by Tollie

Google has added basic RSS capabilities into its GMail, calling it Clips.

Curious is that their choice of default added subscriptions includes one from Yahoo, and that the Spam collector displays links to spam (the canned meat) recipes.

FireFox released 8 patches this week.

Well, I knew it was only a matter of time before the flaws would start flying in Firefox (say that five times fast). It is unfortunate, but let’s face it: No program that is written is fool proof. Now, I still recommend Firefox over Internet Explorer hands down for security, but I will be taking a closer look at Opera 8 for sure and the security it boasts.

Sam

Adobe has announced an agreement to acquire Macromedia

Link 2] Adobe to buy Macromedia

In my personal opinion, this doesn’t sound good. Don’t get me wrong. I love both Adobe and Macromedia and use both nearly every day of my life. But to me, Adobe and Macromedia are two different companies out on two different paths for two different purposes — whew, that’s a brain twister.

For instance, what does Adobe plan on doing with Macromedia’s all-around popular web designing program, Dreamweaver? Hopefully they’ll decide, at least, to keep that application in the same lane as it currently is- and at worst, I hope they won’t turn it into anything like GoLive.

But let’s not be completed negative. I bet Adobe could do some amazing things with this merge. I’ll hope that Adobe does decide to do that, but they’re history of merging certainly makes me cringe.

If you’ve got any comments to add, please feel free to leave a comment. Sorry I couldn’t be a little more thorough - I’m in a hurry.

Clayton

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20050412/D89DU6LG1.html

That is if you’re using one of the military’s new weapon systems called “Matrix.” Now soldiers will be able to remotely detonate land mines from a distance. Military officials say that this should drastically reduce the number of accidental deaths / injuries caused by the old land mine.

Twenty five of the remote units are being rushed to Iraq now in order to aide soldiers in defense. One of the main concerns is placing a remote control like this into a man’s hand, but training courses will deal heavily with that issue.

Sam Knowles

by tollie

I thought it was about time to really put Google to the test - with a quiz.

Q: “How far is the Earth from the Sun?”
Google: Earth - Distance From Sun: 149.6 10⁶ km - According to http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/planet_table_british.html

Ok, 1 for 1.

Q: “When did WWII end?”
Google: WWII - Duration: 1939-45 - According to http://www.pubquizhelp.34sp.com/hist/war.html

2 for 2.

Q: “Who shot John F. Kennnedy?”
Google: Lee Harvey Oswald - Property: Accused assassin of John F. Kennedy. - According to http://www.who2.com/leeharveyoswald.html

Well, that’s a funny way to put it, but I’ll give credit for it. Most of the search results included the conspiracy theories anyways… 3 for 3.

Q: “How many people live in Alabama?”
Google: Alabama - Population: 4,447,100 ; 23rd, 12/00 - According to http://www.50states.com/alabama.htm

That’s impressive. 4 for 4. Surely it won’t get the next one:

Q: “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?”
Google: Tootsie Roll Pop - Licks It Takes to Get to the Center: Three - According to http://www.tootsie.com/howmany-sb.html

See - told you! Everyone knows it’s “The world may never know.”

Actually, I’m just testing out Google’s new ‘Q&A’ search. It’s sort of Ask Jeaves, meets Googlism, meets the Google labs. Just type in plain questions as I did, and see if Google can figure out the answer.

Also new on Google this week is pre-fetching of the top link for Mozilla based browsers. So if you’re using Firefox (and you should be), and you notice that the top listed result on your Google searches loads really fast, it’s because Google is assuming it’s got it right, and it’s loading that site in the background already for you.

Now, let’s see, before I post this, is there one Z or two Zs in Quizing?
Google Search: Quizing. Click. Did you mean: Quizzing

Thanks Google - for helping us all become pretty dumb without you.

That’s M for Macintosh. Right now 7 out of the top ten most popular desktops on PC World’s Product Finder are Mac’s. I would say that is significant in the tide turning and Mac’s making more of a wave in the PC arena. That has to be a good sign for competition b/c, as we know, competition breeds better products at better prices. Hopefully Apple can catch a drift in the better prices zone w/out compromising their product. If so, you can see a very good uptrend in PC’s over the next few years.

Sam Knowles

by tollie

Google Knows Where You Live… literally.

As we had expected, Google’s purchase of Keyhole (the guys who do those really detailed satelite zoom-ins you see on TV, such as during the Fox News in the Morning intro) was implemented into their Google Maps and Google Local.

I discovered this when a friend of mine said to me “I wish I had Dominos Pizza’s Phone Number,” and so of course I switched to Firefox, clicked in the Google Search area, typed Dominos Pizza Florence, AL and viola, there it was - phone number, address, and link to the Google Map complete with directions to and from the location.

I saw the link to a new satelite view… clicked, and, “wow.” Suddenly, a bird’s eye view of Florence.

The detail is phenomenal, especially in urban/metro areas. Not too far from my house, (just a couple of clicks north) is the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center, which has an old Saturn V rocket laying down, and full-scale mock-ups of the Saturn I, Saturn V, and the Space Shuttle upright - all which can be easily seen, as well as can the cars in the parking lot and on the interstate beside it.

Ever wondered where the 101.1FM studio is located? Here’s the map, and then click the Satelite view link. In fact, click the Map, then the Satelite, then the Map, then the Satelite… And don’t forget to zoom in. It’s somewhat amazing.

Try searching for your own address. Hey, who knows? You might have been laying out by the pool on the day they took the photo. If you were, you’ll probably show up as a dot or two.

Yes, this is the world we live in.

PS. For you conspiracy theorists out there, what is The White House hiding on its roof that it has to be ‘photoshopped’ out?
 
 

Here’s a scary bit: According to www.nature.com, bacteria left behind by Apollo astronauts are causing tremendous erosion on the moon surface, with scary long term consequences. Have you noticed it getting dimmer lately?

Moon eroding away

/Chase /Tech Talk Podcast

It used to be free!!

Chase/Help with your taxes

Homestarrunner.com
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I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these, even though it is a bit bulky.

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