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Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Tracking Conferences Virtually

March 24th, 2011 by Erin Posted in Technology | No Comments »

So this is pretty cool…

Big conferences, like SXSW, have come and gone – and if you’re like me – you missed the boat on all of them. As it turns out, you really could have attended – virtually.

Sure, there are a number of web services and sites that give you access to most of the content at conferences, whether you’re there or not. But one service that is pretty eye-catching: Lanyrd.

Lanyrd describes itself as a “social conference directory.” It features a conference coverage aggregator, pulling together notes, posts, slideshows, audio and more.

For instance, the SXSW 2011 page for Lanryd has 80+ slide decks, dozens of write-ups and video – and more. While it’s not a comprehensive list of content for SXSW, Lanyrd is a great place to go to look at some of the panels you missed out on.

What’s even more interesting about Lanyrd is its social function. Simply sign-in using your Twitter account, and suddenly you have access to all of the conferences your contacts are tracking and/or attending. If one of those conferences piques your curiosity, you can track it as well. And, by “tracking,” I mean following that conference on Twitter.

So the next time you can’t scrounge up enough pennies to pay a conference registration fee, head over to Lanyrd.

And, did I mention – it’s free?

 Tags: lanyrd, social conference directory, track conferences virtually, tracking conferences virtually, web services

Chrome Lets Users Blacklist Websites

February 17th, 2011 by Erin Posted in Technology | No Comments »

It’s not a secret. I love Google Chrome – and why everyone is not using it is beyond me. But perhaps, this next piece of information will light fire under the rest of the world.

Google has released an *experimental* extension for Chrome that allows users to BLOCK “content farms” from appearing in Google search results.

While they’ve been around, people are just now starting to talk about content farms and the shady nature in which they appear at the top of a list of search results. These websites specialize in producing tons of material – usually bad quality – to maximize their traffic from search queries. They’re suspect – yet quite effective at crowding out better, original material in search results.

Thankfully, people have caught on to content farms’ wiley ways – and so has Google.

Google Chrome’s Personal Blocklist extension lets users eliminate unwanted websites – like content farms – from search results. Users who download the extension also can edit their block lists, if they wish.

Now, here’s the best part – in my opinion.

Google will pay attention to the sites that users block and could *possibly* use the data to revise the quality of its search results.

I believe this extension is a step in the right direction for personalized search, but other tech-watchers aren’t so convinced. TechCrunch writes that most users probably won’t use the extension and also notes the possibility that rival content farms may use it to sabotage each other. VentureBeat adds that users could block sites that are uninteresting to them, rather than target spammy content farm-riddled search results.

I’ll admit that the average person probably doesn’t know how to spot a content farm and may end up flagging a legit Website. But, I have faith that those “in the know” will find this new Google tool helpful and will hopefully use it rid the search engine of spam once and for all.

 Tags: block content farms, chrome extension, google tool, personal blocklist extension, personalized search

Google Translate iPhone App – A HUGE Help for Business and Travel

February 10th, 2011 by Erin Posted in Business, Technology | No Comments »

There were many noteworthy things going on in technology this past week, like exciting talk of Apple releasing the iPad 3 in the fall and the ho-hum news of Facebook moving its headquarters from Palo Alto to Menlo Park, CA.

But what was of real interest to me, and I’m sure a lot of other people, was the new Google Translate app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Available for free from the iTunes store, the new app translates voice input for 15 languages!

Google Translate for iOS also translates words or phrases into 50 languages and can read translations aloud in 23 languages.

According to the Google Mobile Blog, “the app also includes all of the major features of the web app, including the ability to view dictionary results for single words, access your starred translations and translation history even when offline, and support romanized text like Pinyin and Romaji.”

In January, Google launched a similar Translate app for Android devices.

Traveling for business or pleasure? Be sure to have Google Translate in your back pocket. This will no doubt be a handy tool for anyone traveling abroad – or even a boardroom businessman who has to communicate via satellite with, let’s say, foreign investors. Just talk right into the phone and have the translation read back to you aloud.

While handy, I do have to say that Search Engine Land may be over-dramatizing the launch of this app just a tad. They call Google Translate “a small glimpse at the future of search” – meaning that Google has broken ground in the new “search for words (and their meanings) in different languages” territory.

That is dicey terrain that will take many, many more years to dissect. Let us, instead, focus on the here-and-now – and use Translate for what it’s intended: Translation.

 Tags: Business, google mobile, google translate iphone app, search engine land, translation, travel

Password Generator – More Security, Less Thinking

February 3rd, 2011 by Erin Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Have you ever stopped and counted how many passwords you have?

While we need a password for just about everything these days, chances are you use the same password, or some sort of variant, for every login.

Security experts tell us this is a big “no no” – but do we listen?

No way.

We don’t want to have to actually think when we’re logging in somewhere – we want to get in, and get in quick!

The creators of ObPwd, thankfully, understand our plight. Their unique password generator application promises to give us our security back – and do so without requiring us to use too much brain power.

Here’s how it works.

For starters, ObPwd is a password generator, not an application for storing your passwords. It is available as a free application for computers running Mac OS X and it is a free extension for anyone running Firefox.

ObPwd reads images and will create a unique password based on that image. For example, if you click on a picture of your car, it will generate the same password everytime you click on that particular picture.

Even if you change the name of the image, ObPwd will always generate the same passcode. According to the program’s creators, if you copy images and store them in various locations, the application will still generate the same passwords.

You can also click on images on websites to generate passwords. But, if the image gets replaced, you’re out of luck.

Advantage:

- ObPwd is great for creating a limited number of passwords that you regularly use. Because you need different images for each password, using more than a couple different images could make it difficult to remember which password is used for each purpose.

Disadvantage:

- If you use multiple computers – or a tablet device like an iPad – you need to have all the images available on all computers in order to have your password generated. Difficult? Yes. But, it’s what makes your passwords more secure.

ObPwd may not have the most memorable, user-friendly name for consumers – but its application is unique and provides us with an extra layer of security. It’s probably not the best option for mobile people who need quick access to password-protected sites… but, hey, I’d try it.

I’d try just about anything – once.

 Tags: application, firfox, mac osx, number of passwords, password generator, storing your passwords

Ask.com is Back with More Q&A

January 13th, 2011 by Erin Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Ask.com. Remember them?

They were big like 10 years ago, back before “Google” was a verb.

I’ve never really used them before, but may be willing now. Recently, I been searching the Web, not with terms, but with questions. I’ve needed answers to ailments, how to remove three discs stuck in the Wii console (don’t ask), quick fixes for recipes, even grammar questions. Sometimes Google is helpful with my questions. Sometimes not. Ask.com may be just what I’ve needed.

The 15-year-old search engine has undergone a makeover of sorts, now offering a social search and more personalized browsing.

Here’s how it works.

Simply type in your query and Ask.com will direct the question to experts – rather than leaving the answers up to the whole community – and by identifying the users’ interests through their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.

This new personalized browsing feature – which is available with an Ask.com invite or to Ask’s iPhone app users – helps the site generate its own profile for a user. Give a few pieces of information, along with some Facebook and LinkedIn details, and poof – your Ask.com profile is built. Based on your profile, Ask.com is betting that it’ll know what types of questions you’ll want answered – and, in doing so, will route those questions to someone whose profile shows experience or knowledge related to your query. Does that make them an expert? Probably not.

And here’s where the social aspect comes in.

The personal profile that is created will help Ask.com identify users with similar interests, and users will be able to follow other users.

It does sound like a lot of work just to get a question answered. But, if the Q&A space is something that floats your boat – like it does for me – then the new relaunch of Ask.com is probably worth your while.

No advertising, just information. That’s what I like.

 Tags: ask.com, ask.com invite, google, personalized browsing, search engine, social search