We don’t use Skype as much as we used to, but I see that the new beta version for the Mac now sports a screen sharing feature. This lets you transmit your computer’s desktop in real-time to the person you’re talking to, so they could see a slide presentation, software demo, or other visuals. If you download the new Skype for Mac beta and try it out, let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!
(Via MacNN)
I haven’t received the direct message in question, but I think at least one of my Twitter friends has. The message contains a link to a “funny blog post” or “website with a pic” about you. Do not click the link, and definitely don’t sign in after you do. It’s a scam to get your Twitter login information.
(Via Chris Pirillo)
This post provides two important reminders: First, backups are important, and second, your online data is only as safe and secure as your hosting provider.
The other day, a blogging service provider called JournalSpace lost all of its data–not because of a hardware failure (they were prepared for such an issue), but due to a malicious former employee who wiped out customers’ blogs on his way out the door. As a result, JournalSpace has shut its doors and customers are stuck with Google’s cache as the only source for (some of) their posts.
Could this happen at Facebook, Flickr, Twitter–or even Stratepedia? Probably not, but it’s theoretically conceivable. I’m not suggesting that I’m going to start accidentally-on-purpose forgetting to back up Depot’s data structure, but I am saying that in the Web 2.0 world you should never, ever rely on a service provider to provide a backup of your important information. Even if there’s not a blown hard drive or ex-employee out for revenge, web startups go out of business all the time. (Just last month, two of my favorites shut down.)
The moral of the story: If it’s important, keep a local copy. And of course, keep a copy of your local copy.
(Via TechCrunch)
Did you score a new computer, MP3 player, smart phone, or HDTV this holiday season? Before you toss the old one in the trash, keep in mind that most electronic devices contain toxins that shouldn’t wind up in landfills. Some communities even ban such devices from being tossed out improperly. Planet Green has provided a list of recycling options for electronics .
Consumer Guides for E-Cycling After the Holidays on Planet Green (via The Huffington Post)
Photo: Alby Headrick on Flickr
A new social site for reading called Booksprouts has just launched. Like other sites I’ve mentioned here in the past (like Shelfari and Goodreads), Booksprouts helps like-minded bookworms network around what they’re reading. What looks interesting about this one, to me, is that it’s geared more toward book clubs and social reading. I haven’t done much research into this beyond watching this short introductory video:
BookSprouts, A Social Network For Book Worms And Clubs (from TechCrunch).
From Gizmodo: The Best iPhone Apps of 2008 (note this blog sometimes uses some colorful language, but this post is clean). I haven’t tried all of these myself–I posted my own list of what’s currently on my iPhone a few weeks ago–but a few of them sound pretty interesting.
Don’t forget that Hello (this blog you’re reading right now!) is sort of an iPhone app! Just open hello.stratepedia.org on your iPhone, then add it to your home screen for easy access.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) posted a series of articles today about how to use a variety of Apple gadgets. If you’ve recently received a new iPhone, iPod, or Apple computer you may be interested in one of these posts:
Not an Apple person? No problem–there are some other articles to guide you with your new digital camera or hard drive:
The New York Times published an article yesterday about the latest in electronic books–from Amazon’s popular Kindle (which I’ve talked about quite a bit in this blog), to competing products from Sony and other companies, to iPhone software for e-book reading. It doesn’t really touch on textbooks, but that could really shake things up if and when kids start toting an e-book reader instead of a stack of books (including some of the things we know about literacy).
Read More Readers Are Picking Up Electronic Books (NYTimes.com).
SIM network superstar Sue Woodruff has launched a Facebook group for professional developers working with SIM. There are already 27 members sharing photos, links, and discussions.
The group is private, but if you have a Facebook account and wish to join just visit the SIM Professional Developers group and request to join.
Sue has been doing a lot with social web technology this year: In addition to Facebook, she maintains the blog For Your SIMformation and is active on Twitter. I’m hoping that we can co-present on these technologies at next summer’s SIM conference.
Want to listen to your favorite websites or important documents on your way to work? Textcast might be worth a try. From its website:
Textcast turns any text — documents, web pages and entire blog feeds — into personal podcasts you can listen to right on your iPod and iPhone.
I could have used this a few years ago when my old-school white iPod was my best friend, commuting in Seattle. You can download a 7-day trial of Textcast. If you do, let us know what you think!
