DVD Format Showdown

Format Battle Brews Over Next-Gen DVD. Martyn Williams. IDG News Service. June 10, 2004.
The DVD Forum meeting in Seattle may decide to endorse one of the two competing blue laser HD-DVD formats, thereby setting the new standard for high definition TV and movies. [PC Technology Guide]

Is Google Switching Back to RSS?

Google Mulls RSS Support. Stefanie Olsen and Evan Hansen. CNET News.com (via TechRepublic). June 9, 2004.
Having thrown its support behind the Atom news feed format in April, Google is now said to be considering a switch back to Rich Site Summary. This would affect users of its Blogger and Google Groups services.

Yahoo Prepares Home Page Redesign

Yahoo tests new home page. Jim Hu. CNET News.com. June 8, 2004.
Although a company spokeswoman wouldn't confirm it, changes on Yahoo's home page have been seen by some users.

Plaque Erected to Commemorate 'Father of the Computer'

'Father of the Computer' Honoured. BBB News. June 7, 2004.
Alan Turing is being honored on the fiftieth anniversary of his suicide. It was his idea to create a machine that would process binary numbers, and his experiments helped Britain to break German codes during the Second World War. [AlanTuring.net] [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

Study of Weblog Usage by Teenagers

Teenagers reach out via weblogs. Jo Twist. BBC News Online. June 6, 2004.
A new study by David Huffaker contradicts previous findings, and alarmingly shows that teens reveal more personal information on blogs than they do in chatrooms.

A Plethora of Google Resources

Google Spawn: The Culture Surrounding Google. Paul S. Piper. Searcher. June, 2004.
The world's leading search engine has become part of our culture, and many online resources have arisen that involve it. This article points to ways of using Google in research, marketing, cooking, or just for fun.

What's Wrong with E-Mail

The Changing Face of E-Mail. Amit Asaravala. Wired News. June 3, 2004.
Speakers at the Inbox e-mail technology conference in San Jose discuss needed changes in e-mail technology, which has remained essentially unaltered for 30 years.

New Version of Microsoft Media Player

Microsoft releases Media Player beta. John Borland. CNET News.com. June 2, 2004.
Microsft is testing Media Player 10, which is designed to work more easily with portable devices. This is in response to the success of Apple's iPod.

Cellphone Industry to Publish Wireless Numbers

In cellular future, will privacy ebb? Mark Sappenfield. Christian Science Monitor. June 2, 2004.
The cellphone industry is preparing a directory that would make public for the first time the wireless numbers of America's 163 million cellphone users.

New Feed Address for SGR

PLEASE NOTE: The new feed address for this blog is http://feeds.feedburner.com/sgr. While the Atom feed will still work (http://gallant.blogspot.com/atom.xml), feeds are now accessible to additional newsreaders in RSS 2.0 format.

Worldwide Growth of Online News

Online Newspapers Tempt Readers. Peter Feuilherade. BBC News. June 1, 2004.
Web audiences for newspapers have grown 350% over the last five years.

Local Search Technology

What Lies Ahead for Local Search Engine Technology. Andy Beal. webpronews.com. June 1, 2004.
An interview with Arnaud Fischer of Infospace on new and forthcoming developments in local search.