BijanBlog

500 reasons to say thank you

There are a few web services that come a long every few months that grab you, take hold and won't let go.

One of those very web services is MyBlogLog. They are cool guys and I have enjoyed getting to know them since before the Yahoo acquisition. When I'm in SF and everyone's schedule lines up we have been grabbing coffee and keeping in touch. They are in my social network on Twitter as well so I always know when Eric is playing games, that Scott is now in Europe and Todd is hard at work.

I've had the MyBlogLog reader roll on the right sidebar since I met them. I actually added it the day I turned my blog from a family only place into a work/family/& 'everything else in between' blog. And it's been one of the best ways I've gotten to know folks that visit my blog. I met Howard through MyBlogLog and consider him a friend (we had great sushi yesterday in NYC).

Today I logged into my profile on MyBlogLog and was thrilled to see that now there are over 500 kind souls that have joined my blog's community. All I can say is thanks.

Genius

I had every intention to goto this years D conference

But I missed it.

I'm still catching up on the various interviews but I liked this one the best so far.

Steve Jobs is a genius.

Hyperballad

This is a really wonderful acoustic cover of Hyperballad by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The original is from the album Post by Bjork. Worthy addition to any collection.

Bring on Street View mashups

Santo and I were playing around with Google's new Street View this afternoon.

It's amazing.

This Sunday night Lauren and I had dinner at Tartine in the west village in nyc. It was a beautiful night. The city was mellow and the food was great. And eating outside is just the best.

I didn't bring my camera but here is a photo of Tartine from Street View.(click image to see larger version) or here is the actual link

I can't wait to see what Street View mashups will come out first.

Local advertising is going to get really interesting.

Without training wheels

We took off Ellie's training wheels a couple of weekends ago but didn't really get much practice time.

So yesterday we went out to practice. Ellie was pretty nervous and she wanted me to run next to her in the beginning. Then it just clicked and she got it. I'm glad I had my camcorder.

She was on cloud 9. We were so proud. Sophia and James were cheering for her too.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Geotagging in Flickr

Flickr has had geotagging support for awhile

it's very cool and very easy to do

I usually forget to add geotags but I'm going to try and add it to my workflow routine

If I did geotag a photo than you will see a "Map" link like this photo.

Then you can click on the "map" link and presto. it's a beautiful thing.

How is my cholesterol doing?

I'm not sure actually. I had it checked about a year ago and I really don't remember. That bothers me.

Why can't I just go to a website and pull up my medical record? Who owns it? I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure it's my body and I should own it. It shouldn't be tied to any medical practice. It should be tied to me.

Then I should be able to look at it when I want. Add comments. Maybe tags for current conditions. I'd like to able to track things like how much did I weigh on my last 3 physical exams. What was my blood pressure. Am I happy with my doctor? I need to have better control

I've been banking online for about 10 years. This data is about as confidential as my health records. Do we have to wait another 10 years for personal healthcare to join the rest of us online? I hope not.

Who is going to fix this?

Weekend in Long Island

  sophia, james and ellie 
  Originally uploaded by bsabet.

We are visiting my parents in Long Island for this memorial day weekend.

The weather is amazing and we are having fun playing tennis, bbq and hanging with grandma and grandpa.

I uploaded a bunch of photos today to flickr.

Facebook apps

Lots of Facebook news these days about their new platform. That company is amazing.

I added Twitter to my Facebook profile today. And I also added Veoh. So if you are in my Facebook network you can check out some of my home videos that I have uploaded to Veoh. It's pretty cool.

This is what it looks like.

I don't think they support Flickr  inside of Facebook. Hopefully that will happen soon.

Blackberry 8830 - world phone

Earlier this week a friend of mine that works for Verizon Wireless sent me a new Blackberry 8830

I was traveling this week to the west coast so I wasn't able to get it all set up until today

This thing is incredible. It's small, thin and light so I now longer feel like I'm holding a sherman tank next to my face. The bluetooth radio works great with my car. And the address book even sync'd. I'm still getting used to the glowing trackball instead of the trusty wheel but it already feels pretty good. I actually like the keyboard better than my previous 8703 (where do they come up with these names?)

And this phone is bi-lingual. It's a CDMA blackberry when I'm in the USA and it can do GSM when I'm in Europe. Sweet. Yes, I know the GSM roaming fees are pricey and yes, I know that it's a locked phone. Blah, blah, blah. But i'm happy so let me :)

With this phone I'm also switching my mobile phone number. I had been using a GrandCentral competitor. It just felt too complicated for me and for people trying to reach me (I can hear Andrew cheering now). I'm now completely addicted to Simulscribe (thanks Jonathan for the tip). 

Those of you on plaxo network should have received an update by now and I sent an email out earlier as well. If you are someone that should have it and didn't get it then please send me an email and I'll get you my number

Did I mention this phone is shinny too...

Politcs - personal, not business

I've received a fair amount of emails in response to some of my recent politcal posts. I appreciate all of them. I do wish those folks would comment on my blog vs email but that topic is for another day One thing I want to make quite clear. This is my personal blog. And my political views are just that - personal. They don't reflect the views of my firm, spark capital or my partners etc. And I'm not influenced whatsoever by the political orientation of the entrpreneurs that come into my office. I'm sure many of my friends on "both sides of the aisle" would agree with this. Peace :) (Pls excuse any typos, sent from my blackberry)

Star Wars video mashups. woot!

Tomorrow on StarWars.com Lucas is making 250 clips available for editing and mixing various clips with user generated content as well.

And users will be able to publish their mashups everywhere.

The tools have been here for awhile. In this case StarWars.com is using Eyespots products. There are others that are great as well. And iMovie on a Mac is super easy.

But now we have content owners understanding the value of getting this stuff into the hands of users. George Lucas, who has always been ultra conservative on protecting his IP, is jumping into the pool and no doubt others will now follow. Get your hands on a copy of the Phantom Edit if you want to see how creative users can be.

Wow, now we really need a big honking database and web service for content owners to dump their clips and make them available instead of one-offs.

Anyone want to start this?

Vote for Me.dium

Me.dium is a great service that allows you to socially browse the web and communicate with others in real time (see last months mashable post describing the service). We are investors in the company.

Even though it's in closed beta, Me.dium has been selected as a Webware 100 finalist. Very cool.

So if you are enjoying Me.dium please cast your vote.

And thanks.

ps: if you aren't on me.dium yet and want to give it a try then let me know in the comments. i'll send you an invite.

It's not easy being a democrat, part 2

This is a follow up to my earlier post on the subject

I'm on a plane flying from boston to sf right now. I'm reading the nyt and cannot tell you how bummed I am with my democratic party. (I'm writing this on my blackberry so can't provide any links at the moment)

Two very  troubling stories

-democrats have decided to remove a troop withdrawal deadline from the iraq war spending bill. The only folks that seems furious are a few freshman congressmen and good old senator russ feingold (readers of this blog know I'm a huge fan of sen feingold). Thanksfully, Speaker Pelosi also said she wouldn't support this.  See page 1.

-the other news in the nyt today is that the democrats, who are now in charge of the House, are not willing to take on tough ethics changes so badly needed and part of the reason why dems were elected in the first place in the midterms. Also page 1.

I'm sick about this.

Great cover by Death Cab

Last night a friend of mine sent me a link to a 2005 NPR interview with Death Cab for Cutie.

Ben and the guys play a few live songs from the album Plans. Towards the end of the interview they play an acoustic cover of Matthew Sweet's Sick of myself. I always loved that song.

NPR is still streaming the show but sadly no podcast. So, I had to use WireTap to create this (lossy) mp3 but its still awesome. Enjoy.

Sick of myself

Congrats Wallstrip

Congratulations to the Wallstrip folks. CBS acquired the show and it was announced today.

Well deserved win for Howard, Adam and Lindsay and team. I'm thrilled for them.

Wii are family

We have had Xbox and PS2 for years.

Those machines only get a workout when my nephews come over. Usually Kevin destroys me or I get a break once in awhile and take him at Madden 200x.

Then we picked up the Nintendo Wii. And it's really so much fun. Last night the whole family played Wii sports (except for little James who is only 15 mos old). This thing is a really a riot. Watching Ellie play Wii Boxing is a hoot. Sophia was giving Lauren tennis tips. I wish I had taken some video. Next time.

Howard, Lindsay and howard's son are hilarious in this Wallstrip show covering Nintendo and the Wii. So funny.

 

It's not easy being a democrat

I'm a democrat. I've been active in various elections and less so in others.

But it's harder and harder to stay on the team.

Sometimes my party feels like republican-lite.

My friend Jason sent me a link to the current article running in the Nation called Hillary Inc.

Worth reading the full piece if you are a struggling democrat looking for a 2008 candidate.

I've copied the first few paragraphs here for your easy reading

In a packed ballroom in midtown Manhattan, Hillary Clinton is addressing hundreds of civil rights activists and labor leaders convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton for his annual National Action Network conference. The junior senator from New York starts slowly but picks up steam when she hits on the economic anxiety many in the room feel. "We're not making progress," she says, her sharp Midwestern monotone accented with a bit of Southern twang. "Wages are flat." Nods of agreement. "This economy is not working!" Applause. She's not quite the rhetorical populist her husband was on the campaign trail, but she can still feel your pain. "Everything has been skewed," Clinton says, jabbing her index finger for emphasis, "to help the privileged and the powerful at the expense of everybody else!"  

It's a rousing speech, though ultimately not very convincing. If Clinton really wanted to curtail the influence of the powerful, she might start with the advisers to her own campaign, who represent some of the weightiest interests in corporate America. Her chief strategist, Mark Penn, not only polls for America's biggest companies but also runs one of the world's premier PR agencies. A bevy of current and former Hillary advisers, including her communications guru, Howard Wolfson, are linked to a prominent lobbying and PR firm--the Glover Park Group--that has cozied up to the pharmaceutical industry and Rupert Murdoch. Her fundraiser in chief, Terry McAuliffe, has the priciest Rolodex in Washington, luring high-rolling contributors to Clinton's campaign. Her husband, since leaving the presidency, has made millions giving speeches and counsel to investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. They house, in addition to other Wall Street firms, the Clintons' closest economic advisers, such as Bob Rubin and Roger Altman, whose DC brain trust, the Hamilton Project, is Clinton's economic team in waiting. Even the liberal in her camp, former deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes, has lobbied for the telecom and healthcare industries, including a for-profit nursing home association indicted in Texas for improperly funneling money to disgraced former House majority leader Tom DeLay. "She's got a deeper bench of big money and corporate supporters than her competitors," says Eli Attie, a former speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. Not only is Hillary more reliant on large donations and corporate money than her Democratic rivals, but advisers in her inner circle are closely affiliated with unionbusters, GOP operatives, conservative media and other Democratic Party antagonists.

Wide angle lens review

Amin (my kid brother) picked up a new Canon wide angle lens recently and posted a review on his photo blog.

He's having lots of fun with his new toy.

Disney video mashup

I thought the Battlestar Galactica video mashups were pretty cool.

Here is another video mashup

The creative folks at Stanford University's Documentary & Film program developed this video using a large variety of Disney video and audio clips.

The purpose of this particular mashup is to highlight issues surrounding copyright laws and fair use doctrine

Very clever. Check it out here.

We need a big honking database full of video and audio clips so we can do video mashups easily and legally. Maybe something like what Snocap is doing for indie artists on myspace but instead for video mashups.

Content owners could dictate the rules, ie. whether their assets can be used with or without advertising, with or without fees and with or without creative commons credentials etc.

We are the creative generation

Aztec Camera

Saturday morning happy 80's music.

Oblivious by Aztec Camera. Enjoy.

Gargoyles

Peter at Bug Labs suggested several months ago that I read Snow Crash . I've been meaning to read it for a long time. It's pretty well known that Linden Labs cite Snow Crash as the inspiration for creating Second Life.

I picked up the book on a trip to SF last month and finished it pretty quickly afterwards. It's a great story and I highly recommend it. It's hard to believe that this novel was published in 1992.

Neal Stephenson predicts many concepts in this novel. The Gargoyle might be the most interesting. Stephenson's Gargoyle's are individuals that are rewarded by creating and uploading content to the Metaverse (i.e. Internet) 24x7. They are so into this that they cover their body with gear to help them capture/upload data to the network constantly. And they watch, record and update.

Powerful idea. Blogging, twitter, flickr, veoh, youtube are key ingredients. And so are things like Justin.tv, Stickam, and Scoopt which provide different types of tools and incentives.

And while some might be worried about BigBrother issues, I see it as a powerful idea to connect us all. In a good way. No wonder video from things like Michael Richards all the way to the tragic gunfire at Virginia Tech came from a camera-phone. Just wait until the mobile phone can broadcast live content.

The long tail is about to get much longer.

Friday tunes

After the NNN board mtg, Fred Seibert asked me what music we're listening to these days.

Some new and some old was my response. And a lot of "old new" stuff too.

Ben Gibbard seems to frequently be playing on our speakers at the Sabet household. We're not burnt out by any means.

Here's a great acoustic live performance of Ben playing  To Sing For You.mp3 (which is a Donovan cover)

This song then moves right into "brand new colony".

Enjoy.

SF vs SV

I found this on Brad Feld's blog this morning.

ValleyWag created a San Francisco v Silicon Valley clip to mimic the Apple v Microsoft ads.

It hilarious.

The twitter exchange is the best.

My twitter addiction

I continue to be amazed by Twitter.

It's part of my social network online and on the go. I'm addicted to updating but I'm also addicted to checking in on my friends on twitter.

I've tried to express why it's valuable to me but I think Dave Winer's post today really nails it. It's hard to understand the true value until you join, add your friends and start using the service. Online and on your mobile phone (SMS or wap)

So, Howard, jump in the pool. The twitter water is great :)

OpenCoffee Boston

Unfortunately i've missed the last few OpenCoffee Boston mtgs because of my travel schedule.

But I'll be there tomorrow @ 9am.

Hope to see you there.

Re-Search

I've been using Lijit for awhile and highly recommend it. It's a nice way to search this blog and also search my content on the various sites that I belong to as well as my network.

Todd Vernon over at Lijit and I have been trading emails about my recent scanner purchase. After I convinced him that this scanner was killer, he told me about Lijit's latest feature called Re-Search.

I added it to my existing Lijit search widget on the left sidebar of this blog. So now if you do a Google search on "bijan webkinz" for example and then click thru on the second link you will see this on my blog.

I think this is a powerful idea. You get a nice interface to the results and results from my network. I love it.

I have a few more ideas on how to further improve Re-Search that I'm going to send to Todd tonight.

I'm sure he is already miles ahead of me though :)

Here's the post from Lijit's blog on Re-Search.

Internet Video

This afternoon I was on a panel at Streaming Media East today in NYC. The topic of the panel was "From the Web to TV: New Media Delivery Revolution"

On my panel was Fred McIntyre from AOL, Tara Maitra from TiVo and Ed Lee from Akimbo. Unlike the panel I was on last week, I liked this one. I was at a NNN board meeting in the morning today so I had a lot of ideas swirling around my mind. Some of them I felt comfortable sharing and I did. There were video cameras rolling so if I get a copy I will post it at some point.

I enjoyed Tara's view on the future of internet video, how internet video business models are evolving and  Swivel Search (announced today).  More about TiVo and some future stuff in a post soooon. Fred and Ed and the audience also had a lot of interesting points. Jose did a nice job moderating the session.

There were varying opinions on our panel but one thing is clear. While lots of folks in the press, startups and big companies are trying to connect the web to the TV, consumers are enjoying video on their computers like crazy. They aren't waiting nor will they need to. The big screen tv is just another display. not the only display.

Right now I'm on a train from NYC back to Boston. And I'm watching a bunch of videos on veoh, youtube, wallstrip and veracifier on my Macbook w/a verizon evdo card. And it's great. It's fun and it's interesting.

Here is todays episode of Veracifier. It's a good one.

Stats

I've been playing with the latest version of Google Analytics. I have running it on this blog for the past 8 months.

Some of the browser/OS data of BijanBlog readers is interesting to me

69.7% of the folks that read this blog use Windows vs about 30% use a Mac

The Mac number is much higher than I would have thought. Apple's market share has grown significantly recently. Analysts are saying Apple now holds about 6% in the US market.

At the same time the IE number is higher than I would have guessed. Wow, 37% are using IE on Windows to read this blog. I understand why some folks don't want to make the switch to Macs. I get it.

But to my Windows friends, you gotta install Firefox.

Your life will be better.

Video Mashups

A few months ago the show Battlestar Galactica started providing tools for their fans to create video mashups. They also included video and audio clips from the show.

Looks like they struck a chord with their audience. Unfortunately, I can't embed the videos on my blog but you can see the various video mashup creations here. You will probably only enjoy these if you are a fellow BSG fan.

This is really interesting and a good sign of things to come. I am not aware of any other show that is doing this. But can you imagine if the creators of South Park, Simpsons, Lost or Sopranos allowed video mashups and provided video & audio clips. It would generate tons of fan loyalty plus new creative content and new business models/revenue streams.

Let me know if you have see any other shows make their video/audio available for mashups. This is getting exciting.

Wii are having fun

  Ready for the pitch 
  Originally uploaded by bsabet.

Last month I tried the Nintendo Wii for the first time.

It was a total blast. I wanted to get one for our house but it's been sold out everywhere. And I really didn't want to overpay on ebay.

On Friday Lauren and I went to a fund raiser. The first item auctioned off was the Wii

I won the it and we are having so much fun (yeah, I overpaid but it went to a good cause :)

Sophia's favorite so far is baseball as the photo shows. Mine is tennis. Ellie loves boxing. Lauren just smiles at me.

Happy Mothers Day

To lauren, grandma, nana and all the other moms out there,

Happy mothers day.

Arcade Fire rocked Boston tonite

We just got back from seeing Arcade Fire at the Orpheum tonight.

Oh my god. The music was amazing and these guys just rocked boston. the fans were also fantastic.

They played old and new stuff from Neon Bible

I wish I had my camera but I forgot it. So I grabbed this version of the song "Rebellion" so you can get a feel for what this band is like live. Update: Previous video was taken down so here's another one of the band live.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Jeff Jarvis' take on Andrew Keen

Jeff Jarvis has a fine, well written post on Andrew Keen today

It's much better than my semi literate rant.

NNN all over iTunes

Our portfolio company Next New Networks has video content all over iTunes now.

Cool.

Microsoft phone

My Blackberry 8700 has served me well I guess. Sometimes it feels like I'm walking around with an old HP100LX though.

With so many phones to choose from it's hard to decide what I should get next.

It was great seeing Brad yesterday. It doesn't happen often in person but I always like hanging out with Brad. We talked about a bunch of things and at the end he gave me a quick demo of his latest mobile phone (the T-Mobile Dash). Good looking hardware. Works perfectly with Exchange. Hmm. tempting.

Michael Parekh also seems to be struggling with his next new phone.

Maybe I should just wait for the new MS oPhone :)

The genie is out of the botttle

The recent deal between Disney and Cox is interesting to me. They are going to disable fast forward functionality on VOD. It's an effort to preserve an endangered species (aka the 30 second spot)

I'm not opposed to ads. I want content creators and distributors to make money. We have portfolio companies that are counting on ad sales.

But I think anytime you force the consumer to do something unnatural you are going to lose. At the very least it will bum out that user and that can't be good. And forcing someone to watch an ad (especially for time-shifted/prerecorded content) seems unnatural to me.

I think we need to find creative solutions here. NNN is rolling out some new pre-roll campaigns at VODCars that integrate the pre-roll and the show itself. And Wallstrip has done a masterful job integrating product placement in some of their shows. NBC is reducing their 30 second prerolls to a 15 seconds and YouTube is going to reduce it even further.

DVRs and VOD is a platform for innovation. We can do a lot with these platforms to make sure the economics work. New ad units are starting to emerge and there are a lot of lessons (good and bad) that can come from the online world to the cable/satellite/iptv world.

We shouldn't go backwards and turn off functionality or make the consumer experience worse. It's too late. The genie is out of the bottle.

Flickr's new slideshow - at last!

I've been waiting for Flickr to improve their slideshow.

This afternoon they came out with a new version at last

From the Flickr blog

"We've launched an improved version of the Slideshow.
Here's the feature comparison:

Old Version -- sucks
New Version --  rules!

You wanted bigger photos!
You wanted to see titles + descriptions!
You wanted to see your photos on a black background!"

It's awesome.

I'm happy.

Early MMJ

I recently picked up The Sandworm Cometh by My Morning Jacket

It's a collection of their early songs that were never previously released.

If you are a MMJ fan than you will want this album in your collection

Lots of great songs. I really love this cover of RocketMan from this cd. It's grown on me a lot.

Enjoy.

New blogger in the family

My brother Amin is a doctor in Maryland

I've encouraged him to start blogging since he's super passionate about photography and other stuff.

He started today with 3 posts. I liked his review of a new lens he recently picked up.

If you are into photography and related gear than you should check out his blog and photos.

First round of the season

  Brian O'keefe 
  Originally uploaded by bsabet.

Brian and I played golf today. It was my first round of the season. I started with a bogie but had a pretty shaky round. Long irons were messy. My chipping saved me.

One of the guys we played with told me about a Robin Williams video on the how the Scottish invented golf.

I found it on Veoh tonight. First 40 seconds are okay but then it gets really funny.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Method

We recently started buying cleaning products from Method

Lauren made the the discovery and i'm glad she did.

Great quality, non-toxic, recyclable materials, biodegradeable and no animal testing.
Nice design & packaging too -  I think even my friend Josh would approve :)

I think its cool that they have "advocates" on their site

Highly recommend it.

Candid shots

I dont' go anywhere without my Rebel XT or my little SD800. I love making pictures.

But I take way too many few candid photographs. I know that.

With all of my gear I should be a better photographer.

Today Lifehacker posted some helpful tips on how to take better candid photographs. Worth a read for my fellow shutterbugs.

Andrew vs Justin

I was at the AlwaysOn conference in LA today. I was on a panel that was sparsely attended and not very organized. We didn't have a host/moderator. Bummer. And the panels were behind schedule so my friend Chris Fralic had to bail from our panel for his next one. Double bummer. I was feeling grumpy. Oh well.

But before my panel I saw Justin go head to head with/against Andrew Keen. Andrew has a book coming out called the Cult of the Amateur. He made the argument over and over and over again, that social media is killing our culture.

I don't want this post to sound like an attack but I really couldn't believe it. Andrew believes that MySpace, bloggers, and others contributing to our social media revolution are not qualified to contribute to the conversation. His point was that Digg and MySpace were going to lead the downfall of the NYTimes and other traditional media sources.

I'm not kidding. He cited the usual complaints about Wikipedia as an example. He said it was appalling that Pamela Anderson Wikipedia entry was longer than some historical events.

Andrew believes that some of us are qualified to be part of the conversation and others aren't. I wonder if he has a list published in his book of those that can and can't. He even suggested that the government and the role of big media should maintain standards -  otherwise we will have an internet full of pornography and gambling. Huh? I was waiting for him to qualify who should and shouldn't vote based on intelligence.

Anyway, I'm sorry if this post feels like a rant. I don't know Andrew and I'm sure he's a good dude. Maybe he was just trying to be provocative to sell copies of his new book. I guess I'm used to being a little bored at these events so this one touched a nerve.

I think justin and justin.tv are interesting and fun (isn't fun okay too?). 

Do I want to watch Justin.tv? Not really. It's not for me.

But obviously I'm a fan of personal publishing. We are still in the early days of where this is all going. And it great. As a simple example, I would love to broadcast my kids ballet recital or soccer games to our family members and close friends all over the planet.

I think what Justin is doing is actually a big deal. I like that he's pushing the bounds. We should pay attention and learn something here.

Go Justin.

New blackberry looks sweet

I have been a verizon wireless customer for a long time. They have the best network especially if you live in New England.

But I have always had GSM envy. My GSM friends always get much cooler handsets. And they can bring their phones overseas. Something my current Verizon Blackberry can't do.

The soon to be available Blackberry 8300 from Verizon looks great.  It does CDMA and GSM. And it has a micro sd slot. And AIM support.

I wish it had a camera though. But otherwise it looks just right.

or maybe I should just wait and see if i can get the iphone to talk to our exchange server...

OpenCoffee Boston

I'm not able to make OpenCoffee Boston today or next week because of my travel schedule

But it looks like a lot  more folks are coming these days which is so cool

I'm looking forward to going on 5/17 and the following sessions in the month of May as well.

Streampad meets Apollo

I've blogged about Streampad in the past

The Streampad player has lived on my side bar on this blog for over a year or so. You can play the mp3s that I have on myblog with the player.

Streampad had built a Java desktop app that makes your home music collection available anywhere thru a web browser. And Streampad offers a bunch of other community features on top of this service (last.fm support, google maps, friends/profiles etc). But while the web service for Streampad has been so cool - the desktop/home server version was not simple.

Dan Kantour who is the founder of Streampad emailed me last week about the new version of the Streampad Desktop that is done in Adobe Apollo. It's the first time I've used an Apollo based app.

I finally got around last night to installing Apollo on my home mac server. it was a breeze to install and set up the new Streampad Desktop to scan my iTunes library. Now I can access my library anywhere through a standard web browser. Works great. This is what it looks like inside of a browser.

I can also configure Streampad Desktop to have up to 5 guests access/stream my home collection. Very helpful.

Nice job Dan!

Barack Obama on Twitter

Senator Obama recently joined Twitter following Edwards.

I added him to my network and now following his updates.

I like that he's making statements on twitter instead of just light updates about his whereabouts. I hope he keeps it up.