I took a look at recommendation software being developed by titans such as Blockbuster, eBay and iTunes. Instead of copying the Amazon tactic of recommending an item for future purchase based on your past purchases, the Blockbusters and co look deeper into your tastes than you might imagine in order to plant shopping ideas in your head.

You will love this sexy car

We are a tapestry of tastes, like and dislikes, and the retailers' software writers know where to look in order to build up a picture or profile of their customers.

Wouldn't it be great if there were a company that takes your interest in porn and allies it to a current search you are making for cars. Where is the connection bewteen the two, you may ask? Off the top of my head, the software would probably recommend you buy a Hot Rod or the 2008 Chinese edition of the Well hung Mustang, or perhaps at a stretch a badly spelt Ford Focus.

You will love this sexy perfume, car lovers

The recommendations get easier to make however when you cross your taste in cars with perfume. No need to algorithmify and extrapolate in order to suggest a suitable perfume based on your preferred muscle car. The manufacturers of sexy Ferraris have already saved programmers a lot of trouble and used their allure to produce a high octane Donna Ferrari scent. Lambourghini have a cologne too that would obviously satisfy the requirements of a car nerd trying to smell as hot as their 600hp motor. Quite what a mustang owner would think of dousing themselves in Mustang scent, though, I can only imagine.

Who is harnessing this recommendation software?

StumbleUpon was bought by eBay and who knows how the auction guys are going to harness that "preferred blog" technology to squeeze another bid out of us.

Blockbuster can already suggest you a film you never heard of with a storyline you would never select - and leave you happily adding more to your "Must Watch" list. (I would add in a recommended snack too, for good measure.)

And iTunes just sold their 3 billionth track, so their recommendations algorithms must be doing something right.

The future of recommendation software

Think about the swathe of data that we, the consumers, have made available to on-line companies trying to sell us the next big must-have thing. Every time you browse, order, or enquire, you leave some evidence of your tastes behind. As we aren't going to stop browsing, ordering and enquiring any time soon, there are no limits to the recommendations we will be bombarded with in the future. It's time to get used to being upsold and fleeced with monotonous and sophisticated regularity.

Never again will it be as simple as: "You bought Harry Potter One so you are going to love Harry Potter 2 thru 12" The new kids are bringing more factors into the mix and before we know it we will be ordering Hogwarts Cologne and riding Honda broomsticks.

According to Insight Research Corp. the market for what is known in the trade as Presence-based services will reach nearly $23bn. (This equates to about 400,000€ if the dollar keeps sliding at current rates.)

One example of a Presence-based service is Instant Messaging. This is a huge hit in Asia, where the most common message left on telephones and PCs is "I will be leaving the Nike factory at 2am, please don't forget to set my alarm for 5am so I am not late for my 6am shift."

When asked to comment on this IM phenomenon, Nike Skyped back to say that this new paradigm of Presence-based services has influenced their business practice no end. The new thinking is, that most unskilled people in Asia are happy to present themselves at a sweat shop in order to earn $3 a day. In order not to appear too soft, Nike require their presence (and sweat) at the factory for 19 out of every 24 hours. It may sound harsh, but we offer flexi-time and the carbon-based units working for us can choose which day per month not to grace us with their presence. Never let it be said that multi-nationals take advantage of low-wage economies.

Apparently Nike are spot on with their interpretation of the Presence-based theory and their questionable approach to labor. According to Robert Rosenberg, Insight Research!

Presence-based services are all about saving time and effort, so both consumers and businesses see value in these applications...

See, no mention of benefits for labor!

PTT

The list of presence-services is vast, and adoption is gaining plenty of momentum, especially since the dinosaur execs in telecommunications realised that their teen daughters' preferred mode of communication is applicable to businessmen too.

Push to talk (PTT) is another such presence-based such service taking off. Bottom line, with everyone so busy nowadays, you are either pushed for time to talk, or you need to be pushed to talk. Corporations are chomping at the bit to provide PTT in a business like, price-gouging manner. (A slice of $23bn / €400,000 is certainly something to get excited about if you are a multi-national corporate CEO looking for ways to fund your annual bonuses without pissing off shareholders.)

JIC U R ROFL @ POS lack of knowledge of abbreviations for IM, here is a quick guide to the level of grammatical correctness we can look forward to in the future.

Ed asks that anyone familiar with PTT to please explain how great it is.

If you ever want to spend a few minutes browsing through a tech-based comic with a bit of class, check out Ctrl-alt-del. According to Wikipedia (ie Tim Buckley, the author of the comic?) it has a gamer-based story-line which, like all good entities, has evolved over time. No longer reliant on one hit gags with a couple of characters, readers are now treated to longer story lines with a cast as well.

It isn't rocket science story-telling, but the strips I read appeal to my sense of humor, even though I have no interest in gaming! Call me an old fart, but I don't understand the gamer culture of staying up all night and eating chips and talking monosyllabically to co-gamers with my eyes glued to a screen. I already have a TV and family in place for that pleasure..

Although I say that I am not interested in gaming, my ears prick up when I hear the name EA and Nintendo bandied around by stock-pickers in pin-stripe suits. Their fascination for golf games has spilled over into the huge market potential for all things video game! Anyway, judging by the curves on the charts, the brokers and Ctrl-alt-del authors have their fingers on a strong and popular pulse.



I never heard Ctrl-alt-del referred to as 3-finger salute before, but I salute this comic, and if Nintendo shares continue to do well, some smart cookies will earn enough to buy a Wii, which in my opinion is the best hi-tech doorstop on the market .

I would love to review Zwinky first hand, but this mother of all avatar makers is so universal it doesn't work with Macs. Despite my desire to join the party and dress myself as stylishly as the Mom reviewer to your left, it just isn't going to happen, at least not till I buy a new computer.

Therefore, all I can offer by way of a review are a few links to my own Zwinky tool bar discoveries, which comprise sad second-hand insights, plus first-hand in-depth knowledge of the homepage only.

If anyone could hack Zwinky for Mac, let me know and I will be all over it like an illegal rash and review it indepth.

And for those naturists who Google Naked Zwinky, I wish I could help you in your quest for knowledge, but I can't.

Zwinky on, dudes.

It is best to do as you are damn well told by this tech support guy.

At least the client spoke to a tech with spirit and life in him. Can't say the same for the average Joe, I mean Brad, on the end of Indian Dell phone support.



What surprised me most about the featured complaint was that it ocurred in 2004. I don't recall outsourcing being a contentious issue back then. Times and jobs must be a-changing. Ironically, as more "Americans" of mexican origin work in the fields, so more Indians leave the land and go work in service centers in the city. A sign of the future world order perhaps?

Menwhile, Brad from Delhi, pull your finger out and be thankful that you have some support of your own out there. Was this article sponsored by Dell?

I did a post recently, explaining why we created a mobile theme for The Pisstakers blog, and why we made it work with the Opera mini browser.

Bottom line: now the iPhone is out, there will be ever more demand to access sites from your cell phoner. Until the iPhone takes off, standard cell phones without full-blown browsers onboard will continue to be the norm, so webmasters have to make the effort to get their site themes mobile-ready. Opera are readier than most with a working solution to get a website onto a small phone screen.

Below are a couple of pieces of info to give you a chance of accessing The Pisstakers from your crappy non-iPhone phone.

To link to The Pisstakers from a cell phone, go to wam.tw and input 1010 (1010 is a bookmark for the Pisstakers!)

Create similar bookmarks from your cell to all your fave sites too.

To create a bookmark from your mobile theme to the Pisstakers, input the following HTML into your theme code for a quick link to The Pisstakers.

<p><anchor> <go href="http://wam.tw/addlink.jsp?lnum=1010" /> <img src="http://wam.tw/wam.wbmp" alt="wam" /> </anchor> </p></textarea></form><br /><br /><h2>Opera v Safari</h2><br />Opera offer the best solution for viewing a blog on a tiny screen, I think. Opera Mini is a hobbled version of a full browser, but does scale a page down brilliantly, so you can easily access all the relevant info within the confines of your screen. This mobile friendly browser is especially impressive when a site has a custom mobile style sheet - like The Pisstakers!. <br /><br />Opera is geared up to making the best of a bad job - who seriously wants to surf the internet on the average cell phone? Apple have taken a totally different approach and decided that a phone could be a great tool for surfing the internet, if it were designed right. Rather than reinvent the web with a need for special mobile browsers, Apple invented a phone format that can recognise and display full-on web pages in Safari - without making users go blind or crazy. <br /><br /><img class="imageStyle" alt="safari-on-windows" src="page53_blog_entry290_2.jpg" width="375" height="77"/><br /><br />It sounds spectacular when you say you have the front page of the Times on your iPhone, but let's get real. It gets even more spectacular when you zoom in with a flick of the fingers and you can actually read the Times on your phone. <br /><br />(Detractors say you can only surf Safari on the iPhone if you have sufficient bandwidth to even download a page, and enough juice before your battery runs out. That is not really a fault of the iPhone, more a criticism of the infrastructure in the US.) <br /><br /><h2>In conconclusion</h2><br />I am sure Apple will continue to wipe the cell phone industry floor with ease of use, but for now, I think they have moved mobile website design backwards, or at least caused some confusion. <br /><br />Until the iPhone arrived, web site designers were beginning to try and scale down and modify sites specifically for use on a mobile phone screen. Now they may be wondering if it is worth it, as Apple are likely to induce changes in attitude towards browsing at all the big cell phone manufacturers. <br /><br />We shall see where it leads, but Apple will tease and taunt and lead the way for full browser-enabled phones, while Opera continue to dominate as the <em>mini browser kiddies</em> in a massive but ever shrinking genre of cell phone. <br /><br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_290_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_290_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_290=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_290_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-289" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="No-button-Apple.html" class="blog-permalink">No button Apple</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">25 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-apple.html">Apple</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body"><a href="http://www.audiomidi.com/Mighty-Mouse-P6931.aspx?CPID=392&AFID=3" rel="self" title="mighty mouse"><img class="imageStyle" alt="applemouse" src="page53_blog_entry289_1.jpg" width="375" height="277"/></a><br /><br />The traditional Apple mouse has no buttons, as such. It is one hairless piece of plastic, designed to cause minimal confusion to people who wouldn't know what to do with a right click if it bit them on the nose. Apple's laptops have one button too. The iPhone has no button. Different approach to the rest, don't you think!.<br /><br /><h2>Multi button mouse v single button mouse</h2><br /><strong>Modern mice can have up to 11 buttons</strong> and are as programmable as the computer they are attached to. All very snazzy, but most non-gaming, non-geeky users stick to the one left-click button. Maybe people go crazy with the occasional exploratory right click, but by and large, an array of click options usually proves a waste of time for most, and cobwebs soon appear on most mice buttons.<br /><br /><strong>The Apple mouse</strong> lies at the other extreme of button land. There is no doubt that the first ever mouse to go on sale to the general public is so simple, anyone could use it. To left click you - click - but if you want to do a right click to discover hidden options, this one-trick pony requires a bit of co-ordination. <br /><br /><u>Right click 101:</u> Press CTRL and click the mouse at the same time.<br /><br />In this respect, Apple's claim for simplicity is a little disingenuous as I can hear my father's head grinding to a halt over such simple instructions, his left hand crossing his right, right brain short-circuiting the left brain..<br /><br /><strong>The mighty mouse</strong> in the above image is an example of Apple moving with the times, transcending simplicity and complication. This super mouse is a plastic clicker on steroids. It looks like one button, but it isn't. It is supposedly the most intuitive 2-button mouse ever invented. Reality check. Many users say that it is so slick you have to be very highly tuned into the tool before it becomes intuitive. <br /><br /><h2>Multi-button laptop v single button laptop</h2><br />Moving on from mice, it is time to tackle buttons on a laptop. One or two buttons? Who knows which is the better approach to clicking! As a Mac user, I have a trackpad, and as per the Apple mindset, it has a single button to click. I didn't know any better when I bought it, and to my open mind, it was very easy to get the hang of it. But 2 buttons on a laptop is the norm in the real world, and I have seen steam come out the ears of PC users trying an Apple laptop for the first time. <br /><br />I guess Apple and Dell both justify their choice of one- and 2-button laptops, but I think Apple only get away with their "simplicity" mantra because of their committed users. Let's face it, if you just laid out a couple of thousand on a computer and you are prepared to learn a new way of working, it would be pretty lame to refuse to get the hang of a single button, however much it gets on your nerves. <br /><br /><h2>No buttons</h2><br />In order to add functionality but keep with simplicity, my older laptop has software called <a href="http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/index.html#intro" rel="self" title="sidetrack turns a track pad into a multi button mouse">Sidetrack</a> installed. If I want to right click I just tap the trackpad. I also have vertical AND horizontal scrolling if I stroke the edges of the trackpad. This addition is most definitely slick news for a laptop with one button only, and hey, no scroll wheel. <br /><br />Building on the Sidetrack experience, newer Apple laptops have a touch-sensitive scrolling area built into the right side of the trackpad, standard issue. Most cool. Either way, less is way more cool than 11 buttons, a scroll wheel and flashing lights.<br /><br /><strong>Gestures don't need buttons. </strong>They<strong> </strong>have been a hidden secret since the 1970's. Forget time-wasting clicking on menu items, <a href="http://www.cocoasuite.com/Manual/index.html#WhatareGestures" rel="self" title="Gestures are time saving movements">Gestures</a> give laptop users fingertip control of their computer and PC users can efficiently use their mouse in earnest. Instead of swinging your mouse all over the desk to point and click on Edit Copy, you trace a C shape with the mouse (or with your fingertip on the trackpad.) Voila, you can Copy! Trace a V shape and you can paste. <br /><br /><div class="gray-box">Here is an interesting method to avoid RSI ie Assign the C shape for the oft-used Copy function, then unwind your wrist by assigning the reverse C shape to another regularly used menu short cut. Likewise, to reduce the stinging effect on your tendons of V for Paste, just make an upside down V to equate to something else you use regularly. Reboot, maybe?</div> <br /><br />Hunched over your trackpad, you can gently stroke and gesture your way through the day. But so far, this highly intuitive approach has been limited to the uber nerdy.<br /><br /><strong>iPhone has no buttons at all</strong> on the face of the phone and in essence brings gestures to the main stream. Pinch and stroke and scroll is very efficient and also, sounds most sensuous. (Maybe that is where they get the idea of Apple being synonymous with <em>sexy</em>.) <br /><br />It works a treat, but it will take a long time, though, before skeptics stop moaning about the iPhone's lack of tactile keys to type with. Not wishing to judge, but I bet a dollar to a damn dime, the very same people wouldn't stop moaning if there were tactile keys. <em>Oooh, look, those keys keep getting in the way of the photos and videos</em>. <br /><br /><h2>Conconclusion</h2><br />Apple have their way of thinking, the rest have theirs. <br /><br />In the iTelephone world, buttons are on their way out and touch-sensitive screens are on the way in. Shortly the minimalist touchy feely style of gadget will be the norm. Just get with the program<br /><br />In computers, I reckon users will give the finger to gestures and manufacturers will have to go straight to voice activation as the main interface with your computer. Gird yourselves for the new conversation in buttonless offices world-wide.<br /><br /><em> Copy...</em><span style="font-size:14px; "><em>copy</em></span><em>...</em><span style="font-size:17px; "><em>copy, </em></span><em>you deaf bastard.</em><br /><br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_289_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_289_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_289=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_289_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-288" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Amazon-retailer-and-tech-company.html" class="blog-permalink">Amazon a retailer and tech company</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">24 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-internet.html">Internet</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body"><div class="image-left"><img class="imageStyle" alt="t" src="page53_blog_entry288_1.png" width="192" height="96"/></div> With minutes to go before the release of Amazon's last quarter earnings, the question is, <em>Will the biggest store on earth continue its rise and rise, or will a bad day on Wall St short circuit the company's progress?</em> For the record, I believe my (AMZN) stocks, all 50 of them, will rise back to $75 - by next week! And please, take no notice of my prediction.<br /><br /><h2>(AMZN) up the creek without a paddle?</h2><br />When Jeff Bezos produced his first ever earnings report, the Earth must have seemed a big place with annual earnings lower than a slow week at B&N. While Barnes and Noble were polishing the mortar between their bricks, laughing their smug heads off at Amazon, I can remember someone else beaming at Amazon.<br /><br />My father, a bookworm, was getting all excited when he ordered his first on-line book. Even he could see that Amazon's retailing strategy was the future and how cool that any old person could get their shopping delivered to their door within 24 hours. Hundreds of millions of people in 2007 have the same opinion now as Jeff Bezos (and my father!) had back in the old days of red ink and hemorrhaged accounts.<br /><br /><br /><h2>AMZN tech stock</h2><br />The golden rule of owning a stock is "<em>Understand your company</em>." Bottom line, it took me a lot of reading before I grasped the popular concept that Amazon were not a tech stock. Just like any retail outlet in a mall, Amazon sell things - the only difference being, they live on the internet and don't make you wait in line while underpaid workers swap boyfriend/ girlfriend stories. <br /><br />However, what most people didn't quite understand back in the day, was that Amazon were a latent tech stock too. <br /><br /><h2>Amazon Web Services</h2><br />You don't build a store like Amazon using Quicken books and Microsoft Access database. The brains behind AMZN were techno heads of the highest order, and until 2002, their awesome knowledge and innovation was kept close to their chest and prioritised for in-house development. A softly softly tactic cost Amazon lots of money, which perpetuated the myth that Amazon would never be profitable.<br /><br />Some people wondered what catapaulted the company stocks up 60% in the last few months. The popular reason is the free shipping for Prime members. I don't know that is the full story. <br /><br />Do you remember the image of Mr Invincible trying to get through that tube? Same here with Amazon. There was so much momentum from technology and innovation, and the bottom line is that the 5-year investment in projects like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_S3" rel="self" title="what is S3">S3 online storage services</a>, and other trojan technical horses has exploded Amazon into a bearer of high prices for shareholders. <br /><br /><h2>TicTap and Amazon and co</h2><br />For a couple of years I have been receiving emails from the hallowed Amazon S3 developers inviting me to potter around their on-line storage ideas and try out alpha shopping carts. I was happy to oblige. It is fun trying to break whacky things. As I played, 300,000 very clever techies were tapping deep into Amazon's database, looking under leaves, and writing truly extraordinary programs geared to making more sense of Amazon's rambling global store.<br /><br />This is what was going on 2005 when AMZN were wallowing.<br /><div class="gray-box"><br />* Amazon Mechanical Turk Promotion: Build Now, Earn $1,000<br />* Announcing Alexa Web Search Platform (Beta)<br />* Success Story: AdBrite<br />* Success Story: Action Engine<br />* Amazon E-Commerce Service in the WSJ 2005 Readers' Choice Awards<br />* Free Online Training Series for Amazon <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Mechanical_Turk" rel="self" title="mechanical turk">Mechanical Turk</a> Requesters - <br />Thursday, December 15 <br />* Events Calendar: Upcoming Chat Topics and Events</div><br /><br />I love it when people think ahead!<br /><br /><h2>Impact of S3 etc</h2><br />I use <a href="http://thepisstakers.com/weekly/webtech3oct06_files/todays-keyword-for-tictap-and-amazon.html" rel="self" title="keywords tapped into Amazon">TicTap</a> as a simple way to pick books from niche topics, so imagine the benefits to Amazon if hundreds of thousands of people install that program across the internet. Then multiply out the number of TicTap type applications that do an equal or even better job, and install them on mega sites frequented by millions of people with itchy wallet fingers. Hold back on investment in technology, and the gap between income and outgoings widens, and Jeff Bezos and my father smile again with a hint of "<em>I told you so</em>" <br /><br /><h2>AMZN up 11.6%</h2><br />Sorry folks, my Wall Street stock price prediction ability is dodgy to put it mildly. I said before I knew the results that (AMZN) would hit $75 by next week. Wrong! The stock was faster out the gate than any UPS delivery driver on his last drop of the day.<br /><br /><img class="imageStyle" alt="amazon-stock-price" src="page53_blog_entry288_2.gif" width="375" height="47"/><br /><br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_288_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_288_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_288=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_288_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-287" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Blingo paid-to-search.html" class="blog-permalink">Blingo paid-to-search</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">22 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-browser.html">Browser</a></span><span class="blog-entry-category"> |<a href="category-web-search.html">Web search</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body"><a href="http://www.blingo.com/" rel="self" title="search like usual and perhaps win a prize"><img class="imageStyle" alt="blingo-banner" src="page53_blog_entry287_1.jpg" width="375" height="59"/></a><br /><br />A while back I did a piece on Blingo, <a href="http://thepisstakers.com/search/searchexpo_files/blingo-paid-to-search.html" rel="self" title="win prizes for searching Google">the paid-to-search</a> search engine. The latest info I can share with you is that, so far this month, I have had one reader referred from Blingo, which means [sarcasm ][i] <em>all the research I did for that article was worth it</em> [/i] [/sarcasm].<br /><br />As an eternal optimist, I think however that this glimmer of hope can only mean one thing - I am going to win one of the Blingo prizes one of these fine days. I am not a greedy person, so I am bracing myself for a couple of entry level fandango movie tickets. And with my luck, the choice of films that week will be so dire, I won't even use them.<br /><br />To be honest I am scared of winning a major prize, because that would infer change. No word of a depressed lie, I am happy living in one room counting down time. Free yachts and luxury watches and a flotilla of dolly birds would just make life too complicated and fun. So, on current performance, I feel I am safe from any meaningful life-style disruption with Blingo as my preferred source of free prizes.<br /><br />Blingo aren't the only guys luring you to search Google via a sexy prize-riddled front page. In the side bar to your right you will see several mammoths of the search world vying for attention in a looping display box. Check them out, make them your browser homepage. That is the end of this little hint to make search more edgy!<br /><br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_287_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_287_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_287=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_287_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-286" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Help-forum.html" class="blog-permalink">Help forum blues</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">20 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-apple.html">Apple</a></span><span class="blog-entry-category"> |<a href="category-websites.html">Websites</a></span><span class="blog-entry-category"> |<a href="category-computers.html">Computers</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body">Back in November I mentioned a few <a href="../webtech3oct06_files/prolific-forum-contributors.html" rel="self" title="Web tech stuff:Prolific forum contributors">prolific forum contributors</a>. Time marches on and the stats still prove that there are some really committed and knowledgeable folks out there, like below, on the Apple forum.<br /><br /><p style="text-align:center;"><img class="imageStyle" alt="apple-forum-contributors" src="page53_blog_entry286_1.jpg" width="189" height="213"/> <img class="imageStyle" alt="apple-forum" src="page53_blog_entry286_2.gif" width="171" height="190"/><br /></p><p style="text-align:left;"><br />The prolific forum contributors rarely fail to help the real desperadoes whose bombproof Mac is dying, or more likely, crippled by hundreds of useless programs. ( The Windows switchers tend to download willy nilly once they realise they cant get a virus!)<br /><br />The forum generates competition between helpers, and the good ones clock up lots of bonus points for <em>Solved </em>questions - as you can see above, the more they help, the more points they get... this is great for their kudos, and great when us saddoes are on our knees praying for assistance.<br /><br /><h2>I know enough to be dangerous</h2><br />At the time of writing the last article, the Apple forum was a playground for me, and I was happy to help the poor saps struggling with silly little niggles. 90% of computer issues are solved with tiny adjustments and as I am from the school where you learn by making every small mistake in the book, I had my uses dishing out glorified placebos.<br /><br />After one episode, though, I accepted I am more artist than technician and would never progress much beyond enthusiast. Basically I had pointed someone in the right direction and to solve the issue he had to launch a utility and go through a few easy-to-follow stages, all prompted by the utility. It seemed obvious to me that if he had never used it before, he would read the warning text. Oops.<br /><br />I was blown away when he wrote back calling me all sorts and for some reason, he must have called his friends and little old Ed was dragged over the coals for failing to point out in big bold letters that if the person I was helping did this one particular move, it would solve the issue but wipe the hard drive! <br /><br />Thereafter I leave it to the big boys to cope with the cringing noobies. <br /><br /><h2>To help or not to help</h2><br />I don't know if it is healthy to spend 4 hours a day as a volunteer on a help forum, especially when it helps out the customers of a company that makes hundreds of millions selling reliable hardware and software, but each to their own. I rate the internet on what it has done for me and overall, it has been a great platform for the helpful out there.<br /><br />So, to end on a helpful note, if you are like me and have copied files from one hard drive to another and need to <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/php/dlpage.php?id=12057&db=mac&pid=19574&kind=&lnk=http%3A%2F%2Fmacchampion.com%2Farbysoft%2Fbatchmod_137.dmg" rel="self" title="change permissions when you import data from another hard drive">change all permissions in a folder</a>, I recommend BatCHmod! Yawn.<br /></p><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_286_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_286_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_286=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_286_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-202" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Whats-in-a-name-for-software.html" class="blog-permalink">What's in a name for software?</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">19 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-software.html">Software</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body">I recently studied the rescued contents of my Applications folder, and I was reminded of the importance of naming software with care. Some titles are self evident, most require some inside info before you knoiw what the hell they do.<em><br /><br /></em><strong><em>Say what you do, do what you say</em></strong>... This cliché contains sound advice when it comes to naming a product, especially at purchase time. For some reason, geeky developers often forget that the people they want to encourage to buy the software have not been living and breathing the product for months. Therefore the customer needs help differentiating one amongst thousands of other titles vying for their attention. <br /><br /><div class="image-left"><img class="imageStyle" alt="word-goes-ghetto-thumb" src="page53_blog_entry202_1.jpg" width="75" height="41"/></div> If you hear that Microsoft have a new version of <strong>Word</strong>, only a dummy would ask, <em>What does Word do?</em> <br /><br />Has it always been so clear cut? If I had had my way, the original release, <em>Word</em> would have been called <em>Worried</em> - the result of a great word processor running on an OS called Windows, a combination which is either very good or very bad depending on the weather. Now, after so much money spent on marketing, it is safe to assure people are not worried by anything other than the price of Word. How bloody much?<br /><br /><div class="image-left"><a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ical/" rel="self" title="a calendar for Macs"><img class="imageStyle" alt="iCal-thumb" src="page53_blog_entry202_2.jpg" width="75" height="41"/></a></div> Even if you know nothing about Macs, <strong>iCal</strong> must be a<a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ical/" rel="self" title="iCal for Mac OS X"> calendar</a>? Yay! <strong>Address book</strong> is an address book. Entourage? Ah, that is Microsoft, and yes, it isn't too obvious what Entourage does just from the name - but throw in a few more million in marketing and branding and it becomes crystal clear! <br /><br /><em>F</em>or several reasons, it makes sense to have descriptive software titles from the offset, but why do most software titles seem to fall through the hole of naming logic? <br /><br /><h2>Dodgy Mac software titles</h2><br /><strong>Pando</strong> - Now let me think, that is a?... <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/30170 " rel="self" title="Pando">file-sending application</a>! Psychics may have guessed that Pando shoots files all over the internet, but the rest of us non-cosmic folk would surely never associate the name with its function in a million years of guessing.<br /><br /><strong>Chirp</strong> - now that could be a name for a chat app, right? Wrong. Bird song analyser? Not even close. Try, software to handle <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/26820" rel="self" title="chirp">Group task & project management & communications</a> Claro!<br /><br /><strong>Floola</strong> - <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31107" rel="self" title="floola">iPod manager</a> Of course, how silly of me not to know that Floola is indispensable for organising your music and videos on your iPod. (I bet it doesn't stop you getting zapped by lightening or run over on a crossing.) Floola isn't the first word I expected to see in the web search result, but it is up there! Another bit of proof that marketing can sell anything.<br /><br /><strong>Dress assistant</strong> - At last, a term that is close to what I expect. This one actually says what it does on the tin. But on reflection, why would I need a <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31804 " rel="self" title="personal dress assistant">personal dress assistant</a>?<br /><br />Thanks to Versiontracker for the inspiration on intuitive applications with obtuse names. Got any good examples of puzzling names?<br /><br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_202_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_202_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_202=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_202_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-285" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="When-hard-drives-fail-who-impresses.html" class="blog-permalink">When hard drives fail who impresses?</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">19 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-computers.html">Computers</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body"><img class="imageStyle" alt="google-mini" src="page53_blog_entry285_1.jpg" width="375" height="101"/><br /><br />Breaking news today, Ed's indestructible laptop has been repaired and no longer fails to ignore any and every hard drive attached to it. Am I impressed with the help out there? Reactions were varied on my travels to a solution.<br /><br /><strong>Apple </strong>Can't say too much as I didn't dare call them, being out of warranty and all! <br /><br /><strong>Geniuses on the Apple forum</strong> say it is just one of those things. "<em>Dude, like what do you expect with a 4 and a half year old computer that never broke down before?</em>" They had no answer to the dilemma of having a back-up that I couldn't access it. They blamed my back-up copies. My bad for making a cheap clone.<br /><br /><strong>Geniuses at Carbon Copy Cloner</strong> proved beyond all doubt that their clone was perfect and my computer was inexplicably shafted in every respect. Kudos <a href="http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html" rel="self" title="clone every single block and 0 on your hard drive">CCC</a>.<br /><br /><strong>Apple geniuses with no affiliation to the company</strong> say that a hard drive failure is certainly one of those things to expect when your favorite company uses a $30 Made in Hong Kong hard drive in a $2000 machine.<br /><br /><strong>A Microsoft spokesman</strong> magnanimously says, "<em>If all you namby pamby Apple fanbois adopted the approach of the finest brains at Redmond, you would photocopy everything and keep your data in a neat pile securely taped together with hope and chewing gum."</em><br /><br /><strong>Data Rescue</strong> proved beyond all doubt that they are the guys to call, if you ever need to retrieve all your files from a hard drive that appears to be as dead as a dodo. <a href="http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue_pc.php" rel="self" title="save your data">$100 for a sexy data recovery bootable disk</a>. Thank you, thank you.<br /><br /><strong>Mrs Ed, Dell floozy and technophobe says</strong>, "<em>If things come in threes, we are in deep do-do, because your hard drive failed 10 days ago, my hard drive failed 2 days ago, what's next?</em>" <br /><br /><strong>Ed says</strong>, as optimistically cynical as ever. "<em>Steve Jobs is god and will look over me in my moment of need and give me the strength to bail myself out.<br /><br /></em>In view of the outcome of her girlie, please help me Mr Nice tech man phone call, what I should have said was,<em> "Your god, Mr Dell, will look over his shoulder at you and glibly send you a new hard drive, motherboard or screen, or whatever it is you need. And he is such a loser you will get it for free, overnight, even though your laptop is 2 years out of warranty.</em>"<br /><br /><h2>New hard drive: excellent upgrade for a laptop.</h2><br /><div class="image-left"><img class="imageStyle" alt="seast72001" src="page53_blog_entry285_2.jpg" width="251" height="218"/></div> Whatever the injustices or faults with a dead hard drive, let's just say that a brand spanky new replacement is a great (and cheap) and easy DIY way to breathe life into a laptop. <br /><br />In the technically wondrous scheme of things, I think hard drives are more impressive than any giga hertzoid processor or RAM. Up to 160GB of storage crammed into a tiny 2.5inch case that can withstand 900 g's. Just wow and not even a fat pisstaker could crush that sucker. In line with my prowess in the bedroom, I went for smaller but faster with a new <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST980825A/" rel="self" title="Seagate laptop drive is fast and quiet">Seagate 80GB hard drive spinning at an insane 7200RPM</a>. <br /><br />Installation was simple, (and believe me I am king klutz with the fiddly things in life) and now my Powerbook runs both quieter, cooler and did I say INSANELY much faster than the $30 excuse for a hard drive originally installed. And it carries a 5 year warranty, which isn't too shabby compared to the sad support offered by Apple, a $60bn fruit company renowned for quality and attention to detail. <br /><br /><h2>What is next?</h2><br />On with the show, I guess. And when I can think of a way to explain how to back-up all files in triplicate both on land and on the internet, I will do so with gusto and aplomb and plenty of speeeeeeed.<br /><br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_285_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_285_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_285=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_285_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-284" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Is-StumbleUpon-cool.html" class="blog-permalink">Is StumbleUpon cool?</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">19 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-internet.html">Internet</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body"><div class="image-left"><img class="imageStyle" alt="stumbleupon" src="page53_blog_entry284_1.jpg" width="200" height="53"/></div> I finally worked out how to use Stumble upon properly via the <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138" rel="self" title="firefox add on for Stumble upon">Firefox extension</a>. StumbleUpon is cool, but not.<br /><br />I say "Worked out how to use SU" but that is probably putting it a bit strong. Sometimes concepts are too simple to understand first time round, but after an enlightening discovery - hitting the Stumble icon repeatedly and getting results -, Ed is no more the kid outside looking in, bemused, as everyone else has fun. I finally joined the 2.6 million strong hordes who find clicking on "Stumble" to be quite the experience. I also saw the downsides too and begin to get a better idea of what some sharp observers hate about Web 2.0 entities.<br /><br /><h2>How to Stumble</h2><br />To recap, there is nothing to it, really. Clicking the Stumble icon in your toolbar repeatedly, is like clicking the "Next Blog" button in Blogger blogs. A new blog loads with each click, but the blogs are targeted to your prefences. And to make it a doubly constructive surf through 70 million sites, you are given a thumbs up or thumbs down option to express your opinion of the blogs you have been given to browse. <br /><br /><h2>Behind StumbleUpon</h2><br />As you could tell from the pictures, the 3 button front end isn't rocket science, but I suspect that the algorithms are pretty cute, seeing that the majority of sites you are presented with really do match your interests.<br /><br /><h2>Getting Stumbled</h2><br />As for how your blog gets Stumbled - yikes - every time you give a page the thumbs up, it adds some kudos to the article or feature. This glorified vote flies a post higher up the hierarchy of categorised selections offered to the Stumbling masses. Like a virus, the more visitors give a post the thumbs up, the more likely others are shown it and before you know it, the servers are down on the site hosting the Stumbled post! That is all there is to it. <br /><br />However, there is no point rehashing here what millions already know. StumbleUpon is cool but it also raised some issues in my head, like big red flags.<br /><br /><h2>Easy access to information is good</h2><br />In theory if a post is well enough written, that should provoke further investigation inside a site. We all like more of the same when our taste buds are salivating, so with the huge array of targeted blogs in their database StumbleUpon have plenty of material for surfers to feast on, delve into and use to improve their minds or laugh or groan at. So SU is good, intrinsically. Maybe!<br /><br />Theory says that the whole internet in fact is a mine of information to improve man's understanding. Educators rave about the power of internet, the repository of all knowledge. <br /><br />Well, they used to rave, but now the wise ones rant about how <em>Google search copy and paste</em> has ruined students' ability to write essays of their own. And instead of satisfying an innate curiosity and researching the answers to life when they get home from school, students IM and MySpace their lives away. SU is another example, in my opinion of a good idea that has too many disadvantages to deem it a raving success.<br /><br /><h2>Stumble Upon can breed contempt for content</h2><br />I think, like most tools and luxuries, familiarity breeds contempt, free is too easy, etc etc. The StumbleUpon ease-of-use opens the mind and reveals different ways of thinking, but then it will reach a point where it gets misused and abused and eventually becomes mindless. <br /><br />Right now, I think the most conscientious Stumblers scan what they have been given by SU, maybe read that post a little closer, and if it grabs them, hit the thumbs up button - next!<br /><br />Others maybe maybe take a 30 second cursory trip through the rest of a site, and even less frequently bookmark the page (guaranteeing a one in a thousand chance of one in three visitors ever returning). <br /><br />In time, it will be a blog race. Scan, tut, (this whole site is crap) Next. Like a blog blur, users will be unleashing StumbleUpon algorithms to do the hard surfing work for them ie hit the Stumble button to once again scan, tut and next your way to glazed eyedom. <br /><br /><h2>Web 2.0 Downside of Stumble Upon</h2><br />Looking at it bleakly and without a plan to harness the phenomenon, ultimately Stumble Upon would appear as just one more Web 2.0 consumerist throwaway tool, a cool version of a scraper site for the benefit of people who don't blog, who don't create content. <br /><br />As far as Stumble Upon are concerned, I am not an 800 article blog possibly loaded with ads to generate some revenue to pay for the blog, I am a random single page that is consumed by people with no loyalty to me whatsoever. The visitors read and go, I am left idling in the wake of Stumblers who whizzed through like locusts, taking and not leaving a thing behind, except a spike, temporary bragging rights and a warm server. <br /><br />SU, this slick guided search for preferred blog types should be a chance for bloggers to impress and attract a new lifelong reader. Unfortunately, if you just blog without realising this particular audience's needs and attitudes, meaningful traffic is a forlorn hope! And worse, you are supplying consumers of SU for SU's benefit, not your own.<br /><br /><h2>The need to harness Stumble Upon</h2><br />You could say that bloggers only have a few seconds to make an impact, so deal with it. There are differences however between the attention spans and analytical skills of those ambling through a museum and those running full pelt through an amusement park. SU was like a quick junky fix, perfect for further stimulating over-stimulated minds into oblivion. At least that was my experience, judging by the long history of really cool but forgotten 30 second sites I am looking at now in bewilderment. I Stumbled Upon that many sites and I am supposed to do it again tomorrow too??!!<br /><br /><h2>How to harness Stumble upon?</h2><br />Fortunately, a tool is a tool for good and evil depending on the hands it is in. Just be glad sometimes we can look to the <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/12/27/how-to-build-a-digg-culture-on-your-blog/" rel="self" title="problogger tips onharnessing digg, may work for SU too">probloggers for guidance on building web traffic</a>, so substitute SU for Digg and you may be on to something.<br /><br />And if you want to get noticed, make money and / or advertise, check out <a href="http://subvertandprofit.com/content/faq" rel="self" title="get stumbled, stumble, earn money...">Profit and Subvert.</a> Very interesting way not to stay a victim of Stumblers!<br /><br />And of you don't want to be a mad glazed eyed blog rat, take your time and look beyond the first thing on a site to flash before you. Sometimes less is more!<br /><br /><h2>Ed's effort to make his Stumble somewhat meaningful</h2><br /><a href="http://www.miniajax.com/" rel="self" title="dhtml and ajax code"><img class="imageStyle" alt="miniajax" src="page53_blog_entry284_2.gif" width="375" height="60"/></a><br /><br />My favorite discovery was / is this <a href="http://www.miniajax.com/" rel="self" title="juicy scripts">Mini Ajax script directory</a>. Wow, my juices are flowing after looking closely at a few of these. Webmasters should browse and look under leaves (ie don't stumble around mindlessly) and you will see what I mean. <br /><br />As usual, the goody bag provokes all sorts of dreamy thoughts centered on how you can incorporate the scripts into your blog in a way that adds to the user experience without adding to the clutter. Time to try and streamline social bookmarking buttons per chance?<br /><br /><h2>Make StumbleUpon precious</h2><br />I suspect Stumbling has already evolved into a mindless flick and charge (read surfing) around the internet for many. It is how people consume these days, but it doesn't make it right. I think Stumbling could be more precious if it were limited! MyBlogLog users have been limited to 15 visits to try and curb this glazed need to visit and say two words to people you will never speak to again. <br /><br />Rather than do the equivalent of counting stars and saying you own the ones you counted, Stumble could be a gem of a blog discovery session that you appreciate and look forward to. How cool to be cut off from surfing for your own good, knowing you can return 24 hours later for another hit!<br /><br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_284_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_284_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_284=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_284_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-283" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Greasy-touch-screen-syndrome.html" class="blog-permalink">Greasy touch screen syndrome</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">05 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-phones.html">Phones</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body">Acccording to the experts in touch screen technology, tools like the iPhone and LG's equivalent are heralding the advent of a new wave in technology. All well and good to pinch and poke a screen to get to where you want to go in a complex menu system, but the side effect will be greasy dispays like never before seen - or more likely not seen before.<br /><br /><h2>Early adopting screen greasers</h2><br />Techies and high-flying execs don't have time to eat with knives and forks, so the early adopters get to demo their shiny new phones to friends with Starbucks muffin greasemarks center stage. Slightly embarrassed by the smears, users will offset the downside saying that there are so many more benefits - like suppleness exercises for necks and wrists as they try to find the best angle to reduce screen glare from grease.<br /><br /><h2>Wave two screen glare</h2><br />As the devices become more popular, the prices will drop and addicts of lesser fast food outlets, like MacDonalds and Dennys will be able to leave their own high cholestrol mark everywhere they dial.<br /><br /><h2>iPhone accessories</h2><br />And when the touchscreen fad is in totally full swing, the accessories will flow thick and fast. <br /><br /><strong>The iPhone degreasing towel</strong> will be all the rage. A special clip will be added to house the screen cleaner. <br /><br />Then, minds as big as skyscrapers will devise <strong>inbuilt shield wash and wiper versions</strong> for deluxe fast food iPhone users. <br /><br />And the ultimate, inspired by Formula One, will be the <strong>multi screen peel version</strong>. <br /><br />Don't you just love how man finds a niche in every niche. Never fear, the world economy, and tech in particular, will always have the next big thing - even if is a bit gross.<br /><div class="blog-entry-comments"><a class="blog-comment-link" href="javascript:HaloScan('rw_unique_entry_id_283_page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCount('rw_unique_entry_id_283_page53');</script></a><font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php" onclick="window.open('http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?wt=nw&pub=edtheeditor&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'addthis', 'scrollbars=yes,menubar=no,width=620,height=520,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,screenX=200,screenY=100,left=200,top=100'); return false;" title="Bookmark using any bookmark manager!" target="_blank"><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-share.gif" width="100" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" /></a> <font color="white">...</font> <a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"></a> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END --> <font color="white">.</font> <!-- AddThis Feed Button BEGIN --> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/feed.php?pub=edtheeditor&h1=http%3A%2F%2Fxfruits.com%2Fpisstaker%2F%3Fid%3D20270&t1=" title="Subscribe using any feed reader!"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/rss-single-icon.jpg" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt="AddThis Feed Button" /></a> <!-- AddThis Feed Button END --><font color="white"> . </font> <a class="blog-trackback-link" href="javascript:HaloScanTB('rw_unique_entry_id_283=page53');"><script type="text/javascript">postCountTB('rw_unique_entry_id_283_page53'); </script></a></div></div></div><div id="unique-entry-id-282" class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Bill-Gates-China-blunder.html" class="blog-permalink">Bill Gates China blunder</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">04 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-computers.html">Computers</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body">I was reading a fabulous book by John Wood, a guy who <a href="http://www.roomtoread.org/media/book.html" rel="self" title="the story of launching a major initiative for education">left Microsoft to save the world</a> at the end of the 90's. He recounts the time he was organising a TV interview between Bill Gates and the top TV journo in China at the time. <br /><br />Determined to swing public opinion back towards Microsoft, and to dispel the idea of MS being a tyrannical capitalist company that gladly sued any violators of licensing agreements, Wood prepared and angled all Gates' answers towards the positives of MS China. For instance, there were only 3 out-and-out research labs in the world, and one was in Beijing. And many of the products they were launching in China were China specific and / or would dissipate throughout the world from China. All music to the Chinese people's ears, about 100 million of them tuned in!<br /><br />Apparently Gates must have had one dose of jetlag too many, because when he was on TV he did exactly what he had been advised to avoid, and he genericised all his answers, making out China to be just another market. As the advisor died a thousand deaths in the background, Gates even missed a PR trick so obvious even I could see it. <br /><br />Apparently Gates was idolised by the Chinese and people paid fortunes to be seen with him or have a photo taken with him. Some little girl had been seen crying because she wouldn't get to see her capitalist idol. Gates simply ignored the whole spiel from the interviewer, instead of offering to give her a special audience. Hello, Mr Gates, who missed PR101?<br /><br />Despite the howlers of protocol and basic business sense, MS have gone from strength to strength there and, sure enough, China, along with India and the US are MS' biggest market. Fortunately, Wood the adviser saw the light and made his move to escape the rat race of global software domination and launched <a href="http://www.roomtoread.org/" rel="self" title="room to read">Room to Read</a> a really worthwhile program, building and equipping Third World schools with bi-lingual libraries. <br /><br />Of course Midas touch Gates has seen the light mega style and now gives away more than any human who ever lived. 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class="blog-entry"><h1 class="blog-entry-title"><a href="Rapidweaver-blogging-tool.html" class="blog-permalink">Rapidweaver, a fun blogging tool</a></h1><div class="blog-entry-date">02 Jul 07 <font color="#333333"><b>Filed in:</b></font><span class="blog-entry-category"><a href="category-software.html">Software</a></span><span class="blog-entry-category"> |<a href="category-blogging.html">Blogging</a></span><span class="blog-entry-category"> |<a href="category-web-design.html">Web design</a></span></div><div class="blog-entry-body">It doesn't get more fun than this.<br /><br /><h2>Edit</h2><img class="imageStyle" alt="rapidweaver-edit-mode" src="page53_blog_entry281_1.jpg" width="375" height="250"/><br /><br /><h2>Preview</h2><br /><img class="imageStyle" alt="rapidweaver-preview" src="page53_blog_entry281_2.jpg" width="375" height="250"/><br /><br /><h2>Published</h2><br /><img class="imageStyle" alt="pisstakers-screenshot1" src="page53_blog_entry281_3.jpg" width="375" 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color:#666" name="phone" onclick="this.value=''" onblur="if (this.value=='') this.value='input your phone no'" value="input your phone no"/><br /><input type="hidden" name="feedid" value="637"/><input type="submit" style="width:120px;" value="Send SMS" /><br /><br /> <a style="color: #ffffff; font-size:13px; font-family:'Arial narrow';">If you run a site, Ed recommends FeedM8 to <br /><a href="http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed" target="fmpopup" onsubmit="window.open('http://www.feedm8.com/web/send/637/thepisstakersmegafeed', 'fmpopup', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true">turn <b>your blog</b> mobile</a> <br /><br /> <a style="color: #ffffff; font-size:13px; font-family:'Arial narrow';">Take a look at a Feedm8 mobile site at work.<br /></a> <div class="center"><a href="http://www.feedm8.com/thepisstakersmegafeed"><img src="http://www.feedm8.com/web/images/rssphone.gif" border="0"><br /></div> <br /> <a style="color: #ffffff; font-size:13px; font-family:'Arial narrow';">See how Opera shrink your fave sites! Surf for free on their simulated phone browser.<br /><br /></a> <a href="http://www.operamini.com/demo/" title="A demo of a browser in action on a standard size web-ready phone"><img src="http://www.thepisstakers.com/imagez/operamini.gif"></a> <br /><br /> </form> <br /><br /> </div> <a href="#pageHeader" title="Back to the top of the page" class="quick-links">Back to the top</a> <div class="clearer"></div> <div id="footer"><!-- Start Footer --> <p><!--Creative Commons License--><a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width: 0" src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png"/></a><br/>All articles licensed under a <br><a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/">Creative Commons License</a>.<!--/Creative Commons License--><!-- <rdf:RDF xmlns="http://web.resource.org/cc/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"> <Work rdf:about=""> <license rdf:resource="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/" /> </Work> <License rdf:about="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/"><permits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Reproduction"/><permits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Distribution"/><requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Notice"/><requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Attribution"/><prohibits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/CommercialUse"/><permits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/DerivativeWorks"/><requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/ShareAlike"/></License></rdf:RDF> --> <br>Other copyrighted content, we claim Fair Use. 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