Facebook Questions - The Next Logical Step

Facebook unleashed Facebook Questions to all users late yesterday. 

In testing for some time, the new feature is now appearing at the top of all if not most  news feed pages.

If you asked the question "What does the fastest growing phenomenon on the Internet do next?", this very well may have been the answer.

Have a question? ... Ask your 'friends' and a few hundred million other people.  All it'll take is one good question and the activity on the network could increase dramatically .... and so will the buzz ... again.

I've been a fan of Quora since the launch.  Started by ex-Facebook execs, the relatively new start-up is very similar to this concept and has been gaining traction  (I get a few Quora followers each day).

Facebook employees claim their implementation is different.

Regardless, after all the privacy criticism this past year, this is one of the smartest moves the company could have made ..... to increase activity in people's streams and make the network that much more 'sticky'.

Apple Addresses Safari Bug and Adds Extensions

It's kind of easy to imagine the reaction in Cupertino, just a couple of weeks after the 'iPhone bumper crisis' when numerous tech publications reported a serious security flaw in Apple's browser .... Safari.

Today, in classic Apple style, not only did they announce a fix with the release of Safari 5.0.1 .... but the company coupled it with a 'product announcement' of sorts.

Apple has added 'extensions' to Safari along with a brand new extension gallery.

Extensions have been popular with the Firefox crowd for years and a whole new crop have been developed for Google's Chrome browser.  Microsoft, on the other hand, has not embraced the idea with either Internet Explorer 8 or the upcoming IE9.

Bottom line.

Fix your Safari.

You can download the complete package for OS X or Windows here. (Be sure and read the system requirements).

You can also preview some of the all-new extensions in the Safari Extensions Gallery here.

The New Firefox 4 Beta 2 Screams in Windows 7 ! (Update)

Earlier today, Mozilla took the wraps off the 2nd Beta of the upcoming 'next generation' browser Firefox 4.0.

Since the most recent versions of Google's Chrome captivated most (if not all) of my laptop and desktop browsing, both in Windows 7 and Linux ... I honestly didn't expect much from this latest Firefox release other than improvements in the latest cosmetic changes.

I downloaded the new version this evening for (what was intended to be) a brief run on a modest laptop that I use often.

I did not enable the experimental DirectX 2D support.  I also didn't read the bottom of the new download page and was a little surprised when this guy popped up after about 5 minutes:

You can opt-out quickly and easily and still provide feedback as you wish .... and when you wish.

I know Mozilla's been working on their engine.  I read the other release notes.

I'm fully aware this is completely non-scientific and may even be hardware specific but the browser was moving so fast, I went over to SpeedTest.Net to see if my ISP had cranked up the volume ?!

Seriously.

Early adopters (competitors?!) ... Give this latest Gecko a spin and see if you agree.

Mozilla calls it "retained layers".  More on that can be found in today's blog post here.

About an hour in, and using it to write this post (and a few other things at the same time),  it feels like my laptop is jumping off the table?

If I'm guessing right, the Firefox team may have just set a new speed record.

Now off to try the Direct2D hardware accelerator!

Update 1 - 11:20 PM July 27, 2010 ET: A few more observations

1) The Direct 2 hardware accelerator (in my case) wasn't a winner but that is, no doubt, a hardware issue.
2) Our bottom bar (by Wibiya) still has the same problems as it did in Firefox 4.0 Beta 1

On the very positive side ....

WebM tests on YouTube are simply incredible.  HD on a medium speed wireless broadband connection (Full Screen) plus 'real-time' pages (Twitter and Buzz) all rendering faster.

and ..... Special thanks to @ScepticGeek for confirming I wasn't hallucinating :)

UPDATE September 9, 2010 - The latest version is currently Firefox 4.0 Beta 5 and is available here.

CCleaner Updates - Now Cleans HTML5 Storage

CCleaner has continued to be rated, by almost every tech publication, one of the most effective Windows utilities for cleaning unnecessary files and restoring 'clean' browsing.

This morning, Piriform updated the program to version 2.34, adding a variety of improvements not the least of which includes HTML 5 PC storage.  The complete list of updates can be found here.

The 'donateware' download is here.

Note: In some cases, CCleaner will remove your 'saved passwords' and other information which you may use daily.  You should have a complete understanding of how web files and cookies are stored, and what they do,  before using this program or others like it.

Why Ford Motor Company Went Viral Two Weeks In a Row

The web marketing team at Ford Motor Company just did it again and it appears that the premier of the new 2011 Ford Explorer will be trending on Google (and Twitter) for another 8 hours or more.

Last week's viral news story was pretty much a given.

When a company reports incredible earnings in the midst of a recession, the story is going to be picked up by everyone, but the web marketing team had a secret up their sleeves.

Early this morning, Ford started to premier the 2011 Ford Explorer "for the first time" .... on Facebook.

Sounds like no big deal right?

Wrong.

Crossing two huge web demographics .... Auto and Tech ..... the story is being picked up by blogs, news sites, auto enthusiast forums and others and is trending in the top-10 ... 8 hours later.

This simple stroke of brilliance gets even better.

The Ford Explorer preview on Facebook (which you don't have to be signed in to see) is being unraveled along a time line throughout the day,  Subtle stuff that's working.

The tech and auto press are all over this which means that the mainstream press will be right behind (count on it).

It's called FREE ADVERTISING and Ford just saved a bundle so if you buy one of these puppies ... make sure they throw in the floor mats?! ... :)

Maybe this guy can explain it better than I can ....

Pardon our Dust - Times are changing!

A variety of changes will be coming here between now and the fall.

Disqus - powered comments are back as of tonight ... Previous comments have been archived due to a changed implementation.

Lots more to come.  Thanks to all!

and ..  stay tuned :)

Charlie

Pennsylvania Tornado (s) .... and Twitter

Those of you that know me, know that among my (way too many) hobbies over the years has been 'weather watching', more accurately storm chasing.  Non-computer geeky stuff? 

Not exactly.  Read on.

In the earlier days of this blog, I noted early web-based weather experiments with a variety of groups and companies and one of the best 'draws' to one of my first websites in the 1990's, then considered 'cool' (now rather mundane) .... a live weather camera and professional weather station in Northeast Pennsylvania which later became a multi-site experiment with a retired Microsoft executive and a weather professional.

We had a lot of fun .... and A LOT of hits ... and like today, it was VERY difficult to monetize :)

My 'cam', as I used to call it, brought e-mail from all over the US as people watched wildlife wander through our backyard, then located in Pike County, Pennsylvania (where New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania come together).  It became apparent that not only was there a HUGE community of weather fanatics but also many people in the cities just found some calm just watching a deer (or occasional bear .. ?!) wander around in front of the camera.

Yes, I was a long way from my long-time roots on Long Island :)

I became acquainted with a young guy (online) who was building what became the largest interactive community of weather watchers on the Internet ... WeatherMatrix.

The network, along with its founder Jesse Ferrell, was acquired by Accuweather (not necessarily in that order) and years later I  had the pleasure of touring their incredible facility in State College, Pennsylvania.

Now this was geek (and weather) heaven.  A weather 'war room' along with banks of computers analyzing weather models for analysis by then over 100 meteorologists.

Which brings us to this weekend's crazy (hot) weather and apparently some Tornado activity right here in Central Pennsylvania, An event crazy people (like me) still enjoy watching and, when possible, contributing to the documentation and early warnings.

I revisited the weather landscape for the first time in a while late Saturday night as a Tornado Watch was posted for our area.  The Weather Channel went on our TV ... and had (very) limited information ... but it was apparent that there were numerous warnings right here near Bloomsburg, PA.

It was also pretty apparent .. ugh ... outside :)

I also visited the new Weather Channel Beta website and (completely putting aside my possible bias towards AccuWeather) was somewhat horrified that I couldn't quickly zoom in to 'our' situation in two or three clicks.  Making a website clean and simple is one thing.  In this case (Note: It is marked 'beta') , it didn't deliver the value I was looking for.

Next was the AccuWeather website which let me easily zoom into our local radar in almost real-time as storms continued to pop up to our east then west then ... right over us .... then south. Incredible stuff.  (Note: This may be a situation where paywalls actually can work as going over to pro.accuweather.com provided even more).

I found this post by Jesse on the night before's activity.  Searching the National Weather Service storm reports, I was able to confirm that there was 'some' significant activity on Friday, not only in State College, but a possible F1 Tornado just north of where we used to live near the Woodloch Pines resort in Pike County.

I'm guessing Jesse's on vacation because I remember him well enough to know he would have been all over Saturday night's stuff as well.  (Everyone needs a day off ... :).  The team and website continued to deliver Saturday nights activity.

Potential tornado activity in Bradford PA and numerous severe reports including road closures and trees down within 30 miles of our home ... in all four directions on Saturday night.

Then I stumbled across this.

Apparently (and how I missed this is beyond me), the National Weather Service is testing Twitter for storm reports from both professionally trained spotters ... and just regular everyday people.

The hashtag is #wxreport and when I back-traced those, it was pretty much all there. Pretty cool stuff.

While I was tempted to check-in to Foursquare at 'Thunderstorm in Danville' ... I kinda decided to kick back and watch a movie.  It was a long night :)

If you don't own a S.A.M.E. encoded weather receiver ... get one.  Severe weather, as evidenced above, can happen ANYWHERE and NOAA weather radio now covers almost the entire country.  It should be right up there on your list with smoke detectors.

Firefox Moves to Version 3.6.7 Stable (Updated - Make that 3.6.8 !)

Firefox has taken another mini-step along the way to the highly anticipated 4.0 milestone.

Yes, version 3.6.7 is here .... but as of this post, many readers are not yet being automatically updated.

The usual procedure works for this.  Just tap 'Help' at the top of your browser, then 'Check for Updates'.


A BUNCH of security updates are addressed in this update (some considered critical):

In addition, more stability improvements are onboard.


Update: Less than 48 hours later, Mozilla has released Firefox 3.6.8 which fixes a stability issue with some plug-ins. 

The release notes can be found here and the download page for various systems and languages is now available here.

Is the Future the Cloud and Mobile ?

Like Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet (who apparently has jumped ship ?!), I've spent most of my life using a PC.

Put a Mac in front of me and my reaction is ... "I don't have time for this".

I have (recently) been playing with Ubuntu's build of  Linux.  There's a reason for that.  The upcoming Google Chrome OS expected later this year (and getting current again with 'the engine').

Back to Apple.  The company that etched out a small market share early on but producing computers that did graphics better and created a fan crowd of graphic artists and publishers, never managed to convert me.

Factually, I was a little stunned when attending an SEO show a few years ago and noted that many of the 'players' were using MacBooks. Status symbol?  I honestly had no idea.  Apple knows how to make their stuff (and marketing) sexy.

Of course, Apple is a very different company now.

The return of Steve Jobs and his visionary out-of-the-box thinking brought us the hugely-popular iPod and the iPhone.

While the iPhone is 'under attack' by a barrage of  releases of Android-powered phones (and Google), it's still a valid argument, that, not only did Apple change the mobile landscape but, despite the recent horrid antenna PR, the iPhone 4 is probably the best and most versatile cell phone on the market ......hindered only by it's closed app ecosystem and, of course, it's exclusive with US carrier AT&T.

Those two factors alone could prove to be a win for Android and iPhone-competing phones like Verizon's Droid X (which sold out the first day).

Today, the other huge tech player, Microsoft, reported earnings.  The headlines are blaring.

What did people expect?

Windows 7 (and Office 2010) weren't 'improved' products.  They were both 'surprises' and were, in fact, both somewhat revolutionary.  Perhaps most notably, looking back at at the 'old days', are the dramatically improved graphics in Windows 7 ... and the fact that 'it just works'.

Just about everyone expected 'tech' to lead any economic recovery.  Microsoft not only firmed up it's core business with these products (and free add-ons such as Windows Live Essentials and the free Security Essentials anti-virus software) but they stopped giving away samples of their 'cloud product' Azure ... and started charging users.

Despite recent giveaways to employees and public demos of the new Windows Phone, the jury is still out on Redmond's new entry into mobile.

This Microsoft earnings report is just the beginning.  Most major companies are still holding off on major upgrade expenditures.

Microsoft and Google (as well as others like Rackspace and IBM) are players in the cloud computing arena.  Cloud computing is here. It's still anyone's guess what percentage of corporate users will embrace the off-site cluster computing platform and by how much but economics pretty much dictate that everyone will ... to some extent.

A few week ago, Steve Rubel penned this piece for AdAge.  To some extent, he's probably right and the 'next' generation will be using smartphones in a very big way (and visiting the optometrist earlier in life?) ... but anyone counting out the PC platform, new and exciting laptops (yes, with keyboards) and desktops are wrong. Very wrong.

They'll be around for a long, long time and if Microsoft continues to innovate, there's a very good chance that they'll keep a very large portion of that market share.

It's all about productivity and price.

The migration has begun ... and it's going to be a fascinating 5 years (or less! ....).