TechMiso

Why did Lebron James create a Twitter account the same week he decided to crush his hometown’s collective heart? Maybe he was unaware that the micro-blogging service had been available to the public for the past 4 years. It could be a coincidence that he decided to utilize that forum during the biggest spectacle of self-love that I have ever personally witnessed. Truth is that Twitter provided an environment where he could display his glaring character flaws. Compassion, humbleness, loyalty and respect are not prerequisites to creating a Twitter account.

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The internets is abuzz this morning after Kevin Rose dropped a potential bombshell rumor on twitter. According to Rose, Google is positioned to enter the social networking space very soon to compete against Facebook with a new service potentially called “Google Me.”

Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch facebook competitor very soon “Google Me”, very credible source

For those who do not know, Kevin Rose is the founder of popular social news site digg. He has a somewhat spotty track record when it comes to rumors, so it may be worth taking his tweet with a grain of salt even though the idea may initially appear to be plausible.

While many would argue that Google is already competing in the social networking space with Orkut, the reality of the situation is not quite so black-and-white. Unlike Facebook, Orkut is not very popular in the United States, mostly having been adopted by South American internet users for whatever reason. A lot of the interactivity on Orkut is overrun by “brazilian mobs” on a frequent basis, causing people to feel uncomfortable with the service. The somewhat lawlessness of Orkut generally scares people away, in addition to the lack of truly compelling, unique features.

If Google really is launching a home-grown social network – Google Me – then it will be quite interesting to see how they pull it off. Would such an application make use features seen in other already-released Google products, such as Gmail, Google Profiles Wave, Buzz and Picasa?

What I would expect, and even hope for, is to see Google marry its many disparate services in to a single, unified social networking application. Rather than having yet another inbox – like on Facebook – integrate Gmail for such functionality. Use Buzz for the activity streams, synonymous with the Facebook news feed, offering both posting and mere reading. Wave could be adopted to be similar to groups while Picasa could be used for sharing photos. Google Profiles could be the very foundation for building a profile on Google Me. Google already has the making of the fundamental social networking building blocks but has not coupled the features into one application.

If packaged together in a unified, simplistic, intuitive interface these seemingly distinct applications could be forged in to one and work together as a true social networking platform similar to Facebook.

“Google Me” is an intriguing idea, and if executed correctly could be a very cool product. I look forward to this rumor turning out to be true. If it is true, expect the times to be quite interesting, especially if Google has been courting online social game companies like Zynga whose relationship with Facebook is on the verge of disaster as these companies seek less reliance on Facebook.

Are you interested in the prospect of yet another social networking site?

In case you’ve been living under a rock or in an alternate universe, BP plc has screwed up royally (again, but we’ll get to that later) due to the explosion of their oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico causing the unrestricted release of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf. Sadly, eleven people died in the tragedy.

Also in case you thought that the Gulf of Mexico is in Mexico and thusly is of no concern to you, it’s not. Well, it is, but it’s also partially in the good old USA. Specifically, it’s off the coast of Florida and Louisiana. Of course, since it’s in USA waters, the result is a global public uproar placing BP under the intense scrutiny of the global media and population. Everyone in the world thinks that BP has screwed them over and now feels that BP owes them something, meaning everyone has BP under a magnifying glass.

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Apple unveiled the iPhone 4 earlier today, during a keynote speech presented by the man himself, Steve Jobs. As usual, the keynote was a work of art in and of itself, exquisitely displaying the beautifully designed new hardware for the world to see. The iPhone was not the only exciting reveal, for iOS 4 (the OS formerly known as iPhone OS) was unleashed as well – both products unveiled in tandem, available in sync, with each relying on the other to propel their exhilarating new features in to the mainstream and in to the hands of mouth watering consumers. Will you be one of the select few to wield an iPhone 4 come June 24?

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People with bosses usually either want to do 1 of 2 things to him (or her, but for the purposes of this article, let’s stick with him): impress him or annoy him without being obviously annoying. Here’s how to pimp your Excel worksheet to either impress him or annoy him, whichever it is you feel like doing. Who knows, you may even be able to use it at work.

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Kevin Kutz, Director of Public Affairs at Microsoft, said in a statement today that Microsoft will comply with an injunction just upheld against the software behemoth that would have forced Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office off store shelves by January 2010.

“With respect to Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007, we have been preparing for this possibility since the District Court issued its injunction in August 2009 and have put the wheels in motion to remove this little-used feature from these products. Therefore, we expect to have copies of Microsoft Word 2007 and Office 2007, with this feature removed, available for U.S. sale and distribution by the injunction date. In addition, the beta versions of Microsoft Word 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010, which are available now for downloading, do not contain the technology covered by the injunction.”

Read the full statement at Microsoft Presspass.

The holiday season is almost upon us and many of you might be trying to think of a gift to give someone, or maybe you’d like to add something to your own wish list. Every year we see more and more tech gadgets coming out that can help us with the daunting task of keeping ourselves in good health. And why not? After all, health is of paramount importance in living a happy and fulfilling life.  If you don’t agree then ask yourself this, “What will I have if I lose my health?” If you do agree then why would you not make health the number one priority in your life? Think about it. Now on to the gadgets.

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Dear iPhone and Blackberry users,

I know your phones are awesome. I know that your phones have video editing capabilities and Blackberry Messenger respectively. I know that your phones can do a gajillion things all at once. I know that your phones have their own plans from your providers.

Even so, despite being the Mobile Brat that I am, I do not want to spend every moment with you watching you play with your phone. I do not want to discuss the latest thing that you’ve discovered that your phone can do.

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Information Assurance remains a growing field of expertise, maturing on an almost daily basis. The industry has exploded over the last 10 years even though the concepts of IA has been around since as early as the 1960’s. Although the industry and its practitioners continue to evolve, those in upper-management have a difficult time fully grasping the core principles. As in many areas of management these days, there are far too many gun-shy managers who are more concerned with appearances and perception than properly mitigating risk to the networks they are charged with protecting.

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Ever felt like getting your karaoke on but found yourself to be miles away from the nearest karaoke bar? Ever feel like singing off-key with your BFFs but found yourself to be in a totally different country? Ever go camping and suddenly feel the need to play Rock Band? Never fear, technology comes to your rescue! Mobile carriers in Thailand and USA have what they call a ‘mobile karaoke solution’, enabling users to karaoke over the phone. I kid you not. Just in case there weren’t enough people who think they’re awesome singers when they’re actually not.

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