by Ron Miller

Walter Cronkite Was a Journalist

2009-07-17T22:01:46-04:00

In a world dominated by pretty faces and bleached blond hair-dos and talking head news readers; in a time of sensational headlines and lowest-common denominator broadcasting, 24 hour news cycles, the World Wide Web and social networking, it's easy to forget that back in the day we got our news once a day at 6:30 or 7:00 and the person we trusted the most to read that news was one Walter Cronkite.

He was the most trusted man America in the 1960s and 70s, and we gathered around our TV sets each night to listen to the news (and it was news) from the man himself. He was 92 years old and lived a long life, but I was saddened this evening when I heard the news of his passing because with him we lost one of the last legendary news men of the heyday of CBS News, and a man who was a real reporter and a journalist.

Just remember folks, when you watch (as Don Henley once wrote) that bubble headed bleached blond who comes on at five and tells you of a plane crash with a gleam in her eye--that once upon a time, there was a man who was a genuine journalist, who read the news each night, and people respected him and the institution, and it was actually well researched, fair and balanced (without having to trumpet that fact). Rest in peace, Walter Cronkite, you will be missed.

Microsoft and Yahoo! Would Be Better Together

2009-07-17T17:22:49-04:00

The on-again, off again talks between Microsoft and Yahoo appear to be heating up again around an ad deal. A good start but I for one, think they make the perfect match to act at least as a partial hedge against Google's search market dominance.

Read my thoughts on DaniWeb.

Photo courtesy of Andrew_Stawarz on Flickr

Apple Sinks to Blocking Pre Sync

2009-07-16T11:21:52-04:00

In a case of amazing pettiness and vindictiveness, Apple reportedly has blocked the Palm Pre users from syncing their phones with iTunes.

What's Next? A Google Store

2009-07-15T17:19:37-04:00

Microsoft is pressing ahead with plans to open retail stores in the fall in close proximity to Apple stores, an idea I find patently absurd.

Read why on DaniWeb.

Photo Courtesy of JeffWilcox on Flickr.

Let Your Trusted Network Guide You to the Best Content

2009-07-15T16:15:08-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

As we become more inundated with content on the web, one way to filter the noise is to let your social networks guide you to the best content.

Read the full story on FierceContentManagment.

New iPhone App Uses Video in Amazing Way

2009-07-14T10:07:29-04:00

This iPhone App takes advantage of the new video camera and GPS on the iPhone 3GS to provide a visual overlay of the NYC subway system through your video camera to show you which subway stations are closest to you.

This is an amazing mashup of iPhone technology and it provides real-time data based on where you are and what you want to do. This speaks directly to me to the idea of connected web of data that Tim Berners-Lee was talking about in the Ted video I posted recently.

This is as exciting use of the iPhone as I've seen, and I'm sure it's only the beginning of how we can begin use to web-enabled phones to help us in ways we never imagined.

Video found via Information Architected Blog

Office 2010 Looks Like More Bloat to Me

2009-07-13T18:08:23-04:00

The Microsoft hype machine was in high gear today as they announced Office 2010. What I saw didn't impress me much. More bells and whistles and not much else.

Read why on DaniWeb.

Photo by srboisvert on Flickr

Will Netbook Users Embrace Google?

2009-07-09T20:34:55-04:00

If Netbook users rejected Linux in the past why should Linux repackaged with a Google brand fare any better?

Read my take on DaniWeb.

Image courtesy of lumaxart on Flickr.

Tim Berners-Lee's Eloquent Ted Speech on Linked Data

2009-07-09T15:42:17-04:00

If you are wondering about the future of the World Wide Web, look no further than this speech from the TED conference earlier this year, by the esteemed creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee. He is positively effusive about where he envisions the web going from here, and he gives a nice background of where we've come from to give some context to his talk. We have linked documents, but now Berners-Lee argues, we need linked data.

This is a fascinating talk and what jumped out at me was how excited he was about all of this. Rather than being jaded after after 20 years in the field, he's genuinely pumped to take this to the next level. If you have even a hint of geek in you, this is must-see video.

Microsoft and Google Switch Roles

2009-07-08T15:46:08-04:00

With Google announcing Chrome OS and Microsoft launching Bing and other cloud initiatives, it seems as though the two companies are reversing roles and attempting to poach on one another's traditional territory.

Read my take on DaniWeb.

Photo courtesy of joolie on Flickr.