Well, this stuff would be there if the folks at Woot! had their druthers. They held a little contest with this challenge:
Design a new electronic device that would really amaze us if we saw it at the Consumer Electronics Show
One of two items tied for first…a fetus carrier for the woman who…?
Caption at will!
I suspect Google already knows exactly who you are if you use their search, mapping or other services. Why not, then, give up your phone number? Now, they provide just a bit of incentive to do so.
If you are doing a business search on Google Maps they provide a feature that will call that business for you:
Search for a business, like a hardware store, on Google Maps, and click the ‘call’ link next to its phone number. Then, enter your phone number and click ‘Connect For free.’ Google calls your phone number and automatically connects you to the hardware store.
There are two things that I really like about this. The business’s phone number is automatically stored in your caller ID so you can easily call back in the future. And by checking the box to remember your phone number, you can make future calls from Google Maps with just two mouse clicks (and picking up your phone, of course).
We’re providing the ‘call’ link as a free service to all businesses. These aren’t ads and don’t influence the ranking of businesses in the search results. We foot the bill for calls (local and long distance), but airtime fees or other mobile fees will still apply if you use a mobile phone number.
The click to call feature is currently available only within the US and they say that they eventually delete your phone number from their servers. But they most certainly have added the information about your search and your phone call(s) to their growing file on you. If they really want your phone number later there are plenty of ways to acquire it.
On the other side, and it may not really make a difference, there are still quite a few people that delete Google cookies after every use. But, for that to mean anything, you’d better change your IP address every time as well.
Or use something like Tor.
If you haven’t already seen this go now to A Brief History of Computers, As Seen in Old TV Adds put together with commentary by Harry McCracken at PC World’s Techblog!
It’s been said that the average American will see two million TV commercials by the time he or she turns 65. Doing some quick math in my head, I believe that means that I’ve seen…well, a terrifyingly large number of commercials for PCs and related products over the past 26 years or so. You too, maybe.
One of the many perversely fascinating things about YouTube is that its users have uploaded a remarkable percentage of those ads to the site, including both famous and obscure examples. Watch enough of them, in the right order, and what you have is a history of the PC in American life.
Well, perhaps you should wait until you get home from workas you might want to spend just a bit too much time watching this fascinating collection of commercials.
As cool as many of these ads are Americans might get just a slight feeling of having been short changed if they check out the example of why the author did not include commercials from Europe in his selections:
Q: Where are these commercials from?
A: The U.S., as far as I know. Rule one of European computer commercials: They’re too dirty for American TV.
I don’t agree with the ‘dirty’ description at all but, yes, this one is probably not work friendly.
Go dabble:
Gather and organize your own videos, your contacts’ (people you know) videos, and all of the videos in the Dabble database.
It is certainly a lot more fun than playing in Telco Land.
Microsoft has been hammered over the years for bundling functionality into Windows that many think should be sold/given away separately. However, when it comes to stuff that really should be in the OS like, well, security they decide to deliver and charge for it separately:
Microsoft’s new Windows Live OneCare product will be in stores tomorrow. The subscription service costs $50 a year for up to three computers, and includes anti-virus and anti-spyware features, the ability to back up photos and other files, regular “PC tune-ups” and phone support.
I’d expect that Microsoft would not be investing in and rolling out this product if they did not expect these problems to be around for a long time. Does this mean that Microsoft is now incented to ensure that Windows XP and the future Windows Vista do not provide the levels of security that users should expect from their operating system?
It sure seems to imply that Vista will not solve these problems for users….