Geekazine.com» Geekazine

Podcast Ep 59 11-12-08 New Media Location

Jeffrey Powers — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:51:43 +0000

We have a New Media Location! - New Video Camera - CES - Congrats Podcast Winners

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I - S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
MGM on YouTube
GMail Video
AVG Wipes
Work Forensics
Microsoft bribes - Art
Facebook at 4 Billion
Japanese Hackers
TroopTube
Storm 11-24
Track Batteries

II
Circuit City
Macbook Airier

TCT Podcast - PC Standby Powersaver
TechTweak - 10 Things TiVO

III
Most Downloaded
Bandwidth Shortage

Edward Jones

IV
Bye Bye NewsPaper
Spammers Cash

Apple - get an iMac

Listeners’ Notes:
How Einsteins’ Brain Worked
Best and Worst Movies
10 Greatest Geeks
OpenDNS

YouTubin
Matrix on Windows

Twitter - Pownce - Plurk - Myspace - Facebook Group - FriendFeed - Digg the Podcast

Love or Hate the iPhone - Where Do You Stand?

Jeffrey Powers — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:56:42 +0000

It’s been a year and a few months since the first iPhone was sold. Since the release of the 3G model, I’ve been seeing people with iPhones I would have never expected have one. The iPhone has brought up a new way to use the internet, the phone and a computer.

Apple is under a lot of scrutiny: AT&T being the sole carrier, the Apps store program take downs and the 3G services being poor. Yet the iPhone still is the 2nd best selling phone behind the Motorola RAZR. Apple itself is set to continue through these tough times.

There has been a lot of good and bad said about the iPhone. I have seen a lot of Forum posts, even more twitters and more. I decided to go ahead and ask a small group of people over at Help A Reporter what their thoughts were. I asked to send me 1-2 paragraphs as to why you like, don’t like or are neutral about the iPhone. Here are the responses:

I love my iPhone (even though the first one went “bad” on me within the first month)! I am a book author and speaker. I use my iPhone to do “cold calls” and the 60 second presentation. My phone is set to my home page and I have book marked my YOUTUBE page. When I run into a “prospect” I can quickly show them my “media presentation” which often results in a greater interest in my project and sometimes a new client. Without the iPhone I am not sure how I would be able to make the most of chance encounters and networking with influential people.

Candi Sparks: Can I Have Some Money? author & speaker

http://www.can-i-have-some-money.com

I have not been this disappointed in something I wanted for a long time, since I ordered something from the back of a comic booker>

1) NO voice dial?? What the hell?? My Razor could do that with no program The download Voice dial thingy has to LOAD up before you can use it. You could dial 5 people by then.

2) It told me it was too hot to dial. What? MY iPhone is a 50- year old menopausal woman! My razor could sit in the sun, burn to your hand and still dial a number.

3) NO car charger, you have to pay EXTRA for it

4) Battery last 5 minutes. You can not use the features without draining the battery, completely!! This phone can do all this and you cant get a battery to last half a day???? REALLY?????

Dr. Letitia Wright - host of the Wright Place TV Show

www.wrightplacetv.com

Overall verdict: I love my iPhone. The pros are that it now has Microsoft Exchange, so that whenever I make a change to anything on my iPhone, when I get back to my laptop or desktop, the changes have already been “pushed” to Microsoft Outlook there (e-mails, calendar, contacts, etc.). Also, the iPhone has Wi-Fi, which my BlackBerry did not. So that’s a great way to quickly download things from the internet without killing your battery.

The cons, although not enough for me to switch back to anything else, are the keyboard not having raised letters like the BlackBerry. (I love BlackBerry too, but it doesn’t have MS Exchange/Outlook, and that’s a deal-killer for me) Another con, although not enough to switch back to something else, is AT&T’s sometimes spotty network coverage on their cellular network. I had US Cellular before, and their coverage was great. Last con: The battery life on the iPhone isn’t great if you’re going to be in a non - WiFi environment, downloading tons of things over the AT&T (cellular) 3G network. Otherwise, it’s pretty good. But heavy users may need to keep an iPhone charger with them.

Scott Tucker - www.MortgageMarketingGenius.com

I use my IPhone for business every day, and many of the IPhone features I absolutely love. I have come to love the touch pad and would not like to go back to a keypad actually. I love the visual voicemail. The app store and the aftermarket applications are great. The exchange integration works fabulously, so I have my calendar and email with me whenever and it synchronizes over the air.

However, the Phone itself, the actual cell phone is horrible, absolutely awful. I drop calls daily, the service will be spotty and drop calls even if it says you have plenty of bars and this is usually in my office so I know that it is not on the other end. The battery life is not for business, I have less that 20% of battery by the end of the day and I have most of the advanced features that are known for draining your battery such as WIFI off completely. I wish it were on a different carrier than AT&T, and that it had a longer battery life. Right now I try to charge it in my car between meetings to get a little more out of it. But I have been out on the town before and my Phone has gone completely dead.

I have only used the Android emulator, some guys at the office have been programming applications for it recently, and from what I can tell it is certainly not an IPhone killer. However, I bet the Phone and battery life are far superior.

Ryan Doom www.webascender.com

I love my iPhone because:

-It’s one easy place for work and personal e-mail.

-The calendar synching up with my Outlook one is great–it updates

instantly!

-The Apps are really quite fun (to find a movie, a place for dinner, or to

share photos with friends).

-After 10 months I don’t even think about the interface (touch screen) any

more. it’s just a part of how I do things.

I hate my iPhone because:

-If you get lost without a GPS the Google Maps Ap is really horrible (I have an older iPhone w/out GPS). If you are in a moving car and trying to get somewhere–good luck. It tells you to go West on a particular road. when you have no idea if you are already going West or East (if you can’t see the sun)

-Can’t send text photos so I have to rely on putting them in Flickr via the Klick ap. It works fine, but I’m not 100% happy about that.

Leah Graves

I’m a supreme fan of the iPhone. bought the first one while on vacation in Monte Carlo. literally on the beach on wireless internet the moment it was available to order. I got confirmation. finished my vacation. and flew home. Not being the patient type, I stopped by the local mall (family waiting in the car - that’s right, on the way home from the airport after our return from Europe). and bought one (didn’t want to wait for shipping!). That was June of last year. My partner and I both used it for over a year. and we both agree that it’s the most amazing phone we’ve ever owned. It was true convergence. Phone, data, real internet on the go, HTML email, iPod, video, and great apps.

Fast Forward a year - I was one of the silly guys who waited in line for NINE hours. without complaining. while AT&T and APPLE dealt with their system issues. It was all okay, though, because at the end of the day (literally). I got my two iPhones. The new one is even more amazing than the first. The new third party apps (though a few have bugs) are fantastic. I JUST loaded one that tracks my running using GPS. and I can listen to my play list at the same time. The GPS navigation has saved me many times. the restaurant finder is fantastic (I’m a road weary warrior). Even the HP12c calculator app - now one less thing I have to put in my briefcase.

The keyboard’s great. It’s intuitive. and after 10 minutes using it, you begin to understand and trust the intuitive nature. For texting, I’ve not found a better device. PLUS. I don’t get “BlackBerry Thumb” like I did with my BB devices.

Yes, sir. I love my iPhone. I used to travel with a GPS, an iPod, a Cell Phone, a BlackBerry, a DVD player, and more. Now. it’s all in my iPhone.

In fact. now we are a FOUR iPhone family. I’d say we’re all fans.

The ONLY downsides that I can find. two things. One - battery life. Still not good, but I can live with it. And, I’d like to see Apple consolidate email so that I (who uses more than one email address) could check ALL my emails with one box like I can on my MacBook Pro.

Patrick Grady

I LOVE MY iPHONE! I got an 8GB iPhone earlier this year after watching a demo from a guy in a movie theater (funny story!), and I fell in love with it immediately. As a traveling entrepreneur, I needed a compact way to organize my contacts, tasks, calendar, emails, alarms and more, and this is it!

I use it on more than a daily basis. It never leaves my side. It’s my morning alarm, my reminder to work out, my Calendar-keeper, my access to emails when away from the laptop. It even synchs with my business line so I never miss a work phone call. The touch screen did take a a little time to get used to, especially for texting, but the way the “suggest-a-word” function makes it much easier and faster to type.

Love it, love it, love it! r>

Carla Douglin - Founder & CEO The Douglin Group

http://www.thedouglingroup.com

I love my iphone except for a few glaring issues:

1) no video

2) no photos from phone to phone (having to go to a web site to review photos is just insane- esp. since it doesn’t auto link with the ID and password)

3) no cut and paste which makes it harder to work

4) the new search contacts button is right next to the add contact- fat fingers beware.

5) it’s with ATT who charge more for less, and have more dropped calls than Sprint in this area- no matter what they say.

I have had a number of smart phones and PDA - nothing comes close to the usefulness and integration of the iphone. The form factor works well (I have the 3G- which does accept standard mini-plugs- another issue with the first gen phone).

IF Apple would address at least 4 of the 5 issues above- they’d have the ultimate phone.

David Esrati - The Next Wave

My iPhone is the first tech gadget I came to use regularly. I use it as many as 20 times a day.

My iPhone truly makes me more mobile. When traveling, I no longer need to haul my laptop with me through security, and I can still stay connected via email, IM, twitter and the Internet. More than that - the cliche about having “the world at your fingertips” is true. At the very least, it’s in the app store. I recently went on a trip to New York City and found the subway maps, city maps, Google maps and search engine invaluable. I was able to navigate like a native without carrying around a big paper map!

On a daily basis I call, text, check email, look up directions, blog, twitter, take pictures, post pictures to Flickr, listen to music and check the weather on my phone.

The keyboard was an adjustment, and there are still times when I wish the software knew that “we’re” is not a misspelling of the “were” - but over all I was surprised how quickly I became accustomed to the flat screen.

My only complaint about the iPhone vs. other phones is that it doesn’t contain a video camera. It seems like there is ample space to allow it with everything else the iPhone can offer!

Britt Reints - Style Editor & Contributor at Blissfully Domestic - http://www.blissfullydomestic.com

A colleague forwarded your request for a comment about iPhone users for a story you are writing. You can count me among those who loves her iPhone.

As soon as I saw the first ads in 2007 I knew I would get an iPhone - it looked just right for me. I full expected that I’d wait until the second version was released so I might avoid bugs that are inevitable with new technology. However, I ended up getting one as a birthday gift in August - at the full, original price. While I received the $100 rebate a few months later, I think the device was well worth the original price.

Personally, I use the phone part of it very rarely - that’s my least favorite app. I do, however, use the browser, email, texting and iTunes apps daily. The iPhone replaced a traditional cell phone that I never used because the buttons were way too small and difficult to maneuver - I never attempted to try texting or web browsing on it. (Disclaimer: I’m over 40 years old.) I definitely prefer the iPhone keyboard because it works like a regular one, allowing you to immediately see what you’re typing on a large, clear, well-organized screen. (The spellcheck feature is helpful 80% of the time, but sometimes leads to confusing text messages.) The recent software upgrade was HUGE, too, because it opens access to so many new things, like Facebook, etc.

My husband ended up getting an iPhone several months after I received mine, and he uses the maps and iPod nearly daily as well. As we say, “You can never be bored when you have an iPhone - there’s just too many options to explore.”

Anyway, you wanted a few paragraphs, but I could go on and on about it. (Because the user experience was so good with the iPhone, I ended up purchasing a MacBook when I needed a new laptop. I’m very happy to be Windows/Vista-less these days.)

Catherine A. Beckman - Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

I am so disgusted with my iPhone that I have purchased the URL: www.iphone3gstinks.com That’s not 2 paragraphs, but I think it says it all.

The iPhone is elegant, but just doesn’t work. Fetch e-mail fails. I’ve tried re-dialing a client 80 times before the call goes through. MobileMe is a joke. My calendar colors STILL don’t correspond/sync correctly. And trying to get help from the support team is a complete waste of time. I have the transcripts, and they’re so ridiculous they’re humorous.

-Dan

A couple months ago, I got the 3G iPhone. I traded up from a Razor. So, I went from not so much phone capabilities to a whole new world. I love that anywhere, anytime I have access to email, internet, GPS, camera, games, etc. It took me a week or so to get used to the keyboard but it works great for my needs. I use the keyboard to send texts to my teenagers and emails to clients and friends.

Alison Ilg - Ilg Communications

Love or hate the iPhone? In a word, yes.

Love. As an Apple nut since the mac emerged in ‘84, I had high expectations for this phone. I have to say it exceeded my expectations - something that almost never happens these days. The keyboard is no problem, but haptic feedback would be a plus. In our household, my wife and I having an iPhone actually alleviated the need for a second laptop (on top of the iMac). It’s easy just to use to check mail etc. It really un tethers you and gives you freedom to be connected anywhere. And the variety of apps available - incredible.

Hate. The phone and apps crash way too much for my liking. Apps can’t run in the background. With my old phone I had MSN messenger running in the background so people could message me on the go. Now, I have to make sure my AOL or Meebo is running in the foreground. Close the window and I’m no longer online. Grrr. Syncing for me is an issue. With MobileMe it is easy, but I was using programs other than iCal and Address book before this that could not sync. Battery life is a big minus, far too short. And please, please, please, put my to do list from iCal onto the phone. I’d trade it all for a decent to-do list synced to my computer! Plus the price. A 3 year contract in Canada @ roughly $100 a month. Wow.

Dave

I’ve had good experiences with it for the most part.

It’s a toy as much as anything else. One of its biggest selling points is the App store, and the applications are what keep it distinctive and give it an edge over other smart phones on the market.

I loved my iPhone when I bought it, and as a business owner, I’ve had much less time to spend on the gaming aspect as time went on, but I still find it very dependable in downloading emails and the ability to use as a pocket computer for when I need to do a quick search, need a map or directions, need to track down virtually anything, etc.

I don’t rely as heavily on it as a phone, but I’ve had no problems with this function to date. The phone and email functions worked seamlessly on a recent trip to Turkey. I have grown quickly accustomed to the type pad, and have adjusted to the the touchscreen. I have a sense it may be helping me from thumb ailments as I’m using different fingers (more of a point and click).

The main and only downside I can see is the extremely short battery life. I hope that’s something that is corrected in future versions of the phone and applications.

N. Sedef Onder | The Halo Project Inc. www.thehaloproject.com

My name is Elliott and I am an Apple addict. I’m a second time iPhone owner and have been using the phone for about a year. Originally it wasn’t available in Canada so I bought my first one on the black market for $700. I was turned on to Apple about 4 years ago by a friend who worked in an ad agency where everyone was using Macs. First it was a physical infatuation then I discovered how user friendly everything was.

For the first time I felt like someone really understood what was so frustrating about basic computing and made it so incredibly intuitive and simple. I experience this feeling all the time and it makes me want to spend more time with my Apple stuff and buy more-you really feel wonderful using it. This is the essence of my attraction. A great example is the simplicity of drag and drop throughout Apple computers.

I trashed my PC with it’s viruses, primitive feel and endless error messages. Now I own the iMac, MacBook Air and now my second phone. Of course the phone is no different-I adore the way it interfaces with my desk top, the generous screen size. I love watching people struggling with the Blackberry keypad with pin head sized keys-mine are generously large. I love the touchscreen-everything is right there.

I saw an ad for a phone yesterday with a keypad that extends out of the phone like a drawer-it opens and closes on an as needed basis. I love that the iPhone has no moving parts-everything you want/need lives in the phone. The apps are unreal. I’m a chef so I have 500 food images that I keep in the phone.

I love that I can meet someone and give them a quick slide show of what I do and the landscape mode is amazing not to mention the size manipulation of the image by moving your fingers on the screen. My only complaint is that sometimes the screen is simply too responsive. For example, by mistake my finger touches the screen and something opens that I didn’t intend to open.

I love that I have 1000 songs in the phone, that I can answer a call while listening to music then automatically resume listening when the call is over. Of course I could go on and on.

I love the phone and using anything else doesn’t interest me. I feel like I own THE cell phone.

There are a lot more comments on the next page…..

Politics on YouTube with Dan Tynan - Quickcast

Jeffrey Powers — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:47:01 +0000

This week we sit with Dan Tynan, a blogger for sites such as Computerworld and discuss how YouTube is affecting a candidate. We also delve into the mass amounts of user-made content is out there and how it can help or hurt a campaign. Finally, we talk a bit about Hulu, Saturday Night Live and the impact it has on parodying the election.

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Ramblings 10-18-08 - Where’s the Pretzels?

Jeffrey Powers — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:40:30 +0000

Yummy, yummy low fat honey glazed twist pretzels. I think I ate a whole bag of em on Thursday and I want more. It was all Sunspots’ fault. They Put out a new song “Path of Most Resistance”. Check them out in the video below:

Path of Most Resistance

The Laptop decided to hiccup on Thursday, which threw off my schedule. I got it back up and running and all data backed up off it. I have been trying to get back on track, but I did miss the Friday edition of WITH. I think I am back to somewhat-normalcy.

The “Technology in Politics” segment is working out really well. We had another great discussion this week and next week we’ll continue on with this great little spot. If you haven’t heard the Quickcast, check them out on the front page.

The other interview we did this week was Bryce Whitty from Technibble. We talked about the Computer Business Kit. We are giving one away, so you should go and comment on the pod.

We also gave away the 2 Best Buys cards last week for the Matt Dworkin interview. Lots of great feedback, yet only two commenters. Interesting.

The LIVE Show will have a newer feel to it on Monday as I have been working on a new ustream box. Because of the update I created a couple new videos in the Video Pod series. I tried transferring from uStream to YouTube but it doesn’t seem to be working right. I’ll have them up soon.

If you are on http://Geeks.pirillo.com - remember to add me as a friend. http://geeks.pirillo.com/profile/JeffreyPowers

It’s been an interesting week and just an hour ago I had an AT&T rep at my door. I am going to talk about it over on GNC tomorrow. For now, gotta go. Rock star status is calling me.

BTW - if you haven’t seen this and you are a MST3K fan: you should.

Ep. #51 9-17-08 - No Illness will bring the show down.

Jeffrey Powers — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:01:35 +0000

Sick Weekend - Oct 1st is 1 year Podcast mark - Paythefan at 91%

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I - S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Apple 10.5.5
Android Mid October
YuGoogle EU
WWWF
Comcast Sues FCC
Fastest Wireless in the West
2nd Microsoft Ad
Fired for talking XBox
Tweet Debate
IMDB adds Video
FDCC for Macs
P2P on YouTube

II
Best Buy Napster
HP Slashing Jobs
-HP OS

TCT Podcast - Homestar EXTRA
Diggnation from your Couch

III
Photo: Planet around Star
Apple and Podcasts
Open Source in Government

Edward Jones

IV
Drudge to the Top
Intel 6 core Xeon
Mix Music from the Phone

Apple - get an iMac

Listeners’ Notes:
How Much for Rock Band 2
Crazy Camera
Cool Toasters
Lite-Brite Laptop
Fake Mold

YouTubin
Sequoia Voting Hack

Twitter - Pownce - Plurk - Myspace - Facebook Group - FriendFeed - Digg the Podcast

Your life on YouTube. Geekazine Quickcast

Jeffrey Powers — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:43:34 +0000

It’s all about the video, right? Text is dead, audio is boring. We need video stimulation. So why not You Tube? Lifecasters, part-time jockeys, and even the occasional “Dad gets hit in the jublies with (insert object here)”. Why do we YouTube and could we live without it?

Remember when the Funniest Videos show was all the rage? I remember when we got our first video camera. Big ole thing that you had to hold on your shoulder. Walked around seeing if I could get that shot that could win me 10 thousand dollars. Never did.

I actually was on ZD-TV. I created my first animation called “Mission Illogical 3″. It was a parody movie trailer mixing Mission Impossible with Star Trek IV, the search for Spock. I drew all frames, imported into CorelDraw, animated then put audio to it.

It was crude, but it was used in the ZDTV show “You Made it”. I was so proud. I even made an intro for the spot. I have it on VHS somewhere. If I find it, I’ll put it up on YouTube.

YouTube continues to grow. People continue to put their lives on it. From funny videos, so more serious ones. Every now and then we get the video that doesn’t comply to the user agreement and is taken off.

A local duo had created a series called “Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager”. It is a story about Chad Vader, the store he works at, the girl he likes and the other manager who harasses him. The series got some real promotion because of YouTube.

Did you hear about the woman that wanted the divorce? Tricia Walsh Smith posts a video on YouTube when her husband throws her out of the house. It gets picked up and the end result is over 3 million views.

Two weeks later she posts another video on how she was evicted. This one was a little more vocal. At least we knew what the Tarot cards hold: Courage.

I love the WikiHow’s “How to Make Yourself Popular on YouTube.

1. Make A Few Videos.

2. Make Your Money Video

3. Post this video

4. Keep Them Entertained

5. Market Yourself.

Forbes outlined the top 10 videos that “Made Youtube Famous”. Some of those 10 are no longer on YouTube - Copyright issues.What we do have is “Hillary 1984″ using the popular 1984 Mac Super bowl ad . Another one is the Video by OK go with the treadmills called “Here it goes again”. Oh, and we can’t forget “The Evolution of Dance”.

But I think the most famous one has got to be the Star Wars Kid. The video was of a 14 year old in 2002 who used a Golf Ball retriever and yielded it like a double edged light saber. That video has been downloaded and viewed more times than any video I’ve ever done. Last estimate was 900 million in 2006, but I would guess it might hit the Billion mark soon if it hasn’t already.

YouTube has gone through its problems. Law suits over copyrighted material continue to plague the site. But how do you control the posts when anyone can do it? The only thing that can be done is find the offending material and get it off as soon as possible.

I can’t imagine a life without YouTube. Video being produced online by anyone that has a camera and a computer. New ideas and cool concepts, along with phone and other gadget support can bring more viewers daily.

Who wants to be the next Star Wars kid?

BTW - I found and uploaded the video: it’s here:

Episode 43 - 7-23-08

Jeffrey Powers — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:30:00 +0000

Drum work - New 5 min segment - Thanks to Slashdot Review for the Plug - Email

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Please Review Geekazine

I
S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
XBOX and Laptop combo
Happy Anniversary Cubicle
4.2 Billion in Software Piracy
iPhone 2.0 is unlocked
Xeon Core 2 prices slashed
Tokyo SE Glitch

Win a Gift Certificate from AccessoryGeeks.com

II
Is MicroYugo over? - NYTimes
Psystar is not the only one
What is Product Transition - AppleInsider
Facebook to Porn - MailOnline

30 sec. - Caffination Podcast
TechTweak - Services on machine.
On this day: Car Invented (1886); Ice Cream Cone (1904); Nippon Air Hijack (1999)

CareerSaver -

III
Youtube Tivo - Tom’s Hardware
Windows vs. Linux - ITWire
No Mouse in 5 Years - Gizmodo
Protect From Zaps - NYTimes

Edward Jones

IV
Facebook Redesign - ArsTechnica
Linux Mobile - ComputerWorld
7 Things IT should Do - InfoWorld
Will this Replace LCD - Technology Review

Listeners’ Notes:
Nerf Vulcan - Mick
Robots Find Stoaways - James
Wall-E Preorder
Evapo-Rust
Touchscreen Steering Wheel

YouTubin
Chad Vader Training #1

Twitter - Pownce - Plurk - Myspace - Facebook Group - FriendFeed - Digg the Podcast

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-511b01904537b65efbeedeb80bde4a5d}

Episode 33 - 5-14-08

Jeffrey Powers — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:57:05 +0000

Now Micrahoo FREE! Site redesign - New Camera - Live Show and Talk Shoe - Job Hunt - Email Calendar scam.

On this day: George Lucas (44), Skylab One (73), dBase III (84)

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I
HP + EDS - CNet
Smelly Broadband - Yahoo
Blackberry Bold - PCWorld
AT&T the fastest? - Gizmodo
iPhone: 3G on/off - MacRumors
Punish YouTube Criminals - Techdirt

II
Space Lawyer - Gizmodo
Google Friend Connect - NYTimes
ReactOS - PCMag
YouTube software Mac - Webware
An Earful - Canada
Pokerbot - codingthewheel
Bottender - Wired

III
Android Payday - Techcrunch
Digg Town Hall - CNet
Interesting Rant on DRM - tidbits
HBO on iTunes - NYTimes
Apple talks to NBC - PCWorld
Peel & Stick Solar? - triplepundit

IV
31 Days / Dragon - Winners
10 Common Passwords - USAToday
Dell Gaming Revival - WSJ
One for SmokingGun - 1010wins

Of Note:
Coffin Table
Do Not Call List
MeeMix
Most Expensive Gadget

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Webware 100 Winners - Who won, and what’s new.

Jeffrey Powers — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:51:03 +0000

Web Apps. Can we live without them anymore? What did we ever do without them? Webware put out it’s top 100 and we’re going to go through them and see what was good, what was bad, and what was… well, you know..

Webware is a site dedicated to watching what is popping up out on the internet. Any application that a web developer puts out will be checked out and reported on by this organization. It’s a good thing, too. There are so many out there, it’s tough to keep up.

On April 21^st, Webware put out the list of the top 100 apps. There were ten categories, each with ten winners. There were 5000 nominees, and 300 apps were chosen as finalists. Over 1.9 million votes were cast to dwindle this list down to 100.

According to Webware, most of the winners were also winners last year. There were a couple apps that pushed their way onto the list. This might not be as easy next year as Web Apps are expected to be more widely used within 2008.

So here are the top picks:

In the Audio category, we saw popular names like iTunes, Zune, eMusic and AmazonMP3. It was great to see sites like Lastfm, live365 and blogtalk radio on the list.

The Browsing category had Firefox, Google and Google Reader, Internet Explorer and Opera. iPhone was the newcomer and not a surprise to the list. Maxthon Browser is a lesser known app that is great to see win in this category.

Commerce and events saw Amazon, ebay, Google adwords, Paypall and Yahoo on the list. It was great to see Craigslist - it’s such a popular site and not graphically driven. Kayak was the name I wasn’t familiar with. It is a Travel aggregation website - which means it will find the best rates from the other sites, then redirect you there.

In Communication we saw Gmail, Skype, Yahoo mail and AIM. Meebo is a multinetwork IM platform that lets you chat between AIM, Yahoo, google and msn. Pidgen also is a multi IM site. and OoVoo is a chat and Video chat site. Too bad Twitter or Friendfeed didn’t make it.

Productivity showed us Google Docs, Microsoft Office Workspace and Yahoo Calendar. Some other lesser known sites could be Basecamp, Mint, Remember the Milk and Zoho. It keeps reminding me I have work to do…

Publishing and Photography contained sites like Blogger, Drupal, Flickr, WordPress and Twitter. Good to see an old site friend in Worth 1000 - a Photoshopping contest site - added to the winners.

The Search and Answers section had a host of old favorites. From Ask, Google, Wikipedia and Yahoo. A new entrant is Hakia. It’s a new site that searches on common words.

The Social winners were MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo, Google LiveJournal. Friendster had some tough times and almost were bought out by Google. However they prevailed and joined the list of the top 10 in this category. I may never go to “Stardoll”, but for anyone that wants to “Dress up dolls”, this may be the Social site for them.

Utility and security showed sites like Amazon, Bittorrent, Yahoo, Yousendit and OpenID. It’s also good to see OpenDNS in the list. It’s a great way to thwart online rogues in getting your information.

Last, but not least, the Video category had a lot of new names in it. YouTube, Netflix and Amazon were the three mainstays. Ustream and Joost were ones I knew about. Fixmymovie helps clear up pixilated video. A pretty good service - I may need it for my videos…

The list is pretty impressive. Like I said earlier, it’s too bad Friendfeed wasn’t on the list. Pownce is another site I can think of. But there is always next year. And it will be a competition to look forward to.

Can your Laptop Battery Really Explode?

Jeffrey Powers — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:13:07 +0000

The story of Exploding laptops is not a new one. The Lithium battery in your laptop expands to the point where it breaks the encasement. Dell, Sony and IBM ended up recalling a series of batteries to prevent computer loss.

Today scientists announced they had made a solid, non-flammable polymer to replace the liquid electrolyte that is used to make the batteries. The science is new, and wont see the light of the public eye for 3 to 5 years, mainly because the polymer needs work to hold a longer charge. However, will this help the laptop not explode?

A few years ago I dealt with an issue in desktops where they would either start acting quirky or stop working altogether. The result was what they called “Exploding Caps” - the Capacitors in the machines would expand due to faulty manufacturing. Capacitors are a vital part in most electronics because they store energy to push it out in the needed areas of the machine. They are in your desktop, laptop, Digital camera and most other electronics. Heck, there are even capacitors in your car.

Bottom line is that we take things for granted. We feel safe putting a device that pushes 19 Volts and holds many harmful chemicals on the lap. We put a potential grenade next to our eye. We even get into a large steel contraption and turn the key hoping it won’t go up in flames.

There is a video on YouTube simulating an exploding laptop (basically put together with help so it could explode). The initial explosion might not hurt, but if you don’t take immediate action, major damage will ensue. Here is why: A laptop battery is comprised of “Cells”. Usually there are 3-4 cells in a battery. Once one cell causes a breech, The other cells will eventually follow.

Think of it like the scene in “Back to the future 3″. When 3^rd log ignited, it causes the fire to get so hot it incinerates the train’s engine. When that chain reaction happens, the laptop gets hotter and more dangerous. Fire can get up to 1000 degrees or more, simply because you are dealing with an electrical AND chemical fire.

Now imagine you using your laptop: Is it sitting on your lap right now? Are your hands resting right above the battery? The initial cell explosion would most likely burn, but you would have enough time to react and get away from the machine.

Will that change my mind on using a laptop? Not really. However, it will make me more aware of how I use the machine. I still find it funny how some people leave their laptops on 24/7. Some have it constantly plugged into the wall, which can cause undo strain on the battery and ultimately cause it to fail.

I also see people close the lid, unplug it, then put it in their bag so they can go home. All because they don’t want to turn it back on, so it spends twenty minutes or more in a bag during a commute. Not to mention the sidetracking you can do, like go to the store on the way home to pick up a gallon of milk and bread.

The reality is the average laptop will not explode. The battery would need to have a defect in it to begin with. But you never know. An aborigine could come out of the brush and shoot an arrow directly in the battery causing a breech and sending your laptop to computer heaven.

The only thing you can do IF your laptop heads into flames is be prepared to know what to do. Don’t throw water on it. Remember - this can create a fire hotter than a standard fire. A Class D fire extinguisher will help stop the fire. Try to use something to push it into a trash can or something non-flammable. Keep the laptop plugged into a surge strip - that way if the fire breaks out, the surge protector trips.

I have an older laptop and have had it on my lap approximately 60 percent of the time when I use it. I am not concerned about it exploding. I suppose there will be some time I go to turn it on and it wont respond. But that is just like any device - eventually it will fail.

BTW - if you want to feel conscious about the environment, then the laptop you want is a MacBook Air. It’s made with an all-aluminum case, BFR and PVC free circuit boards, arsenic free glass and a Mercury free monitor.

If GeoCities became a Social Network Site…..

Jeffrey Powers — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:39:39 +0000

Last night I was on System Showdown talking about tech. They asked my thoughts on the Microsoft/Yahoo merger. I basically shot from the hip and said that Yahoo should stop “Dropping Landmines” and focus on not being bought out by restructuring.

It got me to thinking again on what Yahoo could change. I remembered that some time ago, I talked about what Yahoo could do to turn things around. One of the things I mentioned was if Yahoo Geocities became more of a Social Networking Hybrid.

GeoCities was started by a web hosting company to give people a place to call their own. They created a “Street Directory” in where you felt you were in a “Community” with others that shared similar interests - Much like today’s’ Social Networking sites. GeoCities ability to produce original content vaulted the site to “the 5th most visited site“. GeoCities went public in 1998: IPO started at $17 and rose to over one hundred.

Then Yahoo, who was buying companies left and right to increase their value, acquired GeoCities. Many felt this was a nail for the coffin on GeoCities. Still, GeoCities survives today with their free section and their low paid content web section.

In the sake of research, I decided to do something I haven’t done in over 10 years. Build a Geocities Webpage. I played “Joe User” and let the site design my system. I picked a techie theme (complete with pictures of 3.5” disks) and added all the links and info asked for.

I then opened the page in their design program called “Page Builder”. The page was Pretty straightforward in its look and functionality. Add text, pictures, ect. I decided to put a blog on this site, so I started over and chose the 360 blog. It worked pretty well and I got my new blog started in no time.

Still, I had to wonder, why don’t people flock to this like say Facebook? I have friends that have been on Geocities for years and they’ve never had a problem. Then I remember what prompted me to switch.

At that time I put together a site to follow the antics of me and some friends that went camping every year. Put together simple pages and add photos and a bunch of other cool items. I learned a lot about HTML at that time, and I was proud of what I put together.

Then some hacker kid came in and destroyed the whole site. No reason – just because I was on Geocities and he had nothing better to do. When that happened, I went in and changed the password and (which in hindsight was a stupid idea) berated the hacker.

Now 10 years ago there wasn’t much talk on how to make a secure password. The hacker easily broke into my site again, and this time, instead of deleting the content, he deleted my profile. He then turned around and created a new profile and took over all my credentials.

This was about a month after Yahoo bought out GeoCities. After 3 days of emails to Yahoo I got a response saying there was nothing they could do. I was pretty much floored that a person could take over stuff I worked on so diligently without issue. That’s when I decided to get a little more serious with what I did and put together a plan. My first website was born.

Still, I look at this new Geocities page I created and think to myself – what’s so special about it? I started thinking about widgets and interaction and how that might make this page a lot better. But I didn’t see any of those items. I didn’t even see an option to add other GeoCities Friends. Maybe it’s a option you get for 8.95 a month?

I started thinking about Yahoo’s 360 services – so I trekked over to 360.yahoo.com. It felt like a Social Network. I had and interactive feel, blog entries, and everything to build a social network site.

Well… Almost.

There is no real customization to the page beyond the basics. If I want to add pictures, I have to create an account at Flickr. There is STILL a link to go to Yahoo pictures. In this day and age, how tacky is that? Especially since Yahoo photos has been closed for close to a year now.

I was already linked to my Geocities blog. I could put some rss feeds on, which I added Geekazine (I know, it’s sad). When I looked at the site, it wouldn’t take the feed. Why not? My RSS Works with other RSS aggregators.

It all came back to the same thing. The same comments many people have said for many years now. Yahoo has no web organizational skills and once they put something together, they just move on.

Yahoo’s answer to reorganization so far is to close what they have. I call that “Cancerous” - Simply because there is no progress in that. When you close something like the photos or Yahoo music then want to bring it back down the road - your credibility is not going to be too great with customers. Don’t build a customer base only to rip it down on a moment’s notice.

Getting back to the idea here, how can Yahoo Organize? What if GeoCities was to merge with Yahoo 360? Why are there two separate entities to begin with? The answer might be a site that could possibly rival or even surpass MySpace or Facebook simply because the customization can be more than just a few widgets or a change in the style sheet tags.

It was pretty obvious that Yahoo bought GeoCities in hopes to turn those customers into paying Website owners. Have GeoCities Plus accounts and be able to put together a good website for yourself or your business. Yahoo is good at giving people the bare minimum and then holds your information hostage until you pay.

Remember when the word GeoCities was very prominent? Remember - it used to be the 5th most popular site on the web. What is it now? According to Alexa, the top 10 are:

1.       Google
2.       Yahoo (home page)
3.       MySpace
4.       YouTube
5.       Facebook
6.       Windows Live
7.       EBay
8.       Wikipedia
9.       MSN Network
10.   Craigslist

GeoCities only accounts for 1.5 percent of web traffic nowadays. Google accounts for 25-30 percent. Yahoo was dominant over Google in rank until about a year ago. I wonder if Yahoos’ stature was by user choice, or because IT departments started implementing rules like standardized homepages. Some companies will not allow their employees to log into sites like Yahoo because it could introduce a virus into the system.

Sometime in Mid-2002, GeoCities dropped significantly and stayed low until 2006 when it rose slightly to its 1.5 percent mark. The most interesting factor is out of the top 5, Yahoo is the only site that is showing no positive growth. So this only begs the next question - When will Yahoo decide that GeoCities is no longer producing and decide to close it down or sell it off?

It’s very obvious that Yahoo has to do something. Selling off customers to other services will not win over hearts – unless you plan to run a Fire Sale. Reorganization is a great key. Stop making the site feel segregated and incorporate everything to any easy to use site. Don’t charge for services that other people offer for free. Advertising is a part of sites, and as long as they’re not invasive, we will have to live with them.

GeoCities 360 has a good ring to it. Go back to the feel of communities. Spark interest in people’s sites by giving them simple options like a Friends list. Dig up the Landmines and pave the roads. You might just get more traffic and become a force to reckon with again.

Writers Strike - The After Effect

Jeffrey Powers — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:45:18 +0000

One hundred days. Imagine a produce department without fresh produce for 100 days. Imagine not stepping into a room for 100 days. Now imagine no new programming written for 100 days. Or wait – was it?

The writers’ strike ended on Feb 13^th, just in time for the Oscars. The main issues the writers were bringing up were that they were getting paid for content to be aired on TV. However people also watch the show online as well as downloading clips and pieces to ipods and computers. Many were making money off this new facet, that is, except for the writers.