Andy Wibbels has created a nice screencast, which explains how to use Google’s new RSS reader. I guess it is mainly targeted to less tech savy users and explains how to find and subscribe to a feed in very plain words. If you’re new to RSS or have not tried the Google Reader before, you should check this one out. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Xyrox RSS Feed while you’re at it 
[via Micro Persuation]
I was asked by the Community Manager of blinklist.com to link to a survey on social bookmarking services they are currently running. Obviously they are looking for ideas to improve their service. I could not really help here, because if I had a killer idea on how to improve social bookmarking, I would most likely try to implement that one by myself. Anyway, you might think otherwise, so the link to the survey goes here.
Shadows is a new service which recently popped up on the social bookmarking scene. In addtion to the tagging of URLs, which is supported by a lot of services now, it adds the possibility to rate and discuss the quality of a web site.
Each site a user bookmars gets a so called Shadow Page. On this you find the tags given to that page, as well as discussion threads and a ranking option. You can see the Shadow Page for XyroX here. Notice the ugly screenshot of a design long gone in the top left.
Each Shadows user also gets a Shadow Page on his own (My Shadow Page). This is some kind of profile page, showing the user’s tags and bookmarks and also allows other people to rank the person the page belongs to. Shadow users can also blog to their profile page.
As far as I know this service is new, and I think it has quite some potential. You can import your browser bookmarks or del.icio.us tags for a quick start there. I think I’ll keep my eyes on this one. What they should improve on is the user interface, I had a hard time finding my way around the site at first.
Many PSP users complain about dead pixels on their display. I was lucky and managed to get a console without pixel errors and with a perfectly working display. For those less lucky, maybe the Stuck Pixel Fixer at PSP-Vault is a solution. It is a special video which switches on and off the various colors in rapid succession, and has to be run repeatedly for a few hours. I have no idea if this can work, but some people claim success with this solution.
Think black and white is too mainstream? A company called Colorware has announced to offer a big portfolio of colored iPods soon. They provide 23 standard colors, which will allow for 460 individual combinations. The pictures on their site sure look nice, and they claim their coating to be unscratchable. Colorware also offers Playstations, X-Boxes and iMacs in various colored variants. So what about the PSP?
The Logitech® G15 Gaming Keyboard is a keyboard specifically aimed at gamers. With 18 programmable keys for commands and macros, there is a lot of customizability. Current status information on the game can be shown on a special folding LCD panel, if the game does support this. Last but not least, the keys are illuminated with three levels of backlighting, to make nightly gaming hassle free. At a suggested price of USD 79.99 the keyboard should be an affordable addition to any gamers gadget collection.
Ta-da Lists has been one of the most succesful web applications this year, so it would be just a matter of time until somebody would try to do it even better. With Remember The Milk, there is now another serious contender in the web based task management arena.
The applictation follows a simple Web 2.0 design rule: Do only one thing, and do it really good. With a modern and very intuitive, Ajax powered user interface, an intelligent deadline system, the option to make both public and private lists as well as some neat reminder options (E-Mail, SMS, ICQ, etc.), this one is sure to make a serious impact on the web.
According to PSP Updates, the new firmware version 2.50 is available for network upgrade. Other than the bogus 2.01 version, which failed to provide new features and only messed with the ability to downgrade the PSP to older firmware, this one introduces some new stuff. Of note are the LocationFree video player and the ability to play copyright protected movies from the memory stick.
The japanese PSP homepage allready offers the new firmware for download.
Warning: Upgrading your firmware to a version higher than 2.0 makes it impossible to run homebrew for the time being.
The London Aquarium has a special new attraction: A Cyber Fish, inspired by a common carp, which is able to avoid objects and swim around a specially designed tank. The fish is sized at 50cm long, 15cm high and 12cm wide and is able to swim at a speed of 50 cm per second. The speed has been reduced to prolong battery life though. The fish are reported to move very lifelike, and people tend to think they are real animals.
[via Science News Daily]
Nice move: Novell anounced the launch of the Better Desktop initiative as part of the openSUSE project. A serious amount of Novell’s usability research, including 200 movies of people using various desktop software, is going to be released in the public domain. For most developers it is very difficult to predict how an ordinary user will use their software, so these studies might be very helpful for the open source movement to build more usable applications.