May
7
Handspring Treo 300
Filed Under Education and Love for Learning, Technology | Comments Off on Handspring Treo 300
I just got a PDA phone off eBay for $99.95 and I’m loving it. It’s going to allow me to post and access content from anywhere. I love the fact I can get such great technology for a great deal because I went with older technology that gives me everything I need: a phone, a PDA, and an Internet browser. I just wish I could have got the treo 180 because it has a b&w screen that is good to my eyes. However, it’s not supported by Sprint.
Apr
15
Hacking Google Maps
Filed Under Technology | Comments Off on Hacking Google Maps
I have no idea how this was done, but it is incredible. Someone has hacked Google Maps and made it so you can view housing for rent and sale.
Apr
14
Products and Services – HomeNet Communications, Inc.
Filed Under Business Ideas, Resources, Principles, etc., Freedom, Government, Politics, etc., Technology | Comments Off on Products and Services – HomeNet Communications, Inc.
Ok, I’m mistaken on the last post. I figured this out thanks to a post by Jason on Paul’s blog.
I called the number from iProvo.net in January and was informed that the cheapest package was $89 and was bundled with 3 services. iprovo.net is not the place to go. The correct prices are at Products and Services – HomeNet Communications, Inc. and it turns out that they are very competitive.
Apr
14
Paul Allen embraces iProvo and I don’t
Filed Under Business Ideas, Resources, Principles, etc., Freedom, Government, Politics, etc., Technology | Comments Off on Paul Allen embraces iProvo and I don’t
Paul Allen is championing iProvo and sites an article by Lawrence Lessig, but I have some questions about it.
Good article Lawrence, but I’m wondering if iProvo really increases the competition.
If the community is not purchasing the broadband at the price it is, how does the government expect the demand to appear at an even higher price (albeit faster Internet speeds) when many in the community are surviving with their dial up?
I see the argument for it if we consider Internet a public good like roads, but I’m more concerned that Provo expects to finance this service through paying customers. They haven’t snagged me and I’m a “high speed user.” My Vonage, Comcast combination (about $68 per month) blows their least expensive plan out of the water ($89) since I have no interest in cable television. I realize that the iProvo Internet is faster and better, but for at home use, Comcast works great and I don’t care about the extra speed when it costs me another $20 per month. iProvo IS NOT COMPETITION FOR MY NEEDS. Won’t others feel like me about this? From what I understand, iProvo needs 30 percent of the entire city using their service to pay for it. With the current usage in the city, I’m just concerned I’ll be paying the bill for iProvo even if I don’t ever decide to use it.
So, my final question is, why is it a good thing for the local government to push iProvo when the private sector hasn’t demanded it?
I’d like a few reasons other than it’s super-fast and other tech talk. Is it really going to boost the amount of tech business in Provo and raise more money in taxes to pay for it? Historical examples? I’m uninformed and still open on this topic. I’m just not yet convinced iProvo is the best thing for Provo.
But, then again, it doesn’t really matter, the decision is made. I might as well just look for other ways I can use it even if it won’t have my home Internet use. Maybe it will be cheaper to set up a data center in Provo?
Mar
26
Google Blog Announces Code.Google.com
Filed Under Technology | Comments Off on Google Blog Announces Code.Google.com
Google has begun releasing libraries and other code into open source.
Mar
23
Seth’s Blog: RSS Addict!
Filed Under Technology | 1 Comment
I noticed Seth got stuck without bloglines for a while. I also noticed that he uses FireFox. Seth, there are some great RSS Extensions for FireFox that don’t require that you use Bloglines. I’m using WizzRSS and it works great. Just nice to have the RSS in my tools rather than going to another site. Like Bloglines, it keeps track of what I’ve read and what I haven’t. It gives me categories. The only advantage I see to bloglines is that you can have a category with multiple RSS feeds and when you click on the category, it lists all the feeds. This Wizz RSS reader requires that you click on one feed at a time.
An advantage to Wizz RSS is that you can click on your feeds on the left in your tools and it opens the link in your browser window (rather than spawning a new window like bloglines.
The final advantage, you can export your RSS feed structure to another reader or import from another reader. You’re not tied to it when you’ve spent time organizing your feeds.
Mar
17
A9 Vertical Search Engine Agregator
Filed Under General, Search Engine Marketing, Technology | Comments Off on A9 Vertical Search Engine Agregator
A9, Amazon’s search engine has just released OpenSearch that allows search engines from specific topics publish their search results on the new Amazon search engine. Paul found out about it and wanted to publish WorldHistory.com’s database there. I published it last night. Not that difficult to do. Try the search engine out and add WorldHistory.com to your search tabs. It returns great historical dates.
Mar
11
Alexa Ranking Doesn’t Say Much
Filed Under Search Engine Marketing, Technology | Comments Off on Alexa Ranking Doesn’t Say Much
I have a MAC and a PC. On the PC, I use IE to use the email newsletter manager for FamilyLearn. I have Alexa installed. Last week FamilyLearn’s Alexa rankings shot up by a half million. During the week, we rearched the top 140,000. It was the week that I was editing newsletters. As soon as I stopped, the ranking started dropping until it’s down to 459,000 right at the moment.
This inspite of the fact our traffic has been booming over the last two months. I know that we have more traffic this week than last because I’ve been watching the logs. It doesn’t seem like many in the family history industry use the Alexa toolbar. I don’t know if that’s the case in other industries, but Alexa isn’t reflecting FamilyLearn’s growth very well. I realize that this is a rank against other traffic, but I’m skeptical about trusting the results for family history users. I’m guessing only the most technical or business minded even care about the Alexa toolbar.
Mar
10
Eyetrack III – What You Most Need to Know
Filed Under Technology | Comments Off on Eyetrack III – What You Most Need to Know
New report out that has immediate implications for web designers.
Eyetrack III – What You Most Need to Know
Mar
4
Aunt Lillian’s Unforgettable Biography
Filed Under Genealogy to Family History to FamilyLearn, Technology | Comments Off on Aunt Lillian’s Unforgettable Biography
| Two things I love about this post. First, the Unforgettable Biography my Dad made for my aunt turned out beautifully (image on the right). She was really touched by it. I think this may be one of the most important products we’ve yet created at FamilyLearn. Here is all the content in her book. Second, I made it using Photon, a new software that allows you to make posts to WordPress using iPhoto. |  |