Blog Posts of Category Daily Update

Google Gears Keeps You Connected Offline

On Tuesday, Google announced another new product, Google Gears (of course, only in early Beta version). Gears is Google's new framework for developing applications that will work offline. They're making it an entirely open-source thing, as well as giving a detailed API sometime in the near future, so expect this thing to go far.

The New Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface LogoMany have been talking about the future of computing being something you can easily touch. Tom Cruise did it in Minority Report. There's been demos of people playing Warcraft or manipulating maps and stuff only using very intuitive commands via their fingers.

Building Vibrant Online Communities

Via WordPress' Matt Mullenweg I found this interesting post about building online communities. There were some interesting points. None of them really surprised me, but they are good points to keep in mind when endeavoring to build an online community.

Amazon.com To Get In Download Music Game

Yesterday a press release issued from Amazon.com announced that they will be opening an online music download store. There are many players in this still-emerging market, but having another big player is definitely a good thing.

Mall of America Phase II Expansion

Mall of America Entrance LogoMy life has always been close to the east side of Bloomington, MN. For the last 15 years or so, the People of Praise has had their headquarters there. I went to middle and high school at Trinity Schools in the same building. And now, I work just a mile away from there.

Drupal's Must-Read Sensation!

One of the major pet peeves of myself and many others who strive to use open-source software on a regular basis is the lack of documentation. Sure, installing it out of the box is well-documented, but modifying it besides downloading plug-ins/modules is rarely documented. Sometimes there's a nice API, but how does one get from not knowing anything about the system to just needing to know the exact syntax for a certain function?

The More Efficient Elevator for Skyscrapers

Joel on Software said he recently visited the new 7 World Trade Center building, which includes new computer dispatched elevators. Here's how he describes it:

Instead of having up and down buttons outside the elevators, there's a numeric keypad, where you key in the floor number you're going to. Then an LED display tells you which elevator to wait for. Once you get in the elevator, you don't have to press any buttons (and there are none to press).

Google Buys Majority Stake in Internet

OK, that's not exactly true. Google has announced the acquisition of DoubleClick, which has been the leader in Internet advertising as long as I can remember. Although most had valued the company at $1 billion, the $3.1 billion cash purchase will make Google, by far, the biggest player in the online ad game. Not surprisingly, other players in the Internet advertising market such as Microsoft and Yahoo!

Real-Life Mario Kart 64 Achieved!

The folks at ThinkGeek.com, of course, have done it again. Not only are they providing useful things like the RFID Blocking Passport Billfold, but they also have a large remote control go kart with Mario sitting on top of it. And, if that wasn't cool enough, the zany minds at ThinkGeek have even provided us a snappy video of it in action, complete with plenty of Nintendo sound effects and drama.

Summer 2007 Movie Preview

I wrote a post on inReview.net about this summer's movies. Check it out:

Summer is fast approaching as the last couple days have been in the 70s even here in Minnesota. No doubt, as there is every summer, there will be lots of fluff to keep us entertained, not the least of which is the end of the movie hat trick. With new episodes of Pirate of the Carribean, Shrek, and Spider-Man, Hollywood hopes to bring everybody (and their friends) back for another million or so. Plus, I'll outline the others not to miss this summer. Here's my thoughts on this summer's movies.

Joost: The TV of the Future?

Joost LogoIf you tried to talk to me recently about a TV show, there's no doubt you heard the words, "What is TV?" or "TV is so last century." I've not had a TV for four and a half years, and I don't regret a minute of it. Sure there might be one or two decent shows on TV right now, but if I wanted to watch them, I'd do that on my own schedule.

Apple and EMI Announced Change In The Music Industry

On Monday, Apple and EMI Music announced that EMI will be taking DRM off of their music on iTunes. The DRM-free singles will cost $1.29 instead of $0.99, but besides being DRM-free, they will also be twice the audio quality. Also, if you purchase the whole album, it is the same price and is the higher-quality, DRM-free tracks. They announced that this would be going live in May.

Adobe Apollo: Install Flash Applications on Your Desktop

I recently heard about Adobe Apollo, a new system developed by the new Adobe/Macromedia. In a video demonstration, they showed an eBay application using Apollo technology. With Apollo, eBay was able to make a downloadable and installable application that will work on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. You can browse the eBay site, post items to sell, etc.

Web Developers and Linux

If you're a web developer or designer, you may not run a form of Linux as your development environment, but you still have your websites hosted on a Linux server and have to do some administration of it.

Mute Math's Crazy First Music Video

I love Mute Math. 'Nuff said.

The Drupal Dojo

By the end of next week, I'll probably be either a Drupal ninja or I'll be fired. So what am I going to do this week? I'm going to be downloading lots of screencasts from the Drupal Dojo site. They've got plenty of stuff to get you thinking about the ninja-like moves you could do in Drupal too.

What Happened To The Daily Update?

Some might be wondering such a thing. Well, it depends on what you're really asking.

A couple weeks ago I dropped the "Daily Update 3/21/2007:" from the post title. I realized that was not really helping Search Engine Optimization at all. Plus, well, it doesn't look cool. Plus, trying to make it include a "da" wasn't working well either.

Point and Click With Your Eye

I recently ran across this article on a Search Engine Optimization site. Many may not know that SEO/SEM peoples are also interested in interface design for the best and easiest way to reach their customers. Bill Slawski of SEO By The Sea found some interesting research papers from Stanford about a point and click interface - except without a mouse.

Music Industry To Kill Online Radio

You'd think that one of these times the RIAA would make a smart move. Well, I guess the only word in their vocabulary is "money". One of these years, they will figure out that just means, "losing money".

The Academy Awards of DVD

The guys over at The Digital Bits have been covering the wide world of DVD for a whole decade now. I've always enjoyed that they find out the advance word on DVDs. Plus, their in-depth reviews tell me all that I want to know - if the video and audio quality is good and how many special features are on the disc.

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