Category Archives: Technology

Vote for your favorite viral video of the year

Mashable has released its nominees for viral video of the year. There’s that stupid kid who cried about Britney Spears; the most dramatic chipmunk to ever walk this earth (you heard it here first: this chipmunk has a future in acting); a girl opening her 300-page iPhone bill (which is the only video in this group I had never seen before); Will Ferrell’s first FunnyOrDie.com video, The Landlord; and my favorite, the Late Show series, Will it Blend? I’ve seen these skits on various late shows over the past couple years and always enjoyed watching random things getting thrown into a blender. But in this version (seen below), Chuck Norris is thrown into a blender with a bunch of bad guys. You can guess what happens.

Man, I do love you Chuck Norris.

Digital Footprints report now live on Pew Internet Project website

My first report (it’s not really my report, but I’m a coauthor) was published today on Pew Internet’s site.

What do we mean by digital footprints, you ask? Here’s a brief overview:

Internet users are becoming more aware of their digital footprint; 47% have searched for information about themselves online, up from just 22% five years ago. However, few monitor their online presence with great regularity. Just 3% of self-searchers report that they make a regular habit of it and 74% have checked up on their digital footprints only once or twice.

Indeed, most internet users are not concerned about the amount of information available about them online, and most do not take steps to limit that information. Fully 60% of internet users say they are not worried about how much information is available about them online. Similarly, the majority of online adults (61%) do not feel compelled to limit the amount of information that can be found about them online.

Check out the full report here.

New blog post on Pew Internet Project website

Here’s my latest post, which looks at some recent reports linking broadband expansion to decreased greenhouse gas emissions. Save the planet, get broadband! And since it is the Word of the Year, let me also add w00t!

Could broadband help the environment?
Environmentally friendly business practices have become commonplace over the last decade, and the technology sector is no exception. With organizations like Gartner and publications like E-Commerce Times listing Green IT among their top trends for 2008, many people may be wondering what they can do to make their technology usage more environmentally friendly. (Read more)…

And the Merriam-Webster Word of the Year for 2007 goes to…

In 2004, it was “blog.” How exciting.

In 2005, it was “integrity.” So lame.

In 2006, it was Stephen Colbert’s creation, “truthiness,” which is defined as “truth that comes from the gut, not books.”

So what could it be in 2007, a year filled with lots of blogs, little integrity, and just a smattering of truthiness?

::drum roll please:: The Merriam-Webster 2007 Word of the Year is…

w00t.jpg

w00t. Yes, that’s one “w,” two zeros, and a “t”. Not familiar with the w00t, are you? Well then, you obviously are way too cool for me. Some of my friends have been using w00t and other random l33t speak for years, thinking (as most nerds do) that it’s only a matter of time before they take over the world and everyone has to speak a new language composed of letters and numbers. Weirdos.

Anyway, Merriam-Webster defines this little gem of a term as “expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word ‘yay’.” I would like to submit the following terms for its list of synonyms: woohoo, holy shit, hot damn, in your face, and fuck yeah!

Amazon offering pretty sweet HD DVD deal

Amazon is currently offering a deal where if you select one of three offered HD DVD players, you will receive 10 free HD DVDs. The three players offered, all on sale, range in price from $225 – $360. The catch is that you 1) automatically receive 300 and The Bourne Ultimatum with your purchase (that’s not much of a catch to me); 2) you then select three HD DVDs from a list offered by Amazon; and 3) you have to send a mail-in rebate for the other five DVDs you choose, from Amazon’s list. Oh yeah, and the list only has 24 choices.

Even still, this isn’t too bad of a deal. Of course, there’s also the debate as to whether HD DVD or BluRay will win the battle to become the next video player in America. Since there has been a ridiculous amount of debate already (and because I’m too busy at the moment), I won’t get into the specifics. I must say that I, however, will be waiting on the sidelines to see who wins before I go out and purchase a new DVD player. I don’t want to be like one of those poor souls stuck with a Betamax.

GMail gets a facelift to reveal its inner beauty…or something like that

You may have noticed some changes to your GMail lately. First was the introduction of “Group Chat” functionality, allowing you and several of your coworkers to bitch about your boss to each other via the Internet instead of the water cooler. Then came the new emoticons, which I generally dislike as they are cheesy and just plain ugly in my opinion (with the exception of the monkey…try him out –> “:(|)” … he’s my favorite). Finally, there has been the added option of color-coding emails, which I have yet to try out, but am excited to see how quickly I turn my inbox into a virtual pile of Rainbow Brite vomit.

Today, GMail has outdone themselves, ending months of patient waiting by AIM nerds everywhere, as now your AIM buddies can be incorporated into your GChat friends. Please, stop your thunderous applause friends. I know you’re excited. I, too, have been anxiously awaiting the moment when my two friends who still use AIM in any capacity can be reached through my Gmail.

aim-gmail.jpg

In case you’re wondering how to get your little AIM buddy list appearing, simply go to your Settings tab and click on the Chat settings. There should be an option now to set up your AIM list.

And yes, in case you were keeping score, Google is still planning to take over the world.

[Thanks, Mashable!]

Webby Awards names 12 most influential web videos of all time

I’ve never gotten into online videos like some of my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I have spent many an hour on YouTube or Google Video. And there have definitely been many hidden gems among the piles of nonsense and online porn. I am definitely in the camp that suggests online videos are playing an important role in society currently, especially in changing our ideas of what an “author” is and encouraging diversity of ideas.

I think the Webby Awards agree with me, as they have acknowledged the 12 most influential online videos spanning from 1996 to 2006. Any organization that recognizes a fat kid dancing around his room with a pole and pretending it’s a light saber or a chicken that does whatever you tell it to do gets the thumbs up in my book. I just can’t believe they didn’t include this video, one of my favorites of all time:

It’s time to buy me some presents people!

**UPDATE** Ok, screw the red version. I just found a black 160 GB on Buy.com for $70!! I couldn’t say no. Sorry boys, you’ll just have to shower me with diamonds and Lexuses this Christmas.

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Our friends at Engadget have come out with their yearly gift guides for him and for her. And since I know at least one person reading this blog is uber-rich and wants to buy me a kick-ass Christmas present, I’d like to offer you a beautiful option from their holiday guide.

Behold, the WD Passport, a 250GB portable hard drive in five different colors! (I want the red one por favor).

WD Passport

So I humbly beg my audience to consider purchasing this for me this upcoming holiday season, as my 3 1/2-year-old G5 has reached capacity and I need someplace to move a large amount of files. Yes, I know I c0uld just go out to Best Buy and purchase myself some ugly, lame external hard drive on my own, but it wouldn’t be nearly as colorful – or as portable – as the Passport.So buy away my friends, and I will pay you back in cookies and my eternal love…or maybe just cookies.

GTalk, AIM, MSN, Meebo, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, oh my… god, will you stop already?

Meebo logo
As we are all acutely aware of by this point, the face of interpersonal communication has undergone quite a transformation in the last decade. I still clearly remember the thrill of chatting with friends and strangers (and, unfortunately, perverts) more than 10 years ago when I first signed up for AOL. Today, we have a ridiculous number of options in online chatting capabilities, from the old standard AIM, to the more international MSN, to the tech nerdy ICQ and the current obsession of my friends, GTalk. One would think these platforms would all be integrated by now so that when I sign into GMail, my AIM list magically appears under my GChatting buddies. Makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, Yahoo! Messenger and MSN integrated more than a year ago. And I know Google never likes it when Microsoft (or Yahoo! for that matter) beats them to the punch.

Well, for those of you dying to maintain all seventeen of your chat lists in one central location, I do have some good news for you. Google and AIM are currently working out some kinks and expect to launch AIM in GMail “in the near future,” whatever that means.

Alternatively, for those who have yet to hear about Meebo, this site actually does allow you to bring in your contacts from MSN, Yahoo!, GTalk, AIM, ICQ and Jabber in one, big, AIM-looking list. It’s a rather blah-looking site, without the charm of GTalk in my opinion (and, of course, without having your email right there to check and send messages). For me, I’ve pretty much abandoned AIM, although there are a few friends on it who I don’t talk to via GChat. But overall, I prefer just my GTalk.

I wonder if government employees who can’t sign into GMail can sign into Meebo…that would be quite the gem.

[Thanks, TechCrunch]