Five Blogs to Take Back to School In September

Part Seven In a Monthly Series

Sometimes the best blogging is going on well away from the most visible places. Since March, I've taken the beginning of each month to showcase some bloggers that are writing some solid content in their corner of the blogosphere. They may not post as frequently as some of us do, and they certainly don't have the readership they deserve. Just maybe, with this little boost, it can give them the encouragement they need to keep going, and get more prolific.

Each of the bloggers highlighted in the last seven month has been added to my Google Reader list, via Toluu, and has, to date, been consistently informative, interesting or entertaining. Prior months' entries can be found for March, April, May, June, July and August.

1) Matt Rhodes / Fresh Networks Blog (blog.freshnetworks.com)

Focus: Web 2.0, Online Communities
Recent Highlight: Social Networking for Spies
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

2) Cyndy Aleo-Carreira / Shakespeare I Ain't (www.fourlittlebees.net)

Focus: Technology, Parenting, Journalism
Recent Highlight: On Being a Feminist Parent
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

3) Andy DeSoto/ AndyDesoto.com (www.andydesoto.com)

Focus: Social Media, Technology
Recent Highlight: Blogging Is a Big Game
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

4) Alex Payne / al3x.net (www.al3x.net)

Focus: Software Engineering, Software, Computing
Recent Highlight: al3x's Rules for Computing Happiness
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

5) Elliott Hughes / elliotth’s Blog (elliotth.blogspot.com/)

Focus: Apple, Linux, Software Engineering
Recent Highlight: Desktop Linux Suckage: Introduction
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

To see even more new blogs I'm adding to my reader, or get a sneak peek for October's highlighted blogs, follow my activity on Toluu. If you don't have a login to Toluu, send me an e-mail to louisgray@mac.com and I'll get that set up right away.

Five Cool Bloggers for The Hot Month of August

August marks the sixth month where I've tried to highlight five lesser-known bloggers who are quietly toiling in relative obscurity. Each of the bloggers highlighted each month has been added to my Google Reader list, via Toluu, and has, to date, been consistently informative, interesting or entertaining. Most are focused on Web applications and social media.

There's no simple rule for determining obscurity, aside from the fact their content consistently outproduces the number of comments they receive, or likely, traffic. They don't rank highly on common measures, such as Technorati, and have, to date, avoided controversy. As this is the sixth month producing this list, don't forget to check out the archives and find 25 other sites who have been featured. Prior editions can also be found for March, April, May, June and July.

1) Chris Baskind / ChrisBaskind.com (www.chrisbaskind.com)

Focus: Environment, Technology, Social Networking
Recent Highlight: Dear Twitter: It’s Over. And It’s for The Best
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

2) Mona N / Pixel Bits (pixelbits.wordpress.com)

Focus: Wikipedia, Social Networking, Humor
Recent Highlight: Screw Facebook, I’m Learning How to Unclog Toilets from Knol (Google’s “Wikipedia”)
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

3) Kyle Lacy / KyleLacy.com (www.kylelacy.com)

Focus: Social Media, Web Applications, Marketing
Recent Highlight: How to be Productive with Social Media!
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

4) David Griner / The Social Path (www. thesocialpath.com)

Focus: Social Media, Marketing
Recent Highlight: In a Free Online World, What Are You Willing to Pay For?
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

5) Justin Korn / Justin Korn’s Blog (blog.justinkorn.com)

Focus: Photography, Social Networking, Technology
Recent Highlight: The Online Participation Factor
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

To see even more new blogs I'm adding to my reader, or get a sneak peek for September's highlighted blogs, follow my activity on Toluu. If you don't have a login to Toluu, send me an e-mail to louisgray@mac.com and I'll get that set up right away.

July's Jewels: Five Obscure Blogs that Sparkle

Near the beginning of each month, I try to highlight five bloggers who have recently caught my eye, who I think you should take a look at, who are offering good insight, especially into the world of tech or social media.

While there's no specific criteria for naming what's well known or what's obscure, each of the blogs mentioned don't get mentioned often alongside so-called A-List bloggers, and rarely, if ever, have made the rarified air of Techmeme. Prior editions can also be found for March, April, May and June.

1) Bob Warfield / SmoothSpan Blog (smoothspan.wordpress.com)

Focus: Web 2.0, Cloud Computing, Enterprise
Recent Highlight: The Rule of 10’s Makes the Internet an Early Adopter Amplifier
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

2) Jesse Stay / Stay N' Alive (www.jessestay.com)

Focus: Social Applications, Twitter, Networking
Recent Highlight: Developers Bailing on Twitter
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

3) Franklin Pettit / FPettit.com (www.fpettit.com)

Focus: Microblogging, Firefox and Extensions, Web Applications
Recent Highlight: FriendFeed Temperature Taking
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

4) Nathaniel Payne / NerdFlood (www.nerdflood.com)

Focus: Video Games, Social Media
Recent Highlight: What the hell is Toluu? And does it require a prescription?
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

5) David Risley / DavidRisley.com (www.davidrisley.com)

Focus: Social Media, Early Adopters, RSS
Recent Highlight: Scoble is Wrong About Blog Comments Being Dead
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

Five Blogs For June on Your Summer Reading List

While some out there are looking to refresh their RSS feed subscriptions by starting from zero, I believe you can still get the benefit of new voices by selectively adding individual feeds, without getting overloaded.

In the vein of the last three months' offerings of new blogs you're likely not reading, (March | April | May), below are five more bloggers who I think are worth taking a chance on, whose writings have caught my eye of late, and who need a bigger stage.

1) Coding Experiments (http://codingexperiments.com/)

Focus: Technology, Development, Coding, Social Media
Recent Highlight:
How Many Features Can Be Cut from a Service without the Users Leaving?
RSS Feed: http://codingexperiments.com/feed

2) LiveCrunch (http://www.livecrunch.com/)

Focus: Social Networking, Plurk, Twitter
Recent Highlight: Things To Do Before WWDC 2008
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/livecrunch/technology

3) Broadcasting Brain (http://broadcasting-brain.com/)

Focus: Social Media, Podcasting, FriendFeed
Recent Highlight: Punching above your weight with social media
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BroadcastingBrain

4) Neoformix (http://www.neoformix.com/)

Focus: Statistics, Data, Twitter
Recent Highlight: Top Twitter Users StreamGraph
RSS Feed: http://www.neoformix.com/index.xml

5) Michael Fruchter (http://michaelfruchter.com)

Focus: RSS, FriendFeed, Social Media, Toluu
Recent Highlight:
Cleaning up my Google reader with the help of Toluu.
RSS Feed: http://michaelfruchter.com/blog/feed/

As mentioned last month, I'm always looking for more new bloggers and interesting voices to be added to my Google Reader feeds. You can get an early tip as to new bloggers I'm following and sharing by signing up for Toluu, following me on FriendFeed, or following my Google Reader shared links blog. If you think there are more I should check out, please leave them in the comments.

Five Social Media Bloggers to Watch This May

In March, we highlighted 5 Blog Candidates for Tomorrow's Techmeme Leaderboard. In April, I suggested Five More Blogs You Should Be Reading, But Aren't. Since then, a number of these lesser-known bloggers have seen their posts gain higher visibility, including hitting the aforementioned Techmeme, and gaining both RSS subscribers and repeat visitors. (See: SheGeeks Reaches New Heights and When Your Blog Is LouisGrayCrunched... as good examples)

With the new month upon us, I'm thinking we could make posts of this sort a regular feature. Over the last 30 days, I continue to be impressed by the solid writings of many bloggers who, to date, have been below the radar. Here are five who cover the social media space who've I've enjoyed getting to see of late:

1) Colin Walker (colinwalker.me.uk)

Focus: Social Media, Blogging and the Internet
Recent Highlight: Why do we need social media role models?
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

2) Regular Geek (regulargeek.com)

Focus: Programming, Social Media and the Internet
Recent Highlight: Comment Where You Want, Just Let Me Know About It
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

3) Chris Miller / The Social Networker (thesocialnetworker.com)

Focus: Virtual Gratification Syndrome, Twitter, Data Portability
Recent Highlight: Tweeting In the Bathroom - the New Social Crime
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

4) Julian Baldwin / Notes, Thoughts, Ideas and Responses (julianbaldwin.com)

Focus: Social Media, Twitter
Recent Highlight:
Killing Many Birds With One Boulder, How and When Social Media Can Go Mainstream
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

5) Alexander van Elsas (vanelsas.wordpress.com)

Focus: New Media, Technology, Social Behavior
Recent Highlight: The Tech Elite Creates Its Own Web 2.0 Bubble
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

I'm always looking for more new bloggers and interesting voices to be added to my Google Reader feeds. You can get an early tip as to new bloggers I'm following and sharing by signing up for Toluu, following me on FriendFeed, or following my Google Reader shared links blog. If you think there are more I should check out, please leave them in the comments.

Five More Blogs You Should Be Reading, But Aren't

Not being one of the Silicon Valley elite, I've always had a soft spot for "the little guy". I've acknowledged giving the smaller Web services more leeway in their offerings, and it wasn't all that long ago that I highlighted five potential entrants to future editions of the TechMeme leaderboard. But over the last few weeks, I've gotten more and more e-mail from blog readers asking me to help open their eyes to new sources who I'm reading who are contributing some great stories, but might not have a big enough megaphone.

Here are some of my newer favorites, in no particular order:

1) Charlie Anzman / SEO and Tech Daily (anzman.blogspot.com)

Focus: SEO, Analytics, Web 2.0
Recent Highlight: The A-list just changed and you're on it
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

2) Hutch Carpenter / I'm Not Actually a Geek (bhc3.wordpress.com)

Focus: RSS, Facebook, Social Networking
Recent Highlight: The Best Blogs You're Not Reading? Toluu Knows
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

3) Eric Berlin / Online Media Cultist ( onlinemediacultist.com)

Focus: Twitter, TechMeme, Online Media
Recent Highlight: What I Learned Friday Night on Twitter
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

4) Mia Dand / Marketing Mystic (marketingmystic.typepad.com)

Focus: Technology, Blogging, M&A Activity and Social Media
Recent Highlight: Is Techcrunch the Rainmaker of the online world?
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

5) Carlo Maglinao / TechBays (techbays.com)

Focus: Google, RSS, LinkedIn
Recent Highlight: Ten Power Tips on Facebook Usage
RSS Feed: Subscribe Now

Do you have five blogs you like that you think I don't know? Let me know in the comments, and we'll fill up on Google Reader.

5 Blog Candidates for Tomorrow's TechMeme Leaderboard

We all know today's A-List by heart: TechCrunch, Mashable, ReadWriteWeb, GigaOM, Scoble, blah blah blah... but there are many other bloggers I've found who are either delivering consistent strong stories with real focus, or have the occasional gem, who I believe with time, should be the leaders of tomorrow. Below are five who come to mind, who I think could be major players in future iterations of the TechMeme Leaderboard. If you have some you think I'm missing, and I know there's no way I have them all nailed, please let me know in the comments.

1. SheGeeks (shegeeks.net)

Corvida has until lately been a more prolific Twitterer than a blogger. But she's got a great writing style, enthusiasm and energy, not to mention a fantastic site name and look. In the last week alone, Corvida has touched on the debut of Socialthing!, reviewed FriendFeed, provided her view on Twitter projects and Google2Go. I hope she chooses to keep up the pace, and with some momentum behind her, I swear we'll be seeing a lot of Corvida in the future.

Subscribe to SheGeeks using RSS

2. Futuristic Play by Andrew Chen (andrewchen.typepad.com)

Andrew to date has been extremely focused on Facebook applications and trends, and the nuances of social network or social media. Having already attracted a few thousand RSS subscribers, largely on on the back of a major endorsement by Robert Scoble in January, which sent his subscription base from the 1,000 range to around 2,500. Sticking with development in this new age of application platforms will show Andrew's success to not be a fluke. Andrew can also be lauded for not spitting out a multitude of short posts. Nearly every item is well researched and full of detail.

Subscribe to Andrew Chen using RSS

3. Charles Hudson (www.charleshudson.net)

Blogging since 2003, Charles is no newcomer to the world of tech blogging. But Charles, like Corvida and Andrew, isn't in the race for quantity - instead focused on being clear direct, with comments on FriendFeed's similarities with the Facebook news feed, how Microsoft is missing the boat in competing with Google Apps, and adding his two cents on this weekend's meme around what it takes to be a technology workaholic trying to make headway at a startup.

Subscribe to Charles Hudson using RSS

4. Seek Ground (seeknock.blogs.com/seek)

Though relatively anonymous, "Seek" offers a strong signal to noise ratio, and the author is among the most intriguing in terms of how they opt to consume and report news. While today, Seek argues many folks are trying to make content to gain ad revenue, without thinking of consumers, it was just Saturday when Seek caught my attention for deleting all their Google Reader feeds and starting over - just like when they erased their blog and restarted about a year ago. Regardless of the change, SeekGround is an avid consumer of link blogs, and link aggregators, including Feedheads, LinkRiver and Twitter.

Subscribe to SeekGround using RSS

5. Unraveling Obfuscation (obfuscation.wordpress.com)

Todd McKinney, the author of Unraveling Obfuscation, doesn't post as often as some of us do, especially those on the TechMeme leaderboard, but when on a roll, Todd can write with the best of them. In January and February, you could see comments on the engagement of Google Reader RSS subscribers, whether or not Network Solutions and Microsoft could be trusted, or how popular services are approaching the issues that come with spiraling user counts utilizing technology.

Subscribe to Unraveling Obfuscation using RSS

This "Hack" Has Two Meanings

In our tech-centered Web world, a hack is usually a bad thing - bringing up images of shadowed evil-doers aiming to break into computers or networks, looking to gain access to things not theirs, or instead, a hack is sometimes seen as a quick and dirty version or update to software - and not a good one at that. But in the world of media and reporting, a hack can instead mean "one who works hard at boring tasks" or "a mediocre and disdained writer" (Source: thefreedictionary.com).

My old editor in chief from days at the Daily Cal in Berkeley, Ryan Tate, has started up a new blog called "The Hack", self-described as "a journalist with delusions of computer science." While the blog's just getting off the ground, Ryan's already posted a few stories of note, including a get rich quick scheme building off my idea of converting .PST files to GMail-compatible mailboxes, a new killer feature for RSS feeds, and 7 suggestions to improve Google Docs.

While he and I overlapped terms at the Daily Cal, from 1996 to 1998, Ryan and I tag-teamed on some of the earliest editions of the newspaper's Web site, saw the paper and its reporters (including the two of us) repeatedly recognized in state-wide competitions, and occasionally clashed politically, as two aggressive, opinionated people working closely together will do. Now that time has healed those wounds, we're both vocally rooting each other on from the sidelines, and I hope this self-proclaimed "hack" keeps his blog on course.

Check it out at http://thehack.webmasher.com/.

Faithless Bombs Video: Amazing Music, Piercing Message

One exposure to music from Faithless, led by lead singer Maxi Jazz, will make you sure you've never heard any sound quite like it. I first fell in awe of Faithless' unique vocals in the epic "Insomnia", and gained immeasurable respect for his work with the Iraq War-themed "Mass Destruction", released in 2004. But even that didn't prepare me for the raw message and real emotion shown in his video titled "Bombs" from his latest album, "To All New Arrivals", which hit the iTunes Music Store in early November. While the album hit stores about a year ago, starting in Europe, I only found it today, and ... Wow.

While I highly encourage you to purchase the album (and two accompanying videos) from iTunes, below is the "Bombs" video, courtesy of YouTube. It's very impressive to see an artist I really already like taking such a strong political stance, regardless the consequences.

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Ps_MBXEdA



If you found this music strong or the message moving, pass it along. I'm dismayed it took me so long to find!

Indulge Your Sweet Tooth With Old Time Candy

Growing up, many a Saturday morning was spent walking to the neighborhood store with my younger brother with a little more than a few dollars in our pocket. As regular as Saturday morning cartoons, we were on our way to get our fair share of 1 cent PAL bubble gum, 5 cent Atomic Fireball cinnamon candy and 16-ounch Pepsi Cola (which I preferred to Coke back then).

For some reason, while most adults passed that particular stage in their lives, I never really have. I still have a sweet tooth, and it's uncommon to not have something around the house or at work to fill that craving. And recently, I happened upon a brilliant site that helps not only fill my need for sugar, but nostalgia too. OldTimeCandy.com has a diabetes-inducing array of candy available for individual sale or in bulk, and aids the cavity creation process by offering sets of candy from particular decades, from the 1950s through the 1980s. In many cases, you'll see names of candy you remember fondly, but haven't seen in stores for years.

It may still seem strange to buy food or candy from the Web, but there's really no other substitute for getting all these candies in one place, from the aforementioned Atomic fireballs to bubble gum cigarettes, Chuckles, Fizzies, Gobstoppers, Hot Tamales, Jujubes, Mamba, Mary Janes, Necco wafers, Pop Rocks, Razzles, Violet Gum, Wax lips and Zotz.

And that's just part of the list.

I bought the 80's mix a few months ago, and absolutely enjoyed it. The only debate was to what I would consume first and how quickly. Now, the 70's mix is set to arrive this week, and I'm seriously looking forward to it. Before you hit your holiday shopping, this just might be a great place to find stocking stuffers, or just to give you a follow-on to Halloween. But you really don't need a reason any more than I do. Enjoy yourself and try some Old Time Candy!

Are You An ACTIVE Hub?

With about 14 hours of airplane time over the last week, I had plenty of opportunity to catch up on books I've been neglecting. One of those I took in was Emanuel Rosen's "The Anatomy of Buzz", which aimed to capture the concept of word-of-mouth marketing, analyzing how some products take off (see: the iPhone and Nintendo Wii), while others stagnate despite tremendous advertising (see: Microsoft Vista).

One of the most important elements of getting a product launch or news popularized, according to Rosen, is to influence "hubs", defined as people who act as references to friends and others, and who, if influenced, can help to spread the word to many people, helping your cause.

Rosen defines these people with the acronym of being "ACTIVE", namely:

* Ahead in Adoption
* Connected
* Travelers
* Information-hungry
* Vocal
* Exposed to Media

This, to me, defines a great number in the tech blogosphere, who are obviously unafraid to share their opinions, reach many people, and suck down as much information as they can, whether from the mainstream media, or hundreds of RSS feeds from fellow bloggers. There's also no question these ACTIVE folks are connected to others and ahead in adoption. It's the tech bloggers who first adopt (and later dismiss) new Web 2.0 technologies, who are the first to download (and later uninstall) beta products, and they are all too eager to announce having gotten their hands on something new.

While this is true, The Anatomy of Buzz amazingly already seems seriously outdated since its writing in 2000. The book tries to talk about how the Internet impacts buzz by mentioning newsgroups, shared opinions sites like Epinions.com and comments on Amazon.com (including his book), but has zero discussion of those hubs that influence buying decisions now - blogs and social networks being the obvious omissions. It's also amusing to see the word Google is nowhere in the book. As a result, I found myself a little less than impressed with some portions of the book, which as a whole does a good job explaining how the Palm Pilot took off, how Nintendo drummed up excitement around the launch of Super Mario Brothers 3, and how Cold Mountain became a best-seller.

Part of being a blogger is knowing that by being ahead in adoption, information hungry and vocal, that through your connections, you can act as an ACTIVE hub. Though authored in 2000, Rosen describes this phenomenon in an offline way but rings true in today's even more fully connected world. If you don't mind the occasional rolling of the eyes over Web 1.0, it's definitely worth a reminder that it often doesn't matter just how many advertising dollars you throw at a product if the end users don't extend your message to their friends and others.

Underworld Releases First New Album in Five Years

This morning, while making a comment on Steven Hodson's WinExtra blog, a little note caught my eye: Listening to: Underworld - Oblivion with Bells - Crocodile. His blog software will imprint the song he's listening to, but for me, an avowed Underworld afficionado, to not know of this song, was outlandish. I demanded to know where he got it. His answer: iTunes. Duh. Stupid me.

On October 16th, Underworld released a new album, Oblivion With Bells, into the iTunes Music Store, and I had gone an entire 48 hours without knowing. After seeing the world-renowned group in concert twice, and owning virtually all their previous albums, this was a virtual call to arms.

I don't really need to tell you what I did next - I downloaded it. And I'm listening now. The songs are back into the classic Underworld sound - electronically altered vocals, catchy rhythms, and haunting intermixing of sounds, loops and unique lyrics.

After 2002's A Hundred Days Off, which had a pair of excellent songs, and more pedestrian tracks, I can only hope this one is as engaging as the epic Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Underworld and Beucoup Fish, which led my musical library through college and shortly thereafter.

More on Underworld: Underworld Live

LDS Church Streaming Conference Live Via the Web

The LDS Church, commonly known as the "Mormon" church, has long been an adopter of technology to further the religion's message. Now with 15 million members worldwide in 176 countries, the church is the 4th largest Christian demonination, and among the fastest-growing worldwide. One of the vehicles for the church's growth has been openness. This weekend, the church's twice-annual general conference is streamed over the Web to viewers around the globe, to their homes and meetinghouses.

Available free to all via the church's university TV network, on BYU.tv, the conference's proceedings are streamed seamlessly with some of the clearest video I've ever encountered. No buffering, no jerkiness, and crisp sound.


Click to Enlarge Each Image
I get questions all the time about the church - whether at work, or from friends and acquaintances. While I can try and give my responses to the best of my ability, I am elated to see the church's adoption of new technology to embrace transparency and bring the message to all who care to hear. For a religion commonly dismissed as a cult by people who don't understand, it sure is open, available and inviting.

Previous Post: BYU TV Is Great Web Video Resource

Geeky Web Comics, With Stick Figures

There are a few geek-oriented Web comics out there, from Joy of Tech to the Gaping Void, but among my very favorites is the oddly-named Xkcd, by Randall Munroe.

As the site states, "This comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)."

Needless to say, this liberal arts major really enjoys it anyway. Xkcd deftly intertwines mathematics, science and technology with humor, social awkwardness and dating, often with very amusing results. I recently took the time to start at comic #1 and click next through today, gaining the benefits of reading a full comic book online. Even after several dozen, I still found myself laughing time and again. While Randall doesn't slave away a the art side of his stick figures, the word play and scenarios are hilarious.

Some examples:





I hope you enjoy his work as I have. Check them out at www.xkcd.com.

Information Society Brings New Music to Old Band

Information Society was one of those bands I fell in love with in junior high and high school - with the unmistakable deep, European voices mixed in with electronic, synthesized beats. The band hit the big time with "Think", "Pure Energy" and "Peace & Love Inc.", but in a flash, disappeared into "Where are they Now?" oblivion.

Today, iTunes sent me an alert that they're back - and I'm all set to cram their new album into my iPod for the drive to Sacramento.

Their new album, appropriately titled "Synthesizer", was released September 4th, and if iTunes' 30-second song samples are any indication, should be a lot of fun, as I both enjoy the new tunes and reminisce of just where I was and who I was when Information Society's first songs were new.

Related Posts on this Topic:

iTunes Offers Something New, Something Old, Something Blue
New Pet Shop Boys Album is Fundamental
iTunes is My Only Source for New Music

BBC America Helps Beat Summer TV Doldrums

While the major television networks fill their summers with the latest ridiculous reality shows, my wife and I have been more than happy to indulge in other pursuits, including watching televised A's games, making the most of our Netflix subscription, and battling each other on the Nintendo Wii. This has left our TiVo largely neglected, dutifully taking down each Jon Stewart or Conan O'Brien airing, but not doing much else - until recently, when we asked our TiVo to step up its game by dabbling in the British arts, recording the series "Hotel Babylon" and "Coupling" on BBC America.

As usual, we are quite amused by what the proper English have put together. In the same spirit as the original "The Office" series and "Absolutely Fabulous", both Coupling and Hotel Babylon seem to be ahead of their time, sure to be poorly mimicked by wannabe TV producers here in the states in no time.

Of the two, Hotel Babylon is both newer and most promising, in my opinion. Taking what would otherwise be pure drudgery - managing a hotel, keeping guests pleased, and rooms cleaned, instead presents a foundation for all sorts of mischief, internal politics, and odd characters, with an acceptable level of sex, drugs and alcohol thrown in for good measure.

But Coupling is in itself quite funny - almost like the series Friends could have been if it were to have some semblance of intelligence, and a darker side. The most recent episode we saw showed two sides of a couple's breakup and eventual reconciliation, cutting a clear demarcation between the two genders' interpretations and reactions to the same event. For starters, the girl treated herself to a beauty parlor, while the man headed to a strip club. You get the idea.

Given that much of network television is getting progressively worse, and the summers are the most vapid of them all, I'm glad we've found an escape route, even if it means listening to strong accents from across the Atlantic. If you've got spare space on your TiVo or DVR, pick up a few episodes and give the shows a whirl.

Simpsons Movie: Woohoo! D'oh! Woohoo!

Saturday was a day I'd yearned for in excess of a decade and a half. After years and years of speculation and hope, I finally had the chance to enter a movie theater and see The Simpsons Movie. Nearly 90 minutes of The Simpsons in all their yellow, dysfunctional glory, without commercial breaks and much, much larger than ever before. I also was lucky enough to see the show with some of my closest friends and my wife.

As any good diehard will tell you, The Simpsons Movie wasn't perfect. There's no way that a single film can meet all the built-up hopes and expectations we had. There's no way that 87 minutes can provide the show's fans enough time to see all the minor characters we wanted. And for every laugh we had during the film, and there were many, we could find issues we would have improved were we running the show.

The show itself was divided into three parts. Simplified for spoiler avoidance, you had: Crisis, Escape and Resolution. The escape had the Simpsons headed to Alaska, away from Springfield, where all the fun is. The escapade to the great white north took the Simpson family out of their element, away from the hilarity of people who were greatly neglected in the film, like Apu, Patty and Selma, Groundskeeper Willy, and even usually non-funny folks like Principal Skinner, Gil the salesman, and the acne-ridden teenager whose voice is constantly breaking.

What I loved about the movie was that it started immediately and kept going at a quick pace. Without the usual buildup you see, even in the 30-minute weeklies, with delayed on-screen credits, the movie jumped into its element immediately, and one scene led to another. I loved the fact Bart and Homer continued their efforts to be the worst father-son combo of all time, and that the writers could take liberties with the content that aren't available on network television.

What I didn't like about the movie was the introduction of new characters, as in a series so rich as The Simpsons, there's really no need to add more to the mix and introduce their background. This also squeezed out some of the much-desired peripheral people. I also didn't like the utter non-believability of some parts. As dumb as that may sound, The Simpsons are largely funny because their antics could theoretically happen, as they reflect a certain element of our society. When they cross from potential reality to obvious supernatural, I'm annoyed. And the worst part? It was done all too soon. If Pirates of the Carribean and Dances with Wolves can touch the 3 hour mark, The Simpsons on the big screen deserved much more than just under 90 minutes. By the time the credits rolled, I wasn't ready to leave. Maggie's call for a sequel didn't fulfill my needs.

I didn't mind the story elements. Lisa is obviously a preachy environmentalist. Homer is clearly a misguided would-be do-gooder with negative results. The Flanders are still goody two-shoes. There were tips and nods to previous episodes for us die-hards. And trust me, I laughed - not as much as I did during the South Park movie a few years ago, but enough that I was happy I went.

Also - on the way home, Kristine and I stopped by the Kwik-E-Mart in Mountain View, in reality a converted 7-Eleven franchisee. While that was wonderfully amusing, it only struck home how we actually never saw the inside of the Kwik-E-Mart in the film. Seemed like a lost opportunity.

All in all, a great day. Great friends. Good fun. The completion of a much-anticipated dream, but one that left me wanting more. I may never be satisfied.

Must-See Documentary: Who Killed the Electric Car?

While we may be patting ourselves on the back for the small percentage of consumers who have gone out of their way to adopt hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic Hybrid, the stark truth is that we could be much further along in the process to reduce air pollution and reliance on fossil fuels, were it not for reluctance on the part of the automakers, government and big oil to promote alternatives, like the electric vehicle.

This week, Kristine and I saw a documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car?", which highlighted the creation, introduction and eventual erasure of GM's EV-1 from the marketplace. Almost single-handedly, the viewing of this film made me realize how much of a step backwards we have taken, just in the last decade. While I had once been vaguely aware of California's mandate to require a certain percentage of cars be electric, I didn't know how that mandate was voided, and how while more and more Americans were being guided toward massive SUVs through tax credits (See: The Hummer), a well-oiled political and PR machine was under way to stop the electric car in its tracks.

Now, having seen the massive potential for electric cars, I am almost unwilling to "settle" for a partial solution like a hybrid, which would only lessen my draw at the pump, not eliminate it. Watching the film, I was furious at how the potential was squandered, and how some early adopters of the EV-1, ecstatic about their cars in the same way Apple fans or Linux loyalists are, were told to go pound sand, and saw their beloved vehicles impounded and crushed in a forgotten desert well away from California's roads.

It's been a long time since a good documentary came around without Michael Moore's name on it that reshaped the way I think about everyday activities like driving. If you are looking to buy a new car, or looking to see what you can do to better the environment, if you are curious about the cold realities of business, or just want to know why we're not surrounded by electric or solar vehicles, be sure to put the video on your Netflix queue. I'm glad we did.

Time for a BlogRoll Revamp

A couple weeks ago, when Kent Newsome and I had a public disagreement over his gaming Technorati, Kent had some observations on my blog, which he saw as typical pandering to A-Listers. Just like I hadn't polled his intentions for engaging in viral link tagging, he didn't poll me on the origins of the BlogRoll I've run with for the better part of a year. He thinks I was off with my comments, and I know he was off on his, but it's got me thinking it's time for some changes.

Somewhere in late 2005 / early 2006 timeframe, I somehow stumbled on the wonders of Technorati and the A-list. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there were more and more blogs focused on Web 2.0 and capturing the live conversations that have redefined media, news dissemination and how we communicate. Robert Scoble's blog led to TechCrunch, which led to Om Malik, Steve Rubel and so on... Within a few days, I'd stumbled on everything from ValleyWag to TechMeme, and rediscovered both Dave Winer and Guy Kawasaki. I felt as if I'd opened up a vault of information previously hidden and it was all I could do to leave the laptop to function offline, rather than take in this new world like a sponge, 24/7.

As the blog is a personal blog, first and foremost, I linked to those I found most interesting, but in retrospect, it's a lot like how in Web 1.0, so many homepages would have links to Yahoo!, ESPN and CNN, as if the casual Web surfer wouldn't know how to get there. Now, as all these A-Listers are as commonly visited as the old media kingpins, my links there are just as useless and redundant. The same goes for the Politics links as well, especially as I've moved away from Politics here for the most part. Though Kent saw the A-List links as pandering, that wasn't the original intent, but now, it's easy to see how that could be implied.

As a result, thanks to Kent's promptings and my own consideration, I'm getting rid of the A-List blogs that don't belong, and in their place, I aim to add those blogs which most closely mirror my interests and those I consider my closest peers - not necessarily in size or popularity, per se, but in consistency, focus and approach. And of course, I'm willing to listen to any feedback you have on what I'm still lacking.

Therefore, some big names are going to get cut. Sorry, guys.

Business & Technology BlogRoll Items to Be Deleted: Dave Winer, Guy Kawasaki, Henry Blodget, Jason Calacanis, John Battelle, Michael Arrington, Om Malik, Redeye VC, Steve Rubel, Valleywag and VentureBeat.

Politics BlogRoll Items to Be Deleted: America Blog, Daily Kos, Electoral-Vote.com, Eschaton, Talking Points Memo and This Modern World.

But not every one is getting the axe.

Business & Technology BlogRoll Items to Be Retained: Don Dodge, Mini-Microsoft, Robert Scoble and Tony Chung

And what you've been waiting for, of course...

Business & Technology BlogRoll Items to Be Added: Newsome.org, ParisLemon, Webomatica, and WinExtra

I have also opted to replace the Politics section with a more generic "Resources" box that includes sites like Mashable, Read/Write Web, TechMeme, and Robert Scoble's shared link blog. Though I was at first skeptical that Robert's surfing would be fun to watch, his shared link blog has introduced me to many a blogger who has a story to tell.

On the Web, nothing is in stone, so even this revamp may not be long-lasting. I will continue to add and cut, as I see fit, but I'm glad this change has been made. Comments always welcome.

5 Contributions to Kent Newsome's Swivel Feeds

Kent Newsome, full-time uber-blogger and part-time viral link tagger, has asked me to contribute to his ambitious project to rebuild his RSS feeds list. While there's no doubt he and I read a lot of the same feeds, especially from very prominent bloggers, I'll provide him five I think are rising stars in the blogosphere - the future A-listers, if you will.

1) ParisLemon (MG Seigler)

URL: http://www.parislemon.com/

Summary: Apple and Web geek with a healthy dose of sports fanaticism thrown in. Given my own focus on tech, Web and sports, I find many of his comments are in line with my own, but from a different angle.

2) WinExtra (Steven Hodson)

URL: http://winextra.com/

Summary: Thoughtful discussion of the blogosphere, technology and trends. We recently had a blog-led conversation on whether blogs were about conversations or are simply an extension of old media to new.

3) Cuddletech (Ben Rockwood)

URL:http://www.cuddletech.com/blog/

Summary: An unapologetic Solaris and storage geek who loves to show you his thoughts of what works, from the command line. Questioning authority and wearing his heart on his sleeve.

4) Ken Jennings (Ken Jennings)

URL: http://www.ken-jennings.com/blog/

Summary: You may have first met Ken on Jeopardy, but since his unceremonious bouncing from the show with more than $1 million in his pocket (after taxes), he leads a happy life on his blog, talking about trivia, religion and technology. Good guy, good blog.

5. YuviSense (Yuvi Panda)

URL: http://blog.yuvisense.net/

Summary: This 16-year-old Indian student loves Microsoft and blog analysis. Amazingly technology astute and analytical for his age. Wants to join Redmond as soon as possible, and barring late-teen rebellion, should make it.