Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

FriendFeed launched a new feature last night,  real-time updating.  With this feature, you can see all the most recent FriendFeed posts without even having to refresh the page.  As nifty as this new feature is, it can also get a bit crazy.

The site has essentially turned the web into a giant chatroom according to Robert Scoble.  You’ve got it all going on here, not just the chatting, but videos, photos, tweets, and more.  Every item has its own URL, as well as its own RSS feed.  You’re able to comment on everything there, not just on the “commentary” like in a chat room. 

Much more after the break!

MORE »

Sections: Computers, Networking, Software / Applications, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Web, Downloads, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites, Online Music/Video

You have FaceBook and MySpace and YouTube…..and now…A-Space.  Only unless you have top level clearances, you won’t be joining this social networking site. Well, let’s hope that’s how it really goes down. (Kind of scary that the government thinks the internet is secure when you really think about it).

The soon to be launching A-Space program is a site for analysts working within the 16 US intelligence agencies. “It’s every bit Facebook and YouTube for spies, but it’s much, much more,“ said Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analysis.  “It’s a place where not only spies can meet but share data they’ve never been able to share before,“ Wertheimer said. “This is going to give them for the first time a chance to think out loud, think in public amongst their peers, under the protection of an A-Space umbrella.“  Ummm….an A-Space umbrella? I sure hope it can weather a decent storm.

MORE »

Sections: Computers, Networking, Security, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites

Iran is getting ready to debate a new law that could potentially send web criminals to the death chamber. The newly proposed bill is aimed to “toughen punishment for harming mental security in society,“ and would mean that people found guilty of promoting activities such as corruption, prostitution or apostasy online could face the death penalty. Based on wording from the newly proposed law those found guilty “should be punished as ‘mohareb’ (enemy of God) and ‘corrupt on the earth’.”

This would mean that activity as simple as setting up a blog and writing about prostitution could mean death should you be found guilty. Currently Iran has pretty strict Internet rules and they block thousands of sites that are “deemed immoral or religiously and politically inappropriate.“ Personally I have no interest in a prostitution blog, but it sounds really bad to think you could be put to death for such a thing.

Read [Gulf News]

• BrainJuice releases Blogo 1.1 blogging tool; now works with Twitter
• Top secret “Facebook for Spies” at A-Space
• FriendFeed: Live blogging gone wild

Sections: Web, Websites

Typepad bloggers who use the BlackBerry Curve or the Pearl will have no more reason not to update their blogs a little more often, as Six Apart is bringing its native mobile blogging application to both BlackBerry handsets. This means that these bloggers can now upload photos, manage comments, as well as draft, edit and post to their Typepad blogs directly from their phone.

Whereas before, BlackBerry users were able to use post to their blogs using their phones’ mobile web browser or the email-to-blog feature, now with Typepad’s native application, they can just do the same task without opening their phones browser. The post-to-blog feature is now embedded as one of menus of the their BlackBerry Curve or Pearl.

MORE »

Sections: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Websites

It seems these days with every new and old web service everything is going social.  You have social networks, social bookmarking and of course you have very social services like Twitter.  So with that said what about blog comments, can you make those social?

Enter Disqus (Pronounced like Discuss) and now comments on your blog or comments you put on a blog become part of the social web themselves and give them a life of their own.  Some of the features that highlight Disqus are threaded conversations, posting via email or even mobile, profile that is used on all the blogs you use that use Disqus, the ability to track comment discussions, and of course everyone’s favorites these days widgets!

Are you a blogger and wonder if this type of blogging will work with your blogging platform of choice?  It probably will as Disqus integrates and works with Wordpress, Movable Types, Blogger, Tumblr, and TypePad. As for installation I have found it to be a piece of cake and the support for those who might need it is top notch from others I have talked to.

So make sure to check out Disqus if you are a blogger or non-blogger and socialize your comments.

Read [Disqus]

• Web-related criminals could soon face the death penalty, in Iran
• Top secret “Facebook for Spies” at A-Space
• FriendFeed: Live blogging gone wild

Sections: Web, Web 2.0, Websites

On Friday, the IOC - International Olympics Committee, gave their official approval for athletes to be able to blog at this year’s summer Olympics in Beijing. However, these athletics cannot publish any media of the event or any material that is Olympic property. The IOC thinks of blogging as a way to expression, which is not like journalism, therefore they don’t have a real reason to ban blogging.

Also, any blog postings by these athletes have to be in the Olympic spirit and be “dignified and in good taste.“ I’m not sure how they will find out if someone posts something not in good taste, and then how they would punish them. Furthermore, athletes that were in the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2006 Turin Olympics and had blogs, they were not officially recognized by the IOC, and so this raised some debate. It will be interesting to see which athletes blog and what they blog.

Via [Electronista]

• Olympic Video Games: The not so wonderful world of sports
• Top secret “Facebook for Spies” at A-Space
• FriendFeed: Live blogging gone wild

Sections: Tech News, Web, Websites

To keep up with the demand for content we are looking for additional writers who are interested in keeping our readers plugged into the tech world. If you have a passion for technology consider joining the team.

To make the cut you must:

• Have knowledge of the industry
• Possess a unique/creative writing style
• Be proficient in the English language (spelling, grammar, sentence structure)
• Be able to contribute a minimum of 20 articles (200-400 words per article) per month
• Stay up to date on current news stories

If interested send an email to jobs(at)dabbledoo(dot)com with your contact information, resume, and an appropriate writing sample (or links to past work). For more information visit our Gadgetell jobs page or our corporate Dabbledoo jobs page.

Ps. - We are also searching for additional contributors for Appletell and Gamertell.

• Obama, technology and the future - Part Three
• Square Enix posts jobs for future El Segundo studio
• Midway to perform fatalities on its staff after major title releases

Performancing, the popular blogger portal, is now offering an all new services to add to its existing line of services that include job board, blog posting add on for Firefox and a forum for people to discuss blogging at large. They are now set to offer advertising through their existing web site. They appear to be setup to compete directly with companies like AdBrite, which is currently a major player in that same role.

The only thing that seems to be a little different is their reward system, currently they are paying blogger 70% of the advertising revenue while keeping the rest for themselves. With Performancing’s loyal blogger base it looks like they could really come out well from the deal by some of the lower traffic web sites. I’m sure we will see some casinos try to buy out all of the lower traffic blogs to increase link backs.

It would be a quick and easy way to just make the search engines like your web site just a little better if not get a few clicks out of the advertisements alone. At any rate, the advertising market seems to be getting a little more saturated as more and more companies try themselves out in the market. Google AdSense led the way in the most recent surge and now AdBrite, BitVertiser, Performancing, FM Publishing, PayPerPost and others are trying to pave their own way to the bank in gold.

• Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.14.08 edition
• Browser Battles: Safari still increasing in market share, IE continues to drop
• Mozilla wants you to Fashion Your Firefox