Media consumer, tech enthusiast, and gamer
So Yahoo released earnings info today, which was followed by mildly negative even if hopeful commentary. Google, of course, being cited as the major obstacle. It got me thinking about the fact that I don’t use any of Yahoo’s major offerings (meaning: search, email, or advertising). I don’t do this on purpose; it’s just the way my online habits have evolved, I suppose.
Read More “What’s Your Google / Microsoft / Yahoo Usage Breakdown?” »
If you missed the Netflix news last week, the company announced that it will offer existing subscribers the option of watching movies and TV shows online at no additional cost. So if you pay $18 a month for your regular three DVDs at at time mailing plan, soon you’ll be receiving 18 hours of free online watching time too.
What I found intriguing about the story is that just days and weeks earlier, certain prominent bloggers posted why Netflix is in trouble. Mike Arrington had his post “Why I Am Breaking Up With Netflix” while Robert Scoble had his thoughts on “Netflix is dead.” Both came back with follow up stories after the news release (“Netflix, I Was Just Kidding About Breaking Up With You” and “Netflix tells Scoble he’s wrong” respectively).
Read More “Why Netflix Will Make Online Movie Watching a Reality” »
Most of us want to be more charitable, though somehow giving to a random charity often leaves us with too many unanswered questions: Where specifically does my money really go? How much of it actually makes it to the end destination?
Enter San Francisco based non-profit Kiva.org: a peer-to-peer microfinance gateway, which combines the Nobel Peace Prize concept of microcredit with the power of the Internet to facilitate micro-lending to small business owners in developing countries. Here’s how it works:
Read More “Philanthropy 2.0: Kiva.org Teams Up with Google & PayPal for P2P Microfinancing” »
More rumors are surfacing around Amazon offering DRM-free MP3s to compete with Apple’s iTunes. Only this time the rumors include other MP3 download services and are coming from the mainstream press (does that make it more or less credible?). Looks like certain key executives have converted to the idea that digital downloads should be sold as unprotected MP3s.
Read More “Get Ready for DRM-FREE 2007: Amazon, LimeWire, MySpace, eMusic, Yahoo Music” »
For those unfamiliar, RSS is generally thought to stand for “Really Simple Syndication,” a name that’s almost as useless as the acronym in explaining what it is. In short, it’s a technology that allows users to read headlines/articles from news websites, blogs, and other sources all in one place.
It’s a huge time saver, making it so that you don’t have to browse the Internet to check out the latest content from your top 50 sites (or however many). RSS strips all that information from the original site and consolidates it into one area for you to quickly see content from all over the place.
Read More “RSS Going Mainstream 2007: New York Times & Washington Post Have Big Plans” »
Here it is the day after Christmas and major publications plus the blogosphere are already making predictions as to the state of online advertising in 2007. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) discusses Microsoft’s Adcenter and how it is way ahead of its time, the New York Times explains how online ad pricing is rising or falling depending on the specificity of ad placement, BusinessWeek points out why Yahoo’s ad-delivery technology falls short, and Techcrunch adds that the real advertising war is set to begin in 2007 when Google may be forced to cut back on its way-to-high revenue share.
Read More “Online Ad Wars: Who will win in 2007? Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft?” »
Our favorite social news site, Digg, today released a whole slew of new features while silently removing at least one. I say silently because no one seems to have picked up on it. For extensive coverage, check out the official Digg blog, TechCrunch, Read/WriteWeb, Download Squad, or NewTeeVee. Otherwise, read on for a quick summary and the missing feature:
Read More “Digg Adds New Features, Removes One, and Entices YouTubers” »
Backing up your computer is never something you want to worry about it; you wish it would just happen. With that perspective, I previously reviewed two online backup services: Mozy and Carbonite. Mozy had more customization options while Carbonite had a slicker interface and offered unlimited backups.
But Mozy’s back with the release of Mozy Unlimited, and the company today has impressed even Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. It’s the little things that seem to make the difference, such as the option to have all your files sent to you on DVD or Mozy keeping multiple versions of your files for 30 days (Carbonite doesn’t have the DVD option and only keeps the latest version of any file).
Read More “Online Backup Revisited: Mozy Strikes Back with Unlimited Backups” »