Apple cut the price of the iPhone from $599 to $399 today.  They also introduced a whole new line of iPods including the new “iPod Touch”, basically the iPhone but without the calling features. For more up to the minute updates, read here.

Could this be the new iPod Nano?  According to several sources Apple has stopped sending shipments of old generation iPods, thus preparing for a shipment of new iPods?  Plus Apple is notorious for September/October launches.  Plus it’s just that time for a new iPod right?  Could this be the new Nano? Maybe.

StumbleUpon has taken its first step toward becoming a full blown social network by completely revamping the user profile page.  In my opinion this is a much needed improvement as the old one was quite simple and dated.  The improvements don’t come in the way of new features but rather a redesign of existing features.  They have made it much easier to access you favorites, messages, friends and the “what’s new” section.  The look and feel is a lot like Facebook and certainly cements StumbleUpon status as a social networking site.

One of the features they did add is one that is striking similar to MyBlogLog’s recently visited feature.  In the right sidebar they show the profile of the most recent visitors to your Stumble page, thus making it easier to make and add friends and grow the network that is StumbleUpon.

The revamping of their user pages and the recent deployment of their Facebook application certainly gives insight into their desired business model and StumbleUpon’s future direction.

The recent development of WikiScanner, a program that tracks edits by IP address on Wikipedia.org, has made some interesting revelations.  The program has shown that the CIA and FBI have been editing Wikipedia entries about current affairs to better suit the taste of their own images.  For example the FBI removed photos of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the CIA changed an entry on the CIA chief William Colby by bolstering his merits in the Vietnam War.

It has also been shown that IP addresses resolving to the BBC network have made a stunning 7,000 anonymous edits, including some rather juvenile edits.  One such edit changed George Walker Bush’s name to George Wanker Bush.  Another edit changed an American labeling of terrorist to freedom fighters.

With these edits coming to light by some pretty heavy hitters, does this not make you ask yourself “who else is editing what?”  So my question is this: has Wikipedia become a source to display propaganda or a place to play pranks by vandalizing entries.  What do these revelations do to Wikipedia’s credibility?  Has Wikipedia become just another gossip site?  Will WikiScanner kill off Wikipedia.org?  Who knows but I think from now on I will definitely cross reference Wikipedia before I take anything as fact from there.

Pizza by sms?  In the UK yes!  Over 470 UK-based locations will now be taking pizza orders via text message.  This comes after the pizza by email craze, which is my preferred method of ordering pizza, so hopefully this becomes available in the US soon. 

To use this feature you must first register your details online, such as name, address and phone number.  Once registered your order is only a text message away.

Let’s face it; Apple is beginning to grow its market share in the personal computer market. Macs are no longer just for designers and artists, they are becoming trendy mainstream. For all of you that have recently bought a Mac or plan on buying one soon, then I highly recommend taking a look at  this post.

The guys over at “The Best Mac Software” have put together quite the list of essential apps for your new Mac. Included are imaging software, torrent clients, IM software, and emulation software. Some are pay for apps, but most are open source. As they claim: “not having some of these tools is like having half a Mac!” Enjoy.

The revenue that advertisers generate is great, but the cut that most networks take has been cutting into many blogger’s profit. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a commission free network where advertisers could contact publishers directly without those pesky ad networks taking your cash just for playing the middle man.

New free advertising network For Sale By Publisher is just the opposite of a high commission based ad network. The network facilitates direct contact for advertisers and publishers therefore raising the amount of money that publishers make and at the same time reducing the cost that advertisers have to pay by eliminating the middle man.

More than just money, For Sale By Publisher makes it easier to find advertisers and to find publishers with targeted sites to advertise on. By creating a directory of websites that offer direct advertising opportunities, they hope to attract large numbers of advertisers who will use the directory, solving problems for advertisers and publishers alike.

As many of you may have heard Google is now offering a new referral system called “Local Business Referrals.” The day it was announced I applied and I just received my acceptance email today. I have not heard of anyone else being accepted or seen any other information, so I thought I would share it with you now. The system works like this: you go to any small business take a photo of the outside, get all the information you can about the business (i.e. hours, payment type, alternate phone #’s), upload it to Google, and get paid. The amount varies based on a few conditions: just for the information and picture you get $2 if it is accepted by Google, then Google will send a postcard to business you submitted asking them about your visit, IF they return the postcard and verify the information you submitted then you get paid an additional $8. For a grand total of $10 per business referred and verified.

Inside the account they offer a submission area for including all of the information you have collected. Included is a map for pinpointing exactly where the business is, on the Google map.

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Ever felt like working from home? How about working from Europe with nothing but a backpack and a laptop. Well that’s exactly what the founder of workingnomad.com does. He is a 35 year old web designer from the UK that has no home and just bounces from country to country doing web design between visits. His sole income is from web design and running a few sites of his own that run adsense and other affiliate marketing revenue generators. On his personal blog he explains it like this:

I am a 35 year old from England who started the whole travel thing when I was 30. My 20s were spent working hard in London as an I.T. Contractor and a corporate slave.

I have been working as a freelance web designer and now professional backpacker! Travel changed my view on life and I quickly realized that working for big business and climbing the corporate ladder wasn’t for me.

Sound good to anyone else? Well over at his personal blog he reports on his earnings month by month and even wrote a “How I Did It – E-book” for those aspiring for the same dream. The working nomad even has a well traveled forum for anyone interested in the highly mobile profession. As for me? I think I will be booking my tickets tomorrow.

I recently found a start up with a concept that I think could be the next killer. In today’s world with all the technology and the real possibility of becoming a mega millionaire off of just one idea, almost everyone and their brother has classified themselves as a new age entrepreneur. Well Jim Newtown a former metal shop professor at California’s College of San Mateo has started a company to capitalize on all of these new entrepreneur’s while offering a great service.

His startup titled “TechShop” is a chain of workshops in the state of California that sells memberships to entrepreneurs much like a gym would to athletes, the membership allows them to use all the equipment they need to get their idea off the ground. Each location will house a variety of equipment, from manual milling machines, lathes, and welding furnaces to 3-D printers and computer-assisted design software. Much of the equipment is bought secondhand on eBay or Craigslist to help keep costs down. The membership structure is as follows: $30 for a one-day pass, $ 100 for a monthly pass, $1,200 for an annual pass. Equipment can also be reserved for those certain tasks, also TechShop will organize clubs and classes to help people develop projects and learn new skills.

Why I think this is a killer? With so many entering the entrepreneur market there is definitely a need for the equipment that is offered at TechShop. No one wants to spend thousands on a machine or pay someone to manufacture something for them when they can pay $30 dollars and do it themselves in one day. Also competitors such as Kinko’s, Staples, or Home Depot just don’t offer the range of equipment that TechShop does. Yes, it is a niche startup but the entrepreneur niche is growing more broad everyday.

http://techshop.ws/