If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

More details are likely forthcoming shortly, as Microsoft plans to announce a big search initiative later today. But in the meantime, restless bloggers have already stumbled upon some particulars.

Microsoft’s “Live Search cashback” will pay you back 2 percent to 30 percent of the price of products you find (via Live Search) and purchase from online participating retailers. Notable merchants already signed up include Sears, Barnes & Noble, Office Depot, Home Depot, J&R Electronics, and others.

(more…)

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Amazon MP3, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. And I’m glad the Amazon MP3 team doesn’t think so either. Here’s a copy of an email I received from them asking me to fill out a survey. Check out some of the more interesting questions asked followed by commentary (after text of the email below):

(more…)

Mozy, the online backup solution I use and have mentioned a couple times, is responding to HP’s Upline debacle in an interesting way. First, some background information:

Two weeks ago, HP released HP Upline, a service similar to Mozy that provides unlimited storage for $59/year. HP also released free accounts of the service, limited to 1GB and one year (Mozy does free too, but their version is 2GBs and has no expiration date). About a week and a half later, the Upline service went down for several days.

(more…)

TechCrunch made the announcement today that all of its blogs will have the option for you to leave video comments via a service called Seesmic. It’s a powerful idea with a dead simple execution. As a result, comments are now a mix of text and video. Take a look.

(more…)

Slingvine is a free application that allows you to send files over the Internet. For me, it felt like a replacement to email attachments. Here’s how it works:

You download and install the client on your computer. Then you right click on any file or folder in Windows and click on “Sling Selected Items.” This uploads your files or folders to a temporary webpage (url) that you then give out to whoever you want to receive your files.

(more…)

Market research firm NPD Group issued a report today explaining that Amazon MP3 is growing but not taking away customers from Apple’s iTunes. It seems that only 10% of Amazon MP3 shoppers in February were iTunes shoppers previously.

(more…)

Every once in a while, I receive an email from a friend which doesn’t have a personal message but a link with inspiring thoughts and beautiful pictures intent on uplifting my day. Even though my friend does not share a word in the email, I still appreciate the fact that they thought of me.

(more…)

TechConsumer has had its fair share of Digg coverage lately. But for those of us who remember what Digg was back in the glory days, we can’t help but draw attention to its flaws in the here and now.

First, we had our April 1st interview with Digg’s founders discussing priorities and progress and how Digg is just a game. Second, we discussed the Digg paradox and how getting rid of the editor/gatekeeper just creates new gatekeepers.

But today’s topic, for me at least, feels like the most interesting twist on the story of where Digg started as compared to what Digg has become:

(more…)