Writing on feeds, search, widgets, and the social web.

Niall Kennedy's weblog, newest first. Page 66 of 72.

Google search counter

Google has Frequent started experimenting with a search counter for individual users. It is cookie based and limited to small sample at the moment….

Boobiethon 2003

Robyn started the latest Boobiethon to raise money for charities. Veronika received $359 to run the Chicago Pets Are Worth Saving event. The rest of the money goes towards the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I think more breast cancer fundraisers should promote themselves as fans of preserving the breasts we love. She has already raised about $1700 in a little over a day!…

Bill Joy in Fortune magazine

Fortune’s Brent Schlender interviews Bill Joy. “I’d really like to go and do something that’s more like Java�that starts from a clean sheet and that isn’t required by its compatibility with something else to be so complicated. Unfortunately, too few people get to do that in our industry.”…

The new HP Tablet PC

Rumor is that HP will announce a new line of Tablet PCs on October 13. The 1GHz Pentium M is part number DQ871A#ABA. I want one! One of my biggest complaints with the TC1000 is its lack of any GPU handling. Rendering a PDF page in Adobe Reader seems to take forever. The NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go 420 should help with that. I like my Compact Flash slot because my camera uses CF and I can take my memory from my camera and place it right in my Tablet with no add-ons. Maybe HP will have a trade-up version…

Hot-Spot Evangelist

Apple is hiring a Hot-Spot Evangelist in the UK. My favorite part : “Understanding and experience of implementing Microsoft Windows networks. Mac OS X knowledge a bonus, but not required.”…

Yahoo! Search IMVironment

Yahoo! now has a Yahoo! Search IMVironment for its instant messaging client. Include a yellow page search, a map, news, whatever, and it shows up alongside your IM conversation….

The Meeting Place

The Meeting Place is a dating system using computer kiosks placed in large nightclubs and social venues. Rocky Mountain News has a detailed article on the concept. I like the ideas of clubs and bars listing themselves on Friendster and patrons add their regular hangout as part of their network. It works especially well if the bar serves a specific demographic such as bikers, lesbians, or heavy techno lovers….

Tech Job Certifications That Still Matter

Newsfactor has a special report on Tech-Job Certifications That Still Matter. I wonder if Java is one of the over-supplied certs….

Megaman vs Metroid

Megaman vs Metroid Flash game. I own a top-loading NES and just bought a bunch of new games. Now you can play a new game in Flash too……

Wall Street Journal : What Doomed the WUSA

Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Allen Barra. His focus is on building the game from the grassroots, like minor league baseball, instead of focusing on big market plays like the NBA. I agree. I have had a similar conversation with Dave Oster, GM of the Lake Elsinore Storm. They are successful by creating an experience. They work with the local community, and secure promotional partnerships. Corporate sponsorships are all over the stadium and the sponsors are treated well. Merchandising gives small teams a competitive edge and forces creativity….

John Wolyniec’s goal

I just saw John Wolyniec’s goal against the Columbus Crew on September 20. Wow. ( Windows Media | Real Video )…

Alaska Airlines marketing

Alaska Airlines has a new parody site online. It speaks to people’s frustrations with flying and leaves subtle clues that Alaska Air is different. They even take a shot at Greyhound….

Google filesystem

Sanjay Ghemawat, Howard Gobioff, and Shun-Tak Leung have authored a whitepaper on the custom Google File System….

Nick Rimando Suffers Torn Left ACL

“D.C. United announced today that an MRI exam performed today on Nick Rimando revealed that the goalkeeper has a torn left ACL. Rimando will undergo surgery next week and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2003 MLS season.” Nick blocked a penalty kick earlier in the game. Tough luck Nacho. Gotta be a soldier….

Blogging as a personal research tool

This week I was introduced to a new use for my blog : people trying to find out more about me. I was having some Beamish after soccer practice on Wednesday and some of my players knew things about me that I had never mentioned to anyone on the team. Today I checked my logs and I had about 11 unique visitors from my Yahoo! profile. (I use Yahoo mail as a social account) A few people I work with read my blog. One person was introduced to RSS for the first time today and I helped point him to…

Segways voluntarily recalled

Segway is recalling its human transporters for a software upgrage. If the batteries are near the end of charge you may fall. The software fix will probably decrease the allowed battery life. I assume all transporters are recalled, and Segway estimates 6,000 units. Are there only 6,000 Segways in the world?…

Landmark Theatres, nation’s largest art-house chain, purchased

Landmark Theatres, nation’s largest art-house chain, purchased by Mark Cuban’s 2929 Entertainment company. Landmark is my best choice for indie movies in San Francisco. I hope I still have variety of movies and not shut out movie houses such as Fox Searchlight….

SkyBox by Maytag

Maytag has a new home vending machine. 33 12-oz bottles, including longnecks, or 66 12-oz cans. Available exclusively at Amazon.com for $499. I want one for my cube……

Fedora : Savern test 2 available

Red Hat’s recent changes on the desktop platform are pretty interesting. If you are interested in Linux, or OS concepts in general, take a look at the Fedora Project. Fedora is focused on the total solution : core OS + packages. High on my wishlist is an update notification and installation for all packages on my machine, combining concepts from Red Hat Network and Ximian’s Red Carpet. Centralized updates in exchange for something either from the vendor or from my pocket….