Wireless Technology for Social Change

In this article [PDF] you'll find potential and actual use of mobile technologies,and how it is helping improve lives around the world.

The Mobile Weblog

If you're wanting to keep up on the latest trends regarding mobile technology, communities, and mobile services,;check out Mobile Weblog.

Quick media converter converts audio or video to any format


Quick Media Converter is a Windows utility that will let you convert practically any audio or video file from one format to another. MPEG to H.264? No problem. WAV to OGG? Sure, why not.

Quick Media Converter is basically just a fancy front end for the open source, command line FFmpeg media encoder. But it's a really useful front end. The utility offers you two interfaces: an easy mode and an expert mode. In easy mode, you can choose from a number of predefiined formats. So just select the media files you want to convert, and click the Audio, Quicktime, WMV, DiVX, Xbox, PS3, or Wii button to create a file optimized for your system of choice.

In Expert mode, you have much more control over the code choices and settings. For example, in easy mode, there's no way to convert a FLAC file to OGG. But you can do that in expert mode.

The program also includes a bundled copy of CamStudio for making screencapturs which you can then convert to other formats using Quick Media Converter. In a nutshell, Quick Media Converter doesn't do anything that MediaCoder doesn't. But if you're looking for an even easier to use alternative, this program might be worth a look.

ifo Apple Store

If you're a big fan of Apple Stores [like me] you'll find this site of interest.

Trading meets social networking

The free investing community where people share their real portfolios, trades, and performance. See how top performers are trading — and ask your questions in the community. Check it out.

It had to happen sooner or later

When you've gotta go you've gotta go. Unfortunately, finding a place to do that when you're in New York, one of the largest cities in the world, can be difficult unless you've got some local knowledge.

Of course, because this is a mobile toilet finder, all of this hinges on the experience you'd get accessing the site from your phone. Since it's running through your mobile device's browser, it can't take advantage of any of that newfangled GPS or Wi-Fi positioning business. Instead, you'll need to feed in a street address, neighborhood, or ZIP code. There's no map, so you'll need to use something like Google Maps, or to ask a stranger so you can get going--err get to a place where you can go.

Diaroogle is off to a promising start, it's missing the other 49 states and all of Europe, along with some helpful items like hours of operation, mobile maps, and the business model of including coupons from local retailers.

Mind control

The human brain could become a battlefield in future wars, a new report predicts, including 'pharmacological land mines' and drones directed by mind control.

Analyst Predicts September iPod 'Surprise'

Analyst, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, is predicting a September refresh of the iPod lineup. From where did he pull this information? Well, perhaps he cheated and took a look at last years' calendar. And the year before that. And yes, the year before that.

More on the iPhone 3G

Here's a follow up article regarding the iPhone 3G's performance.

Invisibility materials can speed up the web

A new kind of light-warping material could boost the speed of the internet at least ten fold by, strangely enough, slowing bits of it down.

Best desktop search applications


In a world where a search box puts the entire internet at your fingertips, it seems more pointless and inefficient than ever to drill down through your file structure when you're looking for a specific file on your hard drive.

Is it finally time for electronic ink publishing?



First it was the Kindle from Amazon. Are newspapers and packaging next?

Web-based video chat application



TokBox is a web-based video chat application that lets you set-up video chat channels with unregistered users in seconds. The application has a simple user interface with controls for volume, muting and camera off. When you want to invite some to a video chat all you have to do is send them an email link or direct them to your user page. You can also add their Facebook application or embed your video chat channel on your website or MySpace page.

TokBox also has social-networking features so you can add friends you video chat with often. The product also detects installed cameras and microphones, which is helpful in cutting out technology barriers for mainstream users.

Oh, there's one more thing...it's free.

Yahoo's geolocation service now open to all

Fire Eagle is a site that stores information about your location. With your permission, other services and devices can either update that information or access it. By helping applications respond to your location, Fire Eagle is designed to make the world around you more interesting! Use your location to power friend-finders, games, local information services, blog badges and stuff like that...

Upward mobile

By 2012, UK sports fans will be watching live action on their 'TV-phones'.

iPhone 3G issues

Apple and AT&T are staying quiet about issues with the new iPhone 3G.

ClipBlast!



ClipBlast! is the Internet's fastest growing Web-Wide Video Index, Search and Navigation Platform.

Their patent-pending technologies have been designed to organize and simplify the "Video Web"; the fastest growing video distribution platform in history. ClipBlast! technology helps Viewers search, navigate, watch and personalize their experience with the Video Web, and helps Video Content Providers, Advertisers and Marketers monetize their investments.

Will the next Wii take us into the future?

Speculations on what Nintendo would release as a Wii 2 are manifold. Nintendo could just release a Wii with more CPU power that is able to handle media and games at higher resolution or they could just break the rules again and deliver something outlandish like a body-suit or brain interface.

Harry Potter would want one

We're getting closer to having an invisible cloak thanks to our boys in the research labs at Cal.

Why Twitter hasn't failed: The power of audience

Ok, Twitter is not a must have for a lot of people, but you have to admit, it's a phenomenon you can't ignore.

A wikipedia search engine


Similipedia is one of the best Wikipedia search engines available. Not only is it extremely accurate and effective, it has a completely different approach to search. Instead of typing in a query, e.g. computers, you are asked to copy and paste a URL or a paragraph containing at least 100 words. Just press “enter” and let it go to work.

25 enterprise social media companies to know

Taking into account where we're going as a society today, thought you might find this list of social media companies of interest.

Blogtronix

Blogtronix is a social media platform for Enterprise 2.0 communication. We provide a single, unified system that includes blogs, wikis, and social networking. Unlike other companies, we are able to offer a product that’s easy to use, scalable and can be delivered either on-demand or as a software.

Edison, a different type of light bulb

The Edison software lets people set dials for putting a PC into energy-saving mode.

2011: Looking for the next trend

Everyone is always looking for that 'next trend'. In Richard Laermer's book 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade, he talks about how to find the signal in the nosie.

SummerMash



Mashable just completed its sixth stop on the U.S. Summer Tour with the folks in Boston.

Issuu has released a new publishing platform that could very well change the rules of the game when it comes to creating online publications. The platform is a place where developers, designers and companies can work together in collaboration to customize their Issuu distributed publications such as magazines, newsletters, etc.

5 books on corporate social media

If you're looking for some books to improve your knowledge about the blogosphere, check these out.

Rejaw..another Twitter?

Rejaw is a new way to communicate in real-time with friends, family, and co-workers. You can shout messages to your followers, or whisper to your friends. Monologue or dialogue, micro-blog or status update, soliloquy or dialectic.

Make slick Web 2.0 site backgrounds with BgPatterns

Want a cool looking background for your site or favorite nanoblogging service like Jaiku, Pownce, or Twitter? Check out BgPatterns, a site that's not unlike the Web 2.0 stripe generator in that it lets you put together really slick looking repeating backgrounds with a simple builder.

A new view for documents

A new tool for embedding documents on Web pages is cropping up on sites as diverse as the storage service Drop.io; LabMeeting, a social network for scientists; and the Obama campaign's official blog. Launched earlier this year, the format, called iPaper, is technology from Scribd, a company that hopes to become the sort of clearinghouse for documents that YouTube is for videos. With iPaper, the company offers a browser-based system for viewing documents that retains their original formatting and can be employed by the 98 percent of Internet users who have installed Adobe Flash.

Twitter has growing pains

Plagued by service outages, the microblogging site rebuilds its infrastructure.

Architecture of the brain

Traditional magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, can detect the major anatomical features of the brain and is often used to diagnose strokes and brain tumors. But advances in computing power and novel processing algorithms have allowed scientists to analyze the information captured during an MRI in completely new ways.

11 iPhone tricks you might not have known

Whether you're an iPhone rookie or a weathered pro, take a look at these quick-and-easy iPhone tips and tricks which not only save you time, but ease your overall iPhone experience.

Six degrees of separation

Microsoft has studied a total of 30 billion instant messages sent by over 250 million people in June of 2006, and determined that we are in fact, all linked by only 6.6 degrees of separation.

Have you checked your DNS lately?

See if your system is safe by selecting the 'DNS Checker' on the following page, located in the upper right hand side.

PulpMotion

PulpMotion's got a full menu of visual themes that incorporate your media into clever animations that will wow your friends and family, impress your clients.

Hard copy or digital copy?

Is it time to finally accept digital versions of books? You decide.

Wordle

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

Big Brother in China

Better watch what you say and do during the Olympics.

Digg Meetups & a pint

Digg is coming to a city near you! Come raise a frosty pint with fellow Diggers and meet some of the Digg crew.

Proposal 2.0

In the true spirit of Silicon Valley, a self-described geek proposed to his girlfriend using Street View, Google Maps' online gallery of street-level panoramas.

Loaded with gadgets, rower halfway to Hawaii

Checking in with Roz Savage to talk tech and self-sufficiency as she aims to be the first woman to row solo across the Pacific.

Zembly is the place to create social applications, together.

With zembly, you easily create and host social applications of all shapes and sizes, targeting the most popular social platforms on the web. Using just your browser and your creativity, and working collaboratively with others, you create and publish Facebook apps, OpenSocial apps, meebo apps, iPhone apps, Google Gadgets, embeddable widgets, and other social applications.

Why let a Flash developer squeeze you for an extra payday when you can repurpose content for free? That's the idea behind Flypaper.

Read the CNET article.

Google Street goes live down under

Street View, the driver's-eye-view on Google Maps, made its debut in the United States, but it's now available in Australia and Japan, too.

Resnooze puts helpful email nags


If you're wary of using silly things like calendars to keep track of to-dos and reminders, Resnooze is worth checking out. This tool lets you schedule in weekly, daily, and monthly reminders to do something. Every time you get said reminders delivered to your in-box there are three simple options to get rid of it, or be reminded yet again--either a week or month from then.

San Jose: Hub for a green-tech gold rush?

Mayor Chuck Reed says California's high-tech hometown can become the world's eco-capital. Calling all solar companies, and Tesla, too.

Is Cuil cool enough to be a threat to Google?

The much-hyped, heavily funded new search engine developed by a former Google whiz leaves users unexcited.

Making use of social networking sites

It's time your small business started to look at ways to leverage these and other social networks to boost business. "It's virtually low or no cost for entry," explains Adam Schwam of Garden City-based Sandwire, an information technology consultancy.

BT goes after Android and Skype

BT has bought Internet telephony company Ribbit, in a move that will bring the communications giant up against competitors ranging from Skype to Google's Android platform.

Facebook grows, but where's the profit?

They like to meet, chat, make friends and business connections. They post photos and videos. They share their passion for a celebrity, hobby, or cause. Show me the money.

Evite's makeover

The invitation service has overhauled its UI.

New 3.2Gbps Firewire

The IEEE 1394 working group has formally approved FireWire's next-generation standard. The new version defines transfer speeds of 1.6Gbps and 3.2Gbps, is backwards compatible with FireWire 800 and 400, and uses the same cable standard as FireWire 800.

Chat with friends who speak a different language

If you've been on the hunt for a tool that lets you chat with friends or clients that speak a different language, MeGlobe is a really simple solution that does all the work for you.

Sun throws JavaFX hat into Web app ring

Programmers now can start trying out JavaFX for writing rich Internet applications--and seeing if it's worth using over Adobe's Flash and other alternatives.