Happy Friday! I spent last night out cracking some ice monsters in DnD, so I'm up for anything today! Some headlines, if you please?

Rumors are flying that Google is looking to buy Twitter. Hm, then I may actually use without being tasked to by corporate. :-) Oh, and while you're at it, check out this list of 8 things that will get you un-followed on Twitter.

Pres. Obama brought the Queen of England a video iPod pre-loaded with videos of her state visit a few years back and, surprisingly, an impressive collection of showtunes. Apparently Her Majesty is a fan. Who knew? On a side note, I love the British monarchy so much! I am fascinated by the pomp and circumstance ... and I think it is absolutely adorable how much Elizabeth loves Michelle Obama!

Good news, slackers! A new study from Down Under shows workers who use the internet for personal use while on the job are actually 9% more productive than their non-online counterparts! So, surf away, and feel free to tell you boss that it is *for the good of the company* that you update your Facebook page a few times a day, and that Perez Hilton is making you a better worker! I certainly do!

Microsoft may be readying a Zune phone that offers free music.

My favorite magazine is making some cuts: Wired.com is laying off 12% of its online staff due to current economic conditions. So sad!

And just so we don't end on the day on a bad note, here is a link to my favorite video game blog, Game Hunters on USAToday.com!

See you all Monday!

Labels: barack obama, Game Hunters, Google, Queen Elizabeth II, Twitter, Wired.com, worker productivity, Zune phone

Happy snowy Monday! We're in the midst of a positive blizzard up here in the north east, so let's turn our back to the window and check out some hot headlines:

Give the geeks an inch ... days after the Kindle 2 officially launched, Amazon.com is now battling rumors the Kindle 3 will launch before EOY and feature a touch screen. I say, give it a rest. Let people enjoy their gadgets for more than a week before declaring them obsolete. Geesh.

Also in Kindle news, Amazon.com has bowed to copyrights and will now allow authors and publishers to decide if they want their books to be able to be read by the e-reader. Byt that I mean by the device's computerized voice, not a trained actor using different voices.

If you are all up in arms about the new Facebook policies on building a community-run social network, feel free to read this story. I can't make myself care about it enough -- call me old-school, but as long as the site works for me and lets me do regular status updates, I'm cool. And, yes, some of those breast-feeding pics were too racy. There, I said it.

This is a must-read for people, like me, who use Google's awesome GMail. Every month, it seems, we are getting stories about a fun new tool from Google Labs to make email more usable -- this story tells you the ones to absolutely use and the ones to skip like fridge-hardened mac-and-cheese. So many cool things I didn't know I could do!

Have a BlackBerry? Try out some of these cool shortcuts, from our family at USAToday. We'll be featuring these all week on our elevator screens -- email me if you have any shortcuts of your own to share with the class.

Have a good few days, and keep those D&D characters coming!

Labels: Facebook policies, gmail, Google, Kindle 2.-, Kindle 3

Good morning, everyone! Pop your coffee pod in your office Keurig and settle in for some nice technology bytes...

Sad tidings at Google this year -- the company's annual 'We're so much better than you' holiday party has been cancelled in favor of smaller, more socially responsible get-togethers. According to reports, instead of lavish dining and festivities that include laughing at the escorts the very rich, very geeky employees found through online ads and brought to the party, employees will be spending the early evening volunteering and then touring museums. Did I also mention that there is only one steadfast loser out there searching for a date to his Google mini-shindig? Best get right on that, ladies.

Big Bang Theory is one of my very favorite shows -- who doesn't love Sheldon's razor-sharp monotone and 3/4-length shirts? -- but should you stick around afterwards for the tepidly entertaining How I Met Your Mother? From an acting perspective... only if you adore (as I do) Neil Patrick Harris, whose lone spotlight in the show was eclipsed only by his bra-zilliant turn in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. But, onto my tech point, the show offers a whole online aspect I've rarely seen in my surfing. Official sites for Not A Father's Day, TedMosbyIsAJerk.com and Lily's 50 Reasons to Have Sex pop up minutes after airtime and offer loyal viewers another whole facet to the fan experience. Kudos to the show's forward-thinking marketing team. Not so much to its writers...

Apple is quietly suggesting that it's loyalites install anti-virus software onto their precious Macs -- a definite sign of the times. Gone is the arrogant pontificating by Mac users that their computers are 'safe' from malware. I'm not if we should celebrate this day or lament it -- I've never thought Macs were immune to attack, but I do think this may be a ploy within Apple to advertise (whether or not it's true) that it has a close to similar market share as Microsoft. Redmond has been a favorite target for hackers (not the cute, multi-colored hair, chain-wearing ones that we all love) and miscreants for year -- does Apple want some of the attention, too?

Scientists are scrounging up new data on Oetzi -- "the famous, 5,300 year old frozen mummy found in the Alps nearly two decades ago" -- writes PopSci. By analyzing the contents of his stomach, researchers have determined the Iceman ate six different kinds of moss (probably not the sweetly delicious pond scum found the the Naked's Green Machine drinks at the grocery store...). They are also not willing to close the book on his death and are revisiting possible causes.

Quote of the day:
"I'm one scotch and soda away from the cantina scene in Star Wars."
--Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), How I Met Your Mother

**Coming up: I take the new Flip HD Mino out for its paces against it's rival, the Kodak HD Zi6. Which mini-corder reigns supreme? Hint: The winner is officially my coolest gadget of the year. Tune in Friday to read all about it...

Labels: Apple, Big Bang Theory, Flip Mino HD, Google, How I Met Your Mother, malware, Oetzi the Iceman

Good morning to you all! Hope you hump day goes by as quickly as mine -- does anyone else feel like it should be Thursday? On to the headlines!

- National Geographic announced that, in addition to its magazine, TV network and awesome documentaries, it will venture into the world of video games. No word yet on new titles or subjects, but this seems an odd fit to me. Does anyone not want to hop on the gaming train?

- Speaking of games, fiction is about to become reality for thousands of Korean troops after the gov't announced a 2-phase development of military gear that looks jaw-droppingly like the Master Chief's garb in Halo, complete with the reflective helmet.

- Google and Life magazine have teamed up to make Life's extensive catalogue of images available and searchable online. Does anyone not want to partner with Google?

- With Yang stepping down at Yahoo, the search is on for a new CEO willing to get down on his knees and beg Microsoft to put another offer on the table -- whoops, did I say that? Our friends at CNET.com have complete coverage of 'Yahoo in Transition.'

- Microsoft announced plans to drop its subscription-based antivirus software and instead offer a free program to help people protect their PCs.

See you all on Friday!

Labels: free AV software, Google, Halo military gear, Jerry Yang, Life magazine puctures, Microsoft, National Geographic video games, Yahoo

As Google's Android operating system hits shelves on the T-Mobile G1 today for $179 with a 2-year service contract, Google has posted, as promised, the source code to Android in at effort to further the technology and boost its acceptance into the mobile field in a way Apple's iPhone hasn't allowed.

(Side note: The iPhone, in a 'stunning' move, says Steve Jobs, now makes up 40% of Apple's revenue -- which could only be surprising if the thing didn't start off costing $400 before Apple chopped the price in half.)

What does this mean? Source code is the actual bits-and-bytes language written by developers that tells a particular computer program what to do. Some companies keep a very tight hold on their source code, rarely letting anyone save for internal developers working it to actually see it, and even then they are only allowed to see parts. Think of it like a famous recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken or the formula for Coke -- it makes the product special and unique.

These companies feel the code is proprietary and a direct source of their income and revenue -- and they're right. Most notable for it's iron grip is Microsoft, which is constantly attacked for its stance on its source code by open-source developers (who, in my humble opinion, wish they were getting a chunk of the Redmond paycheck). But, that's beside the point.

Anyway, Apple has come under fire recently for not allowing developers to tinker with its source code, and -- in a rare case of me sticking up for Apple -- I think its right to keep a lid on it. Google is taking the open-source approach only because no one else in the large smartphone market has allowed it.

It'll be a tough uphill battle for Google even without giving millions of developers access to Android, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out for them and affects the Android market share, which, despite widespread reports that the phone is sold out around the U.S., will need more than a good buzz to boost it above RIM's Blackberry and Apple's iPhone in terms of overall sales, staying power and, of course, popularity.

Labels: Android, Apple, Google, iPhone, Microsoft, Open Source, Source Code, T-Mobile G-1

Those brilliant jokers at Google Labs -- responsible for nearly all of Google's best ideas, including Maps, Gmail and some of the best April Fool's jokes on the 'Net -- have come out with another as ironically useful as it is hysterically funny -- Mail Goggles.

This new mail feature disables -- or at least discourages -- users from sending drunk e-mails they may later regret to ex-boyfriend and/or co-workers. Depending on the set time of night, users are asked to answer increasingly difficult math problems to confirm the sending of an e-mail.

Come on now, we've all been there! No word on whether Google's Android OS will be able to stop the drunk dials, too.

Labels: Drunk e-mails, Google, Google Labs, Mail Goggles

Hello! Here are the links to tech stories you may have seen today on the Captivate Network:

Finding Spies on Facebook
The U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, has declared it is using Facebook to find new devotees as part of an ‘open recruitment campaign.’

Google takes a stand
Flexing political muscle, Google has taken an official corporate position against Prop. 8, a ballot measure to amend the Calif. constitution to ban gay marriage.

Collider still warming up
CERN physicists will have to wait 3 weeks for the damaged section of the LCH to be warmed up to room temp so they can get inside to see what went wrong.

Labels: CERN, facebook, Google, Large Hadron Collider, MI6, politics, Prop 8, Spies

Stand back, this one is going to be big.

Google's made a big splash on the scene with the announcement of its Android-powered T-Mobile G1 (formerly known at the HTC Dream), which will cost $179 -- a fraction of the venerable iPhone -- and hit shelves Oct. 22. On first glance, it doesn't look that ground-breaking -- but, it "a touch-screen interface, a QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, a music player, and support for third-party applications."

Meanwhile, shares in Apple are falling, and some analysts are worried the perennial growth-leader in gadgets and laptops might be hitting a significant bump in the road.

Who will win the phone wars? And, more importantly for me, when will someone release one for Verizon so I don't have to switch cell carriers??

More in full coverage of the T-Mobile G1:

How does the gPhone stack up against its venerable 3G Apple competitor?

What does Google's Android-powered OS look like in action?

Does the G1 already have shortcomings?

Podcasters break down the T-Mobile offering.

What's the genesis of the gPhone?

Labels: Apple, cnet, Google, gphone, iPhone 3g, t-mobile g1

Let's take a peek around the web for this week's top stories, shall we?

I joked about it a few times, but joke no more: Google's gPhone is real. The phone, called Dream from vendor HTS, will debut in Oct., according to reports, and will feature Google's mobile OS Android. Set to cost around $200, much less than the iPhone iterations, this one definitely has Steve Jobs shaking in his arrogant boots.

Oh Bill Gates, how you disappoint me. Jerry Seinfeld? Really? He hit his peak in the early 90s, recently made a bad kids-only-like-it cartoon, and you hire him to help give Microsoft a new image? I'm not surprised the public berated it and you've been forced to drop the not-funny Seinfeld ad campaign after only 2 commercials. Sheesh. Way to get my back after all those compliments. Alas, there is a light -- perhaps the second phase of the $300 M ad campaign, poking fun at Apple and embracing the 'I'm a PC' image, will be better received.

Yikes -- scientists have been forced to shut down the Large Hadron Collider after only a day of use after a massive cooling mechanism failed. Whoever designed that part is SO fired. Thankfully, engineers have got the 17-ton component fixed and the LHC is back online.

Google made some big headlines this week -- in addition to the gPhone thing -- with a controversial UK decision to allow ads from religious groups opposing abortions, a new deal Google signed with GE to develop and promote sustainable energy solutions, and an announcement the company is moving ahead with an advertising deal with Yahoo despite worries form the government.

New games in stores this week include Stars Wars: The Force Unleashed. Finally, Lucas comes out with something awesome that totally lives up to expectations. This will be the hot one, so I hope you have your copy reserved. I will be chilling on the couch 'navigating' it this weekend -- or rocking out to Rock Band 2, which looks very cool and lets you use downloaded songs in tour playlists. It also allows you to form a band online and battle against other online bands. Very cool.

Have a great weekend, everyone -- catch you on the flip side!

Labels: Apple, CERN, Force Unleashed, gates, geek lingo, Google, hts dream, i'm a PC, Large Hadron Collider, microsoft ad campaign, online, Rock Band 2, seinfeld, Star Wars, sustainable energy, Yahoo

And the browser wars rage on...

Google has cheekily announced (via a leaked comic book ad) that it's new 'Chrome' web browser is poised to take on Microsoft's ubiquitous IE.

'Chrome' is open-source, free and available to most OSes, including Apple and Linux.

What does this mean to you? Not too much just yet. Microsoft currently has 75% market share in web browsers, despite Mozilla's attempts to propel users toward Firefox. Google's new attempt to overthrow Redmond has a better chance of success than Firefox, but is, as yet, unproven.

Google's other attempts to challenge Microsoft with products to replace the Office suite have so far been pretty feeble -- sorry -- but I wouldn't cut Sergi out of the hunt all together. Chrome will have to prove much better, easier and safer than IE, and I'm not convinced that it can.

The real question is not whether Google can finally eclipse Microsoft, but whether Google would be better off sticking to what it knows. Both companies employ the best and brightest minds in the sci-tech field, so it'll be an interesting race to watch. Go, Team Redmond!

Labels: chrome, Google, internet explorer, Microsoft

What do you do if you don't want to Google? Until recently, not much.

You could have visited Live.com, a Microsoft-powered search engine that, while fine, isn't as top-of-mind for your company's SEO and doesn't spit back results in quite the same way.

In the end, you sucked it up and Googled anyway, knowing that it's minimal interface was the tipsiest top of a huge iceberg of info that you knew heralded its best-in-class search capabilities.

But is that still true? Launching today is a new competitor search site, Cuil.com, that promises more than 120 billion pages indexed, blowing Google's 40 billion pages out of the 'net's water. According to CNet.com: "... it's pitched as bigger, faster, and better than Google's flagship search engine in pretty much every way."

Let's take a superficial look, shall we? First, I don't care for the name -- it's doesn't roll off the tongue in the same way Google does, especially since I don't know how to pronounce 'Cuil.' Kweel? Anyway, it has the same minimalistic homepage design, but no options for photos or news feeds. Search results are organized very nicely, but in a quick search for 'byte-sized blog,' I show up as No. 7 on Google -- not too shabby -- but I'm not on the first 7 pages of Cuil.

Variety is the spice of life, and it's good to have options for your searching needs. Go check out Cuil.com. You may find you like it more. Me? I'll stick to Google. That toolbar menu in my browser is far too convenient and I love their logo caricatures on holidays. Simple pleasures, my friends.

Labels: Byte-Sized, Cnet.com, Cuil, Google, Live.com, Microsoft, search engines