June 19, 2008 by AC.

I have been a big fan of Meebo for some time, having written about it before in the blog.  I added a neat little widget to the ACE Computer Services site today that allows guests on the site to IM for service/support at any time.  Check it out:

Posted in Internet, Web Design, Software, All Platforms | 1 Comment »

September 5, 2007 by AC.

There are a lot of social networking sites online.  Myspace and Facebook being two of the most popular.  In the last year tons of social sites have popped up online - many with a specific focus or target audience.  I get the concepts of Myspace and Facebook and like using both.  It helps me keep in touch with friends and relatives and is very interactive.  Adding photos, blogs and posting comments to pages is fun.  Reconnecting with old friends is a blast.  Having another means to communicate is useful.

One site I do not understand is Twitter.  This is not to say the site is not appealing to its users - I seem to see more and more people talking about Twitter online.  I am also seeing lots of sites that link to and from Twitter and help you update or send your content to other sites, phones, etc.

But I still don’t get the appeal.  Twitter is a very focused social network site.  Like Myspace and Facebook it is free and you can build up a group of “friends” both people you know and those you meet online.  Where it differs, and it does differ greatly is that users post quick blurbs about what they are doing at any given moment.  I guess the best way to sum it up is that  Twitter is a mini-blog of sorts where you post a quick one or two sentence blurb about something you are doing like washing the dishes or fixing a PC.  Your friends list are “followers” - people who follow your “Tweets” (Twitter entries) and people you follow.  You can also mark favorite entries.

I still don’t get it.  Aside from the voyeuristic thrill of seeing what your friends may be doing at any given moment (great for stalkers too) what exactly makes Twitter so useful and appealing?  I am curious to hear comments from people (pro and con) about their thoughts on Twitter. 

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August 22, 2007 by AC.

Just about every news outlet today was buzzing with information about a digital music collaboration between MTV, RealNetworks and Verizon.  The plan is to make a formidable digital music & media rival to Apple’s iTunes.  Despite the excellent pedigree of all three companies this will be no easy task.  In short the deal calls for MTV to fold its year-old Urge Music Service into RealNetworks Rhapsody Music Service.  Verizon comes into play as the service provider for homes (who use Verizon FIOS, DSL, etc.) and wireless users.  All three companies will promote the venture through their own channels.

iTunes is the market leader in digital music downloads, with an estimated 70 percent market share.  The service remains a la carte - you purchase individual songs and/or albums to listen to on computers and compatible MP3 players (i.e. the Apple iPod).  Rhapsody allows individual purchases but also allows for monthly subscriptions - where you can listen to any of the songs in the Rhapsody catalog during your subscription period.  The difference between the two plans is ownership, with an a la carte purchase being your ownership and a subscription service a lease of music.

On the same day of the MTV-Real-Verizon announcement, Wal-Mart announced it would be selling some of its digital music offerings for $0.94 cents, without DRM (digital rights management) copy-protection, undercutting the cost of iTunes $1.29 (DRM-free version cost).  Copy protected songs are cheaper too a Wal-Mart, cutting a dime or more off iTunes per-song price.

What does this mean to music lovers?  Probably not much.  While I have a healthy respect for MTV-Real-Verizon’s new venture I just do not see anyone stealing the top spot from Apple’s iTunes.  The main factor is all the old DRM music people have.  Looking at my own collection for example - I have been using iTunes since it arrived in a Windows format in late 2003.  During that time I have bought tons of music.  I have also digitized all of my own CD collection.  In both cases the Apple DRM is at play on the files meaning I can enjoy them through iTunes and on my iPods.  I have nearly 14,000 songs.  Do you really think I am going to jump to another provider at this point? 

The Wal-Mart option is more intriguing.  A lower cost alternative to iTunes, that plays on my current devices definitely interests me and should gain attention, if not some market share.  I have not cared much for non-DRM versions of songs from iTunes - I mean I am bought into Apple for music at this point, so spending a couple extra bucks for these copyright-free versions is of no interest to me.  The claims of enhanced quality also don’t grab me.  My songs sound great in the current format, so I always choose the cheaper, DRM version.  But, Wal-Mart offering a DRM-free version of the same song that plays on my iPod?  Now that is something I might buy.

For more information please see:

MTV, RealNetworks to Mount Challenge Against iTunes

Music-Selling Rivals Take Aim at iTunes

Posted in Internet, All Platforms | 1 Comment »

August 22, 2007 by AC.

Lots ‘O Links - a snapshot of the news that I am reading or interested in during a particular day.  Enjoy! 

Fujitsu Laptop with Biodegradable Chassis - Here’s to hoping more manufacturers follow suit.

YouTube videos to have ‘overlay’ ads - No big surprise here but it is disappointing just the same.

In Google Earth, a Service for Scanning the Heavens - OK Google, if ads on YouTube mean cools tools like this, all is forgiven.

Cell-Phone Contract Disputes Heat Up- Check out the comment from “Bubba” - Classic, like the phone companies don’t already make a fortune to need Bubba to justify things.

Bubble Guru, Socialbox & Wishpot Facebook Apps - Following up on my blog yesterday, some more Facebook apps.

Posted in Internet, General | No Comments »

August 21, 2007 by AC.

I have come across several articles today about a Facebook (online Social Network site) & eBay (online Auction site) collaboration, most notably over at GigaOM.  In short you can display your eBay data right on your Facebook profile.  This includes items you have won, items you have for sale and broadcasts blogs, favorites and other eBay content to all your friends in Facebook.

It is a simple collaboration across two very popular websites.  It is also one heck of a teaming of a social site with an eCommerce site.  Having yet another avenue to advertise items for sale and the possibility of using friends lists and social network sites to do so is a can’t miss prospect.  I am sure it won’t be long before social network biggie MySpace follows suit with some similar collaboration.

 I have dabbled with Facebook but never much cared for its interface.  I did jump right in and try out this new feature after reading the news.  The setup is easy.  Try this link to get started if you have both a Facebook & eBay profile.  After moving through a few screens and agreeing to terms and conditions the content pops right up on your profile.  It was a little jarring to see the last seven items I won there for all my friends to review.  Thankfully there is a feature to toggle who can see your content.  If I was a heavy eBay seller I would love the feature of broadcasting my items for sale - who doesn’t like additional, and free avenues for promotion.

For those of you who do sell, and who do maintain social network profiles this is for you.  It will be interesting to see what other apps come from this teamup - what other companies can develop plugins to jump into these social sites that people spend so much time visiting.

Posted in Internet, All Platforms, General | 1 Comment »

August 20, 2007 by AC.

Since I am currently enjoying free usage from Wufoo.comI thought it only fair to write a about the service they provide.  Actually I would probably write about it even if I did not have an immediate use for the service - it is tht easy and that cool.

In short Wufoo provides an HTML (Web) Based Form generator.  You can use it to create contact forms, surveys, registration forms, job applications and more.  It is very easy to use.  The service is free and includes enough in the free mode to get you started.  The free version lets you setup three forms, with 10 fields each and generates three reports and up to 100 entries per month.  I am currently using the free model and have two forms up and running, survey and a contact form.

There are paid models from $9 to $199 per month, adding more size and features as you go up the ladder.  An added benefit - no contracts, allowing month-to-month changes to go up or down in plan prices.  As I said the free mode is plenty enough to get a feel for the site and get you started.  The form creator screens are very easy to use.  Integration into an existing website was a snap.  Web is not the only way to integrate and use the form - there are email options and additional features to deploy the form depending on your plan.

Learn more at:

http://wufoo.com

Posted in Internet, All Platforms | No Comments »

August 12, 2007 by AC.

I have been exploring the features of GrandCentral a little more and they have a WebCall button feature that you can incorporate into your website, blog, etc. The feature allows the perspective caller to enter their name & phone number (which can be kept private) and then the system, GrandCentral calls their phone and connects to my number. Nice service feature for people to contact you via phone direct from a website. I am testing the service below before adding it to the ACE Computer Services site.

In testing the service myself it does work fast and it was very easy. The call shows up as “unknown” on both phones - the one I entered on the website and the phone my GrandCentral account dials.

I did notice that the script does not work on every site I use.  This one for instance, is a blog created through WordPress offered by my Hosting Site, 1and1, and the script will not run.  Ditto my content page at Natuba, the script is taken out.  My blog at Blogger had no trouble showing the script, but no surprise since both GrandCentral and Blogger are Google companies.  To see the script in action please visit:

http://mytechstartup.blogspot.com/2007/08/testing-grandcentral-webcall-button.html

Posted in Internet, New Products, All Platforms | No Comments »

August 7, 2007 by AC.

Nearly everywhere you turn these days has an offer of free wireless internet or Wi-Fi hotspot.  Merchants and businesses such as Barnes & Noble, Starbucks and McDonalds are a few of the big names to offer free Wi-Fi connections to customers.  I have noticed many of the Dunkin Donuts shops in my area offer the same, along with many diners and small restaurants.  Add to that hotels, airports, libraries, etc. and you are never very far from a signal.

The problem with many of these “hotspots” as they are called is that they are not secure.  The ease of getting on to the system for a customer is also its downfall.  Without a suitable encryption mechanism all machines on the network are open and available to hackers and criminals.  For example, you are at Starbucks, you pull out the laptop while sipping your latte and you log on to several password protected sites for email, financial records, etc.  A thief sitting near you or near enough to also get the signal is “sniffing” the network for sensitive data like usernames and passwords.  Many of these network sniffer programs are available online and at the disposal of hackers and criminals.

You leave Starbucks and later the thief logs into some of your personal accounts to steal money, information, etc.  Not a gret scenario.  What can you do to protect yourself?  Make sure your computer uses a strong password.  A strong password will contain a mix of letters, numbers/characters and upper & lower case.  It is your front door lock to keeping people off your system.  It is not a fail-safe but most hackers will go to the easy machine first, meaning no password.  For more information please see this handy resource from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/create.mspx

Adding or using a good firewall program is necessary as well these days.  Windows XP (SP2) and Vista users have a solid firewall client built-in.  Make sure that is running and doing its job.  You can easily find paid & free firewall software online for other operating systems.  For a nice list of software choices please visit: http://www.firewallguide.com/software.htm

Next up is to have some built-in encryption software of your own to use to mask the information you send & receive online.  Both AT&T and T-Mobile, which provide the bulk of these hotspots claim to have personal encryption software solutions online.  I could not locate any such thing on either site.  Searching online became somewhat fruitless as well until came across Protexx (http://www.protexx.com/).  The company has two versions, an individual and a family/business version.  Both are well worth the investment if you often utilize public wireless locations.

Some additional resource links:

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=6504

http://hotspot.t-mobile.com/support_faq.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2007-08-06-wifi-hot-spots_N.htm

http://www.protexx.com/express.html

http://www.firewallguide.com/software.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/create.mspx

Posted in Internet, All Platforms | 3 Comments »

August 6, 2007 by AC.

Thanks to the great writing at TechBlog I came across a cool utility site, Natuba (www.natuba.com), that can aggregate content from most of the popular social network sites online.  This includes blogs from myspace, RSS feeds from sites you choose, content from LiveJournal, video from YouTube and more.

The site requires an invitation to join, meaning you need an existing user to “invite” you via email.  Once invited setup is simple and you can simply enter usernames for the popular content feeds or URL’s for a specific RSS feed.  The page customization is pretty basic and the layout organizes content by date published, but it is truly a one-stop-shop for all your social network content.

Posted in Internet, New Products, All Platforms | 1 Comment »

August 6, 2007 by AC.

I came across an interesting blog about a month ago about a startup web venture called GrandCentral (http://www.grandcentral.com) which had just been purchased by Google.  GrandCentral is a one phone number that can ring all or selected phones you choose.  The setup is by invitation only at this point and the site is still in beta release.  Overall is simple to startup and use.  I signed up for an invite on the main page and got an email response a few weeks later.

Setup with GrandCentral was a snap.  The user interface is simple and easy.  Choosing a phone number within your area code is easy as well.  With the free phone number issued by GrandCentral I can choose one or all of my phones to ring when someone calls that line.  For instance, calling my GrandCentral number will ring my home phone, cell phone, work phone, etc.  All or one, depending on what I choose.  This is a great convenience feature for people with multiple lines/locations, business travelers and emergency calls.

Voicemail is accessible online and the website keeps a call log, address book and more.  The service is free but there are premium paid features available as well.  Definitely worth a look for those on the go.  As I said at the beginning, GrandCentral is now part of Google and may mark Google’s entry into phone & telecommunications.  There are whispers of a Google Phone and several Google apps are currently available for mobile phones (Google Maps, Gmail, etc.).  Either way GrandCentral is a cool utility.

Posted in Internet, New Products, All Platforms | 1 Comment »