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technology

Konfabulator Kraziness

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konfab_top.gif
Yahoo has added another one of my favorite sites to their service – first Flickr, now they have announced the acquisition of Konfabulator. And best of all – it’s now FREE!

Konfabulator is a Windows/Mac tool to allow users to run small mini-apps (called Widgets). The company was created by former Apple employee Arlo Rose, and preceeded the Tiger Dashboard by several years. It remains my favorite over Dashboard – as it has a simply amazing catalog of user-created widgets, and best of all the apps remain on-screen at all times, easily accessible from a menubar icon or expose-like function key reveal feature.

Frankly, I keep one of my two office monitors cluttered with widgets. I’ve got several webcams on there, rotating through radar images, a local Atlanta TV station towercam (all via the WebImages widget). I have Hong Kong, San Fran, Denver, Atlanta and London wall clocks (WorldClockPro). I also have a minicalendar, a couple of spiffy uptime/cpu usage monitors, a weather warning widget, and a great widget called the iTunes Companion. If I play a song w/out album art, it fetches it and installs it in the MP3. Sweet!

I had paid for Konfabulator (it used to be a nag-ware product) for the Mac a couple of years back. When the PC version came out, I was bummed to discover that my existing SN wouldn’t work on the new version – I’d have to pony up cash for the PC independent of the Mac. This past weekend, I was actually considering a purchase for the PC – but Y! made that decision a bit simpler.

Anyway, it’s great news that Yahoo has seen this as a product to spread via their considerable market reach. The PR indicates that they saw value in using Konfabulator as a means to extend access to Yahoo’s APIs. Seems like another in a series of major portals buying a pay service and setting it free. Google’s Maps/Earth (Keyhole) and Picasa are just two examples…

Links:
Konfabulator’s letter to the community
Slashdot reports on the purchase
Om Malik breaks the news about Pixoria’s buyout
PaidContent.org on the new business model

technology

In the Pipeline

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Over the weekend, CNN loosened some of the secrecy around the upcoming premium video product hinted at in June when free on-demand video clips were launched. The new product, called CNN Pipeline, will feature multiple live video streams from around the world, according to the press release. CNN News Group Pres (and my former boss at CNN/SI) Jim Walton presented a demo to the Television Critics’ Association summer press tour, and compared some other network’s recently announced offerings as being to ‘PONG’ as Pipeline is to Playstation. Jim doesn’t mince words, ya know.

There is plenty of buzz in the media and the blogosphere – here’s a roundup.

Broadcasting & Cable – LINK
Reuters – LINK
MediaBistro – Code for the Pipeline
PaidContent.org – How different can Pipeline be?
LostRemote – CNN.com gives Pipeline sneak peak
What’s Happening at CNN – Pipeline Revealed

sam

Rescue Stroller

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Need to look into the Mountain Buggy Urban Double Stroller. According to published news reports, one of these $600 units collapsed around a baby girl and saved her from a building collapse in New York last week. Read the story here on CNN.com.

sam

Rollover

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Big news today on the Sam front. Amy reports that during today’s ‘Tummy Time’, Sam demonstrated his ability to rollover not once, not twice, but THREE times. At just over thirteen weeks, we think that’s pretty cool. Picture updates to come shortly.