June, 2008

If you ask the normal consumer the first websites that come to mind when you say the word "internet", they'll normally shout out "yahoo, google, myspace, youtube, facebook, ebay, etc". If you're doing an interview of a new candidate, you're reviewing their resume and it shows "computer experience" as "word, excel, outlook, etc". Unfortunately for the normal consumer and the corporate executive, technology is passing them by. It's flying so fast, they don't even see it. Enter Mr Michael Arrington, the spokesman for the "Internet" form of business.

After completing the full transformation of Gr8tFate.com, with a completely new website design, I quickly learned that I'm having problems with Drupal and getting the RSS feeds to work. I'm still in the process of figuring out the problems and let me tell you, it's no small task.

I'm in dire need to get this working to benefit our future readers and to also help market ourselves too. This will be a huge crutch if I don't get this working. Anyone want to place some bets on whether I'll be able to do it or not?

I'll keep you posted on this blog once it's up and running smoothly.......if that is.

Great online entertainment pops up everywhere, everyday, but did you know about AniBoom.com, the YouTube'ish look website with content centered on animation? I decided to try it out and I was very pleased with the website. Below is a funny short video I'm sure you'll enjoy:

Many people ask why Facebook and MySpace are valued so high financially, even though they really haven't made any profits yet. Also, normal consumers flock to their sites like ants to a cheese-puff, but don't consider the business side of the website's attraction, who cares right?

During my 2 week vacation in SoCal, I had the opportunity to see if my best friend's computer illiterate wife, Jen, could learn how to download mp3's using YouTube. It wasn't an easy task, but the fact that she learned gives me hope for others to learn too.

Last year Rihanna became a worldwide superstar, going on a successful international tour.

Recently Rihanna has received appearances on NBC and CBS to showcase her music live.

Visit our Female Celebrity HQ Photos to see all of  Rihanna's 3,500+ photos in high quality.

SyncTV is another website that offers video streaming and downloads of TV programming. SyncTV, created by Pioneer Electronics, offers abilities with their software that no else does. The most interesting feature is the ability to play the DVD-quality content on up to five devices in the home, and up to 10 different portable devices. With news of this ability from SyncTV last November, also stated that components that would offer compatibility with their software would be offered this year.

Diamonds are about as rare as a pair of Converse shoes at your local Sears department stores.

In this particular article, you may get a little pissed off with some of the content I decided to turn up from the past that you didn't know about. It's my goal to open your eyes and to get your blood boiling.

 Believe it or not, since 1991, technology for electric cars was being envisioned and at the time, it was also feasible, even with limited technology back then. In this Phoenix News Times article, shows the same vision we have today, that was viewed over 17 years ago. I recommend reading it before continuing on with this article. Imagine if for the last 17 years we worked on improving the "electric car" concept back then, we'd all be driving one today.

              “Electric cars are your driving future.”

Today, the only stories you read about in the automotive industry is their struggle with sales. US auto makers are falling to a fate they created. Their stubbornness  has stopped their growth and the Asian market plans to up one on the US with innovation into the electric age.

 “The point he is making is that internal combustion technology has not advanced in the slightest since 1927.”

 News of future EV's [Electric Vehicles] coming won't hit our markets until at least next year. Mitsubishi is introducing a new EV automobile to the Japanese market and skipping the US. Our government needs to provide incentives to automakers and consumers to buy and sell Evs. Only then will you see this divine plan come to life. To do that, we have as Americans have to lobby our politicians to do just that.

Everyone enjoys watching a good fight and it's nice if everyone gets to watch one. A recent public fight has begun with Michael Arrington [original article][followup article] and the Associated Press [AP], and it's getting pretty popular. The fight is about AP's charges for copying and pasting their content [text used in an article], and the fact that AP is actually suing some organizations for doing so.

What makes this story so important is that Michael Arrington is the tech/internet world's Dan Rather. Michael Arrington owns one of the most popular blogs [TechCrunch] in the world and is #1 when it comes to the internet business sector.

Normal internet news written by bloggers and journalists copy and paste article content from AP on their own website very often and sometimes even show the original source info or a link to the content in their own article.

As an example [MSNBC article by AP], if we wanted to only copy and paste the text in the first paragraph of the article, it would cost us $50. If we didn't pay the $50 up front, they may want to sue us [I'm copying and pasting it at the end of this article and we're not paying!].

The AP is the last organization to realize that traditional journalism is dead. Information is immediate, passed along with additional commentary and points-of-view that traditional reporters don't provide. Hence the reason that bloggers have grown in great popularity.

The AP is fighting a losing battle against Michael Arrington and his point of view, especially with “The Freedom of Speech”. In the video world with news reporting, people can upload and add commentary to a news video to any website and not worry about copyright infrigements.

Kudos to Michael Arrington for manning up to this important subject. It's refreshing to see an important figure in reporting, to stand up for what's right.

 Here's the quote I promised to provide from AP that we chose to copy & paste:  "In his hunt for a new home, Demetrius Stroud crunched the numbers to find out that, with gas prices climbing, moving near an Amtrak station is the best thing for his wallet."