Google Public DNS
Could spell trouble for OpenDNS. I'm jealous of their netblocks.
Google Public DNS is a free, global Domain Name System (DNS) resolution service, that you can use as an alternative to your current DNS provider.
To try it out:
- Configure your network settings to use the IP addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as your DNS servers or
- Read our configuration instructions.
If you decide to try Google Public DNS, your client programs will perform all DNS lookups using Google Public DNS.
Amazon.com Universal Wish List
In case you missed it, Amazon.com has a wonderful new tool for adding items from any website to your Amazon wish list, so you can create a central repository of Stuff You Want. All you need to do is add a bookmarklet to your browser - instructions are provided - and click on it when you see Stuff You Want. Fill in a few details in a window that will pop up and you're good to go, or rather your friends and family are when they feel you've Been Good.
Unfortunately it's not available on the laggardly Amazon.co.uk yet, but that doesn't really have an impact on functionality. Just make sure you send people to both when you're scumming for Stuff. :)
Micro-USB Mobiles in Europe
Obsolete before it actually happens?
Top mobile telephone suppliers have agreed to back an EU-wide harmonization of phone chargers, the European Commission said on Monday, hailing the pact as good news for consumers and the environment.
The Commission said the agreement would involve the creation of an EU norm, and that the new generation of mobile phones would use a standard micro-USB socket to ensure compatibility.
via Reuters.
Opera Unite
While I won't assign it the "reinvention of the web" tag others are giving it quite yet, Opera Unite is something new in a space where we really don't see truly fresh things very often. In a nutshell, it's a mashup of "traditional" web services, peer-to-peer, and your browser; in more detail, it's locally hosted file sharing and communications, with the following services out of the box:
- Media Sharing / Player
- File Sharing
- Web Server
- Photo Sharing
- Messaging ("Fridge")
- Chat ("Lounge")
Yes, we can install all those services on our own computers - many of us have done for years - but the social aspect makes them all much more accessible. It's a bit clunky now, but in time - particularly if they hook up with Facebook Connect or similar - you'll be able to find people and help people find you, and take complete control of your services.
I like this. I won't use it right now because I couldn't possibly move away from the browser I've created out of Firefox, but when it comes out of beta I could well switch over. I like control over my data, and Unite gives it to me.
I’m still not a blogger…
Although to be fair to Mark from the Sunday Times, he did tell me he'd be doing a piece and quoting me, unlike the thieving hacks in the Star who steal content from Foot.ie on a near-weekly basis. This is in relation to Amazon's decision to start shipping electronics and the like to Ireland again. I'll continue down this road.
Adam Beecher, another blogger, is not impressed with the internet retailer’s change of heart. “I’ll continue to buy elsewhere, apart from exceptional circumstances,” he said. “I have no intention of jumping back into bed with them just because they flip a bad decision three years later, and implement the change badly while they’re at it.”
I would like to say though, Mark, that it would be nicer if you asked, rather than informed. I understand you don't have to for a simple soundbyte, but it's nice to be nice. But thanks anyway, I appreciate it.
Palm Pre
[This has been in my drafts since January 9, only noticed it now. It does have a motion sensor and landscape mode btw.]
The wife'll kill me, I want one of these and I only have my Treo Pro a couple months.
It seems to settle a major deficiency in the Treo Pro, namely Windows Mobile. It's not a bad mobile OS per se, but the hardware is a tad underpowered for it, and it has niggles that can't be addressed because of it's closed nature. That said, I don't know if the Pre's webOS will be open either, but hopefully Palm will have generated Clue from their Windows adventure. And drop it forevermore...
One other apparent deficiency would appear to be a motion sensor and/or landscape mode. You'd think that if it had it, the presenter in these PC Pro videos - well worth watching by the way - would have demoed it; although it has to be said that despite best effort, he's no Steve Jobs and might have been better off deferring to someone with more charisma.
(Via Slashdot.)
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