Scopetech

Sure, digg has been trodden upon by some and there may even be a general consensus that digg comments leave something to be desired when compared to comments on Slashdot, but if it’s one thing I have to hand over to the digg commenters, they know when something is not their own as was the case with this story on FeedHub which we’ll take a look on this blog most likely. It didn’t really occur to me, but the story seemed to have been gamed. Gaming is essentially when you get a lot of people to digg a story, making it reach to the front page through some sort of compensation to the people or because the same people have some vested interest in the story. While it’s uncertain if the story really has really been gamed, there is certainly a difference in the way the comments are put across that makes you suspicious.

Of course, we have to think about gaming in general. There really isn’t a problem with asking your friends to digg a story now, is there? But when money isinvolved there is a definite difference. It’s an issue I am sure the digg team has to deal with and look at seriously.

iMedix is a simple site for people who want to know more about medical conditions. If you want to know about anything from ADHD to Vertigo, you’re bound to find someone who can help you with what you want to know. The site seems to be very much along the lines of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” in that, there isn’t exactly any “knowledge base” - you make a profile and privately contact people based on what you are trying to get information on.

So, as I log into the site and want to find out about Vertigo, I’ll see a list of people who are interested in that particular topic and are willing to take your questions. You’ll see if they are online or not. If the user you want to speak with is not online, you can send them a message, but if they are you can do a chat with them right there and then. Very nice and useful.

My one issue with the site is that going from one person to the other may become tedious. If there was an option to talk to multiple people on at the same time it would be much more helpful. Overall it’s actually a pretty useful site, though it could be even more useful if there was a knowledge base on medical conditions as other sites like wrongdiagnosis have.

I was overall impressed with the site. The functionality and design as well as the aim of the site are great. Anyone wanting invites can leave a comment.

I wanted to give a nice long, detailed look at Wevent but truth be told, I don’t think it’s worth your time. I wanted to like it, as I would anything I take a look at, but logging into my Beta account I couldn’t really tell where I had to go or what to do. Not a good sign. Luckily there’s a movie on the main page anyone can look at that will show you exactly what the site is about, how to use it, etc. While reading what the site is for, basically a social network for friends to share info and pictures on parties, etc, I couldn’t help but think that Facebook would be a much better use of one’s time considering what you can do with events, pictures, communicating with friends and so much more outside of parties/events.

That feeling was justified when I saw their implementation of the tagging feature that Facebook has.

Save yourself the time and get yourself a Facebook account if you really want to share pictures and other info with friends on events.

This week Matt and I continue our discussion from Web 2.0 into what has been coined Web 3.0. We discuss what it means, what it really means and why you should or shouldn’t care.

The two of us share very different feelings about what Web 3.0 really is and what it means for the future. What we really want to know is what you think about Web 3.0 and the promises it brings. Let us know and we’ll talk about it on the next show!

Kill The Desktop 8: Web 3.0

The Xbox 360 Spring Update earlier this year added MSN Messenger integration to Xbox Live and to be honest, it seemed like a pretty useless service until last week when Microsoft released the highly anticipated Messenger Kit for the Xbox 360 on the 4th of September… Unfortunately for me, I had to wait until the 7th (the UK release date) before I could get my hands on one.

After I spent half an hour trying to open the annoyingly secure package…I finally got a chance to try out the Chatpad itself. At first I thought it might be a little clunky and that it might weigh the controller down slightly, but after several hours of gaming I barely noticed a difference at all. I was skeptical of it’s design, but you soon get used to it and it becomes easy to forget that it’s even there.

The way the Chatpad plugs in is simply genius. It fits tightly in to the bottom of the controller and stays well in place whilst playing, so it doesn’t wriggle out and cause you to lose concentration. Now, because the Chatpad is using the conventional headset port, the Messenger Kit ships with a brand new headset that plugs directly in to the Chatpad. The new headset features in-line volume controls which is rather annoying when you wish to mute your mic or turn the volume down while playing a game.

Typing with the Chatpad can be a little tricky at first, it’s easy enough to get a good typing speed but whether or not your typing is efficient is a different story. I often found that the tiny little backlit buttons were sometimes difficult to push as I typed faster, and therefore caused spelling errors and plenty of annoyance as I tried to reach for my beloved mute button… only to find that it requires more physical movement than a flick of the thumb.

Microsoft did a great job of integrating MSN Messenger in to Xbox Live. It’s obviously not suited for long chats in the evening with your friends but it’s great for a quick message or two back and forth in between games. However, this was the downside I found with the service as I felt constant notifications of my MSN contacts signing online and leaving messages was rather distracting. Luckily, you’re only notified of the initial message you receive from a particular contact. Other messages from the same contact won’t interrupt your play as the Messenger button on the Chatpad flashes when you’ve received a new message from anyone you’re currently talking to.

At first I was doubtful about how useful the Messenger Kit would actually be, but it’s turned out to be a great tool that really makes the whole system much more efficient as it can be used for more than just Instant Messaging on your Xbox. At just $29.99 USD (£25 GBP) the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit proves to be the most useful accessory for your 360 to date. It really is worth checking out.

iPod Touch

• Thinner than the iPhone - only 8mm
• Same multitouch pinch & spread zooming controls for photos as the iPhone
• Cover Flow
• 3.5″ diagonal screen
• Wi-Fi 802.11b & 802.11g - it can save your home network setup
• Home button
• Same Unlocking feature as iPhone (slide to unlock)
• Sensor for auto-landscape viewing
• Safari - connect to the internet via WiFi
• YouTube via WiFi
• 22 hours audio, 5 hours video playback
• Shipping later this month
• 8GB - $299
• 16GB - $399

iPod Nano

• Smaller Size
• Full Metal design
• New User Interface
• Cover Flow
• Three games included
• Now with Video
• 2″ screen, with brigher, QVGA resolution (320×240)
• 4GB - US$149
• 8GB - US$199
• 24 hours of audio playback, 5 hours video playback

iPod Classic

With a newly designed Full Metal Body similar to the new iPod Nano, the iPod Classic has an increased capacity of 80GB and 160GB. The 80GB Model costs $249 and the 160GB model costs $349. Both have an amazing battery life with up to 40 hrs of music playback and 7 hrs video playback.

Both the iPod Classic and Nano are available today with the iPod Touch shipping later this month.  More Info at MacRumors.com

‘Now Play It‘ is a great new way for musicians to learn their favourite songs online at a low cost price. The site features over 300 exclusive videos of real artists using great teaching methods in order to help you learn their songs correctly.

There are 3 different types of tutorials, each one to suit the level on which you wish to learn. ‘Full’ tutorials last around 15 minutes and cost £3.99 whilst the ‘Lite’ tutorials last around 3 to 6 minutes costing just £1.99. Videos are encoded in WMV and MPEG4 so they’ll work seamlessly with your iPod and iTunes. With everything from KT Tunstall herself, to Blur, David Bowie, Starsailor, Coldplay and Supergrass, this really is a site worth checking out.

This episode Matt and I take a look at Web 2.0. We discuss what it means, what it really means, why you should care, and what actually classifies a site as Web 2.0.

In general we really feel that the classification of Web 2.0 is very subjective. Most people probably have their own view of what Web 2.0 really is. So, we pose the question to you, what do you feel classifies a site as Web 2.0? Is it glossy buttons, fancy usability, the social aspect, or something else entirely? Let us know and we’ll talk about it on the next show!

Next week we’ll continue this conversation into Web 3.0, how people are already trying to frame it, and what it really means to the future of the web. Check back next week!

Kill The Desktop

Are you a fan of the Web 2.0 movement? Do you prefer to create a Google Doc over a Word document? If so, Kill The Desktop is the podcast for you!

Kill The Desktop is an audio podcast devoted to web focused tech news. Matt and I, your hosts, are Mac crazed geeks with real experience in the field. We bring a broad range of abilities to the table that create an interesting and unique conversation. At least that’s what our fans tell us.

We’re excited to have teamed up with Scopetech to create a synergy of technology news and notes. After each episode I’ll be posting a recap of the topics discussed along with some extra thoughts about the show. We fully expect to work with the Scopetech team to bring quality and unique content on a weekly basis.

We hope you’re excited about our partnership and will continue to support these efforts. Thanks and stay tuned for Kill The Desktop 7: Web 2.0. Until then, check out some of our past shows!

Fairtilizer is a new music site which wants to allow its users to be able to discover new music, create their own playlists, download free tracks, subscribe to artists and labels and “connect with artists, labels and people that care about music”. Anyone can submit a track into the system and according to the site, submitted tracks will go into a “buffer zone” where the songs can either be approved or dismissed depending on if the uploader has actual rights to the song. The site’s screening process should deal with any songs that may be uploaded illegally. What’s good about the site is that users can get free tracks provided labels offer them for free download but it seems only smaller labels would do such a thing. There is also the option to have songs as stream-only.

Playing with the site I am trying to figure out why people would use it instead of Myspace. One reason might be because of the nice flash player that allows you to take tracks and embed them on a site or blog. With Myspace, tracks are usually stream-only from major labels and users typically cannot embed the songs anywhere outside Myspace, if at all. Myspace users also have the option to sell tracks, something I have not seen with Fairtilizer, though tracks that are available for download will not have any sort of DRM. Sadly, I found the site to be very confusing.

Submitted tracks go to the “Upcoming” section where tracks with the most support go into the “Charting” section. What is unclear is what “support” for a track means, number of listens or the number of “votes” as denoted by a heart button to the right of the “Upcoming” and “Charting” sections of the site? Fairtilizer almost seems like it could be a competitor to Contrastream with the digg-like interface it has but instead of simply underground artists, Fairtilizer wants to involve big record labels which might be able to work provided they get the kinks out and explain why people wouldn’t just use Myspace instead.

The ability to make playlists from music on the site, embed them on a blog and pop out the player is a very nice feature though. The site is still not open to the public so we can assume many changes need to take place but for me it was not as appealing to look at as was the case with Contrastream. Both sites have aspects that could go well together. We will be sure to look out for any updates to Fairtilizer and we have 5 invites to the site. Leave a comment and we’ll hook you up.