Technology That I'm Thankful For

Over the last couple of days, I've seen a lot of friends and technology has seemed to come up in most conversations (typically b/c I've pulled out my iPhone). I've been a bit surprised how little most people are aware of - I know that I'm a geek, but still....

Anyway, I thought that I'd post links to a few things that are worth checking out - if only to be aware that they exist (listed from the most mainstream to the more geeky):

• Facebook: a social networking site to connect and interact with other people. It has something like 120 million users

• Flickr: an image and video hosting site. A great place to share photographs (although I typically just use Facebook), the service hosts more than 3 billion images and has a great search feature.

• Skype: software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and to free-of-charge numbers are free, while calls to landlines and mobile phones can be made for a small fee. Skype also includes instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

• Chrome: a free Web browser developed by Google launched in September. While it only has about 1% of the browser market today, I was hooked right away because it is so much faster than Internet Explorer or Firefox.

• Twitter: a "micro-blogging" service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as "tweets"), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. The search feature is extremely powerful, especially during a big conference or when there is breaking news.

• RSS: a family of formats used to publish frequently updated works, such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video, in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "Web feed", or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus data such as publishing dates and authorship. RSS feeds allow users to subscribe to timely updates from favored Web sites and to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. I suggest signing up for an RSS reader, such as BlogLines and then adding feeds, which you can find on many Web sites (including virtually all blogs and mainstream media sites).

I know that many readers of this blog are familiar with everything I mentioned above - for those of you that aren't, feel free to drop me a line with questions about any of the above. You can reach me through my Facebook profile, Skype (Skype name "lee.kowarski"), my Twitter feed, or any other way you can imagine.

Voting and Commenting Comes to Google

I'm excited about Google's latest offering: allowing users to vote and comment on results. While my initial response was concern over potential abuses of the system, I have decided to focus more on the potential improvements that can be made by adding the intelligence of all the users to Google's technology. I can't wait for this to roll out to my account! And I'm loving the Google voice search on my iPhone.

Trying to Understand Twitter

I've been playing around with Twitter (@kowarski) and have to admit that I don't fully understand when/how I am supposed to use it. I linked it to my Facebook profile for a while, but have decided to separate them.

Anyone have any good insight on how/when Twitter is particularly useful? So far, I can see value when I'm at a conference or other big event - and it is kind of fun tonight to follow what other people are saying about the Jets-Patriots game.

I'd love your thoughts

Back From the Dead

It has been five months since I've posted anything on my blog. There is no excuse for that. So I'm back now and promise to post more regularly.

For now, I'll just leave you with this great photo from this week's debate:

Social Networking Wars

I really enjoyed this video that I found via ViralBlog.com. It should tickle the funny bone of anyone who has had a Friendster, MySpace, and/or Facebook account.

Chicago Overturns Foie Gras Ban

I was pleased to read that Chicago has overturned its foie gras ban. The NY Times' bureau chief says that "the ban has been a source of embarrassment for the city" and indicates that the repeal was driven by residents complaining about the government trying to "micromanage people’s lives."

The other good news was that I've learned that producers have started to use "free-range" feeding to produce foie gras. The results have been surprising - Eduardo Sousa's company, Patería de Sousa, was awarded the Coup de Coeur by the Paris International Food Salon and was called "the best culinary experience of my life" by Blue Hill chef Dan Barber.

Simple Pleasures While Travelling

After landing in Madrid today, I had one of those moments where you go "why doesn't everyone do that?" Upon reaching baggage claim #4, we were presented with a monitor showing the exact time that bags would be available (as shown at right). Instead of waiting for 15 minutes and getting annoyed, we were able to go to the restroom, get some Euros, and be back just in time for the bags to start coming out right on time. So simple and so obvious, but I haven't seen it anywhere in the States.