Just how much water does the heavens really contain? It has been pouring gigaliters over ireland and much of the EU over the last 10 days and now the weather forecast says it ain't about to stop. *Sigh* Where is our summer dear Lord? It is not that we wish to grumble, but was the 6 weeks we had in April and early May IT? That is as good as it gets as Jack Nicholson said? Ah go on, give just a few more weeks of the good stuff. Please?
Anyhow, back to technology and other related stuff. Been catching up on my podcasts still. Not quite up to date yet. Been listening to podcasts 141 to 149 of the The World.org, the BBC joint production from Boston. Urghh.... I thought I'm nearly up to date and just been to the site - they are up to podcast 156 this week. I am still miles behind... *Sigh* What is curious is that 3 of the podcasts contained bits on bioenergy and biofuel. It is as if fate is following me around. Anyhow, some really interesting stuff on it this week. One was on a South African that is an amputee and has been a medal winner in the paralympics with his steel legs and feet and wants to run in the mainstream races but there are some concerns that the material of his limbs will give him an unfair stride advantage! He is fighting this and the local University students in Pretoria are quite happy to race against him. Quite a reverse!
Anyhow, the Webbie awards are out, and the top 100 applications (10 each in 10 categories) have been voted for by Joe Public. The results are on Webware's site. Some of the sites that I have discussed here in the blog before have made it through which is great -this blog site, Blogger.com, my browser Firefox, my other browser,Opera, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn (which I use nearly daily), Me.dium, Flickr (naturally), YouTube (Surprise surprise...), Digg (which I check daily for exotic news) and last.fm. Whoopsie, nearly missed out on Wikipedia, which I often use for reference searches. But there are obviously lost more. Gazillions of Google apps made it through. Now I guess I shouldn't complain because they own this blog site. *Big smile on face* Nice Google, nice Google, nice....
I am going to be a bit scarce over the next 2 weeks as my daughter is coming to visit me from South Africa. She doesn't write a blog, but she has a page on DeviantArt (which also won a Webbie), but I am not posting the link to her site on this blog. Forget it. No way.
Will try to do an update over the weekend as there are some interesting stuff on the Webbies that I would like to explore. Got myself a new Pentax D10 camera a week or two back and have been updating myself on decent photography again. Posted some pics I took as a test, nothing spectacular, just to test different aperture setting etc. Whilst I was messing around, a fly was buzzing around against the window. he wouldn't pose for me so I had to follow him around a bit, but eventually managed to get 1 decent pic out of about 4 attampts over 10 minutes. It is on my Flickr page, way bigger than lifesize. Yuck!
Friday 22 June 2007
Thursday 14 June 2007
Ireland is wet today.....
Well, I normally start off my posting with the weather update, so I thought I might as well put it in the title and get it over with. It has been miserable after such a brilliant week-end, but so be it!
Been listening to my favourite but tiring podcast, TWiT. Some interesting stuff this week on their show number 100, well worth listening to, if you have the hour to spare. What has been interesting is the number of items we have discussed before making it back for discussion on the show as it obviously becomes more mainstream. Leo Laporte, the show's host, seems to be the eternal geek, absolutely unable to resist anything tech. He has a Tumblelog account (not to be confused with Stumblr, who had just been purchased by EBay, by the way).
What was more interesting was the discussion on last.fm which I recently commented on. It seems as if last.fm is trying to be a lot more than what my cursory overview found. It seems as if they are doing a bit of what Google and Amazon do - look at your usage patterns and make suitable recommendations for you based on your preferences. Now that could be interesting!
The other thing they were reviewing and commenting upon, is Audiblebooks.com.. It seems as if books in whatever shape or form, still remains a firm favourite!
My wife and I are looking at holiday in the south west region of France, and I came across this great site where people post their travel logs and pictures which gives a great overview of the destination - www.travelblog.org.
Also found a great website with some interesting, and curious...., bits and pieces on it. Got the link from Digg following a link on Steve Jobs - the New York Magazine (had to be I guess...).
Enjoy!
Been listening to my favourite but tiring podcast, TWiT. Some interesting stuff this week on their show number 100, well worth listening to, if you have the hour to spare. What has been interesting is the number of items we have discussed before making it back for discussion on the show as it obviously becomes more mainstream. Leo Laporte, the show's host, seems to be the eternal geek, absolutely unable to resist anything tech. He has a Tumblelog account (not to be confused with Stumblr, who had just been purchased by EBay, by the way).
What was more interesting was the discussion on last.fm which I recently commented on. It seems as if last.fm is trying to be a lot more than what my cursory overview found. It seems as if they are doing a bit of what Google and Amazon do - look at your usage patterns and make suitable recommendations for you based on your preferences. Now that could be interesting!
The other thing they were reviewing and commenting upon, is Audiblebooks.com.. It seems as if books in whatever shape or form, still remains a firm favourite!
My wife and I are looking at holiday in the south west region of France, and I came across this great site where people post their travel logs and pictures which gives a great overview of the destination - www.travelblog.org.
Also found a great website with some interesting, and curious...., bits and pieces on it. Got the link from Digg following a link on Steve Jobs - the New York Magazine (had to be I guess...).
Enjoy!
Monday 11 June 2007
Twitter causing quite a flutter
First the regular update on Irish weather - it has been hot! This last week-end it felt like I'm back in my native Africa, not in cool Ireland. And I must say, the heat is showing. The famous greens of Ireland are looking decidedly jaded from the heat, not quite as luscious as normal. However, the Irish and visitors were out en-masse over the week-end filling very scrap of local beach to bursting point with bodies and more bodies! Battled to sleep with the heat. Only cooled down to 17 degrees Celcius overnight. Decidedly un-Irish weather!
What has been interesting has been the explosion in twittering. Those of you who read this blog regularly may recall that some weeks back I wrote about the fact that Leo Laporte of Twit.tv moved from Twitter to Jaiku over concerns that there could be some confusion over the names. However, it seems as if Twitter is exploding all over the show and getting more and more mention everywhere! A colleague of mine, Simon had sent me a link a week back about an article in Business Week about the Twitterisation of Blogs. Well, they continue to be in the news with PhysOrg, a science website. It seems as if some people really get mesmerized by what other people are doing. However, it seems as if many others are using it for business as well. I just wonder how much these people are spending on their mobile phone bills?!?!? I know some of the people of the Twit podcast were talking about phone bills of several hundred dollars. So, it may be interesting, but the question is, is it worth that much in interest?....
You may remember that I signed up at Virb.com and have an account, and that my early take on Virb was that it is a social networking site aimed at music initially. Found another similar site if you're interested in music, called Last.fm. I initially thought it was an internet radio station, but it is not. It is about music only, so more 'purist' than Virb. The initial interface is very clean, but it somehow seems a bit amateurish and not really full of buzz. But that is a personal opinion I guess. I'm not sure why it gives me that feel. I think it is the red banner at the top and then the clean homepage. I somehow just feel that red at the top needs a jazzy page. The page itself seems more 'blue'. Anyhow, my opinion.
Another site in the same category is ILike.com, one of the Webware 100 nominees. It is very much the same thing, a dedicated music site with a listing of songs and bands on the front page with some free MP3's available.
They are both in the LaLa category, although Lala works on a different basis of free listen online, buy the CD if you like basis.
So there you go! Some music to brighten up your day! Enjoy!
What has been interesting has been the explosion in twittering. Those of you who read this blog regularly may recall that some weeks back I wrote about the fact that Leo Laporte of Twit.tv moved from Twitter to Jaiku over concerns that there could be some confusion over the names. However, it seems as if Twitter is exploding all over the show and getting more and more mention everywhere! A colleague of mine, Simon had sent me a link a week back about an article in Business Week about the Twitterisation of Blogs. Well, they continue to be in the news with PhysOrg, a science website. It seems as if some people really get mesmerized by what other people are doing. However, it seems as if many others are using it for business as well. I just wonder how much these people are spending on their mobile phone bills?!?!? I know some of the people of the Twit podcast were talking about phone bills of several hundred dollars. So, it may be interesting, but the question is, is it worth that much in interest?....
You may remember that I signed up at Virb.com and have an account, and that my early take on Virb was that it is a social networking site aimed at music initially. Found another similar site if you're interested in music, called Last.fm. I initially thought it was an internet radio station, but it is not. It is about music only, so more 'purist' than Virb. The initial interface is very clean, but it somehow seems a bit amateurish and not really full of buzz. But that is a personal opinion I guess. I'm not sure why it gives me that feel. I think it is the red banner at the top and then the clean homepage. I somehow just feel that red at the top needs a jazzy page. The page itself seems more 'blue'. Anyhow, my opinion.
Another site in the same category is ILike.com, one of the Webware 100 nominees. It is very much the same thing, a dedicated music site with a listing of songs and bands on the front page with some free MP3's available.
They are both in the LaLa category, although Lala works on a different basis of free listen online, buy the CD if you like basis.
So there you go! Some music to brighten up your day! Enjoy!
Thursday 7 June 2007
News, news, news and more news....what to read?
Have to start with the weather - has been quite decent over the last few days. Temperatures hovering around 15 to 20 degrees Celcius, and sun or near sun mostly. Getting time to dry out. There we go, I've confirmed my status of Plastic Paddy by talking about the weather. Now to things more of a cyber nature.
I find it amazing looking at the sheer volume of information out there that is available in the cyber library. I guess it is similar to walking into a research library on a University campus. Where to start? My normal day to day news is always CNN and Skynews or the BBC if they annoy me. For Euro specific news, where else but to EuroNews? For a quick browse around what has happened in Ireland, I head to the national broadcaster, RTE. For South Africa, I would head over to The Star, which used to be my daily hard copy read.
Then there is tech news. And here the confusion begins. At present I read a few, being Digg, naturally. Someone at Me.dium quite aptly likened social networks to the way in which a lot of people will look at restaurants - if there is no-one there, don't bother. If there is a queue outside the door, queue up - must be good. To some extent we use social networks in the same way. If we see a number of people buzzing around a site, pop around and see why. Me.dium works that way, StumbleUpon works that way, Digg and Del.icio.us work that way. I suppose the way Digg works is that lots of stuff is thrown into the pot, but as the pot churns and more people read things, that is read and gets lots of attention rises to the top. Sort of like the froth on a good beer!
But I digress, as always. Further Tech sites that I frequent would be TechMeme (recent addition courtesy of Mick on Tangle - thanks Mick!) and ComputerWorld, besides my normal CNet.
More than that is just not possible. I also listen to my podcasts on my daily trips to and from work, spending between 1.5 and 2 hours daily commuting, depending on the traffic, it gives me a great way of catching up. If you've missed the early blogs, I subscribe via my RSS feeds to FeedDemon and NewsGator to The World, TwiT, including Amber and Leo on Net@nite, Technology Podcasts and BBC daily news updates. I have a Sansa MP3 player and load it onto that. I have some music on the Sansa as well, but have never actually used it to listen to music.
Since the demise of Mother Jones Radio, I have not really found any decent sites with American news and politics on it. I REALLY miss Mother Jones Radio podcasts. If you know of any, send me an email or post a comment and share it.
And my colleague Simon reminded me of how good LifeHacker is for great technology tips! Simon is a ferocious reader of hte web. if it exists, Simon will find it. I might give him author status on the web and he can give you HIS take on life and technology! A site that I regularly read for updates on what is happening in Content and the Media industry is just that Total Content & Media. However, you have to subscribe (for free) to the daily newsletter, and there is just so much to read! However, to cut through this they have a blog, i-on-digital, which is updated as and when with just the essence of the site for those who want a flavour, but not the full gamut of news.
Lastly for today, just a quick one lala.com. A music site with a bit of a difference. They offer free streaming music (they pay a monthly fee per subscriber to the music industry) and then offer music for download fully iPod compatible. However, it is only sold by album, not per song. They also seem to offer a swap section where you can swap music. I haven't spent much time on it yet (corrupted the Registry file on the PC at home, so been spending 2 fruitless evenings trying to fix it, and eventually gave up - last night reinstalled windows and now going through the painful process of reinstalling everything because I did not do a?....... thats right - back-up....).
Will catch up a bit!
I find it amazing looking at the sheer volume of information out there that is available in the cyber library. I guess it is similar to walking into a research library on a University campus. Where to start? My normal day to day news is always CNN and Skynews or the BBC if they annoy me. For Euro specific news, where else but to EuroNews? For a quick browse around what has happened in Ireland, I head to the national broadcaster, RTE. For South Africa, I would head over to The Star, which used to be my daily hard copy read.
Then there is tech news. And here the confusion begins. At present I read a few, being Digg, naturally. Someone at Me.dium quite aptly likened social networks to the way in which a lot of people will look at restaurants - if there is no-one there, don't bother. If there is a queue outside the door, queue up - must be good. To some extent we use social networks in the same way. If we see a number of people buzzing around a site, pop around and see why. Me.dium works that way, StumbleUpon works that way, Digg and Del.icio.us work that way. I suppose the way Digg works is that lots of stuff is thrown into the pot, but as the pot churns and more people read things, that is read and gets lots of attention rises to the top. Sort of like the froth on a good beer!
But I digress, as always. Further Tech sites that I frequent would be TechMeme (recent addition courtesy of Mick on Tangle - thanks Mick!) and ComputerWorld, besides my normal CNet.
More than that is just not possible. I also listen to my podcasts on my daily trips to and from work, spending between 1.5 and 2 hours daily commuting, depending on the traffic, it gives me a great way of catching up. If you've missed the early blogs, I subscribe via my RSS feeds to FeedDemon and NewsGator to The World, TwiT, including Amber and Leo on Net@nite, Technology Podcasts and BBC daily news updates. I have a Sansa MP3 player and load it onto that. I have some music on the Sansa as well, but have never actually used it to listen to music.
Since the demise of Mother Jones Radio, I have not really found any decent sites with American news and politics on it. I REALLY miss Mother Jones Radio podcasts. If you know of any, send me an email or post a comment and share it.
And my colleague Simon reminded me of how good LifeHacker is for great technology tips! Simon is a ferocious reader of hte web. if it exists, Simon will find it. I might give him author status on the web and he can give you HIS take on life and technology! A site that I regularly read for updates on what is happening in Content and the Media industry is just that Total Content & Media. However, you have to subscribe (for free) to the daily newsletter, and there is just so much to read! However, to cut through this they have a blog, i-on-digital, which is updated as and when with just the essence of the site for those who want a flavour, but not the full gamut of news.
Lastly for today, just a quick one lala.com. A music site with a bit of a difference. They offer free streaming music (they pay a monthly fee per subscriber to the music industry) and then offer music for download fully iPod compatible. However, it is only sold by album, not per song. They also seem to offer a swap section where you can swap music. I haven't spent much time on it yet (corrupted the Registry file on the PC at home, so been spending 2 fruitless evenings trying to fix it, and eventually gave up - last night reinstalled windows and now going through the painful process of reinstalling everything because I did not do a?....... thats right - back-up....).
Will catch up a bit!
Tuesday 5 June 2007
Question: Just how social can social be?
Following a rather wet bank holiday week-end here in Ireland, it is finally working day Tuesday and the weather seems to be brightening up. Great. Just in time as we head back indoors into the office. Well timed. We wouldn't want to get any of that awful suntan stuff now would we? I think this is part of the Health and Safety conspiracy of the EU nanny state. They have taken control of the weather and send the sun indoors when we head outdoors to ensure we have sufficient sun radiation protection. This is Big Brother gone BIG! George Orwell, 1984, eat your heart out.
Had a diverse week-end. Our local parish priest (Catholic) is busy doing a PhD in Dublin and is looking at how the Catholic Church can/should tap into the use of the earthly power of the good old WWW to tap into the youth market. Helped him with some reviews and comments. I think it is a great idea. There is so much rubbish out there that it would be great to get some good to balance it out!
Have been catching up with all my podcasts. As you may know (if you have been reading this blog for a while), one of my favourite podcasts is TWiT with Leo Laporte. I have just finished listening to episodes 96 to 99, and they are getting more and more chatty and longer and longer and longer.... Leo seems to forget that podcasts are for people with shorter attention span. We all suffer from WADS (WWW Attention span Deficit Syndrome), that leads to that well known modern entertainment habit of 'snack culture'. 50 minutes plus for a podcast is getting right up to the limit of my attention span and time available to listen to it.
Anyhow, that is my gripe for the day.
Found something interesting on the web, that I suppose fits right in with the singles scene of today (I am happily married - or at least I am under the impression I am. I trust my wife has a similar impression). Going this way out. It is a site for local events where people can get invited to events. Perhaps the B,C & D-list of events for people who are not on the A-list?... :-) It is only for Boston, New York and San Francisco at present. In Dublin you have the Event Guide, that is issued weekly in hard copy, and of course we have all seen the trusty old Where magazine in hotel lobbies when we travel. So, it seems that, in addition to sites like Yelp, MenuPages.ie and MenuPages.com, there are different levels of entertainment guides, from those for the more mature set, to those for the young and younger at heart to the latest social scene interactive party animal stuff such as Going! Well, if you look at Going, and it is VERY local at present, and you look at something more mature such as Where Magazine, it would be great to have a Where with all the locations they cover, but with 2 choices - Fuddy Duddy staid (for me...) and Party Animal (the Going crowd)? I like the Where Magazine style, but I think something like Going has a lot of mileage. It fits into the whole Twitter and Jaiku scene with local presence messaging through nano-blogging. I can certainly see the mix working. If you're into Jaiku and Twitter, you could well enjoy Going.
So, the answer to the question iss that social can be VERY social indeed! I wonder if they ever sleep?.......
Had a diverse week-end. Our local parish priest (Catholic) is busy doing a PhD in Dublin and is looking at how the Catholic Church can/should tap into the use of the earthly power of the good old WWW to tap into the youth market. Helped him with some reviews and comments. I think it is a great idea. There is so much rubbish out there that it would be great to get some good to balance it out!
Have been catching up with all my podcasts. As you may know (if you have been reading this blog for a while), one of my favourite podcasts is TWiT with Leo Laporte. I have just finished listening to episodes 96 to 99, and they are getting more and more chatty and longer and longer and longer.... Leo seems to forget that podcasts are for people with shorter attention span. We all suffer from WADS (WWW Attention span Deficit Syndrome), that leads to that well known modern entertainment habit of 'snack culture'. 50 minutes plus for a podcast is getting right up to the limit of my attention span and time available to listen to it.
Anyhow, that is my gripe for the day.
Found something interesting on the web, that I suppose fits right in with the singles scene of today (I am happily married - or at least I am under the impression I am. I trust my wife has a similar impression). Going this way out. It is a site for local events where people can get invited to events. Perhaps the B,C & D-list of events for people who are not on the A-list?... :-) It is only for Boston, New York and San Francisco at present. In Dublin you have the Event Guide, that is issued weekly in hard copy, and of course we have all seen the trusty old Where magazine in hotel lobbies when we travel. So, it seems that, in addition to sites like Yelp, MenuPages.ie and MenuPages.com, there are different levels of entertainment guides, from those for the more mature set, to those for the young and younger at heart to the latest social scene interactive party animal stuff such as Going! Well, if you look at Going, and it is VERY local at present, and you look at something more mature such as Where Magazine, it would be great to have a Where with all the locations they cover, but with 2 choices - Fuddy Duddy staid (for me...) and Party Animal (the Going crowd)? I like the Where Magazine style, but I think something like Going has a lot of mileage. It fits into the whole Twitter and Jaiku scene with local presence messaging through nano-blogging. I can certainly see the mix working. If you're into Jaiku and Twitter, you could well enjoy Going.
So, the answer to the question iss that social can be VERY social indeed! I wonder if they ever sleep?.......
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