Los Angeles Times Newspoint: Decent Idea, Poor Execution

The Los Angeles Times recently launched a branded RSS reader called Newspoint. The idea here is to introduce RSS to the masses by providing users with a simple tool they can install on their machines and start using RSS even if they don’t really know what it is. Conveniently, once installed the reader automatically subscribes you to seemingly all of LA Times’...

Laptops, the Coast Guard, YouTube oh my!

There is an interesting piece on BusinessWeek.com (via Slashdot ) that talks about the Dell Battery Recall program and how the blogosphere “kept the heat on the manufacturers to do something about it and helped the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) conduct an investigation into the burning batteries.”

As mentioned in the BusinessWeek.com article,...

MyNoteIT: Useful Tool for Students?

In the swarm of new social networking/personal database websites popping up everywhere, here's a new application that I'm surprised didn't pop up earlier.  MyNoteIT is an online app specifically designed for students.  And, unlike Facebook, it is geared toward academics, not toward social networking.

The functionality of the application is well developed. ...

Back to School

Kids everywhere are going to hate me for saying this.  But, with the summer winding down, the smell of school is in the air.  That's right, the back-to-school shopping season is almost upon us.  And for kids heading off for their freshman year of college, back to school shopping is getting more and more complicated every year....

A Couple of Tidbits on Japanese Newspapers

 (1) The print circulation of the top Japanese newspapers is staggering.  The five largest newspapers in the world in terms of circulation are all from Japan.  The largest Japanese paper, Yomiuri Shimbun, has a circulation of 14,067,000.  To put that in perspective, the largest paper in the United States, USA Today,...