KickTheLinks
Monday, November 21, 2005
TiVo: TiVo to Go
Today TiVo announced a new service that will enable users to transfer shows they've recorded to their video-capable iPods and PlayStation Portable (PSP) devices. This functionality is an enhancement to the already existing TiVoToGo portability feature that is currently offered, and should be widely available early next year. This enhancement will help automate the process of transferring legally recorded video to other devices. Currently, users must transfer the video to a PC and convert it to another format before transferring it to a portable decvice. Once this service is available, users will be able to skip the time-consuming "video reformatting" step in getting the video to play on the portable device.TiVo has announced that it will build in security features to keep users from unlawful or abusive use of the new functionality.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Skype: Skype to be sold at RadioShack in the US
The company is the worlds largest provider of Voice over Internet Protocal (VoIP) service. Skype offers free PC-to-PC calling and very inexpensive PC-to-landline/cellphone calling. I have used the service numerous times to make calls to a landline in the United Kingdom from my PC. My calling rate was only $0.02 a minute. That's right, two cents a minute to call overseas! The service has not caught on big in the US ... yet.
http://news.com.com/Skype+to+make+U.S.+retail+debut/2100-1034_3-5961010.html?part=rss&tag=5961010&subj=news
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Google: Google Analytics
Google recently introduced Google Analytics (formerly known as Urchin). Website owners and marketers may track how many users come to their website, where the users come from, and how they interact with the site. Then site owners may use that data to gauge effectiveness of advertising and possibly make improvements upon the site where needed. The bottom line is that this should assist website owners in increasing advertising ROI. I signed up when the Analytics service was released and the site was so slow that I had a very difficult time actually setting up my account. However, it now seems like performance has dramatically improved since.
http://www.google.com/analytics/
Users download a small javascript file which will report user activity back to google. Of course, there is a way to block your browser from downloading the Google Analytics .js by modifying your Windows Host file. Then again, if you had problems navigating through a site's architecture, perhaps you should think about how the site admin may use the analytics data to improve the site experience.
Google: Personal Weather Stations Google Map
Search for your city and view local weather forcasts and data (including temperature/wind direction, dew point/humidity and percipitation). All combined with google maps. Click on a specific station link and view weather statistics for the month (and more). http://www.wunderground.com/stationmaps/gmap.asp?zip=30301&wmo=99999
