Friday, January 30, 2009
GDrive, the mythical, all-encompassing online storage solution that will practically render most of your hardware obsolete. At least that's what the legend says.
Talk of the ever-elusive GDrive first appeared in March 2006, when Google dropped a mention into a PowerPoint presentation intended for a gathering of industry analysts. Eventually withdrawn by Google - who said it was not intended for publication - the PowerPoint revealed a plan to store "100% of User Data."
And now, GDrive's function is revealed in a few lines of code in a file used by Google Pack. Now rumors are saying it is nearing a release. And Google continues to take over the world.
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TiVo will use its audience measurement tools to provide overnight industry reports regarding the most popular moments that occur during Super Bowl XLIII. This is the seventh year that TiVo will be able to provide calculations on how viewers responded to the game plays, commercials, and entertainment that occurs during the broadcast in the quickest manner possible.
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Windows only: File search utility Last Changed Files finds the last 100 modified files on your drive, so you can find the file you just saved but can't remember where.
Using Last Changed Files-which requires no installation-is as simple as launching and waiting while it searches through your drive to find the last 100 modified files. Your best bet is to use the built-in exclude feature to prevent the application from searching through temporary or system files, or modify the INI file with a list of exclusions if you plan to use it a lot. This application could be very useful the next time you save a file and then can't remember where you put it-if you haven't modified 100 files since then.
Talk of the ever-elusive GDrive first appeared in March 2006, when Google dropped a mention into a PowerPoint presentation intended for a gathering of industry analysts. Eventually withdrawn by Google - who said it was not intended for publication - the PowerPoint revealed a plan to store "100% of User Data."
And now, GDrive's function is revealed in a few lines of code in a file used by Google Pack. Now rumors are saying it is nearing a release. And Google continues to take over the world.
*~*~*
TiVo will use its audience measurement tools to provide overnight industry reports regarding the most popular moments that occur during Super Bowl XLIII. This is the seventh year that TiVo will be able to provide calculations on how viewers responded to the game plays, commercials, and entertainment that occurs during the broadcast in the quickest manner possible.
*~*~*
Windows only: File search utility Last Changed Files finds the last 100 modified files on your drive, so you can find the file you just saved but can't remember where.
Using Last Changed Files-which requires no installation-is as simple as launching and waiting while it searches through your drive to find the last 100 modified files. Your best bet is to use the built-in exclude feature to prevent the application from searching through temporary or system files, or modify the INI file with a list of exclusions if you plan to use it a lot. This application could be very useful the next time you save a file and then can't remember where you put it-if you haven't modified 100 files since then.
Labels: file finder, gdrive, google, tivo
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Shoutlet is a comprehensive social media marketing tool that combines the most popular Web 2.0 formats into one easy-to-use application. Users create, distribute, and track e-mail, video, RSS, SMS (mobile messaging), podcasting, and widgets through one simple, web-based application. With Shoutlet, you can take any text—announcements, press releases, etc., and transform it into online feed posts within minutes.
Shoutlet tracking and reporting offers a complete measurement of your marketing's effectiveness. There is real-time tracking that lets you "watch" your shouts be delivered to your audience.
It sounds like Feedburner to me.
But anyway the folks at Shoutlet are currently seeking outside help.
They are currently seeking the applications listed below:
1. content widgets
2. sign-up / opt-in apps
3. RSS import apps
4. tracking/date reporting apps
5. iPhone Apps
Once your application is approved you get paid for it. Shoutlet will help you to market your product to their clients and then pay you upon purchase of your application.
Labels: shoutlet, social network
Monday, January 26, 2009
We've already covered how some Warner Music musicians are pissed off about Warner Music demanding more money for its music showing up on YouTube, and now it's also causing additional problems for musicians. For example, the band Death Cab for Cutie has YouTube videos of its music on its own website... but not after Warner Music's actions forced them offline.
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TaggedFrog tags any file you have with any words you want, so you can selectively tag files to separate projects, keep a track of any MP3s with curse words in them, or whatever quick-search needs you have. As you search, a "cloud" view shows the most-accessed, or most-tagged, keywords, and you can narrow your search by file extension for heavily-used tags. There's a portable, no-install version available at the program page, so even if you only want to try out TaggedFrog for a quick MP3 organizational mission, you're good to go.
*~*~*
Best Buy Co., Inc. is set to bring its electronics recycling program to all of its 1,006 stores on Feb. 15. The program is the latest addition to the initiatives offered by Best Buy called "Greener Together," which provide ways to recycle, reuse or trade-in end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Previously, Best Buy's e-cycling had only been available at 117 test stores.
A $10 recycling fee per unit will be charged for items with screens, such as televisions, laptop computers and monitors (recycling at California stores and any Best Buy-branded products will not incur this fee). Although there is a small charge, recyclers will instantly receive a $10 Best Buy gift card in exchange for the recycling fee.
*~*~*
TaggedFrog tags any file you have with any words you want, so you can selectively tag files to separate projects, keep a track of any MP3s with curse words in them, or whatever quick-search needs you have. As you search, a "cloud" view shows the most-accessed, or most-tagged, keywords, and you can narrow your search by file extension for heavily-used tags. There's a portable, no-install version available at the program page, so even if you only want to try out TaggedFrog for a quick MP3 organizational mission, you're good to go.
*~*~*
Best Buy Co., Inc. is set to bring its electronics recycling program to all of its 1,006 stores on Feb. 15. The program is the latest addition to the initiatives offered by Best Buy called "Greener Together," which provide ways to recycle, reuse or trade-in end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Previously, Best Buy's e-cycling had only been available at 117 test stores.
A $10 recycling fee per unit will be charged for items with screens, such as televisions, laptop computers and monitors (recycling at California stores and any Best Buy-branded products will not incur this fee). Although there is a small charge, recyclers will instantly receive a $10 Best Buy gift card in exchange for the recycling fee.
Labels: best buy, ecycling, taggedfrog, warner music
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
"Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America."-- Barack Obama, Springfield, IL, February 10 ,2007
President Barack Obama is in office now, and the White House website, WhiteHouse.gov, has a brand new look. At noon (GMT), the website of former president George W. Bush, was replaced by an updated, sleeker website that states:
"WhiteHouse.gov will be a central part of President Obama's pledge to make his the most transparent and accountable administration in American history."
There is a new blog section with posts already up and online which tout President Obama's key media plans. There are three key priorities: communication, transparency and participation.
He states his views on privacy as well. Specifically he says his administration intends to, "Strengthen privacy protections for the digital age and harness the power of technology to hold government and business accountable for violations of personal privacy."
I look forward to reading the post entries at the new blog and I think this is a great start to his presidency in terms of his plans for technology.
Labels: president barack obama, technology
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Headphones. Now that I'm working in a cubicle area instead of my own office there is a chance I may need headphones. The reason is because one lady I work with actually is a writer and many times handles interviews on the phone. So far I have been able to focus, but I'm not sure I'll have that concentration level every day.i2! has AudioWear Lanyard Style Earphones that are not only cute, but they won't take up any space and they won't make me look like a pilot in my own little command center. Though whether or not their quality is good is something I'm unclear on. Since you were this as a necklace while you're not using the ear buds it seems to me the quality would deteriorate over time. Plus, they are $49.95 which seems steep to me.
*~*~*
Who has plans to save The New York Times?
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim may invest "hundreds of millions" in the paper via what amounts to a high-interest loan. Slim, a telecom magnate whom Forbes pegged as the second-richest man in the world last year, is looking at buying a slug of preferred stock in the New York Times (NYT), the Wall Street Journal reports.
If the deal goes through, it will give the Times some breathing room to deal with its cash crunch - it has $46 million in cash and more than $1 billion in debt, with a $400 million revolver that winds down in May. But it won't solve its core problem- its print ad dollars are disappearing and it hasn't figured out how to replace them on the Web.
Labels: headphones, new york times
Friday, January 16, 2009
AmpliTube Fender(R) is the only official Fender guitar/bass amp and FX software suite, made by IK Multimedia in cooperation with music icon Fender(R) Musical Instruments Corporation. With a collection of 45 pieces of gear, including some the most sought-after classic and modern Fender amps (Twin Reverb(R), '59 Bassman(R) LTD, Super- Sonic(TM), Metalhead(TM) and many others), cabinets, stompboxes and rack effects, AmpliTube Fender sets the new standard for software amplifiers. From guitar to bass, and from country to blues, rock, punk and metal -- whatever style you play -- AmpliTube Fender is the only amp suite that gives you the world's most influential guitar and bass tones right on your desktop.AmpliTube Fender is the result of years of intense research and development by the tone gurus at Fender, and is handcrafted by the software and audio engineers at IK Multimedia. The results have been amazing, as Fender's Shane Nicholas, senior marketing manager for guitar amps said:
"An electric guitar is nothing without amp tone, and Fender amplifiers are the standard by which great amp tones are measured. We're confident that the thrill of plugging into a great tube amp will never die, but we are proud to give digital recording enthusiasts the opportunity to discover and utilize many of the best Fender tones, old and new, with the convenience of PC recording. Unlike other guitar modeling software, IK Multimedia developed the realistic sounds of the AmpliTube Fender edition with the master tone-team at Fender Musical Instruments. From the legendary Tweed Deluxe(TM) to the modern high-gain Super-Sonic, this is the real-deal palette of tones you need to make great music in the digital domain."
The extremely accurate Fender tones achieved by this collaboration, together with the large variety of gear included, covers the widest range of tonal palettes and makes AmpliTube Fender the ideal choice for those who are recording guitar for the first time or for DAW users who demand nothing less than tonal perfection.
AmpliTube Fender will be available through the entire IK sales network of dealers and distributors by the end of February 2009. Preorders are already available through selected dealers around the world and in the IK online store.
Yahoo! has designed a Widget Engine that allows TV viewers to access a wide range of information, all from the convenience of their TV screen. During CES last week, Yahoo! showcased the weather widget on a Sharp widget-enabled television.The Widget Channel was created by Yahoo! and Intel and can work on televisions as well as LCD TV/DVD combinations.
WebTV is nothing new, but as far as I know it hasn't become a huge thing. I mean people still prefer surfing on their laptops or desktops, right? You can do that while you're watching TV. But if you could just have a sidebar widget on the TV then you've opened multitasking up o a whole new level. And so now instead of being called WebTV it has been named ConnectedTV by some.
Since the Connected TV will be controlled with just a handy remote control, rather than the set top box and keyboard, and will have many new features to it, is it more likely that the concept will appeal to users this time around?
TV Widgets will be installed in a handful of broadband-capable high-definition televisions and set-top boxes made by Samsung Electronics, Sony (SNE), VIZIO, and LG Electronics, slated to ship in the spring.
If anything this shows how Yahoo! is boldy moving forward in rebuilding their own business foundation.
[Screenshot from Samsung Connected TV demo]
Labels: connected tv, yahoo
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Bleck. Double bleck. Just ew!But as vile as the Nopopo (which stands for no pollution power) batteries sound, you don't just point and shoot/aim and go all over the batteries to recharge them. Instead, there is a pipette. Though, how you pee into it without getting it all over your hands, shoes and the floor is a mystery. But if you're not the peeing into pipettes type, you can also use beer, saliva, apple juice or coco-cola.
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Rental chain Blockbuster has announced a plan to bring streaming films and videos to computers, set-top TV boxes, portable devices, and other unspecified screens. Pay-per-view at first, but unlimited plans may follow.
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CastTV is a wide-reaching video aggregator that can save you some time when searching out a missed episode of your favorite show or looking for a copy of the latest must-see viral video.
CastTV searches dozens of sites including: YouTube, Hulu, MySpaceTV, Comedy Central, CNN, ESPN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS and MTV.
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Just under two years ago Google launched Google Apps for businesses, offering a set of of products that enable secure and cost-effective applications in the cloud. Fast-forward to today and our expanded Google Apps suite is used by more than 1 million businesses, with 3,000 new companies signing up each day.
They have adapted this program to complement resellers' current business models. Authorized Resellers have the flexibility to combine their existing services with Google Apps. With cloud-based Google Apps there is no new hardware or software to maintain. The Authorized Reseller program benefits include:
* owning the customer relationship and billing structure
* providing consulting, service management and end-user support
* receiving a recurring discount on the annual Google Apps licensing fee
* receiving marketing, sales and technical training from Google
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In the weeks after the App Store submission process went live, a number of developers got a big smack in the face from Cupertino. After spending hundreds of hours developing their wares, they were turned away for offering features too similar to Apple’s own offerings, or “duplicate functionality”. The outcry was instantaneous and deafening; it’s one thing to have pride in your work, but to essentially ban competition is ridiculous.
Over the past 24 hours, it appears that a shift in this policy may have occurred. With Apple offering their own Mobile Safari browser on the iPhone, most expected that alternative browsers would never see the light of day. At the time of writing, at least 4 such browsers have suddenly been given the greenlight.
Ranging from free to $1.99, the now-approved browsers are: Edge Browser (Free), Incognito ($1.99), Webmate ($0.99), and Shaking Web .
Labels: Apple, apps, batteries, iphone app, streaming video. google, tv
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A breathalyzer keychain...There are three different levels when you breath into the gadget. It also has a flashlight function for when you're stumbling around in the dark. It takes only 5 seconds to give you either a green (under .02%), yellow (.02% to .05%) or red (over .05%) light which indicates your relative condition to drive a car. Green means "good to go" yellow is "stop drinking" and the red light is for "How in the world are you still standing?" Want it? Sourcing Map is selling the breathalyzer key chain for under $6.
The warning attached is, "All breath alcohol testers are only a guide to your actual blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as there is no safe levels of alcohol consumption before driving."
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And the next unreal gadget to read about is from La Crosse Technology. It is a battery charger that claims it can give back life to dead batteries. The claim is "the La Crosse has an uncanny ability to recycle and rejuvenate your NiMH cells, bringing back to life those batteries you formerly would have discarded." This Alpha Power Battery Charger is more expensive than the key chain, La Crosse is selling it for under $80.
*~*~*
And head over to the Web Urbanist to see a list of their 10 Great Geek Gadgets from the Past & Future. It shows the evolution of these gadgets too which is pretty interesting.
Labels: battery charger, breathalyzer, Gadgets, web urbanist
Thursday, January 8, 2009
What is this iRiver business? Chances are you have seen a review of iRiver P35 on every techie website in the world lately. But really we don't know when it will be released or how much it will cost so all the features in the world are not quite enough to get me hopeful yet.Features of the iRiver P35 include:
* 4.3" TFT LCD touchscreen display at 480 x 272 resolution
* Wi-Fi connectivity
* Integrated microphone
* TV Out
* Full movie codec support
* microSDHC memory card slot (up to 16GB)
* USB 2.0 connectivity
* Integrated FM radio
* Voice recording capability, audio and video playback, Flash support
*~*~*
Looking to bring in some extra money while cleaning house? Why not sell your old video games? Forbes.com suggests there are three approaches to take—easy but low-return chains like GameStop, the take-a-shot nature of auctions or Half.com/Amazon selling, and the higher prices one might fetch at sites with less mainstream recognition like Goozex.
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Microsoft has introduced its second iPhone app after dipping its toe with the release of Seadragon Mobile last month. The name of the application is Microsoft Tag (still in BETA form), and it enables users to instantly access mobile content, videos, music, contact information, maps, social networks, promotions, etc. simply by pointing the device's camera to a custom tag.
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Divx has announced the newest version of their video player. Divx 7 is based on the H.264 video compression standard and offers video at up to 1080p HD resolution.
The new version of Divx comes in two different formats. The free download Divx 7 for Windows for Divx video playback and Divx 7 Pro which allows for Divx video creation. Both versions contain the Divx 7 video player which offers support for H.264 files.
Labels: divx, goozex, iphone app, iRiver, Microsoft, video, video game
Thursday, January 1, 2009
You should definitely check out GadgetTell's resolution article about wanting to me more organized in the year 2009. They created a rather organized list of five websites that can help you in you quest for organization.GadgetTell also created a list of 5 popular services that can help you find new music. Woohoo! That's a list for me!
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Sitepoint.com has a forum thread of users who wrote in their "Geeky 2009 Resolutions" and you can read through them here.
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Your Technology Nerd Diet has over 25 nerdified resolutions for you. It's really a list of resolutions you are most likely to see on a Geeks list. And therefore some of them include getting laid, while others include seeding torrents and attending a Digg meeting.
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Even the Associated Content site scooped an article about the Top Ten New Years Resolutions for Nerds. Of course this particular list is very cliche and insulting if I do say so myself. It talks about buying pocket protectors in bulk and such. Clearly whoever wrote it is NOT a nerd.
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Last but not least I rounded up a New Year's Resolution Quiz for you, one of those mindless, just for fun quizzes to give you some laughs. I started it and finished it but you have to give away far too much information to get the silly results so don't fill it out if you won't want to be bombarded by crap afterwords.
Labels: resolutions
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