Fedburner finally Married to Google

Feedburner announced integration with Google accounts in April, and are now taking the next step in integration. Feedburner will soon be available from http://feedburner.google.com and existing feeds will be transfered to http://feeds.feedburner.google.com/feedname (see here for example).

A breath of fresh air

I've had some sort of allergy for quite a while where I'll be sneezing all day some days, and fine the next. At first I thought it was the computer, but thankfully that turned out to be safe! I still haven't found out what causes the allergy, but it seems to be related to the air. When I went on a trip to the mountains recently it stopped completely for a few days. So I went around and had a look for a air cleaner.
The site at Air Cleaners Guide offers a comprehensive overview of the types that are available. From looking here I think the Hunter might be for me, as it's so cheap. Hopefully it will be able to solve my problems for a while at least - I don't want to be blogging in-between sneezes!

The iPhone that everyone's been talking about

The new 3G iPhone is now out! I won't even bother to link to any articles or post the details, as most of you will already know all about this. Just wanted to say that I'll be looking forward to it's launch, as there's a fair chance it's going to be launched in Australia too! Here's looking forward to the 11th....

Online Backup

Online backup is a big business today. And surprising to say, it doesn't end with Mozy's Free Backup Service. Today I'm going to review my latest discovery, IDrive - Online Backup.

IDrive shouldn't take long to download - if you have a broadband connection that is. Online backup isn't really an option on dialup, so before you sign up with any service, you should make sure you have a fast connection. That said, it is possible to use IDrive on a dialup connection, but you'll have to leave it running all night and be prepared for frequent dropouts.

For the record, I began my first install of IDrive on Windows Vista. The whole process was fast and flawless, without even prompting me for UAC. This was one of the easiest Vista installs I have seen in a long while.

The setup process, although not explained, is also very easy. In fact, the default settings are fine for most users, with the most commonly used Documents, Desktop, Pictures and Videos selected for backup at 2:00am every day. I had to tweak a few options to enable the Public folder and stay within my free 2GB storage limit, but overall this process was smooth and easy. The one difficulty I encountered was minor - unticking a folder in the top frame does not remove the folder from the backup list. This has to be done manually by right clicking and choosing "Remove". Although this could be confusing for some users, it is quickly mastered and doesn't interfere afterwards.

Other features of this product not covered here include a handy bandwidth check, and "IDrive Explorer", a Windows Explorer clone for your online storage space. There are also recent enhancements including the ability to manage backup set and schedules via the web interface.

IDrive is certainly a solid product, and well worth the free 2GB account. It's good to see innovation in the online backup sector, and hopefully this will continue in future versions. If you're looking for a stable and well-designed online backup service, then IDrive might be for you.

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IDrive recently won the PC World '101 Best Freebies' award. The company claims to outperform the competition by a factor of at least 30% for both backups and restores. IDrive offers encrypted online backups for free (up to 2GB) and 150GB storage (for $4.95/month).

Weak US Dollar drives business in Europe

The LA Times reports that the new Nintendo Wii Fit is hard to find on US shelves, partly because of the weak US Dollar: '"[Nintendo] is also is shrewdly maximizing its profit by sending four times as many units to Europe, reaping the benefits of the strong euro," says Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities. "The shortage demonstrates one consequence of the weak dollar. We're seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere."'"

Hopefully this will help the Australian market too. At present the conversion rate is about $0.95.

No More video plusbox in Google Search

Google search no longer shows Video plusboxes. I don't know why they've removed this feature, as it was quite handy to me and others. Maybe they found it too hard to integrate third party results accurately, but I think there must be another answer. Anyone have any clues?

Looking upwards....

I've always been an astronomy fan. Even before I built my first computer, I was lying out on the ground looking upwards through a small pair of binoculars, pinpointing the constellations and trying to find Orion's nebula. Unfortunately I was hampered to some extent by lack of proper optical instruments. The binoculars were fairly cheap so I didn't get a very clear view. Now I've found OpticsPlanet, which seems to offer good quality optical instruments online.

The site claims to offer a "great place for people to explore, learn about their hobbies and find the best gear to suit their needs". When I first visited I expected to see a flashy, graphics covered store, but was surprised by the clean-ness of this site. It loaded in no time, but certainly doesn't skimp on content.

The pages are clearly SEO'd, with many terms highlighted in bold, lots of specialized pages and lots of content on each page. But this is good for me as well, because I can find detailed information about practically anything on the site. Almost every second or third word is linked, so if you want to find more information, it's not far away.

Verdict: OpticsPlanet offers a wide range of products, and with the best price guarantee offers the lowest prices around. If you don't mind the SEO'd site flavour, and you're looking for hunting, astronomy, or other optical equiptment, this site is for you. Otherwise, you can try looking at the site through Lynx!

More links: OpticsPlanet Microscope

Google Gadgets for Linux

Finally! Google has released Google Gadgets for Linux. And best of all, it's open source. This is now integrated with Google Desktop, and it will be interesting to see how this pans out alongside Plasma's widgets for Linux.
Google Open Source Blog: Google Gadgets for Linux

Music Lyrics

We all have to take a break sometimes. Even us tech people. Yes, you do need a break!
For those who like rap, check out Rap Music Lyrics. They've got a pretty good range of artists, and although I'm not into rap myself it looks pretty good to me. Has anyone else tried this site yet?

Microsoft Search Together

Here's an interesting idea. Microsoft's Search Together claims to "allows groups of people to collaborate on Web searches" This is quite an ambiguous definition, but in theory is a good concept. Normally you have groups of people standing round a computer offering suggestions while one person types. This can be quite inefficient. If people could collaborate on this searching could become a lot more productive. Only problem is, it's restricted to IE and Windows / MSN.

Anyone interested in helping me develop an open alternative, with either PHP or perhaps the Google AppEngine Python framework?

Furniture from home (Website Review)

You might think that this post is a little off-topic for a technology site. Well, in a way it is. But what I'm reviewing about this site is mainly it's functionality as a web site, not a furniture site. Although the market is part of it, I'm a tech reviewer more than a furniture sales person. So, without further ado, let me introduce Furniture From Home.

My first impression: this is a very well designed site. Not only the design itself, but the HTML and CSS is clean, and consistent. The site doesn't take long to load on my 256K connection, which is also a bit consideration for many users. Website design professionals could learn from this site.

Diving deeper, the site continues to live up to this standard for the most part. One of my favourite features about this site is that it displays perfectly on smaller screens, while not compromising on the bigger screens. The breadcrumb navigation at the top is also extremely useful.

Overall I would definitely recommend this site to a friend, knowing it is easy to use and functional. Well-designed and coded sites are rare across the web, but this is one of them in my opinion. Certainly if you're a web designer I would take a look, and if you're looking for furniture you can be sure that you won't run into many issues navigating the site.

Further links: Bedroom Furniture | Home Office Furniture | bedroom set for sale

How to Solve the Third Question - Google Treasure Hunt 2008

This third question had me slightly confused. As I had no knowledge of network theory, it seemed at first too big a problem. But then, when I Googled the solution, I found that others felt the same way. And really, you don't need great network knowledge to solve this problem. All you need to solve the third problem in the Google Treasure Hunt 2008 is common sense and the ability to follow instructions.

Firstly, a bit about how network routing works. Imkira has a good pseudo-algorithm for finding the path between nodes S and D:

Third Question:

• 1- Start at node S
• 2- First, add the current network node to the path. If D is the current network node the algorithm outputs the path and ends since the packet was just delivered to D. Otherwise advance to the next step.
• 3- Iterate each routing table entry:
• 4- D matches the Nth entry's network? Set the current node as the Nth entry's target gateway and Jump to step 2
• 5- D does *not* match any of the routing table entries? Set the current node as the current default gateway and Jump to step 2

So what does this actually mean? Basically, given the starting node, look for the destination IP address in the three Routing Table Entries. If it's there, follow on to the IP address specified in that table entry. Otherwise, follow on to the default gateway. Repeat this process until you come to the destination node. It's that simple!

This doesn't even need a program to calculate it. I performed these operations by hand, and it only took about 10 minutes. I'm still waiting on the answer, but I'm fairly confident that it's correct. If you want a spoiler for the default question, click here. The next question's coming out June 3rd (tomorrow) so you'd better hurry if you want to answer this!

By the way, if you're puzzling over those "/24"s, check out Route summarization on Wikipedia.

The Treasure hunt has been a great opportunity so far for the geeks of the world to get creative with some problem solving. I've enjoyed it, as I'm sure many others have. Hopefully Google will continue to promote these "fun" activites, as they get the developer community active and give Google a good image in so far as community involvement goes. Thanks Google!

Update: My answer was correct! :D

Crush or Flush

Crush or Flush is an interesting site, mainly featuring chat. Privacy features are one of the key points here:

Privacy and safety are built in. Unlike traditional sites where members can hide behind multiple profiles tied to different e-mail addresses, on Crush or Flush™ you can only have one profile that is tied to your cell phone number. During the sign-up process, your cell number is used to verify that you are a real person, and there can only be one profile per number. If someone harasses you or causes a problem, we will block his number and that person will permanently disappear. No one every gets your e-mail address, real name, or cell phone number - they always remain private.

For those who are interested in maintaining privacy, this is certainly a good site. As they say, you can always link up later. :)

Build your own Sign - Online

I've been looking for a service for quite a while that will design and print signs online. Build A Sign.com provides exactly what I have been looking for. They have low prices from what I have seen across the web, and a huge range of pre-made signs for such purposes as country flags and real estate signs. I highly recommend you check out this site, especially if you live in America where the postage is cheaper. The prices at this site make it worthwhile for me to purchase signs for home usage, not just business. And the online facility makes this a lot easier than going into town (yes, I know, I'm lazy!). Definitely worth a look.

Google Earth - coming to a browser near you....

Google Earth just met the browser. In one of Google's most exciting new API releases, the Google Maps API is now extended to include support for 3D maps - Sky, 3D Buildings and all. Once you've downloaded and installed the plugin, you're ready to go, with a whole host of Javascript API calls available to tile, pan and manipulate the earth. Check out the samples to give it a test.