Wakoopa – Software Gone Social
May 25, 2008
The other day I was Twittering along, minding my own business, when I happened to stumble upon a tweet mentioning the web 2.0-esque social networking site, Wakoopa. I’d never heard of it before (although it’s probably been out forever and everyone else probably knows all about it), but I’ve been recently intrigued by it. The premise is that you download a piece of software which monitors which applications you use and then sends that information to their website for all to view – kinda like a last.fm for applications. It’s interesting because then you get to see what applications your friends are using, look at which applications are popular or growing in popularity, or compare statistics on which applications are most used. Wakoopa gives better reasoning for why you should use it, but those are the best things that I saw about it. Anyway, I’m definitely curious about it. Maybe someday I’ll let you know how I like it after I try it out for a while.
CBS Acquires CNet; Andy Rooney Steps Down?
May 15, 2008
Earlier today it was announced that CBS purchased CNet for $1.8 billion. Pretty quickly, CNet’s stock went up about 45% and CBS’s dropped a little bit. Already people are speculating what kinds of changes will happen at CNet because of this purchase. I think it’s awfully interesting, not to mention that this is the deal of the century for CNet (as far as money goes). I’m kind of excited to see what will happen, but as we all know these kinds of corporate mergers often mean bad news for the little guy.
A few hours later, Don Reisinger of CNet mentioned on Twitter that Andy Rooney announced he is stepping down. I haven’t seen that confirmed anywhere, and I’m still not sure if Reisinger wasn’t joking since he mentioned in his “tweet” that he’d be a good replacement, but I do think that this would be a pretty big announcement were it to be true. If he’s joking, I’ll feel a little silly for believing it. Keep your eyes peeled.
Edit: Sorta feel like he was joking. Actually, I’m pretty sure he was. I kinda feel dumb, but that’s ok. In other news, Let’sMoveToTheMoon has been acquired by NBC and I’m hosting the Apprentice.
Something I’m Excited About
May 11, 2008
A few weeks/months ago I first caught word of a new project in the works from some of the most famous worship songwriters in the world. An organization called Compassionart gathered together 12 of the biggest names in worship music, such as Michael W. Smith, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, and many more in order to write and produce a collection of songs to be released this fall. They’ve written a bunch of songs and will be recording and producing them in these next few months. I’m really excited to see how it will turn out. I imagine it will sell like hotcakes, and all of the money is going to several different charities.
The first song to be performed was “So Great,” which was played by Paul Baloche, Steven Curtis Chapman, Israel Houghton, Christy Nockels, Michael W. Smith and Chris Tomlin, at the GMA Dove Awards last week. I listened to it and really enjoyed it. This album is going to be sweet! Be sure to check it out!
Forget Moving There, Send Your Name to the Moon!
May 6, 2008
Saw this today via Lifehacker Australia. In late 2008, NASA is sending an unmanned spacecraft to orbit and collect data on the moon with the goal of eventually sending humans back to the moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will be studying the moon, testing the effects of the moon’s radiation on humans, and looking for a safe landing spot for future spacecraft. The interesting thing about this to me, though, is that NASA is allowing people to submit their names to be installed on a chip and sent to the moon with the LRO. If you submit your name, not only do you receive a certificate stating this, but you also get the satisfaction of knowing that your name has just made it to the moon. Technically, I don’t think your name will ever land on the moon, as the LRO is going to be orbiting at about 30 miles, but it’ll be pretty close! If you’re interested, you can submit your name here.
OpenID? Do You Use It?
May 4, 2008
I’ve been looking at information about OpenID lately and I’ve been quite intrigued. For those who don’t know, OpenID is an open-source solution to creating a single online identity to avoid creating infinite user accounts on every website on the Internet. The premise is genius as the technology is not being developed or held by one single company, but rather a team/organization is devoted to keeping the software free and open, allowing it to be secure. I recently signed up for an OpenID using OpenID for Google Accounts, using a new Google account that I created for this purpose. I suppose I could have used my existing Gmail account, but I preferred to keep my personal email separate from my online identity. I haven’t used my OpenID all that much as of yet aside from commenting on a few blogs, but I can foresee it coming in handy soon. After all, an awful lot of sites are beginning to implement functionality for this service. Any thoughts?