Heroes... What Can I Say?

Part 2 of season 1: what did I say about the sword being in a museum? I was half right, huh? HOWEVER, I noticed that there were differences between the painting and the scene in the museum. So, maybe it hasn't really happened yet? We'll see. The guy that plays Hiro helped program the CG dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. Hmmmm.....

I am still trying to figure out this Heroes 360 thing. Is that Primatech webpage it? Still, I hear that they will be stopping the bomb thing from happening before the end of this season, and then move on to other stories. That's a great idea, because I think Lost has proven that most viewers can't wait multiple seasons for answers or resolution. I like the way Lost is working out, but I know some don't.

Zoho Notebook: Another Great Leap For the Web2.0 World

I came home from a nice break in a tropical location to get smacked in the fact by two crazy facts of life. For one, there's still some form of freezing precipitation falling in my corner of the world (but I can't quite call it snow). Ouch. The second one: Google is not coming out with as many cool things as they used to. At least when compared to companies like Zoho.

I can deal with that, as long as the G-powers that be don't pull the plug on this blog for pointing that out. The coolest new invention from the Zoho labs: Zoho Notebook. The goal of Zoho Notebook: allow the user (you) to put any content (text, audio, images, video, etc) anywhere on a page, and then share that with others anyway you want.

Don't most web pages allow you to do that? Sure - if you know the code. Zoho Notebook gives it all to you in a nice user interface. And - the best part is - you can record audio or video straight from your computer into your page. Or upload a pre-recorded file. All you need is a microphone or a video camera hooked up to your computer.

Also, they allow you import content from Zoho Writer, Sheets, and Show (think Word Doc, Excel, and PowerPoint online). All with Skype integration. Nice. Here's a quick overview video of some of the features:



I was noticing that Zoho also has online virtual office, chat, wikis, planers, etc. I am slowly wondering if I need to switch to Zoho from Google for some of this stuff. Come on Google - get on the ball and buy this stuff!

Google AJAX Search API

I'm not totally sure what to make of this one, but it sounds interesting. It seems that Google has created a search function that allows you to insert a Google search area into your site in a custom way. One of the most practical seems to be that it would allow you to use Google to search your site.

One of the really intriguing ones is the blog comments search API. You can add a small Google search area next to a blog comment area, and then the results can be added to the end of the comment as "clippings." Sounds like a great idea for educational purposes. I would like to see something like that for discussion posts, too. That way, you can quickly find results to back up your posts in an academic settings.

I haven't fully dug into these ideas yet, but they sound interesting.

iPhone. Wow.

I've been thinking about getting a smart phone recently. mainly because I need something to make me look smart every time I open my big mouth (and insert my foot). Nothing really seemed like a perfect fit for me. Then, Apple came to the rescue with the iPhone.

All I can say is Wow. I want one. This has the possibility to revolutionize mobile computing, communications, and especially education. You may have read the articles about it, but you NEED to see Steve Jobs intro of the phone at MacWorld. It's pretty long, but will make your jaw drop a couple of times.

Here is the link to the video. Click on the second one about the iPhone intro. It won't seem like the right video at first, but it is:

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/j47d52oo/event/

Snap Causes Hades to Freeze Over

I've seen this on several blogs recently, so I thought I would give it a whirl. Snap has created a web preview feature for links in Web sites. You just hover your pointer over a link, and a small preview of that site will pop up for you. Some sites haven't been added to this service, so you may get a window that says "waiting to be added to previewed" or something like that. Still a pretty cool feature, and easy to sign up for. I added to this site, if you want to try it.

Snap is a new search site that I guess is trying to add something new to the search engine. Wait a second.... a cool web search innovation that didn't come from Google first? I know it is going to freeze in Dallas this week, but I guess I had better check the forecast for Hell....

Top Ten "Benefits" Of The New Microsoft-Ford Partnership

I usually try to stay positive here at Geekdomville, but this was too good to pass up. Ford and Microsoft are planning on launching a car software system. Now, you may love Ford, but I tend to think Ford stands for "Found On Roadside Dead" or "Fix Or Repair Daily." And, while I don't personally hate Microsoft, I think they are far inferior to Mac, Linus, and, well, just about everything out there. So, I thought I would speculate on the, ummm, benefits of owning a new VistaCarPC2007:

• Your engine begins to slow down after owning it for a year due to Spyware clogging it up.
  
• Your entire car freezes up and stops running when you turn on the AC, radio, cruise control, and windshield wipers due to a command-line/ low-virtual-memory/ something-you-don't-understand conflict something or other
  
• Your dashboard isn't compatible with that new cool cup holder you bought, unless you download the dashboard patch
• You will constantly be attacked while driving down the road by roving bands of Ford hating computer hackers that have now gone mobile
• Your seats have to increase their virtual memory when you have too many people seated in it just so you can drive forward.
  
• You will also have to constantly be on the alert for viruses hidden in any attachments, including bumper stickers, Jesus-fishes, and Sonic restaurant window trays
• Firewalls will stop you from turning on to main streets, while allowing you to easily drive down dangerous alleys population by prostitutes and gangsters
• Constant annoying pop-up window fliers wanting you to play their in-car poker games
• When your tire blow out, who knows how long it will be before they release a patch. If ever...
  

And the worst of all....

• Those snobbish Electric Car\iMac hybrid owners that constantly remind you how superior their vehicle is in every way....

New Year, New Firefox Version

So, it's a New Year. Cool. What am I looking forward to in the next year? What new Geekdom goodness am I drooling over? Lots of interesting movies, TV shows, and music to think about. Plenty of new techie things being announced that are pretty exciting. Some may happen, some sound like corporate hype (the hack-proof Vista, anyone?). The one that I think will definitely happen, and will probably live up to it's hype, is the new version of Firefox scheduled for this year.

Well, Mozilla says that Firefox won't be released officially until the end of 2007, but I am still looking forward to it. The Alpha version was released in early December. The people that are developing it "hope that it will be a major step toward making Web applications indistinguishable from programs that are installed on the desktop."

This, to me, sounds like the missing piece in Web2.0 development. Programmers that are creating applications for the web are sometimes limited by browser specifications. Now that a browser is looking to make Web2.0 a reality, I think we will see even better online applications.

I found out over the holidays that some people are afraid of Web2.0 concepts, especially the thought of storing documents or projects that they are creating online. What if you internet connection goes down? What if the website crashes? well, those are always a possibility. But creating anything comes with risks. If you create a Word document and store it on a hard drive - what happens when your drive crashes? Zip drive back-ups can get lost, CD-R backups can get drop and broken, etc. There is always a risk of loss. Even printed copies can get lost, accidentally thrown away, etc. We've just gotten over the fears in existing project creations. I think we are just going to have to wait until people get over fears of Web2.0 technology, too.