I’ve been an user of Joost since the days it was called “The Venice Project” when I thought the guys behind Skype and Kazaa couldn’t do any wrong. As long as I had my laptop and broadband/wireless access to the internet, I would catch a couple of shows.

However they’ve gone through a few changes from a desktop P2P based client to a web based client… now to an Apple iPhone application. And I couldn’t be any happier. It means that I can get my Fat Albert or Transformers fix even during meetings if I so wished.

Oh hell yeah.

As an owner of an Apple iPhone, I’m a big fan of being able to whip out my phone, fire up an app and start talking to people online via instant messenger or VoIP. Saves me money, time and in some cases, headaches.

I’ve tried to use the AIM application that’s been out and it still just does not do what I’d like for it to do… like never crash. I’ve switched to Fring, which gives me Skype and SIP (Gizmo Project mostly in my case) as well as MSN, GoogleTalk, and AIM.

Enter Nimbuzz.

Landscape-chat makes it easy and fast to type
Call your IM buddies all over the world for free on your Wifi connection: Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Google Talk
Chat with social network friends: Facebook, MySpace, Gadu-Gadu, studiVZ, Hyves

Presently it’s free in the Apple iTunes Store, and honestly, it’s giving my love of Fring a run for the money. The landscape mode definitely gives me more room to type, a more comfortable way to hold the phone and… ok, I like the default tones.

Can you sing? Do you have talent? Do you want to release your inner “Chinese Democracy“? Sennheiser wants what you got… and you can win prizes too.

With Sennheiser’s “My Song” contest, the spotlight is on you-and your original song. Now through March 31, 2009, high school students can enter to win a free 10-piece, professional-grade Sennheiser evolution microphone kit and a spot in an upcoming Sennheiser ad! What’s more, you’ll also be featured on the Sennheiser Artist site alongside such performers as Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Paramore!

To enter, visit www.sennheiserusa.com/MySong and hit the “click to enter” button. You’ll need to submit a direct link to your original song (which can be uploaded to sites like YouTube or MySpace) along with the title of your track. The five best songs will be chosen by a panel of secret judges. The lucky grand-prize winner will be selected by one of your favorite Sennheiser-endorsed artists!

The 10-piece evolution microphone kit includes everything you need to mic a full band: two e 835 vocal mics, one e 609 SILVER guitar amp mic, one e 602 II bass drum mic, three e 604 tom/snare mics and two e 614 instrument condenser mics.

I can’t even get a decent score on Guitar Hero, but I’m sure some of you more musically inclined types should definitely try it out.

Who knows… we might be waiting 14+ years for your CD too!

For the last few years, I’ve done my absolute best to avoid Black Friday sales. You’ve all heard the stories… grandmas getting trampled for that $39 DVD player, grown men wrestling over a toy in front of their kids, soccer moms becoming ninjas in the clothing section using hairpins in ways that make even Chuck Norris cringe.

The horror… the horror.

I’m happy just to sit home, ride out my tryptophan overdose and find potentially less dangerous ways to get those hot items online. Sounds lazy, sounds “new age”, but I’d rather avoid getting dropkicked by some geriatric soccer ninja dad with a peg leg for a Tickle Me Elmo.

Here’s a few websites that make my life easier:

Blackfriday.info
Dealnews
Dealighted
The Bargainist

Feel free to share your favorites.

However one word of caution; do not forget that Circuit City is currently in bankruptcy. So be aware if they have any mail-in rebates because you just might not get them. Also Continental Promotion Group, one of the largest rebate processors has gone out of business and even if you get a rebate check back, you might want to avoid cashing it to avoid fees, read more here.

Leave it to Billshrink.com to come out with a comparison of the total cost of ownership between the wildly popular Apple iPhone 3G and the recently introduced and sold out BlackBerry Storm.

BillShrink launched today a Blackberry Storm vs. iPhone 3G Comparison Site where consumers can view and calculate the real cost of each device and plan, features and related service head to head.

BillShrink helps consumers find the right phone and plan given their personalized usage patterns, e.g., how many texts you send, how many minutes you use, etc. In today’s tight economy, the site is helping consumers save an average of $340 annually on their cell phone bills.

Mind you, Billshrink has already saved me a few dollars a month already - almost $200 a year. Oh, and if you want other comparisons:

Storm vs. iPhone vs. G1
Storm vs. iPhone vs. G1 vs. Instinct

Nice. All of the data in one place to compare it.

Now… if Billshrink.com can find an instant way to avoid having to pay getting out of my contract too, it’ll get my vote for “best.thing.ever” instead of “just” being an incredibly good service that’s given me almost $200 bucks a year for beer my savings.

Tonight should be known as the night of updates. After the PSP 5.02 update, Apple releases the highly anticipated iPhone 2.2 firmware. So you know the drill… fire up iTunes, download away.

So far, my experience isn’t that bad. Doesn’t seem to really perform any slower, nor does it seem to be more buggy. Copy and paste though… ha! Not yet…

I can remember installing the Japanese version of the 2.0 firmware in order to get access to the web browser on my PSP way back in July 2005. Released on November 20th and now at version 5.02, a rapid update from 5.0/5.01 adds just a few features mostly around updating the Playstation store experience and a couple of other PSP-3001 series specific options.

Too bad I’m sticking with my PSP-2001 “slim” for now. Read more at the Playstation.com website.

With stories like the closing GM factory in Dayton, Ohio basically spelling doom for that city in a state that’s seen more than it’s share of lost jobs these last 8 years causes concern about the people involved; however stories like Mitt Romney telling the New York Times “Let Detroit go bankrupt…” might get a person angry at the CEO’s for letting the situation get that bad in Detroit. There’s always two sides to a story.

And GM wants to share the facts and myths about how things have gotten to this level and how America would truly suffer if the “Big Three” were to go down tomorrow.

One out of every 10 people in America is employed in a service that is related to the U.S. auto industry.
More than 239,000 Americans are directly employed by the Big Three.
If GM were to discontinue operations, the cost to local, state, and federal governments could reach $156.4 billion over three years in lost taxes, and unemployment and health care assistance.

Read more about the Myths and Facts about this looming auto crisis.

And always remember… Chrysler and Lee Iaccoca got federal assistance once; however he paid his loan back in record time. So this isn’t something that’s never happened before.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago’s Mayor is planning to raise the city’s amusement tax from 8 percent to 9 percent. That hike includes a proposal to broaden the amusement tax umbrella to include “direct-to-home satellite service.” The city hopes to shore up a 9 million budget gap by forcing the tax (which cable customers already pay) on Dish Network and DirecTV customers. According to DirecTV, “federal law prevents cities from taxing direct broadcast satellite services.” The city claims they’re on solid legal ground, and that satellite customers should have to pay the same taxes as cable users.
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In August of 2007, Earthlink, failing to make muni-fi work as an incumbent end-around, gave Houston million for missing build deadlines. Earthlink ultimately walked away from citywide Wi-Fi entirely, but Houston used their money to deploy downtown Wi-Fi themselves. That network went live one year later, providing Houston residents with free service last August. Since inception the city’s website hinted the initiative might not last, and now the Houston Chronicle reports the project has been modified to the chagrin of some locals:

With the exception of an area downtown with parking meter mounted hotspots, it looks like Houston is closing the network off to the general public. A project spokesperson says the post-Earthlink plan never involved Wi-Fi for the masses, and tells the Chronicle this effort is “about access with a purpose” and was never intended to be a Wi-Fi free for all. Glenn Fleishman of Wi-Fi Networking News seems utterly perplexed by the move:

Houston’s logic doesn’t seem all that strange, given that restricting the municipal network to schools and community centers reduces network strain and bandwidth costs, while letting somebody else worry about wireless broadband across the rest of the city (which should make ISPs happy). The network was initially deployed to network parking meters and funded by Earthlink’s screw up, so the school and community center Wi-Fi is just an added perk.
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Verizon this week struck a new multi-year deal with Major League Baseball, the agreement bringing the MLB Network and the league’s Extra Innings out-of-market package to all FiOS TV customers. According to the company’s press release, MLB Network will be available to all Verizon FiOS TV customers as part of the Essentials and Extreme HD packages on Channel 86, when it debuts Jan. 1, 2009. Meanwhile, the MLB Extra Innings package provides up to 80 out-of-market Major League Baseball games per week.
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BT to abandon next gen broadband theinquirer.net
CableLabs issues new specs for converged video, broadband cedmagazine.com
EC Challenges Spanish Regulator lightreading.com
Ofcom Extends Broadband Migration Enforcement Program ispreview.co.uk
Warrington first to see Virgin Media 50meg broadband thinkbroadband.com
Verizon Renews BigBand for FiOS cable360.net
High court takes case of Enron Broadband defendant chron.com
AVG offers infected users free year of service theinquirer.net
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It’s Friday, so take off your shoes, put up your feet, and empty your head into the comment section below.
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As AT&T and Verizon attempt to try and lure customers away from cable operators, they’ve focused on matching features instead of trying to undercut cable prices. While they occasionally offer some tasty bundle promotions, they’ve largely refused to engage in price warfare, and in fact have increased TV prices several times since entering the market. A new survey by Heavy Reading suggests that customers really are generally happy with features but are seriously drawn to lower cost offerings — particularly in a tight economy.

Cable and phone companies have had the luxury of engaging in non-price competition. Will a struggling economy force a change?
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Over the last few years, Australian lawmakers have been enamored with the idea of Internet filters, spending almost a hundred million on filtering technology that a teenager was able to circumnavigate in just a few minutes. When Internet filters were voluntary and made available for download, the numbers showed that nobody used them. Undeterred, the Australian government is going forward with mandatory filters nobody can opt-out of. Michael Malone, boss of Australia’s largest ISP iiNet, says the carrier will be signing up for trials of Australia’s new mandatory Internet filtering system, though even Malone thinks it’s a bad idea:

Malone goes on to opine that Australia’s Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, “is the worst Communications Minister we’ve had in the 15 years since the internet industry has existed.”

So far similar efforts here in the States have either been simply too stupid to work or ruled unconstitutional. But as we mentioned last month, with child porn used as a rallying cry, there’s a growing push in the States to use Deep Packet Inspection to monitor each and every packet you send and receive for legality.
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