The rise of YouTube

It seems that YouTube is going from strength to strength, Further proof that this is the way of the future is that NBC have signed a deal with YouTube to promote some of it’s shows. Movies and TV over the net is the future and the sooner companies such as NBC adopt this the better.

It won’t be long before you can view anything you want over the net. Hey lets ditch the TV altogether. Now there’s an idea!

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PS3 too complex

There is concern that PS3 could be too complex and hinder production, particularly early on. I don’t see it being an issue myself. I am sure I will get my PS3 eventually and I am also certain it will be worth whatever delays there maybe.

News that it is a complex machine is music to the ears. This means that the many features and cool stuff that the PS3 will come with will blow us away. Now if I could just stop working so I can have more time to play the damn thing!

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No protection needed

Why do authorities believe they have the right to ban films or in this case video games? The news that Australia has banned the Reservoir Dogs game is just ridiculous. If they are trying to protect kids then surely that’s the parent’s job.

I am always annoyed that I don’t get to make up my own mind about what I do and do not see or play. Come on, give us a break! The majority of the population does not take these things literally and go on shooting rampages or whatever.

To those that lobby these groups to get games like this banned, I say give it a break. If you don’t like the game don’t play it, it’s your choice.

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He is no Superman

I would have to say the previews I have seen of the new Superman movie look very disappointing. Who choose Brandon Routh to play Superman? He certainly doesn’t look the part. Of course no one will ever compare to Christopher Reeve as Superman.

I also feel the special effects and so forth look so fake. They should have made the movie in the same style as the original Superman films.

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Not who you are

The fear in Iraq is apparent even amongst the locals. You must be adaptable in your appearance, how you act, what you say and much more. Do not draw attention to yourself is the keyword.

How can people live like this? Off course I’m sure the US presence has not helped this situation but then I suspect it was like this before the US arrived.

Never having been to Iraq or anywhere quite like it, it is hard for me to comprehend having to live like this. Will it ever get better?

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Competition for Fireworks

Microsoft’s purchase of iview multimedia is a sign that it wants to take on industry leaders such as Adobe’s Fireworks in the digital imaging market. Digital photo management is a huge area and one that will continue to grow. I welcome this move by Microsoft, as competition is always a good thing. However any products they offer in this area are going to have to be really special. I say this as I have a bias towards Fireworks given that I use this product now and find it too be an exceptional piece of software.

It does seem that Microsoft are trying to get a finger in every pie, a bit like Google.

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Myspaceoooogle

That could have been the new name for Myspace had Google purchased it when they had the chance. Rupert Murdoch has come out and said that Google had the chance to purchase Myspace for half the price that he paid for it! Google didn’t and the rest is history. Is this a blunder on Google’s part? Well I think Google believe they can do a better job on their own. Time will tell but it certainly would have been an impressive addition to their portfolio and furthered strengthened there position as the dominant player in the Internet world.

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Is Putin too powerful?

It seems Europe and the US have been upsetting the Russian president Vladimir Putin. No leader likes too be told how to run their country and Putin is no exception. While I would agree that Putin does seem to have far too much power is it really up to the likes of the US to try and dictate to him how to runs his country. Probably not and really I think the US and others should butt out. It’s rather amusing actually that the US believe Putin is too powerful. Why doesn’t George Bush have a look in the mirror? Isn’t the US the one that’s out of control!

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Plan for change

The recent announcement by Bill Gates that he is “stepping down” at Microsoft is an excellent example on how a change at the top of any organisation should be handled. Too often the “top dogs” move on without little planning being done for their departure. For some organisations this type of “unplanned for” exit can be disastrous, particularly if the executive who is leaving plays a critical role in an organisation such as Bill Gates does at Microsoft.

I never thought I would say this, but we can learn from Microsoft.

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Exciting times ahead

I am really excited by the way that technology is changing how and where we view TV. Broadcasters are slowly embracing the Internet and beginning to allow their content to be viewed this way. You can view shows on a number of mobile devices as well, something that was unheard off not too long ago. The digital revolution is alive and well. Now if we could just view everything for free!

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eBay to launch adverts

eBay has decided to enter the keyword advertising market. eBay are a big advertiser on Google & Yahoo so this move to try there own system could eventually see a drop off in advertising by them. The new system will enable publishers to have eBay ad’s on their site that will link directly to auctions relating to keywords they have published. Publishers will also be able to get a share of the revenue. I’m all for making money so sounds good to me. It seems though that with so many adverts out there adding another advertiser is going to make the Internet even more like a giant billboard. This wasn’t exactly what it was designed for but hey you have to make a living.

Web Security tips

Most of us have the standard range of security products installed on our PC’s. There’s an anti-virus program, firewall, pop up blockers and so on. While all these things are recommended when it comes to staying safe online they are not going to stop all the threats. A recent survey has revealed that as many as 6% of sites visited during common searches are classified as potentially dangerous. You can get a site advisor add-on for browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox. The advisor will flag any site it considers dangerous. It seems that protecting yourself online gets more time consuming every day. Internet security is a real problem and unfortunately there does not seem to be an easy solution to the problem. While there are some pretty tough punishments in place for certain Internet crimes that cause security issues the problem is usually finding someone to arrest. So the best advice I can give is be sensible about your Internet surfing and you will be pretty safe (fingers crossed!).

PayPal to get some competition

Google are at it again with news that they have been testing a payment system called GBuy. Paypal have been dominant in this market for some time so it's good to see some competition in this area. Can PayPal be knocked off it's perch? Well if anyone can do it, it's Google. Having been a longtime user of PayPal I find their service to be extremly good so it will take something extra special from Google to make me change.

WebProNews have a great article on this. Click here to view

Get access to restricted countries services

How many times have you wanted to view something or download something from a web site only to find you can't becuase your IP address is not one from that country. Not being able to access what you want can be one of the most frustrating things about the internet. Well fear not, help is here. You can now "mask" your IP address so that it matches the one in the country whose content you are trying to access.

So just how do you do this. Well check out this blog from 6initiative.com

MySpace looking for a search engine

MySpace are in the market for a search engine to handle queries on it's site. MySpace currently has Yahoo's Overture search engine but NewsCorp who own MySpace are looking at a number of search engine's to handle queries on it's web sites, the result of which may see a change to Yahoo being used. Newscorp have invested heavily in MySpace including trying to make money with online ads and have spent some $2billion dollars to try and make this happen.

Goto MySpace

Google way ahead in searches

Google has continued to have a strangle hold on the search market. The May survey results show that Google had a massive 59% share of all searches. For the executives at Yahoo and Microsoft this must be of concern. These two companies have been investing heavily in the search market as they try to compete against Google. It seems that Google have become so entrenched in people's use of the internet that it's going to take something really special to change that. Perhaps it's the simplicity of it all. Google's site is not visually stunning but it does what it does extremly well.

The spys are out: Be careful what you post

A US government spy agency is reported to be looking into spying on what people are posting about themselves online. The NSA could use the information they harvest about people's online activities in conjunction with other information they already get such as your phone calls and the like. By doing this the NSA will be able to build up a pretty good picture about you. So should we be worried? Well yes and know. By posting anything online one has to assume that's it's public. So if you don't have anything to hide then you shouldn't be concerned. The big problem is though is just what the NSA are using this information for. Of course while we can speculate no one really knows except the NSA.

Google and Firefox: Is this the new Google browser

Google has again been seen to be supporting Firefox. They have released a new free plug in for the browser which allows you to unify things such as your bookmarks, history, cookies and so on. Another cool feature is the ability to have your browser open with the same tabs that were open when you last closed it. Can see this been rather useful. As for the rumours of Google building it's own browser. I can't see that happening, or certainly not for a long time. It seems that with the great relationship Goolge have with Firefox that Firefox is the new Google Browser. Your thoughts on that?

Google spreadsheets: A way to go yet

I have been reading with interest a number of views regarding Google’s new spreadsheet offering and in particular it’s threat to Microsoft. I personally quite like what Google have to offer but it has to be remembered that it is a very basic offering and is in its infancy. There is plenty of comment going around about how they are no threat to Microsoft. I totally disagree. While the product in it’s present form certainly won’t have Bill Gate’s shaking in his boots, given time and further development then watch out. It’s clear that Google are wanting to take on Microsoft Office by developing it’s own Office suite of applications. Take my word for it, Google don’t do things half-heartedly and just for fun.

Yahoo has new photo site

Yahoo has been redesigning and upgrading it’s photo site. It is expected a beta release of this to be available on Thursday. So what have they been up to? You will now be able to upload high-resolution pictures, add comments, keywords and a bunch of other stuff. You will also be able to drag and drop your images to re-organise your page. Sounds pretty nifty. Part of the fun of the Internet is sharing your stuff with the online community. Photo sharing is just part of that and it sounds as though Yahoo’s new site will deliver.

Get CBS on itunes

CBS has made some of it’s content available on the hugely popular itunes. You can now get CSI, Survivor and a few others through this service. It seems this is the way of the future. It will add further to the move away from traditional TV viewing and onto the Internet. Viewing TV shows on your ipod has proven extremely popular and will only continue to grow. The time will come where you can get any show over the internet.

More browser security flaws

Symantec have reported that browsers such as Internet Explorer, Fireforx and so on could be subject to what’s known as Zero-Day flaw. The problem is that these browsers are vulnerable to javascript which could potentially see you giving up sensitive information such as credit card numbers and the likes. The problem is that criminals could capture your keystrokes and effectively upload them to themselves. Keystroke logging is not new but it’s disturbing to once again see a security flaw such as. What can be done about it? Well make sure you have the latest version of your security suite but to be extra cautious you could disable scripting etc within your browser. I personally am tired of this being offered as an option since so many web sites use some form of scripting. Can’t the problem just be fixed?

China against Google.com

It’s now been reported that China have effectively killed off access to Google.con for the majority of users. A drastic step and one which surely breaches your right to access information but then this is China we are talking about. The chinese version of Goolge (Google China) is reported to be functioning fine. Funny that!

Spreadsheets take to the Web

Google has shaken up the spreadsheet market (well given notice to Microsoft) by announcing that it will be developing a spreadsheet application as a web-based application. A limited trial of this software will begin on Tuesday and if it proves successful could change the way we use and share spreadsheet data forever. While spreadsheets have been around since 1978 they have never really developed into something that allows for easy sharing of data and collaboration over the same spreadsheet. Just how much demand there will be for this remains to be seen. The Google spreadsheet will work with Google Base, which is an online database service where you can store information. Because databases are considered time consuming and difficult to develop the Google Base service is seen as a stepping stone into this area. Now that you can use online spreadsheets in conjunction with this we could see the service really take off. Interesting times ahead.

New Security Tool from Microsoft

Are you worried about your security when you are online? Do you use Microsoft products (a few of us do)? Microsoft has unveiled its first security product called OneCare. Released on the 1st June 2006, OneCare combines anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall programs into one package. Incredibly Microsoft claim that 70% of users either have no security software or their software is out of date. This figure is staggering given the amount of publicity protecting your PC receives in the media. Obviously users are quite blasé about the whole security issue. The OneCare package has been in testing by Windows XP users so hopefully the product itself won’t contain any bugs or security holes. As an extra OneCare also provides back-up software so you can recover your important data should you have issues with your PC. It’s interesting to note that it’s because of Microsoft’s products (mainly Windows) that the whole security industry has flourished. Now Microsoft has entered the market to fix problems that they created in the first place. Maybe they planned it this way! So now there’s competition for the giants such as McAfee, Norton and many others who specialise in security products. I am fully supportive of Microsoft’s move into this industry but my advice is to still run more than one piece of security software. You can’t be too protected.

Is your email being read?

It’s not uncommon now for big companies to hire people just to read your emails. Isn’t this some sort of breach of your rights? Well you might have though so but what you do and write on your computer at work is actually the property of that company so some argue they have every right. While it’s general considered acceptable to use your work email for limited personal use, abuse of this can have serious consequences. There is also the problem with confidential information getting leaked in the form of emails. It’s a fine line this one and you can argue both sides here. I do find it disturbing though that there are people who potentially could be reading everything I write, as innocent as it maybe.

Internet telephones: I like them

I am watching with interest the development of making phone calls over the internet. I'm sure the telecommunications companies are as well. This is a development that will affect us all and change the way we make phone calls for ever. For the uptake of this technology to move along exisitng phones need to be replaced or adapted for making calls over the internet. This will be a slow process but one I think will happen over time. Ebay's purchase of Skype some 9 months ago indicated that this is going to be serious technology. The problem at present for many of us is that we have to put on a headset and be sitting at our PC when making these calls. Yes I know there are phones out there already so you don't have to do this but as I said there uptake is going to be a slow process even in my house. Be interested to hear if you make calls this way? I looking forward to the day I can ditch my telecommunications company all together.

Yahoo and Ebay get married

Looks like Yahoo and Ebay are getting hitched. The two have announced a strategic partnership which will see them providing each others services to their customers. It's clear they are looking at taking on the likes of Microsoft and Google and this partnership strengthens there position to do so. So just what will they be offering in the parternship. Yahoo gets to be the exclusive provider of graphical ad's on ebay. This is huge. Ebay is massive with millions of customers and is used world wide so big exposure. It's also a big thing for PayPal which is owned by Ebay. Again PayPal has become the major player making online payments and under the agreement with Yahoo will be provider of it's online wallet. Customers will start to see signs of the partnership later in the year. Watch this space as this is a major deal and one that will shake up the web a bit.

New acttivity for Web Users: Spot the immigrant

It's been reported that a US State (Texas) will be having web users monitor it's webcam surveillance footage of the Mexican Border. Sure it's not a console game in development/research mode? If you spot an illegal immigrant then you can phone into the hotline. Don't expct to receive a reward though but at least the phonecall will be free. Can you see it now, hundreds of people staying at the screen for hours on end and nothing happening. Sounds like alot of peoples lives aleady.

Swedish Police Web Site Hacked

Sweden's National Police website was shut down after it was hacked with a denial of service attack. There is speculation that it's in retaliation to the polic shutting down an illegal file-sharing serivce. Probably on the money with that speculation. One can't blae the police for closing this service. Any illegal file-sharing needs to be stamped out. I myself have never used such a service. It's pretty disturbing if in fact it turns out that the police site was targeted because of this closure. This can have wider implications for all of us. What hapen's if you piss someone off, could they target your web site, home computer or whatever. I'm absolutely certain they could. Scary times!

Changing face of the Web

We are all becoming more expert users of the Internet and as experts are making more rapid decisions and clicking that mouse at ever faster speeds. A recent survey has recorded that the average web users will spend 25 seconds or less on a sites home page, therefore you need to make an instant impression. Web use has grown at phenomenal rates to the point that the Internet is considered part of mainstream every day life. How do you rate your Internet experience? Websites are trying to personalise the experience for us by a number of methods to try and serve up content that they think we will be interest in. This technology is still evolving so watch out for many changes in the “personalised” browsing experience to come yet. Google has become a phenomenon and is at the centre of many users web experience. For a lot of users the web is Google. What you can now view and find on the internet has also changed with the emergence of video, audio, movies and other such content now been available that wasn’t present a few years ago. So where to next? Watch this space

Two-Tiered Internet: Is this a possibility?

News is out that big telecommunications giants such as AT&T, Bell South and others are lobbying Congress in regards to blocking proposed laws that would prevent a two-tiered internet being developed. Essentially a two-tiered internet is a fast lane for web sites that are able to afford it and a slow lane for everyone else. Confused? What this means is these telecommunication companies are wanting to charge Web Sites to have fast delivery of there high bandwithed data such as video, television, movies and other data. If this gets through congress then it has ramifications for all of us. Essentialy increased costs to see what we want. At present these companies simply provide the pipelines for the internet but don't "profit" as such from the content that is transmitted over them. If costs go up for site owners providing high bandwith traffic then sure as hell this will be passed on to us the consumers of this data. That indeed will be a sad day for all.

Internet Addiction: Is this a problem?

Internet Addiction continues to grow and is a real problem affecting more and more of us and causing problems in more and more households. Are you developing addictive type behaviours to the internet and your use of it? If you cannot stop thinking about the internet and when you can get online for you next "fix" then chances are you are suffering from some degree of Internet Addiction. Dr Diane M. Wieland who has a practice in Lansdale Pennsylvania where she treats patients with computer addictions thinks that 5 to 10 percent of Internet uses will most likely experience addiction. There is a good publication out there called "Caught in the Net - How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction and a Winning Strategy for Recovery," authored by Kimberly S. Young".

Do you suffer from this addiction? Signs can be sleep deprevation, irretability when away from the internet, decreased physical activity and a general disregard for your health among other signs.

Google has no plans for a web browser

Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt has said today the Google has no plans to develop it's own Web Browser. Eric's view was there are a number of good browsers on the market at the moment and unless they were going to offer something special that was not currently available and would benefit the user then there was no need for it. Google does make a point though of encouraging users to use alternative browsers other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer. No surprise there given the great rivalry that has developed between Google and Microsoft.

I totally agree with Google's position on this (at the moment). Firefox is my browser of choice and I am currently happy with the range of features. I think the big development that is required in Browser technology is for the smaller mobile devices such as PDA's. Maybe Google could enter this market.