Category: Web/Tech

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been in a store and wished I could get online for just a minute to do some price comparison or review shoppiong.   Froogle Mobile makes that possible from some cell phones.  Unfortunately, I don’t think mine is one of them yet.

I just discovered that two of my favorite web tools work together.

I read all my news and blogs via Bloglines.  I share pictures with my friends via Flickr.  Both great tools.  Flickr in particular has a lot of potential.

Now, all my friends and family’s new pictures show up every morning in Bloglines when I read the news!  So along with my daily news I also see the most recent pictures of my friends’ trips to Oregon and my cousin’s birthday party.

Here’s how you do it:

1. You can go to any Flickr page (I went to "Photos from Friends and Family") and at the bottom right there is an RSS feed.  Copy that link.
2. Go to Bloglines, my feeds, and "Add a Feed", use the link where it asks for the RSS feed.
3. Then presto!  I can now see all the new pictures my friends add in Bloglines!

Way cool.

If you haven’t yet downloaded Google Earth or been to Google Maps to find something, you are really missing out.  Here’s a page that will show you some of the cool things you can do with it, Google Map Directory.  One that I like is Colorado Future, a listing of all homes for sale in Colorado with maps and satellite pictures of the house.

People in Madrid and Paris have been spotted kissing their partner while talking on their cell phones – Londoners?  Never.  People in Madrid don’t use voice mail.  (That doesn’t surprise me as when I lived in Spain nobody had an answering machine.)  For those and some other cultural insights to cell phone usage, read A mobile tale of three cities – Technology – International Herald Tribune.

This article talks about how email styles and habits vary between Europe and the US,  Euromail – What Germans can teach us about e-mail.  One thought sums it up: In the States email has replaced the phone; in Europe email has replaced the business letter.  Maybe some day we can find a happy medium …

Tired of searching for the perfect girl on Match.com?  Now you can just sign up for a virtual girlfriend.  For a low monthly fee you can have conversations with your virtual girlfriend, see pictures of her on your phone and send her virtual flowers and chocolates.  For a fee of course.

The New York Times > Technology > Sad, Lonely? For a Good Time, Call Vivienne*.

This did remind me of one of my favorite science fiction books, The Diamond Age, about a little girl who finds a book that becomes her teacher.  The book is really a very complicated piece of technology that adapts and changes to the girls’ needs.  I’ve always wanted a book like that.  Maybe some guys have always wanted a girlfriend like that.  A secret friend who’s always on your side.

The ability to control computers via brainwaves has made big news in the medical field as it allows people with paralysis to communicate better.  I think this technology also has huge potential for the entire population – it will change the way we use technology.  Imagine having your iPod, Google and wikipedia in your brain, available anytime you had a question.

How To Talk When You Can’t Speak – Communicating with unconscious minds. By Clive Thompson.

Glass that blocks heat when the outside temperature rises.

USNews.com: Next News: Glass that can sense the temperature outside (8/19/04)

A great article about how Netflix could be more successful as an online business.

Netflix, Open up or die… – Features – Engadget – features.engadget.com