Year: 2006

REVIEW: Cheyenne Kimball's debut album

Post ImageI’ve been listening to Cheyenne Kimball’s debut, titled The Day Has Come, and I really like it. I guess I am a sucker for her brand of “not quite bubblegum pop” but I’m okay with that. You’ve probably heard the first single, “Hanging On”, on the radio. You might even have seen her reality TV show on MTV if you’ve been channel surfing. It seems she’s everywhere!

The album contains 13 tracks, but one of them is a short “Intro”. My favorites, aside from the first single, are “Hello Goodbye”, “Good Go Bad”, and the title track which according to Wikipedia will be her next single. There isn’t really a song on the album that I dislike – they are all fairly catchy and happy-sounding.

Cheyenne is only sixteen years old, and unlike JoJo, on some songs you can tell. There are times when she sounds much older, with a powerful voice. But there are also times when she really does sound like a sixteen year old. I don’t think this is a bad thing necessarily, but I do think it means that she has room to grow as a singer.

It’ll be interesting to see where she takes her career. I wouldn’t consider her in the same category as Hilary Duff or Lindsay Lohan, but you never know. There’s lots to like about Cheyenne though. She’s pretty, she has a very unique name, she seems like a natural-born performer, and best of all, she’s a podcaster! And she has a blog too, but it doesn’t appear to be updated regularly.

Read: Cheyenne Kimball

Zune – it's what I want for Christmas!

Post ImageMicrosoft officially launched the Zune today with a press release, and a bunch of photos. All of the specifications are pretty much what Engadget and others have been reporting for weeks, but the one big surprise is the color lineup: white, black, and brown. Yes brown. Engadget has some more details:

They also finally let slip the screen res — an unsurprising QVGA — and some better news on the codec front: the Zune supports h.264, MP3, AAC and WMA. As for ballyhoo, wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing is where the real action is at, and it works pretty much like we’ve been hearing: you can share a full-length track with a friend, and they’ve got three times to listen to it over a three day period, after which they can flag the song for purchase on the Zune Marketplace — unless they’re an unlimited “Zune Pass” subscriber, of course. You can also share playlists and pictures with your buddies, along with what we suppose are “unprotected” homemade recordings.

You might remember that I got the Creative Zen Touch for Christmas two years ago, and it has worked great for me ever since. I still use it every day. But two years is a long time in the world of technology! A brand new Zune, with it’s color screen (my Zen is just blue), video, and wireless capabilities (among other things) might be in order don’t you think?

The white one would match my Xbox 360 quite nicely!

Read: Engadget

Has TechCrunch lost its edge?

Post ImageI’ve been subscribed TechCrunch for quite a long time, and I rather enjoy reading about the various companies and technologies they profile. Lately though, I’ve noticed that TechCrunch seems to be reporting on “big company” or “big media” things far more than the little stuff. A good example of this is what happened today. I opened up my aggregator for the first time today, and there were five posts in the TechCrunch feed:

  • Live.com and Yahoo! bulk up for local search brawl
  • Zune Unveiling Tomorrow
  • NBC to put new primetime shows online for free
  • Major Google/Intuit Partnership
  • Skype Video For Macs Launches Today

See what I mean? These look like headlines from CNET News.com, not TechCrunch! Now don’t get me wrong, these are all very interesting posts, and TechCrunch always has some inside information or extra analysis which is worthwhile, but they didn’t get to 113,000 subscribers by covering the big guys. They got there by finding and sharing the smaller companies and products that no one else could find.

Which begs the question – is TechCrunch becoming more like a mainstream business news site? Can we expect more of the “big company” type posts? Has TechCrunch lost its edge?

How can a company use podcasting?

Post ImageI came across this post from Karl Long today, titled “Uncommon Uses: Podcasting” in which he suggests some interesting ways that podcasting might be used. The basic idea is that we tend to use new technologies in similar ways as the old ones (using a podcast like a radio or TV show) because it seems natural, but that there are far more creative ways to take advantage of the new tech.

Karl focused mainly on individual scenarios, like learning a language or taking an audio tour, so I thought it would be interesting to come up with some company-focused ideas:

  • The most obvious use is public relations…audio-visual press releases!
  • Replacing a conference call with a podcast (IBM has already done this, for example)
  • And a related item…use a weekly podcast to cut down the number of emails that are sent, by summarizing the important things in audio form
  • Keeping your customers up-to-date on new product releases
  • Setup a podcast (or ability to track podcasts) so that potential job candidates could post audio-visual resumes
  • Keeping project members up-to-date on recent developments
  • Company training materials could be turned into podcasts, with the idea that all employees subscribe and information is added and updated over time
  • Certain meetings could be podcasted, like an AGM or shareholder’s meeting
  • In larger companies, new employees could be required to add an “introduction” to the internal “new hires” podcast – great way for people to find out about “the new guy/gal”
  • In a company like Google, employees could post a “pitch” for an idea they came up with or project they have in mind to an internal podcast

You’re limited only by your creativity! Any scenario in which information might be distributed over time is probably a good candidate for podcasting. Can you think of any other ways?

Comparing Windows Live Search and Google

Post ImageAfter less than a year in beta, Microsoft is set to release the final version of Windows Live Search tonight (actually it’s no longer marked beta for me). The search engine will now power MSN Search too. With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to compare Live Search and Google (currently my default search engine). How does it stack up? Could it possibly be my new default search engine? Let’s find out.

First off, please note I am focusing only on the basic search functionality – load up the site, type something in the box, and press enter. Both Live Search and Google have a bunch of other options (and Live Search’s macros and other things are especially neat) but right now I am just interested in the search results I get. I will say however that I really like the look of Live Search. And that it loads just as fast as Google does.

1. hello world
First search is for what else but hello world (Live, Google)! This is a hard one. While the results are similar, I like Google’s better. Why? The top result is for a .edu site, talking about “hello world” program examples. The second result is for the Wikipedia entry on “hello world” programs. Live on the other hand, returns HelloWorld.com (which appears to be a streaming video site) for the top two results. Google has this one too, but at #3.
# of identical results in top 10: 5
winner: Google

2. mastermaq
Next up is a little vanity search, for mastermaq (Live, Google). I keep track of this search at Google fairly often, and it usually alternates between some Brazilian company and my blog as #1 (oddly enough my blog is down at #6 today). There’s a clear winner here, and it’s Live Search. Why? Well because all of the results but two are created by me. Google lists my profiles at other sites far higher than it does my own sites. Something created by me is far more important don’t you think?
# of identical results in top 10: 4
winner: Live

3. podcast spot
How about a search for Podcast Spot, since we’ll be releasing it soon enough (Live, Google). So these results suck on both sites, but that’s probably because you can’t actually get to Podcast Spot right now without a password. Despite that, Google delivers much better results. I don’t know how the first two results in Live even matched (some random color video and an article on GM podcasting). Google is at least smart enough to put our login page at #1. The category for Podcast Spot at the Paramagnus blog is #3 on both sites.
# of identical results in top 10: 2
winner: Google

4. britney spears
She used to be one of the most frequently searched for celebrities (Live, Google). The results start out almost identical on both sites, then Google goes downhill. “The Mystery of Britney’s Breats”, some crappy fan sites, and a Google page at #10 pretty give Live the win. With the exception of only the #9 result, everything Live returns is appropriate.
# of identical results in top 10: 6
winner: Live

And now for a tie-break!

5. ventureprize
Let’s see what turns up for the business plan competiton we competed in this year (Live, Google). What a terrible query for the tie-break! Anyway, it seems that Live is really showing Paramagnus the love, with five of the top ten results from sites belonging to us (I include my Flickr page here). Google seems to prefer the University of Alberta and City of Edmonton sites. While I love being higher in the search engines, I have to give this one to Google, for having the most relevant first result.
# of identical results in top 10: 4
winner: Google

So there you go, a very unscientific comparison of Google and Live. I am impressed enough by Windows Live that I’m going to try and use it for a week or so, to see if I feel anything is missing. The thought of not using Google does seem strange though! I am really happy with the speed of Live, because one of the main reasons I started using Google was that it is damn fast. The Live Search team was wise not to ignore this.

What has your experience been with these two search engines?

Will Zune Actually PodCatch?

Post ImageThat’s the question Paul Colligan asked in his latest post at Zune Luv, and it appears the answer is yes. Well, at least it looks more likely to be a yes than a no. He says:

Fact: Yesterday, September 10, 2006, Microsoft Zune(firmware 0.9 beta) hit 200+ Podcast feeds.

Where do I get this stat? Rick Klau, VP Business Development at Feedburner.

And yes, I have permission to quote him.

This still isn’t proof, but it’s a heck of a lot better than nothing. I mean if the Zune has wifi, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be a podcatcher too! I guess we’ll find out soon enough (November 14th).

Read: Zune Luv?

Notes for 9/10/2006

Here are my weekly notes:

  • In some ways I find it hard to believe that is has been five years since 9/11. Yet in other ways, it seems as though it happened just yesterday. I suppose that feeling of disorientation is normal with such a poignant event.
  • Do you love putting people on the spot? Asking the tough questions? Now’s your chance! Tris Hussey of Qumana is running for a position on the CIRA board (they look after domains in Canada). You’ve got until Thursday to post your questions on their forum. Tris is a great guy, and I know he’ll do a fine job if elected.
  • Here’s an excellent article on Sony and the position in which the company finds itself. Business people like to use the phrase “we’re betting the company on this”, even if they don’t mean it. Sony however, really does seem to be betting the company on the PS3. Not that I think Sony will go away if the PS3 flops or anything, but the PS3 could be the difference between a resurgent and successful Sony and a “let’s take a step back and evaluate everything to almost start over” Sony.
  • I’m a big fan of del.icio.us, so I was happy to see founder Joshua Schachter was named the Technology Review’s 2006 Innovator of the Year.
  • The audio enhancements that have gone into Windows Vista look incredible.
  • Hungry? Check out this gigantic hamburger. The final, assembled burger weighed in at 29.75 pounds.

Michael Schumacher Announces Retirement

Post ImageI just watched the Italian Grand Prix, which was won by Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari. It will be his last win at Monza, as he announced in the driver interviews after the race that he will be retiring at the end of this season. The decision has been expected for quite some time, but it’s still kind of shocking to hear him say it. He’s by far the most successful driver in Formula 1 history. Some people love him, some people hate him, but I think everyone respects him. He’s done so much for the sport, and it’s hard to argue with the records and accolades he has achieved. He holds just about every record there is, except for the most starts (he’s about 7 races behind).

With the win today, Schumi is just 2 points behind Fernando Alonso in the drivers championship with three races left. Should Michael finish ahead of Alonso, it would be his eighth championship. He has always been focused and driven by the challenge of winning, and he reiterated as much today. He made it very clear he is focused on winning the championship and leaving his sport on a high.

Who will replace Schumi now? Speculation is that it will be Kimi Raikkonen, but Ferrari has yet to announce anything. To be perfectly clear, no one can replace Michael Schumacher. Someone will drive his car, yes, but no one can replace Formula 1’s greatest driver ever.

I am sure there will be more to come on this story over the next few weeks. I’m glad Schumi is leaving on a high, but I’m still sad to see him go.

Podcasters: act now to stop anti-podcasting treaty!

Post ImageSometimes people or organizations do things that just seem beyond comprehension. You just sit there, dumbfounded, shaking your head and asking “why?”. One example of this is what the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization is proposing:

The Broadcast Treaty is an attempt to force the world’s governments to give a new right to broadcasters, a right to control the use of works they don’t own. The Broadcast Right will allow broadcasters to stop you from copying or re-using the programs they transmit, even if those programs are in the public domain, Creative Commons licensed or composed of uncopyrightable facts.

It gets worse though, as Boing Boing explains. They want to create a “webcasting right” at the same time:

This is deadly to podcasters. The webcasting right will break podcasters’ ability to quote and re-use each others’ work (even CC-licensed works), and other video found on the net. It will allow podcast-hosting companies like Yahoo to tell people how they can use your podcasts, even if you want to permit retransmissions.

I guess a few letters have already been put together by EFF, signed by people like Mark Cuban, and sent to WIPO. Now they have put together another letter, and this one can be signed by podcasters everywhere:

If you are a podcaster — or better yet, a podcasting organization — sign onto this letter now! It will be presented Monday morning to the WIPO committee that’s creating the Broadcast Treaty in Geneva. This is your best-ever chance to be heard.

You can check out the letter and indicate that you want to sign it here.

Read: Boing Boing

Telus finally upgrading broadband network

Post ImageDickson sent me this story today about Telus. I recently got rid of my Telus landline and while I am not a big fan of the company, I have been pretty happy with their mobile phone service, and until a couple years ago when I lost my static IP, I was happy with their ADSL service too. That said, the Internet offerings have always been truly “North American”, and by that I mean slow and expensive relative to the rest of the world. Finally though, Telus is going to make some changes:

Telus Corp. says it is investing nearly $800 million over the next three years to beef up its broadband network so it can offer its customers a wide range of new services, including high-definition television.

The company said its proposed infrastructure will allow it to double internet access, to speeds of 15 or 30 megabits a second.

That’s still a far cry from the 100 megabits/second you can get to your house in Hong Kong, for example, but it is markedly better than what we have now. Apparently the entire project will be completed by 2009 (at which time, the rest of the world will probably be faster still).

Read: CBC News