Regular readers of this blog know that I'm somewhat of a weather geek (understatement :).
It goes back many years to when I placed one of the first independent weather stations on the Internet and joined with several rapidly growing weather communities on the Net.
Numerous friendships were made over the years, and I continue to learn almost as much about weather, as I do about computers, the Internet and yes, the ever-changing world of SEO (and Google), every day.
While the science of local weather forecasting in the US has improved dramatically over the past few years, hurricanes are another story. They can be spotted forming earlier. There are more computer models and better resources. But, in the end, they seem to always surprise us one way or another.
For those that are interested, I still maintain a collection of good weather, hurricane, and earthquakes websites here. Many of the websites and blogs have been around for many years. Most have improved dramatically. For all intents and purposes, it's now a live bookmark page for myself that I visit about once a month to update.
There are a lot of excellent hurricane meteorologists on the web and in syndication on TV. My personal favorite is Joe Bastardi at Accuweather.com. Jeff Masters also usually has a pretty good take on things at Wunderground.
During this event, I've been making a few posts to Friendfeed including this thread. A large weather community is building there as well (with now three rooms devoted to weather). The interaction is excellent between those watching and some who have just seen the storms pass over.
The FACT is that many weather vehicles (like local forecasts) are now incredibly accurate. Hurricane forecasting is based on models and history (and experience). Even the best forecast tracks still can't be exacting as these finicky systems can stall over warm water, or race to land, at any time. As time goes on, no doubt, the models and computer comparisons will improve.
In the meantime, if you're in the path of one of these systems, watch their progress often.
Hope this helps a few as what appears to be the most significant hurricane in a while, Gustav, continues to gain momentum.
Update 9 PM Aug 30: Earlier this evening, numerous announcements were made regarding mandatory evacuations in New Orleans as well as the current dramatic increase in the size and intensity of Hurricane Gustav as it crosses Cuba. Florida is feeling the outermost feeder bands at this hour. New links and more are being posted to my FriendFeed (by others) and others to the Hurricane Room including numerous live feeds from throughout the area. Excellent overall coverage. I have added some additional resources to behindtheweather.com as well.
Update 11:29 PM ET - Another excellent link to four local Louisiana TV stations (Thanks Bwana)
http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/gustav.html
(One of the best links during this event)
Update 5 AM ET - DirecTV has launched a Hurricane Gustav Information channel (363) with evacuation and other information.
Another good list has been published here .
It's 11 PM on Saturday night and you certainly don't need me to tell you about the extraordinary evacuation of the Gulf Coast throughout the day today.
To the hundreds of people that chimed in to help in anyway they could on Twitter, Friendfeed, and the many other microblogging services and aggregators (prior to full time coverage by the mainstream media) .... If you helped one person get out of harms way, you did a GREAT thing.
Charlie
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Microsoft acquiring Greenfield Online
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), in a press release a short time ago, confirmed that the company is acquiring Greenfield Online (NASDAQ: SRVY) , the European shopping and consumer product price comparison company.
In a departure from past acquisition announcements, the statement was issued to several press release newswires, as opposed to Microsoft's own portal for journalists.
This past week. Microsoft raised the bar with an extensive buzz on it's Live.com Search Cashback program, with numerous new partners, as well as some new deeply discounted stores.
Greenfield Online's flagship website is Ciao.com, a popular shopping portal used throughout the EU and beyond.
Microsoft is paying $486 million (US) in cash to acquire Greenfield. The deal remains subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals.
The complete text from PR Newswire can still be found at Yahoo Finance here.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 is here
As I've written recently, I've spent a lot of time with IE8 Beta 1 but didn't feel comfortable recommending it to anyone because of serious stability and other issues (some of which were solved over time).
This is just a heads up for you guys (and gals) with beta boxes that can't wait to get your hands on the 'next big thing'.
Well first, consider it's still a beta and not a release candidate.
As for me? I'm takin' it for a little test drive tonight and will do a more in-depth feature tonight or tomorrow.
Compatibility? Speed? Features?
Stay tuned :)
The download for the new Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 can be found here.
Update: There are already at least 20 good to excellent articles on the new beta from Microsoft. The links are at TechMeMe here. There's a lot to work through (not the least of which is privacy and under the hood in particular) so look for our review in a few days
Update 2: Lacking read time? Microsoft has now posted a good 'quick Fact Sheet here
Update 3 ComputerWorld and others are reporting 'lock-in' issue with the beta under XP3. Their piece is here.
Microsoft Toll-free Vista help and new patches issued
Microsoft has been sending out e-mails the past few days pointing to this page which provides an easy to read guide for those still pondering the Vista switch and also has a Toll-Free number with free Vista Q & A support for small business customers.
I phoned the number this morning and apparently this is a yet another strong initiative to move users to Vista. The hold time was less than 30 seconds.
In other Vista news, more than a few Vista hot patches were posted to the Microsoft Download Center this week (along with XP as well). Some did not show up in the automatic Tuesday update as they were machine specific (especially for you 64-bit users!). At least one was very helpful in my own use.
Note: Some are dated Monday, August 25 so be sure and scroll back.
You can check out the latest posts to the download center here.
I phoned the number this morning and apparently this is a yet another strong initiative to move users to Vista. The hold time was less than 30 seconds.
In other Vista news, more than a few Vista hot patches were posted to the Microsoft Download Center this week (along with XP as well). Some did not show up in the automatic Tuesday update as they were machine specific (especially for you 64-bit users!). At least one was very helpful in my own use.
Note: Some are dated Monday, August 25 so be sure and scroll back.
You can check out the latest posts to the download center here.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Reaction to the Friendfeed makeover - Day Two
When I first started using Friendfeed, it was primarily for interaction among a small group of early adopters.
As the service grew, it became apparent that people were much more likely to comment on a blog post there, than right on your blog. That 'magic' was echoed by almost everyone. I think it came as a surprise. For me, it was great. I think it's a safe bet to say that most bloggers enjoy (and want) feedback.
Friendfeed has experienced exponential growth since it's launch. It has already crossed over to many mainstream web users (as evidenced by the titles of some of the Friendfeed user-created rooms). IE: It's not just for techies anymore. The difference now is, that if you want a techie-only stream, you've got it in the new beta.
A few weeks ago, I began having some concerns that newcomers to the platform might be turned off.
Despite a variety of tools to 'keep things clean' in your own stream, all kinds of posts were appearing, and depending on how you originally set it up, you might end up with a collection of photos, videos and feeds that didn't interest you at all.
My other concern was personal. Was Friendfeed maxing out? I like to discover new authors and developers, engage them, and sometimes even highlight them. Many are absolutely brilliant but have yet to be discovered. They have something to say, and many times, it's important.
My main stream was getting very crowded as I follow over 900 Friendfeeders. I stopped adding new people for literal fear that they would follow back. The simplicity of Friendfeed was slowly going away.
I didn't want to start to unsubscribe. I wanted to add more.
I honestly have no clue how people like Robert Scoble, Louis Gray and others were instantly finding and commenting on items that appealed to them (other than using the relatively new Friendfeed Search).
Last night's beta launch solved all those problems (for me) and more.
I can now create separate streams. In my case, that might be people who I trust 'broadcasting news and opinion' from their own blogs, people who I just enjoy interacting with, people who are deep thinkers, a few Friendfeeders that are just outright funny, and yes, what people still refer to as the 'A-list'. There's probably one or two categories I haven't thought of yet :)
I won't have to scroll through 6 pages to find 'cool stuff' anymore. I suppose if I wanted to, even though I've only had to do it twice, I could now relegate the few 'crazy invaders' to their own category rather than blocking them.
In my wandering around after the launch last night, I found only two real concerns.
Tamar Weinberg, who I've been following in the SEO channels well before Friendfeed was concerned that she was getting 'too noisy' as people would 'unsubscribe'. Tamar not only writes for numerous online publications but is also very active in the SEO and social network spaces. She's a 'real person'. (I like real people :)
I don't share everything on Friendfeed. It's up to you which services you import and how often you post. I hope people like Tamar discover the controls or change their input to suit their desires.
The other concern expressed by Shey Smith and Mona N was that the 'new black' was making them dizzy. I suppose that depends on your browser and monitor but watching the Friendfeed team address issues last night, almost in real time in the Friendfeed Beta room, I seriously doubt it will be a problem for long.
While some are strictly using Friendfeed for visibility (which is fine), they're really missing a lot. The increased (highly visible) comments to their own streams. The truly helpful group of users that have been addressing simple questions about all kinds of topics by users. It's a community that works.
This post is already longer than I like, so let's consider just one more fact. Friendfeed is the epidemy of Net Neutrality. There is no censorship. The controls are yours.
If you feel there's still a learning curve, I, for one, urge you to go through it.
The Friendfeeders, at least the ones I've gotten to know, will help you ... every step of the way.
Edited 2:50 PM to correct items mentioned in Disqus comment
As the service grew, it became apparent that people were much more likely to comment on a blog post there, than right on your blog. That 'magic' was echoed by almost everyone. I think it came as a surprise. For me, it was great. I think it's a safe bet to say that most bloggers enjoy (and want) feedback.
Friendfeed has experienced exponential growth since it's launch. It has already crossed over to many mainstream web users (as evidenced by the titles of some of the Friendfeed user-created rooms). IE: It's not just for techies anymore. The difference now is, that if you want a techie-only stream, you've got it in the new beta.
A few weeks ago, I began having some concerns that newcomers to the platform might be turned off.
Despite a variety of tools to 'keep things clean' in your own stream, all kinds of posts were appearing, and depending on how you originally set it up, you might end up with a collection of photos, videos and feeds that didn't interest you at all.
My other concern was personal. Was Friendfeed maxing out? I like to discover new authors and developers, engage them, and sometimes even highlight them. Many are absolutely brilliant but have yet to be discovered. They have something to say, and many times, it's important.
My main stream was getting very crowded as I follow over 900 Friendfeeders. I stopped adding new people for literal fear that they would follow back. The simplicity of Friendfeed was slowly going away.
I didn't want to start to unsubscribe. I wanted to add more.
I honestly have no clue how people like Robert Scoble, Louis Gray and others were instantly finding and commenting on items that appealed to them (other than using the relatively new Friendfeed Search).
Last night's beta launch solved all those problems (for me) and more.
I can now create separate streams. In my case, that might be people who I trust 'broadcasting news and opinion' from their own blogs, people who I just enjoy interacting with, people who are deep thinkers, a few Friendfeeders that are just outright funny, and yes, what people still refer to as the 'A-list'. There's probably one or two categories I haven't thought of yet :)
I won't have to scroll through 6 pages to find 'cool stuff' anymore. I suppose if I wanted to, even though I've only had to do it twice, I could now relegate the few 'crazy invaders' to their own category rather than blocking them.
In my wandering around after the launch last night, I found only two real concerns.
Tamar Weinberg, who I've been following in the SEO channels well before Friendfeed was concerned that she was getting 'too noisy' as people would 'unsubscribe'. Tamar not only writes for numerous online publications but is also very active in the SEO and social network spaces. She's a 'real person'. (I like real people :)
I don't share everything on Friendfeed. It's up to you which services you import and how often you post. I hope people like Tamar discover the controls or change their input to suit their desires.
The other concern expressed by Shey Smith and Mona N was that the 'new black' was making them dizzy. I suppose that depends on your browser and monitor but watching the Friendfeed team address issues last night, almost in real time in the Friendfeed Beta room, I seriously doubt it will be a problem for long.
While some are strictly using Friendfeed for visibility (which is fine), they're really missing a lot. The increased (highly visible) comments to their own streams. The truly helpful group of users that have been addressing simple questions about all kinds of topics by users. It's a community that works.
This post is already longer than I like, so let's consider just one more fact. Friendfeed is the epidemy of Net Neutrality. There is no censorship. The controls are yours.
If you feel there's still a learning curve, I, for one, urge you to go through it.
The Friendfeeders, at least the ones I've gotten to know, will help you ... every step of the way.
Edited 2:50 PM to correct items mentioned in Disqus comment
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friendfeed - New look in Beta open to all
A short time ago, Friendfeed co-founder Paul Buchheit confirmed what had been rumored on a few tech blogs over the past week (including VentureBeat and TechCrunch) .... advising the Friendfeed community (below - click to enlarge) that the beta is now active for current and new Friendfeed users.
As I write this, comments are already pouring in, not only under Paul and Bret's posts, but in the new Friendfeed Beta room as well.
Many had been seeking an improved interface for a while. I commented on it the other night with a "Friendfeed needs a new dashboard", as I follow in excess of 900 Friendfeeders, my stream had become a little 'difficult to manage' :) Others had started limiting their followers (and follow backs), or tried experiments with a second account.
In my case, I blocked Twitter on Friendfeed and made other changes which were noted here in a piece last week.
The changes in the beta are explained in Bret's blog post here.
Update: I expect to do a follow-up post tomorrow. Wandering through the Beta so far, there's a lot more there than appears in the 'official announcement'.
You can check out the Friendfeed beta now at http://beta.friendfeed.com, and log-in with your regular user name and password.
Google Launches Politics Portal for Cell Phones
Google has announced a new portal to help you keep track of events leading up to the US elections on your cellphone.
In a piece Saturday on the Official Google Mobile Blog, Google launched m.google.com/elections, a mobile portal to a variety of Google's services, including Mobile Search, Mobile News, Mobile Reader, Mobile YouTube, and Mobile Maps.
Included in the offerings is the new Google Power Readers in Politics, mentioned here last week.
The complete article with links to the various services can be found here.
In a piece Saturday on the Official Google Mobile Blog, Google launched m.google.com/elections, a mobile portal to a variety of Google's services, including Mobile Search, Mobile News, Mobile Reader, Mobile YouTube, and Mobile Maps.
Included in the offerings is the new Google Power Readers in Politics, mentioned here last week.
The complete article with links to the various services can be found here.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Screamer Radio - Free Software that just works
While I was continuing my quest to decide whether or not I want to start doing a new podcast or not, I surfed around iTunes a bit this morning.
I downloaded some podcasts to see if I would actually listen to them myself, on a regular basis.
My attention turned briefly to re-visit some of the various music and radio clients as well as a few on-line music websites. I wandered around a bit on Last.fm, Blip.fm, revisted AOL Radio, and toyed around with the latest Microsoft Media Player.
They all have one thing in common ..they're a lot more than I need (or honestly have time for).
I started looking through some of the freeware I had used in the past and noticed that Screamer Radio, the freeware, adware free, spyware free, VERY lightweight PC radio player (and recorder) from David Zidar had been upgraded just last week to version 0.4.1.
This PC radio player has been around for a while, and just keeps getting better. The amount of available channels is LARGE and extremely easy to navigate. The sound is excellent and a variety of current formats are supported.
You can choose by genre, language, network, or country with just a couple of mouse clicks ... and your background music is hummin' away with almost no (or very little) system resources in use at all.
Discovery of stations is not only fast (and preloaded), but there are a few hidden gems in the directory from around the world (and even the latest regional US NOAA weather radio broadcasts that are currently available online). Like any player, there were a few 'missing feeds', but a search by genre yielded numerous choices that streamed just fine.
There are versions of Screamer Radio for older x86 machines running Windows (WINE compatible), as well for Windows 2000, XP and Vista.
There's a php forum and a developer blog (Check out the August 20 post .... talk about reverse compatibility!)
Screamer Radio is donateware so drop David a few bucks if you like it.
You can download one of four versions here.
...and drop a note here or on Friendfeed with YOUR opinion. I'm just curious.
My guess if very few of you will uninstall it.
I downloaded some podcasts to see if I would actually listen to them myself, on a regular basis.
My attention turned briefly to re-visit some of the various music and radio clients as well as a few on-line music websites. I wandered around a bit on Last.fm, Blip.fm, revisted AOL Radio, and toyed around with the latest Microsoft Media Player.
They all have one thing in common ..they're a lot more than I need (or honestly have time for).
I started looking through some of the freeware I had used in the past and noticed that Screamer Radio, the freeware, adware free, spyware free, VERY lightweight PC radio player (and recorder) from David Zidar had been upgraded just last week to version 0.4.1.
This PC radio player has been around for a while, and just keeps getting better. The amount of available channels is LARGE and extremely easy to navigate. The sound is excellent and a variety of current formats are supported.
You can choose by genre, language, network, or country with just a couple of mouse clicks ... and your background music is hummin' away with almost no (or very little) system resources in use at all.
Discovery of stations is not only fast (and preloaded), but there are a few hidden gems in the directory from around the world (and even the latest regional US NOAA weather radio broadcasts that are currently available online). Like any player, there were a few 'missing feeds', but a search by genre yielded numerous choices that streamed just fine.
There are versions of Screamer Radio for older x86 machines running Windows (WINE compatible), as well for Windows 2000, XP and Vista.
There's a php forum and a developer blog (Check out the August 20 post .... talk about reverse compatibility!)
Screamer Radio is donateware so drop David a few bucks if you like it.
You can download one of four versions here.
...and drop a note here or on Friendfeed with YOUR opinion. I'm just curious.
My guess if very few of you will uninstall it.
Mozilla intros QAC - Tool for news, bugs, more
Mozilla's new QAC tool keeps developers, contributors, and others up-to-date and provides bug reporting.
The Mozilla.org website, at times, can be difficult to navigate. While many portions of the website (that are promoting Firefox 3.0 as well as extensions) have been nicely re-written, others remain in the 'old format' with many pages remaining that are still somewhat out of date.
A beta solution has been introduced by Mozilla. Mozilla QAC Beta or Quality Assurance Companion is a downloadable tool for those who wish to be part of the ongoing development community.
QAC is a Firefox extension, that provides a front end to news and forums, a Litmus tag (with help for setting up an account for those who don't yet have access to Litmus), a direct tab to Bugzilla, a tab to access 'the wacky world' of Chatzilla, and a Settings/Help tab that, as the moz team puts it is "for the confused or misconfigured" :)
The QAC info and download page can be found here .
The Mozilla.org website, at times, can be difficult to navigate. While many portions of the website (that are promoting Firefox 3.0 as well as extensions) have been nicely re-written, others remain in the 'old format' with many pages remaining that are still somewhat out of date.
A beta solution has been introduced by Mozilla. Mozilla QAC Beta or Quality Assurance Companion is a downloadable tool for those who wish to be part of the ongoing development community.
QAC is a Firefox extension, that provides a front end to news and forums, a Litmus tag (with help for setting up an account for those who don't yet have access to Litmus), a direct tab to Bugzilla, a tab to access 'the wacky world' of Chatzilla, and a Settings/Help tab that, as the moz team puts it is "for the confused or misconfigured" :)
The QAC info and download page can be found here .
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