At this point I believe Microsoft could release just about any Ultimate Extra and it will surpass the things that they have already done. To my surprise, however, they’ve actually released a game called Tinker that isn’t all that bad. It’s a simple puzzle game where you try to guide a robot from point A […]
Read the full post by clicking here.Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should […]
Read the full post by clicking here.According to Zillow.com, the home I purchased last fall has increased by 70% in less than a year:
While I wish that was so, I have a hunch that any real estate agent I talked to would collapse if I suggested listing the property for what Zillow suggests.
There are two upward spikes in the green line on the graph that represents what Zillow has thought my home was worth over the past decade.
The first, a year ago, is when I purchased the house for WAY more than Zillow said it was worth at the time.
The second is when Zillow decided that the house was worth WAY more than I paid for it.
So which is it?
Neither.
But, if you look at a large enough set of data, Zillow’s numbers are probably pretty good. Notice the trend of the Yellow line. That represents the median price of homes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
But here’s the problem: I already know that my home is a bit above average if you take the entire city into consideration. You don’t need to show me a graph to explain that concept to me. What I care about is my OWN house, and I know that data is broken.
So what exactly is the value of this data beyond inspiration for a blog post?
Book of the Month: The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World
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Web Browser Wednesday
Google Chrome has taken the browser market by storm ever since its release a few weeks ago. The only complaint that I’ve really heard about the browser is that it doesn’t support add-ons like Firefox does, but Google has already said that a future version will be covering those bases. It’s already been […]
I love this show! Not only do we always have a great time, but I get to show off the latest and greatest technology to the masses. In this live episode we cover: TWITTER! Now keep in mind that TE is a bit more of a techie blog, but just the idea that Twitter is now on TV shows such as CNN and even the afternoon talk show tells me that it is either mainstream or very, very close to mainstream now.
Luckily all of the Twitter downtime happened right before the show and they were stable once we went on-air. Was a fun moment watching the hosts play with Twitter and get the ‘Something has gone wrong’ screen.
Book of the Month: The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World
Gadget of the Month: Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod and iPhone
Web Site of the Month: Google Docs - Used to Write Technology Evangelist Posts
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Today was a pretty big day for Google’s Android project with the unavailing of the first Android powered phone at the T-Mobile Google Android Event. Making an appearance at the event was Google’s own Sergey and Larry. Apparently they were trying to come in with a bang, because they entered on rollerblades.
So here’s what you […]
Last week we saw a revamped version of Paint in the third Windows 7 milestone. At the time there weren’t any other screenshots available, but it looks as though someone who got their hands on Windows 7 M3 has decided to post some screenshots showing off more of the enhancements.
Here are six of their screenshots […]
Welcome to Daily Downloads brought to you by CyberNet! Periodically throughout the week we bring you software updates for widely used programs, and it’s safe to assume that all the software we list is freeware (we’ll try to note the paid-only programs).
As you browse the Internet during the day, feel free to post the software […]
Google’s policy against clicking AdSense ads on your own website continues to annoy me. This time, it was a post on the Inside AdSense blog that drew my ire:
However, we strongly advise against using your own AdSense for search box for a couple of reasons. First, it can increase the chance of accidental or invalid clicks on the ads that appear on the search results pages. Second, this will inflate the number of queries in your reports, giving you an inaccurate picture of the activity on your site.
I search the archives of this site almost daily in search of relevant links to things I’ve written about previously. I’d hate to see this site’s AdSense income wiped out due to clicking on ads served to me based on what I searched for just because they were served on my own site.
The ads site-search ads are, obviously, highly relevant to what I searched for, so clicking makes sense.
Google’s policy of discouraging clicking ads they serve against my own searches makes my site less usable for me.
As I’ve mentioned before, Google needs to come up with a setting that allows users to claim their own sites, then simply not compensate the site owner for clicks they generate themselves. This would make site owner’s own sites more valuable to themselves and benefit Google’s advertisers who would receive more traffic from site owners who could click with confidence.
Book of the Month: The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World
Gadget of the Month: Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod and iPhone
Web Site of the Month: Google Docs - Used to Write Technology Evangelist Posts
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Being a opportunistic lawyer has never been easier, than to the web, as Kevin O’Keefe points out on his law blog. One used to have to actually hang out at the emergency room to find injured clients. Now you can fish for them using Google by advertising or optimizing for keywords prospective clients may type into the search box.
Here’s an example of how quickly lawyers jumped onto the results following the train crash in Los Angeles last week:
O’Keefe is not impressed with this side of his industry:
It’s behavior by plaintiff’s trial lawyers chasing clients like this that results in laws taking away the rights of the people these advertising lawyers say they are trying to help. Laws passed in the name of tort reform. It’s conduct like this that gives lawyers a bad name.
Maybe these lawyers do not care about more tort reform. Maybe these lawyers don’t care how they look to the average Joe on the street. Maybe in the chase for the money, they’ve become blind to how they appear. I don’t know.
While this has some downsides, it’s probably better than lawyers pitching their services in person where vulnerable prospective clients have less choice. And it’s certainly better than relying on the size of lawyer’s ads in the Yellow Pages as a measure of competence.
via paulj
Book of the Month: The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World
Gadget of the Month: Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod and iPhone
Web Site of the Month: Google Docs - Used to Write Technology Evangelist Posts
Technology Evangelist Podcasts: Subscribe to Podcast Feed
Technology Evangelist Videos: Subscribe to Video Feed
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