Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Is Google or computers in general making us stupid?

Certainly the way we deal with information, the way we read, and our expectations have changed. Spelling is no longer very important at all.

Is it true that "as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence?"

Fascinating article, although long-winded as we nowadays tend to read it bits and bites, in The Atlantic by Nicholas Carr: Is Google Making Us Stupid.

Thanks to Morty Schiller for the heads up!

"People" Search Engines - Spock

Did you know that 1/3 of all online searches are "people-oriented?"
I certainly lookup people everyday, using Google, Yahoo! and Live Search as well.

I'm added Spock to my list , a people search engine that's indexed 300 million unique people and has 18 million users.

Searching on my name, which is fairly uncommon, it found several other Ted Demopoulos I didn't know about. It also was able to find a couple of friends that were either difficult or impossible to find online.

It's not perfect by any means, but another tool in the arsenal and a company to watch.

Google Chrome: New Google Browser

Google, in their never ending quest to control the world, is releasing Google Chrome imminently, their new browser.

Basically we use browsers for much more than even a couple of years ago, and it's time for a complete redesign. Looks like Google did a pretty good job, although of course the release in "beta."

More details on Google Chrome are here on the Official Google Blog, and much more details (semi technical, but very very well done) are here on the Google Chrome comic book.

New Web .whatever addresses ??

New rules!  Anyone, anywhere can soon apply for new Web address extensions.

I could do .demopoulos for example, Berlin will be able to apply for .berlin, etc. Extensions can even contain non-English characters (i.e. more than the 37 Roman characters now allowed).

If your name is Joe Smith, wouldn't it be cool if your Website URL could be www.joe.smith??

I'm mixed on this. There are a number of issues

• Some already existing new domains like .museum, .aero,  and .mobi are barely used if at all. They are big yawns.

• This will no doubt cause confusion among Internet users as well.

• Who will control new domain extensions? What if both Melbourne Australia and  Melbourne Florida want .melbourne ?

• Non Roman characters in domain extensions are a STUPID idea!! Criminals will have a field day. Imagine a URL that looks exactly like the URL to your bank, but contains a perhaps a Hieroglyphic character that displays as the "o" in ".com" for example on your computer. Think advanced phishing attacks.

Overall I'm positive, but wary.
Choice is good, but it's all up to the implementation.

These new rules were approved unanimously by the Internet authority, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) on Thursday.

More here: Biggest Expansion to Internet in Forty Years Approved for Implementation

Why I'm Blogging Less

I'm blogging less -- anyone notice?

It's not because I'm overloaded (I am), or because my wife is in a wheelchair for 8 weeks (she is) or because I'm Mr. Mom to my 3 little kids for those 8 weeks (I am).

I''m communicating, actually writing as much, as ever before.

I've decided to write my newsletter more often (subscribe in upper right corner). I know many of you subscribe, but if you don't and you enjoy this blog please do.

Why am I doing this??
You have entirely different conversations in public than among small groups of friends (or at least you should). I enjoy both types of conversations!

My newsletter is not a 'rehash' of the blog. I may point out particularly interesting posts both here and on other blogs, I point to other resources on the Internet, answer reader questions, and am probably even more transparent.

My blog is public -- everyone is invited. My newsletter is free to the world, but less public.

How can it be less public if anyone can sign up??

Well, it's delivered via the Internet (email) but not part of the Web. It's not googleable.

It's a conversation among a few friends in a someone's house, instead of in a public place.

Please subscribe via the signup form in the upper right corner. Your email is secure, you can unsubscribe anytime you want, and the newsletter is constantly being fine tuned based on reader feedback, just like this blog.

Blogs hit Mainstream?

When will blogging be truly mainstream? Is it already?

I content we are well on our way, and will be there when:

1) the words "blog" and "blogging" disappear from common usage, and sound anachronistic like the terms "zoot suit"  and "moreover"

and

2) Blogging software disappears -- it's just assumed or integrated into something else.

Although "blog" and blogging haven't disappeared yet, blogging software is starting to disappear.

For example, Web content management software provider Bizzuka has integrated blogging capabilities into their product. A another example, many Web hosting providers, including BlueHost which I use, offer "one click" installation of blogging software, and it may soon be "no click" and already there.

In the future, which may be next year or next decade, most Web sites will have an informal conversational component, much like blogs of today. Some will resemble blogs closely, some others, who knows?

"People don’t listen to companies, they listen to people"

It's true, "people don’t listen to companies, they listen to people," and this is very important in business blogging, and more importantly, in business in general.

I stole this quote from Seth Godin, from his talk to the music industry I (a bunch of dinosaurs most of whom will die in the near future).

It's worth reading the transcript of his speech, whether you care about the music industry or not. Not only is Seth insightful and amusing as always, but there are parallels in many, perhaps most, areas today.

Check out Seth's talk here

More than just text comments . . .

MyChingo is a very popular audio comment systems many bloggers are using. I met MyChingo mastermind Mike Bailey at Podcamp last year and had a great time talking to him and listening to his ideas. Here's what he has to say about the nextgen, MobaTalk.

How did you come up with the idea for MobaTalk?

MobaTalk is the second generation of another service which I launched in April, 2006 called the MyChingo Audio Comment System.  MyChingo currently has grown to almost 6,000 members. MobaTalk extends the audio comment system to include video, images, and text, which can easily be submitted from a variety of devices having an Internet connection, like PDAs and cell phones, or even the old-fashioned telephone.

Web 3.0 simply explained

Web 3.0 is when we accept Web 2.0 and get on with our lives . . . Simple.

Web 2.0, besides being an annoying buzzword, is the 'new' Web. What's 'new' ???

It's READ-WRITE. Anyone can simply create content via blogging, MySpace, YouTube and cheap video cameras, etc.

Hasn't the Web always been read-write? Yeah, sort of, but it's been "READ MAINLY."

Your average Joe or Josephine isn't going to start a traditional Web site because it's relatively complex and if they do it'll be abandoned and never updated -- stale boring content. Oh yeah, they *could*, but they *could* also so many highly unlikely things, like take Salsa lessons, volunteer at a soup kitchen, or start a bowling league!

So Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 are incredible simple. What's the complicated part -- the part no one (that means you and me) understands??

The long term effects of Web 2.0 -- as in what happens in a couple of months. How society changes. How business changes. How interpersonal relationships change.

Maybe some things are obvious -- but far more aren't and can't be predicted. Viva la revolution baby!

Note to self: Make sure to re-read this in a few months and gage exactly how stupid you feel because you wrote this. And then remember the Internet including the Web 2.0 part is public the next time you wanna make a fool of yourself!

Addendum: So like this really cool bald dude beat me with his rendition of Web4, no '.0' needed. As usual, Seth Godin is ahead of the curve, no matter how anyone may try to warp it. Seth's a regular read of mine, and I'm honored he agreed to be in my latest book!

 

Blogs aren't the story in 07!

It's the effect of blogs on Websites that will be the big story.

Ordinary Web sites will become more blog-like in 2007.

Why? "We the people on the Internet" are tired of impersonal marketing junk! And blogs simply work!

The most effective Web sites will be written in a personal conversational blog-style, or will at least have a personal section. Think of it as an "About Us" or "About Me" section on steroids.

Of course many more business Web sites will have associated blogs, but the big story will be the decline of business speak and marketese. They will still exist, but in a more limited role, only appearing where appropriate and effective.

A conversational and personal style of writing will slowly spread over the Internet, conquering personal and business Web sites alike!

This is part of Probloggers Reviews and Predictions group writing project.