Kickstartnews Revue - Podcast 04 - Show Notes for May 29, 2005

Lots of variety in this week's podcast. We decided to stay with the format established over the past couple of weeks because it seems to move along at a good pace. You'll tell us if you want a change of pace, right? In any case we like it!

Another commentary on the ongoing Google search accuracy fiasco, letter to the editor (keep those e-mails coming please - we love hearing from you), and a Big City Byte about the care needed when buying a new business PC round out the topics in this week's podcast. Check out the rest of the show notes. More . . .

Google's At It Again - Messing About in Public!

The dotcomicide web site and dozens of other authoritative sources have reported that someone has hacked Google's search result algorithms using a technique called "meta refresh". Now isn't that just lovely? WebMasterWorld and dozens of other sites are also now reporting the disastrous outcome of what appears to be the latest Google indexing engine update (which WebMasterWorld has dubbed "Bourbon" for obvious reasons).

As of this writing, Google suddenly does not consistently place product manufacturer or actual content creator web sites at the top of the search results. As of May 20th, high-value AdWords advertisers seem to be either first or very high on the first page in all the results (even though some keywords from a search are missing from the result), while private AdSense customer pages are being pushed way down in the results. Essentially, without warning or explanation, Google appears to have dramatically reduced its AdSense payouts, dramatically increased its AdWords income, and seriously reduced the accuracy of its search results. Way to go guys! More . . .

Kickstartnews Revue - Podcast 03 - Show Notes for May 20, 2005

This podcast is a little longer than usual—a little over 45 minutes—but it's packaged with good stuff including Q&A with letters from Kickstartnews readers and lots of technical help from the whole gang.

For this week's interview I managed to snag Arthur Humphrey, president of LDW Software, while he was working the show floor at the Electronics Entertainment Exhibition (E3) in Los Angeles.

This week's Big City Bye is a bit shocking. There's really too much irritating stuff being perpetrated online. When some idiots start involving kids to help unwittingly, it's time to speak out. Check out the rest of the show notes. More . . .

A Dirty Little Secret: Using Kids to Spread Spyware

We are back in an era of stunning personal and corporate selfishness. It's not sensational, but it's true without a doubt. I made a discovery last week that had me struck dumb—almost mute with anger.

Did you know that there are some web sites designed for children, at least one of them formerly touted as Kid Safe, which are clearly violating every shred of public trust by allowing advertisers to embed spyware through the cunning use of social engineering and browser objects which are enticing enough for kids to click?

What manner of egregiously rabid slime came up with that idea?

If there was ever a time for the public—including even that large portion of the public that happens to be computer illterate—to rise up and protest this clearest violation of trust, this . . . is . . . it. More . . .

Kickstartews Revue - Podcast 02 - Show Notes for May 13, 2005

Thanks for listening! We've tweaked the show format and it's (hopefully) better organized and easier to enjoy.

First, we're reading and answering reader e-mail—questions and requests for technical help and advice which haven't been published in the Readers Rave page. Second, we're doing an audio review of new products—for this 'cast we chose the Nelson E-mail Organizer (NEO) Pro v3, and third we're doing an OpEd on hot issues which we hope you'll find exciting. The OpEd is called Big City Byte and this week we're presenting you with a novel concept—free computers. More . . .

Free Computers—A Voice For The True Silent Majority

Free?

Yes. Free. Sort of.

Remember when cell phones cost $1,500.00? I actually remember some original deals going for upwards of $3,000.00! Those were the days. Those 'portable' phones were the ultimate working tools for the business person of the time. Sort of. They were true marvels guaranteed to work everywhere in the city except the central business district. Really. It was awful.

But time (and huge volume sales) have a way of driving down the cost of manufacturing and distribution, and driving up the availability of connectivity. Cell phones have been commoditized to the point of irrelevance. The profit model in telecommunications has to do with connectivity, access distribution and network licensing. Open a new wireless account these days and chances are you'll end up with a decent airtime package along with a 'free' phone. Nice. The cost of the phone is built into the airtime package and all of the service providers expect you to sign a one year contract at least. Nonetheless, even airtime rates have dropped to the point where the phone still 'feels' free. It's a great match.

Are free computers offered with high speed Internet access accounts the next golden pair? More . . .

Copyrights? We Don' Need No Steekin' Copyrights!

Sophia Stewart, former naif, current anomalist, has managed to win millions of dollars in a court settlement against the famous Wachowski Brothers—they of Matrix I, II & III fame. Stewart, the court has decided, originated the Matrix (and Terminator) story ideas. The courts seem to have decided that both the Wachowskis and several Warner Bros. execs grabbed Stewart's ideas and ran with them, unfortunately without compensating Stewart in any way.

I wonder if any of these guys have stood in line behind former Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) president Jack Valenti as he repeatedly harrangued the masses (and the industry) over the past ten years about pirated movies, black market movies, movie copyright violations, BitTorrent, Napster, etc., etc., ad nauseam? Well Jack, apparently it's once again well proven that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Tsk, tsk. More . . .

Kickstartews Revue - Podcast Show Notes for May 6, 2005

The first Kickstartnews Revue podcast seems to have gone reasonably well. Please send us your comments. It was a blast interviewing digital designer Mario Georgiou about his review of PD Pro v3.1. We did the interview long distance (Mario's studio is in London, England) via Skype.

• Mario's web site can be found at Georgiou Digital Imaging & Design. Drop by and check out his portfolio.
  
• PD Pro home page. Click the Project Dogwaffle link when you get there.
  
• iPodder for Windows can be found right here
  
• iPodderX for Mac OS X can be found right here
  
• Mario recommended two combinations of graphics programs for hobbyists, SOHO and small business users who need equal measures of photo editing and creative drawing and painting: a)Photoshop Elements 3 + PD Pro, and b)PaintShop Pro + PD Pro
  

The Kickstartnews Revue podcast is produced by kickstartnews.com. We use Skype for phone interviews and record everything using HotRecorder. Skype us at "agitater" or send e-mail with questions, review requests. We want to hear from you! The next Podcast is scheduled for Friday May 13, 2005.

Upgrade Whines & Contradictions

Intuit's recent announcement that it's completely dropping support for the old QIF banking file format for downloaded transactions affects only users of the 2001 and 2002 versions of Quicken. You should hear the howling from a select group of people, a number of whom are SOHO and small business owners, using the older versions. They are seriously ticked off and generating enough heat over this to boil a small ocean. The amount of heat is surprising too, considering the comparatively small percentage of Quicken users still running the older versions. So what's the big deal?

First off, the newer WebConnect format offer no backward steps from previous versions of transaction formats. In fact, current WebConnect implementations are much closer to a "one-touch" download from your bank's web site. That's a benefit. As well, WebConnect is inherently more secure although (and in defense of its detractors) my bank's IT department either wouldn't tell me about the improvements or simply didn't know. In any case, I've been using WebConnect via Quicken XG for about a year and I've yet to encounter a problem. So either the banks and Intuit are getting better at this or I'm becoming less of a screwup or maybe it's a combination of the two. More . . .