MediaWeek has released their 2009 Digital Hotlist that covers just what has been happening in the world of the web and technology.

1. Facebook – up from #2 on the list in 2008. This site is larger in population than most of the other countries in the world. I used to think Facebook would be replaced sometime by something cooler, not so sure now.
2. Hulu – I’ve been using this more to get some free entertainment. I’ve spoken with a number of people who are debating getting rid of cable/satellite and just relying on sites like Hulu and others for their entertainment fix.
3. Twitter – I think maybe I liked it more when there were less celebrities involved in twitter, but I’m still addicted to this 140-character micro-blogging tool.
4. Google – it’s Google, what else needs to be said?
5. iPhone – I still don’t have one, trying to figure out if I’m upset about it. Is there an app for that?
6. Huffington Post – lots of left-leaning news is getting more popular these days and they’re expanding their topic base to more than just politics.
7. Bing – it’s not a search engine, it’s a decision engine and lots of people have decided to really give it a try and have liked it.
8. Wall Street Journal web (www.wsj.com) – do what? a newspaper that’s still making money online and off? What are they doing right? It appears everything.
9. Federated Media – keeping advertising interactive and relevant, all those eyes watching the other 9 sites are worth a lot of money.
10. Addicting Games – I’m not playing many games these days other than Bubble Breaker and Farm Town. Maybe I should join the millions of other users having fun here.

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Not sure exactly how they chose who to showcase here, but you can see what the person’s homepage looks like and then individually select the gadgets they’ve installed on their pages.

A new little way to feel more in touch with these folks I guess. Interesting way for Google to promote gadgets that are available that people may not have even thought about to search for in their gadget directory.

Do you use iGoogle? What gadgets do you have installed and use?

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I’ve watched the video that was released about Bing and I’ve used the new search decision engine a few different times. My viewpoint is that it’s now really anything astonishingly new or different. I’m sure the logarithms behind everything are pretty cool, but as an end-user, it’s all about the end result of my search and if I find what I was looking for right?

The one thing that always surprises me about searching for items on different search engines is that the order and results displayed always surprises me.

I will say that the way Bing organizes and even pre-organizes what you may be searching for is a nice touch. Microsoft I like what you’re doing and where you appear to be heading, but I just don’t see anything here that’s going to draw me away from Google search anytime soon.

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Snagit of Viewzi Search Results Page

You can choose to show your search results as simple text or as a collection of thumbnails as I’ve shown above after a quick search for b5media.

You can further simplify and organize your results.

Give Viewzi a try it may be exactly what you’ve been looking for, for as Google is a simple display of information, Viewzi provides a very graphical display of your search results which can be very helpful depending on your circumstances and needs at the time.

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For quite some time now I’ve been using the Google Toolbar and Google Bookmarks to store many of my preferred websites and resources.

I noticed about a week ago that there seemed to be a new feature in Firefox when I opened a new tab. Instead of being a blank tab, Google was presenting me with thumbnails of my most visited websites, recent bookmarks and even my recently closed tabs.

What a great feature and yet another reason to use Firefox and Google Toolbar. Neither of which seem to have the same features in Internet Explorer 7.

Image: Snagit of New Tab in Firefox with Google Toolbar

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I am all for Googling a date, as long as two basic protocols are observed:

#1 Google for the highlights, not the details.

• See a LinkedIn reference. Scan the top page. Is he an accountant, a musician or a nanny? There is no need to look up the company in Standard & Poor to see financial statements. However it will confirm the truth you may already know about his job and/or help you think of some great conversation starters.
• Blogs are a great place to really get the 411. But there is a dark side to this. Reading through several years or even months of blog posts can take away a bit of the dating magic. Part of the fun of dating is discovering each other. Peeling back the layers to get to know and understand the person underneath the public persona. If you read it all, not only is it a bit stalkerish, but you take away from the mystery and joy of dating. If, and only if, they tell you about their blog and encourage you to read it, should you give it a second glance. But be forewarned… Reading someone’s personal online diary creates a sense of false intimacy. This can potentially change your behavior around that person and disrupt the natural flow.

#2 Be honest about it, but don’t over-share.

• First, don’t lie about it if they ask. It’s a known fact for anyone who puts their information out on the web that it is a permanent public record. If they don’t want anyone to know anything about them, there won’t be anything to find.
• Second, acknowledging it is not a reason to over-share. If you followed the guidelines above you should be ok. But just remember how weird it will look if you talk about it in detail on the date. Oops! Do we need to reroll that footage from The Bachelor when one of the girls spilled out the details on him AND his entire family because she had been stalking him on Facebook? Yes, she actually used the word ‘stalker’ herself.

This is my bottom line, I Google to screen people. I’m looking for the red flags that would lead me to avoid dating someone. I’m a single mom and feel the need to be cautious about the people I interact with for my children’s sake. Quite frankly, I have uncovered a lot by typing in a name. For instance, the guy who asked me out at church turned out to have a Meet Up profile showing interest in meeting other swingers and investigating the impact of alternative lifestyles on young kids. Mind you, this was someone I was attracted to and felt comfortable with because we had spoke a couple times at church and around town. Had I went out with him, who knows how long it would have taken for him to broach that subject with me. I never returned his phone calls.

For obvious reasons, I think screening a date is a good thing. Realistically, we’ve been doing it for years, this is just a new methodology. Let’s hope you are doing it for the right reasons and use your knowledge sparingly and with respect. Always remember, chances are you were Googled too!

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Pre Date Screening 1990s:

Lisa phones her best friend Julie (on a land line)

Julie: Hello

Lisa: Guess what?

Julie: I don’t know, what?

Lisa: That guy from the 4th floor asked me out.

Julie: What did you say?

Lisa: Well, I said yes. But I’m a little nervous. I don’t really know anything about him.

Julie: Well he seems like a nice guy from what you’ve said.

Lisa: Yeah I know, but Ted Bundy was a charmer too!

Julie: Ya know I think my friend Brad has a friend that works on the 4th floor. I’ll call him to see if he knows anything about him, then I’ll call you back.

Lisa: OK, thanks!

Pre Date Screening 2000s:

Lisa IM’s her BFF Julie

Lisa: U there?

Julie: yeah, sup?

Lisa: 4th flr guy askd me out

Julie: And?

Lisa: I googled, he’s cool, said yes.

Julie: That Rawks!

Before the dawn of search engines and vast data stores on the world wide web, if a girl wanted to know something about a potential date, the information came from word of mouth. A friend. A friend of a friend. A friend of your step aunt’s, second cousin, twice removed. At that point it was iffy at best if you found out anything at all before dinner.

Now the rules have changed. We are in the age of digital transparency. Privacy is a thinly veiled idea on the interweb. We Press Words, Tweet, Feed Friends, Facebook & Link In our lives as a chronicled proof of our being. Thus creating gushing data streams of personal tidbits ripe for fishing. Please join me in welcoming to the postmodern world of dating, our latest chaperone, Google.

There is an ongoing debate if one should Google a date before dating them. I agree there are pros and cons to this, as with any debate. Single Mom Seeking blogged about it as a negative choice. The NYT, CNN and ABC have all had their own articles written over the last few years.

Be sure and come back to read Part 2, where we find out about the two protocols you should probably observe before Googling that guy from the 4th floor.

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Let’s just say, we really do look just like ants from that height.

Pretty cool.

Source: Obama inauguration viewed from space | Underexposed – CNET News

Uncovered by What Bill Thinks

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Image: Screen grab of Gmail by Jason Bean

I’ve been waiting patiently today as I’ve been hearing everything talk about the cool, new themes for Gmail that have now been released. It was all the buzz today on twitter but every time I opened Gmail it was just the same old look and feel.

A couple of hours ago I noticed a little bit of a change to the look and feel and thought that maybe things were in a rolling staged release for users.

I got home from work, fired up the laptop and bingo! there are the themes all there sitting and waiting on me.

The theme shown above seemed to be the popular one on twitter, and I’ll agree. It does make the Gmail interface nice and friendly. Than in itself is kind of odd in that just about all Google products pride themselves on sparse, utilitarian functionality which I normally enjoy. But this is nice. I may try a couple of different ones, there’s loads to choose form already and I’m sure they’ll keep releasing them and they’ll be expanded upon like the themes from iGoogle have been.

Which is your favorite theme? What themes are you waiting for that would be your favorite? I’m thinking pop stars and sports teams will be the first releases coming soon.

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