Reflections of 2007
The lens through which viewers receive their news has changed. The images of struggle are no longer frozen in time; technology has helped preserve and personalize these conflicts by producing moving tributes to the conflicts of humankind. The strife and internal conflicts that marred the globe in 2006 continued into 2007: Mynamar (Burma), Palestine and Lebanon all continue to struggle with internal conflicts in their borders. The differences between 2006 and 2007 are not obvious; however, under close examination, it is evident that several external struggles have been transformed into internal conflicts. In 2006, many countries attempted to influence their neighbors. This was evident with Iran attempting to influence the turmoil in Iraq, and Syria attempting to control Lebanon. Both struggles have evolved into internal personal conflicts in 2007. 2007 Reflections
Google Buys Microblogging Startup Jaiku
On Tuesday, Google made yet another move in mobile social networking. This time, the acquisition target was Finnish startup Jaiku, a company that develops a mobile phone application that lets people send messages, view Web feeds, and even blog. complete article
AccuWeather RSS Feeds
Accuweather is now offering RSS feeds. My only question is what took so long? There have been tools around for quite some time that can dynamically convertdatabases to RSS feeds. It seems Accuweather was just a little late to the party. Afterall Weather.com has had feeds for dare I say years? I know I should be applauding their efforts because there are of course other weather portals that do not provide RSS feeds, I just have a hard time understanding the difficulty. Weather is a natural for RSS.
Information Overload
As employees struggle to read an increasing amount of work-related material, some companies have turned to RSS technology to improve productivity. With RSS servers and readers designed for workplaces, IT departments set up internal information feeds that employees can subscribe to, a delivery mechanism that, for some information, can be more precise and effective than e-mail. complete article
Webmaster Resolutions for 2007
New Years Resolutions Each and every year people around the world mark the first day of the New Year with resolutions. They resolve to do a wide variety of things, and while few resolutions are actually kept, the tradition is a hallmark of the holiday each year. Experts suggest that people should make lifestyle changes rather than resolutions. I am a bit more pragmatic. Tackle a task you know that you can succeed at. Do not bite off more than you can chew, and you will be one of the few who manages to keep their resolutions. Here are a few suggested resolutions for webmasters and small business owners: Webmasters Resolutions: 1. Prune Those RSS Feeds Large feeds are slow to load, its time to prune those RSS feeds and remove the old contents. Dated feed items can be archived as an HTML web page, but should be removed from the actual feed, to ensure that it loads quickly. 2. Update Copyright Notices Make an effort to update the copyright notice on your website. A current date will reassure customers that your online storefront is active. 3. Update Meta Tags Each and every web page on a website should contain a unique title and description. Update and optimize meta tags to avoid excessive use of keywords. Meta tags should be accurate and concise without redundancy and recurring words. 4. House Cleaning Update old links and remove any links that are no longer valid. HTML is a markup language and without constant maintenance it is easy to have a page with an unclosed tag. While some web browsers make allowances for poorly formed HTML, it is important to realize that not all do. Therefore, it is crucial that you take a look at the HTML behind the web page and make sure that it is properly formed. 5. Try Something New Pick a technology, be it podcasting, RSS, or social bookmarking. Resolve to try or resolve to learn something new. businesses stagnate without innovation. Be creative and willing to experiment a little. Webmaster Resolutions for 2007
Great RSS Usage
This stock photo website uses RSS to notify subscribers when new photos are added to the website. Subscribers can choose feeds based on categories or subscribe to see all the newest photos. Stock Photo Feeds
RSS Higher Value than Blogs
RSS has the highest value among Web 2.0 technologies, according to a Forrester Research report released Friday. The research firm surveyed 275 IT decision-makers online between April and June. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed report substantial business value for RSS. One in three uses RSS for marketing purposes. Podcasting came in right behind RSS, with 21% reporting substantial business value. By contrast, only 11% said blogging delivers substantial business value. Fourteen percent said their company does not measure Web 2.0 business value at all. Of those that do measure, the majority look at traditional metrics such as ROI and total cost of ownership.
RSS Specials
The holiday season is in full swing, and more and more people are using the web as a giant shopping mall. Thankfully, the proliferation of Web 2.0 technologies is giving birth to a new breed of shopping site that can help navigate this crowded marketplace. Sites like Offertrax, StyleFeeder and Mpire don’t sell anything at all. Rather, they improve purchasing intelligence by keeping an eye out for bargains and sending electronic alerts when it’s time to swoop in for the kill. Instead of wasting time browsing the virtual aisles at dozens of sites, just tell Offertrax what you’re shopping for. Complete Article
Podcast Recording Tips
Location, Location, Location When you are producing a podcast on a regular basis it is important that you select an appropriate location for the recording to take place. The location should be free of external distractions and relatively quiet. It is easiest if you use the same location each time, that way the equipment can remain in place and will not require moving or setup each time you produce a show. The room should have a carpet or furniture that will absorb echoes and dampen the sound. The room should also have a door, so that you will not have unexpected interruptions. Reduce extraneous noise by turning off fans or any equipment. Consider hanging a note on the door, so that you will not be disturbed while recording. Recording Away from Home When taking your podcast on the road it is equally important that the quality of the podcast is not compromised for the sake of portability. Consider using a directional microphone or finding a quiet alcove for interviews when on the road. Podcast Recording Tips
New Digg Feed Tool
DiggReSS is an alternative RSS 2.0 feed for Digg. Each feed item: links directly to the article displays the domain of the article as the author displays the current number of Diggs displays the current number of comments (and links to the Digg page) provides links to DuggMirror, DotCache, Coral Cache, and Google Cache optionally embeds videos from Youtube, Google Video, and Metacafe directly in the feed can be filtered out based on the number of Diggs, by setting minimum and/or maximum limits
[…] Reflections of 2007 The lens through which viewers receive their news has changed. The images of struggle are no longer frozen in time; technology has helped preserve and personalize these conflicts by producing moving tributes to the conflicts of humankind. The strife and internal conflicts that marred the globe in 2006 continued into 2007: Mynamar (Burma), […] […]
[…] Reflections of 2007 The lens through which viewers receive their news has changed. The images of struggle are no longer frozen in time; technology has helped preserve and personalize these conflicts by producing moving tributes to the conflicts of humankind. The strife and internal conflicts that marred the globe in 2006 continued into 2007: Mynamar (Burma), […] […]