mip's scan

Microsoft And Yahoo Messaging Apps Play Nice

If you're like me you love instant messaging applications like Windows Live, Yahoo, Google Talk, ICQ, etc., etc., etc. The problem to date has been having to have many different messaging applications because your buddies, co-workers and family all used different messaging platforms. 

So it is really nice to that the interoperability between Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger has finally been made a reality.  I think that it will drive further innovation in the instant messaging application that we see coming out.  People will use a particular instant messaging client over another because the like the value, the features and user interface over over similar applications, rather than using a messaging client just because they have contacts on thier list and are "locked into" using the application.  Now if you prefer Yahoo Messenger over Windows Live Messenger...go ahead use the Yahoo application but still have access to your friends who are using Windows Live Messenger.  It is all about choice for the end user and I like that.  Sure there were other solutions already out there like Trillian for Windows or Adium on a Mac but I never liked using those applications because while they integrated your buddy lists well, they did a poor job of retaining the robust features and user interface that the actual instant messaging client provide so well.

Now what I hope is that we see further interoperability deals being done so we can leverage our contacts from other messaging platforms as well.  To hear more on this topic you can listen to my 5 minute segment that I did on Leading Edge Technology.

Technology Meets Wine

I love when I can find an intersection between technology and something else that I'm interested in.  Having just recently come back from holiday where I enjoyed many good bottles of wine, I had wine on the brain.  Technology and wine.  Where's the fit?  The fit is at Winelog.net.  At Winelog you will find a database of wines.  I like the way you can find wines through a variety of categories such as type (e.g., red, white, sparkling), variety (e.g., Merlot, Port, Shiraz) or region (e.g., Italy, Canada, France).  I particularily like how you can subscribe to a search via an RSS feed.  Then when that view of wine becomes updated (i.e., a new wine gets added), you see that in your RSS reader.  very nice. Once you've signed up for an account you can add wine you find to your own winelog.  You can then share your own winelog as an RSS feed as well.  For example, here is mine.  Now I'm no wine pro, so subscribing to my feed wouldn't be great...but for me, I have some friends who if they were to do this, I would subscibe to their feed in a minute (yes Schaef I am talking about you).  The other nice thing I like about Winelog is that you can have a wine you are reading about sent to your phone.  By clicking the Send to Phone button you get an SMS message sent to your cellphone.  This is awesome because I can never remember, when I'm in the LCBO Vintages store, what wine I was reading about.  This allows that info to come with me very easily.

So check it out and raise a glass!

Backup Your Files With Mozy

I always stress to people how important it is to backup their files.  Too many times I've gone to people's home or offices to assist in recovering a crashed PC but not being able to retrieve their important files.  Ever have that happen to you?  I use a number of ways to backup files.  I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to that. 

That's why this new services I've been testing has got me smiling.  It's called Mozy and it'll let you back up 2GB of data for free.  It's got a nice little client application you download after you've signed up for the service.  I like how you can specific specific folders to be backed-up, like My Documents for example, or you can select "Backup Sets", things like Spreadsheets, Photos, etc.  By selecting a Backup Set, you'll have all the files on your computer of that type backed up.  I did some tests and deleted files and then went to recover.  It's a piece of cake.  To recovery you simply login to the Mozy on the web and select the file(s) that you want to restore to your PC.  To see a sample, checkout the screen capture I took. Extra marks for Mozy for building a search so if you don't know where a missing file might have been  you just type in the name and it finds it in the backup.  That is awesome.  It is case sensitive though so I found I was having to try variations of the file name, but that was no big deal.

I know what you're asking.  "But is is secure mip?"  Short answer: yes.  Long answer for the need-to-know-crowd....

When you use Mozy, your files are encrypted on your PC using 448-bit Blowfish encryption and then transferred the Mozy servers using 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. You have the option of using a Mozy key, or your own private key to encrypt your data.

So if you're looking for a way to backup your data, check out Mozy.  Even if you already backup your data, this is a great way to augment your current process.  2GB is free and you can purchase additional space like 5GB, 10GB and 20GB all at very reasonable yearly subscription rates.

Get Your Hands on Free eBooks

I did a show today over at Leading Edge Technology that I thought I'd blog about as well.  It's about a great site for getting your hands on free eBooks.  Manybooks.net provides thousands of titles that are available for download.  A little about Manybooks:

Hi, my name is Matthew McClintock, and I maintain manybooks.net as a service to the internet community at large. If you would like to contact me please use this form.

All of the eBooks from manybooks.net are free, however donations toward the maintenance of the site are welcome.

Many of the etexts are from the November, 2003 Project Gutenberg DVD, which contains the entire Project Gutenberg archives except for the Human Genome Project and audio eBooks, due to size limitations, and the Project Gutenberg of Australia eBooks, due to copyright. As of July 2004 most current PG texts are available here, usuallly within the week of release.

What I really like are the multiple formats available for download - PDF, eReader, Palm, iPod Notes and many more.  Check it out and get reading!  Would love to hear from you on other sources you may have found/used for getting eBooks as well.

Recording Podcasts On The Go With Evoca

Hey everyone!  Hope you had a great weekend.  Thought I'd share a post with you on something I recorded over at Podcaster News.  Today's episode, which was brought to you by a newly signed sponser (ShowUsYourCharacter.com) was about a new service called Evoca. 

What Evoca effectively let's you do is record podcasts via your cellphone (or any phone for that matter).  When you sign-up for the service you must provide them your cellphone number.  Once the sign-up process is complete you are ready to record.  I simply dialed the number they provided me and started recording a sample podcast.  When I was done, I hung up.  Then I went to my browser, logged into my evoca account and there was my recording in mp3 format (I inserted the test recording into today's Leading Edge Technology show).  Quality was pretty good - better than some of the recording software I tried/used on my Treo.  Recording length was only 2 minutes which is too short to do any serious podcasting but long enough to record something you might use as a spot in a longer podcast. 

All in all I liked what I saw.  What they'll need to add is additional dial-in numbers otherwise I think that it'll be hard to capture a greater sized group of users.  I'm sure that will come as they move out of the beta.  Be sure to go check it out.  Why don't you record a 1-2 minute podcast greeting and send it to me. I'll play it in this week's mid-week update show.

Get Yourself Published

If you've listened to today's show that I did over at Podcaster News feel free to discuss it here!  I'm an aspiring writer and often write things that have nothing to do with technology!  If you are a budding author then today's show is for you!

Sometimes technology let's you do something that has nothing to do with technology! Huh? What are you talking about mip? Well. I'm talking about self-publishing a book. The web has allowed us disintermediate business value chains, which really means, eliminate the middleman. Join me in today's show where I talk about two services that let you do just that.

If you have any thoughts on the services I discuss today I would welcome your feedback.

Google Pages

I just published a new episode over at my show Leading Edge Technology which is part of the PodcasterNews.com network and I wanted to blog a bit about it.  At the suggestion of one of my listeners/readers, I thought I'd start a category here for PCN shows I do so my listeners can come here and discuss them. 

So today's show is about a new service that Google just launched called Google Pages.  Click on this link to go and hear the show.  Then come back here and let me know your thoughts on this latest service Google has provided.

If you want to see a screenshot of the ajax-enabled tool, just click the image to the left.  I was testing this and ended up publishing this simple page as a part of the test.  It all seems to work well, athough, it doesn't feel overly robust...yet.