Google Wave

Succinct low-down of Google's Wave from Mashable.com

Plus, the video of Wave's unveiling and demo

TV Tensions from Eye Glances

Virginia Heffernan, in the New York Times magazine, analyzes how film-makers treat the everyday prevalance of waking time spent at a computer (at least in some social milieux and economic brackets). Her analysis of 24 is particularly good. She notes:

"Clusters of characters on “24” regularly participate in speakerphone calls, for example. In these scenes, they confront not other faces during heated exchanges, but phones and devices. These encounters with talking technology — showdowns between man and machine — would come off like sci-fi if experiences like conference calls weren’t now part of the standard office routine. When consequential words come from far off into a room of you and your colleagues, do you look at the phone, the middle distance, others in the room with you? This is a director’s call, and the choices in “24” make high drama of the minor eye movements and hand movements of digital experience."

More....

Facebook Lawsuit

Facebook has a 5,000-friend limit that is preventing people from further personalizing their page. Therefore, new changes will be made so that people will be able to categorize their friend list into categories such as, "family," "close friends", "coworkers" etc. It will also be easier to post videos, photos, and links to Facebook pages. A teenage girl from New York sued Facebook and some of its users due to the fact that she was made fun of and disrespected through a chat on Facebook. However, social networks, so far, have been protected by the Communication's Decency Act.

http://www.netfamilynews.org/2009_03_01_archive.html

Teen's Suicide Over Sexting

An 18-year old girl, Jessie Logan, sent nude pictures of herself to her boyfriend. After they broke up, he sent the pictures of her to other girls that attended their high school. Those girls began harrasing her by calling her names like "slut" and "whore." This made Jessie very depressed and caused her to skip school a lot. She eventually committed suicide as her way of solving the problem. Her mother never even knew the extent of the problem until it was too late. This story shows us how important it is to make sure that parents are involved and aware of their children's social life, including the phone and internet portion.

http://www.netfamilynews.org/2009_03_01_archive.html

iPhone and iTouch Apps- Not so innocent after all

Recently located within Apple's Application store, a program located within the iPhone and iTouch, there is an application for download called Baby Shaker in which the user can shake their device and "kill" a picture of a baby boy or girl. The death is noted by distinct red "X's" which appear over the child's eyes after he/she is terminated.

It has recently been deleted due to its controversy and link to child abuse; misconduct.



http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/22/feel-like-shaking-a-baby-to-death-theres-an-app-for-that/

GigaMedia Limited: An Overseas Gaming Giant?

Interesting article regarding Asian online gaming Giant GigaMedia Limited. The discussion of this stock relates to the informative presentation that we heard regarding WOW or World Of Warcraft. One of the facts presented in the article is the fact that "Asian game revenues were expected to grow 30% sequentially in the first quarter." The article discusses the huge profits made by online gaming companies.

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/gigamedia+limited+gigm+flop+or+royal+flush/dailycontrarian.aspx?newsid=92571#92571

Peer Teaching - Adobe Photoshop

Good Photoshop CS3 Toolbox Reference Guide:

http://www.tutorialkit.com/tutorials/Photoshop-CS3-Toolbox-Quick-Reference-64369.html


Adobe Website that offers 30-Day Trial Downloads of its products:

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

Never underestimate the power of a /b Tard

4Chan's - Moot, known in real life as Chris Poole, just won Time Magazine's most influential person.
Lets just say he gets by with a little help from his friends.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/04/the-most-influential-person-on-the-planet-is-christopher-poole.html

The Twunning Man

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/tweet-a-thon/

To spice up the race a little bit and I guess to get a little more enjoyment out of running (b/c that is not enjoyable if you ask me) a group of marathon runners decided to document their whole race by tweeting their progress during it.

Adding search power to public data

If you have ever wondered how well off your county is as compared to the United States as a whole, then you will be interested in this new feature of Google. If you type in unemployment rate or population and a county after a space and you will see the most recent estimates for that county. This feature allows people to see how well (or not) their county is as compared to the country as a whole!


http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/adding-search-power-to-public-data.html

Convert a MacBook for Clouding

http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/200-my-new-macbook-cloud-dream-come-true-963


Most computer graphics and artist prefer their macs over pc's. Apple was pitched the opportunity to make money on selling a Mac with clouding capabilites. However, Steve Jobs was out of the office that day. And as information sharing goes, the information was shared. The information on how to capitalize on convering your mac or pc into a cloud notebook is free to the masses with no guarantees.

Why You Should Take Your Company Mobile

This weeks blog post is very interesting, it shows use how to save money by not investing in all these fancy computers to put in your office and how to get the same amount of production out of a laptop or other mobile services. It states how is cost effective and you get the same production out of all these mobile services. Mobile organization works best, and this blog shows us how this is possible.

http://www.bmighty.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216400528

4chan Hacks Time's Top 100 List

We all know that hackers are all over the internet, but most of the time we talk about them with a negative connotation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that hackers are “good,” but sometimes they’re just playful. For instance, Time’s third annual poll of the world’s most influential person was topped by moot A.K.A. Christopher Poole, founder of the legendary memebreeding forum 4chan.

Now, I’m not saying that moot doesn’t deserve to be on this list, 4chan can easily be said to be one of the many influential sites on the Internet. However, this is obviously an elaborate hack done by 4chan users.






Blog Post: It’s Official (and Hacked): 4chan Founder Sweeps Time’s Top 100 List

Google Profiles soon to appear in Google Search?

Just recently Google has made it possible for people's names to pop up during search results, displaying links to their google profiles. In an effort to be more socially networking, Google is extending its arms in hopes of linking people together in a social network, via their blogging profiles.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/21/google-profiles-finally-have-a-big-purpose-appearing-in-google-search-queries/

HAVE SOME FUN ON YOUR iPhone!

I think it's time to change up the posts and talk about another fun new feature/application on the iPhone! I am excited about this and I hope any of you with an iPhone are too!

CHECK IT OUT!

The Song has been Sung

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/04/pirate-bay-four-appeal-final-result-could-be-years-away.html

The Pirates Bay folks have been found guilty - but have begun their appeals process which apparently takes a very long time. Everything stays as is while we wait for the outcome. This is going to be a lot funnier if there is a replacement technology that increases piracy way beyond BitTorrent and Pirates Bay.

There is a great line in the article though - "Every moment companies spend thinking about how to protect what is already lost, rather than how to innovate into what might be gained, is a moment spent hastening their own demise. "

Yo ho, Yo Ho . . . . .

Apple to possibly merge it's iPhone with Verizon

Verizon's 4G Network might need to make way for the Apple iPhone in the very near future

This idea definitely has its ups & downs, but first off, owning an iPhone restricts you to exclusively use only the AT&T service. I think Apple should only provide the iPhone, not the service provider. Providers should be able to be chosen by the users of the phone. Verizon appears to always have the leading edge on technology, but in the long run competition between carriers could possibly be a good thing. Perhaps lower costs & better quality? I think many people hold back on the iPhone because of it's pricey rates, but it might be a smart idea for Apple to start branching out...

The health of the Oracle Corporation

Interesting article about the overall health of the Oracle Corporation with the columnist stating "quality businesses (like oracle) usually have compelling brands and/or a discernible competitive advantage, in order to "insulate" [themselves] during a weak economy like the one we face today. An interesting article which mentions the fact that despite the weak economy technology focused companies with competitive advantages can still capture and control a substantial market share.


http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/oracle+corporation+orcl+bear-market+beauty+or+just+an+illusion/dailycontrarian.aspx?newsid=92449#92449

Carrot on a Stick, in Web 2.0 Terms....

So one of the big Web 2.0 terms is social marketing - with so many websites giving out similar information how do you go about getting the word out about your own website? For example, have you heard about www.theanimalrescuesite.com - no? Well many people haven't heard about it. It's a website where you can go and click on a button, and for every click, the sponsors of the website donate some food to certain animal sheltering organizations across the nation. They don't ask for your email, just for you to visit the site daily, and click to give. Well over the past year they have struggled to get the clicks, so they have a new idea. Bribery! When has it not worked? What they've done is started a contest that animal shelters and rescues participate in, by trying to get the most votes. People can vote once once daily, but in order to vote, they have to click the button that donates the food as well. The prize for the group with the most votes over all is $20,000 and each state has a weekly winner as well, winning $1000 for most votes in the state. It may be a carrot on a stick, but it's quite effective!
And of course, if you'd like to vote for a good group I have to put in a plug :) You can vote daily by visiting www.theanimalrescuesite.com and click the "click to give" button. It will take you to a new page that thanks you, and you will see a banner about "Voting in the SHelter Challenge" click on it, and search for "Lost Dog" in VA, and Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation will show up, and you can vote :)

Some Things Don't Change...

One of the biggest things about web 2.0 is the ability to share everything - from the basics of cooking a pie to how much money you make a year. Facebook has become a verb, and we can't imagine what we would do without our cell phones and email. Recently I went to a conference, and in one of the works shops was about how animal organizations can use Web 2.0 to their advantage. One of the speakers kept referring to a guide she had made for people, and assured everyone she would email it out to everyone that wanted it. Looking at her blog, it appears that it has turned instead into one of those reminders that sometimes we rely too heavily on technology; her hard drive had what is referred to as a "dismal failure" and the file was lost. While it used to be losing a piece of paper that would throw us off for the day, that too has been replaced, by hard drive failures and spyware.

If You're Waiting on the Beginner's Guide to Social Media Report...

Cloud Camp

http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/dave-nielsen-takes-cloud-camp-118

William Hurley SME on Clould Computing does a Q&A with Dave Nielson regarding cloud computing. Touches on how if developed what that changes over the years and what coming. They highlight how this has taken off to include "CloudCamp" This month in Austin, TX. The article also links to the cloudcamp site.

http://www.cloudcamp.com/
April 13, 2009
Dave Nielsen takes the cloud to camp
Want to stay up on the latest trends in cloud computing? Maybe it's time to go to camp

Search for "Me" on Google

Google knows that many people have Googled their own names and their friends' to see what kind of information they can find on that person. Google understands that some of the information might not be wanted by the person to show up in search results. As a result, Google has added a Google profile results area at the bottom of the U.S. name-query search pages. The results offer abbreviated results from the user' Google profile. Google has also made it much easier for someone to find someone on Facebook or MySpace by placing those results on the search page as well. Create your own by searching for your name and following the on-screen instruction.

Google Profiles


http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/search-for-me-on-google.html

YouTube Symphony Orchestra

"over 90 musicians from around the world -- including a Spanish guitarist, a Dutch harpist and a Lithuanian birbyne player — have gathered in New York City in preparation for tonight's historic YouTube Symphony Orchestra performance at Carnegie Hall."

I thought you all might find this post pretty interesting because we just had our Peer Teaching presentation about YouTube. I think it is fascinating that so many people can be united through just one site!

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/youtube-symphony-orchestra-from-idea-to.html

Make Your Business Web Site Social

The Blog post for this week is very interesting because it relates to topics we have focused on earlier in the semester such as social networking. This blog helps familiarize people with various social networking sites such as twitter and facebook in which you can integrate with you business websites. Reasons for including these social networking sites is to gain more customers by advertising and spreading your company name online without paying to much money. Which is always key for small business that are just starting up.

http://www.bmighty.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216500974

New Media Strategies for Fund-Raising (Watch out, future Alumni and Alumnae!)

The Chronicle of Higher Education is running a story on the attempts of Blue State Digital, the consultancy that built the highly successful new media strategy for the Barack Obama's presidential campaign is now courting universities in an attempt, as their higher education specialist put it, to raise much more money from alums under 40 ------>

CVS joins Google RX Network

I think I got a little behind on the blog posts over Spring Break so I decided to post a few to catch up!!

With the Google RX Network, millions can access their medical records online. I thought this was interesting because the blog post mentions how easy it is to get a hold of bank transactions, cell phone bills, etc. online, but not medical records. Until now that is! Hopefully this will make life easier for several people!

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/cvs-joins-google-health-rx-network.html

5 years of Gmail!

Five years ago, G-mail was launched and it provided it's users with a gig of space. Before Gmail, most webmail accounts could only store about 5 megabytes of mail. Even though 5 years is not a very long time in the grand scheme of things, we have gotten so used to having larger, more efficent electronic forms of media that 5 years is definitely something to celebrate.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/5-years-of-gmail.html

Social Media Sites for College Students

This blog was pretty interesting, it lists the top 10 “Must-Try Social Media Sites for College Students.”

1. Cramster
   Whether you’re having trouble with a math problem, need answers to textbook questions, need study help, or are just looking for resources to learn more, Cramster is the site for you.
2. InternshipRating.com
   This site offers you reviews from students that have already been through internships and know how valuable they are.
3. Zimride
   Whether you’re looking for an economical way to get to class every day, need some company while driving, or just trying to help save the earth one rideshare at a time, this is the service for you.
4. Box.net
   This is a great tool for individual students or for groups and organizations. The site’s interface is very simple and straightforward. Just upload any files that you need and access them from any computer, anywhere.
5. Twitter
   We should all know what Twitter is now, but it's also a great place to connect with people, either friends, acquaintances, clasmates, celebrities or strangers.
6. Remember the Milk
   A neat to-do list application. Just click “add task” and you can choose a title, a due date, location, website, tags and task duration. It will also tell you how many times you’ve postponed each task so you can track your procrastination!
7. Gradefund
   Doesn't everyone want to get paid for good grades? With Gradefund, you can sign up, get sponers (family and friends) and have them pay for your good grades. That is...if they want to. :)
8. Evernote
   A cool tool that allows you to capture information and access it later, from any computer. You can clip a webpage, a business card, a picture, class notes, quotes from a book, a voice recording or whatever else you might need to find later.
9. Zumeo
   Online job search/online resume site
10. CampusBooks
    Since we all know that the campus books store charges way too much for textbooks, which most of us don't really want and possibly never even open up until finals, CampusBooks is a great alternative, allowing students to trade, sell and buy books from other strudents.

Blog Post: 10 Must-Try Social Media Sites for College Students

Viewings for next week

Here are the links to Laurence Lessig's presentation on the freedom (or not) of culture:
Part 1




Part 2




Part 3



Part 4

Why We Still Need Our iPod

I liked this blog entry because this blogger brought up a good point - he still "needs" or uses his iPod. The iPhone was created to be the "everything in one" device, but there are just something about being able to have different appliances to accomplish different things. I know that I have an iPhone and still use my iPod for many of the reasons explained in this blog. Check it out! 

Crunchtime on the Crunchpad

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/04/leaked-photos-w.html

This article show's the creation of Michael Arrington's Crunchpad. It looks like it is going to compete with netbooks and could possibly build into something much more. Based on the price tag and the overall specs of the Crunchpad, it doesn't seem like it would be capable of doing many tasks, but since Arrington is leaving his idea "available under an open source license," one of the other big companies (i.e. Apple) should step in and build on this creation.

Virtual Scuba Diving with Google Earth? Great Lakes?

Google Earth Has now made it possible, through using the "flight simulator" function, to explore bodies of water below the surface. A sort of virtual deep sea diving, Google Earth allows anyone to be able to view the beauty and the wonders of the waterworld. Just recently, Google Earth has made it possible to explore the 5 Great Lakes!!!!

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/14/dive-into-the-five-great-lakes-with-google-earth/

Send a Video Message with Google Latitude

Google Latitude is a program that you can put on your iphone that lets all of your friends where you currently are. Google has now added a feature where people can now send video messages of where they are at now to their friends and family who currently use Google Latitude. This creates a wonderful way to bring your friends and family to you even if you are on the opposite side of the Earth. To bad, I do not have a phone like that! :-)

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/send-video-message-with-google-latitude.html

Students is investigated

Computer Science Student Targeted for Criminal Investigations

This article was just to funny not to write about.  A Boston College, Computer Science student, has suffered as a victim to the Massachusetts court.   Recently the Massachusetts investigators entered the student’s dorm room with an invalid search warrant.  They confiscated all electronic equipment including computers, iPod, cell phone, ect.  The basis for the search warrant was there was an email sent from his dorm room that said another student was gay.  There was illicit behavior on the student’s part, because he was always seen with laptop computers, which he didn’t owe.  The student told the investigators he was a Computer Science major and was fixing the computers for other students. For one of the students’ suspicious activities, this is what the investigators have to say, “[the] student uses two different operating systems, including one that is not the "regular B.C. operating system" but instead has "a black screen with white font which he uses prompt commands on."

Guess its time to get an HD PC Monitor?

So it turns out that more and more people are switching off their TV's for using their computers. Analyists suggest that next year will be the year that watching media (Television programming) over the internet will surpass those watching it on a television set.


http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/04/the-box-or-the-net-more-people-choosing-pcs-over-tvs-.html

Demand for fiber optics shrinking due to economic downturn?

Within the market Blogs for Schaeffers this week there is a blog post that discusses Corning Incorporated a major glass maker that also provids optic fiber to the telecommunications industry and emissions control systems to the automotive industry, remain under intense pressure amid this severe economic slowdown. Very interesting!

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/all+clear+on+corning+/dailycontrarian.aspx?newsid=92270#92270

10 Tips For Running A Risky Business

Cyndee Sugra started up her digital design and marketing firm last year during the dot com crash. Her company hit sales of 8 million dollars. The blog for this week shows us ten ways in which we can keep a risky business running and successful just like in Cyndees case. I really like this because it makes the reader really think, for example one of the steps is asking yourself whats the worst that can really happen?

A very interesting read for all!


http://www.bmighty.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216500184

Tweets Worth Reading

When we discussed Twitter in class Ron found a great site with funny and memorable tweets. This week the blog I’m following has a posted the 10 more extraordinary tweets. This of course includes marriage proposals, tweeting from the womb, tweeting from mars and the Egyptian arrest case. If you don’t have time to look at this blog, I really would suggest visiting the Besttweets.com.

Blog Post: 10 Most Extraordinary Twitter Updates

Some Products That Are Created Are Just Kinda Weird

So a Japanese company has developed a computer mouse with a built in fan, as well as a place for LED messages. It was created for those users who use their mouse a lot. The mouse will keep your hand cool and help eliminate sweaty palms. An LED message (of your choice) is displayed when you move your hand off of where the fan is. The lights are attached to the fan and are displayed in a dot-matrix form.

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/04/06/led-message-mouse-light-up-fan-mouse/

Another product created is a USB hub that looks like a cat. It provides users with 4 extra port holes. They have named it Neko. It's a creative idea that many cat lovers should love.

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/04/05/neko-usb-hub-cat/

Yahoo's Recent Rally!

The article talks about how shares of YHOO have been struggling since late-2004. The only excitement by investors is the on-again-off-again hopes that Microsoft (MSFT) will buy out Yahoo stock. Only time will tell if we will see Yahoo gain any advances in stock price in the coming months.

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/option+skews+-+relatively+heavy+call+activity+on+alcoa+inc+yahoo+inc+and+cisco+systems+inc/trading_floor_blog.aspx??single=true&blogid=92300

Windows XP

Windows XP not being supported by Microsoft

As of April 14^th, 2009 Microsoft will no longer be supporting Windows XP Operating system with mainstream support.  This means there will no longer over the phone support calls, no regular security fixes, and there will not be any bug updates.  Of course as a customer you can pay for the extended warrantee program and Microsoft can create new “non-security fixes”. 

 

The seven-year-old operating system, makes up for over 63 percent of all Internet operated computers.  The new Microsoft operating system Visa, only accounts for 24 percent of Internet operated computers.  In ordered to stay “covered” by Microsoft customers have the option to upgrade to Vista or Windows 7 (which has not been released yet). 

Google Becomes More Local

Google has taken into effect when people search for restaurants and other places like dentists, they sometimes use very simple searches. For example, instead of searching “restaurants in Fairfax, Virginia” they might just type restaurants. Google is making their search easier by automatically using their IP address to try and locate where they are. Google might not know the exact location of a person, but they can easily find out what geographical location the person is from.



http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/google-becomes-more-local.html

Petfinder.com

This may not be a usual posting, but currently I am attending a conference in Las Vegas on Animal Care, so of course there are plenty of people trying to sell you thing at this expo. One of the things that was interesting was hearing the founder of Petfinder.com speak. Petfinder is an animal shelters greatest resource in that you can post your animals, and anyone searching for an animal can type in search terms for an animal such as age and breed and size as well as zip code. It was interesting hearing the founder talk, as the spoke about how it all started in 1995, and part of the reason it was so successful was because while it started out being an idea for a certain state, shelters around the nation heard about it, and the demand grew for it to become national. It goes to show that word of mouth, and customer demand creates a different market, or can change a market completely.

Is A Good Privacy Policy Also Good Business?

A good privacy policy is a way of gaining more customers. This blog shows the examples of how when customers are guranteed a good privacy policy then they tend to come back for more business. While some companies tend to think that with these extended privacy policies that it will cost their company more money, but eventually what they dont realize is that in the end revenue actually goes up because customers know that they will be safe with this insurance policy.


http://www.bmighty.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216402755

URL Shortners

It always bothered me when I wanted to share a url online but had to paste a link that was over a hundred characters long.  It’s incontinent and sometimes hard on the eyes.  I didn’t know what URL shorteners were until Professor Smith used them in class for out reading assignments and then was exposed to them again when I copy and pasted a link into Twitter, and it was automatically converted into a tinyurl. 

5 Reasons Why URL Shorteners Are Useful:

1. They make links more manageable
   
2. They can track and compile click data
   
3. They can be transformed into social media services
   
4. They can provide users useful features
   
5. They promote sharing
   

 Blog Post: 5 Reasons Why URL Shorteners Are Useful

Google Street Car - Public or Private Debate

The google street car is making its way through the UK, but not without some controversy.

The subsequent story is one experience of the car - http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6022902.ece

And the following blog post seems to sum up the internet opinion on the matter.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/04/why-the-villagers-who-sent-the-google-street-view-car-packing-are-nimbys-gone-mad.html

What do you think? Is this type of info private or public? A picture from the street of your home? Does it give too much to criminals looking to scope out their next target? Or are these self righteous gits overreacting?

Did Yahoo! Give fareChase a Fair Chance?

Interesting Blog post about the health of the online travel industry. Apparently Yahoo! owned a website called fareChase which was attempting to compete with better known names in the cheap online travel market, however due to the current economic situation fareChase has been shut down. Interesting article that relates to the health of the online economy!

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/did+yahoo!+yhoo+give+farechase+a+fair+chance/dailycontrarian.aspx?newsid=92068#92068

MySpace Teams with CitySearch to Launch Local Business Portal

MySpace has teamed up with business directory Citysearch to create a socially-oriented search portal within the MySpace community. The result is a new section called MySpace Local. This new directory is not yet available, but will be launched in beta later on this week.

Citysearch is bringing its database to the table, while MySpace is going to be “socializing” the whole affair. In doing so, businesses will be able to connect with each other, and users will be able to connect with businesses. MySpace Local will over listing pages for small businesses, which will cover three categories at launch: Restaurants, Bars and Nightife. On each listing page, users will be able to rate, review and share media for each business. Users will also be able to add the business to their profile, share a business listing with friends, and add it to their bookmarks.

Blog Source

How To Make Your Own iPhone Application

I think this is very Web 2.0 - users helping users create a more powerful platform. This is a new application (although you can find tutorials online) that helps others learn how to create their very own iPhone application. Although I am not interested in creating my own application, I think the fact that apple has allowed anyone and everyone a shot at creating and being apart of their applications is great. I mean, some people are even making a lot of money! Check it out!

Google, at your service.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/google-at-your-service.html

This post tells about how Google is releasing a program called "Google Services for Websites." They provide tools that make it much easier for people to create their own websites, reserving spaces for addresses such as www.[yournamehere].com.

I found this interesting because I know I would need all the help I can get when creating a webpage of my own!.

Twitter useful?!? Shocking!

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/03/twitchiker-makes-it-to-the-other-side-of-the-world-in-30-days.html

This is a story of a journalist who traveled around the world with nothing more than the generosity of twits.

Twitter is getting more and more popular due to its simplicity - a counter-culture to the facebook phenomenon of "social everything", its simple design is half-google, half-myspace (admit it, there are seriously stupid users out there), seems to be paying off. It certainly paid off for the journalist in this story and even wound up helping charity in the process.

Touchscreen PC's are the future?

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/03/kitchen-pcs-gai.html

I was wondering when some of these CPU's were going to be exposed to the public. This could possibly be the first wave of many new touchscreen CPU's to come in the very near future. More and more devices are slowly becoming touchscreen operated, so is this really the future for the CPU?

World Map Turned Into Animal Shapes

Twelve Animals is a creative project by Kentaro Naga that pieces together the continents and islands from a world map to form the twelve animal signs of the Japanese Zodiac. As a project for peace, the different continents and islands are pieced together to form the animal. The project is pretty cool. During the presentation, you can see the pieces move around to form the different animals which were pieced together really well.


LINK

Mac Or PC: Two Business Owners, Two Opinions

This blog is very interesting because it gives us insight on whether to use a Mac or PC. There are opinions in this blog which give both the positve and negative in buying either of these platforms. Both are business based opinions and I find both very interesting. For me personally I am a PC user. I agree with a lot of aspects the PC review gets but very little with the bad reviews on the PC. Hey if your a Mac person read this blog and tell me what you find better about a Mac then PC and we could have a nice little conversation about the positive and negatice written in this article.

http://www.bmighty.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215901218

Scams Aimed at Social Networks

Social networks have made scamming so much easier for people. Pictures and user names are used to represent people. Hackers are easily able to use your information to act as if they were you. There have been many scams caused by hacking. One of which was a story of a guy named Bryan who's profile was hacked. A buletin was posted telling his friends that he was trapped over seas without any money to come home because he was held at gunpoint. It was taken to the point where one of his close friends sent money to him. Scamming might not seem like a big deal in some cases, but it can cause huge problems if and when people take it seriously.


http://www.netfamilynews.org/2009_02_08_archive.html

Signs of Dating Abuse

Some people might get flattered by either jealousy, possessiveness, or constant attention. A lot of the time, these are signs of dating abuse. Put together, these qualities can be the result of control more than love. Of 920 students that were questioned, more than one-third of them had been abused, emotionally and physically, by their romantic partners before they started college. This type of abuse has been known to influence people into doing horrible things such as committing suicide, binge drinking, and committing acts of violence. This is an issue that seems so small but can eventually cause very serious problems.

http://www.netfamilynews.org/2009_02_01_archive.html

Facebook collaborates with Adobe for a smoother Flash Experience

It has been reported that the creators of the social networking site Facebook, have hooked up with the creators at Adobe, to provide a coding, that when used within the Facebook interface, would provide users with a much smoother and simpler experience with its interactive applications. Currently there is $516 Million dollars being funded towards this project, with talk of even more funding and support. If all works out, applications as well as videos will stream very fluidly, making their use less choppy and static-esque.



http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/31/facebook-hooks-up-with-adobe-for-richer-social-applications-in-flash/

Google, at your service

Google has just released Google services for websites. These services can make your websites much better. Some of the programs that are included in these tools are: webmaster tools, AdSense, Custom search, and site search.








http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/google-at-your-service.html

Facebook Friends

I always wondered if it was slightly weird that I enjoyed Social Networking even though I only limited it to people that I actually knew in real life. Apparently I’m not the only one out there, Stan Schroeder feels the same way, even if he practices this for slightly different reasons. Stan recognizes that having hundreds of Friends on Facebook will overload your page with status updates and news feed information. But then again, as he points out, Facebook now has ways to create custom friend lists where you can designate what information you want to see.

I just found it interesting how our outlooks towards Facebook and Twitter are similar.  (o^_^o)

Blog Post: Can Anyone Be Your Facebook Friend?

The Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project has just issued a new report which includes a typology of internet users, and argues that the arrival of wireless connectivity had drawn many Americans more deeply into digital life. Their ten categories of users are:

• Digital Collaborators (8% of the population) are very much about continual information exchange with others, as they frequently mix it up with online collaborators to create and share content or express themselves.
• Ambivalent Networkers (7%) are extremely active in using social networking sites and accessing digital resources “on the go” yet aren’t always thrilled to be contacted by others. They sometimes yearn for a break from online use and pervasive connectivity.
• Media Movers (7%) are the accelerants of user-generated content as they use their ICT assets to send material (say, a photo or video they’ve taken) out onto the Web.
• Roving Nodes (9%) are active managers of their social lives using basic applications – texting and emailing – to connect with others, pass along information, and bolster personal productivity.
• Mobile Newbies (8%) are occasional Internet users, but many in this group are recent cell phone adopters and very enthusiastic about how mobile service makes them more available to others. They would be hard pressed to give up their cell phones.

The final five groups (61% of the general population) make up the stationary media majority:

• Desktop Veterans (13%) are tech-oriented, but in a “year 2004” kind of way. They consume online information and connect with others using traditional tools such as email on a home high-speed connection. They are not heavy users of cell phones for much beyond a voice call.
• Drifting Surfers (14%) have the tools for connectivity, but are relatively infrequent users of them. They say they could give up their Internet and cell phones. In spite of years of online experience, they seem to have checked out of the digital revolution.
• Information Encumbered (10%) have average amounts of connectivity, but suffer from information overload and have a tough time getting their gadgets to work without help from others.
• Tech Indifferent (10%) have limited online capability at home and, even though most have cell phones, they bristle at the intrusiveness cell phones can foster.
• Off the Network (14%) lack the tools for digital connectivity, as they have neither online access nor cell phones. (from the Press Release on the report, 2009 3 25)

You can find the full report here ------> and you can take a quiz to find out what kind of user you are ------>

Social Networking Sites

Connect with You Extended Family On Facebook

Social networking sites are popping up all over the internet so people can connect with old friends, family, etc. On Facebook, there is a special group you can make where you can connect with family members.



Special Social Networking Sites That Are Not Facbook or MySpace

This is an older blog post that was connected to the Facebook Family post that I mentioned above. I thought it was interesting because it lists other types of social networking sites that are out there such as "First Wives World" which is a social networking site for anyone who has been affected by divorce and "CafeMom" which is a site just for moms.



Facebook Photo Convicts School Aide of Drinking Charge
This last link is not from the blog I'm following, but I thought it was interesting. It's a news article about a school aide that was convicted for allowing minors to have alcohol because of a Facebook photo that showed her with three cheerleaders who were holding Smirnoff bottles. This should remind people of the invisible audience that can view what you post if privacy options are not used.

Economic Storm Prevents DirectTV Bulls from Getting a Firm Signal!

An interesting article regarding the future of DTV as it looks to compete with already existing technologies. A very interesting evaluation.

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/economic+storm+prevents+directtv+bulls+from+getting+a+firm+signal/dailycontrarian.aspx?single=true&newsid=91824#91824

Raptr: Where Social Networks and Gaming Collide

The networking service raptr is offers an opportunity for gamers to take their online social networking skills to the next level. Sort of like a "facebook for gamers" Raptr aims to be the central hub for gamers all across the globe, allowing them to find other partners with similar gaming habits and interests, as well as viewing user feedback (i.e. ratings and comments on past and current games, as well as new releases).

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/24/raptr-spreads-its-wings-with-gaming-partnerships/

Rumored NEW iPhone coming out in June 2009

I attempted to find a blog entree that connected with what we have been discussing in class but I failed. Unfortunately the big buzz on the blog I am following is the new 3.0 and the new games and now, the NEW iPhone that is rumored to be released in mid-June. It seems like there is never going to be more than a six month period of things being the same, there will always be a new program, application, product, etc. Apple has shown how successful their products and definitely know how to market. LINK

Cloud Computing...The Next Big Thing?

http://weblog.infoworld.com/whurley/

Community organizers can find instant gratification in the cloud for almost every event coordination urge.

So, besides the big thing I hear on Web 2.0 is Cloud Computing. So what is cloud, I hear good and bad things but at the end of the day I think you need to ask your self what do you want to use it for? From my understanding is it another way of combining resources to get the job done. Combining resources means taking all your computers and servers to make things run efficiently. This can be done remotely, and then it has the ability to be a disaster recovery solution. But is it really? And how can the government use this if some of the work is done classified?


Learn what Cloud is...http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/07/15FE-cloud-computing-reality_1.html

O'Reilly's Take...http://radar.oreilly.com/2008/10/web-20-and-cloud-computing.html


Related Blogs:
Cloud Computing Journal - http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/
Cloud Computing - DELL COMMUNITY - http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/cloudcomputing/
Cloud Computing Tools Team - http://blogs.msdn.com/cloud/
cloud computing - http://cloudcomputing.blogspot.com/
Web-based Cloud Computing Management Platform by RightScale - http://www.rightscale.com/

Combine Your Social Site Updates

Skimmer is a new visual desktop application for keeping track of all your social sites.  It allows you to to connect to your Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Blogger accounts and access them all from one application.  It's an easy way to get a stream-like view of  your friend's status updates as well as a quick way to post your own.  Posting pictures is said to be easier, and with their numerous custimizable options you can make the application fit your preference style.   I've actually been looking for a desktop application to connect my facebook and twitter accounts and make it easier for me to review updates as well as post pictures.  I think I might actually give Skimmer a try.

Blog Post: Skimmer: Visual Desktop App for Tracking Your Favorite Social Sites

Skype

Skype means Business

The online Skype phone service has launches a program called "Skype for Sip".  Skype is wanting people to install Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), in order to provide the customer with quick inexpensive phone service.  This company aims at taking charge of the telecom world.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Skype allows people to "make calls to anyone else for about two cents".  If you read that carefully you will see it says for about two cents!  not two cents a minute, or two cents a second; thats two cents a call.  With prices like this it's not hard to see that "Skype Means Business".

Make Presentations Go Virtual With Webinars

With high gas prices and not many cheap flights available, reaching customers for your company sales may be a bit difficult these days. There is although an alternative where you can chat with your clients in such a way called webinar that doesnt require any expensive computer equipment. All you need is a computer and a telephone and in no time you will be able to affordably reach your clients in no time!

http://www.bmighty.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215901272

Netflix to integrate with Silverlight in order fix streaming video problems

CLICK ME!!!

As a subscriber to Netflix and Xbox Live, I have the ability to stream movies through my Xbox to my TV. Although I haven't come across any real streaming trouble, Netflix has announced that it will fully implement Silverlight in order to fix its current errors that users are encountering. While Netflix believes it is more-so the fault of 'CPU loads' and specific playback devices, they are still willing to employ this feature to keep their current customer base satisfied.

PC's Game? Not Over.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/03/pc-gaming-is-th.html

PC Gaming still rules the roost when it comes to electronic entertainment. Although hordes of players exist on the Xbox, Wii, and PS3 consoles - a sheer per-dollar-assesment shows that the PC gaming industry still takes more in than the alternatives.

The cash king? World of Warcraft.

Addicts.

A shiny new beta for Google Chrome

Google has just released a new beta version of Google Chrome. Google Chrome is Google’s version of a browser to access the Internet. The new version includes an enhancement in the speed of the browser, an auto-fill feature to fill out forms, a full-page zoom capability, an auto-scroll capability and a new way to drag tabs in a side-by-side view.





http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/shiny-new-beta-for-google-chrome.html

Following up on the post about Maggiano's...

NPR's Morning Edition (2003 3 23) ran an item on:

"Kogi, which offers a unique combination of Mexican and Korean food, is a modern variation of the taco trucks that have long been popular on the streets of L.A."

whose location hungry diners track on Twitter, where they also check out specials of the day. Twitter proved so successful for the Korean BBQ taco truck that rivals even set up a deception Twitter account to send customers to the wrong location. Listen or read ------>

The Complexities of Copyright

The following article (2009 3 220 from the New York Times indicates the kinds of tensions emerging between sites which distibute content and companies who own the rights to elements included in that content. Here the battle rages between YouTube and Warner Music, but the implications stretch into music mashups, audio collages, amateur performance of copyrighted materials, and so on ------>

Endless loop: A brief history of chiptunes

Before I read about "chiptunes" on Grand Text Auto, I had never encountered the term. Fear not, two intrepid authors, Kevin Driscoll and Joshua Diaz, have analyzed them in great detail in Endless loop: A brief history of chiptunes. Here's the abstract to the article, which may provide an aural trip down memory lane for game players among you:

"Chiptune refers to a collection of related music production and performance practices sharing a history with video game soundtracks. The evolution of early chiptune music tells an alternate narrative about the hardware, software, and social practices of personal computing in the 1980s and 1990s. By digging into the interviews, text files, and dispersed ephemera that have made their way to the Web, we identify some of the common folk-historical threads among the commercial, noncommercial, and ambiguously commercial producers of chiptunes with an eye toward the present-day confusion surrounding the term chiptune. Using the language of affordances and constraints, we hope to avoid a technocratic view of the inventive and creative but nevertheless highly technical process of creating music on computer game hardware."

Have fun ------>

Portrait of an Artist as an Avatar

New York Times Writer Sara Corbett investigates how a not-very-successful artist used the exploits of his avatar in Second Life to build his brand. She notes of the artist/avatar:

"Filthy Fluno was born into Second Life on May 20, 2006, created — or in game parlance, “rezzed” — by his human counterpart, a Boston-area artist named Jeffrey Lipsky, who says he designed Filthy as an “urban prophet/vampire figure” who is “impossibly short, impossibly thick and with impossibly big hair.”Lipsky is 37, a mild-mannered art-school grad with a traditional painterly mien. He can’t quite explain why he, a short, white Jewish man, chose a short, snaggletoothed black avatar, except to say that part of the fun of recreating yourself digitally is that every option — switching race, sex or even species — is gloriously open."

That article is quite long, but well worth the reading time: Portrait of an Artist as an Avatar ------>

Fruit Powered Clock

Everyone has heard of using a potato to generate electricity, right? So now, Urban Outfitters is selling a fruit powered clock for $18 that will work by plugging it into any type of fruit. Honestly, I think it's easier to just wear a watch, look at the time off of your cell phone, or a even just a regular clock. It is pretty geeky but it's resourceful. The fruit (of course) goes bad as it gets older, so it would need to be replaced often. But this is kind of a neat gadget to have and to show off. It’s kind of cool that you can do things like this with fruit.

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/03/19/fruit-powered-clock/#comments

iPhone OS 3.0 Software

A new software for iPhone is launching and this blog links you to the presentation of this new software. It is this ever advancing of product and changes in software that allow Apple to be such a successful company. They create a product that is desirable and keep it desirable by making it "new". It is absolutely amazing to watch the presentation, just the beginning minutes paints a picture on what a huge influence their product has on the world's population. LINK

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/03/google-fail-how.html

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/03/google-fail-how.html

Great article on the cloud computing phenonmenon - which is double funny because I wrote my essay on this. Seems that Google left a loophole open and exposed a bunch of documents on their cloud server for everyone to see.

Guess cloud computing still comes back to that idea - do you trust your own stuff, or trust theirs?

k-95: A new waterproof flash drive

So I don't know how many people have actually gotten their flash drives wet. But here is a submarine-shaped one that is waterproof. It's kind of neat, but I'm not sure how popular it will be.

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/03/17/k-95-waterproof-submarine-flash-drive-goes-for-a-swim/

6 Mobile Operating Systems For Your Business

As small and midsize businesses increasingly go mobile, they grow more reliant on smartphones. And not all smartphones are built equally. The brains behind the device -- the OS -- determines what the phones are capable of and which business functions you can run. Here are six of the most popular mobile operating systems.

http://www.bmighty.com/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215800839

Read Web Articles in a Beautiful & Distraction Free Environment

Ever try to read a web article, but got distracted by the various links or flashing ad banners on the sides of the page? There is a tool called Readability that you can install on your browser toolbar that will convert web articles into easy to read pages by eliminating the various distractions leaving only the content you are trying to read. You choose the font style, font size, and margin size from a preset list, then install it onto your toolbar. When you are on a page that you want to read, you can click the Readability button on your toolbar, and it will format the page to what you specified. It definitely helps out alot!

http://www.labnol.org/internet/read-web-articles-distraction-free/7812/

Are investors taking a bite out of Apple?

An interesting blog post from the folks at Schaeffer's "Apple Investors Are Hungry, but Can the Stock Deliver?"

The most interesting part of the of the article discusses netbooks (like Amazons Kindle) and how the opportunity for Apple to expand into the area of Netbook readers "the opportunity is huge" for Apple. The blog post also states that the market for smartphones grew 68.2% last year, which is pretty amazing so the article beggs the question "imagine how consumers and business users would take to an oversized iPhone with netbook functionality." I guess we will have to see!

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/apple+investors+are+hungry+but+can+the+stock+deliver/dailycontrarian.aspx?single=true&newsid=91789#91789

Social Netowrking for Pets

It’s not unheard of for people to make social profiles for their pets, but rather than putting them up on Facebook pet owners should look for pet-targeted sites.  Cute as Hell, one newly launched social network for pets may be the next big thing for our little furry friends.  The site also combines many features that have been utilized on other similar pet-related sites like Cute Overload or Hot or Not for Pets.  

Blog Post: Cute as Hell: Pet Social Networking Goes Viral

You Tube bringing back the upload status bar?

An upload status bar, something so simple, letting the users know just how much progress the server has made for submitting whatever material; apparently this feature had been removed from You Tube's video uploading service (probably to not let the users know just how slow the service actually was). It has been reported that as of late it has been restored, and now users can upload with the utmost confidence that something is actually taking place.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/13/is-youtube-finally-getting-an-upload-status-bar/

Celebrating Mars, Then and Now

On March 14, 2009, it was the 174th birthday of the famous Italian astronomer and cartographer, Giovanni Schiaparelli. Giovanni had created a map of mars with what was thought to be bodies of water and signs of potential areas where Martians might have once roamed. Google Earth now has a feature that you can view the planet of Mars now and back to the map that Giovanni created. Under an extensive review, it was found that the bodies of water and the areas where Martians might have been turned out to be just an optical illusion.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/celebrating-mars-then-and-now.html

3D fingure Printing

3D Fingure Printing

It takes 5-10 minutes to take ink fingure prints, and even when conducted by a professional they still smug; making it almost impossible to match prints correctly when conducting an investigation. The University of Kentuky, in connection with DHS, believes they have the answer in how to improve the methods of fingure printing. They have developed a system that allso 3D light technology to take 10 fingure prints of your hand in 10 seconds. The light prjects a a structured gride created by many dots that wrap around ones fingures. From the 256 different shades of grey this device is able to capture a 3D image of your fingure print. The University, DHS, and the government firmly believe that this device is our future to fingure printing, and to increase accuracy amongst fingure print matching.

Google Tip Jar

In response to today's shakey economy, Google has created a device called "Tip Jar," that is designed to help people discover the best and most effective ways to save money. What is so neat about this is the fact that Google Tip Jar gathers money saving tips from several different places, compiles them into one place and invites the public to rank them in order of usefulness and even add their own tips to the list.

The blog post states "So go ahead: Take a Tip. Share a Tip. We'll all be a little bit richer for it."

Link to Blog Post:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/tipping-points.html

Link to Google Tip Jar:
http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=3cfc

A Tweet Worth $100

What is a tweet worth to you?  To Maggiano’s, it could be worth a $100 gift card.  The Italian restaurant ran a simple social media promotion entering anyone who tweeted “Follow @Maggianos by 5pm CST to be entered to win $100 in Maggiano’s gift certificate”.  Thanks to their promotion the restaurant has already become a Twitter trending topic.  It doesn’t take much to tweet a simple message, and with the chance to win free food, who wouldn’t participate?

 

Blog Post: Maggiano’s Gives Away Food to Gain Twitter Followers

Wikipedia and Twitter: The Investigation

A rather amusing, but also illuminating, story about an George Mason University graduate student who noticed a strangely altered Wikipedia page and set out to investigate (from the Chronicle of Higher Education) ------>

HashCache

A new development in the storage of data from the web enables universities and colleges in Africa and other infrastructure-poor nations to access necessary data quickly and efficiently (from Technology Review) -------->

Also, check out the ten emerging technologies for 2009 suggested by the same journal. If you look to the bottom right of the screen, you'll see links to the lists from previous years, and reading them is rather like reading a history of technology change over the last decade.

Enjoy Spring break.....

Concerto for cell phones

A short article about the potential of the cell 'phone for musical performance. We might want to think about cell phones as platforms for creativity later in the semester, for example --------->

Is Dell computers finished?

Interesting article about how Dell is currently in HUGE financial trouble. Many financial experts believe that the only ways that Dell could prosper would be through an acquisition of NetApp (NTAP) or Accenture (ACN). The Dell company is clearly struggling, but it is far from being at "death's door." However this is an interesting post about the health of the computer industry and what firms now have to do to stay alive in the financial turmoil of this year.

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/dell+may+not+be+dead+but+it+is+far+from+healthy/dailycontrarian.aspx?newsid=91478#91478

3 Million Blogs Have Installed Google Friend Connect

Today Google has announced that their Friend Connect widget has been installed on “nearly three million blogs, with someone following a new blog every second.” That would mean that there are nearly 86,400 users following a blog every day. Today Google has also announced the integration of Google Friend Connect with Blogger. I’ve posted a video below of what that integration looks like.

BLOG SOURCE

Turn Your iPhone Into an Electric Guitar With iShred

I thought this was a neat article, although I don't own an iPhone, but I am a musician. This new iShred application actually can help familiarize a person with musical chord structures of popular songs. You can learn songs & create your own songs. Although it does not provide a full representation of the whole guitar neck, it does show you what frets are to be played though. I see this app as a fun tool, but also as a learning tool for someone who may be interested in learning how to play the guitar.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/turn-your-iphon.html

Amazon launches Kindle application for the iPhone

Don't feel like spending $300.00 plus on a device that is only meant for reading? Apple has just released a free program, yeah that's right, FREE, which will allow you to read kindle compatible books which you have purchased from an Amazon.com catalog. With this feature you can read entire books, archive your favorites for easier access, and even more interesting, read the first couple chapters of other books completely free of charge. iPhones....completely revolutionizing our society.

Using Google Reader-> TechCrunch-> http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/03/03/amazon-launches-kindle-app-for-the-iphone/

If you're a fellow computer junkie who likes to be online and accessible, then you might appreciate this article.  Many people have different Instant Message (IM) programs that they prefer to use.   When everyone is using a different program, it makes it harder for people to keep in touch with everyone.  Thankfully, there are IM programs out there that will allow you to access and talk to people from multiple IMs. 

• Disby --> Windows 
  
• Adium -->MAC
  
• Meebo -->Web
  
• Trutap -->Mobile
  
• Nimbuzz -->iPhone
  

Keep in mind that these programs aren’t just for IMing.  You can also check your mail AND Social Networking sites.  Some will allow you to do Facebook chat, or get Facebook/MySpace updates and new tweets from Twitter.

 

Blog post:  5 Great Instant Messenger Aggregators Across Multiple Platforms