This is pretty cool. It’s a revolving earth that shows in real time who is updating their Twitters, where they are, and what they’re saying.
I could imagine big companies using something like this (that would update automatically) to see what’s going on at each of their offices all over the world at any given time. Or a company like Starbucks could set something like this up and customize it based on what kind of drink someone buys. So they could have it show them who all is buying an orange mocha frappachino at any given time all over the world–not sure why people waste money on those expensive drinks but you get my point.
Personally, I’d like to see a mashup of this with sports scores all over the world. Or wave reports for surfing. The possibilities are endless….
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I may be the only one of my friends who has Altell, and I’ve never been proud of it. Their new “My Circle” program may actually give me something to brag about.
As reported in Ad Age, Altell is launching “My Circle,” a program that lets its customers select any 10 numbers from any service to call for free each month. This is huge. I know most of my calls come from a maximum of 5 numbers, so having 10 numbers to call free will be awesome.
What’s really cool about this is that the numbers can be changed anytime online. So If I want to call someone that isn’t in my list of friends I can add them before making the call, and then delete them afterwards.
It will be interesting to see if/when other services adopt something similiar. Altell hopes this will entice lots of people to switch to their service, but I bet the other top dogs will copy them or come out with something better to avoid letting that happen. What do you think?
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My cellphone is crappy and falling apart, and some spam from Market Survey Group got me. All I have to do is complete some sponsor offers and I get a free Motorola Razr phone, right?
“Please complete 2 offers from this page” - I signed up for free 14-day trials to Netflix and Rhapsody. I can cancel both anytime and not have to pay anything. Trust me, I called them to make sure. Now I get my Razr. Right?
Wrong. “Please complete 1 offer from this page.” -Ok one more isn’t that bad. I’ll forgive them for tricking me and making me think I only had to do 2, and I already did 2, so I can do one more. I decided to go with the free offer from Video Professor. Since I want to get better at Powerpoint so I can do some really cool presentations, I went for the 3 Powerpoint instructional cds. If I don’t like them, I can return one, and keep the other 2 without paying anything. Now, it’s time to get my Razr, right?
Dammit. “Please complete one offer from this page.” -Now I actually have to sign up for a Discover card and make one transaction with it before it gets added to my list of offers I’ve completed. After I do this I read the fine print and see that it may take up to 6-8 weeks for each offer to be confirmed. Then they will ship me my Razr. Sweeeet…
The phone I have now doesn’t play mp3s or have a camera. I’ve usually been the kid without the really cool phone. Razrs are already not cutting edge. By the time I get mine they will probably be borderline uncool or worse.
It’s not like I even wanted a Razr. I’m just that much of an impulse shopper, I guess, that if something gets my attention just a little bit, I go for it. So, I guess this type of advertising is working on someone. If if that someone is a moron like me.
Even if I don’t get the phone, I have to admit that getting Rhapsody was worth the effort. The next 14 days will be great. Then I’ll cancel. The end.
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Apple is at it again, developing a phone with with iTunes that can play music, and of course, looks sweet like all of Apple’s products do. I guess the iPhone is a pretty logical step for them to take, trying to take over our lives with music and cool technology…
ZDNet’s blog has a nice picture/concept of this phone, which they’re saying will most likely be out in the next year.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=981
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Apple is developing a new, touch-sensitive iPod. It reportedly will have 3.5-inch full touch-screen dispay with a virtual click wheel that will appear only when the screen is touched. I know some people may be thinking, “Uhh won’t the screen get blurry or scratched if you’re always touching it?” but this should have a scratch/blur-proof screen–If it doesn’t I’ll be shocked. Apple knows better than that. This is one badass piece of technology. It could be on the market as early as April 1. Here’s some images from the patent application.
So, yeah, I finally want an iPod. I don’t think I’ll be able to resist this one, like I have the others.
I’ve been putting off getting an iPod ever since they first came out. At first I always said I didn’t need one. I used to be the guy who couldn’t walk across campus without seeing people to talk to, or at least say hey, or at least give the awkward nod if I knew them but didn’t really know them. I always hated (and still do) when you’re trying to talk to someone and they have one or two of the Ipod earbuds in. Maybe I just can’t multitask as well in that regard, but I know if I’m listening to some good music ,I’m NOT listening to someone talk. So, basically I thought iPods were for the antisocial people who had nothing to say and wouldn’t want to talk to people anyway.
However, when you get to be a senior and no one you know lives on campus anymore you don’t see people as much. Sometimes I can walk to class and see only strangers. So I started thinking about getting an iPod to make the walks less boring. But I couldn’t figure out when to buy one. What if I’d bought one right before the first one with the color screen came out, or right before the video iPod arrived. But they’ll always come up with something new and better so I guess we’re all permanently screwed. Separating us from the cash in our wallets is what they do. And I think this new iPod will separate me from a very nice chunk of cash. Oh well.
On a related note: The other day I was reading some of the comments from people on a Mac forum right after the first iPod came out. These people aren’t just your average person, either. If you posted on a Mac forum, especially a few years ago, there’s a good chance you were probably considered a trendsetter. Trendsetters have a passion for something, and Mac users are definitely passionate about their macs. They want to be the first to have something new and don’t mind paying for it.
To get back to the point of my story, it was hilarious reading what these supposed trendsetters had to say about the original iPod. Their comments ranged from “This thing will never sell” to “An mp3 player with a hard drive? What are they thinking?!!” Good thing Apple didn’t listen…
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