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Google mail for all!

Thursday, February 8th, 2007 It looks like Google have opened up their e-mail service to everyone, according to C-net. Until now it has been by invite only. The service is still in Beta but if you haven't had a chance to give it a try yet, go get yourself a new addy! Thanks to 901am (again!) for the info. Google mail (or G-mail as it is called in many areas) is a very good service that I thoroughly recommend. As you would expect from Google the search function works excellently, your e-mails can be saved in to labels and if you choose to reply to any messages they are then automatically saved in to "conversations" which I find to be a very useful function. With 2814 mb of space you can accept and store some pretty big attachments if you need to, and not have to worry about your inbox filling up too quickly and bouncing that important e-mail. One of the best things in g-mail is their spam filtering, it seems able to catch everything that it should and nothing that it shouldn't. Another benefit is that you gain access to Google Talk as an instant messenger which also allows you to use voice if you have access to a mike and the ability to send files if you need to. Which e-mail service do you prefer to use?

LastFM just got even better!

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 Do you use lastFM? I am not much of a fan of the social networking sites like Livejournal and MySpace (though I have accounts, of course ;-) ), but lastFM is one that I really do enjoy. At least it seems to serve some purpose. But now it's got even better! According to Reuters:
LONDON (Reuters) - Warner Music Group has signed a deal to allow its entire catalogue to be played over the fast-growing social networking music service Last.fm, the innovative site that links music fans to new and old hits. Thanks to 901am for the heads-up
And even more good music could be heading our way as apparently lastFM are also in talks with the other three major labels. Though this is excellent news for us users I hope it doesn't lead to the other smaller independent labels it has deals with being overwhelmed. Are you a lastFM user? Or do you prefer one of the other music sites such as Pandora?

Techscape» Widgipedia online widget-fest officially launches

Friday, February 2nd, 2007

 I just read about the new Widgipedia over at Techscape, this looks like it could prove to be a very useful site to have bookmarked, a total widget-fest for all you widget lovers!

Widgipedia online widget-fest officially launches

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Oh yes. Widgets are taking over the Web 2.0 world, as any fule kno, so what better than a website cataloguing every single widget available: including those for your desktop and web browser? Widgipedia is that site - I like what they've done with the name there - and it's already a comprehensive database of widgety goodness, along with developer forums and technical info if you're actually making widgets yourself, rather than just filling up your computer with them. No mobile stuff in there yet, although hopefully Nokia's WidSets will make it in sooner rather than later.

Source: Techscape » Blog Archive » Widgipedia online widget-fest officially launches

I have already found a couple I like the look of, you can guess where the rest of my evening will be spent. ;-)



Spiderman 3

Friday, January 12th, 2007 One of the films I am most looking forward to this summer is Spidey 3, and I know that there are quite a lot of folks out there quite excited to find out about the villain Venom, but until now the studios have been keeping the look of this enemy pretty much under wraps. So take a look at this: Image Hosted by ImageShack.usIt seems that the toy company with rights to the project, Medicom Toy Corporation, have released some shots of their Venom figure. I suspect there may be a few angry phone calls/e-mails over this one. Original source from EMPIREonline.

Blogger Upgraded

Friday, December 22nd, 2006 So they have upgraded Blogger, huh? I haven't been over there very much lately, most of my time has been spent working on this WordPress site and trying to keep up with my life in general. Over the next couple of weeks I will be having a bit of a twiddle with that site, just seeing what the bells and whistles sound like. I will be using the Windows Live Writer to keep that site updated too, hopefully that will encourage me to post a little more! It still doesn't quite seem to come up to the standard of WordPress, but at least they are headed in the right direction now. You can check it out in my Blogroll under Browncoatstevieb.

Christmas

Monday, December 18th, 2006 As I was making my way through town this morning I noticed this poster in a coffee shop window: Christmas Photo Now this got me thinking, as I thought I recognised the sentiment that the company was putting to the fore, "eat, drink & be merry". I was pretty sure that the next bit of the quote went on to say something along the lines of, "for tomorrow we die", the Greek philosophy propounded by Epicurus (341-270 B.C.), which most people would not consider to be very Christmassy at all. But once I got home and did a little research on the ideas behind this way of thinking I began to feel more and more that it was possible this poster might be the most truthful one I was ever likely to see. The philosophy centres around the idea that the pleasure you, the individual, is the sole or chief good in life. As learning, culture, and civilization as well as social and political involvements could give rise to desires that are difficult to satisfy and thus result in disturbing your peace of mind, his followers were discouraged from pursuing such. Knowledge was sought only to rid oneself of religious fears and superstitions, primarily the fear of god(s) and of death. This began to sound more and more like the way people live their lives today. The philosophy was also characterized by the complete absence of any principles, in fact lawbreaking was counselled against simply because of the shame associated with detection and the punishment it might bring. Never break the 11th Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Get Caught"! Virtue in itself was held to have no value and was beneficial only when it served as a means to gain happiness. In fact, reciprocity was only recommended, not because it was right and noble, but because it paid off. Friendships rested on the same selfish basis, that is, the pleasure resulting to the possessor. The conclusion I was drawn to was that Epicurus and his philosophy still has a strong hold on us today. Regardless of whether or not you celebrate this coming holiday as a Pagan festival (which it is) or as a Christian one (which it isn't) the main thrust has become the commerciality of it, what people as individuals can gain from it, the pleasures that it affords. At one point the Christmas celebrations at least had the good of the poor and needy as its central theme, with those such as Charles Dickens in modern times using it as a means to promote a better social consciousness. Not so much in our secularised times.

Browncoat Backup Bash

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006 Just as an update to my previous post on Flangate, I wanted to say that it looks as though all the 'coats that made it there had a grand old time hanging out with the cast and other people involved with the show, and not just Serenifly folks but other friends of Joss too. Also I thought it would be good to post a link to an account of one of the attendees/organisers as well to give a much more detailed account of the weekend. Browncoats rock!

Flanvention 2

Friday, December 8th, 2006 As a Joss Whedon fan and bona-fide Browncoat I am a little upset for my fellow "Firefly" fanatics, the "Flan 500", who have traveled from all over the world to attend what should of been one of the great events in our fandoms history, only to get screwed over. About a week ago the "organisers" of this event declared that there were some problems arising financialy, but with only a week to go until the event they were still hoping to pull something out of the bag. This seemed a bit weird as this was a "Sold Out" event with all the money already paid up-front. Still, the fans hoped and prayed and it was announced, to everyones relief, that the event was on still, not to worry. Then with two days to go it was announced that the event was cancelled. Then half an hour later to disregard the previous message as the event was still on. Much confusion ensued. Finaly, with quite a few attendees already at the convention hotel and many other delegates in transit, there was a final announcement that: "Booster Entertainment apologizes for the great inconvenience, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Flanvention is cancelled. An official notice will be posted within 10 days." They have now taken their website offline and (probably) gone in to hiding. The Southern California Browncoats and many others are trying to put together a back up bash/shindig, but at such short notice they will face many problems. To the delight of the fans the cancellation of the event has not stopped some of the Firefly stars from turning up. Adam Baldwin and Mark Sheppard, you, sirs, are true Big Damn Heroes! I hope all you guys have some fun this weekend.

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