Gooooogle Buzzzzzzz

It’s here, finally! And I’m loving it. It’s about time Google strayed into the ever-growing territory of social sharing. There is so much potential for web software products. This is where it’s going. And all we’ve seen so far is just a tip of the iceberg!

Seminar

In the fall of 2009, I gave a seminar (probably the best presentation of my life – and I’ve given pretty epic ones!) on the same topic – Concurrent Software Development.

Check it out here.

Sexy Web Design

I recommend this book to everyone out there with a penchant for creating beatiful, useable interfaces. I’ve finished reading it, and I can’t wait to jump on a new project where it can be applied. It’s also insightful beyond web design; you can apply these techniques to standalone software, print, games, or anything at all.

** I know I haven’t blogged in a while now. Twitter truly is the kryptonite of blogging. I mean, why bother with WordPress when you can Tweet in just 140 characters? 😛

Will You Pay to Use FlickR, Facebook, or your Email?

Interesting Los Angeles Times article about how our favourite free web tools could start charging us service fees. The rationale is good, and I agree that this will happen sooner than we expect. Read the article here.

Cool Logos Made with Helvetica

I’m one of those very font-conscious people, and I hardly use Helvetica. I have to jump on the bandwagon before it’s too late. Check out some cool A-list logo’s made with Helvetica. Who woulda thought?

Seven Ways To Lower System Storage

A very good read from ITWorld. Check it out here.

Twitter is here to stay

Twitter just secured $35 million in funding. Tech IS recession-proof! Been using it since the early days, glad that they’ve proven the doubters wrong.

Read ITWorld’s announcement here.

Transfer Blackberry contacts to your iPhone!!!

Although I do not approve of ditching the Blackberry, I know people who have tried (and failed) doing this. ITWorld has a great article on how to export your contact lists from your Blackberry to your iPhone.  Read here.

The Plug linked by Technorati!!!

Well, yours truly’s blog has an inbound link from… Technorati.

Yup, THAT Technorati: the holy book of all tech blogs.

This is amazing! My Ruby on Rails post is the 7th highest ranked post tagged for Ruby on Rails on Technorati!!! It’s always great to know that people out there read my blog. Especially, via Technorati.

Check it out here.

iTech Sneaking Into Your Vocabulary

Who uses the word “search” anymore? The verb “search,” used in its internet context, has found a more powerful synonym — “Google.”

When you need to find information online, you google it. The word “search” is now kinda lame.

Adobe’s popular graphic application, Photoshop, has also found its way into our everyday vocabulary as a synonym for any form of photo-editing or remodeling, regardless of whether what medium was used. Like Google, it has gone from noun to verb.

Other notable mentions:

YouTube: “I missed Family Guy tonight. I’ll YouTube* it later.”  *[watch it online]

Blog: “I am blogging* on my blog right now.” *[writing]

Facebook: “Hey let’s keep in touch. Call or Facebook* me later.”  *[holler at me online]

Web 2.0 Discoveries

I’ve been learning a lot of AJAX and advanced web development techniques. Of course, it’s mostly Ruby on Rails, in case you were wondering.

Anderson Cooper and CNN’s “Hologram”

The major highlight of election night was (sorry, not Obama’s victory) CNN’s Anderson Cooper talking with Black Eyed Peas’ singer Will.i.am via Hologram. It was hilarious and awesome. I laughed out loud, literally, until the thing was over. Anderson Cooper (along with Wolf Blitzer and CNN) has got to be one of the vainest TV personalities of this age!

Watch video here.

On a serious note though, Obama’s victory was truly a great moment in history. I am glad to have witnessed it, and it truly was a happy ending to this long, seemingly neverending, reality show of a presidential campaign season.

Watch Barack Obama’s victory speech here.

Shocker: Facebook isn’t “really” profitable

Like a few of the major tech companies out of Silicon Valley and elsewhere, Facebook boasts a  mega-large user base and hundreds of millions of dollars in ad revenue. However, according to Social Networking Watch, Facebook is running out of cash. Read the shocker here.

Synthetic Telepathy: Blog without typing!

The US Army is developing a new technology that will enable users to communicate directly from their thoughts to email or voicemail, without moving a muscle.

This is really neat. Read about it here.

Apple Exceeds Google’s Market Share

Did anyone see this coming? I think so. Reports confirm that Apple has exceeded Google’s market share, thanks to sales from the high-flying iPhone 3G, and related brands. Apple’s current market value is $159.37 billion, compared to Google’s: $157.56 billion.

Read more here.

Cuil or not?

Cuil (pronounced ‘cool’) is the latest “Google-killer” search engine. Launched over a week ago amidst a lot of hype, and the founder’s claim that it’s the world’s largest search engine, it has still failed to win over critics.

I’ve tested it for myself, and while it has a neat interface, the search results are not convincing. This blog shows in a number of Google search results; nothing for Cuil.

Cuil should have released a BETA version, prior to full launch. The bad publicity won’t help their cause in any way. Also, what’s up with the name? That DOESN’T help either.

Warning: This is too Neat – Apple iRing

Coming soon from Apple… watch out.

Google Strikes Again

Google just announced an advertising deal with family guy creator Seth McFarlane. The deal will see McFarlane create Family Guy-like cartoons, which will be exclusively used to reach Google’s online audience, thereby expanding the base of Google’s Adsense program.

Now that’s what I call super-marketing. Read the NY Times report here.

Firefox 3… Bow in the presence of greatness

Mozilla Firefox 3 – can’t wait to download this!!!

Can I replace you for a day?

Facebook CTO Adam DAngelo to leave, or at least take an extended vacation

From Technorati. Read here