Windows 7 at PDC2008

PDC2008, Microsoft's Professional Developer's Conference is being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from October 26th-30th.

Among the programs available to attendees will be numerous sessions on existing products, Microsoft's vision for cloud computing, and participants will receive a hard drive with 'pre beta bits' from the next Microsoft Operating System, Windows 7.

There will are 21 unique sessions scheduled, drilling down the new features and changes upcoming in the Windows 7 operating system.

More information (and new links) can be found at the Microsoft PDC2008 website here.

Correction Oct 12 1 AM ET

OpenOffice 3.0 out of Beta - goes Final

OpenOffice 3.0, the latest version of the free 'alternative' Office suite is out of beta.

OpenOffice, for those that haven't used it previously, is an open source suite of client programs supported by  CollabNet Inc., Sun Microsystems, and other organizations and contributors.

The suite includes Writer (word processor), Calc (spreadsheet), Impress (presentation software), Draw (graphics, flowcharts and more), and Base (an embedded database).

The main OpenOffice.org website is still offering version 2 as of this post, however, numerous prominant websites are already showing the new final version and are pointing to various 'official' OpenOffice download mirror ftp sites.

The University of Utah (US) mirror is currently showing Open Office 3.0 for Solaris, Linux, and Windows. The version we downloaded a short time ago no longer has the Beta stamp.

It shouldn't take too long for the software to hit your local mirror, so we suggest you wait a bit! .... to get the localized version for your area.  The mirror sites can be found here.

More to come as we test out this latest version of OpenOffice!

Internet scams proliferate as economy turns

I have been noticing a marked increase in outright scams, in a variety of spaces, and increasing in frequency in recent weeks on the web.

It's pretty obvious that the 'bad guys' are trying to hit as many people as possible while 'they're down'.

While many in the tech arena recognize quite a few of these, I thought it was a good time to re-hash the subject in the event you want to mention it to a relative or a casual web user you might know.  I was literally watching someone this morning (who's very intelligent) almost fall for one of these.  Some of them look pretty good.

Of course, e-mail is still No. 1 for spammers, and there are still a lot of people receiving these e-mails from friends who think they are legit, bypassing spam filters.

There are quasi-scams as well. Those that pass the test of legit business but ride the line of 'ethics', or even misrepresentation.  I've see a slew of these hit the employment and career sites (with the possible exception of LinkedIn ... at least, so far).  Other spaces are being hit as well.

Some obvious stuff.

The Internet really makes it easy to do the research before you waste money and / or your valuable time.  Do the homework. Your social security number is no. 1 - Just don't do it.  There are few, if any, legit organizations that will ask anyone for a social security number.  Confirm who it is.

Snopes.com is still very much around if you want to double check an e-mail you received.

Potentially hardest hit are the legitimate charities.  Search them.  Find their website and research before you part with a dime.

The improvements in search can help you to identify a lot of these so-called legitimate offers.

The audience that this blog reaches is probably not 'the target audience' for this piece, but it never hurts.

The old adage ... "If it looks too good ... It probably is".

Yahoo - another day, another employee departs

In my travels across three states the past 2 days, one of the subjects that came up often was Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). 

I was curious what people thought about the failure of the Microsoft deal, Yahoo's declining market cap, and the recent revived discussion over a Yahoo-AOL deal.

On return today, thanks to a Google Reader share from Rob Diana, I learned that Yahoo's Ian Kennedy was turning his stuff in tomorrow.

There have been a number of high profile (and not so high profile) key departures from Yahoo!, since the Microsoft deal went west and Carl Icahn joined the Yahoo! board.

Perhaps the most visible departure to the Search and SEO crowd was Jeremy Zawodny, recently married, and a long-time Yahoo! employee who left the company several months ago.

Ian Kennedy was one of those employees who consistently monitored the products that he was responsible for.  When our blog had the MyBlogLog widget installed, and inadvertently inserted it with the fly-out in the wrong direction, Ian was right there in the comments suggesting the fix. 

We wish all the best to Ian in his future endeavors.  Apparently already on board with Nokia.

As Rob noted in his 'share', it'll be interesting to see what role he plays in his new position.

Look. Up in the Sky. It's Google - ite!

There have been a number of public / private space initiatives that have caught the attention (and imagination) of the tech community over the past few months.

SpaceX, after a live (on the Internet) failed launch, quickly recovered their credibility several weeks later by putting Falcon 1 into orbit on September 28th.

Then there's GeoEye (NASDAQ: GEOY), which we first covered in-depth here. 

Among GeoEye-1's sponsoring partners is Google, who has gained exclusive 'Internet rights' to the ultra high resolution imagery from the satellite.

Yesterday, as reported by Wired Magazine and confirmed by GeoEye, the satellite delivered it's first high resolution image from space.

The image of Kutztown University (about 45 minutes from here ... by land :) in Central Pennsylvania was crystal clear.   The shots displayed by Wired and Gizmodo are nothing less than amazing. (Is that a huddle on the football field??).

Not only is the Internet moving so fast at this stage that it's hard for anyone to keep up with the next 'big thing', but the 'private' interest in space continues to be funded and is moving rapidly as well.

A couple of SEO aggregators

Last week, when the subject of Google's new blog search came up, I made a comment about a variety of aggregators that I use over on Friendfeed.

A few of you e-mailed, specifically in the area of SEO, so here's a couple as a 'starter kit'.

For a good 'quick take', try SEOmash.  It's fast, simple and will keep you somewhat up-to-date quickly.

The recently reincarnated Alltop SEO page delves deeper, has a few of my absolute favorites, but also crosses over a bit to a few 'gray area' websites as well as PPC and blog promotion.  (The disclaimer being 'Don't believe everything you read ... Things change quickly!').

I'll try and update the blogroll next week with a few more, but I hope this brief post helps some of you interested in Search and Search Engine Optimization.

Sidenote for SEO fans:  SMX East rolls into the Javits Convention Center in NYC tomorrow through Wednesday.  The last time I looked, there were still networking and all-access passes available.  If your thing is SEO, it's worth a stop by the expo at the very least.

Cooliris (formerly PicLens) now offers '3D' style shopping

There aren't too many products that I can remember featuring here four times.

Cooliris (formerly PicLens) may be the first.

It's the user interface that makes it useful, and just fun!

Apparently the team that created the popular Internet Explorer / Firefox add-on, that allows you to search photos and videos in '3D', has found a way to monetize the product (or so it seems).

Version 1.8.3 lets you do in a little 3D shopping at Amazon, Macys, Walmart, Nordstrom, Lands End as well as numerous other online stores.

The (highly addictive :) free program still offers numerous web searches, and the 'discover' feature which allows you to browse through various categories and, in my case, discover new places that you may not elsewhere.

The upgrade is not yet 'announcing itself' to Firefox users.  I had a heads up from the team last week and simply offloaded the old version and loaded the new one.

Ironically, one of the things I like the most is that the search occasionally 'misses' (not unusual for photo searches) and takes me to places I've never been before.  Discovery in a random fashion, which sometimes can be enlightening and / or enjoyable.

So, here's a chance to take a break from your Twitter or Friendfeed addiction and check this latest version out :)

Warning: Allow a little time. You're going to come across some cool stuff and, before you log-on, decide whether or not to hide the credit card.

You can check out the new features or download Cooliris here.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Charlie

Edit Oct 5 PM

iTunes for Windows goes to version 8.0.1.11

Apple released an updated version of iTunes 8 for Windows earlier today.

This latest version (available for XP, Vista and 64-bit systems) resolves a problem syncing Genius results to iPods and also addresses an issue where HDTV episodes were being deleted during download.

Other minor fixes are also included in this latest version.

The full download can be found at Apple's website here.

Note: Be sure and check the system requirements on the left side of the download page.  Older systems or those not meeting 'most' of the list will probably experience some problems with iTunes 8.

Google Blog Search launches new look, features

It was back in January that I commented on changes in Google's Blog Search, a story that the readers at Sphinn seemed to like :).

A difficult product to manage (to say the least), Google's Blog Search has been improving and not only providing users with a 'quick take' on the blog world, but as mentioned in January, the product makes makes  it dramatically easier to ferret out those engaging in 'link bait schemes'.

Several new Google initiatives were announced today on the Official Google Blog, including the new features and front page on the Blog Search product.

Also, as pointed to in the past, Google now indexes a lot of blogs literally 'on the fly', moments after being published.  The new Blog Search will most likely take advantage of that facility, as well as it's own 'formula' for listing those blogs that are relevant, to attempt to provide better and faster results.

It is, in fact, a viable competitor to TechMeMe, Gabe Rivera's popular technology technology aggregator  and his other product Memeorandum which covers the world of politics.

There are hundreds of other aggregators out there in unique niches (IE: SEO), as well as all-in-one's such as Thomas Marban's PopUrls (which now includes a second IT page sponsored by Intel).  Inspired by PopUrls, Guy Kawasaki's Alltop is a 'mega-aggregator' that covers a slew of topics and just went through a re-design just last week.

Most recently Duncan Riley launched iq.inquisitr.com, a tech aggregator with some unique features.

So what does all of this mean to me, or you?

I've written numerous times that when I do look at TechMeMe, it's AFTER I write a post, so I'm not jaded by what someone else (or 'the crowd') is saying.  

TechMeMe's bot comes around here fairly often.  The two times I literally broke a story here (by accident ?), they became TechMeMe headlines.  Over the past year, we've been listed  approximately 50-60 times in  TechMeMe 'discussion mentions', for which I am thankful.  It's recognition that the blog is 'real' and the content may be interesting to some.

Inquisitr's new 'IQ' has us on Page B.  Good enough.  Duncan Riley is breaking new ground consistently and seems to be having fun doing it.

What's all the fuss about?

In our case, it's not about money, but for many, direct hits and new unique visitors could translate to income.  A TechMeMe headline (especially one that stays around for a while), depending on the topic, could drive as many as 1000 hits to a blog over a short period of time.

Google, once again (and it still remains to be seen how this works out) is just being smart and topical.

With the elections approaching, they also launched a page to help get the vote out.  Politics, it would appear, is where the product will be 'discovered' by many as the US elections approach.  A new voter page was also highlighted on Google's Official Blog today.

Will this new product hurt TechMeMe, PopUrls, or any of the others mentioned about?  My guess is that people will continue to use all of them, as I have, with the 15 or so aggregators that I currently use, particularly when my feed reader is on overload :)

Will this piece end up on any of them?  It's usually a guessing game, but I'll say two (but probably three :) ...

Charlie

Staff Update: Oct 2 AM