November, 2008 — Tech News and Analysis

Archive for November 2008

Social Web's Big Question: Federate or Aggregate?

Inventor and tech-philosopher Dave Winer Twittered tonight that federation is the hot thing, pointing to a New York Times article about Facebook Connect. And just like that he touched upon the third rail of our increasingly social web. The big question facing the social web depends … Read More »

Updated: Irish Utility ESB Invests $20M in VantagePoint

UPDATED: The Independent reported that Ireland’s state-owned utility, the Electricity Supply Board invested $20 million in electric car startup Tesla Motors. Update: Actually ESB’s investment wasn’t made directly into Tesla, but was made into a clean technology fund managed by VantagePoint Venture Partners, … Read More »

 
 

Why Cheap Oil Won't Change Anything

Even if your Thanksgiving gathering had its share of sour family moments, consider yourself lucky: You weren’t stuck with a bunch of OPEC ministers in Cairo, where they couldn’t even agree on whether to cut oil production further. Even though oil recently dropped below $50 a … Read More »

You know it’s the attention that keeps building Britney Spears up and tearing her back down, but you just can’t turn away. Now the pop star is trying to climb back up the charts, so she’s inviting you back in once again. Spears produced a documentary … Read More »

EQO May Be Done

The bad news for mobile VoIP startups keeps coming. EQO, which had cut nearly 65 percent of its workforce about two months ago, might have finally hit the deck and be down for the count, according to Canadian technology news site, Techvibes. In response … Read More »

CLICK HERE to download the file and listen directly.MoTR 155 is 40 minutes long and is a 37 MB file in MP3 format. INTRO: Based on “Time v2.1″ by Meta Sektion, … Read More »

Small notebook computers are no question perfect for students to use at school.  The small and light form makes it easy to backpack around the school and as long as the notebook has fairly standard components it is more than sufficient to meet the needs of … Read More »

Helvetireader Puts a New Face on Google Reader

Jon Hicks from Hicks Design has released the Helvetireader skin for Google Reader. Helvetireader takes a minimalist approach, masking many of Google Readers abilities, creating a simple and very easy to read interface to Google’s excellent RSS feed reader. Google Reader has been my … Read More »

Why the Wii Could Win the World (but Probably Won't)

Last month I had the chance to chat with a top U.S. Nintendo exec and suggest how, with a few savvy improvements to the Wii system, the company could turn it into the living room Net appliance of choice. But despite the opportunity Nintendo has … Read More »

Recently on jkOnTheRun

This was a short holiday week in the US but there was no shortage of tech coverage.  Here are the top stories on jkOnTheRun in case you missed them. Windows Mobile and AOL- AOL Sync Faster iPod Touch pointing to faster iPhone? Best Buy offering big … Read More »

Another Day, Another Yahoo Rumor

The Sunday Times of UK reports (more like speculates) that Microsoft is going to buy Yahoo’s search business for $20 billion in a very complex transaction. The Sunday Times claims that Jonathan Miller, formerly chief executive of AOL, and Ross Levinsohn, a former president of … Read More »

It’s true, eCards are soooo ’90s, but that’s only because most of them look terrible, aren’t specific or personalized enough, and/or cost money. But OfficeMax’sElfYourself campaign? TIMELESS. Send your own ElfYourself eCards The holiday campaign, in which users attach a photographed head to an … Read More »

More Must Reads

It’s a holiday weekend here in the US but don’t forget to be checking and entering all of the active HP Magic Giveaway contests!  Here’s the schedule in case … Read More »

It can be tough putting together a good closed beta testing pool if you’re a small developer. Perhaps especially so if you’re developing for Mac, which, despite recent advances, still has a smaller overall user base to draw from than Windows. Sure you can offer incentives, … Read More »

Joost launched an iPhone app over the holiday break, making its P2P web TV service mobile. Read More »

This week at The Apple Blog, like a farmer with a gaggle of turkeys in the week before Thanksgiving, we’ve caught the juiciest news and posted it here for your consumption. Early in the week we heard about how a dodgy developer has been paying for fake … Read More »

A recent article by the 37signals folks discuss the results of a recent survey they did concerning their Backpack program. One of the things that they noticed was that a good many people were requesting or suggesting features that already existed. Read More »

If I’m using stuck using Windows for whatever reason, I’m probably using µTorrent. It’s fast, lightweight, and far superior in almost every way to any of the other, more bloated Windows clients. That said, I still prefer Transmission overall, and that’s what I use … Read More »

Not sure how this one slipped past us, but last month Science magazine challenged its readers to translate their PhD research into an interpretive dance and post their moves on YouTube. Thirty-six videos were submitted and last week the winners were chosen. It’s not … Read More »

Google shares recently fell as much as 67 percent from an all-time high in November of 2007. But while there is plenty of reason for concern in the short term, there are also signs that Google is growing slowly more integrated into many facets of our … Read More »

Thanks to our friends over at jkOnTheRun for letting us know about the huge HP Magic Giveaway contest. They are one of 50 participating sites that are each giving away a $6,000 prize package containing some great … Read More »

Update: Few online events have ended as horrifically as the Lori Drew case. Befriended by a boy on MySpace who later began bullying her, a teenager named Megan Meier hung herself, and her online friend later turned out to be the mother of a school classmate, … Read More »

Apple continues to find itself in hot water over its decision to support strict copy protection standards with its new line of Macbooks. Owners of the new generation of Macbooks and Macbook Pros were up in arms last week about the fact that HD … Read More »

Those wily cats at Foxit Software are at it again according to Business Hacks: the free Foxit Reader for Windows hit version 3 and it offers … Read More »

It’s far from certain — it’s even a fairly remote possibility — but the possibility of an economic depression is being discussed more and more these days. As is to be expected, the discussion tends to be centered around how much of what we’re used … Read More »

“When I am president,” President-elect Barack Obama said in a videogram sent to a participants of a climate change summit organized by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week, “any governor who is willing to promote clean energy will have an ally in … Read More »

If you’re a security nut, browsing at a public hotspot can be like showering in a public bathroom. You might have no other option, depending on your circumstances, but you’re bound to feel a little creeped out and you’d probably rather have some flip flops on. … Read More »

French recycling company Recupyl, which uses hydrometallurgy to recycle batteries, displays and other materials, said yesterday that it raised €14.5 million ($18.4 million) in financing (hat tip Green Car Congress). Recupyl joins a … Read More »

Random public service announcement: What’s on TV?, an iPhone/iPod Touch TV listings app, is free today. It usually only costs 99 cents, but every penny counts in this global economic climate, right?! Apparently the discount applies today only, so if you want it, go and … Read More »

I have been saying for some time that the launch of the 3G iPhone was going to jump-start the demand for wireless broadband. The subsequent release of additional web-friendly mobile phones (we like to call them superphones ) — the Samsung Instinct, the … Read More »

If T. Boone Pickens has decided the capital markets can’t fund his plan for a 4 GW wind farm right now, we’re wondering how a group called the Ocean Energy Institute plans to build one of the world’s largest wind farm — made up … Read More »

What does the highly esteemed Criterion Collection, distributor of film buff collectors’ editions, do in a digital age? Very few of its chosen “important classic and contemporary films” are available in any online format. If you want to buy a movie online, chances are it’s … Read More »

Netbooks have caught the computing industry with their pants down.  What was originally envisioned as a cheap laptop for kids and those not wanting to do very much … Read More »

We told you what we thought about the Mophie Juice Pack 3G, the extended battery solution for the iPhone 3G.  Reader Jeff just let us know that the Mophie folks have a today-only Black Friday deal for the Juice Pack that will get you … Read More »

It’s time for some more alchemy involving your beloved laptop or desktop companion. Just like last time, we’ll look at a few different apps that allow your Mac to perform some unusual tricks. That Apple is far from a one-trick pony, so forget about … Read More »

Gas on the Cheap: Retailers in Missouri have slashed fuel prices by selling gas without ethanol, the grain-based alcohol that many states require as a gas add-in to reduce air pollution. — Reuters Environmental Investing: Some of the world’s biggest pension funds and foundations in … Read More »

It’s hard work to set up and supervise a teleworking team for some projects.  In the web content service I run, I need to gather work-from-home writers together and help them work as a team.  This is especially important for projects that require group cooperation and … Read More »

That awesome HP Magic Giveaway contest we told you about is getting underway today at some of the 50 sites participating.  The way it works is every day 1 – 3 of the blogs will be kicking off their own contest and starting December … Read More »

TVTonic Shuts Down Service; popular Windows Media Center application that moved content from your PC to the TV being retired. (Zatz Not Funny!) Mobuzz TV Closes; popular European online video show couldn’t afford to keep going, closes down. (Mobuzz) The Economics of TiVo; how much is … Read More »

Carl Icahn, a hedge fund investor and corporate rabble-rouser, has bought 7 million shares of Yahoo for $67 million. That works out to about $9.92 a share. With that, his stake in Yahoo is now 75.6 million shares, or nearly 5.5 percent of the … Read More »

Since Wednesday afternoon I have been glued to my computer screen in search of updates on the situation in India. Despite the tremendous volume of information — and its immediacy — coming from Mumbai via Twitter, getting context about the situation has been a struggle. And … Read More »

There’s a new power couple in the thin-film industry. Japan’s Sharp announced plans yesterday to invest at least ¥100 billion yen ($1.05 billion) in a venture with Italy’s Enel to manufacture thin-film solar cells and build … Read More »

The popular BitTorrent client, uTorrent, is now available for Macs. Read More »

A big chunk of web working has to do with managing your online presence. That means staying on top of social media trends, managing Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other profiles, and making sure all these communities are working to your advantage. A well-managed online … Read More »

Being a big fan of my Griffin radioSHARK I was disappointed when the developers dismissed all plans on cranking out an HD Radio version of the device. Given the extensive source tagging in the digital stream, they could have integrated both recording to iTunes and … Read More »

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