We’ve teased it. We’ve promised it. And now it’s finally here. Ladies and gentlemen, we here at the Free Line present day three of our “Obscure” Showdown.

App #1: QQ

Website: http://www.imqq.com
Our Original Thoughts, In Synopsis Form: A simple synopsis cannot adequately describe our QQ experience.
QQ, In a Nutshell: Think MSN, only in Chinese and with a cute little penguin mascot accompanying every window and menu. (Hmm … MSN and penguins … Does anyone else find the irony both delicious and absolutely hilarious?)
Oddities: Well, the “dress up” doll, for one. Instead of allowing the user to attach a photo avatar to their account, QQ “forces” them to simply make one. While the basic avatar is free, any sort of “image upgrade”– better hats, more shirts, etc. — will cost you a few dollars yuan. Sadly, we did not have a chance to really experience this part of the program, as English is currently not available at this time. The other major “oddity” lies within the security settings. In addition to the normal set of options, we were given a list of questions we could ask would-be friends. Although most of the choices were pretty straightforward (name, home phone number, cell number), there was one that stuck out like a proverbial sore thumb: our car number. Despite our research, we cannot for the life of us figure out what our “car number” could possibly be. We’re guessing it’s the license plate, but we could be wrong.
Is It Worth Checking Out?: If you have a few contacts in mainland China or if you want something completely different, then yes. Those who are just looking for a good instant messaging program, however, would be better served by something a bit more well known.
Overall: 9 (For anyone who can read Chinese); 7 (For everybody else).

App #2: Lavabit

Website: http://lavabit.com
Our Original Thoughts, In Synopsis Form: It’s the mail service for those who take their privacy very, very seriously.
Our Thoughts Now: It really does seem secure. That said, we “highly suggest” that you avoid the webmail client at all costs.
Avoid the webmail? Why?: Lavabit makes it clear from the get-go that it is designed for Pop3 access. Those who decide to eschew the likes of Windows Mail and and Thunderbird for the webmail option will find a disappointing, stripped-down experience. In fact, the only thing that you can do in it is send and receive basic, barely formatted messages. Everything else is available to Pop3 users only.
Is it worth checking out?: Yes, but again — and we cannot stress this enough — you need to be using an external mail client. The webmail setup really is that bad.
Overall: 7 (For the service as a whole); 2 (For the webmail only.)

App #3: Theora

Website: http://theora.org
Our Original Thoughts, In Synopsis Form: Theora is a free, completely open source codec originally designed to be the “video” version of OGG Vorbis. The name is derived from the Max Headroom character Theora Jones.
Our Thoughts Now: We were unable to find a program that would convert a DVD to Theora. Because of this, we still don’t have much of an opinion on it as a codec.
What?! Nothing worked?: Not necessarily. We were able to convert an episode of Max Headroom from DivX to Theora using the VLC. It was the DVD that gave us trouble.
How was the converted file then?: Honestly, we weren’t able to tell the difference.
Aside from VLC, What would I need to create Theora file?: At the present moment, your best chance lies with a command-line only program called FFmpeg. It’s powerful, but actually using it is like pulling teeth.
Is it worth checking out?: At the present moment, no. Give it a few years.
Overall: 2; It is simply way too hard to convert files and besides, not many hardware platforms support it at the moment.

Despite what your friends might be telling you, not everything worth using is a mainstream attention grabber made by Google. Sometimes, the best programs and webapps are the ones that sit just below the surface. That is about to change. On this action packed, two-day edition of the Showdown, we will be giving (yes, ten) of these semi-obscure marvels the patented “Free Line once over”  that you have come to expect. With that said, on with the introductions!

App #1: Evernote

Website: http://www.evernote.com/
Company: Evernote Corporation
Specialty: Note taking
Program Types: While Evernote is primarily a webapp, a separate download version is available for many of the major platforms, including Windows, the iPhone, and the Palm Pre.
Competes With: Namely Microsoft OneNote.

App #2: TurboCASH

Website: http://www.turbocash.net/
Company: Pink Software
Specialty: Finance
Program Type: Windows download
Competes With: All of the major players in the accounting market — Peachtree, Quickbooks/Quicken, DAC Easy, GNUCash, etc.

App #3: Lavabit

Website: http://lavabit.com/
Company: Lavabit LLC
Specialty: Email
Bold Claim Ripped Directly From the Site Itself: “…A system so secure that even our administrators can’t read your e-mail.”
Program Type: Web service
Competes With: Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.

App #4: First Page 2006

Website: http://www.evrsoft.com
Company: Evrsoft
Specialty: Web development
Program Type: Windows download
Competes With: Adobe Dreamweaver

App #5: Adventure Game Studio

Website: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
Developer: Chris Jones
Specialty: Programming, with a special focus
Program Type: Windows download
Full Disclosure: Angela the product tester is a huge fan of this program.
Competes With: N/A

App #6: Runecats Explorer

Website: http://www.runecats.com/
Company: Runecats
Specialty: Web browser
Program Type: Windows download
Rendering Engine: Trident (Internet Explorer)
Competes With: Other web browsers — IE, Firefox, Opera, etc.

App #7 Theora

Website: http://theora.org/
Company: Xiph.org
…You Might Remember Them From Such Codecs As: OGG Vorbis
Specialty: Video
Program Type: Open source video codec
Fun Fact: The codec in question is named after Theora Jones, Edison Carter’s highly talented “partner in crime” on the short-lived Max Headroom television series. Hmm …  Max Headroom … That name sounds familiar, but I’m not sure why…
Competes With: Divx, XViD, H.264 (The kind of files you would find on iTunes), etc.

App #8: aTunes

Website: http://www.atunes.org/
Company: The aTunes Team
Specialty: Media player
Program Type: Multi-platform download
Competes With: Mainly iTunes and Songbird.

App #9: Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Website: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Company: Malwarebytes Corporation
Specialty: Malware removal
Program Type: Windows download
Competes With: Anti-virus programs of all shapes and sizes.

App #10: QQ

Website: http://www.imqq.com/
Company: Tencent
Specialty: Instant messaging
Program Type: Instant messaging service
Fun Fact: QQ is easily the most popular instant messaging client in mainland China, with roughly 318 million citizens subscribing to the service.
Note: The official QQ client is considered by some to be low-level adware. Because of this, we will be accessing the network using the Pidgin third-party app. If we have a last second change of heart, or if we find that the nasty “ad problem” has been fixed, we will definitely let you know.
Competes With: AOL Instant Messenger, Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, etc.

As we have established before, we live in a society that is growing increasingly dependent on information. When things work the way that they are “supposed” to work, no one complains. When several major “news sources” come up dry and ultimately bring nothing new to the table, however … things seem to break down fairly quickly. It is at this point that we in the blogging community try to make something — anything — interesting and unique. A few days ago, the major tech sites were all abuzz about the Chrome operating system and the surprising success of Bing. Today, on the other hand, the sites were overflowing with stories about several “minor” Twitter updates and a merger of two companies that, quite frankly, no one has ever heard of. If you got lucky, you just might have “stumbled” upon a discussion about Steve Ballmer or the various health issues facing Steve Jobs. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes or Lenny Briscoe to notice that their just might be a problem here.

The obvious solution to this “problem,” of course, is simply to turn off our monitors, put down the keyboards, and wait for something to happen. Be it right or wrong, life does not exactly work in that way anymore. So we fill the void with various media sources, hoping that it will fill the “dead space” of a slow news day. Some watch Brock Lesnar beat poor Frank Mir until he cries on YouTube for the five hundredth time. Others go to TMZ in order see the “forgotten” footage of Michael Jackson’s hair catching fire. Still others figure out a way to watch the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court hopeful Sonja Sotomayor. While all of these activities do give us our “media fix,” they are about as productive as watching paint dry. One can only watch a former professional wrestler insult everyone within earshot, burning hair, or politicians yell at each other for so long before going completely insane. So we decide to go back to work on our pet projects, hoping that one day it — and by extension, we — will become successful enough to be covered the likes of Michael Arrington and Henry Blodgett on a slow news day.

And therein lies what makes this moment in time different than the media controlled dystopia of Max Headroom: power. We are ultimately in control of the content given to us, not some cryptic television network run by Charles Rocket and Jeffery Tambor. The New York Times doesn’t decide what news is “fit to print,” we do. While it’s great to scope out The Drudge Report or Mashable for new things to read and/or learn about, it is more important in our society to “create” that next big idea. So we work on our blogs and fiddle with our various web 2.0 applications, all with the hope that our contributions will turn the “information tide” our way. This is our time, and we will make damn sure that we get every last second out of it. Biz Stone did it. Tim Brenners Lee did it. Now it’s our turn.

…And there you have it. On the behalf of everyone at the Free Line, we sincerely hope that you have enjoyed our three-part series about the future, media, and everything in between. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for more of that web 2.0 news you can use. Until then, we bid thee adieu.

If there is one thing that everyone knows about, it’s advertising. No matter where we look, there always seems to be a thirty-second television spot, billboard, or conveniently placed Coke can within eye shot. While that sort of bombardment does have the tendancy to be annoying at points, it could always be worse. We could be living in the media obsessed dystopia of Max Headroom. In the series, advertising is present in three unique, highly diverse ways. On today’s installment of Twenty Minutes into the Future, we will take a look at three techniques and discuss how each are being used in today’s culture.

Technique #1: The Cheviot Method

Championed By: Ben Cheviot (George Coe), founder and president of Network 23.
Thesis: People first, ads second.
Explanation: According to the “Cheviot Method” of advertising, it is imperative to remember that it isn’t robots and/or lemmings watching these ads. It’s people. If “advertiser A” uses their predetermined ad time to insult the viewer, or if they try to do to much, the viewer is less likely to return. If such behavior keeps up over time, the viewer will simply “give up” and simply stop caring about your product or service. By treating people like people, not only do you get the viewer to care about the product, you make hem more willing to investigate other products or services that have your name on it.
In-Show Result: Network 23 is consistently number one in the ratings.
Real-World Example: Anyone who tows the Free Line concept practices this advertising method.

Technique #2: The Grossberg Method

Championed By: Ned Grossberg (the late Charles Rocket), the president of Network 66 and Cheviot’s mortal enemy.
Thesis: People exists to buy things, so they might as well be buying those things from us.
Explanation: When this particular advertising method is employed, the consumer essentially becomes secondary to the items that are being shown on the screen. Although the company involved might see a initial spike in “audience participation,” the numbers will actually be lower overall. To compensate for this, the advertiser/network is forced to employ a variety of gimmicks in order to coerce people into coming back for more. In the show, these gimmicks ranged from ridiculous (“Watch 66 in your sleep! You can do that now!”) to horrifying (one second long “blipverts” that had a nasty habit of making fat people explode) to the downright bizarre (a reality show about the life and times of super genius infants).
In-Show Result: Grossberg is made to look like a fool on a fairly regular basis; network ratings go down sharply.
Real-World Example: Any company labeled as an “evil corporation” has been accused of using this advertising method at least once in their existence.

Technique #3: The Zik Zak Method

Championed By: A fairly mysterious, multi-national corporation called “Zik Zak.” While it is implied that Zik Zak makes everything from furniture to prescription drugs, the company’s main products are soft drinks and fast food.
Thesis: People?! Who cares about people! Buy our stuff and quit complaining!
Explanation: People who employ this kind of advertising structure simply do not care about anyone or anything other than their product. It really doesn’t matter if people get “inconvenienced” or even find themselves in a sticky situation. They still bought the product. The “in-world” example of this tactic is the NeuralStim, a “free bracelet” that caused people to crave cheeseburgers. In the case of our hero, Edison Carter, the bracelet made him nearly die from overspending.
In-Show Result: The “faulty” bracelets cause Zik Zak to nearly go bankrupt.
Real-World Example: In a fictional TV show, it’s called a “NeuralStim.” In the real word, it’s called “malware.”
Special Note: During my research, I ran across three very different organizations that call themselves “Zik Zak.” Please keep in mind that the comments above only apply to the fictional corporation, not to the these real-life entities.

Our Advice: The “Cheviot Method” is the only way to go. As I said a few days ago. These are your people. Never forget that. Your customers (and everyone else, for that matter) will thank you in the long run.

Anyone who lived through the late 1980’s ought to remember Max Headroom, the hyperactive, pseudo-CGI “head in the box” portrayed by actor Matt Frewer. The Max Headroom character was everywhere in those days, from music videos to ads for Coca-Cola and seemingly everything in between. What many people don’t remember, however, is the science fiction program that bared the character’s name. This was not the lovable, wacky Max that called Cinemax and England’s Channel 4 home. This Max exists in a world where the major television networks are in charge. Because of this, such every day items as the off switch and the mute button are deemed to be illegal. Televisions are everywhere, including bathrooms and junk yards. Simply put, no one could ever escape the grip of the mass media, and the people like it that way.

Working within the confines of this odd, “Network-meets-The Matrix” world is Edison Carter (also portrayed by Matt Frewer), ace reporter for the highly-rated Network 23 and the “basis” for Max Headroom. It is his mission to bring his viewers the truth, no matter the situation. In the show’s fourteen episodes, Emerson and company does everything from thwart a sentient supercomputer to blowing the lid off of a dangerous subliminal advertising scheme run by Bill Maher, using nothing more than quick thinking and a heaping helping of brutal honesty. The viewer, both physically in the show and otherwise, are constantly reminded that the world is a better place thanks to people like Emerson Carter and his “computerized” alter ego. As long as there are people fighting for the truth, there really is nothing to worry about.

In many ways, we are approaching this basic existence, only with a different concept serving as our vice. Instead of thriving on a flashing picture, we are addicted to information. I don’t just mean the “TMZ/Perez Hilton” style celebrity gossip columns. I mean anything. Pick your topic — President Obama, professional wrestling, U2 — and I bet there is someone, somewhere talking, tweeting, or blogging about it at this very moment. We need to know about what is going on, and we need to know it now. Take the recent “best of seven” series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic for example. Five years ago, we would have had to wait two to three days to hear former Laker Shaquille O’Neal talk about his former team. Thanks to Twitter, we heard it minutes after the Lakers cliched the NBA title. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this kind of “instant feedback” can become addictive.

Now despite what some might be thinking, things really aren’t all that dire. Our world isn’t based upon the idea of two-way television sets or networks that can make commercials so compact that they make people’s heads literally explode. We’re simply talking about the delivery of information, not a re-creation of 1984. It’s human nature to want to know what is going on around us. Exploiting that desire, on the other hand, is something else entirely. It all comes down to priorities. Those who put more effort into their advertising than their content are more likely to alienate their audiences than the people who put their “product” front and center. By ignoring the very thing that got you into this very situation to begin with, the writer/blogger/YouTube “star” is actually sending a message that your fan base’s mouse click means more than their physical presence. Who cares if the content is good nor not? You clicked the link. It’s your loss.

While it might seem like a good idea now, turning your audience into a group of mind-numbed automatons randomly clicking things will not help you become a success in the long run. The trick, if you want to call it that, is to adopt what I like to call the “Edison Carter” approach to content creation and maintenance. It all breaks down to three basic principles:

1. Your users are more than just a group of random mice clicking a white box. They’re people. Your people. Always keep that in mind when developing your content.
2. Stay genuine to your cause.
3. Stay open to the needs and concerns of your user base.

Do this, and the world just might become a better place. If you don’t, well … let’s just say living in an “off switch-free world” is not anyone’s idea of a good time. Be sure to come back tomorrow for part two of our three part series. Until then, this is Brad Fallon signing off for Network 23 the Free Line.

Since yesterday (Monday) was the first full day of program tester Angela Smedley’s foray into Linux, we felt that it was only fair to dedicate today’s Free Line to it. Rest assured, everything will be back to normal tomorrow.

The Great Linux Experiment continues in earnest. The first major problem that Angela encountered was with the video card drivers. Unlike most people, she employs/relies on a dual-head (two monitor) setup. Monitor number one had nothing in it, while the second, decidedly smaller, monitor featured the desktop. After a few minutes and an Nvidia-sponsored update later, everything was working fine. This does, however, lead us to an interesting question: is it alright to run drivers that are not completely open source?

To many, this question is an easy one. You paid for the video card. Why can’t you run the drivers associated with that card? There are those, however, who don’t necessarily see things in that way. See, the drivers, while official, are closed source. Closed source, for those unaware, simply means that the code used to formulate the drivers are not available to the general public. Some believe that withholding code like this is a downright unconscionable, immoral act. After all, one of the main pillars of the open source community (primarily Richard Stallman’s Free Software Foundation) is the ability to keep the playing field level for all. By keeping the code all to themselves, the video card companies are essentially putting themselves “above” the user. In order to avoid a life of “indentured servitude,” many choose to run open source, third-party drivers.

Now honestly, we are not here to argue the morality of code. We are simply telling you what others feel and what we did. We loaded the official drivers because frankly, it doesn’t bother us. But if the idea of loading drivers and programs full of walled off code keeps you awake at night, by all means load the third-party files. There really isn’t that big of a difference between the drivers anyway. It all comes down to what you believe is the right thing to do.

The next major obstacle Angela encountered was with Flash. Try as we might, we just could not get Flash working in KDE’s native browser, Konqueror. Thankfully, it all worked in Firefox … or so we thought. While Flash-based videos and websites were all running at full vigor, Flash programs like Pixlr and SumoPaint were just not coming up. After a bit of research and a few conversations with various message board denziens, she found that the problem was with SELinux. SELinux is a line of security patches designed by the NSA to ward of evildoers of all shapes and sizes. It works for the most part, but has the tendancy to be a bit overzealous at times. The fix was simple — disable SELinux. After a quick reboot, her Flash apps were working perfectly.

Still, not everything is working properly. For most of the day, she has been trying to get her computer to recognize her handmade data server. As we mentioned before, said server runs on Windows Home Server, a specialized version of Microsoft Server 2003 with various “consumer friendly” add-ons attached. Try as she might, she is unable to get Samba to properly connect to it. Despite the setback, she is far from “losing hope.” One format, one work-in-progress, and several major successes is nothing to sneeze at.

…And there you have it. Until tomorrow, we bid you all a fond adieu from the land of penguins and GNUs.

Hulu is now the fourth most popular online video site in the US, according to research firm comScore. The much-talked about site gained a staggering ten million users over the course of the last month, bringing their total viewership to a shocking 37.4 million users. Many within the industry say the sharp rise is due to the site’s creative advertising campaign, which features the likes of Alec Baldwin and Family Guy creator/generally controversial figure Seth MacFarlane as alien invaders. Other rankings of note include YouTube (99.3 million users), Fox Media/MySpace (53.7 million users) and Yahoo (41.6 million users).

In other news, Facebook isn’t the only social networking site of note undergoing a drastic design change. LinkedIn, the network geared towards business people and the folks who love them, have recently unveiled their own set of improvements. The first thing that you will notice is the inbox … or rather, the total lack of one. Instead of it looming large over your front page like it used to, the inbox now only appears when there are actual messages to be read. Once inside, you’ll run into the second major improvement — tabs. These are designed to make both reading and sorting your mail a quick and painless experience. The new inbox is just one of many planned improvemnet aimed at increasing productivity and usability. The mailbox of your dreams is available now for all users.

And finally: A slate of classic films have finally received a new lease on life. The folks at Warner Brothers have just put the finishing touches on the “Warner Archive,” a video site that specializes in “forgotten classics.” The Archive features over 150 long out-of-print films made before 1986, such as “Abe Lincoln in Illinois,” the golf-centric silent film “Spring Fever,” and Paul Simon’s “One Trick Pony,” which is more remembered for the song “Late In the Evening” than the actual film. What makes the Archive special is its “on demand” nature. Unlike most DVD-based services of this type, the actual disc is created only after the user orders the film. Not only does this method cut down on labor and storage costs, it makes the concept of “niche entertainment” economically viable. The discs from the Warner Archive start at $20 a pop. Digital versions of the film in question are available for $15.

While the “DVD-on-demand” concept is still considered to be a fairly “recent” idea, it is by no means new. Anyone who has attempted to purchase a high school football retrospective or lesser-known professional wresting DVD in the past ten years have seen the on-demand concept at work. Many smaller video companies, such as Smart Mark Video and Pittsburgh-based Digital Horizons, have built their distribution systems on variations of that very concept. Amazon also utilizes on-demand as a way to sell their severs full of children’s programming from the 1990’s.

Expect to see more on the topic of video creation and distribution on an upcoming episode of the Free Line.

Despite the rumors to the contrary, Knol is here to stay. “In my opinion, Knol is doing just fine,” writes Google guru Matt Cutts. Originally designed to be Google’s answer to Wikipedia, Knol has been subject to several rumors and accusations over the past few months, forcing tech professionals to doubt the longevity of the service. As far as he is concerned, the complaints and controversies are unfounded and somewhat hypocritical. “It’s weird that in just a few months, the conventional wisdom can change from ‘Google will give Knol unfair boosts in ranking; it will dominate the space!” to ‘Oh, Knol gets so little traffic that it’s not a success.’ The rapid change in perception gives me a little bit philosophical whiplash.” According to Cutts, those behind the service will continue their mission of reliable, fact-based content into the coming year. “Knol has more polish, more features, and the team has listened to the outside world when they plan what to work on next.”

Speaking of Wikipedia, the self-described “user-supported charity organization” is contemplating a proposal that would make editing a bit more difficult. Under the new plan, all new edits will be “flagged” until an Wikipedia-approved editor proofreads and signs off on the new passages. Management, along with founder Jimmy Wales, hopes that the policy shift will add a touch of scholarly credibility that the service is currently lacking. Although the idea is new to the domestic Wikipedia, it isn’t exactly original. Wikipedia Germany enacted the so-called “Flagged Revisions” statute last May to a generally positive response. Users who feel that they have a better plan are free to submit their ideas to the Wikipedia board for consideration.

In other news, Mozilla is investing the future of online video. The Firefox developer, with help from the Wikimedia Foundation, has given $100,000 to aid in the development and dissemination of the open source Theora video codec. The programming house has also promised to enhance the Theora playback in all Mozilla-based browsers. Developers hope that in time, Theora will gain the notoriety and overall popularity held by its audio-based older brother, OGG Vorbis. While some within the industry support the plan, many question if the codec has the power to stand up against the likes of Windows Video and MPEG-4. In-depth details concerning both the grant and the proposed Firefox additions have not been made public at this time.

Next: With all of the talk surrounding the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and even the Palm Pre, it is easy to forget about the “unsung workhorse” of the mobile industry, Windows Mobile. To that end, we here at the Free Line bring good news — Windows Mobile 6.5 has officially been released to mobile manufactuers. The new release features a variety of updates and additions, including a redone Internet Explorer and enhanced touch screen performance. The new system is meant to be a glorified “warm-up” to Windows Mobile 7, Microsoft’s “true” next-generation OS. Expect to see Windows Mobile 6.5 on a mobile device near you by the summer.

And finally: Digg founder and general web 2.0 guru Kevin Rose has a few interesting things to say about building your Twitter fanbase. According to Rose, it all boils down to ten simple suggestions:

1. Retweeting (forwarding posts to other users) is your friend. Do it often.
2. Make sure that your biography is detailed and complete.
3. “Put links to your Twitter profile everywhere.”
4. It never hurts to talk about yourself and your interests. (“If others enjoy your content, they’ll add you,” says Rose.)
5. Make your Twitter account as important to you as your phone number and email address.
6. “Take pictures.”
7. Everyone loves a good quiz.
8. Users with a mass amount of followers must be doing something right. Find out what that is and study up on it.
9. Get involved with “trendy” topics.
10. “Track your results.”

Interesting and engaging, the artice is full of helpful advice for people of all skill levels. Thanks to a combination of Rose’s advice and a little bit of work, anyone can be a true Twitter megastar.

Google has officially changed the way their specialized Blog Search service indexes its content. Instead of using the previously accepted method of scouring RSS feeds, the engine now indexes actual blog content. The end result is a much more accurate, more in-depth search engine. While there are still a few bugs to be worked out — some bloggers are complaining that blogroll listings are giving them “false positives — the update generally makes “searching the blogosphere” a more rewarding experience.

Despite what many bloggers might have you believe, not everyone is a fan of Internet advertising. According to an interview conducted by Reuters, Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson just doesn’t see the appeal of ads of the digital variety. According to Thomson, advertising tends to stand out more on the printed page than it does on a computer screen. He also states that most people are physically doing less while they read the newspaper, thereby making the ad more noticeable to the reader. “The only multi-tasking that you can do while reading a newspaper is drink a cup of coffee,” he told the news service. “Online… the link between the reader and the ad is more transient.”

Elsewhere, it seems as if photo favorite Flickr is itching to join the world of “video via camera phone.” Thanks to the latest update, Flickr Mobile users will be able to load, then play back, a variety of user-generated video clips. Unlike services like Qik that encourage live streaming, Flickr users are limited to ninety second clips. At press time, the new Flickr Mobile is only available for the iPhone. Support for other Webkit-based browsers and Opera Mobile will be available soon.

Next, we have UserVoice. UserVoice is an interesting little tool that allows you to set up an “answering machine” service directly on your site. Instead of sending an email, posting on a forum, or even writing in a guestbook, users can actually leave short voice messages to you. Not only does this give you yet another way to interact with your audience, it also lets their collective voices be heard … literally. While the base UserVoice service is free, several “for pay” options are also available for netowrk and enterprise customers..

And to finish out the week: In the world of online business, there is a fine line between “thinking outside the box” and downright stupidity. Standing directly on that line is Bopaboo, the new music that claims to sell “used” mp3 files for a mere $.25 a piece. The underlying problem is perception. As far as most users (and lawyers) are concerned, 98% of Bopaboo’s “merchandise” was at one point taken illegally from either peer-to-peer networks or BitTorrent. While some might applaud the company for starting what amounts to an auditory black market, most won’t touch this site with a ten foot pole. Saving $.75 on a song isn’t necessarily worth the RIAA lawsuit that is bound to follow. Bopaboo is up and running for the time being now.

The telecommunication industry now has a top-level domain of their own, thanks to the introduction of “.tel.” Operated by English tech firm Telnic, the new doamin will make it easier for telecoms, mobile phone companies, and even online Yellow Pages to differentiate themselves from the rest of the web. Users of the .tel service will also have the ability to store vital information such as phone numbers and email addresses directly into the DNS, thereby eliminating the need for a website altogether. The new domains are available now for a staggering $400. Prices are expected to fall to a more reasonable $150 February 3rd, and to around $20 on March 27th.

Google is taking time out of their busy schedules to help programmers and techs of the female variety. The conference, creatively called “The 2009 Google Workshop for Women Engineers,” is designed to help women find jobs within the tech industry. To qualify, the applicant must be currently enrolled in a tech-related, post-graduate program in the United States or Canada and have a GPA of at least 3.3. Seventy-five students will be chosen for the workshop, which will include technical demonstrations and a tour of the Google campus. The deadline for submitting the application is this Friday.

In other news, it seems as if WordPress is the latest service to contract “upgrade fever.” Unlike the previous updates, WordPress 2.7 is focused more on helping the blogger than the reader. Most of the menus have been shifted, reordered and most importantly, are completely customizable. You can now also start new blog posts without actually leaving the main admin page. As with the previous upgrades, you need to backup your previous posts before installing the new version. Without the backup, all of your work will be a distant memory. A beta release of WordPress 2.7 has already been released. The official update will be available on the morrow.

Elsewhere, Fox Media, in association with mobile video concern RipCode, is bringing their highly popular MySpace Video platform to mobile phones. “Users are increasingly interested in portability,” MySpace communications manager Amy Walgenbach told WebProNews. “Video is the natural next step for us in mobile.” Unlike most mobile video services, MySpace Video is built upon an “on-demand” network, meaning that the video is encoded into the format of your choice as you load it. This technology not only stops redundancy, but saves up on storage space as well. At press time, several big names will be available for download including TMZ, The Onion, and the NHL. MySpace Mobile Video, complete with a “beta” tag, is available now for users worldwide.

And finally, Yahoo has expanded the reach of its Search Assist line of search gadgets to include images as well. Similar to the tool found in the traditional search engine, the Image Search Assist provides the user with a list of search phrases that are related to the root phrase. It also displays a small thumbnail “example” of what the prospective search will turn up, giving the user a clear picture of what lies ahead. Aside from a few fairly annoying bugs, the new tool is more than capable of helping frustrated image wranglers find exactly what they are looking for.