brainmower

The old Internet

I was getting nostalgic at lunch the other day talking with friends about the "old Internet".  There were a few quality sites that are no longer available, specifically Productopia. Lately I have really been enjoying RSS feeds via Google Reader. The ability to share favorite articles and view your friend's recommendations has finally made RSS a worthwhile application on my taskbar.  Still, as I look at my Google Reader, I am reminded of PointCast from circa 1996.  PointCast was WAY ahead of i...

Google Voice – after the dust has settled

I am coming around to really liking Google Voice.  Google Voice is more than just another phone number, it has: -web based SMS -voicemail transcribed to txt. (very slick!) -advanced call routing/handling, including time based clauses -easy to use Gmail like interface -integration with Google Contacts Google Voice centralizes all of my SMS and voice communications with the added benefit of using my Google Contacts.  I can offer a single phone number to callers, change where those calls ...

Did you know?

Google Voice

Finally got my upgrade to Google Voice. Too bad I don't like talking on the phone! I tried the voicemail transcription to text feature and it was 100% accurate. Impressive.

Boxee vs Hulu – The viewers lose

In a recent blog post Hulu stated their content providers requested they "turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes". Hulu is pulling their support for Boxee effective 02-20-2009. Removing Hulu integration with Boxee is a lose/lose idea for Hulu, Boxee, Content Providers and Users.  Let's break it down. Content Providers: The content providers want eyeballs because eyeballs mean revenue. To gain those eyeballs content providers want NEED to e...

What is Twitter and why should you care?

(originally posted on my business blog) If you’ve never heard of Twitter, bear with me. Twitter is a funny name, but one you should know. In its’ most basic form, Twitter is a website that asks the simple question: “What are you doing right now?” You are free to answer that question as often as you like, as long as the answer is under 140 characters. Why 140 characters? The main interface for using Twitter is via text message, which has a 140 character limit. While the above definition of ...

VMware Fusion vs BootCamp

I recently decided to install Apple BootCamp on my iMac so that I can play Windows only games from home. BootCamp is a utilty included in the Mac OS that allows users to install Windows as a secondary OS on a Macintosh computer. Running Windows on a Mac is not new to me. I have been using VMware Fusion for over a year. With VMware Fusion Windows is not installed directly on the Macintosh but rather in a Virtual Machine. Simply put this means that the entire Windows environment is just another...

Dell Mini9 and the Cloud

My Dell mini9 arrived.  The mini9 is Dell's entry into the netbook market. I have been quite skeptical of the cloud and the value of a netbook, but I'm at the airport on free WIFI and I've been accessing everything I need from my web browser. Webmail, my companies CRM, Facebook, Twitter...all from a 2lb, $400 laptop. I feel the mini9, except for a few keyboard oddities and a slightly dim screen, was a great purchase. If I'm not on the Internet, computers have little value to me. Everythin...

Google Chrome is your new PC

Google has released a new browser called Chrome.  Unlike Firefox or IE, Chrome is intended to be a full Operating System in the near future.  It's pretty clear Google wants to change the rules of Information Technology and Chrome is just a starting point.  Just like Email became Gmail, it appears Google intends to replace the PC with the GC (Google Computer).  The Google Computer will run Chrome as an OS and a suite of Apps Google will provide in the cloud.  Once Google picks up a decent fina...

When your computer crashes

A friend has been having a lot of problems with his computer. I happened to come across this today and thought it would be worth sharing. It's an ad touting the Lenovo one button data restore feature. I'm not a Lenovo fan, but this looks cool. Creepy? Yes. Funny? I think so....