CybersView

Blogging My State Of Mind

2007-03-08T22:39:00.000-06:00

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

2007-03-06T00:34:00.000-06:00

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

2007-03-05T00:12:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-26T21:49:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-23T15:17:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2007-02-20T19:18:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-17T14:47:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-13T01:23:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-12T00:34:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-09T00:01:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-08T01:23:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-05T23:25:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-02T03:33:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-01-30T14:07:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-30T00:34:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-29T00:21:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-27T17:15:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-26T02:02:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-24T11:59:00.000-06:00

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

Gibson Signature Series Les Paul Standard flash drive

2007-01-22T23:11:00.000-06:00

Mini flash drives are all the rage today. Prices have dropped and storage capacities have gone up. They're just about the handiest thing you can have as a computer accessory. Some even have style, but Gibson Guitars has topped them all with their latest entry into the consumer electronics market.

The coolest product so far is their Signature Series Les Paul Standard flash drive. It's a miniature replica of Gibson's world famous guitar, but it's really a 1GB USB2.0 flash drive. And it comes with it's own USB extension cable to hook up to your computer, which is a nice touch when a USB port is not within easy reach. Plus the drive has it's own case.

Gibson Audio also offers:
DVD Recorder - DVD+/-R Double Layer, DVD-RAM, Up To 8.3GB per DVD DL Disc
500GB External Hard Drive - USB2.0 - 500GB Maximum Storage - 7,200 RPM - 8MB Cache
GSL-3 Center Channel Speaker
GSL-2 Tower
3150 Joule Surge Protector
3240 Joule Surge Protector
7.1 A V Receiver
Digital Audio Fiber Optic Cable
HDMI Cable
CD-R Media
DVD-R & DL Media

Source: www.gibson.com/Products/Audio
Press Release: Gibson introduces consumer electronics at CES 2007

Beginning a new Wiki wave

2007-01-19T09:14:00.000-06:00

Recently Mark Cuban announced the formation of a new Wiki for his beloved Dallas Mavericks.

Is this the start of a new trend with Wiki's?

It just might be.

For a Wiki to work it takes a topic that is changing and evolving along with a base of people who are passionate about the subject matter. And that pretty much describes any professional sports team in the United States.

Only time will tell, but it just may be a wave we start seeing played out across the Internet.

Netflix Streams Movies Online

2007-01-17T14:56:00.000-06:00

Netflix, the online movie rental service has announced their newest service. Streaming movies over the internet to your computer. They said the new feature will be available to subscribers over the next six months, with about 1,000 movies and TV shows instantly available, at no additional cost. Of course, Netflix continues to offer DVD's by mail via their regular subscriptions.

No large video file to download, either. Netflix will be using real-time playback technology that will allow video to stream to your computer, so you don't have to wait for a download, or a DVD in the mail. Yes, you'll have to install the usual internet browser applet the first time you use it, but the company says your movie will start playing in as little as 15 seconds after loading.
Note: Their new service only works on Internet Explorer right now.

Now you're going to need some good bandwidth...one megabit per second is required. Three megabit will give you DVD quality. Service is based on your existing subscription. The entry level 5.99 a month plan gives you online movies for six hours a month. The full 17.99 a month plan gives you 18 hours a month online.

It's always important to get the content providers on your side, and most of the major and indie studios are onboard. NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema and indie studio Lionsgate.

They will be competing online for the first time with iTunes, Yahoo, Amazon.com, Google Video, and YouTube.

Sources:
CNN$Money @ money.cnn.com
Robert Scoble's blog @ scobleizer.com

Welcome

2006-12-01T11:32:00.000-06:00

Welcome to CybersView.

The basic principle of this blog is to write about technical things that affect our daily lives. We love gadgets, but, we love gadgets we can afford even more!

We also love DVDs, Movies, Music, Television and a host of other common things that everyone can enjoy. From Celebrities to Politics, we hope to cover it all.

We hope you will tune in and subscribe to CybersView.

Nokia 6131 NFC phone pays for itself

2007-01-16T01:11:00.000-06:00

A new technology known as Near Field Communications or NFC, allows you to make payments and share information. NFC is similar to RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, but only works at close range.

Nokia has integrated this technology into a new cell model, the 6131 NFC phone, which works like MasterCard's Pay Pass. Proximity Payment.

Because you have to get so close to use them, these NFC readers operate like the smart ID cards we carry to read the scanners at the front door of your business or the gate at your apartment. Even more security can be added, in the form of a simple code that has to be input at the time of the transaction.

Nokia showed this off last week at CES. It sounds like a great idea. The new technology can also be used to read NFC enabled business cards and scan the information to your contacts, or scan in a phone number from an advertisment. The phone maker is testing the new system with both Visa and MasterCard, but don't expect to see this phone in the US for some time.
(read more)

Win A Dell XPS 710 H2C Gaming System

2007-01-15T16:19:00.000-06:00

Dell is giving away five of their new gaming systems, along with a widescreen 27 inch monitor. Their new XPS 710 H2C is paired with a 2707WFP widescreen 27 inch monitor that was introduced at CES last week.

Enter to win @ dell.eprize.net/imagination

Also check out the Dell/Futuremark Performance Shootout; they're giving away up to a 30-inch widescreen monitor to the 3 fastest system scores submitted. To enter, download the 3DMark06 benchmark, run it on your system, and submit your scores. Performance scores will be posted at www.dellcommunity/gaming.

1st prize: Dell 3007WFP-HC30 30-inch widescreen flat panel
2nd prize: Dell 2707WFP 27-inch widescreen flat panel
3rd prize: Dell 2407WFP 24-inch widescreen flat panel

Dell also launched their new gaming site last week, that gathers all their game news & reviews together. Check it out at: www.dell.com/gaming

Dell also has their customer feedback site open @ direct2dell.com.