Yes, I know I just said “Orkut” but take a look at how Google is treating contact groups in Orkut now.
Granted Orkut pales in comparison to Facebook but these changes suggest Google may even be trying a couple things out in Orkut with a view to incorporating them into its much anticipated (and rumoured) social networking push which many are calling “Google Me“.
It turns out that when Amazon says international Kindle users get free 3G for their 3G enabled Kindles, they really mean international customers pay an extra $2 for their books.
I just read a post on Download Squad that points out a $2 discrepancy between Canadian (and presumably US) pricing and international pricing.
Since I’m so anxious to start using it, I decided to get a head start on building up my electronic library. I decided to start with the classics – for example, Moby Dick. Yes, I know it’s available for free online, but this edition is typeset for the Kindle so I figured it must be worth the modest sum Amazon asks for it ($2.95, as you see in the screenshot above).
When I sent the link to my friend, who has an Amazon account with a Canadian billing address, we were amazed to discover that Amazon list the same exact item at $0.95 when she’s looking at it.
This charge is apparently a markup for roaming charges and these charges will apply regardless of whether your Kindle is 3G enabled or not. I suspect it will apply regardless of whether you are even using a Kindle because the pricing appears to be based on billing address than anything else. Not nice Amazon! If you really have to charge extra for international roaming then don’t advertise “free 3G”.
To his credit, David Greenway mentioned this to me on Twitter a while ago and I didn’t really think much of it at the time (didn’t realise what he was referring to, more like it).
Google is going to roll out a cool new feature to Google Mail (Gmail and Google Apps) users in the next week or so. It is called Priority Inbox:
Gmail has always been pretty good at filtering junk mail into the “spam” folder. But today, in addition to spam, people get a lot of mail that isn’t outright junk but isn’t very important—bologna, or “bacn.” So we’ve evolved Gmail’s filter to address this problem and extended it to not only classify outright spam, but also to help users separate this “bologna” from the important stuff. In a way, Priority Inbox is like your personal assistant, helping you focus on the messages that matter without requiring you to set up complex rules.
It is a little like reverse spam and I am looking forward to trying it out. It will probably be more useful in my Google Apps (aka work) account but I’ll try it out in both Gmail and work accounts anyway.
Catchy song, huh? I tried to identify it with the Shazam app on my phone but it couldn’t figure it out. Sounds very 20s/30s (if I have my eras right).
Google Mail just keeps getting better and better. It makes desktop mail applications look pretty bland by comparison although the continued lack of offline capability (non-Gears – Gears hasn’t been available since Mac OS X 10.6 and Firefox 3.6) means that I need to use a separate desktop mail app to maintain an offline backup of my email (Thunderbird is my current choice).
Source: The Official Gmail Blog
I watched a video produced by the White House which I found really interesting for a couple reasons.
West Wing Week: 8/20/10 or “Turkey Turkey and a Jammer” from The White House on Vimeo.
This week, travel with the First Family to Panama City Beach, Florida for a weekend of swimming, mini-golf, and meeting with local business owners. Next up, the President hits the road traveling to Milwaukee, Seattle and Columbus to talk to business owners and families about the economy.
The video is a pretty transparent political/PR tool but it also speaks to a level of transparency in the US government which we don’t really see here in South Africa. What we increasingly see in South Africa is intolerance for media scrutiny of what our government officials are doing and how they abuse our trust.
The ANC sees itself as synonymous with government and media freedom has become more about opposition to the ruling party than holding the government to account for its actions. We saw that in the Mzilikazi wa Afrika arrest – he was interrogated about his opposition to the ANC, not government and even then, why is that an offence? The ANC doesn’t seem to like being subject to scrutiny, perhaps because its support base may find out the extent of the ANC’s betrayal?
I keep talking about how we are living in a real life Animal Farm and the pigs are starting to behave exactly like the farmers they forced out. Now, more than ever, we need a vigilant and active press. If the media is shut down by the ANC’s efforts to curb a free press, we will be right back where we were 30 years ago with a new National Party, censorship and darkness. We are on the edge of an abyss and this is its face:
Image source: Julius Malema: Role Model or Menace to Society?
I just came across this handy hint on Google Operating System. You can upload people thumbnails to your Google Contacts from Picasa 3.8. The thumbnails then filter through to other services which use your Google Contacts like Android devices that sync with your Google Account. Very handy.
Picasa 3.8 makes it easier to upload pictures for your Google contacts. After scanning all the photos from your library and adding name tags to your photos, you can go to the Tools menu, select Upload and click on Upload People Thumbnails.
Source: Google Operating System (click for more info on the tip)
