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Email Pollution

Here is something a little different: I am going to share some of my privacy. Here are some of the bullshit emails I have been getting and my thoughts on the issue. I would also like to thank Yahoo for their intelligent spam filtering protocol:

Subject: meet someone that will take your breath away

My Thoughts: the Marlboro girl ???

Subject: Meet local singles

My Thoughts: Well, I can go to the bar and meet 3 of them: Jennifer, Jennifer, and Jennifer….

Subject: How to obtain longer, harder erections

Subject: buy now Viagra (Sildenafil) 50mg x 60 pills

My Thoughts: Obviously, they do not know me as I do not have these problems

Subject: Microsoft Office ready to download

My Thoughts: Yes, I already know that. It is called Bit Torrent.

Subject: I wanted to break up a rival’s relationship by having sex with his/her partner.

My Thoughts: How is that working for ya ?

Subject: Drop up to 20 pounds in a day

My Thoughts: That would kill me in 5 days.

Subject: This site can help you start feeling better right away!

My Thoughts: A few sites do that. To my surprise this was not pornographic: the site was trying to sell herbal products.

inSite: Web v2.0

Web v2.0 brings us interactivity we never dreamed of in the early days of internet. So today I highlight some interesting browser based applications to explore.

A. Web Based Desktops

Web based desktops can be described as websites that mimic personal computer applications, such as word processing, the spreadsheet, slide-show presentations, photo editors, instant messengers, and many more of various functionality.

1. eyeOS brings us a fully functioning desktop featuring Calendar, Contact Manager, vCard integration, Email client with POP3 functionality, RSS reader, FTP client, full featured Office suite (with Word processing, Spreadsheet, and Presentations, all supporting Microsoft Office formats), File Uploading (similar to My Documents in Windows), Calculator, games, and more.
2. YouOS is more for the interested developer type. YouOS integrates the tools to develop (command shell very similar to UNIX) and socialize (bulliten boards, buddy lists, chat) with other developers.

B. Web Based Applications

Web based applications substitute installed applications. They can be used on any operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac).

1. Google was one of the first to attempt browser based applications and does a fine job of maintaining the ones that have been released. Opening a Google account will enable you to utilize Google Docs (A Word Processor with Creation and Importing options), Google Calendar, and Google Notebook (enables quick saving notes for reference or reminder purposes). Don’t forget Google’s other services like Blogger, Pages, Reader, and Picasa.
2. iNet World is a browser based HTML editor. Create any document using point-level formatting, indents, margins, backgrounds, borders, choice ofbullets, numbering, spell check, pictures, and more. iNet supports one click publishing, sharing, collaboration,custom styles, and more.
   
3. Think Free Office is a Microsoft Office alternative featuring 1 GB of free storage, useful for sharing and collaboration. TFO also enables publishing documents to their ThinkFree Docs, your web pages, blogs, or Internet application.

C. Web Based Chat

Web based chat clients are most useful when you are at school, work, the library, or any computer that is not your own. Most web based chat clients handle multiple protocols, meaning that you can connect to your Yahoo Messenger, MSN, ICQ, and more simultaneously.

1. Meebo offers support of Yahoo Messenger, AIM, MSN, and Google Talk. Meebo evens supports Web cam interaction.
2. eBuddy supports Yahoo Messenger, AIM, MSN, Google Talk, and My Space. The eBuddy interface is catered to imitate MSN Messenger.

D. Other Web 2.0 Innovations

1. WidgeTop emulates the Mac OS X Widget Dock. Pretty snazzy if you have never seen the Widget engine used in Mac OS X.

General Tech Headlines

Microsoft News: Microsoft has confirmed that there are no plans to release “Windows 7” in 2009, saying that it would be at least 2010. Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2 has been released to beta testers, gearing for a full service pack release in Q1. Windows XP SP3 RC Refresh 2 has been released to Microsoft Connect participants. Microsoft Update will automatically force Office 2003 SP3 for installation for detected Office 2003 products February 27.

Sun Micro Systems (whom publishes JAVA) purchased MySQL for $1 billion. It is yet unknown wether the server application developer will drop the open sourced MySQL database to help promote their commercial server applications, support it with development, or leave it open source.

Joomla version 1.5 is released as a stable and final edition. Joomla is perhaps the leader in content management systems. Expect many sites to upgrade to the new Joomla framework.

14% of 2007 game sales were PC titles. Within the top list are World of Warcraft, the Sims 2, Call of Duty 4, and Sim City 4 (despite that it is 4 years old!).

Hey!Spread has launched an extensive video uploading service enabling one video upload to automatically be distributed via Sclipo, Sumo, Sevenload, Youtube, Google, Dailymotion, Blip, Metacafe, Yahoo, Facebook, Myspace, Vimeo, Revver, Veoh, Vsocial, Photobucket, and Putfile.

Better Blogging

Here, we will explain the key differences between the MySpace, Blogger, and WordPress blog engines to gather a better understanding of possible differences between the options.

There are many blogging services offering features of their own, ranging in complexity and professionalism. Many sites all over the interact are converting to blog engines, due to the simplicity, professionalism, and structured organization. Blogs can be used for personal diaries, link directories, electronic magazines, estores, adult marketing, and more.

MySpace:

The MySpace engine does offer useful resources like font customization (font, size, color), indentions, character inserts, hyper linking, image linking, categories, and podcast enclosures. It also comes equipped with personal amusement such as smiley charts, current moods, privacy, comments, and is able to display what you are listening to in a marketing manner. However, advanced customization can not be added via the MySpace interface or HTML hacks.

Blogger:

Blogger offers more advanced features than the MySpace blog, or many other alternative choices for that matter. Templates can be customized via HTML code. Most template designs are very simple and do not offer full screen support or two column layouts. Blogger does support HTML widgets. Posing options are very comparable to the MySpace editor, however Blogger does offer bullets and numbering. Advanced features include photo uploading with advanced editing options like alignment. Video uploads are also supported, but Blogger does not allow video linking. Blogger is recommended for those that would like more than MySpace offers and less than our next presentation: WordPress.

WordPress:

Techtronic is hosted via the WordPress engine. The reason we chose the WordPress engine over other alternatives is simple: there is total control over presentation and features. The average user can create a free account at http://wordpress.com, or more advanced users owning their own servers can download the WordPress engine and many customizations for free at http://wordpress.org. Features of the hosted WordPress account include:

• All accounts come stocked with over 60 themes
• Posting features include Spell-check, Previews, Autosave, Words, Photos, and Videos
• Integrated stats system which gives you up-to-the-minute stats on how many people are visiting your blog, where they’re coming from, which posts are most popular, and which search engine terms are sending people to your blog.
• Automatic Spam Protection with Askimet
• Privacy Options, including Members-Only Blogs
• The ability to import from Blogger, TypePad, LiveJournal, and More
• Sidebar Widgets for Flickr, del.icio.us, Meebo, and More
• Multiple Blogs and Multiple Authors

Self-hosted versions of WordPress include the ability to create or upload custom templates, the ability to create or upload custom widgets or HTML toys, and more.