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Write a Blook and Win Big Bucks
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Smart Home, Internet,
Unless you are endorsed by Oprah, chances are these days that if you write a book there is so much competition that you may have to publish it yourself. That can be a bit pricey, as some of us at Gear Live can attest. So it’s a welcome relief to find sites such as Lulu who award prizes to “blooks” that have gone from blogs to the real world. The prize has been offerred to encourage raw talent which is starting to emerge on the Internet.
Technorati, estimates that about 175,000 new blogs are created every day. Last year’s winner “Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously,” has already sold over 100,000 copies and will soon become a film. If you would like to check out this year’s nominees or get some inside info on how to make it big in a bloggy world (to the tune of up to $10,000,) visit Lulu.
Read More 
| BBC
Gallery: Write a Blook and Win Big Bucks
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Doomsday Warning for Analog TV
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet,
We love our ancient portables with rabbit ears and were shocked to hear that there is now a government mandate to make us convert to digital signals by February 17, 2009. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration claims that every household will be eligible to receive two coupons worth $40.00 each for converter boxes, which must be requested between January 1 and March 31 of the same year.
Congress has come up with $1.5 billion to pay for the coupon program and has set aside a portion of the funds for households that only have over-the-air TV. The FCC has said that as of June 2005 there were 15.4 million households in the U.S. that received such signals, leaving experts to think that there won’t be nearly enough money for the boxes. We suggest enterprising entrepreneurs should get on the ball now and try to come up with a cheaper kind of gadget, just in case they run out while we are waiting for ours.
Read More | ABC
Gallery: Doomsday Warning for Analog TV
Viacom Sues YouTube for $1 Billion
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Google, Internet, Videos,
In the continuing struggle with YouTube, Viacom, which is owned by Google, has taken YouTube to court for the astounding sum of $1 billion. Viacom claims that the site has shown 160,000 of its videos without express permission.
“Their business model, which is based on building traffic and selling advertising off of unlicensed content, is clearly illegal and is in obvious conflict with copyright laws,” Viacom said.
We’re thinking that this may be the first in a long series of lawsuits to get YouTube to respect the legal rights of copywritten material. The list will probably include such companies as GE and NBC. News Corp and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have already begun legal proceedings against the media giant.
Read More | MSN
Gallery: Viacom Sues YouTube for $1 Billion
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Drunken Leprechaun
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Accessories, Internet, Misc. Tech, PC / Laptop,
We can’t think of a better way to safely enjoy the upcoming St. Paddy’s Day than with this Drunken Leprechaun 3D Screensaver 1.1 from Useless Creations. He wanders around your screen while over 100 Irish tunes play background music. Compatible with Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003, the little green guy comes with a countdown to March 17, and is free to try for fourteen days with a nag screen and 1-leprechaun limit. If you get a bit too inebriated during the festivities and forget how long the two of you have been celebrating, the screensaver can be yours permanently for $9.95.
Read More | Useless Creations
Gallery: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Drunken Leprechaun
“Prom Queen” to Become First Internet Soap Opera
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Videos,
Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, has announced the formation of Vuguru, a studio that will develop what they claim will be a “slickly written, produced, and acted Web video about love, gossip and betrayal.” In other words, his investment company, The Tornate, will be producing a professionally made YouTube soap opera.
Eisner feels that although YouTube has won the first battle in Internet TV, real media moguls will ultimately win the broadband war. His first show will be “Prom Queen,” a who-done-it with daily 90-second installments beginning April 2. You will find all 80 episodes on Vuguru.com, Ellegirl.com (a “Prom Queen” sponsor,) Veoh, and of course, YouTube.
Read More | USA Today
Gallery: “Prom Queen” to Become First Internet Soap Opera
Two years ago, Jay Ellison, executive vice president at Chicago-based U.S. Cellular, got so tired of his e-mail building up to the amount of 200 a day that he finally sent out a memo to his 5,500 employees. “I’m announcing a ban on e-mail every Friday,” it read. “Get out to meet your teams face-to-face. Pick up the phone and give someone a call. … I look forward to not hearing from any of you, but stop by as often as you like.”
Needless to say, his co-workers were not thrilled with the idea, since most of them were e-mail addicts and began to queue them up and send them out Saturday 12:01 a.m. Finally complying with the memo, the staffers realized that some of them actually occupied the same floor, rather than being across the country. While we notice that many of our e-mail recipients have a tendency to go without the Internet on weekends, we still can’t completely fall into the same routine. The thing is that we’re e-mail addicts, too.
Read More | ABC
Gallery: Office Goes No E-mail Friday
FlipStart Approaches Release Date
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Microsoft, PC / Laptop,
FlipStart, the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is about to be available to those of us who just can’t wait for that smaller, smarter laptop. It features an ultra-low voltage 1.1 GHz Intel Pentium M Processor, a 30GB hard drive, 512MB RAM, a 1024 x 600 pixel SVGA 5.6-inch display, a qwerty keyboard, and is available with either Windows XP Professional or Vista Business. It also has dual built-in mics, a 3.5 mm headphone/mic jack, a camera, USB 2.0 ports, and is Bluetooth capable.
Once you close the lid, you can still access your e-mail, calendar, and contacts. With slimline battery usage, the compact PC is a mere 5.9 x 4.5 x 1.35-inches and weight of 1.5 lbs. At a price of $1,999.00, you can put yourself on the reserved list for shipment later this month.
Read More | FlipStart
Gallery: FlipStart Approaches Release Date
China Nixes New Internet Cafes
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Internet, PC / Laptop,
China has decided not to allow more Internet cafes to open this year. Last month, President Hu Jintao asked Internet regulators to promote a “healthy online culture” to protect the government’s stability. The Xinhua News Agency reports that several governmental departments, including the Ministries of Culture and Information Industry, feel that the Internet is fine for education and business but is wary at allowing its people information that they deem subversive or pornographic. Currently there are 113,000 Internet cafes in China. Considering that China has a population of about 1.3 billion, the existing cafes should make one heck of a profit in 2007.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: China Nixes New Internet Cafes
Last month, YouTube was banned in the Brazil. When the site was ordered to block uploaded sex videos of actress Daniela Cicarelli and complied, diligent groupies of the starlet kept uploading them onto the domain. After a brief court battle, the site was completely blocked at the DNS level and may face a fine of up to euro 91,000 (~US$119,000.)
Today comes word that Turkey has also done the same. The ban was imposed after complaints that clips were insulting Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkish media sources claim that there is a “virtual” war going on between Turkish and Greek users on the site with both sides posting derogatory videos. We certainly prefer that kind of video warfare to the real thing.
Read More | BBC
Gallery: YouTube Banned in Turkey
SNL: Complete First Season Available in iTunes
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Internet,
If you are a fan of Chevy Chase’s Land Shark, Gilda Radner’s Rosanne Rosanna-Dana, or want to relive the joys of owning a Bassomatic, then you will be pleased to know that “SNL: The Complete First Season” is now available at the iStore. All 24 episodes from 1975 have been included in their original 90 minute format. There is also access to monologues, musical performances and comedy bits out of sequence. The eight-DVD boxed set came out in December and is priced at $49.99 to $69.99, depending on where you shop. The download will set you back $44.99. It’s always something, my little Rosanne Rosanna-Dana.
Read More | Apple
