By Omar L. Gallaga

@SantaClaus on Twitter does not use Twitter's new Lists feature. This seems unwise. clipart.com

A new feature that has been quickly embraced by users of Twitter is "Lists," which allows you to organize Twitter users into groups and share that list with others.

But apparently the news hasn't gotten all the way to the North Pole; Twitter user @SantaClaus has yet to create a "Naughty" or "Nice" list, which makes you wonder whether Saint Nick's holiday operation is really embracing technology at the speed of Elf or if Santa Claus is merely dabbling with Twitter because it's considered the thing to do.

Even apart from the obvious benefit it would provide to Father Christmas in organizing information and having, at a glance, a list of behaviorally-organized names and profile photos, I think Twitter users would benefit greatly from knowing where they stand, in regards to naughtiness/niceness. The microblogging social network, where the jolly, rotund gift-giver apparently spends a significant chunk of time, would be a very efficient place to convey that information.

I would hope that Santa would take this not a mean-spirited criticism, but as a gentle, but firm nudge in the black patent belt to embrace change before change leaves him behind. I would hate to be the first person on Papa Noel's "Naughty" Twitter list.

Update, 11 a.m, Nov. 3: The @SantaClaus Twitter account has been updated to include "Nice" and "Naughty" lists, but apparently the move was made under duress. In two posts this morning, the North Pole resident wrote, "Everyone is making a big deal over the fact I do not post a Twitter list for my naughty and nice lists. Do YOU want all to know if YOU are on the Naughty list? It is not anyones (sic) business except for me which list you are on. Does everyone REALLY want that published to all?" Perhaps I'm being oversensitive, but this does not strike me as jolly.

As of this writing, only @MrsSantaClaus is listed on the "Nice" list and no one has yet been added to the "Naughty" list.

Apple Inc. is expected to roll out new products at a music-event industry event today. (Apple, Inc.© 2009)

By: Omar L. Gallaga

I'm hosting a live chat at 1:30 p.m. EST on my blog, Digital Savant, to talk about today's announcements from Apple, Inc. and the release of The Beatles: Rock Band among other topics. Feel free to jump in and participate!

The Internet got its start on Sept. 2, 1969. (Clipart.com © 2009)

By Omar L. Gallaga

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Internet, or at least its earliest incarnation: two computers sharing information through a 15-foot cable. (You see, when two computers love each other very much...)

Obviously, without the innovations of the Internet founding fathers, we couldn't have Facebook, awkward meet-ups originating from Classmates.com or All Tech Considered.

We might get a lot more done without the Internet, but the things we'd be doing wouldn't involve moving vast amounts of digital data across the limitless virtual spaces we've built. We'd probably be using a lot more paper. Trees are breathing an oxygenated sigh of relief today.

We wouldn't have had the Internet celebrity known as Mahir ("I Kiss You!"), lonelygirl15 or that sneezing baby panda. If a baby panda sneezed and it wasn't on the Internet, how else would 39 million viewers know it happened?

Susan Boyle would not have achieved near-instantaneous fame. Mullets may have remained a shameful blight, not a celebrated phenomenon. We'd be less enriched by feelings of superiority while watching David Hasselhoff wolf down a burger, shirtless, on the floor.

The Internet isn't just goofy memes and silly videos: I point these out because they are merely the tiniest tip of the lowest common denominator of what the Net has become for us. It also alerts us to unrest across the world, helps the world find clean water and provides an irreplaceable link between us and those we love.

It's impossible to get your brain around all that the Internet is and what is has done for us these 40 years. Luckily, the Internet is organized in such a way that we don't have to.

Thanks, Internet. Happy 40th.

By Ryan Kellett

I have a confession to make: I don't own a smartphone.

These days more than ever, my trusty flip phone feels like an embarrassment when friends ask why I'm lost in the city or colleagues ask why I haven't checked-in over the weekend. Worse still, I am now petrified of how phone disparity can tear people apart.

So when I got a chance to test the Blackberry Tour on Verizon, I had high expectations. I now could geo-tag photo uploads, access Facebook on the way to New York, bang out email on the commute home and look-up maps of where to eat. Finally, I would be able to join the smartphone gang -- technology's equivalent to the cool kids group.

But when I showed-off the new top-of-the-line Blackberry to friends, I got a universal sigh. They'd play with it for a few seconds and hand it back saying it was "nice." Even my own mother said it was just like her several-year-old Blackberry, just thinner.

As it turns out, the smartphone class has a pecking order of appeal. iPhones stand somewhere near the top in sleek and sexy. Blackberries are seen as the workhorses, silent and unattractive. Android phones are for the geeky and open source.

So with the underwhelming show of support from friends and family, I started disliking my Blackberry for all the wrong reasons. It's a solid smartphone that feels good to hold as well as type on, but I couldn't help but dwell on how the world-phone capabilities were unnecessary for the average consumer and multimedia would be so much easier on an iPhone.

I was looking for more than functionality in trying a smartphone; I was going for a lifestyle upgrade. But I also realized that "cool-factor" isn't a good enough reason to switch to a smartphone. It's superficial and downright wrong to think that your phone can change your personality and maybe even worse to think you bought the hype.

So, I'm back to the flip phone, except this time without embarrassment.

Not In Stock: Sometimes you just have to wait to get what you want. (nsub1 / via Flickr)

By Eyder Peralta

A couple of months ago, I went into Best Buy looking for a fridge. We knew roughly what we wanted, but online, you can't get a feel for something that big. You can't be sure that "stainless steel" and "stainless look" are really the same thing. You can't really tell if a jug of milk will fit in the side shelf.

So my wife and I ventured to the brick and mortar home electronics giant, only to stand there puzzled looking at exactly one fridge.

The clerk cheerily told us, "We don't have any for you to actually look at, but you can look through a huge selection right here on this computer."

At the time we were preparing for our first child, so we'd been doing lots of shopping, but as the weeks went by, I walked into many a store to get the same response: "Nope, it's not at the store, but we'll happily mail it to you. Nope we don't carry it, but you can order it online. Yes, we do have a yellow model, but you'd have to order it online. "

Don't get me wrong, the convenience of shopping online is great. But not too long ago online stores were used to buy out-of-print British books about the Nicaraguan civil war, not everyday essentials.

Continue reading "The Web Makes Brick-And-Mortar Stores Big Boxes Of Disappointment" >

aka Kath/Flickr

 

by Sara Sarasohn

This week I ran right into the great divide between what is technically possible - and what people will actually do.

I'm planning a big, complicated event for about 40 people for a volunteer group I belong to. A lot of the work can be done online: RSVPs, distributing volunteer jobs, filling up a schedule of activities. In past years, it's been done with e-mail after e-mail to a big distribution list. I call it the e-mail circus.

Continue reading "Taming The E-mail Circus With Cloud Computing ... Maybe Next Time" >

by Alison Bryce

I'm having relationship problems and I'm blaming them on the iPhone.

My boyfriend has an iPhone and I have a cheap, red Samsung flip-phone. His iPhone allows him to organize and plan things anywhere, anytime. My phone only allows me to call and text (clumsily.) It creates a power struggle between us.

Continue reading "Love The iPhone A Little Too Much" >

The late boxing great Arturo Gatti appears in the recently released Fight Night Round 4 video game. EA Sports

 

By Omar L. Gallaga

The big news about the boxers in the recently released boxing video game Fight Night Round 4 was that Mike Tyson, long banished from digital pugilism, was in the game.

But reality intruded when Arturo Gatti was killed recently in Brazil. Gamers who were already playing the new game either as Gatti or against him in matches suddenly were feeling the queasy state you get when reality intrudes on simulation.

Outpourings of admiration spilled out onto video game message boards for the game.

If you browse through the messages, you'll see heartfelt appreciation for Gatti as a sportsman, not the usual sniping and trash-talking common on video game message boards.

Now game fans are hoping Electronic Arts will make boxer Mickey Ward available as a downloadable character so that they can relive the famous Gatti/Ward trilogy, which went from 2002 to 2003.

Google's Chrome OS should be open for business next year. flygraphix via Flickr

 

By Wright Bryan

I know it's last week's news, but I do have a thought about the significance of Google's Chrome OS announcement.

Many people have hailed it as a direct, earth-shaking challenge to Microsoft by a company with the muscle to make it stick. Some have said that it's a bad idea since we already have Ubuntu and Mac OS. Others point to Google's track record beyond its main search and advertising products as signs that the company can't overcome market inertia or follow through successfully on other initiatives.

All of these points of view have merit. But I think the real significance of Google's move can be seen in a market where Microsoft's dominance has been waning: browsers.

Continue reading "Google Chrome's Real Importance: It's All About Choice" >

TMZ.com was the first major news source to report (accurately) that Michael Jackson died on Thursday. TMZ.com

 

By Omar L. Gallaga

Michael Jackson died yesterday.

You might have heard about.

Today, I've been thinking hard about how the news unfolded yesterday points to new directions in news coverage of major events (at least in the realm of entertainment news). Hard-charging gossipy sites like TMZ, plus the speed of social media spreading that information, minus the context that more mainstream media might provide (though much later). My thoughts are enumerated in a blog post over on Digital Savant called, "The day online news took over." I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Just send an e-mail. It's easier than voice mail. istockphoto.com

 

by Sara Sarasohn

I am totally over voice mail.

In the last six months I've left fewer and fewer voice mails. It just seems to take too long to listen to the outgoing message, wait for the tone, recite my phone number twice. If I call and the person doesn't answer I just hang up. Then I write them an e-mail or IM.

People have been leaving fewer voice mails for me as well. When they do, I procrastinate about picking them up. It seems like too much trouble to call in, wind my way through the prompts, put in my passcode. I'd rather get an e-mail or an IM. It's so much faster to skim a few lines of text.

I have gone so far as to change the outgoing message on my voice mail. It no longer asks the caller to leave a message at the tone. It just says that I'm not there. I don't want the voice mail, so I'm not going to invite it.

This change in the last few months has nothing to do with a technological innovation. When I first came to work at NPR in 1991 we had email and IM. They have been available to me as tools for 17 years. It's only recently that I have decided that they should replace voice mail.

This is particularly striking to me because I work in radio. I love voices. Beyond that, it is professionally important to me to be able to judge how expressive someone is with their voice. I want reporters to pitch stories to me over the phone, not in email. I just don't want the bother of listening to it on my voice mail.

By Daniel Jacobson

This sign was seen at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. mastermaq via Flickr

 

I can't tell you how many times I have been asked, "Did you get my text message?" My answer is always "No, I don't get text messages," which invariably produces an expression of confusion. It is as if I've answered them in Bengali.

You see, I have a strict policy against text messaging. Not because I am against the technology. Rather, I am completely appalled by the money-grabbing techniques of wireless carriers.

There are two underlying assumptions behind a question like "Did you get my text message?" First, it assumes that a phone number is for calling and texting. This assumption also presumes that I am even able to receive text messages (which is not the case). The other is that texting is an intregal method of communication.

Those assumptions are exactly what phone companies depend on.

Continue reading "Please Don't Text Me!" >