Yesterday Google posted the yearly stats for the Official Google Blog. Not bad – 294 posts, 7.6 million unique visitors and 15 million page views. Technorati ranks the Google Blog as the 16th largest among all blogs, and it is by far the most popular official company blog. Just one accidental deletion and a couple of hacks added a bit of spice and drama. But today bloggers are starting to ask if the Official Google Blog is even an actual blog. The reason? It doesn’t allow readers to leave comments. The Official Google blog does list links to other sites referencing any given post (a sort of trackback), but that’s it. The conversation ends there. Yahoo, in contrast, does allow reader comments on their official blogs. At times it has been painful for them, but I believe having this direct user feedback mechanism is helping them make better products. Other prominent bloggers have removed comments, too. Seth Godin, no. 19 on the Technorati list, rarely allows comment on his blog. He says that comments affect what he writes, and “So, given a choice between a blog with comments or no blog at all, I think I’d have to choose the latter.” The current definitions of “blog” in most dictionaries don’t mention reader comments at all when defining the term. Wikipedia says only that “the ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.” According to these sources, the minimum requirement for a web site to be a blog is that it have content, and that it be sorted in reverse chronological order. I believe the term “blog” means more than an online journal. I believe a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume. We’ve allowed comments here on TechCrunch since it started. At times, user comments can be painful to deal with. But they also keep the writer honest, and make the content vastly more interesting. Should the definitions of “blog” be revised to exclude journals that do not allow reader comments? Yeah, absolutely. And Google may think so, too. At the end of their post, they write “And before long, perhaps you can begin leaving comments directly. We’re working on that.” What do you think? Leave a comment, or answer the poll below. Is a blog really a blog if there are no → Read More
FedEx woke me up. Saturday delivery. I was hungover as hell. I opened the package to find a T-Mobile Motorola Dolce & Gabbana RAZR. So before I threw up and drank a cup of coffee, I made this unpackaging video for you all. I love you all that much. Yes. Really. Happy New Years Eve… → Read More
RawSugar (the site is currently down), a company with offices in Israel and Silicon Valley, is closing shop (also reported by Steve Rubel and Rafael Sidi) and will enter the TechCrunch DeadPool. RawSugar can mosts easily be described as a del.icio.us competitor. This is a company we’ve been tracking since August 2005. This is also one of the companies that I met with during my trip to Israel last year. RawSugar never raised a big round of funding and simply ran out of money, it seems. And while this is a bit sad to see, the good news to come out of this is that the people working on the project can now move on to their next idea. It’s the way things go. → Read More
Taken in a vacuum, a fairly trivial thing happened a few days ago. The co-founder of Firefox, Blake Ross, wrote a post criticizing Google called “Tip: Trust is hard to gain, easy to lose“. He takes issue with a new Google search feature that promotes certain of their own products over organic search results. See Google searches for Calendar, Blogging, Photo Sharing and others and see Google pushing Google Calendar, Blogger and Picasa, respectively, above what is supposed to be the most relevant results – Google search. Even a search for Yahoo Calendar has these Google results above the obvious destination the user was searching for. I say this is trivial incident taken in a vacuum because, quite frankly, Google has every right to promote their own products on their website. But I think Ross’ post may be a sign of a change in attitude towards Google that’s been percolating for the last year or so, and is beginning to manifest itself. The fact that a highly respected entrepreneur finally spoke out should be a wakeup call for Google. Part of the problem is that Google has always held itself to a higher standard than other companies. We took them seriously when they said their corporate motto is “Don’t be evil“. It was the right thing to say when they were young and battling the hated Microsoft. But today, as they begin to put themselves before what’s best for their users, that motto is coming back to haunt them. They can’t redact the motto, of course. They can’t take back those words. Google will forever be held to a higher standard than everyone else, simply because they asked us to. This Google search misstep, aggregated with others, is taking a toll. People seem less willing to give Google the benefit of the doubt when they try something new. And with so many bloggers eagerly awaiting the opportunity to jump on any bandwagon that comes along, this subtle shift in public attitude could signal a tidal wave of negativity down the road. We’ve seen this before. Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft were the darlings of the valley back in the late nineties. Just the fact that an entrepreneur got a meeting with one of them was something they brought up in their pitches to venture capitalists. The big three became very arrogant about their positions on the top of the food chain. → Read More
Air Dry That Sh*t…Not Ha Ha Ha Ha! Lets Go! Rider Kick! LG’s Latest And Greatest (well maybe not greatest) → Read More
Geeks definitely love comic books and superheroes, and that’s why this simple site that tells you what superhero you are based on a few questions has seen over 12 million hits since it launched. I really wanted to be Batman or Spiderman, but I answered the questions honestly and came up with the Green Lantern. I’m not at all happy that I am 45% Wonder Woman. I’m only 70% Green Lantern though. Jason Calacanis is 75% Green Lantern, so I guess he’s more hot headed than me. Dave Winer is Iron Man. Steve Rubel is Superman. Which superhero are you? Your results:You are Green Lantern Green Lantern 70% Hulk 65% Batman 65% The Flash 55% Robin 50% Wonder Woman 45% Spider-Man 45% Iron Man 40% Catwoman 35% Supergirl 35% Superman 30% Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination. Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test Update: Someone pointed to the villain sister site in the comments. I took that test as well. I think the villain one is actually more fun. Your results:You are Apocalypse Apocalypse 91% Dr. Doom 88% Magneto 83% Dark Phoenix 83% Two-Face 80% Juggernaut 80% Lex Luthor 79% The Joker 71% Green Goblin 68% Mr. Freeze 67% Venom 67% Catwoman 57% Kingpin 55% Poison Ivy 43% Mystique 40% Riddler 30% You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest. Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test → Read More
I’ve been jamming out to Man Man and doing nothing productive today, because let’s face it, there isn’t really anything to report today. We almost nothing. We do still have two more winners for our Reader Response Holiday SPECTACULAR. So let’s get right to that. → Read More
As techies, there are few components that affect our bodies as heavily as our chairs. Sitting in a chair for countless hours every day has a notable impact on our bodies. A crappy chair can cause immediate duress and also lead to prolonged pain. A quality chair, however, can do a lot of good for you. Recognizing this dilemma, CrunchGear has conducted a stress test roundup of several of the top ergonomic options currently available in a piece entitled Workspace Roundup: Ergonomic Chairs. → Read More
For any surfers, divers, watermen/women in the CG audience Hangair has a pretty bitchin way to dry your wetty. If you’re like me then the thought of pulling on a damp wetsuit in the morning when it’s already 30 some degrees out makes your boys choke up. I can never get my wetsuit to dry fast enough in between sessions but Hangair has the solution. Powered by a 12V motor, the fan does it’s magic and dries 70% faster than hang drying. It also helps eliminate that nasty funk that comes with damp wetsuits that sit out too long. 70 clams might seem like a lot but you’ll be happy to have one this winter when the surf starts pumpin and you’ve got a nice dry wetsuit to pull on. Product Page → Read More
Straight outta Japan, where else…seriously, in commemoration of Kamen Rider’s 35th anniversary Zippo has released a very limited edition, 100 total sets, set of lighters to celebrate how much ass the Masked Riders kicked back in the day. A total of eight designs are featured with seven having each individual rider displayed. Each set will run you a whopping $3100!!! Kamen Rider [Zippo Japan] → Read More
Another new mobile from LG launched under Cyon in Korea. The LG SB190 boasts DMB and GPS services via Nate Drive along with a 1.3 megapixel camera, mp3 playback and a few other goodies Cetizen didn’t feel like sharing. Feel free to hate me now that I’ve shown you yet another phone that probably won’t make it to the US. LG SB-190 [Cetizen] → Read More
Korea’s Dacos has launched a new mp3 player with DMB support. I know I know, we can’t get it here so why even bother telling you about it. Because I like to irritate you all at work! That’s why, got a problem with that? The iHolic comes with, what seems to be a new standard in screen size, a 2.4-inch TFT LCD. It kicks some serious ass because it comes with its own docking station with built in external speakers and remote. As I said before it supports T-DMB, video playback, image viewer, SD card slot and it records your rants and raves. It’s a little guy at 3.15x2x0.7-inches and weighs in at 76 grams. 3 models are up for grabs at 512MB, 1GB and 2GB. The 2GB model goes for about $200. iHolic [Saycost] → Read More
When PayPerPost announced the acquisition of most of the Performancing assets earlier this week, a lot of people asked about the future of the popular Performancing blogging plugin, which wasn’t acquired. It’s alive and well and has been rebranded as ScribeFire. The site has a landing page up and will be launching shortly. In the meantime, the old plugin can stll be downloaded on the Mozilla site. ScribeFire says that 400,000 people have downloaded the software. No word on how many active users there are, but a lot of bloggers swear by it. → Read More
Nothing makes us cringe more than a gadget getting beaten up or destroyed. However, this Tickle Me Elmo doll that looks like a Private in Vietnam being torched with napalm keeps laughing after it becomes englufed in flames. Hilarious or creepy? You commenters decide. Tickle Me Elmo On Fire [Digg] → Read More
So if you’re like, one of those guys who really needed an iPod game that you bought one, you’re in luck. Through a fairly easy method, you can crack iPod Games that you purchased for use on any iPod. Sounds great, right? Cubis 2 on my Nano and 5G!!! But be forewarned, not only is this potentially illegal, but people are claiming it’s screwing up anything else purchased from the iTunes Music Store. I say go for the gusto, buddy. How to get games to transfer [iPod Hacks via Digg] → Read More
If you are any way into music and use any semi-popular MP3 player (software-based), you should check out Last.fm! You install a little plugin onto your PC or Mac and it collects song information from your MP3 player and puts it into a database. So now you can see just how many times you listened to Jimmy Eat World – Sweetness and what albums you listen to are the least popular. Oh and did I mention profiles? Yes you can add friends and find friends with similar tastes in music. They also allow you to check out new music with the Last.fm player – a piece of software that plays songs like a radio based on your musical tastes. You can even have RSS feeds of your last-played tracks. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re into music at all. You can view the last 10 songs I’ve listened to below. Official Site [Last.fm] My Last.fm page → Read More
Face it, DRM is here to stay. Sure there are cracks (thanks DVD Jon!), file-sharing networks, and Bit Torrent, but the fact is many people are still buying digital music online legally. Some pundits say DRM is either doomed to failure or harmful to the consumer experience because of its increasing lack of interoperability, but I see a clear path through the DRM labyrinth. One company in particular, Navio, has been trying hard to create a new paradigm of ownership for digital content—so-called rights-based commerce. So why hasn’t this potentially brilliant idea taken off yet? It’s not rocket science why purchasing rights to digital music (and other content) is a good idea. You go to an artist’s web site or an online store and purchase the rights to a song, and those rights are stored in a “digital locker”. In some cases, you’d download the appropriately DRM-ed file directly from the site, while in other cases, you would receive a set of license codes for various online stores and download the appropriate file there. → Read More
Tagging should be a feature of operating systems. It’s usually a superior way of organizing information v. folders because a file can be placed in only a single folder, but multiple tags can be associated with that file. It’s one of the reasons I like Gmail, because emails can be tagged with multiple descriptive terms instead of just throwing it into a folder. I find it much easier to find tagged items on flickr, del.icio.us and gmail, for example, than it is on Mac mail, my desktop email client that doesn’t support tagging. Properly tagged items are much easier to search for down the road. Vista does support a limited form of tagging, although it’s hard to get to. If you right click on a file and click properties, and then details, you can enter in a set of tags for that file. Using the search feature of Vista you can then find those files by searching for a tag. Windows XP doesn’t support tagging, nor does Mac. Austria-based Tag2Find, though, has created a nifty application that allows tagging for any type of desktop file. It only works with Windows machines running XP or Vista, and it relies on the .NET framework. In our testing on a XP machine, it did very well. To see how it works, see the demo here. The application sits in the system tray on the bottom of the screen. Click on it and a search bar appears to tag files, or find tagged files (see image to right). to tag a file you type in the tags and then drag files to the icon. Tag2Find will also suggest other tags based on what you type. There is also a larger view option that opens up a window showing tagged files, a tag cloud or tag list, and a built in media player to play media files that you’ve tagged (see image below). There’s no word on the business plan, although it’s possible this could be advertising supported. The beta period, at least, is free. Right now the company is in private beta, you can request an account here. This is a great Windows tool, and I’d definitely use it if I wasn’t on a Mac. Microsoft, by the way, has certainly given some thought to moving in this direction – see this video (works in IE only) for information on their Project Tesla. → Read More
History of Computerized RPGs: The Wonder Years Dazzling Toaster Amps Workspace Roundup: Ergonomic Chairs Solar Powered GPS Receiver for Hermits, Perverts The Futurist: MacWorld’s-A-Comin’ or… The Perfect Musicphone → Read More
Google’s Orkut social network, which has been having a bit of a renaissance this year, has been down for the last thirteen hours as of 2 am PST. It’s unlikely this is an upgrade given the amount of time the site has been offline. This just isn’t Google’s day. Update: Orkut is back online now, after 22 hours of down time. → Read More
