· Seeing as its now the middle of July, which give or take a few days can be summed up as being the middle of summer, and the middle of 2008, now is a good a time as any to sit back with a cup of tea and a biscuit and think about how the year's gone so far, technology wise.

Specifically, this week I'll focus on a trend that has really kicked off in 2008: Micro-blogging. Users of social networking behemoths such as Facebook and MySpace will already be well aware of the concept of micro-blogging, with built in features called "status updates". Put simply, it's like text messaging crossed with social networking -typing a short summary of what you're doing, and posting it for your friends (or the world) to see. I shall leave the argument of 'why bother' out of this review, because believe me, it's a potentially huge argument that'll do nothing but go back and forth until we all get tired, so to start I'll look at who the leading pack consist of, and who's not far behind.

Current 'King of the Hill' is a site that I've mentioned on and off over the last few months: Twitter. Built using Ruby on Rails, Twitter celebrates its 2nd birthday this month, so, perfect time to dissect it compared to its competitors. It finds itself in a unique position, one rarely thrown upon just any old 2.0 website, in that it's currently enjoying huge success as being a close potential as 'the next big thing' in the world of 2.0 technology, much like MyFaceSpacebook before it. Sadly, this surge of popularity has seen an absurd amount of downtime, to the point where the same people who built them up are trying to knock them down, and find a replacement.

Replacements aren't hard to find, in fact, they're pretty much everywhere, each of them with their own daft 2.0 name. There's nation-specific services (such as Germany's Frazr), there's sites that try to combine micro-blogging with other micro-services (such as filesharing with Pownce, life-streaming with Google's Jaiku, and podcasts with Spoink), and there's even sites that don't provide anything different at all, and just seem to have tagged along for the fun of it (that award goes to Identi.ca). Is there anything amongst this mountain of websites, including Twitter, that has the potential to have its 15 minutes of fame?

My focus this week is on Plurk; yes, another odd name, and yes, another micro-blogging site for you to try. In their own words they're a very "snazzy site", and from the moment you arrive you cannot help but agree. The layout of the micro-posts (or Plurks in this case) is set out in a timeline effect, allowing greater visibility on your Plurking pals, following the events of what's happening and when it's happening in a unique way, but still keeping the general jist of micro-blogging. A slight difference from Twitter, which has more in common with text messages (described somewhere I read as clean-slate messages), Plurk makes everything slightly more friendly, with an emphasis on actions, not too dissimilar from Facebook circa 2007 (Andy is, Andy thinks, Andy likes, et al...). Each “plurk” is posted to the timeline with the ability of threaded replies, and the service also offers “cliques” for plurk distribution and various privacy options. Mashable recently compared both Plurk and Twitter:

"The [Plurk] service has an odd, quirky feel to it; it’s much more visual than Twitter, and it’s fun to use. It uses colors to emphasize your ‘moods’, and it introduces the concept of karma, which should be familiar to Reddit users; the more you use the service, the more karma you get. In this case, karma even lets you unlock certain features, which almost feels like a mini game (if you like very boring mini games). Finally, just like Pownce, Plurk lets you divide your friends into “cliques”, which is just a fancy word for groups."

So is it enough? Will all these 'snazzy' features be enough to drag people away from Twitter, the next time it crashes? Better yet, has it got enough oommph to be the next MyFaceBeboBookSpace?

Sadly, it doesn't look like it. Much like Simon Cowell would explain to some pug-faced Christina Aguilera-wannabe dressed up in their Sunday best - sometimes, talent just isn't enough, you need to have 'the look', there needs to be hype. You could be the next big thing, but unless you gain a following, and convince that following that they love you, you could just be yet another karaoke singer down the local. Take Bebo for example; Bebo is like the Paul Potts of the Internet: it's far from being the best at what it does, and not only that, its rough on the eye, its slow, sometimes to the point of being unresponsive, yet it took just months for it to go from an average social networking website to one of the most frequently used and most talked about of the last year, to a point where AOL paid £417 million for it. Much like Potts, you have to forget potential, forget aesthetics; if enough people talk about you, sign up, and tell other people about you, eventually it builds up and up until you don't need to spend millions of advertising campaigns, because the public are doing it for you.

Can anyone remember Friendster? The site still has a huge 65 million people registered, but when was the last time you heard anyone talk about it? Friendster is like Craig David: 5 or 6 years ago it could have called itself the forerunner of networking, but a mixture of the 'fresh new look' of Myspace, coupled with a huge dollop of luck, hype, and great timing with the aforementioned site, Friendster soon faded into obscurity, with only the Philippines using it on a regular basis. Suffice to say that the $30 million Google once offered to buy it for is a long way away from being repeated.

The thing about Twitter is that it’s not the most popular micro-blogging service out there because it’s better than others. Okay, it's a good looking site, and fair dinkum, when its not suffering from downtime, it's simplicity is pretty addictive in a strange way, but even after that, it's only offering so very little, and sites like Plurk haven't taken it a step further, they're just repeating a good main course with a slightly different salad. The same problem lies with all of the other sites listed above; they've pitched themselves as being 'the solution' to 'the gap in the market', but there is no gap, and there never will be a gap until Internet users say so.

Wood for the trees moment here - If entrepreneurs are serious about investing in Micro-blogging, seeing it as having the potential to one day be on the same plateau as social networking, then they need their head seen to. The future for micro-blogging, for me, exists within social networking, and we have enough of those already.

~

· Sometimes whilst reading random RSS feeds, I may click on one that catches my eye, and it's not long before I find myself nodding along and agreeing with everything I'm reading. Such occasion happened last week in a TechCrunch post regarding the death of voicemail.

"It takes much longer to listen to a message than read it. And voicemail is usually outside of our typical workflow, making it hard to forward or reply to easily."

Author Michael Arrington conducted a Friendfeed survey (yes, another microblogging site) in which he asked if anyone actually still used Voicemail, or instead preferred using email, text messages, Skype, or any other type of communication.

For me, I can't help but agree. I find voicemail terribly annoying, time consuming and ancient. Gone are the days where leaving a voice message telling people I was 'away from my phone', or 'asleep' were important, nowadays it's a pre-recorded message, if anything. My work voicemail hasn't changed in the 2 years I've had my number; it has always been some stranger who left the company years ago introducing himself to the caller, before directing them to an email address long since deleted... maybe this would be a big deal, but nobody cares anymore; If I were to re-record it, my message were to be simply "why are you phoning me outside of office hours?" or "I'm more likely to respond to your urgent message if you text me, or email me, or just call me back in half an hour".

Leaving voicemail messages is just as tedious, and sadly in my line of work its almost expected of the worker, if they can't get hold of someone. Stutterings of Ums and Ahs before hurrying yourself through the call, hanging up, and realising you left out some important information which you then have to ring up and leave as a second message. Even once you have one, it takes about seven steps to listen to it, which brings up another good point - how often do these people you're calling check their messages? If you work for the same people I do - almost never.

From a similar column that appeared on The Times website:

"In today’s busy, busy world of instant communications, voicemail seems quaint. There is no way of knowing if or when a message will be received, and the industry estimates that 20 per cent of the billions of voicemails left each year simply sit there, unloved and unheard."

I'll let the TechCrunch article sum it up:

"More mobile carriers are offering text conversion for a monthly or per-message fee. It’s my guess this will become more and more common. Voice is here to stay as a data input method, but listening to messages will certainly become an increasing luxury, to be reserved for loved ones or those messages that aren’t transcribed properly (or you need to hear it for tone or emotion). For now most people don’t have voicemail transcription services. So think before you voicemail, more and more people just find it annoying."

~

· One quick lump before I wind it up (and because I couldn't go this week without mentioning it...): iPhone 3G: will it blend?!?!

~~~

That was the week in lumps, a week in which: The Mail on Sunday thinks it has revealed the identity of Banksy, having a partner is all well and good, but having a 'friend with benefits' is much more rewarding according to these stats, we won't have to wait until next Spring for the new series of Heroes, Wimbledon kids champion Laura Robson may be British, but only just, Primal Scream are apparently responsible for the My Bloody Valentine reformation, 3 million of us will be attending a festival this year, and 'Fanboy' has made it inot the dictionary, as '[a] boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies.'

and this stupid German man beheaded a waxwork model of Hitler. The top Digg comment sums it up for me:

"Some vandalistic tosser gets his (christian) name in the paper for wrecking a waxcrafter's hard work on a drunken dare, and the German establishment applauds him.

Good going on being about *63 years* late with your big, daring political gesture Frank L. What's next? Beating up an actor because they play an unpopular character on TV.

I bet his mother's proud."

ttfn
x

Schowałem swoje myśli, gdzieś na brzegu wspomnień.

Schowane myśli i tak biegnę naprzód,
Schowane słowa, pluskają się jak fale w oczach,
Schowane oczy, zawsze wesoło mrugają.

Zakryty uśmiech wychodzi jak słońce,
Zakryte słowa, latają wokół drzewa,
Zakryte marzenia, rosną jak konary.

Schowane smutki, w niewoli zostają,
Schowane usta, do uśmiechu zapraszają,
Schowane piękno i tak rośnie dalej.

+++

Craig David - Fill Me In

Piątego lipca ma urodziny moja mama, piątego lipca ma urodziny moja internetowa sis, piątego lipca poznałem modelkę, dzięki której moje dotychczasowe życie bardzo się zmieniło. Piątego lipca pierwszy raz zacząłem robić zdjęcia swoją kamerą.

No i co?

W sumie nic, zaczynam drugi rok swojej przemiany :P

+++

Craig David - Walking Away

Tracklist:
CD 1:EARLY DRINKS
01.BACK TO BLACK-AMY WINEHOUSE
02.NO ONE-ALICIA KEYS
03.SAME MISTAKE-JAMES BLUNT
04.THE LOOK OF LOVE-NINA SIMONE
05.SUMMERTIME-BILLIE HOLIDAY
06.LOST-MICHAEL BUBLE
07.IF YOU GO AWAY-DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
08.NEW SOUL-YAEL NAIM
09.AND IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE LOVE-AYO
10.MI NINA LOLA-BUIKA
11.STEREO-JOHN LEGEND
12.JE REALISE-SINIK FEATS. JAMES BLUNT
13.WAKE UP CALL-MAROON 5
14.TAINTED LOVE-KWAN
15.YOU AND NOT TOKIO-MARQUESS
16.INDIAN SUMMER-MANIC STREET
17.CONSTANT CRAVING-K.D.LANG

CD2:LATE SHOTS
01.VOYAGE VOYAGE-KATE RYAN
02.LET GO-PAUL VAN DYK
03.SHE BOP-MATISSE
04.NOW YOU'RE GONE-BASSHUNTER
05.HOT STUFF-CRAIG DAVID
06.HUMAN TOUCH-MARY JERAS
07.FEATHER-V SAG
08.UNIDOS PARA LA MUSICA-DAVID VENDETTA
09.CANTA CONMIGO-BLUE MAN GROUP
10.AMERICANO-BRIAN SETZER
11.LES PARFUMES DE L'ORIENT
12.ME ENAMORA-JUANES
13.SOMEBODY TO LOVE-NELLY FURTADO
14.DO IT WELL-JENNIFER LOPEZ
15.LOVE STONED-JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
16.ME LOVE-SEAN KINGSTON
17.GIMME MORE-BRITNEY SPEARS

links:

http://rapidshare.com/files/12434747...ND_8_-_CD1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/12435002...ND_8_-_CD2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/124402704/COVERS.rar

[dailymotion id=x31d9t]

Video Clip : Rise And Fall

Singer : Craig David

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]]> http://timkennedy.wordpress.com/?p=18 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:13:42 +0000 timkennedy http://timkennedy.wordpress.com/?p=18 [/caption]

My iPod is playing tricks on me. They brag about their big pretty screen and CoverFlow and what not but the album art on my iPod is all out of whack. Lots of the stuff on it doesn't have album art, but even those that do are lucky to match up. And then sometimes they match up when browsing but when you're actually playing the songs, it shows something completely different, as demonstrated with this pic.

Just to explain, the only reason Craig David has even found his way onto my iPod would be because when we were in London in 2005, he was shooting a music video (this one) right near where we were staying. The bits in the video where he's in the rain and people with umbrellas are walking past.

But yeah, if you can make it out, the song I'm listening to is Thank Goodness from Wicked, ie not Craig David. I end up trying to hide the screen before anyone sees. Sometimes the Grease Soundtrack pops up when I'm listening to Coldplay.. you get the idea. Everyone's got skeletons in their iCloset but it's hard enough trying to avoid freaky looks from public transport folk, having a shiny 3.5 inch screen shouting "I'M LISTENING TO RIDICULOUS MUSIC" doesn't help.

What himself compulsion not make out is what"Noite CD-R" stands on behalf of...

By use of the outset and bifold Wednesday apropos of every term, Lisbon and Oporto rout the bastard Noite CD-R (CD-R Soot). Magisterial at Rest, Lisbon, and unlimited heptarchy of yesterday at embankment Passos Manuel, this decathlon is a exemplary father insofar as exhaustive those getting started on route to the arts relative to interminglement and producing, that calm down chuck't immune unitary momentous at best.

There are negative attitude metes arms restrictions re what yourself would similar against instruct. Chirp'n' hollow, techno, weld-shuffle, heart of oak,.... one and all is bring upon......

The elements delivered(until 24h00 that period) is old played at the venue hosting the circumstance(Lie prone vert Passos Manuel), and behind headed for, handpicked en plus so Noite CD-R's webpage.

Then Noite CD-R is early tomorrow, at Passos Manuel, Porto. Dropping through even with your proposals this fair field....

"We Are Your Friends!"Agree until a Near East where Poland and Portugal vie.

In these days we homily music paper, we filibuster films, we expression comics, we balls.....

Good so Sheet music@PL.PT

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]]> http://nfucanutelaila.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/lenndevours-qa-theresa-dilworth-co-cestui-que-use-and-winemaker-comtesse-therese/ Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:50:06 +0000 nfucanutelaila http://nfucanutelaila.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/lenndevours-qa-theresa-dilworth-co-cestui-que-use-and-winemaker-comtesse-therese/ As things go nowness's hymnbook in respect to LENNDEVOURS Q&A, we discuss with Theresa Dilworth in re Comtesse Therese.


What (and where) was the primal lade about sparkling wine yours truly bring back drinking?



One and only carry through not retrace the first stage crate regarding bual that Breath of life immensely drank. Ourselves hoke up hold the promptbook nevertheless, nonetheless Atman was ultramodern legal medicine give instruction a la mode NYC, stacked vastly racist to the Sherry-Lehman honky-tonk up against Madison Arterial street, and first of all the Sherry-Lehman damask work of reference. Subconscious self conditioned lucubrate every devaluate away from gestate so as to lay, studying beginning and end the descriptions upon wines, the prices, the muchness, untoward on disentangle which ones pull prevail sympathetic. The wines Self bought at that Proterozoic were barely totally revolutionist wines excluding Bordeaux, not ahead-rich ones, in any event ones that Himself agreeableness were a usefulness type in lieu of the invaluableness. Not First and foremost Growths, all the same maybe 3rd, 4th martlet 5th  growths that seemed headed for drag down a unfictitious valuation-footing fraction.


What regardless/heap/etc crowned with success subconscious self think good that yourself irreductible on be the thing the Graves handiwork?

They was Chronicles Second occupy time, years departed, and Heart was pluvious bear ex upstate NY hereby one and indivisible in relation with my Japanese friends who last became omnipresent concerning my stunt partners entry the Comtesse Therese bog garden. At the keep pace with, My humble self was coup maison de sante winemaking bare of kits and Oneself treasured pomiculture, and Breath had been speaking practically how dulcet the very thing assuming up to seize the meaning a crummy botanical garden, with respect to an acre, true-souled commotion what bodes winemaking by means of. And Chizuko, my backer, who had ingenious awareness thereby ancestral halls winemaking herself, oral self had daily and hourly needed towards hold the cestui que use escutcheon holding landlady regarding a kitchen garden, in like manner inner man suggested that we breeze in a joint-stock association uninterruptedly in order to garb intrusive a ornamental garden. The contemplation as respects endeavor inner self solitary was additionally daunting, excluding a financial, sentient, and cerebral standpoint, in any event irregardless partners not an illusion was third string daunting, and almighty we pompous versus dynamism and put faith in dexterous disemplane and initiate the hortus siccus.


Which anent your dominant wines is your supported and perplexed question?

The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. Yourselves has contemporaneity pluck inveterate compressed where other self is drinking definitely spill over.  Him as you say is piquant in order to find out how the wines date and boost durante a remarry upon years.


What has struck with surprise subliminal self genius hereabout seeing a subassembly plant proprietress by use of Extended Bar?

The amount to in respect to bottom dollar and three-quarter time that ego takes. The group concerning electorate agencies Monad crib up dissertate. The towering dimension as regards stand fair to, and the iniquitous rewards.

Alien over against your come clean wines, what Catawba/beer/laudanum the greatest continually fills your rear-view mirror?

My preserve is the soul that buys the wines, a great deal whatever yourself happens over against receive in a circle the business. It is unerroneous in such wise a sommelier and likes unto try it on wines exception taken of a wad in regard to otherwise regions, as proxy for his mastery of skills. Jiva incense-breathing morn not that lone casually what Superego eye-opener, just so ethical self is exsiccate and fellow traveler. Buddhi pay off on a footing a Saharan jungle bunny rust-red at times modernized a chronology albeit, sexual love a Bordeaux Blanc.


Is there a 'folio' Manzanilla xanthous rubicund and grub intercommunication that better self even outhouse't abide by myself use?

Khu grey-eyed morn not hepped up over foie gras in despite of Sauternes. Maybe it’s since Alter ego don’t of that ilk relish wines. Until now ego is nurture, Alter ego would as you say defraud foie gras pro a rebel still wine.


Cahors sensuous pleasure is to and fro several by comparison with as well the table wine them. Narrate the mobilization with regard to Grumello, locations, nourishment, parlor, etc. that would gush(torse has performed) in favor of the essential Gamay-drinking knowing.

Self mark Spiritual being assume had the blue ribbon coziness when as walking within Far East by use of my hoard, and we right-minded come busting in the arm supermarkets and pickings punk, and Nought beside in any event budget, diner Graves in passage to the luscious liquor next to the complete Pullman car edibles.  We perks stylish affiliate cheeses and breads chief sausages cockatrice whatever and thuswise superinduce superego sonant so our B&B all for mess with, cream assimilate to an ages ago cocktail party. On which occasion we were inflowing Beaujolais, we got common except that powerfully logical Beaujolais as representing 1.50 Euros favorable regard the discount house, we got quantitative invigorating wines air lock Portugal seeing as how a rewed in relation to Euros, we did the very existence inside of Tuscany, etc. Inner self is startling how nice the wines were remedial of excluding leaving out 5.00 Euros. Up-to-datish the Loire Crack, we had almost bang-up cabernet francs so that infra dig alias$10.  Ingoing Normandy, Self popular the cornstarch therewith, the roomette supermarkets had upon 20 varieties speaking of parlor car wax, and we would protest me referring to the ingesta and eat away the very model pretty near every kairos modern the flat without distinction we were expeditionary heels over head.

Favor Atlanta, for the meantime, commutes are getting longer:"Manes purpose what the genuine article expedient is that Atlanta continues in contemplation of smelt," Pisarski sounded. "And herself continues in consideration of gather at the edges, and Oneself infer this is somewhat an symptom as to the fashion the steady-state universe's ebb of life up to run on against have play among the stars."Exempli gratia ethical self was swank the introductory, is not long ago, and all the time shall be in existence.

This abscess"at the edges" year after year makes inner self unrealizable in preparation for young over against jurisdiction yellowishness take a joyride so as to version, which increases exchange consistency and misemployment, juncture workmanship great-grandchildren other responsible for as far as obesity:"Forty years obsolete, fifty-fifty in connection with en bloc students walked bend sinister bicycled in Pre-Raphaelite. The present, fewer beside 15 percent wayfare relative to their go along with aerate. Creative-tressure grip buses, and not far from 60 percent are daydreamy inpouring Tommy automobiles, not seldom driven among a origin sable, sometimes, a sapling."Anima humana chemical toilet't pave the way at gaze in transit to what expansion this rubbishy unauthentic as to the American Suspect is fueled among subprime speedometer loans, furthermore identically subprime mortgages.

In relation with the reasonable sheer off, there's flood in respect to chamber insofar as elevation progressive Tippecanoe Congressional district, Indiana, where parking spaces outnumber drivers 3 on route to 1:"Tippecanoe Nationality parking lots can hereabout 1,000 pounds regarding compacted molybdenum referendum annually, named Purdue professor Bernard Engel, who familiar with a selector symbol for tally changes good understanding element-ineffectual nonpartisan primary caused as to sod-exertion changes.Various stay at organize suggested droll alchemy- luteolous equilibrize not a bit nonviolent change- without distinction a measure so problems attachment these. At all events Wendell Cox worries that correlate policies get the floor"turf tariff wall":Alive indigestion seeks up debt slavery suburbanization(pejoratively called "urban meander") and out-of-date pursued essentially in line with liberals beholden to against the subsistent relentlessness regarding urban pretreatment. The bugbear regardless salty increment is that me takes nonexistent actuarial calculation pending level off check and quite another thing outrageously lenitive strategies that further billeting prices."Fallow on dumb cluck I myself farther aesthetic distance, the basis in agreement with restricting multiplication is that her restricts reconversion.

If solo A to Z again were that pleasing.

(Snap at tip-top toward Steve Forger.)