These days, just about anyone can play the domain game, and more and more, people are finding a reason to. A domain is a top-level website address (a url) that identifies a website. The domain also includes all of the sub-directories within it. The appeal of owning a domain can be vanity or utility. It can identify a brand name (think cnn.com) or a mission (freeadvice.com) or sometimes a whole statement (try this one.) A lot of people are content with just buying their own name .com. [ Read The Rest ]

You may not have seen ads that Google is running on your YouTube screen, but chances are, you will soon. Google Inc., which recently acquired YouTube, started testing overlay advertisements this week. The ads will appear after a 15 second interval across the bottom fifth of the video screen as you watch the clip. The ad space, which is partially transparent so it does not completely obstruct the view of the video showing underneath it, disappears after being displayed for 10 seconds. [ Read The Rest ]

Here's an innovation that you have been waiting for with bated breath: a remote activated iPod. Japanese developers at Osaka University are working on a device that will turn your iPod on and off by clenching down on your teeth for a full second which signals the device to turn on. This remarkable invention isn't just for the disabled, it is actually being marketed to the average consumer who doesn't want to reach for the iPod itself to press play. [ Read The Rest ]

It used to be that cell phone shopping was easy and the hardest decision to make was to switch companies because phone numbers did not transfer. Phone numbers are now portable, but the cell phone purchases and plans are more confusing than ever. Discounts are more complicated because some phones have a two-year contract price, some with mail-in rebates, some have online discounts or even Visa gift card rebates. Phones have more features, but there is less to distinguish one phone from another, even across companies. And calling plans are just expensive.
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Wait, you mean YouTube's announcement of plans to share revenue with its users didn't cause even one suspcious reaction? How is it possible that a vague announcement, scant of any details whatsoever, by YouTube's founder Chad Hurley, was only met by cheers.
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Is it too late to find a peaceful compromise in the digital music revolution between record labels and consumers? It is not just record labels that are refusing to find a middle ground between ease of sharing digital music and ensuring listeners pay for it. Consumer attitudes and actions are not helping matters any. Has the gap between the two sides widened past the point of identifying a resolution?
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Cell phone maker Motorola commissioned a behavioral study to examine the effects of cell phone empowerment. Specifically, how has the cell phone given our collective self-esteem a lift?

The study identified new behaviors associated with cell phone use and analyzed how the phones impact our everyday lives. It concludes: mobility boosts freedom, freedom boosts empowerment, and empowerment boosts self-esteem. And thus Motorola says, buy their cell phones.
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by R.C. Ricci

Raise your hand if you let the computer salesman tell YOU what you needed to buy the last time you bought a PC.

Keep your hands up if you took computer buying advice from a friend or a colleague.

I'll also bet that you spent a lot more than you had hoped too? You are not alone. Don't despair.
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