searches with you in very close to real time. What's on our collective mind as we search for information? What's interesting to people right now? Hot Trends will tell you. At a glance, you'll see the huge variety of topics capturing our attention, from current events to daily crossword puzzle clues to the latest celebrity gossip. Hot Trends is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

...For each Hot Trend, you will see results from Google News, Google Blog Search and web search, which help explain why the search is hot. ...

...If you want to look further back, you can also see what queries were hot on a particular day. ... If you don't know why, maybe you'll learn something...

Hot Trends aren't the search terms people look for most often -- those are pretty predictable, like [weather] or [games] or perhaps [myspace]. Yes, [sex] too. Instead, the Hot Trends algorithm analyzes millions of searches to find those that are deviating the most relative to their past traffic. And the outcome is the Hot Trends list.

Source : Official Google Blog: What's hot today?

Netflix

I had my doubts on this one, but, after reading Mike's post about Netflix and talking to him I had to give it a try. So far, it has been great.

In just a couple weeks we have the system down to a science.

1. Monday: I drop the movies in the mail on my way to work.
2. Tuesday: Mid-day I get an email that they have been received, shortly thereafter I get an email telling me the next 2 movies available in my queue are being processed.
3. Wednesday: The movies arrive in the mail and we have until Sunday to watch them and get them ready for the next round.

Netflix is saving me time and money not to mention making it a lot easier to keep reviews up to date on CybersDVDs.com (shameless plug).

Google and FeedBurner

According to TechCrunch the rumored purchase of FeedBurner by Google has been confirmed. Now this makes sense, especially considering the release of the Google AJAX Feed API last month.

For a year now Google has had Mark Lucovsky and team churning out some very nice AJAX tools. Starting with the Google AJAX Search API this time last year they have progressively stepped up to the plate with enhancements and new tools.

They have shown a real desire to get creative and functional at the same time with AJAX.

Here is a pretty impressive list of applications they have created over the last year:

Google AJAX Search API

Google Maps API

Google Map Search gadget

Video Bar

Google Video gadget

support for Custom Search Engines

Google News bar

support for Book Search

Blog Bar

inclusion of YouTube Video

Google AJAX Feed API

Slide Show Control

CNN Debuts "News To Me"

CNN debuted their new social media program today, "News To Me". At first it looked as though they were just going to show videos and stuff from the web without any commentary, but the program looked pretty good. It appears that some in the Main Stream Media are starting to realize the value, or at least the inevitability of the blogosphere and social media.

"News To Me" is the world as YOU see it. Your videos, pictures and stories showcased in an original, fast-paced and interactive show debuting on Headline News on Saturday, May 19. "News To Me" is your show, so send your videos and pictures.
Source : CNN - Send an I report

Note: It does not show up on the schedule as an independent program which is disappointing to us DVR/Tivo junkies.

Grocery Shopping in a Digital World

Do you take advantage of technology while grocery shopping?

Technology is not just for the Internet, and there are some real benefits to some of these shopping cards.

The Kroger chain has developed a very nice system. By signing up for their Plus card system customers receive several benefits.

• Daily savings on items.
• Accumulated annual savings posted on receipts.
• Targeted coupons based on your purchases.
• Fuel discounts at selected stores.

The one that really stands out now is the Fuel card. It is nice getting gas for 10 cents less than all the surrounding stations.

At stores located in Memphis, Little Rock, Jackson, TN and Jackson, MS you can earn 10 cents a gallon off of gas at our Kroger Fuel Stations by purchasing $100 or more of groceries. The more you purchase the more gas you can buy at 10 cents off. Please see the stores for complete details on how to reduce your gasoline price per gallon. Source : Kroger - Plus Card

New Google Analytics

Google has announced the release of the new Google Analytics interface. The new enhancements are very nice for long term views, but lack in the daily arena. Interesting to note that the default graph uses Visitors instead of Pageviews. With all the Web 2.0 interfaces pageviews are definitely going to fail as a good metric.



In the 30 minutes or so I have had to play with the new release I have yet to find a way to see todays data graphed and that is a real downfall in my opinion. The data is there, you just can not get a graph of one day.

Mountain View, Calif. - May 8, 2007 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a new version of its powerful web analytics solution, Google Analyticsâ„¢. The new version of Google Analytics was unveiled today at the EMetrics Summit taking place in San Francisco. Google Analytics, a free enterprise-class solution, enables executives, marketers and website owners to understand how their users interact with their website and help increase online business. Google has completely redesigned the product and enhanced the feature set through new email reporting, customizable dashboards, improved map displays, and plain language descriptions to make important information more accessible.

Source : Google Press Center: Press Release

Offical Blog Post from Google

Search EngineLand has an in depth post with some screenshots at Google Analytics Launches New Version With New UI & Features

legal music download online

CEA Surveys US Households

There's an interesting article from Media Center PC World, quoting a study by the Consumer Electronics Association. It says the average U.S. household owns 25 consumer electronics and the average adult spends $1,200 a year on these products. Gee, I spend that much on my cell phone alone!

The article continues with the top five most owned products; TV, DVD player or recorder, VCR, cordless phone and cellular phone.
Source: www.mediacenterpcworld.com

So do I fit the average profile? Let's count 'em up and see...
3 cell phones
2 TV's
2 PC's
2 monitors
2 external hard drives
2 flash drives
2 sets of external speakers for PC
telephone with digital answering machine
surround sound speaker system for TV
component stereo system
DVD player
DSL modem
Cisco router
scanner
printer
VCR
iPod
Total = 25
Yep, I'm just an average guy.

Google Web History

Google's new Web History enables you to:
View your web activity
Search the full text of pages you've visited
Get personalized search results

With Google Toolbar you can:
Search smarter with instant suggestions
Access your bookmarks from any computer
Add custom buttons to search your favorite sites

Please Note: you need to install the Google Toolbar with PageRank enabled, which sends information about these web pages to Google and associates it with your Google account. See Google Web History to learn more.

Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office & Home

Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:29PM
To: All
From: Mike
Subject: Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home (Knopf)

USA Today has a great article about David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, authors of the new book Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home (Knopf.)

The two longtime friends, both professional editors, came up with the "survival guide for the digital age," after comparing notes on email and how it's used and abused. They make a good point that we all use email, and sometimes live and die by it too. So a practical guide for it's use is just a natural thing.

"Never forward anything without permission, and assume everything you write will be forwarded," and "Never forget a Cc has the power to publicly shame someone, whether that's your intention or not."

They say one thing everyone wants, but no one has invented, is a "panic button," a short delay after hitting send, like the kind TV networks use to bleep obscenities.

"Think before you send," says Shipley. Send email you would like to receive," says Schwalbe.

They've also set up a website to collect "bad emails," at Thinkbeforeyousend.com.

Source: www.usatoday.com

Microsoft Expression Web page editor

PC Magazine gave Microsoft Expression Web page editor a pretty good review. The software just finished a long public beta testing, and the final version of the new web editing package is finally available.

Expression Web is the first up-to-date web page editor that creates modern CSS and XML based web pages out of the box. It replaces the familiar FrontPage web page editor, the last version was 2003, and is no longer supported by Microsoft. It does keep some of the best features of FP, like a similar menu structure and the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) design views. It's standards-based approach supports CSS, RSS, and point-and-click control over XML data sources.

I started searching for a full version of Microsoft's Expression Web editor to install after the beta expired in December, but it was virtually unavailable until now. I've been a long time FrontPage user, starting in '98, but it's been such an ordeal using and troubleshooting this program, then getting used to the beta and having it time out on me and disable itself, that I'm considering switching to DreamWeaver.

Both web editor packages have several versions that are bundled with other nifty applications that enhance your web building experience, so shop around if you're in the market for a cool web page building program. Expression Web will also be available in these different flavors: Expression Blend, Expression Design & Expression Media.

Online @ www.microsoft.com/expression

50 Best Tech Products

PC World has an interesting article on the 50 best tech products of all time. Some of these names sure bring back memories. Plus it shows just how fast technology is moving along. Let's take a look at their Top 10...

#1 Netscape Navigator, first introduced in 1994, popularized the world wide web browser (based on Mosaic)
#2 Apple II Computer, the original personal computer, first appeared in 1977
#3 TiVo HDR110, introduced in 1999
#4 Napster, also introduced in 1999
#5 Lotus 1-2-3, introduced in 1983, was the PC's first critical application
#6 Apple iPod, which debuted in 2001, now commands a 73% market share of the music player market
#7 Hayes Smartmodem, in 1981, introduced the first 300-baud modem
#8 Motorola StarTAC, 1996, was the first clamshell design cell phone
#9 WordPerfect5.1, introduced in 1989, was one of the last DOS based applications
#10 Tetris, introduced in 1985, was one of the first puzzle based games to cross over computing platforms from PC to MAC to GameBoy.

Source: www.pcworld.com/article

Google Voice Local Search 1-800-GOOG-411

Now you can search for a local business with just your phone. The automated system is completely voice prompted, so you just say the name of the business or a general category, to get a listing. The search results are numbered, so you can say or press the corresponding number, just like selecting a link on a web search. Then it connects you to that company phone number.

This new service is called Google Voice Local Search and it's still in the experimental stages. When I tried it, the system worked great. I gave it both a company name, and a general category, and it found nearby matches by name and physical location. It's free from Google Labs.

To try this service, just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone. More Info @ labs.google.com/goog411

CyberStalking

CyberStalking seems to have jumped to the forefront of the blogosphere lately. The Kathy Sierra incident was certainly an eye opener for most bloggers over the past week. Some bloggers in support of Kathy responded by taking time off, such as Robert Scoble, others like Blog Bloke posted their ideas on how to help yourself in such a situation.

Seems there is not much talk about the law in regards to this subject. And in fact it is not clear where exactly the law comes in to play.

However, in Jackson, Mississippi this past week 3 young people were arrested for CyberStalking, and in Mississippi it carries a felony charge with prison time of up to two years and a $5,000 fine.

Is this a state by state issue?

Seems strange a crime that can certainly be global is put on the shoulders of the local law enforcement.

Follow Up Links:

• Three Jackson Teens Accused Of Cyberstalking - News - MSNBC.com
• InstaBLOKEâ„¢ a blog about blogging: Abusive Comments: What Can a Blogger Do About Them?
• Taking the week off « Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger
• Techmeme: Death threats against bloggers are NOT "protected speech" … (Kathy Sierra/Creating Passionate Users)

CybersEye

Nellie took this cool time exposure of me at the computer. Nice 3D effect with the screen. - Mike

OneSearch Yahoo Mobile

Highbrid Nation writes about Yahoo's new mobile search initiative, OneSearch. Starting on April 3, you can submit your mobile content to Yahoo for inclusion into their mobile search engine. Cool. Maybe now those cell phone web services will be useful for something. But please, no pop-ups.

Yahoo Mail knows no limits

When I heard Yahoo is removing their limits on email, I did a CyberSearch on Yahoo Mail. Here's a sampling of those results:

Yahoo Mail With Infinite Storage?
Yahoo ups the ante and announced that Yahoo Mail will start offering unlimited storage starting May this year. Right now, you’ll get 1 GB for free at Yahoo, whereas Google’s Gmail has almost 3 GB. blog.outer-court.com

Coming soon: Yahoo Mail API, turns it into a platform
What it shows is that the company is beginning to think of Yahoo Mail as a platform, leveraging cheap storage and a mega audience. gigaom.com

Unlimited storage for Yahoo Mail confirmed
Yahoo scraps 1GB mail storage limit in preparation for the launch of the Apple iPhone and an expected spike in demand for IMAP server-side mail retention. www.itpro.co.uk/news

Western Digital My Book External Hard Drive

I needed some extra storage for my computer. It took me a couple of years, but I finally filled up the original hard drive with dozens of programs, applications, photos, images, mp3's and videos. So I shopped around some, because you always get a better bargain, even if you just shop two or three stores. Always buy a brand you know and trust. I can't tell you how many dollars I've wasted buying the off-beat bargain brands, only to have it break sooner than later.

The greatest benefit I've found is browsing online until you find exactly what you want, and then check the prices at a few of the leading retail stores. And I found this computer upgrade at the most unlikely place of all...Target. Yeah, I bought a new external hard drive for my computer at a Super Target store, just a few miles from my house.

$99 for a Western Digital "My Book" external hard drive with 160GB of storage. A pretty good buy from a leading name-brand manufacturer that will last me for another two years, or maybe longer. That all depends on how many music and video files I can store on it, but that works out to something like 12 hours of video or 40,000 songs!

Here's the geeky stats for the tech-at-heart:
My Book Premium ES Edition external hard drive
USB 2.0 & ultra-fast eSATA 3 Gb/s interfaces on board
Western Digital website

Dell Customer Service

I laughed out loud when I saw this. A Dell contest to win an XPS M1210 notebook autographed by Justin Timberlake? Why would anyone care if this laptop was signed? It's their ultra-portable four pounder with a built-in webcam, next generation wi-fi and WXGA display, powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Sounds like a nice little package for some lucky winners.

Read the details of this contest at Dell's Lounge website.

I just talked to a friend and co-worker today, who had to argue with a Dell tech for half an hour over his brand new warranty to get some defective speakers replaced. C'mon Dell! Focus on your customer service problems first; fix those issues and make your customers happy.

If you don't, you will continue to lose market share, but it will probably take years before your board of directors realize it. Now don't get me wrong; I use Dell computers at work and at home on a daily basis. Yes, I've had my issues with the company, mainly with their billing and customer service people, but they were corrected (on their timetable, not mine.)

I'd just like to see an improvement in customer service from really big companies that seem to forget how they got so big in the first place. From you and me, our friends and families, that have invested in their products and services.

Google BlogBar released.

Today Google announced the release of the BlogBar as part of the Google AJAX Search API.

Once again Google demonstrates their willingness to listen to the user base and adopt ideas.

Thanks Google!

Checkout the BlogBar in action at WidgetSupport.com.

MySpace

MySpace continues to rise above the rest of the social communities. It seems that almost everyone has a MySpace page. Particularly young artists. Whether it be Music or Graphics or any other form of artistic expression MySpace seems to draw them in.

Cord Silverstein over at Marketing Hipster wrote a post this morning that really hits home on the popularity of MySpace, and the key fact is...

...I believe to the biggest factor on MySpace’s success which is control...
Source: What MySpace Did Right

Just run some Google searches and look at Google Trends. Two topics that have enormous numbers right now are MySpace and MySpace Layouts. The layouts are basically equivalent to blog templates, and you can find a layout for any topic imaginable.

10th Annual Web Awards

The winners of the 10th Annual Web Awards have been announced from Austin's South By SouthWest Interactive Conference. Adobe Systems, (Photoshop, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver) presents the awards to who's considered to be the best new websites, developing on tomorrow's online trends.

Read more @ 2007.sxsw.com

Smithsonian Photography Initiative
Twitter
Resn 2B2
OwnYourC
The Horizontal Way
Computerlove
Squidoo
Vitamin
The Fallen Alternate Reality Game
Time Trumpet
Hungry Suitcase
Just for the F of It
Jonathan Yuen
How Do I Say This?
Stikkit
Social Saga
Exopolis Valentine's Day Mixtape

Google Reader Review

Here's a quick look at some of our shared items from Google Reader:

The Google Life: Wired blogger Michael Calore is going all Google, all the time, replacing all of his desktop apps with Google’s offerings wherever applicable.

The Value of Google Gadgets: Developers have created nearly 4000 gadgets. Google now shows the approximate number of page views each gadget recieves in a week.

Negative Reactions to Microsoft attack on Google at the AAP: from O'Reilly Radar. The AAP is suing Google for scanning books from libraries. Microsoft takes another shot.

Why is the Cellphone Ringing? You probably have a guest at home: Waleli has launched the GSM Doorbell, that links the doorbell in your home to your mobile phone anywhere in the world. Wow, forget about remote desktop. Now we have remote doorstep.
www.gsmdoorbell.com

Create A Photo Comic Strip With Comeeko: Select a layout, pick your photos, add text or clipart, apply affects and presto! See ya in the funny pages!
www.comeeko.com

Posted by Mike

Blogging My State Of Mind

There's an interesting article on austin360.com about the state of blogging and the future of the online diary, written by Omar L. Gallaga, a staffer at the American-Statesman.

The article touches on a number of good points:

- there's more than 200 million abandoned blogs currently online.

- this year, the number of active worldwide bloggers is expected to peak at 100 million and eventually level off to about 30 million.

- many bloggers have either had negative online experiences or simply got too busy with their personal lives to continue regular posting.

- online communities like MySpace, YouTube and Flickr have connected many bloggers with easy-to-use tools that make the personal posting experience more interactive and visual.

Those numbers are staggering and I agree there's alot of dead blogs out there. The really good ones still attract a healthy audience because they have daily posts, current or engaging content, and they talk TO me, not AT me. In other words, I can relate to whatever they're saying. OK, so I believe content is still king.

And yes, it's a challenge to post every day. But, I remember the golden rule of radio broadcasting that taught me an important lesson. Talk to your audience like you're talking to a good friend. One on one. Make it personal so your listeners (or readers) can understand what you're saying, and relate to you and your story. It still works on the air, and it works online too. Stick to that concept, and your blogs will thrive.

Read more at www.austin360.com.

Lifelogging

I just read a fascinating article about something called "Lifelogging," which is a continuous recorded diary, either on video or audio. Basically it's your life, on the record, recorded 24 hours a day, everyday. A little unsettling, knowing your every word, movement and interaction is recorded. And what are the social, moral and legal implications of such accurate and complete records?

There is much research being done on the subject. Microsoft Research has something called MyLifeBits and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab has been working with wearable computers for years.

If that sounds farfetched, just consider the technology that we have today. Digital video cameras, cell phone cameras, mini voice recorders, GPS receivers that track our location, RFD tags, bar code scanners, security cameras, webcams, plus websites like YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Blogger and the millions of personal blogs on the internet.

Read more at...
The Chronicle of Higher Education @ chronicle.com/free
Scientific American @ www.sciam.com

Windows Vista VS. Mac OS X

Sometimes I wonder how Microsoft got to be the "600 pound gorilla" it is today. The more I read about their new Windows Vista (and the fact it will probably require extensive hardware upgrades,) I can't help but think that MY next major computer upgrade might just be a Mac.

If I have to spend a thousand or more dollars to upgrade my home computer, why not take the plunge and join the Apple corps? Their iMac looks better than ever with the new Intel processor, built-in webcam, and iLife software, that's already integrated into Mac OS X.

After working with (and troubleshooting) Windows 3.1, 95, NT, 2000 and XP for years, I'm ready for a home computer that just works the first time, without having to download a new driver or system patch.

Self-Help Answers

As a computer tech, I'm always looking for help in resolving problems. Searching the web for self-help answers is usually my first choice, rather than wait on hold for tech support. Results vary widely, depending on the issue, the product and the company. But looking for answers yourself is a good bet and always worthy of the effort.

Here's some of my favorites that I hope you may find useful as well:

www.cnet.com
I like their mission statement at CNET:

"We create richer, more authentic brand experiences by building on the collective wisdom and passion of users, marketers, and our own people."

www.computerhope.com
Computer Hope also has a large active computer forum with a wide variety of topics like hardware, software, internet and networking, and vendors like Microsoft, Creative and Apple, plus an FAQ solution database.

Searching the user forums is also a great way to find your answers, usually from someone who has already worked their way through the same problem. Another useful way to search Google is to enter in the exact part number, if you have it.

There's also an engineering search engine by GlobalSpec at www.globalspec.com.

Email is old school

In our house we have 2 teenagers, 14 and 18. Both of them skipped email, and that just makes me dizzy.

They use their cellphones for instant messaging and they can type out complete messages while never looking at the screen, however, neither one of them can type very well on a full keyboard.

This is just amazing. We now have a generation of kids who think email is old school. Instant communication is a fact of life for them. One of the downsides to this is going to be the quality of the written word. In just a few short years it will be impossible to read most handwriting and we will also have twice as many words to use as before as they continue to improvise and shortcut at every turn.

Cybersforum is a Go!!!

Its now time to see what you think about us and our topics.

Cybersforum.com is up and running and we are looking for you, the reader, to come and tell us what you think.

Please feel free to go and register on the forum today. We look forward to hearing what you all have to say.

Daylight Savings Time 2007 Update

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 now adds four weeks to our usual daylight-savings time. So get ready to spring forward an hour on March 11 and fall back on November 4 this year.

The Windows Mobile website reports on the Daylight Saving Time 2007 Update...

Congress has changed the dates for Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the United States starting in 2007. These changes could cause clocks and Microsoft Outlook calendar appointments on portable Windows Mobile-powered devices to display incorrect times for March 11 – April 1, 2007 and October 28 – November 4, 2007 and again in subsequent years. This will also affect Outlook Calendars running on corporate email systems on Microsoft's Exchange servers.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) will now start three weeks earlier (2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November.) Canada has adopted similar DST dates.

Previously, Daylight Saving Time began the first Sunday in April, which would have been April 1, 2007. Under the new law, DST will start on the second Sunday in March, that will now be March 11, 2007 .

Daylight Saving Time would have ended on the last Sunday in October, which falls on October 28, 2007. With the new law, DST will end on the first Sunday in November, which will now be November 4, 2007.

Under the change, daylight-saving time will start a month sooner in March, and standard time will not return until November. Congress hopes to reduce our national energy consumption with the extra hours of daylight.

Read More...
Google News www.google.com/nwshp
Windows Mobile www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile

Google Alerts

Google Alerts are an easy and simple way to keep up with things. For example, say you wanted to see any news stories about the CES show that just happened last month.

Go to www.google.com/alerts,
enter your Search Terms (keywords or a phrase)
select the Type (News, Blogs, Web, Groups, or Comprehensive)
specify How often (once a day, as-it-happens, or once a week)
and Google creates your alert!

Then all you have to do is check your gmail.

This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.

Remove this alert.
Create another alert.
Manage your alerts.

Shared Items from Google Reader

Don't overlook those Shared Items on the right, under the BlogRoll. They're all interesting stories that merit reading, courtesy of Google Reader, which allows you to share any article from their RSS feeds.

This is what I'm talking about... links to this video on YouTube.

Who links to your site?

GooTube Slammed By Viacom Takedown Demand...

CNET Launches New API...

Google To Provide Downloadable E-Books...

SmugMug: The (Anti) Web 2.0 Company...

Give away the music and sell the show...

Everything in its place (ment)...

If Google Were a Restaurant...

DEMO 2007 Embraces Web 2.0...

Netflix offers downloaded movies...

Images: Google Earth's 3D world...

Digital Ethnography

Cool video about Web 2.0. I like it because it's using standard everyday things we use like notepad, viewing the source, google, etc., but in a new way and with purpose. Linking humanity together and using the net's enormous amount of data to serve everyday people.

Video created by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. Nicely done and not too long, so it holds your attention. Good pacing too. I think the average attention span online is about 15 seconds, if that long.

The Professor's profile on YouTube says his videos explore mediated culture, seeking to merge the ideas of Media Ecology and Cultural Anthropology.

The Professor's Blog: mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg

Yahoo Pipes

RSS Feeds help us stay informed in an organized way.

Now, there's an interactive feed aggregator from Yahoo called Pipes, which allows you to manipulate those feeds into a more powerful, relevant and hopefully, more useful tool.

Some of the most frequently run Pipes so far include Google Video Search, Microsoft Live News Search and del.icio.us flavored web search.

http://pipes.yahoo.com/

Browse a complete list of Pipes modules here.

Read more about Pipes at O'Reilly radar BLOG...
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/02/pipes_and_filte.html

Cell Phone Roving Bug

Here's another story that makes you wonder about high technology and the way it's being used, or abused.

NewsTarget has learned that the FBI has developed a technique that can remotely activate a nearby cell phone's microphone, thereby turning it into a listening device. The "roving bug" technique was approved by U.S. Department of Justice officials for use on members of an organized crime family in New York that was getting increasingly suspicious of tails, wiretaps or other traditional surveillance techniques. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the technique was legal, stating that federal wiretapping law was broad enough to cover the monitoring of conversations occurring near a suspect's cell phone.

The new method works whether the phone is on or off, because many phone models cannot be truly powered down without removing the battery. Some models, for example, will turn on from a powered-down state when an alarm is set.
Source: www.newstarget.com

Another article noted that cell phone providers can install a piece of software on any phone from a remote location, allowing microphone activation, without the owner's knowledge. In addition to activating a mic, the software can also stop a display from indicating a call in progress, taking away another method by which a cell phone user could tell his phone had been compromised.

According to counter-surveillance consultant James Atkinson, models from Nextel, Samsung and the popular Motorola Razr are particularly vulnerable to these remote software downloads. Some sources say that security-conscious corporate executives make a habit of removing their cell phone's battery when the unit is not in use.

This is not the first time the FBI has commandeered built-in microphones as listening devices. In a 2003 lawsuit, it was discovered that the FBI was able to activate the microphones of automotive systems such as OnStar and listen to passenger conversations without the speakers knowing. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the practice was not legal, but only because the technique prevents the system from being used in an emergency.

Source: www.newstarget.com

attendio.com

Attendio is a new social events service that automatically connects people to local events to match their interests. The user community continually adds relevant local events, reviews, and recommendations to their website and user's calendars.

The free Attendio service (still in beta) launched online on February 1st, beginning with local events for the San Francisco Bay Area. The service is rolling out to additional cities across the country throughout 2007. Coordinated with the launch of Microsoft's new version of Windows, Attendio is also featured in the new Windows Vista Calendar, and debuted at the DEMO 007 conference in Palm Desert, California.

The unique VIP "Recommenders" provide an insider's view on all the "hot" events across all categories at any time. Some early VIP's are Adam Duritz of the band Counting Crows and Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind.

"Attendio just sounded like a cool idea to me," said Adam Duritz, lead singer for the Counting Crows. "After all, there are so many great cultural events taking place all the time in the Bay Area and New York. It seems like I spend half the space on my own blogs recommending theatre and films and bands and events at Cal I think people should go out and see. Attendio seems an obvious way to get the news about that stuff out there so everyone can enjoy them as much as I do."

Users can also designate their friends as "Recommenders" to easily share information on interesting and worthwhile events. For example, music lovers can automatically see what albums or concerts their blogger friends recommend.

Within a few clicks, Attendio users set up their own personalized profile, and request that events automatically populate their personal calendar through popular programs, including Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, Windows Vista Calendar and Google Calendar.

Source:
www.demo.com
www.attendio.com
www.netvibes.com
media.prnewswire.com

Feed for thought!

Not all feeds have to be from a blog or the media!

I have been offline for a few days moving. And yes, I was having withdrawals. But as I was catching up on my Feed reading I realized that a couple of my favorites are not blogs or even media sites.

Having always been interested in history and people, these 2 feeds are a perfect fit for a little daily knowledge. Each one typically has only a couple of short items per day, which makes it easy to keep up.

• This Day in History
• Who2.com - Find Famous People Fast! (I subscribe to their Personality of the Day )

TIP: To make it easier to catch up, I "blended" all my Google Reader feeds by selecting "All Items" and placing them in "sort by oldest" order.

Link Love

Thanks to Blog Bloke for the "link love." We couldn't agree more with your last post about building relationships.

The simplest way to build traffic on your blog is a link to those you read, and of course, that works both ways. It's always exciting to get linked on another blog, so why not share the "link love" and link back to them?

So with that idea in mind, we'd like to point out our BlogRoll, which is a few of our favorite blogs that get a daily reading...like InstaBLOKE, O'Reilly Radar and Scobleizer.

Comments are always welcome too. The key is to stay engaged in the conversation threads and reply to those who take the time to read your blog and write a comment. It's a community thing and we humans like to interact with each other.

Final point. I haven't used FeedBlendr yet, but the concept sounds cool, to create a single "blended" RSS feed from many different feeds. I started out using Bloglines and now use GoogleReader much more. Plus we're using the Shared Items feature in GoogleReader to put a "clip" on our home page. It's a great way to browse, read and share alot of the breaking news stories with our friends and visitors.

DEMO 07 Conference

Headlines that caught our (Cybers) eye...

Wii News Channel Goes Live

Windows Vista Finally Arrives

The 17th annual DEMO 07 conference takes place January 30th through February 1st in Palm Desert, CA. It will showcase 68 consumer-oriented and enterprise computing innovations including video email and messaging, video ringtones, a GPS with wireless control, IM photos directly to the desktop, and software that tracks plagiarized blog content.

Dave Winer

Have you ever read Dave Winer? He's been credited with starting RSS and has one of the longest running blogs on the internet, for about ten years. There's a lot of one liners each day; kind of like a real journal or log.

Online @ www.scripting.com

TechDeals.net

TechDeals.net looks to have some great deals listed...here's just a few examples...

Hanns-G JC-199D 19-inch LCD Monitor for $99.95

Buffalo 250GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive $69.99

Sandisk Sansa E260 4GB MP3 Player $129.99

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB DDR 400 PC3200 $139.99

Apple Macbook Pro 15.4" Core Duo Notebook $1399

Western Digital 250GB IDE Hard Drive $49.98

Online: www.techdeals.net

Google CSE adds statistics

Google has added statistics to the Custom Search Engine (CSE) control panel.

Effective Jan 22, 2007.

"...information such as overall traffic to your search engine and popular queries is now available. And you can view this info by day, week, month..."

Source : Google Custom Search: New statistics page