Newspapers offer print-friendly downloadable papers

The Daily Telegraph has announced a download-and-print version of its popular daily newspaper. It includes a news, business, TV listings, sport and puzzles page and is, in essence, a condensed form of the actual paper.

It's an interesting idea and one that will help spark interest in newspaper content amid the blog culture of the modern internet. But unilke previous ideas this one seems like a winner. After all I'd rather have something to read in my hand if I'm scanning a newspaper. It is much more eye-friendly and easy to download for anyone. You can even download and print only the bits you're interested in.

It really is a printable alternative to a feed-reader and a great idea for quick read content.

Visit telegraph.co.uk/pm to download todays edition. Downloads are available between 4pm and 9pm.

The Guardian also offers a download edition.

Sony say 'We don't care' to PS3 critics

Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, recently responded to critics with a crushing statement. When asked if Sony was worried that the PlayStation 3 wouldn't outsell the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii Kutaragi responded "We don't care". He went onto to completely dismiss all criticism surrounding the console. In my books he was right to rubbish the media doom-saying. Let's get a few things straight. Sony doesn't need to worry about the popularity of the game releases at the launch. Releases include a few new dazzling concepts and new material from established giants such as Devil May Cry 4 and Ridge Racer 7. It's a gamer's paradise title-wise. The PS3 clocks up a few points in other areas. The Xbox looks like a kid's toy compared to the devilish black of the PlayStation and the Wii has the crappest name in history. The PS3 may be late but, as they say, better late than never.

Googlemail Hack for Email Icon Generator

A while ago I posted on the difficulties of getting a logo from nexodyne.com's generator that displays a @googlemail address. I still can't solve that one but I have a workaround if you want to create a link to a @googlemail address with a Gmail icon. First go to nexodyne.com and get a Gmail email icon for your Googlemail address (e.g. example@gmail.com). It's very simple. You simply add the image address from the nexodyne.com icon generator with the necessary tags and add a mailto: link that links to your @googlemail.com address instead of mine. You're still stuck with an icon displaying a Gmail address but it doesn't matter as long as the actual link is to your real address. It's a simple hack but those with no experience of HTML will not be able to grasp the concept. It's still too hard for the average user.

The secret to the iPod success

The most successful products are not just as the name suggests. Successful products become brands. Products like the iPod. I've surveyed the iPod's progress off-handedly for a while (not owning one myself) and I've become convinced at several points that it was due a crash. Nothing could stay so successful for that long I reasoned to myself. I was wrong. Because through the marketing of Apple and the magic of word-of-mouth the iPod has become something else. Portable Music Player is now spoken only a breath away from the word iPod. It has become the icon for the genre. It started off simply. iPod designed a product that simple outstripped anything seen before. It offered new levels of functionality and was coupled with a brilliant piece of support software; iTunes. It didn't take long for the product to gain momentum. A reputation was built that fed the fires of superiority. The iPod almost single-handedly kick-started the legal music download scene. The little white earphones became legendary. Nowadays even a superior product cannot dislodge the iPod. It has become so entrenched in the market that a blunt object couldn't batter it out. For it to be dislodged a new technology would have to emerge. And with every new generation of iPod gaining new features it's hard to see it falling anytime soon.

Email icon generator excludes UK users

After browsing Blog U yesterday I followed anniebluesky's recommendations and headed to nexodyne.com. The site offers icons displaying your Gmail address so that you can post them on your blog, site, whatever. The idea appealed to me at first. Unfortunately the email address I wanted to enter ends in .googlemail.com. Which is fine normally but not for the icon generator. The icon generator offers no option to create a .googlemail.com icon. Only a Gmail one. In one fell swoop the guys at the site have excluded most of the UK Internet users. It's no secret that the UK is unfortunate enough to be forced to have the undesirable email addresses. But it would be nice if anyone made allowances for it.

Microsoft needs to innovate more and copy less

Once upon a time there was a company named Microsoft that eagerly led the market with feats of innovation. Not any more it seems. Microsoft is under attack from all sides. As Linux becomes more accepted the Microsoft OS is under threat. Google and Yahoo! are leading the Internet software market and Microsoft can barely get an elbow in. This surely is the moment for class-leading new concepts and ideas. A time for Microsoft to produce revolutionary new innovative technology. But at the very moment when it needs to wow the world Microsoft is playing copycat. The list grows every longer. In the next few days Soapbox, Microsoft's You Tube clone, will be live. By Christmas Microsoft will be touting its own iPod. Then there's MSN search and Internet Explorer 7. Can Microsoft develop a new product of its own? The company's survival depends on it. In a market led by innovators such as Google the only way to compete is to innovate on a larger scale than ever. Microsoft needs to accept that it is no longer the leader and adapt to being a competitor. It can't keep trying to steamroller every new product with one of its own. Microsoft needs to get off its backside and get running because if it's not careful it's going to lose the race.

What Jeff Killed

This unconventional blog was spotlighted recently by Webuser magazine. According to the site the 'Web site contains disgusting/disturbing images, has no value whatsoever, and due to its content should not be viewed by anyone'. But it is very funny. In a dark kind of way. The blog is about a cat named Jeff and documents his kills. Destroying lives is Jeff's favourite past time it seems. The sight is made even more viewable by the witty commentary to the pictures. The remarks add a bit of light-hearted humour to the business of a tomcat. While the premise may sound sick to some it is enetertaining in the same way that seeing someone trip over on a banana is. You shouldn't really laugh but you can't help it. Visit What Jeff Killed blog

Microsoft's Zune looks set to flop

Microsoft's anticipated 'iPod-killer' is looking a little less desirable. A report byAmerican Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu described the Zune as 'underwhelming'. It looks like the negative publicity has set in already. And it looks well-deserved. Leaked photos of the Zune have been likened to the Toshiba Gigabeat, another competitor that's failed to make its mark. As Toshiba is manufacturing the Zune it is understandable for sure but certainly not what most people have been hoping for. Microsoft is offering nothing outstanding as of yet. The Zune will probably cost $300 and host a 30GB hard drive as well as a Wi-Fi feature and an FM tuner. While Wi-Fi is an interesting attraction Shaw Wu expects this to majorly affect the device's battery life, with the analysis predicting 'three-to-six hours' of juice. And the iPod has 10-to-14 hours. Nice. Microsoft is hoping to make an impact on the portable player with better specs than the iPod but this a strategy doomed to failure. Many competitors have tried this line of entry but have flopped against the iPod's sheer desirability. If Microsoft is to succeed it needs to offer an all-new concept. Innovation won Apple the market; perhaps it can win it back. Microsoft needs to tailor a product as desirable as it is functional and playing copy-cat just isn't going to fit the bill. As of now the Zune looks set for obscurity. Unless Microsoft can reinvent the genre the market will still be looking for a real iPod competitor. Thanks to PC Advisor magazine. Keep up the good work!

Google Spreadsheets is a minor let down

Continuing the Google theme this week; let's look at Spreadsheets. Spreadsheets is Google's first real foray into the webtop; the transition of traditional desktop programs to the internet. It's essential groundwork for the company but is a little disappointing in practice. Traditionalists beware: Spreadsheets is nothing like your desktop spreadsheet program. It's set like a hybrid email control interface. This is a bad move by Google as it makes the interface far less intuitive that one would like or, indeed, expect. If you log into Spreadsheets expecting a mini-Excel you'll be surprised. It is a fairly effective interface nonetheless and all the right options are there including formatting buttons such as bold and underline. Unfortunately this is offset by the lack of familiar Excel and Open Office shortcuts such as the fully tooled right-click menu. All in all there's not a lot to be said for the interface and it isn't up to the usual standard of Google products. Can Spreadsheets redeem itself elsewhere? It would certainly seem so. It's wonderfully easy to import files from programs like Excel and familiar file names are all supported. Import is breezy-all the formatting is imported with no fuss. As usual with Google sharing is a major part of the experience and Spreadsheets is no exception. You can enter a few people's email addresses and let them join in. They can share the sheet instantly by simply logging in (Google accounts are a must). Multiple editing can take place at once and you simply communicate with your pals via a chat window in the program.

Of course the main benefits of Spreadsheets are the same for every web program. There's no program to download; you only need an internet connection and a browser to edit from anywhere. All your work is stored online safe from harm and auto-save prevents a hard-drive failure wiping out your latest edits. If you want a back-up copy you can easily save and export spreadsheets to your own PC in CSV, XLS and HTML formats.

While the interface needs touching up Spreadsheets is a brilliant program with lots of options for the feature mad. It's simple and it works and it's got the Google stamp of quality. Lets hope that Google can chuck in a few more features before Graduation.

Is Google's Internet monopoly a good thing?

It's hard to miss Google. It's everywhere and anywhere. It's even in the dictionary. A lot of questions are now rising about Google's image and intentions. Let's try and answer some. The big issue is user details. No one steals money from the bank anymore; why bother when you can impersonate someone and steal everything they possess in secret? Protection of personal data is now the hottest debate around. Google of course has access to an awful lot of it. If Google chose it could build an intricate profile of all of us for the highest bidder. They haven't yet and I doubt they will. What people don't get is the fact that anyone can make money but few can build a positive image. Google has its image to consider and its mantra 'Don't be evil' defines the company. Google would crash if it released its user data. Its reputation is built on a foundation of positive brand identity and if that crumbled the whole house would collapse. We needn't worry about Google respecting our personal data. I'd be more worried about Yahoo!, a company that demands your darkest of secrets in only the sign-up process. I don't have a Yahoo! account but I have a Google one. The up-shot is this: as long as Google protects our data and remains the provider of top-quality software then I won't be worried. Google is still growing and it can't risk a collapse. Rest assured that Google is stepping real softly round its shareholders and customers.

Blogger Beta takes the blogosphere forward

I expressed delight previously when I discovered I could log into Blogger with my Google account. What I didn't release at first was that I was logging into another world. The world of Blogger Beta. Beta is curiously named. Beta generally means the initial product, the incomplete masterpiece. But Beta is actually the latest form of Blogger. Sounds like word-bending to me. Get the dictionary police. Ahem. Anyway there's a lot to Blogger Beta. An awful lot. It's dominated the Blogger Buzz blog for sure. The new features are a mix of mind-blowing and yeah-yeah-about-time-you-lazy-gits. There is now a feature for tagging blog posts that's a sort of categorising exercise. It's about a year late but thanks you guys. Also there's a rather yummy feature for controlling who can read your blog. Before (or is that after?) you couldn't restrict access to your blog; now you can intricately control the process with invitations and other things we mortals slobber over such as email adding and author control. There's more too including a revolutionary new design interface. Instead of agonising over HTML you can now drag and drop bits all over your blog. You can add new lists, feeds (including comments), photos, descriptions and other goodful stuff. It's a breeze to use and very intuitive. There's a few nice extras too including a new dashboard that puts helpful stuff within reach and there's also some new templates that everyone will use to and spoil. Instant publishing is also adding which eliminates the need for constant republishing after changes. It's a good feature until you balls up and can't recover. It's an about-time-you-lazy-gits feature. All in all Blogger Beta is yummy to the extreme. It's range of features and easy use make it a brilliant upgrade. You can only register new blogs on it at the mo but invites are landing in Blogger accounts as we speak. Here's hoping I get called up soon.

Google Earth is a whirl of a ride

I recently installed Google Earth and was staggered by its features and awesome satellite photography. After opening Google Earth you get treated to a Star-Wars-esque view of the world that gradually zooms in. The simple search box allows you to pinpoint almost any location in the world. I found my house and then the home of a friend in Uganda. With two clicks I can now whizz to and fro to anywhere in the world. The experience is somewhat jazzed up by the awesome travel affects. As you are taken to your destination you whirl and spin with X-Wing barrel rolls. It's awesomely extravagant. The bundled locations are incredible. Fancy a trip to New York? Two clicks. Baghdad? Two clicks. The Grand Canyon? Another two. It really is a most brilliantly spectacular time-waste and of special merit to Star Wars fans who never got to fly that X-Wing...

Log into Blogger with your Google account

I can remember talking to a friend a few months ago about this idea. I expressed bewilderment that, despite been owned by Google, you could not log into Blogger with a Google account. Well someone at Blogger must have a tap on my phone because this feature is now available. Of course this wasn't my idea (though I'd like to think that). Nevertheless I can't help but jump for joy at this new Blogger option. When presented with the Blogger home page you can now choose whether to log into Blogger normally or in Beta. If you choose Beta you can enter your Google account login. You can then start a new blog under Blogger Beta. I'd like to be able to log into my current Blogger account with my Gmail login though: this feature is sadly non-existent at the moment. After all I've been blogging for ages in my Blogger account and I don't want to start afresh. This new feature is a great idea with lots of potential. Hopefully we'll see the benefits soon.

Tony Blair forced out of office

Blair has finally relented under the immense pressure from rebel Labour MPs. The Prime Minister has vowed to leave the office before the 2007 party conference. This event is a sad example of greedy politicians trying to direct the weight of public opinion onto a scapegoat. With the party receiving bad publicity over numerous issues such as the 'Iraq situation' MPs have tried to preserve their reputations by taking Tony Blair down. The Labour Party is to fault but Tony Blair has fallen. Gordon Brown will add nothing to the top job and will be hard pushed to even hold the party together after this public scuffle. The reality is Labour needs to go back to its roots and redecide its principles. The changes need to come from deep within not from the top. I bet Dave Cameron's dancing.

I'm going to see Kasabian!

As you can tell from my previous post I'm a bit mad on Kasabian. So mad in fact that I've booked to see them live in December! I'll be seeing them perform live at the Nottingham Arena on the 15th of December. Kasabian have a reputation as a spectacular live band. They've been nominated for live performance awards in fact! I'm sure I'm in for a treat. Especially as the 15th is Sergio Pizzorno's (Kasabian's bass player's) birthday. It's going to be an electric musical event.

New Kasabian Empire album is brilliant

Kasabian have always been manufacturers of 'brilliantly antagonistic rock and roll' but the new album really is something special. The boys from Leicester have poured out all the stops on the new release. Empire soars with wonderfully delicious tracks such as the fabulous Shoot the Runner and the haunting By My Side. Every track has its own flavour (fast, energetic, angry, thoughtful) but all are unmistakeably Kasabian. Kasabian's self-titled debut was an experiment with rythm but Empire is positively -pumping. Kasabian swallow rythm whole, chew it over and spit it out with an all-new flavour. Every song has an unmistakeable punch to it like the throb of a train track been assaulted by a bullet train. But it's not all bruising beats. Kasabian have always had a message to their music and it's subtly and memorably deployed. You could enjoy Empire as the musical achievement it is but dive deeper and there's a commentary underneath. From what I've seen Kasabian are blasting everyone's preconceptions away. Empire the single went to UK number one and it's not hard to see the others following. If you want the album of the year then its right under your nose. Making sweet noises of rock and roll.

Google Calendar is a winner

I’m a big fan of Google applications and I use my Google account to get my mitts on anything I can. Gmail, Analytics…I’ve got the lot. But until recently Google calendar hadn’t graced my screen. But I’m happy to say it’s been worth the wait. Google Calendar subscribes to the Google theory of getting the ball and running with it. Within a minute I had the basic functions of the Calendar sussed with no difficulty. The Ajax-tastic interface is a joy to navigate. There are several calendar views available; day, week, month, next 4 days and agenda. They all work brilliantly and are clear and easy to understand. You can add events to each day with no hassle and it’s easy to add details such as venue and time. You can also add event descriptions and comments if you can’t get enough features. There’s even an intelligent Quick Add feature that recognises and implements phrases such as ‘Dinner with Michael 7pm tomorrow’ or more complicated variants. It’s easy to drag your friends into Calendar. You can choose various options to share with others, with various levels of access and control to choose from. You can invite others to your Calendar and decide their access level with an easy control system. You can even display a toned-down version of your calendar on your website with some nice HTML or import or export from and to Yahoo! Calendar and Microsoft Outlook. But my favourite feature has to be the easy management of multiple calendars. By way of a simple checklist on the left sidebar you can overlap and merge multiple schedules at once. For example you could have a personal events calendar, a meetings calendar and a work plan all running at the same time. All colour coded. If that’s not lovely I don’t know what is. All in all I’ve only scratched the surface of Google Calendar’s features. The range of options is staggering but the basics can be grasped in 5 minutes of clicking around. In conclusion I can safely say that Google Calendar is a brilliant application that is another great addition to the Google arsenal. Outlook beware. Google is coming.

McAfee Site Advisor

An intriguing idea this one. McAfee is using it's superb security background to give us all added awareness on the net. But not in the way you'd expect.

After installing the extension from McAfee a small bar is added to your status bar. It's an interactive button that flashes Green or Red when you visit a site. Green means McAfee's researchers have found the site to be a safe zone; red means it isn't a safe site and you should avoid it like the plague for risk of viruses and suchlike. You can view McAfee's info about the site by clicking on the button.

Site Advisor also adds extra featrures to searches. All your search results on, say, Google have a small icon beside them. A green tick means it's safe; yellow means it's doubtful and red means it's deadly. You can click the icons for more info. Also you can recommend McAfee to investigate unmarked sites.

Site Advisor is a useful add-on that can be a handy companion. It's a new way of avoiding viruses and unwanted content. Hopefully this can help everyone cut down on web nuisances.

I'm all for it. Maybe you should try it too.

Good points
Easy to use; unobtrusive; handy; a good early warning

Bad points
Not all knowing

Rating
5 stars

Get McAfee Site Advisor

Another Triumph for the England Football Team

Okay so triumph is probably the wrong word. Massacre is more appropiate. Last night England beat Andorra by five goals to nil to add another notch to the dressing room tally. Steve McClaren's unusual squad choices proved themselves beyond repute for the second time. The exclusion of Beckham from the team was controversial but necessary; with such a talented midfield there's no place for the Real Madrid star. But what of the other players? Jermaine Defoe is firmly back on the radar. The striker (who was excluded from the World Cup) scored two goals deep in the opposing penalty box with assistance from his team mates. Peter Crouch joined him up front and scored two more goals of his own accord. But it wasn't the work of the strikers that characterised the England performance. The midfield was, in a word, brilliant. Only Steven Gerrard scored from a midfield position but the others were providing assistance left right and centre. Long balls flew forward with startling accuracy, the sheer pace of the attack dazzling their opponents. Sure they were playing a substandard side. But that isn't the point. England were spectacular by anyone's standards. Owen Hargreaves played brilliantly; tackling, crossing and passing with speed and prowess. Stuart Downing also did fantastically with a series of fluid runs. Frank Lampard made precious little impact but provided expert assistance. But the performance of the match was Aaron Lennon's. Brought on in the second half, the young player ran at a dazzling pace past three defenders like a burst of sunlight, looping round to put a cross straight onto Crouch's head for the big man's second goal. Lennon has proved himself consistently to be the fastest of all England's players and a lethal weapon in his own right. While the individual performances were excellent it was the team that proved itself. A true team is greater than the sum of its parts. Every England player knew his purpose and every one of them showed true English grit and determination. It's not hard to envision the future victories. Long may Steve McClaren's reign continue. (NB-some of the player links in this post link to the wrong page in Wikipedia. For some reason Blogger isn't allowing me to alter links at this time. If you click the link choose the option 'Search for "Steven gerrard" in existing articles' or similar on the Wikipedia page presented to go to the actual player page. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

The Greatness of Email Subscriptions

Some of you may have noted the addition of an email form in this blog's sidebar (pretty isn't it?). However I doubt most of you know what it's for. Don't worry it's simple when you know how. The email form is a simple service provided by Feedburner. It allows you to collect email updates from this blog in a similar fashion to RSS updates. However, instead of viewing my latest post in a newsreader you get an email straight to your inbox that contains my latest write-up. If I post you get an email update. If I don't you don't get an email. Simple. However the email update varies from an RSS equivalent in a few ways. It's not an RSS replacement; it's more of a complimentary dish. If, like me, you lose track of all the feeds in your reader you'll love email updates. An email update is a pushy reminder that I've just posted. Pushy in a good way. It helps remind you that some blogs are still merrily posting away. It's more of an email newsletter than an RSS copy-cat. People who don't get RSS will easily grasp email updates. What's more the process is very streamlined. You enter your email, click subscribe, verify the subscription and away you go. Only I can see your address and to be honest I detest spam too. I won't violate your trust. Email updates are a great alternative or complimentary to RSS updates. The Feedburner service is quick, simple and completely free of charge. The way it should be really. Why not give it a shot? More about Feedburner email

A Day in Kampala

Yes I'm back from sunny uganda after three weeks. It's cold back here in England but at least the water is drinkable and the electricity reliable. Yes Uganda was a harrowing experience but nonetheless enjoyable. The holiday can be firmly cast into the character-building category. Allow me to describe a day in Kampala (I drafted this in Uganda!). The morning starts much the same way as the rest; a sweaty, bleary-eyed awakening to the sounds of excited children and screeching erels. After scrambling awake to a breakfast of Weetabix and toast we begin the day in earnest. Along with our friends Carlos and Tanez we leave the tranquility of the hospital complex and get our tyres muddy in the heart of the city. We wade into the traffic in our Land Cruiser playing chicken with the locals. Rest assured, Ugandan motorists are the worst in the world. Minibus taxis block entire lanes, mopeds weave like swarms of locusts and pedestrians use the road as a pavement. A lifetime of ducking and weaving has made the locals merciless but friendly individuals. There are no fixed routes in Kampala; you simply go with the flow. We stop and start through districts of all varieties; poor, rich, Western, traditional. After half an hour of heart-in-mouth we reach Garden City. The heart of the district is ted by a Western-style super-shopping-mall. There are several stories to the building and construction is still continuing. Thankfully we're only visiting the supermarket. Culture shock has hit me like a brick. The supermarket is called Uchumi and reminds me why I supermarkets. The rich investors are truly wrecking Kampala. For me anyway. Afterwards we glug Fanta and devour crumbly pizza before setting off again. We consider swimming at the International Hotel but the prices are out of even our league. It's the rich Ugandan haunt for sure. We cruise back home dejectedly to the blazing midday sun. Despite the drawbacks (quirky electric, dusty streets) I'm drawn to Kampala. It feels alive in a way I've never encountered in the West. The city is making the best of a cruel world. The people of Kampala are keeping Uganda's heart pumping.