Mobile Mesh

http://m.mesh.com

So Microsoft Mesh (beta) is open to everyone now (should be some entries on this in my "Shared Items" list. You can sign up with a Live ID at http://mesh.com. Worth checking out - providing shared storage and file synching, and some remote control, plus it is really a platform that we should see amazing applications on in the future.

But also, they have turned on the preview of the mobile site (URL above)! So now you can access your "cloud" from Windows desktops (with a full-featured desktop client at home or from a website at a friend's house), AND from your mobile phone (Windows Mobile or iPhone for instance) via the mobile site.

And the Mac and Windows Mobile full clients should be coming out soon too.

Meebo Community IM

http://www.meebo.com/communityim/

I heart Meebo. It allows me to login once, and then IM via all of my favorite instant-messaging networks (AIM, MSN, Google, Yahoo). I no longer have to pay attention to who is on what network, and in fact can have group chats including users from multiple networks. There are no downloads, it's a web page. All that is truly ground-breaking and amazing. The interface is top quality - beautful and functional in a way any other web app could learn from.

But that was just the start for them. On top of that beginning, they have added Meebo-me - which is the ability to put an IM widget on your website so people can ask you questions. Then they created an application API for their site, so that you can run apps over Meebo.

The most recent activity however, has the potential to blow the doors off of social networking. They have innovated the ability to add IM right into any social networking sites.

These folks are poised to go far. Hats off.

LTE Long Term Evolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Long_Term_Evolution

If anybody besides me was wondering, this is what Vzw (Verizon Wireless) plans to roll out for a 4G network.

One interesting aspect about this is that this is actually a switch from the natural upgrade path for CDMA to the natural upgrade path for GSM, which opens the door to a possible world-wide standard.

OMA

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124598.aspx

I bet I knew this at one time, but forgot it. However what a cool tool. Exchange since 2003 comes with not only OWA (Outlook Web Access) but OMA (Outlook Mobile Access) - which is a web-based client for mobile devices. Wowo!

Old time stories

In honor of Bill Gates' retirement, Leo gets a bunch of old timers on to tell stories. This is amazing stuff:
http://twit.tv/149

Then Steve Gibson responds with an awesome story of his own about Bill:
http://twit.tv/sn151

(These are podcasts - from the webpage your best bet is to download the mp3 and listen to it. Steve's story is somewhere about half way into the podcast.)

i phone whiplash

That's right.. it' the support group for the conflicted i760 users who are going over to the enemy's camp:

http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/apple-iphone-i-phone/113497-vzw-i760-traitors-unite.html
I'm not there yet but I understand the pull! Thanks Bob for the link.

AVG8 - not as good as 7 but still as free

Now I know I shouldn't be complaining about free software. But 7 was sooo perfect. Now AVG (8) needs my attention every time I boot and am not connected to the internet for it to get updates. Well I have a laptop! 7 didn't seem to mind, just waited until the next connection, quietly and patiently.

And then where there is an update, it needs to pop up a window I have to ACK. Why? Just get the update? Who doesn't want signature updates etc?

Any adding icons to all my Google searches? That's just silly bad. And when I try to shut it off I get a big X through the tasktray icon.

I guess there is nowhere to go from the top but down. But why?

What a Web Service Should Be - Bit.ly

http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/BitDOTly_Is_a_Big_Deal_URL_Shortener

http://bit.ly/docs

This is exactly what I have been talking about for years! The programmatic web. Send a get, get some data. No need to make it so complicated. This is a perfect example.

I send the url of my last post:

http://bit.ly/api?url=http://iponderus.com/2008/07/problems-with-ie7-on-apple-mobileme.html

I get back nothing but: http://bit.ly/1cyP69 in plain text!

I send the shortened version:
http://bit.ly/resolve?url=http://bit.ly/1cyP69
I get back my original url in plain text!

Plus you can get stats in xml or json:
http://bit.ly/feed.php?url=http://bit.ly/1cyP69
http://bit.ly/feed?url=http://bit.ly/1cyP69&format=json

Bravo!!!

Problems with IE7 on Apple MobileMe

Right from Apple's description of MobileMe on their web store -
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB611Z/A?cid=OAS%2DUS%2DKWG%2DMobileMe

"Internet Explorer 7 is not fully supported. Internet Explorer 7 has known compatibility issues with modern web standards which affect web 2.0 applications such as MobileMe. You can use Internet Explorer 7, but you will not have access to all MobileMe features and will experience slower performance."

Yikes! It's only the most popular browser by a wide margin ( http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=2 )! Why would you bother to make sure your site works with it when when you are charging $100?

Alibaba

http://www.alibaba.com/
Just ran across mention of this site in Scoble's Friendfeed comments.. Global trade - perhaps would be helpful if you wanted to set up some kind of manufacturing operation from scratch. Pretty cool anyhow.

Zipit

http://www.zipitwireles.com/

Little handheld clamshell device with keyboard - wifi - used for texting and IM (also plays mp3s and shows pictures).

Currently marketed for tweens and teens, I could totally see the twitter crowd jumping on this thing.

Also is an amazing price for an unlimited tex plan ($10/mo) if you overlook the wifi only restricition.

I would love to have one for automated paging.