Ameres Blog

Upcoming Event - Social Media Victories | Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. We Mean Business. New York, NY

2011-10-14T04:48:00.000-05:00

Upcoming Event - Social Media Victories | Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. We Mean Business. New York, NY

Alvin C. York Day

2011-10-09T10:44:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was Alvin York Day. Most people do not know this, but he is the namesake for York Avenue in NYC, His birthday is coming up soon, so I may try to use that to build awareness and get some of my York Ave friends together for a pseudo block association. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York

iPad Tips

2011-08-12T19:36:00.002-05:00

I'm teaching a friend how to use an iPad and found this tipsheet to be helpful:
http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/50-really-useful-ipad-tips-and-tricks-688556

Steuben

2011-07-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

Tickets for the Steuben Parade & Oktoberfest are now on sale. We are also working to get the Parade televised on PBS this year.

Videos from prior years are available on Youtube. If you would like to download the 2009 video, the 250MB MP4 file is available by right-mouse-clicking to download from here.

How to protect your identity online

2011-07-13T11:31:00.001-05:00

A friend sent me this checklist from the Telegraph on how to protect your identity online

1. Change your passwords
Many people use the same password for multiple websites. If you entered a Sony Pictures contest with a password that you use on other sites then it is essential that you change it as soon as possible. Go to the website concerned then login and look for an option to change your account details. Choose a new, secure password.

2. Look out for fraudulent emails
If the hackers have your email address, one thing they are likely to try is a 'phishing' attack - sending an email purporting to be from a bank or ecommerce site asking for your details. View any such email with suspicion and do not follow links from emails that ask you to provide personal information. If you are particularly concerned then you might want to consider changing your email address.

3. Be alert for suspicious phone calls
If your phone number was among the details you submitted to Sony Pictures then it might be used by fraudsters attempting to sell you services or trick you into buying things that you don't need. Treat any unsolicited calls with suspicion.

4. Monitor your bank account
Though there is no evidence that bank or credit card details was stolen in this attack, much of the compromised data could be used for identity theft. Keep a close eye on your bank account and check any payments that you don't recognise.

5. Consider an ID fraud monitoring service
If you're concerned about the possibility of identity theft then you could register for an ID fraud monitoring service. These services will look for credit checks against your name, such as those carried out when a credit card account is opened or when a loan application is made, and will warn you when they occur. Typically, this protection will cost a few pounds a month.

What I'm Droiding

2011-06-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

Banjo	Social	Trying it out
Angry Birds	Arcade & Action
QR Droid	Productivity
Listen	Media & Video	Free	June 13, 2011	Complete
SoundHound	Music & Audio
Twitter	Social
Foursquare	Social
Skype	Communication
c:geo geocaching	Entertainment
HootSuite	Social
Yahoo! Messenger	Communication	Not so useful anymore
Facebook	Social	Chews up my battery tho!
Evernote	Productivity
Google Reader	News	Doesn't pre-synch for me very well.
Barcode Scanner	Shopping
Google Translate	Tools
Hintdecoder	Communication	Codebreaker
Google Voice	Communication	It's a shame that the GVoice app does not have it's features.
Hashable	Social	Better than Bump!
Google Docs	Productivity
Smart Compass	Tools
Sound Meter	Tools	Is it loud in here or just me? Now we can know for sure.
Graffiti	Tools	I've loved it since the Palm Days.
Camerawallpaper	Personalization	Fun, but battery hog.
BarClone	Lifestyle	No testing yet.
Seismos	Tools
GeoCache Calc	Tools
YouTube	Media & Video
Google Books	Books & Reference
Sleep Bot Tracker Log	Health & Fitness
codeREADr – Enterprise Scanner	Business
Bump	Social	For iPhone events.

Help A Reporter

2011-06-27T16:28:00.001-05:00

I recently got a chance to help a writer on a story about CRM.

The site helpareporter.com pairs experts with reporters who need sources. Peter Shankman runs the service, which is only available via email.

There are also other services that have similar goals, I'll post about them later.

I'll see your pair and raise you trips...

2011-06-25T16:00:00.000-05:00

I'll see your pair and raise you trips:

Network work

2011-06-25T14:52:00.000-05:00

I am looking for a few suggestions. Contact me via email or via the comments.

1) Is there a good alternative to TimeWarner or FIOS in Manhattan on 26th St.
2) Can anyone recommend a good low-cost dual-WAN router or firewall?
3) Who do people use as their WWW registrar? I'm thinking of moving mine.
4) Can someone recommend a good WordPress ecommerce back end? I need a good gateway for a friend with an Intuit Merch account.

Thanks for any advice. I'll update this post with the referrals.

My last name played with Google's Les Paul Search

2011-06-10T05:19:00.000-05:00

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tune=IAFJiQDGGGMA

Loew's Theater Becomes Latest Business to Go Dark on Third Avenue - DNAinfo.com

2011-01-17T07:10:00.000-05:00

Local news:

Loew's Theater Becomes Latest Business to Go Dark on Third Avenue - DNAinfo.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Business Cards

2010-11-17T12:47:00.000-05:00

I get a lot of business cards from tradeshows and I am really appalled at how bad some of them are.

People are spending lots of money to make them spiffier and stand out more, but they really just make them tougher to work with. Many people have business cards scanners and people are even using their camera-phones to collect cards these days and these weird black on grey color screens really make it tougher on the eyes and the machinery to keep my rolodex up to speed.

So here are my tips:
1- Use dark type on white cards to make reading them easier. Use a bigger font for your name so you can use it as a name tag in certain venues when needed.
2- Keep it simple. Don't put the magna carta on the back. If you do want someone to keep it in their wallet, put something useful on the back like a local map or calendar of upcoming events in your industry.
3- Keep the graphics conservative. In some businesses a photo of yourself is expected, so that makes sense. Having huge graphics or swirls just make them tougher to read in nightclubs.
4-Use normal card stock so they are easier to scan in a machine and fit in my wallet. Unless your Kevin Mitnick and can afford stainless steel cards.
5-Use multiple cards for multiple events. I give vendors a card with my info@ and voicemail #s because they always call at the wrong number and I do not want the spam to appear on my cellphone. I also have cards for personal friends and college alumni so that stuff does not appear in my office email.
6-Include links to your social media like twitter and facebook if you are using them for professional purposes.
7-Include a link to your IM or freebusy information so I know when there is a good time to contact you and we don't spend days in telephone tag.

That's all for now. Email me anytime for more personal advice. -M

Ringing the closing bell @ NYSE

2010-09-02T07:07:00.000-05:00

http://www.nyse.com/downloads/2010/09/Cbell090110.mp4

Http://mameres.com
Sent from my iPad

Loaner

2010-09-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

I need the grey part on the desk when you're thru with it

2010-08-31T19:45:00.000-05:00

PC house cleaning and backups

2010-08-26T05:13:00.000-05:00

I'm reminding people to use online backup services like carbonite and mozy to backup their pc's and to also test recovery once per season. We recently recovered some small files with carbonite for a friend, but it would not restore an Outlook pst file. There were other backups for the email and contact information, so it was not critical, but the question why still remains.

I'm also recommending Google contacts and calendar to backup your cellphone info. They work great with services like Google voice too. Ask me for more info if interested.

Tried to teach Ginger how to use the iPad today...

2010-05-20T04:41:00.001-05:00

... But she didn't get it. Maybe a net book would be better for her...

Home Thermostats & Doorbells

2010-05-09T09:09:00.004-05:00

Since I am an engineer, my wife thinks that I have the tendency to overthink things. A recent discussion led to the topic of advanced thermostats. This company has a few interesting ones. I like the idea of connecting it to a home-automation system so that it turns the yard lights on at the same time that it goes into night-time and day-time power saving modes. The other feature I'd like to see is a built in panic alarm that calls you if the temperature drops below or above a certain point to protect your pets in an emergency or allow a remote control to tell it to warm the house up, we're on our way home.

I also looked into advanced doorbells, this one rings your home phones with caller-ID that indicates which of many possible intercoms is ringing and allows you to speak with the person before running to the front or back doors.

What I'm iPadding...

2010-05-02T08:56:00.002-05:00

... in no specific order and with no specific reviews. (Ratings are from iTunes)

The best discovery this week is being able to skype and make phone calls from it. The user experience is like having a conversation with a picture frame with a disembodied voice of the person in the picture.

AIM for iPad, v1.0.2, Seller: AOL (4+)
SoundHound, v3.2.0, Seller: Melodis (9+)
Beat the Traffic HD, v1.0, Seller: Beat the Traffic (4+)
Whistle Phone, v1.10, Seller: Vail Systems, Inc. (4+)
fring, v3.0.0.7, Seller: fringland Ltd. (4+)
Eye Chart Pro, v1.0, Seller: Manu Lakkur (4+)
Urbanspoon for iPad, v1.0, Seller: Wanderspot, LLC (4+)
Pocket Pond, v2.0, Seller: JOHN MOFFETT (4+)
Ancient Frog LE, v1.13, Seller: James Brown (4+)
uHear, v1.0, Seller: Unitron Hearing Limited (4+)
Hearing Check, v1.0, Seller: RNID (4+)
foursquare, v1.7.4, Seller: Naveen Selvadurai (4+)
LinkedIn, v3.1, Seller: LinkedIn (4+)
ScanBizCards Lite Business Card Scanner, v2.71, Seller: Patrick Questembert (4+)
Skype, v1.3.1, Seller: Skype Software S.a.r.l. (4+)

Check out At Once - Type while walking!

2010-04-29T18:10:00.001-05:00

I love this idea!

~~~

Check out this application on App Store:

At Once - Type while walking! - Update your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn status with one tap!

Reditus Solutions LLC

Category: Social Networking

Updated: Feb 04, 2010

366 Ratings

[Sent from my iPad.]

Takepart.com/thecove

2010-04-14T18:42:00.004-05:00

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Classic Dilberts

2010-04-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://madhusudhan.info/Comics/Dilbert/process_management.gif&imgrefurl=http://madhusudhan.info/Comics/Dilbert/&usg=__3gfLe1yKR5qCFUdpM9ehyyPCZC8=&h=486&w=720&sz=87&hl=en&start=1&sig2=NuWJ1q9SQibkH4mBwIsIvA&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=huHzQe943ndFrM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddilbert%2Bprocess%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=Rgu2S4meH4X6lweEoYFF

Scientific American: His and hers

2010-04-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=his-and-hers
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Infographic of the Day: The Seasonal Food Calendar | Design & Innovation | Fast Company

2010-04-01T13:51:00.000-05:00

http://www.fastcompany.com/1603979/infographic-of-the-day-the-seasonal-food-calender
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Cat Annoys Sleeping Guy All Night - Pogpog

2010-03-21T08:25:00.000-05:00

http://pogpog.com/v/cat-annoys-sleeping-guy-all-night/
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DVICE: Remote control bottle opener

2010-03-21T00:42:00.000-05:00

http://mobile.syfy.com/inf/infomo;jsessionid=8378832641C6B77C3FF9.2182?site=syfy&view=dvicestoriesdetails&feed:a=stories&feed:c=dvice_stories&feed:i=3.32039
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Lessons from America’s Most Productive CEOs | Inc.com

2010-03-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

http://www.inc.com/ss/15-ways-be-more-productive
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3 presentations every influential CIO must have at the ready

2010-03-07T05:38:00.000-05:00

A good article from Marc Schiller:

"
...

There's no escaping the fact that one of your most important jobs as a CIO or senior IT leader is communication.

Whether it's to kick off a major project, discuss strategy, brief consultants, review projects, or join a new initiative, you're always out there being called upon to present at one meeting or another.

From what I've observed, many of you spend a large percentage of your "free time" (my estimates are about 35%) preparing presentations. And it's my opinion that as important as these presentations are, you're burning way too much time and effort getting them ready. What's more, you're causing untold damage to your personal credibility and to the credibility of your department.

Here's the typical scenario: You're the CIO and you have to get a presentation done. What do you do? You turn to one of your lieutenant's and you say, "I need a presentation for our upcoming IT leadership meeting (or whatever the topic may be)." Then you ask him to put together some slides for you so you have something to say at the meeting.

When this happens, it causes multiple layers of damage. First of all, it drags your key managers away from their jobs and turns them into PowerPoint jockeys. Instead of managing their projects and people, they are sitting with you trying to quickly figure out what to say.

But it gets much worse because, let's face it, the likelihood that they will take the time and effort to really figure out what message you should be delivering and then putting it together for you is pretty minimal. Remember, these are busy people with lots on their plates already.

..."

More info at http://marcjschiller.com

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techrepublic/tech-manager/~3/JLmaCYORNNE/
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The only News that you need...

2010-02-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

The most generic news report ever

NBC Olympic Events

2010-02-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

Here is my formatted version of the Olympics TV Listings from NBC.

WoTD: Franken-trepreunuer

2010-02-04T04:34:00.000-05:00

People who make companies up out of bits of service companies mashed together.

I may try and make a Franken-map of friends startups to see if I can get an entire company out of my social graph.
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My favorite online clock

2010-01-22T12:32:00.001-05:00

http://yugop.com/ver3/stuff/03/fla.html

Prices Slashed in NASA's Space Shuttle Sale

2010-01-17T22:34:00.000-05:00

"NASA is shutting down the space shuttle program and so is trying to sell off its remaining merchandise at increasingly low prices. It's already slashed the price for a (pre-owned) shuttle from $42 million to $28.8 million..."

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/VqPkvGXm2pM/
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Reality Based Toy

2010-01-13T08:03:00.000-05:00

Because airport security is such a positive experience children are clamoring for toys to play make-believe security checkpoint with playmobile offers us the Playmobile Security Checkpoint. The best part about the Amazon order page is the customer feedback. It's tongue in cheek and very funny.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002CYTL2/ref=nosim/nationalreviewon

Comments

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/reality_based_toy/#When:23:17:00Z

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Cat Called for Jury Duty

2010-01-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

Sal Esposito of East Boston has been summoned for jury duty. He just might be excused for being a cat, but so far he is expected to serve. Sal's owners Guy and Anna Esposito think his name may have been pulled from census records, where he was listed as a pet.

Anna filed for Sal's disqualification of service. However, the jury commissioner was unmoved and denied the request.

Sal's service date at Suffolk Superior Court is set for March 23. Anna said that if the issue isn't cleared up by then, she will simply have to bring the cat to court.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/2MurGoPRdF4/

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Three Ideas to Rock Your 2010 Part I: Correspond to Connect

2010-01-02T10:21:00.000-05:00

More clippings:

# # #
"Happy New Year and welcome to the next decade - "the teenies," as some in the UK are calling it. Today is great day to take inventory and think about what you want to accomplish in the new year - or even the new decade. Over the next three days I will cover a few ideas that anyone can ride to new heights in 2010 and beyond. These can help you no matter what line of work you're in. Of course, given my world view, they apply most to those interested in social media, marketing and communications. Here's the first...

Correspond to Connect

Thomas Jefferson's polygraph was used to keep identical copies of the 20,000 letters he wrote in is life. (Photograph by Jim Merithew/Wired.com via "Tommy J's Crib Is 18th Century Palace of Gadget Geekery")

In 2010 to succeed as individuals and businesses we need to embrace connecting with people globally on three levels: one-to-one, one-to-few and one-to-many. As dancer Twyla Tharp describes in her new book The Collaborative Habit, great work comes through collaboration. Success requires thinking and acting on all three levels. And it means listening too.

Today Twitter, Facebook, Google Wave and the next big things in connecting socially will allow us to innovate in how we connect with stakeholders, colleagues and friends - and on all three levels. But some things never go out of style. I get more email than ever - and I love it. Businesses should too. Connecting offline remains important. Rosabeth Moss Kanter calls this Management by Flying Around. So my advice is in 2010 vow to correspond to connect as much as you realistically can.

Need inspiration? How about Thomas Jefferson. Sure he connected with and inspired millions with the Declaration of Independence's "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." But he also answered his mail thousands of letters - connecting with countless others. He even devised a clever polygraph machine to keep copies of all correspondence.

From the Monticello web site...

"From sun-rise to one or two o'clock," he noted, "I am drudging at the writing table." Jefferson wrote almost 20,000 letters in his lifetime, among them, scholarly musings to colleagues, affectionate notes to his family, and civil responses to admirers. He wrote John Adams that he suffered "under the persecution of letters," calculating that he received 1,267 letters in the year 1820, "many of them requiring answers of elaborate research, and all to be answered with due attention and consideration."

This year, vow not to lose sight of the art and importance of daily correspondence. Reach out to new people - even those you don't agree with or those in other countries. Solicit and share new ideas.

As for me, I try to answer any correspondence that deserves a response. Sometimes it takes me time but I do so on three levels: my one-to-one communications (email and Twitter direct messages), one-to-few (Facebook comments, Twitter replies, etc.) and one-to-many (blog comments, interview requests, etc.) I also reach out to new people as well who I want to get to know better. Don't begrudge the volume of communications, focus on it - but the right messages.

Wouldn't it be great if organizations and the people who work for them all aspired to live the same, just as Jefferson did.

Permalink | Leave a comment

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/q57yLAR4vdc/three-ideas-to-rock-your-2010-part-i-correspo

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Real-world Fugitive Caught via virtual-World of Warcraft

2010-01-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

This was interesting:

# # #

"Police have been known to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to track down thieves (the IRS, too), and careless Facebooking can quickly get you arrested. But if you're on the run from the law, there's another online territory you might want to consider avoiding: World of Warcraft...

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/643NSFlExDw/

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Namebench: Google’s 20% Project To Find The Fastest DNS Server

2010-01-02T10:10:00.000-05:00

Make your surfing faster:

# # #
When Google launched its own DNS service last month, one of the main stated goals behind the project was speed. The problem is that most Internet users have no idea what a DNS server is, let alone how to configure one, or test how fast it is. But one Googler has taken it upon himself to create an easy tool for testing DNS and recommending what you use with his 20% time.

Thomas Stromberg, a Google engineer based in Belgium, created Namebench, a piece of software to find the fastest DNS server available for you to use. The program is available for OS X, Windows, and Linux, and the entire thing has been open sourced by Stromberg.

Once you install it, Namebench couldn't be easier to use. You simply load it up, hit the "Start Benchmark" button and let it do its thing. Depending on the number of test you run (you can set that), it will come back with the results in a few minutes. The results open in your web browser, showing you the first, second, and third best DNS options right up top. There are also a number of charts and and graphs if you want to drill down into the numbers.

Now, you might worry that since Namebench was created by a Googler, it would promote Google Public DNS above all others. But actually, in the test I just ran, Google's solution ranged from the middle of all the DNS offerings to the slowest. OpenDNS, considered Google Public DNS' biggest competitor, was actually the fastest.

"Are you a power-user with 5 minutes to spare? Do you want a faster internet experience?," is the way Stromberg pitches it on the site for project. If that applies to you, you should check it out. Stromberg wrote more about the idea a few months ago before Google Public DNS was a reality.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/VLk2KUst3RY/

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List Of Tech Products

2010-01-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

Here's a good list of tech tools:

# # #

"It's time for my annual list of technology products that I love and use every day. This is the (wow) fifth year I've done this. Here are my previous lists: 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006. The scope of the list has changed over time. In 2006 it was just about websites. Now the list includes other web services, some desktop software and even a few gadgets.

These aren't necessarily newly launched products (see Daniel Raffel's post yesterday for a solid list of great new products). This is a simple list of the tech products that are an integral part of my day - work or play. Some have withstood the test of time and I just can't live without. Others are newcomers that have captured my imagination.

I use most of them every day, or nearly every day, and I would not be as productive or happy without all of them. There are now 24 products on the list.

Just three of these products have been on the list all five years: TechMeme, Skype and Wordpress. As I said last year, TechMeme continues to be the news aggregator I check multiple times per day to keep up on tech news (although Google News is becoming more important over time). Skype is the instant messaging and VoIP platform that I use most often at work and with friends. And Wordpress software powers all of our blogs.

I've added 13 new products to last year's list: Android, Apple Magic Mouse, Dropbox, Evernote, Foursquare/Loopt/Gowalla, Google Docs, Google Voice, Kodak Zi8, MOG, Skitch and Spotify.

I've removed seven products from the 2009 list: 1-800-Free-411, Digg, Friendfeed, Google Reader, iPhone, MySpace Music and Zoho.

There are lot of products that I use daily that aren't on the list for various reasons. My iMac and MacBook Pro and Droid phone, for example, aren't on the list specifically even though all three products are exceptional. I don't really have a browser preference, although I suspect Chrome will be on the list next year. And there are lots of websites and services, like Posterous and Amie Street, that I use regularly but just didn't make my arbitrary cut. We also use Bit.ly extensively on the site for URL shortening, and EventBrite and Amiando for event ticketing.

Here's my 2010 list of tech products that I love and use every day:
Android

I gave up the iPhone this year and switched to Android mobile phones. First the MyTouch, then the Droid. I'll soon be upgrading again. What I like best about Android is the deep integration with Google Voice, which I talk about below. These two products go hand in hand.
Animoto

I first put Animoto on the list last year. The service makes beautiful slide shows of photos, and this year they added videos (here's one I made). Their iPhone application continues to impress. This company is now profitable and my guess is someone like Apple will acquire them in the next year.
Apple Magic Mouse

The Apple Magic Mouse is the best computer pointing device ever made. It functions as a normal mouse but also has multitouch on top. Once you use it you'll never be happy with an old mouse or touchpad again.
Delicious

Delicious, the social bookmarking workhorse, has been on my list every year except 2007. It's not perfect but it's better than anything else out there.
Dropbox

Dropbox is a new addition to the list this year. It's just dead simple file syncing across all your computers, mobile devices and the cloud. It's also a great way to privately share big files. Dropbox is now one of my must-have productivity tools. I just wish Google offered something similar so that I could have an integrated dashboard for my Google Docs files and Dropbox stuff.
Evernote

Evernote is also a new addition this year. Like Dropbox it is an amazing productivity tool that lets you capture, organize, and find information across multiple platforms. You can take notes, clip webpages, snap photos using their mobile phones, create to-dos, and record audio. All data is synchronized with the Evernote web service and made available to clients on Windows, Mac, Web, and mobile devices. Additionally, the Evernote web service performs image recognition on all incoming notes, making printed or handwritten text found within images searchable.
Facebook

This is the third year in a row that Facebook has been on the list. Facebook has won the social wars, and even the biggest companies are now surrendering to them. Facebook Connect is turning into the defacto online identity solution for tens of millions of people.
Foursquare, Loopt and Gowalla

These three startups (Foursquare, Loopt and Gowalla), among others, are battling to control mobile social networking. They all have variations of the check-in model, where users are encouraged to note where they are for their friends to see. Foursquare has all the early adopter momentum, But Loopt has millions of users and Gowalla has a compelling product. All three are likely to win.
Gmail

This is the fourth year in a row for Gmail. It's the best webmail out there, and I appreciate the free imap support and forwarding. Enough said.
Google Docs

This is a new addition for me this year. I never bothered installing Office on my new laptop, and find that Google Docs has all the functionality I need, plus easy sharing with others and storage in the cloud. I may never install Office again. I previously had Zoho on the list, a competitor, and removed it only because I find that centralizing as many services as possible at Google makes things easier for me as a user.
Google Voice

This has been a big year for Google Voice, previously called Grand Central. The mobile apps let Google Voice completely take over Android phones. I've ported my mobile number to Google Voice and now any time someone calls that number I can direct it to any phone I like based on where I am, who's calling and when. It has changed my life, and I will never use a mobile phone that doesn't have deep integration with the service.
Hulu

This is the second year in a row for Hulu. I'd love for them to add a paid model and let me watch HBO shows or pay per view new release movies. And I wish they could secure rights to archived libraries of shows, but even as it currently exists, Hulu is a great entertainment service.
Kodak Zi8

This digital video camera beats the pants off the current Flip models. The best feature is the ability to add a microphone. Flip doesn't have this, and the audio quality is often terrible. The Zi8 is a full generation ahead.
MOG, Pandora and Spotify

MOG and Spotify are new this year. Pandora has been on every year except 2008, and with hindsight I should have added them that year, too. These are three streaming music services that are awesome. MOG, which is $5/month, is the best music experience on the Internet. Spotify, a desktop streaming service that hasn't launched in the U.S. yet, lacks the radio and social features of MOG but is currently free. And we hear it will launch on a limited basis in the U.S. very shortly. Pandora is still a very cool place to just sign in and listen to music that I love quickly and easily.
Scribd and Docstoc

Scribd and Docstoc, two services that let you upload office files like PDFs and Word documents and then embed them on sites, are very useful to bloggers like us. When we have a document that we want to share with readers, we use one of these services and embed it into the post. Both services were also on the list last year.
Skitch

I've been using Skitch for years. It's Mac software that makes basic image manipulation a breeze - sort of a very light version of Photoshop. For 90% of our images, Skitch works just fine. It's easy to add text, resize and crop images, etc. And it automatically uploads them to the website for you, too.
Skype

Skype is on the list every year and will probably stay there, even under new management. I'd give up email before I gave up Skype. I use it almost exclusively for instant messaging, and a big percentage of my voice calls are over the service. I love doing video chat with friends oversees, too.
TechMeme

TechMeme is another service that has been on the list all five years. It is the definitely news aggregator for technology news, and a huge asset to our community.
TripIt

TripIt is a simple travel service that is absolutely awesome, and returns to the list this year. You forward confirmation emails from flights, hotels, etc. to the service and it creates an itinerary automatically. You can then access it via a mobile device.
Twitter

Twitter is fast becoming as essential marketing tool for TechCrunch, and I'm addicted to it personally. This is the third year I've added Twitter. For mobile use, I love the Seesmic Android application.
Wordpress

All our blogs run on Wordpress' open source software, and we use other services of the company, Automattic, that runs the project (Akismet for spam, polldaddy for polls). It has been on the list all five years, and we are thankful for such cool, and free, software.
Yammer

Yammer, a Twitter-like service for companies to use internally, won TechCrunch50 in 2008 and is an essential productivity tool at TechCrunch. We long ago moved to the paid version of the service, and we've never looked back.
YouTube

This is the fourth year in a row for YouTube. It's always good for a two minute entertainment diversion from work, and we use it exclusively to host our own video content.

Let me know what services you'd add to your list, or leave off. Each year in the comments I hear about someone's passion for a new product that I overlooked before, and sometimes they make the list in the following year.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KJn-5MOa8X8/

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WOTD: Anatidaephobia

2009-12-31T12:47:00.000-05:00

Anatidaephobia is the fear that a duck is watching you. The term was coined by Gary Larson, author of the comic The Far Side, who profited from ducks watching people. In these days of contextual advertising, the fear may be well-founded. Link to larger screenshot. Link to text article. -via Bits and Pieces

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/9fGF83HnRkI/

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100 mile detour...

2009-12-28T23:26:00.001-05:00

Champlain Bridge goes down with a boom
CROWN POINT -- Shrouded by a snow squall, the 80-year-old Lake Champlain Bridge met its end Monday, witnessed in person only by a handful, but beamed live worldwide over the Internet. Shortly after 10 am, 800 pounds of ...

http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimesunion.com%2FAspStories%2Fstory.asp%3FstoryID%3D882621&usg=AFQjCNFKzan33GLMqxVSRxXQX9miPARpKw

Extinct Ibex Resurrected By Cloning

2009-12-28T23:11:00.001-05:00

The Telegraph is reporting that for the first time an extinct animal has been brought back via cloning. The Pyrenean ibex, a type of mountain goat, was declared officially extinct in 2000 but thanks to preserved skin samples scientists were able to insert that DNA into eggs from domestic goats to clone a female Pyrenean ibex. While the goat didn't survive long due to lung defects this gives scientists hopes that it will be possible to resurrect extinct species from frozen tissue. ... [Read more of this story at Slashdot. ]

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/xmMF1omX4bM/Extinct-Ibex-Resurrected-By-Cloning

Fw: [FCNYC] ADMIN: Many Recycling Events in January!

2009-12-28T16:10:00.001-05:00

From: "freecycle_nyc", If you're cleaning house in January you need these events!

*RECYCLE UNWANTED ELECTRONICS with the Lower East Side Ecology Center
Sunday, January 3, 10am-4pm - Union Square (17th St. and Broadway)
Saturday, January 9, 10am-4pm - Riverside Drive at Dyckman St.
Sunday, January 10, 10am-4pm - 331 East 70th Street (b/t 1st and 2nd)
Saturday, January 16, 10am-4pm - Tekserve, 119 W 23rd Street
Sunday, January 17, 10am-4pm - Prospect Park West and 3rd St, Brooklyn

More details at http://www.lesecologycenter.org

*SWAP YOUR STUFF
The Stop N' Swap is the ultimate re-gifting party: http://www.cenyc.org/swap for more details.

In Germany, kids get the big toys...

2009-12-27T10:46:00.000-05:00

"In the northern German town of Reinfield the police got a surprise when they pulled over an excavator driving down a city street yesterday. The driver immediately pulled over and excited the vehicle he even admitted he did not have a drivers licence. The licence thing was obvious due to the driver being a seven year old boy. When asked why he was driving the 11.5 foot tall machine the boy stated that his dad had complained about road conditions so he, the boy, used the machine to clear the road. In fact the young man was on his way back to his parents place of business to park the excavator when he was stopped. The police collected the keys and returned them and the boy home."

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091224-24157.html

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/a_boy_doing_a_mans_job/#When:22:06:00Z

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Rollerskates on Roller Coaster

2009-12-10T07:23:00.000-05:00

"
Some pics of the stunt:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RandomGoodStuff/~3/UUe3Ovsn1uk/
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Fake Fingerprints by Plastic Surgery

2009-12-10T06:14:00.000-05:00

"27-year-old Lin Rong re-entered Japan even though she had earlier been deported back to China. She wasn't caught until she was arrested on other charges, because her fingerprints were different. Lin had undergone surgery to have her left fingerprints moved to her right hand, and vice versa!"

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/HzMD_8IMYlw/
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Mobius bagel

2009-12-09T00:12:00.001-05:00

George W. Hart has brought us a milestone in breakfast-related math feats, the mobius strip bagel. Directions for making your own are on the link. The author says these are superior to regular bagels for non-math-related reasons as well.

It is much more fun to put cream cheese on these bagels than on an ordinary bagel. In additional to the intellectual stimulation, you get more cream cheese, because there is slightly more surface area.

Link Via Popurls

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/rDDHjcbLOQE/The-Ultimate-Geek-Christmas-Card

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Start Trek A-Team

2009-12-01T06:44:00.002-05:00

This is a funny video. BTW, the actual movie makes a good stocking stuffer.

PS: Please join us at the Cornell Club next week: http://bit.ly/RPIevents.

VCR Toaster

2009-11-29T17:28:00.000-05:00

For your Christmas shopping: "Inspired by this scene from the BBC show The Young Ones, the how-to blog Instructables turned an old VCR into a functional toaster. It even prints "VHS" on the face of every piece of bread toasted.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/faE52YgVB1U/
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New home for Harwich's ‘mystery piano’

2009-11-26T09:23:00.001-05:00

New home for Harwichs 'mystery piano': The newest addition at the Brooks Academy Museum – a Ba... http://bit.ly/7CfP9n

http://twitter.com/WLCapeCod/statuses/6080083735

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Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T14:28:00.001-05:00

FYE:

Pres Bartlet on the Butterball Hotline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TcGEcKjSu4

Turbacoducken: http://bacontoday.com/turbaconducken-turducken-wrapped-in-bacon/

How not to burn your house down with Alton Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E270Qx5OpxU

15 Social Media Twitter Lists to Follow and Expand

2009-11-06T19:50:00.001-05:00

#snip#
As you can probably tell from our extensive coverage this week, we're extremely excited about the possibilities of Twitter Lists: from how news organizations are leveraging the feature, to a full Twitter Lists FAQ to the potential for real-time journalism and the utility of lists after the tragic Fort Hood shootings.

As such, we've started work on our own project to categorize Twitter into what we hope will be useful lists. These are nowhere near finished, of course: just a starting point. We'll be adding more and more names over the coming weeks. If you see people you'd like to include (and there are many, many more to add - sorry if we missed you!), just send a Tweet to @mashable with your suggestions.
---------------

Twitter Lists from Mashable
---------------

You can explore all our evolving lists here >>

Media Thinkers: media thinkers and commentators.

Social Media Linkers: social media experts, thinkers and linkers.

Mashable Team: the Mashable team, social media musings and personal Tweets.

News Orgs: news organizations on Twitter, breaking news.

Marketing Experts: marketers who Tweet, digital marketing insights and links.

Top Designers who Tweet: web designers share their insights and musings.

Music: popular musicians on Twitter.

Web People: the web scene, a growing list of all things webby.

Top Brands on Twitter: brand names on Twitter, official company accounts.

Tech: interesting voices in tech.

Foodies to Follow: foodies who Tweet, top chefs share knowledge.

Celebrity: celebrities who Tweet.

Journalists and Journalism Tweets: journalists talk media, newspapers, tv and the growth of online journalism.

The Twitterati: early Twitter stars who share interesting links.

Healthcare on Twitter: healthcare experts and organizations on Twitter.
---------------
Reviews: Mashable, Twitter

Tags: twitter, Twitter Lists

http://mashable.com/2009/11/06/15-social-media-twitter-lists-to-follow-and-expand/

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SquawkFox: 6 Words that make your resume er, well ...

2009-11-01T09:19:00.001-05:00

Advice from SquawkFox - 6 Words that make your resume er, well ... not as good as it could be http://bit.ly/14Hedw

http://twitter.com/SunLifeCareers/statuses/5334315227

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Real Life iPhone Costumes Put Your Crappy Halloween Outfit to Shame [VIDEO]

2009-10-25T20:13:00.001-05:00

FYE, Mark
###
http://mashable.com/2009/10/25/iphone-costumes/
Dressing up as Balloon Boy, Kanye West or some other Internet hit this Halloween? Don't even bother: these real life iPhone costumes already took 1st and 2nd place for best novelty outfits ever.

The costumes took 3 weeks to build, with each weighing 85lbs and requiring a car battery to be worn between the wearer's legs. An iPhone 3GS is attached to a 42 LCD screen (not touch screen, alas), turning the wearer into a human-sized iPhone...
...Does geekery know no bounds?
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MTA Could Turn Swiping Your Metrocard Into a Fun Game!

2009-10-24T15:36:00.001-05:00

Fye, Mark

###

Baby needs a new pair of shoes.

In a piece exploring the ramifications of new MTA chair Jay Walder's fascinating new ideas for subway fares, such as charging less for rides at night and on weekends, the Times interviewed behavioral economist Dan Ariely, who had this so-crazy-it-just-might-work suggestion for increasing off-peak ridership:

"Instead of reducing all fares by 50 percent on weekends or late at night, he suggested, maybe the transit agency should make every other fare during those hours free, turning a turnstile into a slot machine of sorts. He remembered an experiment he was part of years ago at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, rigging a vending machine so that every third candy bar was free. Sales increased by 30 percent."

YES, please do this! Anything to make the world more fun, right? Though it's all fun and games until famous subway rider Mike Bloomberg gets his first free fare.

Link Prices All Over Town to the Time [NYT]

Read more posts by Lindsay Robertson

Filed Under: metrocards, mta, subway fares, subway hell

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nymag/intel/~3/G-nnQjaR4N0/mta_could_turn_swiping_your_me.html

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Turn RSS Feeds Into Printable Email PDF Newsletters With Tabbloid

2009-10-16T05:46:00.001-05:00

I am a big fan of RSS but I know of many people who live inside their email inbox and refuse to come out. Some people prefer the simplicity of email and some just don't want t0 come out of their comfort zone.   Which is fine. As I always say, the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same. Nevertheless, not using RSS means you are constantly checking countless sites for updates one at a time and that is a lot of time which could be used someplace else for something else.

There's an option to have RSS feeds converted into printable PDF newsletters (which can then be emailed to you) and the service is called Tabbloid.   The only slight drawback to this service is that the recipient has to, at least, have a basic understanding of what a RSS feed is (so they can enter it into the right boxes).   But assuming they know what a RSS feed is when they look at one, they can set up Tabbloid to have website updates emailed to them as a very neat and tidy PDF newsletter which they can then read at their leisure and pleasure (and print out if they want).   Or a RSS-knowledgeable person could set it up for them.

You could also use this service to start collecting blog posts in PDF format as a kind of archive.   Have them emailed to you and then archive them for posterity. There's quite a few possibilities to this service.

Getting it set up is a cinch - and you don't even need to set up an account!

1. Add the RSS feed

When you click to get started, you will be asked to enter the RSS feed in the first box in the top left.   Let's choose MakeUseOf's feed as an example :

Or as you can see, the site also offers lists of recommended feeds, if you are not sure what to subscribe to.   MakeUseOf isn't there though!   Oh dear..

You can see on the right hand side which feeds you have chosen and you can remove any of them at any time.

Enter Your Email Details

Now you have to enter your email details.

You can choose between daily delivery and monthly delivery (just remember that with a monthly delivery and a very busy feed like MakeUseOf's, you are going to get a HUGE file!).   Also choose your delivery time and time zone.

If you want to preview the issue before clicking on "save delivery options", just click the big blue "generate sample issue now" button and you will get a PDF to preview.   One thing here though - your issue will come through without a pdf file format at the end (which is slightly irritating I have to admit).   So in Explorer, open it by right-clicking on it, choose "open with" and then choose Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF reader.

You can view a sample issue here that I quickly made using the MakeUseOf feed.

As you will see, all weblinks are clickable and the layout is fantastic.   One little minor gripe that I would make is that the rest of the newsletter is not very customisable.   You can't give the newsletter another name for example. But that is all very minor and may only bother you if you wanted to make a personalised newsletter to send out to your blog subscribers.   But if you only want to use Tabbloid for post archiving purposes or to read RSS feeds inside your email, then it seems to be a perfect service.

Do you know of any other similar services that do a better job? If so, tell us all about them in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/
Related posts
Offer Your Readers A RSS To PDF Option With Feedbooks (3)
How To Create A PDF Newsletter The Easy Way With MS Paint (5)
Forward and Store important feeds with RSSfwd (13)
What is a FeedReader ? (17)
Ways to Stay on Top of The News (10)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Makeuseof/~3/ghMXG_KCdMk/

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Robotic 'mood tail' is everything you hope it to be, and more

2009-10-16T05:42:00.001-05:00

Why hang on to your emotions when you can wag them proudly with a robotic mood tail? Sure, you may never have asked that question yourself, but intrepid DIYer Wei-Chieh Tseng seemingly has, and he's done something about it. Apparently, the tail makes use of the ever dependable Arduino and an RFID reader to detect different emotion cards that set off varying degrees of tail-wagging, or you can simply control the tail yourself using a Wii nunchuck -- because, why not? Did we mention there's a video? Check it out after the break.

Continue reading Robotic 'mood tail' is everything you hope it to be, and more

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables

Robotic 'mood tail' is everything you hope it to be, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/15/robotic-mood-tail-is-everything-you-hope-it-to-be-and-more/

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Area Man Murders Palm Pre At Local Bar

2009-10-10T18:14:00.001-05:00

[FYE -Mark] "If you're Palm you're hoping that Pre owners love their phones so much that they cherish and protect them for always. So when a guy who owns a Palm Pre drops it in his beer just to see what happens, you can't be too happy. It just doesn't say a whole lot about how much a person values a phone when they drop it into a mug of beer.

On the upside, it stays on for about a minute before giving up the ghost. Compare that to the possibly real video directly below it of an iPhone 3GS that was dropped in a pool and kept recording video."

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dKAbBA1c-VA/
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Gantter – The Ultimate Free Creative Project Management Tool

2009-10-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

For the most part, I'm a very task oriented and "to-do list" sort of guy. At work I'm able to manage the many projects and even small tasks that I'm responsible for through Microsoft Project - which is, in my humble opinion, one of the most powerful project and task management applications available for desktop PCs.

The problem is that most home users of moderate means can't usually afford the Office package that includes Microsoft Project. The majority of home computer users will have the standard office package, such as the 2007 Home and Student edition which has Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote.

However, at home I also have a number of involved and complicated projects that I'm trying to manage, as does my wife and if you have any teenage kids at home - project management software could help them tremendously with managing their time between homework, school projects, sport events and everything else life dishes out upon a vibrant and busy family. I am very pleased to present a shockingly free and very creative online project management tool called Gantter.

Free Creative Project Management Software Just By Typing a URL

Here's what blew me away. I'm accustomed to testing dozens of free applications every month, and most of the time you need to at least provide an email address or some other way to identify yourself. Surprisingly, when you first visit the Gantter website, you'll see yourself instantly staring at what looks like Microsoft Project. The website itself is the application, and once you visit it, you can instantly start creating your own project management file.

For me, such a creative way to use a project management application is like a dream come true. You can create a Microsoft Project compatible file for any project that you've got going on. This application lets you save those files (or even PDF exports) onto your USB flash drive. Later, when you want to make changes to your project, just go to any computer, pop in your USB drive and visit Gantter, where you can open that file and modify it however you wish.

It doesn't matter whether the computer you're using has MS Project or not. And if you already use MS Project at work? Even better - now you can take your work anywhere with you and edit those MS Project files remotely, whether you're working on a computer at an Internet Cafe, a library or anywhere else.

I decided that I would finally start writing that novel that I've always wanted to get started on but couldn't because these MakeUseOf article deadlines keep getting in the way - so why not work on my novel while I'm working on a MakeUseOf article? My first step was to create my task list for the novel project.

Creating the task list is fast and easy, but the real power of this online application is where you set the predecessors (the work you need to get done before you can start on that task). Just like in MS Project, Gantter automatically schedules out all of your work based on what you need to do and when you need to do it. All you need to think about is one task at a time.

For example, here I've clicked on setting up the predecessor for writing the second chapter, which I can start doing the moment the first chapter is done (I don't need to finish revising the first before I get started on the second.)

Also, on this screen you can add additional notes for this task, as well as assign resources that you've configured in the "resources" section of the application. Gantter takes all of this information that you feed it and generates a nice, clear schedule (Gantt chart) for you off to the right side of the screen.

Exploring the software a bit, it's apparent that this isn't some cheap, fly-by-night web app - this is a well thought out and very well programmed online application that works fast and efficiently throughout my testing on Firefox and Internet Explorer. The features are many, as you can see from my drilling through the menus.

Saving and Accessing Your Projects

So, what do you do when you're done planning out your project and you want to save the file? Obviously, you can't store the data in your account, because you don't have an account. If you pretend that this application is just like any other desktop application you use, then the answer is simple - just click save!

That's the beauty of Gantter - it's like you're using a desktop application even though you're using your Internet browser. You can either save the file or export it to MS Project. Saving downloads your file as a "project.xml" file, which you can access later from this same website.

Copy the XML file to your USB drive, and later when you come back to the website (no matter where you are in the world), just click File -> Open and you'll be able to browse to your USB drive and open up your saved XML file.

Simple. Easy. Convenient. Those are the three words I think about when I use this awesome online application. No sign-up required, no download required and no money required. The application was written by Volodymyr Mazepa, a Ukraine-based IT project manager - one IT manager who clearly knows his stuff. I encourage anyone who uses this application to click on Help -> About and send Volodymyr a hearty thank-you for his excellent work and for offering us this high-quality online application at no cost, a very rare act of kindness these days.

Do you have any online project management apps that you prefer? What do you think of Gantter? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/
Related posts
Organize Your Life With Yahoo Calendar (11)
Ubidesk: Fresh Comprehensive Online Team Collaboration (12)
Tracks - An Advanced "Getting Things Done" Application (10)
Toodledo- Online Task Management App with iPhone Integration (6)
Todoist - Simple but Powerful Task Management App (7)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Makeuseof/~3/ecuP1UAc3KI/

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Checkout these photos from the weekend!

2009-09-21T12:28:00.000-05:00

Steuben Parade Photos on Flickr's Public Feed

Didn't win the lottery last nite

2009-08-29T07:22:00.001-05:00

But found these interesting lottery stories:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/lottery.asp

Also, please join us for German-American Month:

http://GermanParadeNYC.org/events
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100 Uses for a Bandana

2009-08-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

Wilderness Exchange: Bandana Mania

Games for All ages

2009-08-23T07:06:00.000-05:00

Games for All ages from TDC games

Slashdot: Amazon Confirms EC2/S3 Not PCI Level 1 Compliant

2009-08-18T05:51:00.001-05:00

Jason writes "After months of digging though speculation and polar opposite opinions from PCI experts, I finally sent a direct request to Amazon's AWS sales team asking if they are in fact PCI compliant and will provide documentation attesting that they are as is required by PCI guidlines. I fully expecting them to dodge the question and refer me to a QSA, but to my relief, they replied with a refreshingly honest and absolute confirmation that it is currently impossible to meet PCI level 1 compliance using AWS services for card data storage. They also very strong suggest that cardnumbers never be stored on EC2 or S3 as those services are inherently noncompliant. For now at least, the official verdict is if you need to process credit cards, the Amazon cloud platform is off the table."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/YZxY3trCXZE/Amazon-Confirms-EC2S3-Not-PCI-Level-1-Compliant

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Blackberry Geocachers: BlackStar - new (FREE) geocaching on BlackBerryForums.com

2009-08-13T13:50:00.001-05:00

http://www.blackberryforums.com/gps-mapping/151516-blackberry-geocachers-blackstar-new-free-geocaching-software-blackberry.html

Chinese bride trains eye on wedding dress record

2009-08-06T22:09:00.001-05:00

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - A Chinese bride is hoping to enter the record books after getting married in a wedding dress with a train more than 2 km (1.2 miles) long trailing behind her.

http://mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/FullArticle/CODD/noddlyEnoughNews_uUSTRE5751VE20090806?src=RSS-ODD

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World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin

2009-08-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Blackberry Apps

2009-08-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

Does anyone have good recommendations for apps on my Blackberry?

I am considering Skype, and I already have Google Voice, Mobile, and Maps.

What recommendations do you have? Shazam?

Some apps are WAP-only: LinkedIn

Today's interesting products

2009-08-01T08:32:00.004-05:00

We're getting the usual batch of catalogs. Here are my interesting picks:

Simple Lasagna Pan (***), OXO Good Grips Salad Chopper (**), Bacon Genie (****), Henry VIII Mug (****), Fishing scale (****, useful for weighing propane canisters to avoid hosting a "bring your own propane bbq), shop glasses for the kitchen (*), Alphabet/Number Cake Pan (***), Globe with Constellation Night Light (**).

And from Hammacher Schlemmer: Faraday Wallet (*****), Negative Converter (****), The Solar Pool Heating Rings (***) And a few really bad ideas: Steering wheel speaker (*/2), The Safest Pet Nail Clipper (*).

Event Me: New York Rotary Club Luncheon Speaker Anne Nelson (7/27)

2009-07-28T09:06:00.001-05:00

Event Me: New York Rotary Club Luncheon Speaker Anne Nelson (7/27)

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Roundup: BlackBerry Twitter Clients | CrackBerry.com

2009-07-18T07:46:00.000-05:00

I'm reloading all of my apps on my BB. Any suggestions?

Here's a good link on the twitter clients: Roundup: BlackBerry Twitter Clients | CrackBerry.com

Google Voice

2009-07-10T12:42:00.003-05:00

This just in: Google Voice is now a Blackberry Applet:
http://www.google.com/mobile/products/voice.html#p=blackberry

I figured out how to dial by url, so I can script it now!

https://www.google.com/voice/m/caller?number=+1212.5551212

Other tips:

1) Track your niche with http://news.google.com/news...

2) Use RSS for personalized news: http://www.google.com/reade...

3) Find clients with http://m.linkedin.com/membe...

4) Feedster searches your RSS feeds: http://feedsifter.com/?f=ht...;

5) Try http://youtube.com/mameres

How to build an ark - Boston.com

2009-07-03T09:09:00.002-05:00

How to build an ark - Boston.com

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Meet the Mrs. Met

2009-07-02T22:46:00.001-05:00

Mythology Genealogy

2009-07-02T07:15:00.006-05:00

I was reading up on my mythology and wandered into a few genealogy charts. (Powerpoint Version)

Learn to Fly!

2009-07-02T06:34:00.000-05:00

Ride the Neverland Dragon Coaster @ Coney Island

2009-06-30T12:42:00.000-05:00

http://gothamist.com/attachments/arts_jen/dragonwagonneverland.jpg

Picasa has an experimental feature to show duplicates

2009-06-30T10:16:00.004-05:00

It's under tools, experimental. Deets when I have more time to write...

I found it while trying to update a TwitterStreamGraph

Google image search fun

2009-06-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/?i=-6039727919300673949&c=CMb24ZXxm5sC&n=1

Family Christmas photo found in Czech ad - Weird news

2009-06-12T18:27:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31214408/ns/world_news-weird_news

D-Day

2009-06-06T07:02:00.007-05:00

Don't forget that today is D-Day. You may want to fly the flag, if it's not raining in your area.

On a personal note, you can actually ride one of the D-Day ships between Orient Point , Long Island and New London, CT.

I discovered this by accident when I was making a round trip of Long Island Sound to take care of a whole bunch of errands between Cape Cod and Ramsey, NJ.

Happy Birthday from The Beatles

2009-06-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

YouTube - Happy Birthday - The Beatles: "Happy Birthday done by the Beatles"

You've Dropped Your Landline — Now What?

2009-06-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

Slashdot Ask Slashdot Story | You've Dropped Your Landline — Now What to do with the copper already in our house? My first thought was an intercom system, but that just seems so old school!"

(geeky, but fun reading from Slashdot -Mark)

GenderAnalyzer - Determine if a homepage is written by a man or woman

2009-05-25T20:09:00.000-05:00

GenderAnalyzer - Determine if a homepage is written by a man or woman

What Color Is The Empire State Building?

2009-05-25T20:01:00.000-05:00

RPI-NYC Elections

2009-05-17T19:25:00.001-05:00

Please join us for the Rensselaer Club of NYC elections on Monday night:

https://arpinet.rpi.edu/default.aspx?Page=EVNTEventDetail&EventID=1610

Yorkville, Manhattan

2009-05-11T04:48:00.000-05:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkville,_Manhattan
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USS Von Steuben (SSBN-632)

2009-05-11T04:40:00.000-05:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Von_Steuben_(SSBN-632)
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USMA Bicentennial

2009-05-11T04:10:00.000-05:00

Rensselaer was the 2nd engineering college in the US, after West Point: http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/history_impact.asp

I found this as part of some research on Von Steuben:

http://www.vonsteuben.org
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The Straight Dope: What are the 36 basic literary plots?

2009-04-02T11:58:00.001-05:00

We were discussing how many different movie plots were possible the other day. This lead me to researching what the officials had to say, which lead me to The Straight Dope. Depending on how detailed you want to be, there are probably 36 basic plots.

Blackberry App Store

2009-04-02T10:51:00.000-05:00

http://tinyurl.com/c368do
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This is insanely useful. PageZipper - auto-MORE for websites

2009-03-29T12:08:00.002-05:00

This javascript button is great for reading news pages"
http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/pagezipper

Three Stooges movie: Jim Carrey as Curly!?

2009-03-26T12:04:00.002-05:00

"Maybe you thought it was a terrible joke when word surfaced a while back that the Farrelly brothers were intent on making a "Three Stooges" movie. Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck, joke"s on you. It turns out there really is a movie in the offing, and now we have some unlikely names attached to the starring roles. MGM has set amiable Oscar-winner Sean Penn to play the dunderheaded Larry, and negotiations are under way with Jim Carrey to play Curly. He"s reportedly already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome "Curly" Howard. The studio wants Benicio Del Toro to play the eye-ball-poking, head-slapping ringleader, Moe...."

Watching chriswinfield @ #SESNY

2009-03-26T10:17:00.000-05:00

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=chriswinfield
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The Home of HaRo - Shankman.com

2009-03-26T07:55:00.000-05:00

This site, home of Help A Reporter Out, is my latest fascination. Not enough to reply yet, but it's interesting to see how reporter gather their story info.

http://shankman.com/haro-master-faq/
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WOTDs

2009-03-20T03:21:00.001-05:00

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by changing a letter, and supply a new definition. The winners:

1. Cashtration. The act of buying a house, which renders
the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus. A person who's both stupid and an
asshole.
3. Intaxication. Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which
lasts until yourealize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation. Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone. The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign ofbreaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy. Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of gettinglaid.
7. Giraffiti. Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
8. Sarchasm. The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person whodoesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte. To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis. A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon. It's like, when everybody is sending off all these reallybad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a seriousbummer.
12. Decafalon. The grueling event of getting through the day consumingonly things that are good for you.
13. Glibido. All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler Effect. The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when theycome at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic Fit. The frantic dance performed just after you'veaccidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug. Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into yourbedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor. The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published alternate meanings for common words. The winners:

1. Coffee. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate. To give up all hope of ever having a flat
stomach.
4 esplanade. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly. Impotent.
6. Negligent. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run overby a steamroller.
10. Balderdash. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock

2009-03-10T20:26:00.000-05:00

http://www.samkass.com/theories/RPSSL.html
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CheckUserNames: Social Media Username Checker

2009-02-27T22:52:00.000-05:00

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/checkusernames-social-media-username-checker/
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Gibbs' Rules

2009-02-26T21:36:00.001-05:00

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/gibbsrules/
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What’s Your Favorite Tech Folk Remedy? - NYTimes.com

2009-02-19T14:45:00.001-05:00

Call me before you try these at home.

Anyone know how to fix a bad lcd screen?

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/whats-your-favorite-tech-folk-remedy/?partner=rss
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