Internet
We Were Down But Now We Are Back!
Jan 26th
As you may have seen, we were down for a few days due to issues we have been having with our server. Hopefully these issues have been sorted and if not we will be switching hosts. Some things are a little different but we should be back to normal in no time. Thanks very much for patience and bring on Apple’s event!
Jason Calacanis – A Man On A Mission
Nov 19th
A number of weeks ago Jason Calacanis laid down a challange to angel groups (Keiretsu Forum in particular) who charge start-ups to pitch, to drop the “Pay-to-Pitch” busisness model within 30 days or he would start a competitive angel group that would not only be free of charge for start-ups to pitch but would also quite possibly run and operate on the same days and in the same venues as its competitors. That deadline expired on the 16th of this month and surprise surprise, this practice had not stopped and the wheels started to turn. Jason asked for logo and website ideas to be submitted to him for the Open Angel Forum via his Twitter account and within minutes logos started knocking on his door for free and the #oaf Twitter tag began to run wild.
Engadget gets a redesign
Nov 19th
Engadget has just launched a full redesign to the site. In a nutshell, it’s taken on more of a magazine style to it, I do like the redesign even though in my opinon it does seem a bit cluttered but like any change in design it takes a little bit to get used too. My major issue on first look is the font used for the posts, I really do not like it, why I don’t know but it just grates on me. However, overall I do think it provides more information in a single glance, which in turn makes dealing with the massive amount of info they provide more enjoyable. Head over to Engadget and take a look.
The Blog Across Australia
Sep 18th
At the end of this month I will be flying to Sydney to meet up with a few friends and we will then be driving across Australia back to Perth. Along this journey I will be trying to keep up with all the latest tech news via Twitter and the web as much as I can and where I have coverage. I will be taking a laptop, a wireless datacard/modem and my iPhone.
This issue with doing all this is coverage, I’m with Vodafone for my iPhone which in paper has the least amount if coverage in Australia, I am however bringing a Telstra wireless modem which has the largest coverage in Australia, this will allow me to update my blogs and Twitter while on the road.
So my goal in all this you ask? To see how effectively technology can be used in the remoteness of the Australian outback. I’m going to both post to this Posterous, my Twitter and Facebook, adding google maps with places we have been and where we are (when in coverage zones of course). There will be audio and videos uploaded as well as loads of images from the trip.
All in all i’m looking forward to this trip, it could all flop or it could all be an excellent experiment, either or I invite you to join me and my mates on this journey.
Cya on the other side 
Log Into Facebook Using Your Username
Sep 18th
So I’ve just read on Mashable, that Facebook have added a feature that allows you to log into your account using only your username that you got back in June, instead of your email address. This is an extremely welcome feature for me as I have a largish email address that I get sick of typing when loggin in, this now allows me to cut this down. This move does make sense, as Mashable said, it is easier and quicker to use a username then a email address for login purposes plus most sites allow the use of either a email or username, this move just pulls them in line with the rest.
If you haven’t got your username yet, you can go to Facebook Username Page and get one (you will need to login), this will not only give you the ability to login using that name but also give you a MySpace like address facebook.com/yourname . This makes it easier for people to find you and also for you to give your profile out. So what are you waiting for?
Google's at it again with another UFO doodle
Sep 15th
In Pacific countries including Australia, Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea, Google has changed their normal logo into another UFO/Alien inspired doodle. This time in the form of crop circles, all the letters bar the “l” are crop circles with the “l” being made by a tractor.
This comes only 10 days after Google changed their logo to the “Unexplained Phenomenon” variation, along with a Tweet on their official Twitter page which read “1.12.12 25.15.21.18 15 1.18.5 2.5.12.15.14.7 20.15 21.19″ which translates to “All Your O Are Belong To Us” which is a reference to the internet meme “All Your Base“. That doodle seemed to point to the 20th anniversary of Zero Wing, which contained the famous “All Your Base” line.
The “AYB” Google doodle had a image name of go_gle.gif, where as the new “Crop Circle” image has the name goog_e.gif. What are Google trying to do? Is there a meaning for it all? do they just have a fasination with UFO’s and Aliens? Or is it just something to do? What ever it is, it’s getting people talking and that can only be good for Google.
YouTube: A weekend of outbursts – VMA's and US Open
Sep 14th
I love YouTube, i spend many nights rummaging through the ever increasing catalogue of rubbish being uploaded by people, just looking for a laugh. Well this weekend funny stuff happened, two major outbursts by a music artist and a tennis player became Youtube hits. The first was Kanye West’s outburst during Taylor Swift’s award acceptance speech for Best Female Video, Kanye jumps on stage and steals the mic from Taylor and then continues to tell everyone Beyonce’s video was the best ever made, poor Taylor.
The next little outburst was a little more profound. Serena Williams suffered a bit of foot and mouth in her Semi Final clash with Kim Cjlisters, she gets a foot fault call against her and just loses the plot in a big big way. Serena threaten the line judge with a verbal spray “I swear to God I’m f**king going to take this f**king ball and shove it down your f**king throat and kill you” Wow!!! thats a heavy weekend. Videos after the break.
New Facebook 3.0 iPhone App Approved and in App Store
Aug 28th
The day has finally come for the much anticipated Facebook 3.0 iPhone App. Today the app was approved by Apple and has already appeared on the US App Store and has just appeared on our shores. As soon as I have had a play, I will do a review on the changes, which there are plenty. Some of the major changes include:
* Redisigned Home Screen
* Video uploads for iPhone 3GS
* Uploading of photos to any album
* “Like” option available for posts and Photos
* Visit links with the in-built browser
* Make friend requests
CBS and Amazon already looking at GDGT??
Aug 18th
It’s 2 months old, has 2 of the best tech journos running the place, and have had some really awesome ideas for what this space should be. The site is GDGT and according to TechCrunch, CBS and Amazon are having a good old look at them. Having both Ryan Block and Peter Rojas at the helm is definately a bonus and could be one of the main reasons these companies are looking at the site. They both have massive expereince in this space with two of the biggest tech blogs going around, Engadget and Gizmodo, and with an idea of creating lists of gadgets you want or own and customising the news feed based on that information the site has gone from strength to strength. If the rumours are true, I wish both Ryan and Peter all the best and congratulations on a site well worth a visit.
[Story from TechCrunch]
Is Twitter changing the way we do things?
Feb 6th
Only a few short weeks ago i discovered twitter, well…i didn’t really discover it, i was led to it and i just had to find out what this thing was all about. I’d being hearing about it for a while on blogs and on podcasts, but didn’t really understand the point of it- Twitter seemed to be just another attempt at a IM with a different take on it, which to be honest it is, but the twist is what makes it so good!
Since beginning in San Francisco in 2006, Twitter has really taken off. They are now sitting at around 5 million users and have been able to raise tens of millions in venture capital… but, Twitter are still left without a revenue based business model, though they now have Kevin Thau that they hired to fill the role of the newly created position of Director of Mobile Business Development, though he will head up all business development for the site.
There are now thousands of apps, sites, blogs and services dedicated to Twitter all over the net, all trying to come up with decent business models themselves to keep alive in this market- mostly through advertising revenue, which at this stage Twitter doesn’t do. Doing a quick search I was able to find a list of over 50 Twitter web services(which only just scratches the surface)- everything from location based searches, RSS feeders, imbedded apps, to trackers and voting apps. It seems Twitter is being used as a platform for other up-starts to make money from. Dell was reported to have made $1 million dollars through its Twitter account, sending out deals for their followers. Twitter seems to be making a lot of money for everyone else except for themselves.
Having someone now head up a division that will hopefully bring in revenue and hopefully help Twitter grow into a bigger better service can only be a plus for us and them. While we wait patiently for that to happen, smaller up-starts and bigger companies will continue to leverage Twitter’s platform for their own benefit and continue to make money using it. It has become a powerful advertising medium and will continue to do so, and has also become a extremely powerful news aggregator. Just look when Google made the entire net bad- most people in the know received the information via Twitter, where-as 2-3 years ago, Google was the go to place for breaking news.
So how will this little messaging platform change the way we do things?? well it’s already starting to…
If you liked this post you can follow me on Twitter at @lucasburnett
