Transparency comes to cars
Rick points us to this article about a Saturn initiative. You'll be able to test drive the competition at the Saturn dealership.
Brilliant.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Google Goes Offline, on Purpose
Google is looking to help web applications get offline, releasing a new Gears open source project. At a demonstration, today it is releasing a version of Google Reader that works offline via a manual sync.
Google Gears is a developer release with new JavaScript APIs for data storage, application caching, and multi-threading features, the company says. In a demo today at headquarters in Mountain View team members said it should work for everything from spotty Internet access to total offline status. They said Google applications like Gmail would be a natural extension, whereas applications like search would not make sense.
Google is looking to start an industry standard and has brought Adobe, Mozilla, and Opera in to support the project. It is looking to outside developers to explore the capabilities of the tools. The announcement comes on the eve of a worldwide developer day, where Google is also announcing a Mashup Editor as well as one million downloads of its Google Web Toolkit.
Screen Capture a Long and Scrolling Web page Online
Picnik.com, one of the favorite Flash-based tool for editing images online just keeps getting better and more useful.
They have a excellent add-on for Firefox 2.0+ that will help you grab a screenshot of any webpage with a simple right click and it will automatically export the image to Picnik image editor for further editing (like resizing, including borders, overlay text, rounded corners, etc)
For instance, this page from Steve Rubel was enhanced using the Vignette / Matte effect and it's trasformed from a boring screenshot into something that immediately invites attention.
You can screen capture either the visible portion of the webpage or the entire webpage even if extends several folds. Very handy for saving snapshots of webpages (like an ebay paypment receipt) or for creating thumbnail images of your websites for MyBlogLog, Facebook or other services.
Picnik Firefox Add-on | Picnik.com
The Picnik Screen capture extension is Firefox only but here are some screen-capture options for IE. And some more Firefox extensions for taking screen capture of websites and HTML web pages.
You can screen capture either the visible portion of the webpage or the entire webpage even if extends several folds. Very handy for saving snapshots of webpages (like an ebay paypment receipt) or for creating thumbnail images of your websites for MyBlogLog, Facebook or other services.
Picnik Firefox Add-on | Picnik.com
The Picnik Screen capture extension is Firefox only but here are some screen-capture options for IE. And some more Firefox extensions for taking screen capture of websites and HTML web pages.
Choosing the right Web Stats and Traffic Analysis Program for your Websites
This is a good time for site owners and bloggers as they do not have to invest in expensive web analytics software for tracking and analyzing visitors to their websites.
We now have tons of interesting options like Statcounter, Sitemeter, Google Analytics, FeedBurner or even MyBlogLog that will help you understand how visitors are discovering your site and how they are using it.
Abundance of choices can be overwhelming for must users so we'll help you compare and pick the best site statistics package for your website.
SiteMeter and Statcounter - This is the most popular breed of web analytics software on the internet that you will find included in the maximum number of websites today. Both the services are similar in nature and very reliable.
They will help you track where the users are coming from, what keywords they have used in the search engines, how long they stayed on your site, physical location on the Google Map, what browser they're are using, etc.
I somehow prefer StatCounter over Sitemeter since Statcounter allows you to track the activity of last 500 visitors while Sitemeter limits that to 100 visitors. Second, Sitemeter is always visible on the webpage while Statcounter offers an option to hide the tracking icon from web pages.
103 Bees - Like MyBlogLog, this tool also has a very specific purpose - it will analyze the traffic that is reaching you from search engines like Google or Yahoo - you will know the search phrases / keywords that internet users are typing in the search boxes before reaching your website. [a dream come true from SEOs]
While such data is available through all other web stats software, 103 Bees is fast, uncluttered and less complicated for an average user. One simple report will help you analyze and build upon your organic search traffic.
MyBlogLog - MyBlogLog is famous for tracking outgoing traffic in near real time - it will show hyperlinks that your visitors are clicking to leave the website. A neat way to learn about stuff that's currently hot and popular on your website.
You can also use MyBlogLog to track Adsense clicks - it won't tell you the specific Google Ad that the visitor clicked to exit the site but you'll know what Ad formats are receiving the maximum clicks on your website.
The basic free version of MyBlogLog should be good enough for most users. [Track MySpace Profile Visitors]
Google Analytics (formerly Urchin) - This Google goodie is absolutely free, generates beautiful charts and also offers several unique features.
With Google Analytics, you can invite users to view your site statistics in read-only mode, track file downloads from your website, have daily reports sent to your email address in PDF or Excel formats, track external links that visitors are clicking to exit the website and more.
Google Analytics is clearly the most comprehensive visitor tracking software recommend for all sites since it even preserves historical analytics data which is quite essential for measuring the performance and improving the website rankings.
Awstats - This is not exactly a web analytics program but a log analyzer that extracts data from raw server logs and converts them into more meaningful reports that are pretty easy to understand.
Awstats is not for users of Blogger, Geocities, Wordpress.com or Googlepages since these free services do provide access to visitor logs. Instead, the program is for people who are self hosting their websites and have control over logfiles.
While Awstats will not provide real-time traffic data for your site, it saves you from embedding that Javascript snippet in your webpages which sometimes increase the webpage loading time. And it can help you track non-HTML content like favicons, images, etc that are consuming your site bandwidth.
FeedBurner - This wonderful RSS company which will soon become a part of Google, does provide a free a blog statistics tool that is integrated with your FeedBurner account.
While you get the standard details from FeedBurner site statistics, the advantage here is that one service is keeping track of your blog audience as well as RSS subscribers. That makes life a bit simpler.
Concluding Thoughts
If you have relatively low traffic and want real time stats - go with Statcounter. It also provides an HTML version of tracking code for tracking sites that do not permit Javascript (like Flickr, MySpace, etc)
If you have a large site with fairly high traffic, get Google Analytics. There's a small learning curve involved but you'll absolutely love this software once you master it.
Finally, if you have hosted the site yourself (say on DreamHost or Media Temple), install Awstats package and setup a cron job that runs at midnight daily. You will be amazed to see the detailed visitor reports that popup on your screen every morning.
Microsoft Surface hands-on
If you're any kind of nerd you probably already caught Microsoft's Surface at this point. We don't have a lot to add with our little photo gallery, but damned if this wasn't one of the coolest technology demoes we've seen in long while -- bugs and all. Oh, and for those wondering, all the trickiness in getting the Surface demo tables to identify the objects resting on it wasn't due to NFC or RFID (yet, anyway); the Surface demo unit instead uses a visual code identifier on the bottom of each object, and behaves accordingly. We want.
Palm's Ed Colligan: Foleo is the Wii of portable computing
We've seen Jeff Hawkins' -- the synaptic guns behind the Palm Pilot, Handspring, and Treo -- take on the ill-received Foleo. Now we've got the thoughts from his boss, Ed Colligan, CEO of Palm, Inc. As you'd expect, Ed totes the party line with the "mobile companion" spin. He even compares it to the PS3 vs. Wii battle, citing "technology overload" as the mysterious (and massively oversimplified) force that will drive people to Palm's new platform. Ed also told us that Palm will be providing the tools to developers after which he expects, "very quickly, there'll be thousands of applications" for the Linux-based Foleo. Hey Colligan man! We get it, but we still don't think it's a good idea. Though if only for nostalgia sake, we'd love to be wrong. See the video after the break.Continue reading Palm's Ed Colligan: Foleo is the Wii of portable computing
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Computers Outperform Humans at Recognizing Faces
"According to the recent Face Recognition Grand Challenge, The match up of face-recognition algorithms showed that machine recognition of human individuals has improved tenfold since 2002 and a hundredfold since 1995. 'Among other advantages, 3-D facial recognition identifies individuals by exploiting distinctive features of a human face's surface--for instance, the curves of the eye sockets, nose, and chin, which are where tissue and bone are most apparent and which don't change over time. Furthermore, Phillips says, "changes in illumination have adversely affected face-recognition performance from still images. But the shape of a face isn't affected by changes in illumination." Hence, 3-D face recognition might even be used in near-dark conditions.'"
(Source: Slashdot)
Microsoft's new "Surface Computing" tables
PopularMechanics has video and details of Microsoft's new "Surface Computing" tables.
Gattis took out a digital camera and placed it on the Surface. Instantly, digital pictures spilled out onto the tabletop. As Gattis touched and dragged each picture, it followed his fingers around the screen. Using two fingers, he pulled the corners of a photo and stretched it to a new size. Then, Gattis put a cellphone on the surface and dragged several photos to it — just like that, the pictures uploaded to the phone. It was like a magic trick. He was dragging and dropping virtual content to physical objects. I'm not often surprised by new technology, but I can honestly say I'd never seen anything like it.
The initial plans for the device are commercial ($5,000-$10,000) tables not intended for home users. "People will see it in public spaces like bars and restaurants and want to expand it into other environments."Apple has incorporated Multi-Touch into the iPhone, which is expected to be launched at the end of June.
Update: Microsoft's official site for "Surface" is now available.
Update 2: Another Video from CNet.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Fear Of Identity Theft Discourages Consumers From Banking Online
Proactive security measures increase online banking confidence and use, study says
By By Deena M. Amato-McCoy
Bank Systems & Technology
May 08, 2007
For fear of becomming the next victim of identity theft, 150 million U.S. consumers don't bank online, according to experts. But the banking industry could improve profitability by as much as $8.3 billion per year if banks build consumers' confidence in online security, according to the TriCipher Consumer Online Banking Study, conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research (Pleasanton, Calif.) for TriCipher, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based authentication solutions provider.
The study, which was based on online survey responses from 3,349 U.S. adult consumers, reports that 31 million customers would feel safe enough to begin banking online and another 39 million online users would increase their online banking activity if their banks offered free identity protection software. Further, while only 6 percent of survey respondents have been victims of identity theft or fraud, 41 percent -- which translates to more than 88 million U.S. online banking customers -- would change banks or reduce their online service usage if their individual institution was compromised by a data breach, the study says, making identity protection a significant competitive differentiator. In addition to consumer demand, regulatory mandates and an increasingly hostile landscape are spurring banks' growing attention to online security, according to John DeSantis, CEO, president and executive chairman, TriCipher. As a result, "Institutions are enforcing stronger protection solutions," he says. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo ($482 billion in assets), for example, uses a multilayered, proactive Internet security strategy, according to Michele Scott, VP, Wells Fargo Online. "This approach relies on in-house expertise and the market's best-of-breed solutions," she explains. "We view education, comprehensive risk management and technology as the keys for fighting fraud," Scott continues, noting that the bank's Web site features a Fraud Information Center (www.wellsfargo.com/privacy_security/fraud) that teaches consumers how to recognize tactics used to steal personal information and necessary steps to help protect their accounts. The bank also offers account-activity e-mail alerts. A Free Ride Consumers are willing to take extra steps to protect their identities, but they do not want to pay extra for these services. "Many view this as a service they should get automatically," explains Stephen Knighten, statistical analyst, Javelin. "They are willing to take extra steps, but not at an expense." According to the study, 62 percent of online banking users would download and use identity protection software if their banks provided it for free. Consumers are interested in second-factor solutions, including biometrics (33 percent), one-time password tokens (20 percent) and peripheral device recognition solutions (15 percent). "The key to these solutions' success," says Knighten, "is that they must be convenient." Wells Fargo keeps "security measures as simple and convenient as possible for our customers," says the bank's Scott. "Much of the new security technology that we introduced last year is transparent to the customer. We take on the responsibility of protecting customer accounts rather than placing the burden on our consumers." While banks must foot the bill for these security measures, they can recover their investments by cross-selling to the lucrative online banking segment, notes TriCipher's DeSantis. "Banks can target them with profitable lines of credit, mortgages and similar products," he says. "The key is to reinforce trust and loyalty of account holders. ... Unless you have their confidence, they will start to stray."
Peer to Patent in the News
March 05, 2007
The Washington Post has an article on the front page today (March 5, 2007) by technology reporter Alan Sipress, "Open Call from the Patent Office." The article describes the project as follows: "The Patent and Trademark Office is starting a pilot project that will not only post patent applications on the Web and invite comments but also use a community rating system designed to push the most respected comments to the top of the file, for serious consideration by the agency's examiners. A first for the federal government, the system resembles the one used by Wikipedia, the popular user-created online encyclopedia."
This has been followed by a posting and extended discussion on Slashdot.Also check out the Wall Street Journal, Tech Meme, The Guardian, and American Public Media Marketplace (audio coming soon!).
AOpen intros Santa Rosa-based miniPC Duo
Given all the buzz surrounding Intel's new Santa Rosa platforms for laptops, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before some company would get the bright idea of re-purposing it for use in a pint-sized desktop PC. From the looks of it, AOpen is the first to go that route (though we somehow doubt it'll be the last), recently introducing its Santa Rosa-based miniPC Duo MP965-VDR. While complete specs are still a bit light, you can expect much of what we've been seeing in Santa Rosa laptops as of late, including Intel's 965GM chipset, support for the latest Core 2 Duo processors, 802.11n WiFi, and an Intel Turbo Memory cache card to speed things up a bit further. Still no word on pricing or availability, unfortunately, though we wouldn't expect AOpen to hold out too much longer on that.
[Via 64-Bit Computers]$350 Dell WinXP mac mini clone
Apple Mac Mini like Desktop Computer from Dell
Dell has unveiled a budget desktop computer that looks very sleek and is available for purchase without a monitor.The design of this low-cost Dell EC280 resembles the Mac Mini or a set-top box while the technical specs are ideal for basic computer tasks like web surfing, email, sharing pictures, etc.
Prices starts at around $350 so if you have an spare monitor lying unused at home, this Intel based Windows XP machine could be a good option for you. Unfortunately, this is currently available only for the Chinese market.While the design of EC280 is small and cute, this is not the cheapest option from Dell even when they are targeting the emerging markets.
For instance, the Dell Dimension C521 comes preloaded with Windows Vista Home, bigger hard drive, a faster processor and other accessories for roughly the same price and is available worldwide.
Dell EC280 Product Page | Press Release | Thanks Rob Beschizza
Pieces of trash sold in clear plastic bubbles
Steve Lodefink sent in his hard-earned $3 for four plastic bubbles containing pieces of trash from Christopher Goodwin's Trashball! site (motto: "One man's trash is another man's trash"). Steve has photos of each piece of trash contained in the balls, along with his feelings about it. The actual capsules that the trash treats are packaged in are not your ordinary gumball machine bubbles. These clear polycabonate spheres are not meant to be easily opened. The only place that I have ever seen a case like these is at the core of of one of those light-up superballs. I actually had to destroy one ball to get it open.Link
I'm just not that kind of person...
Craig writes in with a story about a Dyson vacuum:
I have a question for you about buying decisions.
A while back I upgraded my Dyson vacuum cleaner when I got a great deal on the latest model. I had been using my old one for about 5 years or so but it was still in perfect working order. I had even replaced a couple of attachments for it via the Dyson website. I gave my old Dyson to a friend. She had never used a Dyson before and she loved it. So much so that the very next day her own vacuum cleaner was put outside ready for the refuge collection!
But here’s the thing: a few months later the Dyson I gave her stopped working (not sure why, that thing was indestructible) so she decided to buy a new vacuum. Even though the vacuum I gave her was the best she had ever used, she didn’t buy a Dyson.
I was amazed how someone could love a product so much but replace it with an inferior product. I don’t think it was about cost because I told her where she could get an excellent deal on a new Dyson.
This just doesn’t make sense to me so I thought I’d ask if you had any thoughts as to why this happens?
My take: Craig’s friend didn’t see herself as the kind of person who would buy a Dyson. Sure, she might use one, especially if it was free. But buying a weird, fancy-looking vacuum is an act of self-expression as much as it’s a way to clean your floors. And the act of buying one didn’t match the way his friend saw herself.
So many of the products and services we use are now about our identity. Many small businesses, for example, won’t hire a coach or a consultant because, “that’s not the kind of organization we are.” Wineries understand that the pricing of a bottle of wine is more important than its label or the wine inside. The price is the first thing that most people consider when they order or shop for wine. Not because of perceived value, but because of identity.
Internet Explorer 7: Put IE7's menubar in its place
The rare times I do use Internet Explorer 7, I can't stop reaching for the missing "File|Edit|View" menu, which is hidden by default. It's easy enough to turn it on, but it appears below the Address Bar when you do. The How-To Geek explains how to reposition the menubar to the top of the window with a registry hack.
Registry edits shouldn't be done lightly, so for those of you who want an easier point and click method, check out the previously-mentioned IE7Pro. (Once IE7Pro is installed - restart required - from IE7's Tools menu, choose IE7pro Preferences, and in the Settings area, check off "Top IE menu." Restart IE7 to see the menu relocation.) —Gina Trapani
Place IE7 Menu Bar Back On Top [The How-To Geek]
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