“I am not familiar with the thing I’m seeing.” – Calculon; Futurama

It took me a week, but I finally got my invitation for Google Wave. For those unaware, Google Wave is a new protocol that allows users to do … um … something. This is where the problems come in. I have been using this program for a little over three hours now, but I still have no idea what I should be doing. So in order to keep this blog post moving, I will be quoting the Wave’s Wikipedia page verbatim.

“[Google Wave] is a web-based service, computing platform, and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking. It has a strong collaborative and real-time focus supported by extensions that can provide, for example, spelling/grammar checking, automated translation among 40 languages, and numerous other extensions.”

There. Doesn’t that clean things up? [Pause] No, it didn’t help me in the least either.To put things in another way, here is how a friend of mine described our “mystery program:”

“[Google Wave is] Google trying to make their own instant messaging program. Yes, I know that Google already one of those [Google Talk], but that isn’t enough. This is Google, after all. It has to be all “hip” and “cool.” So they threw in all of this trendy stuff [wiki, social network, microblogging] along with the instant messenger program to appeal to … someone, I guess. What you’re left with is a pile of confusing buttons and windows that really don’t make any sense at all.”

Okay … that made a little more sense, but still not much. Still, it shouldn’t stop me from trying this thing out, right? So without further adieu, let’s see what Google Wave is really all about.

Two hours later…

As many of you know, we here at the Free Line pride ourselves on conquering the impossible. In the past twenty-one months, we have done everything from run a ten year old copy of Netscape Navigator on Windows Vista to compare an animated television program about a talking dog and kickboxing chickens to professional wrestling. Still, there are some things that even I cannot wrap my head around. This, sadly, is one of those unfortunate moments. That is not to say that I am completely giving up on trying to make this thing work, mind you. Come tomorrow, I will have a post full of my experiences … I hope.

On today’s award winning episode of the Showdown, we will be reviewing four iPhone apps that went overlooked. Some are good. Others show promise. One … well… some things are best left unsaid at the moment.

Google Voice

Original Showdown: VoIP on Mobile Devices
Website: https://www.google.com/voice
Developer: Google
Country of Origin: US
Note #1: As of this writing, Google Voice is not a “VoIP” service in the strictest sense of the acronym. It is actually a “middle man” service that dials out to a handset of your choosing before calling the person or persons in question. The quality of the call will largely depend on the quality of your phone service.
Note #2: You are able to avoid all nationwide long distance charges with this service. You are not, however, able to avoid your cell carrier’s “monthly minutes.” If you decide to let the service call your mobile device, you will be subject to the terms of your phone plan.
Note #3: Since there is not an official “Google Voice” iPhone app, we used a third party app called “GV Mobile.”
Overall: N/A — Google Voice is a nice service, but the sound quality is totally dependent on your phone. Because of this, we will not be giving this service a concrete score at this time.

Oceanus

Original Showdown: Proprietary Mobile Browsers (iPhone Edition)
Developer: Vikas Singla
Rendering Engine: Unknown
First Impression: “It’s pretty. I like the load bar on this one.”
Ease of Use: 7
Positives: Everything we tried — search, tabs, even a speed test — was almost on par to what one would find on a traditional desktop browser.
Negatives: Full screen mode is a bit a odd to work with at times, and buttons on the toolbar are a bit too small for our tastes.
Overall: 8

Perfect Browser

Original Showdown: Proprietary Mobile Browsers (iPhone Edition)
Developer: Ingenious Creations
Rendering Engine: Unknown
First Impression: “I like the transparency on the bottom window.”
Ease of Use: 9
Positives: The Perfect Browser pulls off what both iCab and Oceanus could not: a full screen mode that actually works as advertised. We were able to hide, then re-enable, both the address bar and the icon list in a matter of seconds.
Negatives: Try as we might, we could not find an options screen to save our lives.
Overall: 9

Gaggle

Original Showdown: Proprietary Mobile Browsers (iPhone Edition)
Developer: Trippert Labs
Rendering Engine: Unknown
The Gimmick: Gaggle touts itself as the first “social web browser” for the iPhone.
First Impression: “Why is it giving me an ad?”
Ease of Use: 1 — “It’s not really ‘hard’ to use at all. It’s just dumb. Really, really dumb.”
Positives: As we mentioned above, Gaggle makes it easy to share links with your compatriots on Facebook and Twitter.
Negatives: So what is it that we hate most about Gaggle? Is the gigantic ad that sits at the bottom of the screen at all times? It is the horribly touchy zoom feature? Is the fact that for whatever the reason, the now standard “horizontal display” option has been permanently disabled? The answer: It’s all of those things, and so much more. Our apologies for sounding like elitist snobs, but we here at the Free Line would like the ten minutes we spent on this browser back.
Overall Score: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

As you might have heard, Google is throwing their hat into the “full operating system” game. Called Chrome, the new OS is a Linux-based system designed to let users navigate their computer quickly and efficiently. This is done by replacing the traditional “operating system” setup with a powerful, “always on” version of the Chrome web browser. From there, the “theory” states, users can go about their day to day activities without having to worry about their operating system getting in the way. Users without Internet service will be able to use a combination of Google Gears and HTML 5 to access their apps offline. Supporters of the new plan say that the OS is the perfect “antidote” to the so-called “Microsoft-centric” desktop experience. Detractors, on the other hand, say the lack of specialty programs, combined with the bare bones nature of many existing web apps, will essentially kill the fledgling OS before it even has had a chance to take off. Many critics also claim that Google’s penchant for monitoring the browsing habits of the user will completely undermine online privacy in a way never before seen. No matter which side of the fence you sit, there is one thing that we all can agree upon: Things are about to get very interesting. Expect to see Chrome on a netbook computer near you in the second half of 2010.

This isn’t the first time a major player in the tech world attempted to make an operating system of their own. Sometimes, it was a success. Other times … well, not so much. So join us as we take a trip down memory lane to visit the “next generation operating system” that time has seemingly forgotten: OS/2 Warp.

OS/2 Warp

Lifespan: 1994 to 2001
Company: IBM
Philosophy: Windows 95, IBM style.
Back Story: Once upon a time, IBM and Microsoft worked together to make an operating system called “OS/2.” This partnership lasted until 1990, when the two split due to what the lawyers call “irreconcilable differences” — coding practices, hardware limitations, and various GUI issues where among the sticking points. Undaunted, IBM set out to build a “next generation” operating system that could compete with Microsoft. The resulting project, called “OS/2 Warp” by the team, was formally released to the public in 1994.
The Result: Despite the endless list of promises and “advanced” support for Windows apps, OS/2 Warp promptly went nowhere. While many of the IBM faithful enjoyed the effort, most would rather stick with their copies of Windows 3.1 or 95 than try something new. The operating system would get one more major release (OS/2 Warp 4) before being discontinued in December 2001.
Is It Still Around?: Yes, in a way. Aside from a few ATM machines and cash registers that rely on it, OS/2 Warp isn’t really used by many people or businesses anymore. For a more “modern” version, we suggest checking out eComStation. It’s Warp, only under a different name.

I know what I said just a few days ago, but I’m going to be breaking the “no Twitter ever” law. Before anyone gets angry with me, I do have a perfectly good reason for sudden change of heart: News of the Weird!

- A few months ago, St. Louis Cardinal manager/baseball legend Tony La Russa discovered that someone was impersonating him on Twitter. La Russa, of course, did what any reasonable, responsible person would do — he sued Twitter for what he called “trademark infringement, trademark dilution and misappropriation of name and likeness.” Twitter quickly deleted the account, but the manager kept pressing on with the suit. While the little “legal tiff” has since been resolved, the actual result is still up in the air. According to the folks at Twitter, the lawsuit has been dropped completely. The La Russa camp, on the other hand, claims that the miccroblogging giant actually settled with their client for an “undisclosed sum.” Said sum was then supposedly donated to charity. Neither Biz Stone nor Tony LaRussa have yet to comment on the matter.

- By this point the proceedings, nearly everyone at least knows about Gmail. It is currently one of the five most popular email services available in the United States today. It has a loyal fan base, dozens of tweaks and add-ons, and has been the subject of a few of those “…For Dummies” books. What most people don’t realize, however, is that up until yesterday, it was still a glorified “beta test.” That’s right. Gmail has been designed for “advanced users only” for an astonishing five years, three months, and sixteen days. “More than 1.75 million companies around the world run their business on Google Apps,” writes Product Manager Matthew Glotzbach. “[L]arge enterprises that aren’t keen to run their business on software that sounds like it’s still in the trial phase. So we’ve focused our efforts on reaching our high bar for taking products out of beta, and all the applications in the Apps suite have now met that mark.” Despite the move to the landmark “1.0 release,” Glotzbach promises that Gmail Labs will still be working hard on making the overall product better. The new (and not quite) improved Gmail is available now for all users.

- In the sports world, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco is known for three things: being a prolific, if not streaky, play maker, his gold teeth, and his penchant for doing downright crazy stunts in order to get people talking about him his team. In his eight years in the NFL, the man formally known as Chad Johnson has done everything from getting fake face tattoos to protesting the “creative direction” of his team by not tying his shoes. And what is his latest stunt, you ask? Tweeting during his games. We are not just talking about pregame or at halftime, either. No, Ochocinco claims that he will be doing his Tweeting during the games while he is still on the sidelines, thanks in part to a brand new, customized Twitter application. “You’ll actually be able to follow me and when the season starts, it’s going to get even worse,” Ochocinco said in an interview with KGOW in Houston. “I’m going to really make it fun. I’m going to be taking it to the next level.” Neither the legality of his “plan” nor the release date of his specialized Twitter application are known at this time.

Despite what you might have heard, Voice Over IP (henceforth known as VoIP) service is not just limited to traditional computer and video game systems. The most recent crop of smart phones have ushered in a wave of programs allowing you to use your fancy phone without dipping into your mobile minutes. But which one should you be using? That’s where we come in, of course. We tested them all (sort of), and we know exactly where we stand on each one. Joining us in our “VoIP Showdown” are the wonderfully understanding Mike and Sue Mancini. Our guinea pigs product testers received a grand total of six calls, all emanating from a fairly new iPhone 3G S. Each of the apps used in today’s Showdown were loaded from the iPhone Apps Store for free. With that said, here we go … in a moment:

Note: As you’ve probably noticed, Google Voice is the proverbial “talk of the town.” We wanted to give it a shot, but sadly, it doesn’t seem like it will be happening in the near future. Google Voice is still catering to a very exclusive clientele and … well … we were stopped at the velvet rope for not being “on the list.” We will review it as soon we’re granted access.

Program #1: Skype

Website: http://www.skype.com
Developer: Skype Limited (developing house); eBay (parent company)
Countries of Origin: Luxembourg (primary); Estonia, Sweden, and the US (secondary)
Mike: The call was dropped ten seconds after it started. The clarity was good for that ten seconds, however. Once the call was stable, the sound quality was nearly flawless.
Sue: “It sounds like you’re talking to me from the garage.”
My Thoughts: In many ways, it sounded better than a regular phone, both traditional and cell based.
Overall: 9 — Skype is the standard barer for the VoIP industry for a reason.

Program #2: iCall

Website: http://icall.com/
Developer: iCall, Inc.
Countries of Origin: United States (primary); United Kingdom (secondary)
Mike: Despite its claims to the contrary, the iCall session was not nearly as clear as the Skype call. The voices were rather muffled and fairly hard to understand properly. On top of it all, fits of nominal background noise seemed to invade the conversation at a moment’s notice. There also seemed to a be slight, yet completely audible, delay when speaking.
Sue: “It sounds like you are talking to me from the neighbor’s garage.”
My Thoughts: Extremely tinny. It sounded like I was listening to the call through the world’s worst pair of headphones.
Overall: 3

Program #3: 12Connect

Website: http://www.12connect.com
Developer: 12Connect
Country of Origin: Netherlands
Mike: The voices were not only muffled, but also slightly distorted. The physical phone call was so loud that anyone standing near to the “callee” could hear the conversation loud and clear.
Sue: “It sounds like you’re talking to me in a wind storm.”
My Thoughts: Extremely tinny and overall not very pleasant.
Overall: 2

Program #4: Truphone

Website: http://www.truphone.com/
Developer: Software Cellular Network
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Mike: Not bad, though it did feel as if something was missing. The voice was clear, for example, but not nearly as clear as it could have been.
Sue: “It’s good, but I like the Skype call better.”
My Thoughts: The call was a bit muffled at times, but nothing to really to write home about.
Overall: 7

Program #5: MyGlobalTalk

Website: http://www.myglobaltalk.com/home
Developer: i2Telecom International, Inc.
Country of Origin: United States
Mike: The overall sound quality was extremely nice, if not a bit soft at points. Aside from that, there really isn’t anything to complain about.
Sue: “You sound far away. I like number one [Skype] better.”
My Thoughts: Instead of directly connecting me to my number, MyGlobalTalk connected me to an operator-like “middle server” first. The physical call sounded fine, but it was a tad muffled when compared to Skype.
Overall: 6 — Not bad in a pinch.

Program #6: Vopium

Website: http://vopium.com/
Developer: Vopium A.S.
Countries of Origin: Luxembourg and Denmark
Mike: Not bad. It’s not necessarily good, either.
Sue: “This is okay, I guess. It sounds like I’m talking to you on a regular phone. Go back to the Skype phone again.”
My Thoughts: Loads of background noise. The movie playing in the background was amplified so much that I could actually hear the dialog clearly.
Overall: 4

…And the Winner Is: Skype. As we said above, it’s number one for a reason. That said, Truphone and MyGlobalTalk aren’t bad little services either. Sure, neither are as good as the behemoth from Luxembourg, but both are still worth the old “once over.”

As anyone who has turned on television can tell you, “web surfing” on the go is definitely the hip and trendy thing to do. In an effort to stay toe to toe with both the beautiful people and the so-called “in-crowd,” we here at the Free Line dedicate today’s Showdown to web browsers of the mobile variety. Unless otherwise noted, all of the browsers were tested using a Nokia N81 handset running on the AT&T mobile network.

Browser #1: Opera Mini

Website: http://www.opera.com/mini/
Developer: Opera
Compatible Handsets: Various
Rendering Engine: Presto
First Impression: “So … when are we going to get widgets?”
Ease of Use: 9; “It’s that good.”
Positives: Let us start from the top: It’s stable, much faster than the built-in S60 browser, supports almost every format we threw at it (save for Flash, of course), extremely easy to download … we think you see where we are going with this.
Negatives: It’s slightly harder to rotate the screen on the fly.
Overall: 8

Browser #2: Skyfire

Website: http://www.skyfire.com/
Developer: Skyfire Team
Compatible Handsets: Various
Rending Engine: Unknown
First Impression: “It has a really nice interface.”
Ease of Use: 8
Positives: Flash works! Sure, it isn’t the greatest install of Flash were have ever seen, but at least it works. Although it does not exactly reach “Opera levels” of speed, it does feel a bit faster overall compared to the pre-installed S60 browser.
Negatives: Try as we might, we simply could not figure out how to rotate the screen.
Overall: 7; “If I could figure out how to rotate the screen at all, it would have gotten an 8. Some things are just better in landscape mode.”

Browser #3: Bolt

Website: http://boltbrowser.com/
Developer: Bitstream
Compatible Handsets: Various (Including Blackberry)
Rendering Engine: Proprietary
First Impression: “Well it took me to YouTube in record time…”
Ease of Use: 6 “It’s a bit trickier than the rest.”
Positives: Not only does Bolt do Flash, it does YouTube. It’s a tad cramped on our tiny screen, but that doesn’t really matter at the moment.
Negatives: It took us a while to actually find this browser. We quite ran across it at the last possible second. It also has the tendency to be a bit “too careful” when it comes to “protecting” the user — warning messages are nice in moderation, but we really don’t need to see one every five seconds.
Overall: 6

Special Attraction: Mozilla Fennec

Note: The Fennec alpha test is only available for “select” handsets. Sadly, our unlocked N81 is not one of them. Because of this, we were “forced” to use the developer version designed for Windows. While we will give the browser the ol’ “once over,” we will not be comparing it to the other browsers listed. It just wouldn’t be fair.
Website: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/fennec/
Developer: Mozilla
Compatible Handsets: Nokia S180 tablet
Rendering Engine: Gecko
First Impression: “It seems to be designed for touchscreen devices. Oh … and it has tabs.”
Ease of Use: 7; “This score will definitely go up once the official version is released.”
Positives: It’s made by Mozilla and it supports tabs. ‘Nuff said.
Negatives: If you don’t own a phone with a large screen or a touchscreen, you might be out of luck.
Overall (As of now): 7; “I think there is a lot more that they could do with it.”

…And the Winner Is: Opera Mini. There is a reason why it reigns supreme over mobile devices.

PS: For all of those who are wondering why we didn’t cover the likes of Safari for the iPhone or the Blackberry browser, don’t worry. They are coming soon enough…

As I mentioned yesterday, I have finally installed KDE onto my laptop. It all seems to be working properly … in a way. Let’s start from the top and go down from there.

Konqueror – It runs, but that’s about all that it’s doing right now. What’s the point of having a “premiere league” web browser when half of the tools and features that users depend upon aren’t available? Take this very post, for example. Usually when I type up this fantastic, award winning (hint, hint) blog, I use the standard WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get) setup that is provided by WordPress. For reasons that I have yet to comprehend, that very setup is not available in Konqueror. I am therefore stuck using the bare bones HTML editor. I might be able to fix things eventually, but I’m not necessarily optimistic at this point.

JuK (Media player) – Nothing plays. I can see the title of the track scroll back and forth, but I can’t actually hear any music. After checking a few sound card settings, I went back into the program, hoping for a better result. Unfortunately, all I heard was dead air. I looked through the various options, hoping against hope that I would stumble across a “configure player” link. What I did find, however, was an option that allowed me to configure various audio shortcuts. While it’s a nice tool to have on hand, it is not exactly what I’m looking for at the present moment.

Kile (Word processor) – Despite reports to the contrary, KOfiice is not installed by default. In its places sits Kile, a self-described “LaTex front end” with an eye for power. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about right now, LaTex is based around the idea that the English tongue should have a programming language of its own. Despite what you might be thinking right now, a “programming language for text” is actually a decent idea. Making that language editor the default word processor, on the other hand, is not. Hoping to salvage my time today, I immediately closed it and started looking for the Windows version of KOffice. Sadly, it isn’t available for Windows users anymore. Oh bother…

Overall: I will be totally honest here: there is a reason why KDE for Windows is not better known. None of these programs have been designed with the “traditional user” in mind. At this point in time, I can argue that almost everyone, even seasoned Linux users, will loathe this collection of programs. Playing with these “applications” isn’t even a good way to pass the time, let alone as a way to get some work done. So as it pains me to say it, stay far, far away from KDE for Windows. You’ll be glad that you did.

It doesn’t have to be Friday the 13th to enjoy a little of the magic we like to call “News of the Weird:”

- After a fairly long period of research and reflection, the folks at McAffee have finally compiled a list of the top ten “riskiest” search terms on the Internet today. Screensavers take the top spot with a mind blowing 59.1% minimum risk. Out of every ten links that promise such classics as flying toasters and crudely drawn cats, six aim to fill your machine with malware. Coming in second is “free games,” which clocks in at 24.7% minimum risk. ” Hackers will create related Web sites laden with adware and malware whenever a particular topic increases in popularity,” McAffee Senior Vice President Jeff Green told WebProNews. “Unsuspecting consumers are then tricked into… blindly handing over their personal assets to cybercriminals.” Other notables include “work from home” (15.6%), Powerball (9.3%), and President Barack Obama.

- As many of you already know, running a business, especially one that is based on the Internet, is far from easy. Every now and again, something very, very bad is bound to happen. Hardware networks break down. Malware gets accidentally loaded on a random office computer. It’s regrettable, but it’s a fact of life. Still, all of the server crashes or low-level hacking attempts in the world pale to the catastrophe facing the folks at social brainstorming service Imindi. See, the up and coming service was featured on TechCrunch yesterday afternoon. Naturally, a plug coming from a site of this magnitude is all but guaranteed to make people stand up and take notice. Unfortunately, the service wasn’t entirely ready for the influx of people a TechCrunch article would garner, so the servers started to show signs of strain. During the digital “red alert” caused by the new users, an as-of-yet unnamed employee accidentally deleted all of the user accounts. “We are extremely embarrassed by this mistake and we have purchased more capacity and instituted safer backup processes to handle the increased demand to prevent a recurrence of this incident,” writes CEO Adam Lindemann. “It’s a private beta, and it will be a while before this service is ready to be launched in public but we hope that you will be kind to Imindi as she grows.” Anyone who wishes to experience Imindi’s “second chance at a good first impression” can do so by clicking here.

- Sometimes, talking to a random person is fun. After all, nothing says “get to know your fellow man” quite like striking up a conversation in a checkout line or at a bank. Still, there are times that random small talk crosses the proverbial line from “pleasant fun” to “extremely creepy.” Leading the charge over said line is Omengle, a chat service that promises a “100% anonymous chat atmosphere.” To partake in the service, users simply have to press the big blue button that rests comfortably in the center of the page. Once you physically enter the site, you are greeted by some random person. From there, the sky is the limit. Bizarre and rather unsettling, Omengle appears to be one of those ideas that might have looked a bit better on paper than it does in real life. Omengle is available now for anyone brave enough to try it.

The Authors Guild is still having problems with the Kindle’s new text-to-voice feature. As you may remember, Guild Executive Director Paul Aiken has recently questioned the legality of the feature, saying that it effectively lets a user “steal” an audio book. In an op-ed piece in the New York Times, Guild President Roy Blount, Jr. says that he supports Aiken’s view on the matter, claiming the situation is bigger than most people realize. “[P]eople who want to keep on doing creative things for a living must be duly vigilant about any new means of transmitting their work,” writes Blount. “What the guild is asserting is that authors have a right to a fair share of the value that audio adds to Kindle 2’s version of books.” Blount is quick to point out, however, that the Kindle complaints have nothing to do with non-commercial “live readings” and text-to-speech services for the blind. “For the record: no, the Authors Guild does not expect royalties from anybody doing non-commercial performances of ‘Goodnight Moon.’ If parents want to send their children off to bed with the voice of Kindle 2, however, it’s another matter.”

In other news, Microsoft has announced that it will be rolling out yet another “experimental” search engine in the next few weeks. Seen by many as the successor to URank, the new Viveri system will once again use cutting edge ideas to get the best results possible. Unlike URank, which relied on a variety of social media tricks to attract users, Viveri is focused on how the information is delivered. The engine is built upon Silverlight, Microsoft’s new Flash competitor. Once a search is performed, two columns appear — one with the traditional results, and one with small “previews” of the sites in question. Microsoft hopes to have Viveri up and running by the summer.

Elsewhere, Intel seems to be taking an interest in Facebook. The processor giant has announced that they will be sponsoring a handful of projects in the Developer’s Garage, the “beta center” of the Facebook universe. The deal is just the latest chapter in the Facebook/Intel mutual admiration society. A few months back, the Facebook team announced that they plan on adding a fleet of brand-new Intel servers to their operations. Intel responded by creating a specialized Facebook app that allows employees to give gifts to one an other. The first meeting of the new, Intel-friendly Developer’s Garage will meet March 5th in Ireland.

Moving to the realm of microblogging for a moment, we have Ginx. Ginx is designed to be the “Sunday morning talk show” of the Twitter world, with facts, opinion, and spin flying around with reckless abandon. Each Ginx topic (or “room,” if you will) features a panel of experts that live and breathe the topic at hand. When the user decides to join the group, they immediately gain access to every post those experts have ever written, no matter if it’s on-topic or not. The logic behind this is that it allows the user to view the panel as real people, rather than as a group of one-dimensional know-it-alls. There are currently eleven topics available, ranging from topical (China) to specialized (the state politics of Arizona) to the just plain weird (fly-fishing). Interesting to use and fun to read, Ginx is perfect for all of those who feel that the news of the day can be boiled down to 140 characters. Ginx is available now for those lucky enough to have Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket an invitation code.

And finally: We here at the Free Line present you with the enigma that is Google Shared Stuff. It’s a Google service, but no one has actually heard of it. It’s been open to the public since September 2007, yet it barely registers in search results. When it came time to close the little service, no one mourned the loss … mainly because no one has heard of it. But thanks to our research staff, we have solved the mystery of the lost service. Shared Stuff was designed to be Google’s answer to Delicious — a place where you could share links, pictures, and even YouTube videos. Unfortunately, it was never “officially” launched thanks to a lack of focus, a few ill-timed security flaws, and the dreaded “experimental” tag. It had a few die-hard fans, but other than that, it never really “went” anywhere. Even the usually ignored Google Lively had more of an impact. At press time, Shared Stuff will be completely deactivated March 21st.

The fallout from the Google Japan blogger scandal continues. Matt Cutts, Google’s anti-spam king, has spoken out on the situation, saying that he was “mortified” by the company’s actions. “There were a lot of disappointed, upset, angry people within Google,” Cutts told tech blog WebProNews in a video interview. “Every so often, you have a day where you just feel like ‘I wish that his hadn’t happened.’ That’s what it was like this week.” Despite the momentary let-down, Cutts makes clear that Google still stands for everything that is right and good with the web. “Our position is unchanged. We still think [paying bloggers] is bad for the web… If somebody’s writing, you want them to be writing because they really believe in it, not because they’re paid to do it.”

Elsewhere: It seems as if a few changes will be coming to Yahoo’s front page. Unlike the current incarnation, which is full of bounding boxes and links, the new page will be centered around the availability and usability of online applications. Like most “social” sites, these apps are designed to bring the user closer to the things he or she can’t live without. The site is also designed to further integrate various Yahoo services into the page. Despite the improvements, the site isn’t exactly ready for mass consumption. “We’ve done a number of things to collect input,” writes Tapan Bhat on the official blog. “Bottom line is we’re getting closer to the final design, but we’re not quite there yet.” Expect to see the new updates in the near future.

Not everything is sunshine and roses in the land of Yahoo, however. Yahoo MyWeb, a bookmarking service with designs to be the next big social media site, is being shut down next month. The staff cites the need to “streamline services” as the primary reason for the move. To help with the closure, Yahoo is giving users the option to move their bookmark collection to either Yahoo Bookmarks (for “private” use) or Delicious. The last day of MyWeb will be March 16th.

In other news, multimedia gurus Adobe Systems have announced that a full-featured version of Flash is finally coming to a non-iPhone mobile device near you. Users who currently want to have a Flash fix on the go are stuck using Flash Lite, a serviceable, if not underpowered “stopgap measure.” Those close to Adobe hope that the announcement will force mobile developers to give the platform a second look. Others, however, site the program’s ridiculous two-year development time as proof of vaporware. If all goes according to plan, expect to see mobile Flash arrive sometime in 2010. No iPhone release is planned at this time.

And to finish things out, we here at the Free Line present you with something “lovely.” Lovely Charts is a new, web-based service designed to make the creation of flow charts a beautiful thing. Aside from the standard array of point-and-click features, users can expect to find a variety of interesting tools at their disposal, including the ability to save their flow charts in both JPEG and PNG image formats. Limited file sharing is also included in the basic package, adding a bit of “social flair” to the proceedings. Easy to set up and use, Lovely Charts can make thought organization a sweet thing indeed.