Ok, Plaxo has just gotten perfect with the 3.0 version of their product. Now I can use Google Calendar and Gmail as endpoints along with Thunderbird and iCal, Address Book, and Mail. This means that 2-way syncing between Google Calendar and my other calendar sources is automatic through the Plaxo conduit -- works the same for Outlook, I'm sure.
I really like the new Plaxo web interface as well -- once I turned off all of the Flickr stuff and changed it to a black skin, I've got an amazingly cool web interface that is a single source for all of my calendar items, tasks, and contacts.
I've been a Plaxo user since the service started and the continuing improvements like those found in 3.0 keep my a loyal user. There's actually been enough of an improvement in the service that I'm trying the premium service for 30 days -- the big hook for me is that they do secure back-ups of all of my information with version control for restorations. I'm also going to play around with the LinkedIn integration to see how that works.
TechCrunch is reporting that Amazon will open a DRM-free music store later this year. Quite frankly if Amazon doesn't have a catalog that is different than Apple's and if the pricing is identical, I will probably stick with iTunes Music Store.
This is not a sponsored post, but rather an informational post with a call to action about what I believe to be a pretty cool program. Those that have seen Circuit City ads have seen the firedog services that are offered such as network configuration, tv installation, etc. Owing to the fact that "fire" is in the name, firedog is running a program that encouraged firehouses across the country to write stories that described ways that they went above and beyond the course of duty. Ten finalists have been chosen and each firehouse will receive $20,000.00 in free equipment along with the essay writer receiving a $10,000.00 technology makeover for his or her house.
Seats are still available, just follow the link below.
Ever noticed how you never see pictures of scratched up military vehicles? Further, you never see pictures of military personnel out with Turtle Wax to protect the shiny finish of their vehicles. I started wondering what the military paints their vehicles with and was actually able to find out. 
In the footsteps of Google Mobile, GrandCentral now has a lightweight, mobile-specific version located at 
As much as I've tried to use Blackberry alternatives over the past few years, I am now a Blackberry Pearl user on Cingular. Previously I've defended not using a Blackberry because it makes it look like you're talking into a pocket calculator (I still think that, by the way, about the non-Pearl form factor Blackberrys) and because a lot of my mobile e-mail interaction in the past has been simply cleaning out my inbox. However, I now find myself needing to be able to send responses that extend beyond the abilities of T9 text input.
Increasingly the biggest challenge for home consumers will be managing their data storage. As broadband speeds continue to accelerate to allow rapid downloads of larger files, as we start to store multiple gigabyte video files, as we continue to store increasingly large photos at higher and higher resolutions, and as simple software takes more and more space, the need to store massive amounts of data and to do so in a redundant manner will become increasingly necessary. Currently most home consumers use external drives to store files and more sophisticated consumers use multitudes of external drives as software RAIDs; some consumers use hardware RAID devices as they become more and more popular and cheaper.
I was fortunate enough to receive a galley edition of The Dip, Seth Godin's newest book. As the book is a pre-production version, there may be some changes to the final language, etc., but I'm going to try not to really quote anything and just give you my $0.02.
CNN reports that a federal judge has ruled that Vonage can continue to infringe on Verizon's patents for all existing customers, but cannot add new customers and must post at $68mil bond. The CNN article does point out that although Vonage feels that this is not an equitable solution, this really is a "middle-road" solution that allows Vonage to continue to service existing customers rather than completing shutting down the Vonage service and allows Verizon to not worry about additional patent infringements while knowing quantifiably the amount Vonage is infringing.
If you're like me and have an older (read "pre-2005") iBook or Powerbook and you miss the ability to enable the feature set that allows you to use 2 fingers on the trackpad to do various things, you'll definitely want to check out iScroll2.
