YouTube Goes Long Format, - Offers CBS Shows

On Friday YouTube announced that it would start offering full-length episodes of TV series like “Dexter,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Star Trek” through a deal with CBS. The catch for users of the site is that these longer videos will include preroll, midroll and postroll ads in each episode. Senior product manager for YouTube, Shiva Rajaraman, said the company is trying to match “the right ad format for the right content experience.” NYTimes article.

Firefox To Help Websites Home In On Your Location

Mozilla has released a new add-on technology for Firefox that helps websites detect the physical location of computers. The Geode project uses technology from Skyhook known as the Loki system which works out a computer's location from nearby wireless networks and can determine the location within seconds with an accuracy of about 10 to 20 metres. "Geode is strictly controlled by the user. When a website requests a location, a notification bar lets users decide whether to give their exact whereabouts, the neighbourhood or city they are in or nothing at all." The system will enable sites to serve up information relevant to the users location, such as news, weather, and of course ads, but also could be used for website authentication allowing people to log in from certain locations only. It's an interesting concept with obvious applications but it seems to me that it will only be a matter of time before the knowledge of our exact location is used against us for nefarious reasons. BBC story.

Ford Addressing Parents Concerns With MyKey

Ford Motor Company has announced a new feature to be offered in the 2010 model of the Ford Focus. MyKey will provide safety features aimed at keeping teen aged drivers safe and responsible behind the wheel of the family car. With the MyKey feature installed the vehicle will alert the driver at various speeds ranging from 72 kilometres an hour to 130 kilometres an hour, the upper maximum the driver would be allowed to drive. The system also alerts the driver when the vehicle is running low on fuel and can limit the volume of the stereo. Not surprisingly, parents surveyed loved the idea while teens hated it... but then again who's paying for the car, the insurance, the gas, etc...

Sympatico / MSN story

Tongue Computer Interface

Researchers at the School of Computer and Electrical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology have created an input device that the user wears on their head and senses the movement of a small magnet that is placed on the tongue. The user moves his / her tongue in one of six positions to indicate their intentions similar to the movement of the mouse. Because the tongue is directly wired to the brain, by passing the spinal cord, the device is an excellent option for those with spinal cord injuries providing them with a method of controlling wheel chairs and computers. Sciencentral.com has the story here.

GMail's New Feature - Mail Goggles

"Google strives to make the world's information useful. Mail you send late night on the weekends may be useful but you may regret it the next morning. Solve some simple math problems and you're good to go. Otherwise, get a good night's sleep and try again in the morning." This is the description provided for one of Google's latest GMail features called Mail Goggles. Put Mail Goggles on and GMail will help to save you from the embarrassment of those late night e-mails to your ex or your boss! To activate Mail Goggles select 'Settings' on your GMail page and then locate the feature on the 'Labs' tab and enable. When acitvated goggles monitors the time of day that you press the send link and depending upon your configurable settings will prompt you to answer a number of mathematical questions, get them right and your mail will go through, get them wrong and you'd better sleep it off. Now if only someone would make such a device for your cell phone...

Election Humour Simpsons Style

No comments, just a good belly laugh...

Job Hunting Tips From Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble, former Microsoft employee / blogger, and current Managing Director of FastCompany.tv is offering up his tips about being noticed in a pile of resumes. In these times of economic uncertainty and a flooded job market it's time to sit up and listen to those who are doing the hiring. Besides the obvious what to avoid tips, like misspellings, and sending resumes without cover letters, Scoble has some tips on how to stand out from the crowd. No surprise is his urging of job seekers to blog, "Make sure your blog’s content matches the job you are applying for, though." Scoble also suggests tuning your Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed profiles and making a customized video that demonstrates your skills and personality." It's an interesting time to be on the job hunt and tips like these may just make the difference.

G4's Easter Egg Video Of Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway

Gearbox Software takes us on an Easter Egg hunt through Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway courtesy of G4TV. Lost references and herding sheep!