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March 24, 2008

Please visit the new ambermac.com

Hi.  I will now be blogging over at ambermac.com.  Please visit me there!

March 02, 2008

"We are the World" in Japan

I don't know what to say, but thanks to Kevin for sending me this link ;-).

February 28, 2008

AlienMac vs. AmberMac - An Aviary Demo

After

Before

A few weeks ago Leo sent me a link to this video of Hillary Clinton shedding her skin, a product sample from Aviary.

This week I contacted the people behind Aviary, a company based in Long Island that offers up "a suite of rich internet applications geared for artists of all genres. From image editing to typography to music to 3D to video, we have a tool for everything." 

Very innocently, I asked to be bumped up on their Beta list so that I could show off their tools during an upcoming segment of The Lab with Leo Laporte on G4TechTV.

One of their very creative artists used Phoenix, their Flash-based image editor, to give me the AlienMac look that you see above my "before picture" (just so I could see the product's potential in full swing).  Ah, yeah, thanks guys, love ya.

If I wanted to maintain a professional reputation, I'd probably hide this photo.  But, let's fact it, beside my two gorgeous friends Jenna and Marcella, I look like a renowned member of Star Trek - and that is too good NOT to share.   

February 25, 2008

Star Wars according to a 3-year-old girl

February 22, 2008

Watching radio? KCRW tops the list

I just spent a brisk 24 hours in Winnipeg, Manitoba, speaking to a small group of CBC's (Canada's national public broadcaster) radio folk about radio stations kicking butt and setting trends in the web space.  While researching radio on the Internet (outside the world of podcasting) I stumbled upon some great examples of innovation in the radio world.  Probably my fave find is KCRW, love their new media player.

Kcrw
*Create your own channel
*Embed content on blogs, websites
*Watch in-studio performances (select shows only)
*Direct links to buy content from authors or artists

The player is still in Beta (like all web apps), but it has a lot of promise.

Let me know if where you're listening (or watching) radio online (if so, post some links).  Have a great weekend ;-).  -A

February 16, 2008

Microsoft-Yahoo! blue screen of death

2270326584_d7e953c8a8_o Microsoft FINALLY buys Yahoo!
Originally uploaded by The Core-Man.

Corey from Port Richey, FL just sent me this pic, which he mocked up tonight.  Nice work!

Check out this insightful article re: Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google.

February 12, 2008

Snow, snow, go away - Another day in Toronto

OK, there has been a lot of snow in Toronto this winter.  I know, I know, it is Canada, but the white fluffy stuff is getting a little extreme.  For other snowed-in folks with a few minutes to spare, check out this CBC video snow spoof (I gotta hand it to CBC, they are putting out some innovative, informative, and entertaining content on TV that is making the rounds online - also, it's always fun to watch news people making fun of, well, news people).

UPDATE:  With all due respect to my former colleagues, this article here is hilarious.  Unfortunately, what a lot of viewers don't realize is that the powers that be in newsrooms actually tell reporters to act like this (so, so silly).  The writing is on the wall, or in this report.  Sensational local news reporting is not what viewers want.  Time to put down the snow folks, let loose and do a few donuts in the parking lot (OK, that was me last night). 

February 09, 2008

commandN wins Best CDN Podcaster

Just wanted to say a quick congrats to the commandN team!  Our two-and-a-half-year-old video podcast won the Best Podcaster Award for 2007 (CBC Radio 3, which we all love, came 2nd and Galacticast also made the winning list).  Our most recent ep, posted here, is typical for a cN shoot -  bad weather, back alley, and lots of geeking out.  Enjoy!

February 04, 2008

Clean is happy - high-tech toilets

OK, I know that y'all hated the naked photos of Robert and Shel.  Now I'm forcing you to look at naked bums.  It is a pure coincidence that my last two posts involve nudity, must be something in the cold Canadian air. 

Cleanishappy

I was doing some web navigation research and came across this site (long story how I got to Toto toilets in the first place).  Although these happy (clean) bums and faces could be annoying time and time again, I do really like the innovative way that Washlet uses Flash video and multiple hosts to guide toilet-loving users through its site

If you've seen any other interesting site navigation that breaks traditional web design standards, post a comment here.  Am off to watch The Daily Show, so good to have it back (perhaps it's my late-night posting that is leading to nudity >:-).

January 31, 2008

Naked bloggers launch online video network

Naked_male_bloggersOK, I've been known to go off on rants on net@nite about female bloggers posting half-naked pics online (you can find your own links :).  Well, now the boys are getting in on the action.

Pictured here is the Scobelizer (famous tech blogger Robert Scoble) and Shel Israel (tech consultant/author).  This photo is from a Techcrunch party in honour of a book they launched some time ago.

Now they're teaming up again under Fast Company's new online video network, headed by Scoble.

I have met both Scoble and Shel, with their shirts on, and can't wait to watch this FC network grow, as there are too few good tech/business video shows online.

I wish analyst/blogger Bob Lefsetz would do a weekly video show (shirt on), I could listen to that guy rant and rave about the music industry for hours on end.  His emails are classic.