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Friday, July 30, 2010

What's Next?

Not much time to write this morning so I'll leave you with this video of Flickr cofounder and cofounder of Hunch, Caterina Fake, and her thoughts on where we are going with technology and the future of the recommendatioin engine (credit Wired).



Thoughts anyone?

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Much Fuss Over Facebook File Being Torrented

A lot of press over the past 24 hours regarding a file that has been made available for download via torrent sites. The file contains the publicly viewable profile information of approximately 100 million Facebook users. Firstly let me say that I am not a huge Facebook (the company) fan, nor for that matter am I what you would call an avid user, but I do have a Facebook account and it does suit a particular purpose for me... mostly serving up feeds of this blog. I do think however that a great deal of hype is surrounding this story unnecessarily and it's probably got more to do with the number of users and the sensationalism that a number like that can generate when being tossed around.

A "security consultant," Ron Bowes, used a piece of code to scrape Facebook profiles, collecting publicly available data and published the file on the internet. His motive was apparently to highlight privacy issues according to the BBC. While Facebook has been the target of much criticism over their privacy policies in the past, this type of attention is probably doing more for Ron Bowes, and his motives should be called to question. The information that you've made public via Facebook is what helps others using the service to connect with you, and if you are truly concerned perhaps you might like to reconsider joining such networks in the first place, or at least tweak your profiles to reflect your concerns. Ignorance is an excuse and not a defense, read the terms of service, limit what you share to what you are comfortable with, and pay attention to the notifications from the service providers. Just my thoughts....

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Dirty Politics?

It's no secret that politics is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for you if you don't want your dirty laundry aired in public. The latter is what is being played out in a judicial race in McClain County  Oklahoma where a lawyer, John Mantooth, is facing a great deal of opposition from his daughter and son in-law who have created a website http://donotvoteformydad.com/ in an attempt to inform the voters of their opinion of the candidate. It seems as though daughter Jan Schill has had an unpleasant past with her father and perhaps her husband Andrew has other motives. Though Andrew Schill is quick to point out "We are shocked both by the extent and the nature of the media coverage this story has generated.  And we completely agree with Mr. Mantooth that the voters should look at his experience and record when deciding how to cast their vote for District Judge.  It is our sincere hope that you will examine this record for which we’ve provide the limited examples available to us and make an appropriate and informed decision."

Monday, July 26, 2010

Working Collectively Into The Night

A trend is popping up that involves people who tend to work late into the night, mostly alone, who are now forming groups of night owls and getting together to collectively and cooperatively pursue their pet projects or just catch up on things they can't accomplish during the day. The New York Times gives credit to Allan Grinshtein and Amber Lambke for forming "the New York Nightowls, a sort of study hall for entrepreneurs, freelancers and software developers who gather at 10 every Tuesday night and stay as late as 4 a.m."

Ms. Lambke, a creative consultant, says “The goal is to come, get inspired, meet new people and get work done,” and that “It’s six hours of uninterrupted, productive time where you’re surrounded by other creative people doing awesome things.” 

Personally, I've long been aware of the concept of Third Tuesdays, where generally tech savvy ilndividuals or at least those interested in technology get together once a month to socialize and learn from each other. I've long felt that our community would benefit from such a group, but now I'm liking the night owl concept even more. 


Michael Thorpy, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorder Center at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx says “Our circadian timing of sleep is affected by genetics, and people all differ,” and “If it fits in with their lifestyle, it can work very well,” he said. “A large part of their waking day is when things are quieting down.”

Now if we could only find a  place to meet and get stuff done... hmm.





Sunday, July 25, 2010

Life In A Day Project - Google & Ridley Scott Team Up

Sadly I missed this project some how... It seams as though Google (YouTube), Ridley Scott, Kevin Macdonald, LG, the Sundance Film Festival have teamed up in an open project that's aim was to document what life was like on earth on July 24, 2010. The Life In A Day project asked for submissions of video captured on July 24th from anyone interested. The work will be compiled and edited over the next several months and the documentary screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. It's not too late however to submit your video, if you captured any yesterday, as the project is accepting submissions until July 31st.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Flipboard, What Your iPad Was Made For

Yesterday a new app hit the iTunes app store and because it was showing up in a bunch of twitter posts ("Exclusive first look at Flipboard: http://scobleizer.com/Revolutionary social news app for iPad." @Scobleizer) I downloaded it to see what all of the fuss was about. It would seem that every other iPad owner on the face of the planet was also downloading Flipboard and trying to connect it to their social network as well. The app store held up to it's end of the bargain but Flipboard itself was a little overwhelmed by all of the attention and I was unable to connect it to my Facebook or Twitter accounts. None the less this is the killer iPad app! There, I said it too... Flipboard turns your iPad into a rich media experience. You have to try it to understand but the app maker has done a great job of explaining and demonstrating it via this video:




I now officially love my iPad!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Google Upgrades Image Search

After 9 years, Google image search has grown from 250 million indexed images to 10 billion and counting. I guess it was due for an upgrade, particularly with rivals such as bing forcing their hand. The Official Google Blog describes the features that have lived on since it's inception and introduces a number of recent upgrades that will assist us in finding that perfect awe inspiring image. 

Here is what you'll see in the updated version of images being rolled out over the next few days:

  • Dense tiled layout designed to make it easy to look at lots of images at once. We want to get the app out of the way so you can find what you’re really looking for.
  • Instant scrolling between pages, without letting you get lost in the images. You can now get up to 1,000 images, all in one scrolling page. And we’ll show small, unobtrusive page numbers so you don’t lose track of where you are.
  • Larger thumbnail previews on the results page, designed for modern browsers and high-res screens.
  • hover pane that appears when you mouse over a given thumbnail image, giving you a larger preview, more info about the image and other image-specific features such as “Similar images.”
  • Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it. Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.
  • Optimized keyboard navigation for faster scrolling through many pages, taking advantage of standard web keyboard shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down. It’s all about getting you to the info you need quickly, so you can get on with actually building that treehouse or buying those flowers

Monday, July 19, 2010

Double Rainbow...

Isn't it funny how one video will go viral while another just sits waiting to be discovered? The double rainbow phenomena is sweeping the internet thanks to Paul Vasquez, aka "Hungry Bear," who spent an hour marveling at the beauty of a "double rainbow" that he spotted and video taped the experience. All it took was for one simple tweet, from late night host Jimmy Kimmel on July 4th and a new internet meme was born. Hungry Bear found himself the subject of interest by media and a lot of people with a bunch of time on their hands. Vasquez's double rainbow video attracted ~5 million views and a spun off a number of parodies such as the double rainbow song:




My double rainbow is yet to be discovered though, I guess 23 seconds of video sans the oohs and the "what does it mean?" does not a meme make. ;)

Source: CNN

Sunday, July 18, 2010

BC Lottery's Online Casino Overwhelmed On Day One

With British Columbia's population spending $100-million on online gambling websites every year, the government decided to build it's own "legal" site and keep the money at home where it could be used for "health care, higher education and improved infrastructure." The government did not however anticipate the overwhelming interest that there was in a home grown site and was forced to shut it down for several hours for maintenance. 


While typing this I attempted to view the site and was met with the following:



PlayNow.com is Currently Unavailable
We are experiencing technical difficulties and will have the matter corrected shortly.
We regret any inconvenience this may cause you.
If you require more assistance, please contact Consumer Services at consumerservices@bclc.com or 1-866-815-0222.
Thank you for your patience.


PlayNow.com is reportedly North America's only government sanctioned online gambling site, though I think that is open to interpretation. I fully expect that I would have been blocked from attempting to play on the site as I reside outside of the province.  



Friday, July 16, 2010

GigaOM's Summer Reading List

If you are looking for a good book to thumb through or to load up on the Kindle for summer vacation, the team at GigaOM has compiled a list of their favorites for our consideration. With all bases covered, from Facebook to discussing the myths and realities of the energy debate, sci-fi and the movies... the list runs the gambit. There is likely to be something here that tweaks every geek's interest, but if not I'd like to add Power Friending by Amber Mac to the list. If Social Media is your thing, or if you are just trying to figure out where it fits in your life and/or business, this is a very good read by someone who lives this stuff! Check it out!

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