Hey kiddies,

I have been under the radar a bit at Revision 3, and as I mentioned earlier, I have working on the development of a couple of new shows.

I am glad to announce that popSiren has been launched! Heather Frank, my friend and mentor, worked her hiney off on this show from concept to execution. I have to say, she did a great job and I am really proud of everyone who worked on this project.

Jessica Corbin is popSiren’s redhead ringleader, Sarah Lane is the Web Prowler, Dr. Kiki Sanford is the ever-so-cool Rad Scientist, Heather Frank is our zany gal who is on The Fringe, and I am your Nerd Bird. Sit back and enjoy something that is not only aesthetically pleasing but wonderful brain food. I guarantee you will learn something! Oh, and don’t forget to digg it and tell us what you think on our forums.

:)N, your Resident Nerd Bird

Hey Guys,
Let me know what you think, folks!

:)Nt

Good old Yahoo! photos is closing it’s doors in just a few days. All Yahoo users have the option to download all their photos, or migrate to Yahoo! owned Flickr. I may be one of the last users of the traditional Yahoo! photos, but any site that is geriatric approved [note: my mother can understand it] deserves some appreciation. Sure it wasn’t all web 2.0 fantastic, but it was easy to use. As everyone and their dog now has a online photo blog, I am thinking it’s time to join the masses. Not to say that I haven’t been there before…

I still remember the first time I danced around joining Flickr. I was in college, it wasn’t owned by Yahoo, and I was looking for a way to share high res pics with my chums. Flickr seemed to be the only alternative at the time, though the page format seemed confusing to me. After all, it was one of the first sites to use the Web 2.0 module. In any case, I was turned off by it and stuck with what I had;Yahoo!, TextAmerica, and Webshots.

While in college, I stuck up random streams of images on my Textamerica Moblog. I got bored and creeped out by that site [hello stalkers], so I tried out Webshots my last two years at Cal. As a free service for a few pictures, it worked well. After a while, I lost interest in posting pictures, perhaps because of the lack of community and boring interface.

Alas, I never really found a place to settle on photo sharing. Sure there is SmugMug, Zooomr, and a bunch of vowel-lacking photo sharing sites.Somewhere in between creepy TextAmerica and snoozy Webshots, there has to be a happy medium and a place where I feel like I belong. Is Flickr the missing link? Should I give it another shot?

As you may already know, I have been on the hunt for a job for a couple of months now. I had some really great offers which I have appreciated. After much deliberation, I have finally decided on where I am going to end up.

Say hello to one of the new Producers at Revision 3! I am very excited to be joining the very talented team already in place and cannot wait to contribute to the programming. The reason why I chose Revision 3 is simple–I believe in what they are doing and have always been a huge fan. When I was an intern at TechTv, Cupid’s bow had hit me and I knew instantly that was where I wanted to work post-grad. Unfortunately, the company was bought and repackaged… and my dreams were crushed.

Caption: A throwback to TTV SF. Reunited and it feels so good!

With Rev 3, I have a second chance. I will be working under Miss Sarah Lane herself, which is a huge honor. When I saw what she did at TTV, it inspired me to focus on tech journalism. I have come full circle and am very gracious for this opportunity.

What I know now is that I will be producing segments, and still dabbling into on-camera stuff as well. I am also one of the three gals who work there, so that should be very interesting. Anyway, I think it’s going to be a great fit for me and I look forward to learning and growing at this organization. Three cheers for Rev 3!

Pownce recently rolled out some new features, taking the next step into social-network file and information sharing.

With personal experience, I have found that many of my messages get buried. There have been a number of times where I have received private pings and have no clue. I only come to discover them if I am, A. re-pinged; or B. I go Pownce raking [look through the last few pages when I have some time to spare]. The updated Preference tab attempts to address this issue. Basically, you can set filters so you can view replies to your posts or private to you. The only problem is that you have to go into the Preferences page every time you want to switch from filter to filter. I would prefer some differentiating color/text font coding or tab option instead.

In addition, Pownce is making sure that I never miss a clam bake again. The events are now singled out in the top right column, making it easier to view events posted by others. Broadening the social network from Pownce has also been simplified. Links to your Myspace, Facebook, Linkedin, and even Twitter [to name a few] pages now appear on the left column for all your fellow Powncers to stalk…ahem…”check out.”

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There is something very appealing about a compact robot that cleans. Of course, iRobot tapped into this market long ago.

Today, they will be unleashing the smarter 500 series of the Mr.Clean of floor cleaners. The robots can now “problem-solve” or sense obstacles in their pathways, as well as know when to start the next room via a feature called “Virtual Wall Lighthouse.” They can also be controlled remotely through a Wireless Command Center.

The Roomba 500 has also become more rugged. The robo-vacuum can now move through more challenging terrains [floor to carpet] and also comes in array of mod colors from champagne to burnt orange. Overall, it seems that the iRobot people have outdone themselves yet again.

Plus, I think anything that works for Lucille Bluth is good enough for me. If only I had a Bluth family banana stand lined with money so I could afford the $400 machine. I’ll have to settle for a traditional vacuum/broom/mop for now, I suppose.

If you have an old Sony Playstation sitting around gathering dust, this piece of information may help you out.

Starting on September 15, Sony plans on launching a free recycling program in the United States. Anything containing a Sony brand (from old Vaio’s to Walkman’s), can be dumped in an environment friendly way. Approximately 75 WM Recycle America locations throughout the United States have been established so far, with Sony promising to expand the effort in the coming year.

By Sony paving the way for proper waste management, I can’t help but wonder why more tech giants do not have similar programs. Sure Dell takes back their stuff, as well as Apple (for a fee), but shouldn’t there be more? Going green is the hippest thing in tech since wireless, so why the limited resources?

I am hoping it’s just a matter of time until computer manufacturers realize their one day obsolete machine will be contributing to the Earths landfill issue. Meanwhile, three cheers to Sony!