I have what may be a radical suggestion for the “always control you content” types, you should consider making a change to your show’s site: instead of providing an “iPhone friendly” version of your site, send iPhone and iPod touch browsers right to your iTunes listing. This accomplishes two things: it keeps you from having to find (or make) a good mobile version of your site, and it gives your visitors the ability to add your podcast to their device immediately and start listening right away. For those of you who missed it, the most recent set of new features for the iPhone included the ability to download...

I gave a tech scorecard for emergency infrastructure after a major earthquake here two years ago. I return to that scorecard for the island-wide power blackout we had over the weekend. The results aren't good. The only bright spot was Twitter.

George Gilder once pointed out that when the availability of a given resource shifts from scarcity to surplus, a lot of wealth is created. In the technology realm, one can think of processing power, storage and bandwidth as the great “wealth exponential-izers” of first the PC era, then the Internet era, and now, the Mobile Broadband era (as these...

I keep waiting for the magical convergence box in my living room. You know the one; it’s the Web TV that actually works. In Boxee (social media center), Apple TV (iTunes in my living room) and Square Connect (iPhone/iPod touch based Universal Remote), I finally see the framing for a Smart, Connected Living Room to emerge. Never confuse 'Chicken...

Here's a clever Web service: Find a CD or DVD online, click the Paper Case link, and it will print the cover image and details. Then you fold the paper, tuck your disc inside, and slide the package into a binder, saving lots of space.

While sweeping some of the detritus off my desktop today, I discovered a free MP3 download code I'd sliced off a disposable cup from a sandwich shop. Seemed like a good excuse to try out Amazon's MP3 store. So I entered Amazon's MP3 Downloads area, input the first disposable song title that popped into my head, and clicked. Amazon prompted...

A few weeks ago, my General Manger, Dan Brodnitz, asked me to create a new feature for our Digital Media site. He showed me a sample video of an online editor chatting about recent topics his site was covering. Dan wanted something like that for O'Reilly Digital Media. "But," he said, "I don't want you to spend a lot of...

Guitarist and programmer Lucas Gonze made an interesting observation about my new experimental Web audio player. Although it's clunky compared to his work, he focused instead on its "cool new ideas" and how they evolved.

Electricity flows. So does information. This is an attempt, to describe a metaphorical 'socket,' light bulb and currency flow by connecting the dots between three potent technology trends: Widget-ization of the web. Ascendance of mobile platforms, like the iPhone. Ascendance of mobility platforms, like the iPod touch. Imagine a device called a ‘wall widget’ that functions as a piece...

If you suddenly find that your ftp listings no longer work right, and the BLasted-UnnamEd-HOSTing service won't take responsibility for fixing httpd.conf, you can fix things by adding the variable definitions to .htaccess files yourself.