In Yelp I Trust, Do you?

I decided my comeback should be on something that I am passionate about. Can you guess what it is? YELP!

I have been a yelper for some time so I may be biased on the recent article that was displayed in the Washington Post, "Review site Yelp under fire in business' lawsuits." I know some businesses do risky things to make some cash but I would like to believe that Yelp wouldn't do that.

First of all, if you don't know what yelp is then...STOP LIVING UNDER CHEWBACCA! Yelp is a social networking site that let's consumers rate and review businesses. For example, you are looking for a good Thai restaurant near where you live but you don't have any friends that eat Thai food (or you don't have any friends). Who can you ask? There's Google for starters, but it only suggests places nearby. It doesn't tell you whether they are good, what dish is best, what kind of atmosphere the place is or how to woo the hot server on Tuesday nights. These are things you need to know!

Yelp provides this information. If you are still confused then you can check out my yelp reviews here.

Getting to the point, Yelp "is being sued by several small businesses that claim they've been pressured to advertise on the site in exchange for getting negative reviews squashed." What it seems to me is that companies are complaining about free speech. If this was someones personal blog and they had positive and negative reviews and some went missing then the companies wouldn't sue them! If your business sucks and you can't give good customer service then stop complaining. Maybe you should improve your business and then people wouldn't write anything negative. If I were the business then I would take it upon myself to read the reviews as constructive criticism. Make an account and offer the people that write negative reviews an incentive to come back after you fix the problem they are complaining about.

I think Jerry Stoppelman, Yelp co-founder and CEO said it best,

"the businesses suing the company don't understand how Yelp works. Some reviews might come and go because it relies on an automated program to weigh reviews and filter out ones that might be untrustworthy, such as a negative review a spa owner might write about a competitor. Yelp does nothing to manipulate reviews, aside from allowing advertisers to choose one review they would like to feature at the top of the page about their business...the automated filter has helped Yelp stay relevant to consumers, even though it frustrates some businesses."

Although, I'm starting to wonder if by chance this could have been a scam. If it was, then Yelp would have denied the accusations. Maybe Yelp is guilty but for now, I'm going to believe they are not. If it wasn't for yelp, I would not have found the gym that I love so dearly. I should write a review about my gym. To bad I can't write a review about the person talking real loud about their intimate relationship with their boyfriend in Starbucks.

What do you think about this Yelp dilemma? Do you trust them or not? Do you dare to Yelp? I dare you!

Spokeo your E-mail, Forget Google

When you were applying for a job, you knew that the employer most likely Googled your name to do some background checking. What if they used Spokeo?

Spokeo is a social network aggregator, it searches and collects public records of fifty social sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, Amazon Gifts, and the blogosphere just by using an e-mail address. Meaning you enter in the e-mail address of a person and then POOF, you have information of what social networks their on and what they are posting online.

Kawaski gives a great example using his e-mail address to show us his results. It shows his social networks, blogging, employment, and pictures including Flickr (170 photos), MySpace, LinkedIn, his blog, and a total of nine social networks. Click on "View More" to find out which social networks and your taken to the sign up page. You have to pay $2.95/month for one year or $4.95/month for three months to see the details.


When you pay, you see more details like the exact social networks Kawaski belongs to (as seen above). When you click on the matches, it takes you to the person's public page on those sites.

What about privacy? Can they really do that? Spokeo has a page on privacy, where they write that “Spokeo finds only publicly available information by default. In other words, everything on Spokeo could have been seen by you and others all these times.” They compare it to Google-ing someones name but this is a quicker way to find all the information your looking for.

If you are worried they will find out, then don't fear because Spokeo doesn't notify people that you're looking at their online content. This means that employers could easily track employee's online adventures and ex-boyfriends could track ex-girlfriends without their knowledge. Bradley says that "It must be a gold mine for private investigators, stalkers and other unsavory people."

This does cause me to be concerned. I know that if you are careful and don't make things public or if you use a dummy e-mail account for social networks then you will be fine. Although, it bothers me that searching with my professional e-mail address, it claimed I had social network accounts that I was unaware of. Therefore, it is either lying or providing false information.

Either way, It can be a positive tool for a small business, consumers, Craiglist and eBay users, job applicants, employers, investors, entrepreneurs, consultants, parents and others. It can be used to get more information about an employers that you have an interview with. Parents can check on who their kids are dating. You can check on who you're dating or a someone you are thinking of dating.

There are positive and negatives of Spokeo but it all depends on how it is used. It can be used for either good and evil. What would you or will you use Spokeo for?

Jedi Mind Tricks and Google Voice will bring Change

When Obama was elected, everyone believed the world would instantly change. Well, I have always believed that if Google was elected president then the world WOULD change.

Getting to the point, there have been two new technology releases that make this blogger think that change is finally coming!
The first thing that caught my attention and really excites me is the Uncle Milton's "Star Wars" themed- FORCE TRAINER! It's a new toy that "harnesses the same technology doctors use to monitor brain waves." Basically, the toy gives you the ability to control the rise and fall of a pingpong ball in a clear tube by sensing a change in the user's brain-wave patterns. (I'm hoping that eventually they are able to make a device that actually let's you move other objects with your mind. Then again, wouldn't that make people similar to "Sylar" from Heroes or some other superhero?)
The next BIG release is Google Voice which I had been told about off the record about two years ago in London. At that time I thought that it was only going to be a way for people to make calls and send text messages. When I received an e-mail this morning from Google inviting me to open a Google Voice account, I was taken back by what they were really offering. As the e-mail said: "a service that makes using your current phones much better! Here's what it offers:

• A personal phone number that rings all of your existing phones when people call
• All of your voicemail in one inbox with unlimited online storage and free voicemail transcripts sent to your phone and email
• Low-priced international calling to over 200 countries and free SMS
• Other powerful features like the first phone spam filter to protect you from unwanted callers, the ability to ListenInTM on your voicemail messages while they are being left, conference calling and more

Please note that Google Voice is only available for sign up in the US."

Basically it's like turning your phone into an e-mail inbox. The only bad thing at the moment is that it is only offered in the U.S.. When I initially tried to register, it would not let me because of my IP address. I had to mask my IP so that I could register. (I was afraid all the good number would be taken if I didn't register now. Just like when facebook offered user names and I waited and then wasn't able to get a better name.) I've now tested it out about and am very excited to start integrating into my business. The only thing that I like about Skype versus Google voice is that everything is integrated in Skype. Maybe Google Voice will eventually add Google chat on the side and then we would be business! I'm just waiting for the Google Voice Ipod App.

So I hope you are all ready for the world to change. What do you think will be next due to these inventions? Do you think we could elect Google for president?

Livestation for the New Generation

What the hell am I talking about?!?! Where the heck has my technology blog posts been?

Guess what!?! They are coming back! The first thing I have to share with everyone is something that I was just introduced to today. A friend of mine suggested I check this out, LiveStation. I have a feeling this new software will change my life while living abroad. No longer will I feel so distant from American television. (Yes, I missed American television. Where I could waste hours on end finding reruns to watch). Now, I don't have to wait a day before I can watch my favorite sitcoms to be uploaded online! I can watch new episodes live online at the same time everyone is watching them at home. The best part..(drumroll)... It's free!
Who needs to pay for cable anymore. When you can have everything on your computer. I hate to say it but, Wall-E is coming true. We just have to remember to shut down the trusty computer and take a stroll outside. Speak to people in the here and now world. I'm starting to diverge from the topic.

Back to Livestation! You can watch MTV, FOX, CNN, and other major television networks from all over the world. People can add stations and rate the stations. The nice thing is that it streams clearly. (I'm starting to wonder why I have cable and what the purpose of having cable is). I think the only reason to not cut off cable television is because they don't have all of the channels I watch. (Especially Korean stations now that I am adapting to the society.) Once they have more channels, I think I will say goodbye to my cable and hello to computer television source.
This world is changing fast and I think I'm ready for it. I'll start by using Livestation and then wait for someone to invent a way for my computer to dispense food and beverages at a click of a button.

Social Media Hits DC with Insight

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to the Social Media Club - DC event at the National Press Building on social searches versus Google searches (not how they phrased it but it addresses the point). The speakers were Chris Seline (@dumbfounder), Laurence Hooper (@lhooper), Jared Goralnick (@technotheory), Greg Gershman (@greggersh) and Aaron Brazell (@technosailor). The reason I have names in parenthesis are because these are all their twitter names. I'll explain that more in a bit.

They started off discussing the difference between social searches and Google searches. There were many conflicting views amongst the board but here is what I got. Google searches will get what you want but it cost time. Social searches are more customized and personalized to the user. Aaron Brazell gives the example of Thomas Hawk whose goal in life is to publish 1,000,000 photos on flickr. He has already posted about 20,000. If Aaron wanted to find a photo that Thomas took of New York a couple years ago then it would take him awhile searching Google to find that pictures. If he searched Flickr then he would speedily find what he was looking for.

These social searches interact with people because the results are based on other opinions. It comes down to the perception of trust in social networks. We tend to put a trust value on the information we find by ratings like Yelp.

Julie Minevich, who also attended, gives a good run down of the remaining questions that were discussed:

• Is there any value in organizing and archiving old social networking actions?
• Are mobile communities the next step in this media revolution?
• What are the ways social networking sites are trying to create revenue?
• Why isn’t Google more involved in this social media space?

I'll try and highlight some of the responses from the panel on these questions from the notes that I took. (Yes, I took notes with a pen and paper! I felt very lame. Especially because it was on an HP paper notepad)

• The reason Google has not gotten involved in social searching is because they have not found a way to make money off of it. They are waiting to see how to make money off of Facebook and Twitter.
• Blogging, twitter and all these other mobile communities are affecting the future by creating a universe in social networks. These social networks describe who we are as a person and/or company. It is becoming a way in which we create our identity.
  
• Some sites for tracking social media: Trakr, Twitterbox, Radiant 6?, Blogpolls? and Relevant Noise (Someone let me know if these are correct...)
• Facebook is behavioral advertising and behavioral marketing. The new form of advertising.
• The great thing about social networks are that they are free. Compared to the past where you would have to pay to go to a social networking event.
  
• Social Networkers are finding ways to make money by finding ways to share ads on things like FanBox.
• Keep an eye out for Aardvark, a new start up that is like Yahoo Answers and Twitter meshed together.
  

The last point of discussion was on what's next. As Aaron responded, "we are finding ways to merge real life and online life. The closer you bring both together is better." We are constantly on our phones and online. For example, the best thing about this meeting was that every person was on their iPhone, Blackberry or mobile device (sadly I have not gotten an iPhone and am very uncool). While the speakers were talking everyone was on Twitter responding and making comments. As Julie said, "It was almost like there were two interconnected conversations taking place concurrently but separately. The second, the one on twitter, was, of course, a result of the in-person discussion and the twitter comments were mentioned a few times in the live discussion, but again, for the most part, they were taking place independently and simultaneously."

By the end of the night, I walked away with more than I expected. The discussion won't end due to all the new twitter friends I have attained. ( Follow me @cbenton!) It gave me a new perspective on the future and my career in life. I am looking forward to more events like these.

What are your points of view on some of the questions.

Bad Pick-Up Lines May Get You An Electronic Baby Bracelets

Let me start off with saying that this study done by SpinVox does not seem very reliable to me. The study says that bad-pick up lines work and are still being used. For example, here are the top worst pick-up lines in the US:

1. If you were a new sandwich at McDonalds, you'd be called McGorgeous."
2. "Have you got a keg in your pocket, because I'd like to tap that!"
3. "I've lost my number can I have yours?"
4. "If this were a meat factory you'd be prime rib."
5. "I'm like American Express, don't go home without me."
   

The research was conducted across 1,000 US residents between the ages of 18 and 49, using Facebook polls. They said that one-third of the women would spend the rest of the night chatting with a guy if he had a good approach. ONLY 7% said that it could lead to an overnighter. Even after a good first night, "15% of women would be too embarrassed to answer a call from someone with whom they'd previously exchanged numbers." (Meaning that things didn't go well and the women just didn't want to admit it!).

The next thing they say is that the majority of people prefer calling someone they met then texting them. (That surprised me, because the majority of people I know always text. It's easier to text than be on the phone with awkward pauses. Although, from a women's perspective, I'd rather get a phone call asking me out then a text message.* ADVICE: If you do get a date via text message, then for the second date do not text but call!*)

Here's the shocker! They claim both sexes look up their date on Facebook but that men do it more than women. (Thank heavens I have my security very high.) They suggest some basic stuff that you can ready the article for. Basically this study was done to get SpinVox publicity. Christina Domecq, CEO and co-founder of SpinVox says, "The many different options now available to communicate personal messages really seem to be making it easier for people to connect but on their own terms. Whether it's using your mobile phone to post on Facebook while on the go or simply leaving someone a spoken message delivered as a mobile text or email, SpinVox helps capture the moment and add that 'personal' touch as the recipient knows it was a spoken message." (Does that not prove my point?).

If you are lucky and a bad pick-up line gets you action then just remember to use protection. Next thing you know, you will need this new electronic wristlet to control your mini-me. (I'm not saying you will be able to clone yourself into a little person. I'm talking about re-production.) Created by Petr Hampl, this device allows parents to send messages, alarms or graphic symbols to the solar powered display. (Maybe we won't have to have kids on leashes.) You can let kids run free but still be at your beckon call.


In closing, you can use pick-up line but everything comes with a cost. Make sure you don't end up with a baby on the way. If you do, make sure to get Petr Hampl's electronic wristlet.

I know the top picture has nothing to do with the post. I apologize, I'll try to work on that.

Personal Note with a Touch of Technology

I know I should really blog about some of the insane technology that is happening these days but some people wanted to know what was happening with me.
Here's the deal. I am in a state of confusion. I signed the contract to move to South Korea and teach at a GnB school in Taegu about a month ago. My understanding was that I had to send in a packet of information to get a visa approval number. I was told it would take about 2 weeks to get my approval number. I sent all my information Oct 13th, and they received the information by Oct 16th. I was told a week ago that I would receive the approval number. When I didn't receive anything, I wrote again. I was then told I should receive it this week. It's Friday and I still do not have a visa approval number. This is starting to make me concerned. Am I going to South Korea or not? If I am not going then I am back at the beginning. Looking for a job and figuring out where my path in life lies. I guess that's a pretty good sum up of where I am in life. Confused as hell and trying to pin point where I belong in life. I have ideas, passion, initiative, enthusiasm and a drive to succeed. If only the economy didn't suck right now.

On another note, I found some interesting sites that I was not aware of.

We ALL feel like we need a personal assistant. Why can't we have one? BECAUSE they are expensive and the hiring process is a hassle (just like trying to find the perfect employee or babysitter). Sandy has so far become a great personal assistant to me. As lifehacker explains,

"an information tracker you interact with via email. Register for a free account and you'll get an email address you can send your to-do's, contacts, bookmarks, notes, and appointments to in keyworded messages. Sandy receives the email, parses, stores, and organizes the information, and emails you back reminders and agendas only when you need 'em."

I have found Sandy as a better tool than iCal, Outlook and my mother put together. It can integrate with your Google, Outlook or iCal calendar. She is connected to twitter which makes things easier and she can send reminders to your phone. I just started using her and have found it very convenient so far but we will see what happens in the long run.

Last thing, through Sandy I came to discover another service or tool, known at Jott. "With a simple phone call to 866-JOTT-123, you can capture notes, set reminders and calendar appointments, stay in touch with friends and family, and interact with your favorite web sites and services...all with your voice!" I was excited at first because this sounds great! BUT there was a catch, to get all the features, you have to pay for a higher membership. I'm hoping that it's just time before they come out with a service like Jott for cellphones. It would make driving and texting a lot easier. (Not that I do that...)

Picture was edited with picnik

Wi-MAX in USB for Wireless Freedom Everywhere

Motorola is launching a USB WiMAX Device called the USBw 100, the nation's first mobile WiMAX network. Flatley from Engadget say, the "thumb-drive-sized slice of heaven will be available in three flavors, providing high-speed mobile broadband on your 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz or 3.5 GHz network."

Not a lot of information has been released yet, but the company says to expect the product by the fourth quarter of this year.

For those of you that don't know the difference between WiMAX and Wi-Fi; WiMax can provide broadband wireless access up to up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 - 10 miles (5 - 15 km) for mobile stations. Wi-Fi is limited to about 100 - 300 feet (30 - 100m). (This is obviously a very big difference. I like to have more access than less, but that's because I am American. We like to have more.) Also, WiMAX allows higher data rates over longer distances.

I e-mailed the Media Contact Haas Kathi about the product and she says it will be suitable for use globally (my guess is that it will be released worldwide?) "It will be offered through service providers initially, some of whom may sell it online, but it will be tied to a service plan, not as a stand alone device."

I asked her if she believed this USBw 100 will revolutionize Motorola as a company and why? She said "the USBw 100 is one of several WiMAX-enabled CPE we've introduced, and is part of our full portfolio of WiMAX infrastructure and device solutions. We're pursuing 4G technologies (WiMAX and LTE) as they will provide the broadband speeds and networks to enable the delivery of the personal media experiences that today's consumers want.. whether in their home, the office, or on the go. "

Sounds excellent to me! But what do you think?!?!

I want to be an iBlogger, and you?

That's right! A company called illuminex has created iBlogger, a real mobile blogging for iPhone and iPod Touch users! iBlogger works with nearly any blog, including WordPress, TypePad, and MovableType, helping bloggers post quickly from iPhone and iPod Touch, anywhere, any time.

It's said to be compatible with Blojsom, Drupal, ExpressionEngine, MovableType, TypePad, and WordPress. (If you didn't see your blog hosting site there then DON'T FRET! . . . like I did.) iBlogger has optimized plugins for easy configuration and compatibility to: LifeType, LivingDot, My.Opera.com, SquareSpace, TypePad (I thought we already did this one), WordPress (um...I know we already mentioned this!), Xanga (that is old school!), Blogspot/Blogger (that's what I use! To bad they haven't added picture posting yet.)

It can work with any blog engine that can connect to an iBlogger generic API type like MetaWeblog or MovableType.

The point is that iBlogger will be able to let bloggers take pictures, add their thoughts, tags, categories and geotag links on the go. (That means no more carrying around a laptop and taking up space in Starbucks. BUT it means I can blog while talking to my friends. Time to be a Pro Multi-tasker!)

If you are a mac user (like me!) and have used ecto, then you might just appreciate this new app that was based on ecto. "ecto, the popular blogging application on the Mac, is the heart of iBlogger, and it purrs like a V8 motor." said Gary W. Longsine, illumineX CEO.

So what are the features?

* easily configure a blog in seconds, with RSD (Real Simple Discovery)
* post your thoughts
* effortlessly include a picture from your library, or take a picture on
the spot
* automatically saves your post in case you get a call while posting
* categories and tags to promote your blog
* customizable standard signature
* one-touch geotag location link
* works great on WiFi, 3G and EDGE networks
* Secure HTTPS connections

More Information: http://illumineX.com/iphone/iblogger/

iBlogger is available for $US 9.99, from the iPhone App Store

Sadly you have to pay for the app, but isn't $10 worth the ability of mobility?

Paper Clips Have Feelings

These little added  marks of affection are paper clips with emotive objects emphasizing an emotion. Clip Language was designed by Mi-So Sim, and will help any person display their emotion by paper clip. (This reminds me of personalized stationary and colored glitter pens. I see little kids buying into this and some people that have trouble expressing themselves but it will only be a fad.) 

Let the paper clips reign! I only communicate via paper clips. How do you communicate?

[Via Yanko Design]

Google Chrome Browser Download Mystery

It's just time before Google creates their very own computer or phone. There have always been rumors about Google taking over the world but this is getting them closer to that goal. They have created a new open source web browser project dubbed Chrome. The browser is supposed to be an open source that is stable, faster, secure, clean, simple, and efficient. Compared to the way browsers were created that limit the functionality that we use for them today.

The genius perk to Chrome is the ability to have "each tab in an isolated 'sandbox', we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers."

They released a 35 pg comic book describing the product (if you are really bored and have the time, then you can read it.) In my opinion, they should have a press release or something short describing the product than a 35 pg comic book that you have to continue to click "next" to get to each page. I found this page that gives you a better insight into the product. (WARNING some of the videos no longer exist)

The BEST part of this release is that it was supposed to be available for downloading TODAY!! Yet, when I clicked on trying to download it from other sites the link would not work. THEN I found a link to download Chrome.

I have now started using Chrome and am not sure what I think about it. It does seem to work much faster but I do miss my Google Toolbar that had spell check and other wondrous tools. With every new service, product or tool there are pros and cons.

[Via Official Google Blog]

Record the Experience: Jik Experience Recorder

It looks like a retro glove from the 80's or Micheal Jackson's stylish handcuffs for little boys gloves (because you know he would have something like that.) In reality, it's Valeria Fuso's designed "Experience Recorder" that " fits on the hand and records not only photos, but sounds, movement, video, and temperature." The Italian designer says the product is, "Non si progettano prodotti, bensi comportamenti." This translates to, "Design not just products; design behavior." (How does it design behavior?!?! Maybe translates behavior!) The product has movement sensors, an audio recorder, still-image camera, video camera, thermometer, and wireless computer connection. It can record in auto mode, meaning it decides on its own, which information to collect. You can also put the device on manual mode. In manual mode, the user must activate the Experience Recorder through sensors in the fingers of the glove. To record in manual mode, the user must make their fingers into an O shape, and look through the newly formed finger-viewfinder to see what will be recorded.

It's micro-blogging!!!

Man's Best Friend Is MANVAN!

The idea that a man wants a pimped out sports car is so yesterday. The new thing is vans with extendable backs allowing outrageous amenities, as well as indoor and outdoor use. These vans are known as a MANVAN! A football loving man would be able to watch a big screen TV outside while having some drinks with the guys. The MANVAN will be fully customizable and easily accessible at the Manvan website.


The reality is that it has not been created yet. The Manvan was influenced by the NISSAN NV200 and designed by Ms. Aimee LoDuca. (I just want to say that this was deigned by a woman. Meaning that she came up with the idea while trying to find a way to get her significant other out of the house. If that was the case, then I would rather get out of the house and party in my sh-nazzy car!).


My suggestion is to check out the NISSAN NV200 because the similarity is unbelievable and when it comes out (which will be sooner than this car) you could use the van as an office on the go!




[Via Yanko Design]

Forget Craiglist! Use NFL.com to Scalp

How many times have you scoured (I wanted to use this word) the Internet looking for tickets to a football game? After looking for countless hours, you start to think you might as well go to the game and pay a ridiculous price for a ticket from a scalper. (I've never done it, but I know people do.)

GREAT NEWS FOOTBALL FANS! The National Football League and Ticketmaster have teamed up (like a football team!) to offer NFL's first-ever ticket exchange service on NFL.COM.
The new service "enables fans to buy or resell tickets to NFL games through a convenient, league-endorsed website." the program developed by Ticketmaster will allow ticket exchanges for all 2008 preseason and regular season games, Playoffs and the Super Bowl.

The point of the service is to give fans (if they aren't going to the game then they are not a TRUE fan) who are unable to attend a game a way to sell their tickets to other fans who want to buy or upgrade their seats. (It's not like craigslist doesn't give you this option.) "The ticket exchange service provides fans the opportunity to find and buy resold tickets in a secure environment, in most cases with the ability to electronically validate the resold tickets at the time of purchase. Fans seeking to buy tickets may go to the site to view and purchase tickets offered for games that might be sold out, or obtain a ticket located in a specific seating section that might not otherwise be available."

Kill Long Phone Waits with Fonolo

While checking out Seth Godin's blog, I ran across his post on "Deep Dialing." A company called Fonolo (Phone-Oh-Low) has created a "beta that spiders phone trees at big companies and promises to make it easy for you to go straight to the spot you want. Then it calls you when the phone is answered and records the call so you can keep a record.

Let me break this down a bit more. How many times have you called a company only to hear, “please listen carefully as our menu options have changed…” or “If your language preference is English, please press one now. Si su preferencia de la lengua es español, ahora presione por favor dos.” As GTDTimes explains, this is usually the company's IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system that takes up countless productivity hours. The time spent listening to menu choices, disgustingly annoying music or random promotional jargon could be spent doing something productive like blogging! FONOLO has answered companies and consumers prayers by saving them time which is money.

Go to their site, find the indexed company, go through the visual map of the automated menu and click on the location in which you want to reach. " Fonolo will now place a call, do the navigating and waiting for you and then ring your phone once it has reached the location in the IVR system that you had previously specified." (See picture of map to the right from GTDTimes).

As I mentioned, this will definitely benefit companies as well as consumers. For example, health providers and consumers can get through medical insurance companies long IVR systems without losing productivity during the normal workday hours. Saving time and money is the first aspect that most people seek in a service. The next thing is the reliability and quality which the company seems to have at the moment.

I'm looking forward to this service because I know the company I currently am working for could really BENEFIT from this. Meaning I will no longer have bruises from banging my head on my desk while listening to automated voices!

Generation Gadget Kids Are Costly

My original plan was to blog about the Electronic Banking Monopoly game. Then I found out that the game came out about two years ago, meaning I'm two year to late to be in shock. I'm still in disbelief that they have taken one of the most sacred classic games and turned it into teaching children to use credit cards at a young age. Why do they need to learn to use cash or paper money when they can be taught to use a credit card to do all the thinking?!?

Then I found out that Nickelodeon (with Viacom & Imation) have done it again! Let's create a new cool line of electronic gadgets for kids under Nickelodeon's Npower brand like SpongeBob Squarepants speakers for their Ipod MP3 player (because every kid has an Ipod MP3 player and creating a boom box is to old school). Let's throw in a digital voice recorder, digicam, webcam, digital picture frame and whatever other gadgets we can think of. Maybe we can create a cellphone next! Then we can start creating computers and get kids hooked into the digital world early. Then they will never have to go outside and play with a ball or real people ever again! (Now, I'm starting to appreciate my parents not letting me have a gaming system growing up. At least I enjoyed the REAL world). We already have TV being a babysitter at home and in cars. Do we need children consistently hooked to a digital device to keep them sedated?

The other aspect is, how costly will children become in future? They will continue to desire the next best technology and at what COST?

[Engadget via Electronista]

COMING SOON! DIY Hoovercraft

Thanks to Hacked Gadgets featuring Project Hovercraft, I have a new hope for the future of hovercrafts. If you remember, I wrote about having a Hoverboard awhile ago. My dreams of surfing through the air on a piece of wood styrofoam may come true!

The DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Hovercraft Project created a hovercraft under $40 (if my calculation are correct) using an old RC servomotor (meaning the motor of a remote controlled toy car), batteries, propellers, and some things they had around the house.

"The body of the hovercraft is made out of styrofoam, cut with a saw and sanded to smooth the edges. The skirt on the bottom is made out of pieces of a plastic GAP bag, attached with Scotch tape and hot glue. The radio control unit was scavenged from an old boat I had, along with the drive motor mounted on the wooden supports, while the lifting motor was from my physics teacher. The battery is 300 mAh 6V NiMH (or NiCd, I forget), and I have a pair of them. They were about $6-$10 each (again, forgot) and about $12 for the 2 1/2 hour charger. The servomotor for steering was from an old RC car I had"

Now that you know what it is made of, let's here their explanation as to how it works. How it works:

"The workings of a hovercraft are fairly straightforward: one high-power motor with an airplane propeller forces air down through the hole in the center, which pushes the bottom of the hovercraft off the ground. This greatly reduces friction, allowing the hovercraft to scoot around without much trouble. It also makes it much more difficult to control, however: when the hovercraft turns, it will keep traveling in a straight line unless more thrust is applied. Since we are used to controlling cars or boats, the newtonian behavior of a hovercraft is challenging indeed."

In other words, they have not gotten to the point that they can control the hovercraft but they have made progress. I guess I should be careful of getting my hopes up. Although, this project has really gotten me interested in creating my own hovercraft. I know I have tons of hot glue and love using it. Only problem is I don't have a toy remote controlled car. Can I use my car's engine and triple the size of the hovercraft?

Virgin Mobile Fest Greens Technologic

I did not get a chance to blog at all this past weekend due to the Virgin Mobile Festival that I worked at.

I thought I would share some of the things that worked and some things that didn't work.

The festival wanted to focus on being green and eco-friendly. At the same time, they want to increase brand awareness by associating themselves with many non-profit organization and music. I felt they did a fairly good job at this but they lacked in some areas. For example, they did not train or inform their event staff of everything that was happening. (I found this out when I was passing out free sunscreen. This woman (an event goer) thanked me and mentioned that she wished she had known there was free sunscreen earlier. This was due to the fact that a 15yr old staff member told her there was no sunscreen to be found throughout the concert venue and another staff member told her there was NO FIRST AID! When has there ever been a music festival with NO FIRST AID!) They did not clarify what type of trash was designated for the different recycling bins. The initiative to recycle at the event was not prominent and the music line-up was poorly done. (They spelled Kanye West's name as "KAYNE" West. How does that happen!?!? As well as all the best bands were playing at the same time and at opposite sides).

There are many ways they could have fixed these problems but it was only their third year holding this music festival. I should say some things they did right.

The use of eco-friendly technologies such as recharging your phone, camera or Ipod via bike was very convenient. They had a Dell Dome where people could make their own buttons, T-shirts and use computers to sign up for Buzzd (a new social networking service like Twitter and Yelp.)

Real quick rant on Buzzd: It is described as a "location-sensitive entertainment
listings service with branded editorial and real-time user generated content on
the mobile device.'Your city, in real-time,' buzzd allows consumers to know
what's happening at any venue right now, rate events, and connect with friends
and people in the area." I can see how this could beat Yelp but they really need
to keep pushing it. They need to get more publicity if they want to beat their
competitors. When I heard about the service I automatically thought it was another social network trying to make it big. It did not strike me as a "OMG! THIS IS SOO COOL!" It needs to offer more to users.

On that note, let me finish what I was saying before this post gets to long. They had a spiffy VIP areas that gave free drinks and had actually beds to sleep on outside. They had a Recharge Dome for people to check out the new Kyocera Special Edition Virgin Mobile Festival "Wild Card" mobile (texting from this phone made my hand cramp up) which they could use to make phone calls, send a text message to the concert stage screens or ride a bike and recharge their phone. They had a Refresh Dome for people to cool off and they had a recycling program where people could get stuff for collecting empty bottles and cans.

There were more positive and negatives that I could list about the music festival but I don't want to drag on. They should have integrated the idea of charging your phone by dancing . . . Maybe I'll make a list and send it to Richard Branson.

[picture via Mobilecrunch]

Slydial to Voicemail

When reading about this new technology service, I thought that everyone already had this capability featured on their phone. You might want to check your voicemail features before getting excited about this service. I'm sorry I should probably mention what the service is first before commenting on it.

Slydial is a new service that connects you directly to some one's voicemail. In other words, you can avoid speaking to a person directly by using Slydial. It saves you time (if you don't count the ads that you have to hear before getting connected to the voicemail.) and awkward or long conversations. For example, you want to call in sick to work and are afraid if the boss answers then you have to answer questions and explain yourself. This makes it a lot easier to be a coward and go straight to voicemail. By the time your boss has gotten the voicemail; he will be to busy to call and check up on you (to make sure you are not playing hookie.) Here are some more situations. (Please do not use this service to voicemail break-up, unless your dating a psycho or your dog.)

The service is free to use but you can get a membership if you want to get rid of the ads. This leads me to what I was taking about in the beginning of the post. When I listen to my voicemails, I have the option to record a message and send it to a number. This is basically the exact same thing. To my surprise, this option is not available to all.

If you don't have this feature then I would suggest it as a great way to speak to your mother or girlfriend without having to listen to an hour long session of yapping. (No offense, but women can talk for hours!)

From another perspective, this service is making us more of a coward and continuing to change our way of communicating with each other. We are trying to find ways around directly communicating with people.

Spiffy Photoshop Online

Ask and you shall receive Photoshop Express!
Some people may be big fans of Photoshop (like me!) and some may have no idea what it is or how to use it. For those of you living under a rock or are slightly familiar with Photoshop, please step right up to Photoshop Express!

It doesn't have all the features, benefits or cool abilities that the Adobe Photoshop CS3 program has. But it does have some nice features. There is 2GB of space for photos and the ability to organize all your pictures in one place. For example, some people use Facebook, Picasa, Flickr and many more photo sites to organize and share their pictures. Photoshop Express works with these sites so that you can edit the picture and post them to any of these sites. As the site says, "It's an online photo library, editing and sharing website. You can crop, rotate, change colors, enhance, remove red eye, and even some crazy special effects like twirling and distorting. When you're done, you can share the photos using galleries and even give people a link to go see them."

There are some drawbacks . . . since it runs on Flash, it doesn't play well with the IPhone and IPod Touch. Lori Grunin from Webware points out,

"a policy pothole . . . Adobe's claims on your publicly shared photos. From the
Terms of Service: Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However,
with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on
publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide,
royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable
license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from,
reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly
display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into
other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later
developed. (emphasis mine)"

With that being said, she mentions some other drawbacks here.

I don't want to bash the Beta (meaning it is still in the works and dying for testers and feedback). There are positives about the easy to use online photo sharing site. It integrates all the different photo sites you may be using, helps organize and provides a photo editing play area. If you make a mistake or don't like what you did to the photo at a later date, then you can easily revert it back to it's original state.

With every program, social networking site or gadget there are positives and negatives. The point is to decide whether it will make your life easier because that is what technology is for!