Today's "Two Tech Thumbs-down" Award goes to CAPTCHAs that Blind You with Science

Invented in the year 2000, a CAPTCHA is supposed to be a sort of security measure against computer robots that would like to mascaraed as humans. "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" (CAPTCHA) gives the user a challenge response news test to see if the user can identify or calculate a set of characters.

Using CAPTCHA technology minimizes spam traffic through a given site. There is only one draw back, however. The CAPTCHA also often minimizes a user's patience. One of the most frequently used CAPTCHAs is the distorted characters CAPTCHA. Because the characters are generally hyper-distorted, sometimes even humans can not decipher the characters.

I occasionally teach computer workshops. At times during the workshop, I might instruct the students to register for a particular service. Subsequently, we may spend the next 20 minutes attempting to decipher the CAPTCHA on each others' screens. Some users become so frustrated that they want to give up before they ever get started.

While the CAPTCHA is helpful, we will need to create a better way to distinguish human computer users from robots. Until then, today's "Two TechCrusader Thumbs Down" award goes to CAPTCHAs that blind us with science.

Using the Animation Features in PowerPoint

Image via Wikipedia

Animation of text and objects is a popular PowerPoint feature. Many presenters find it exciting news to add a special visual or sound effect to text or an object. For example, you can have your text bullet points fly in from the left, one word at a time, or hear the sound of applause when a picture is uncovered.

There are several considerations when planning your animation effect.

Animate text by letter, word, or paragraph
Animate the text you want with an entrance, emphasis, exit, or motion path effect.
Add an entrance, emphasis, or exit animation

To add effects to your presentation follow the steps below and view the attached video for illustration.

Open the presentation you want to add animation to and do one or both of the following:

Apply a preset animation scheme

If you only want to apply the animation scheme to a few slides, click the Slides tab, and select the slides you want.
On the Slide Show menu, click Animation Schemes.
In the Slide Design task pane, under Apply to selected slides, click an animation scheme in the list.
If you want to apply the scheme to all slides, click the Apply to All Slides.

Apply a custom animation

1. In normal view, display the slide that has the text or objects you want to animate.
2. Select the object you want to animate.
3. On the Slide Show menu, click Custom Animation.
4. In the Custom Animation task pane, click , and do one or more of the following:
5. If you want to make the text or object enter the slide show presentation with an effect, point to Entrance and then click an effect.
6. If you want to add an effect to text or an object that is on the slide, point to Emphasis and then click an effect.
7. If you want to add an effect to text or an object that makes it leave the slide at some point, point to Exit and then click an effect.
8. Note The effects appear in the Custom Animation list, top to bottom, in the order you apply them. The animated items are noted on the slide by a non-printing numbered tag that correlates to the effects in the list. This tag does not show up in the slide show view.

Tip

If you preview animations for a slide using the Play button on the Custom Animation task pane, you do not need to click to trigger any animation sequences. To preview how triggered animations work, click the Slide Show button instead.

Add a motion path
In normal view, display the slide that has the text or objects you want to create a motion path for.
Select the text item or object you want to animate.
For text items, you can select a placeholder or paragraph (including a bullet).

If the Custom Animation task pane is not displayed, on the Slide Show menu, click Custom Animation.
In the Custom Animation task pane, click , point to Motion Paths, and do one of the following:
Apply a preset motion path

Click a preset path or click More Motion Paths to choose from more options.

Create a custom motion path

Point to Draw Custom Path and then do one of the following:

1. Click Freeform to draw a path with both curved and straight segments. Drag to draw freehand shapes; click and move the mouse to draw straight lines.
2. Click Scribble and drag to draw a path that looks more like it was drawn with a pen or to create smooth curves.

Click Line and drag to draw a straight path.
Click Curve and click where you want the curved path to start, and then continue to move the mouse and click wherever you want to add a curve.
Do one of the following:
If you want to end the freeform or curved path and leave it open, double-click at any time.
If you want to end a line or scribbled path, let go of the mouse button.
If you want to close a shape, click at its starting point.

Tip

To make the path mimic an exit effect, set effect options to fade or hide the item after the animation plays, or draw the motion path off the slide.
In the Custom Animation task pane, in the Custom Animation list, click the animated text item that you want.
Click the arrow, click Effect Options, and then do one or more of the following:
If you want to animate by letter, on the Effect tab, in the Animate text list, click By letter.
If you want to animate by word, on the Effect tab, in the Animate text list, click By word.
If you want to animate by paragraph level or bullet, on the Text Animation tab, in the Group Text list, click an option.
Note If you want a delay in action between letter, word, or paragraph animations, on the Timing tab, enter a number in the Delay box.

Tip

To animate the text all at once, on the Effect tab, in the Animate text list, click As one object.

City of Philadelphia, CIO, Allan Frank joins us

Allan Frank
Chief Information Officer
Division of Technology
City of Philadelphia

During program for Saturday, September 20, 2008, we will review the insights and perspectives on the issues that matter most to the chief information officer (CIO) of the City of Philadelphia, including the most important one of all—aligning IT with overall goals with economic constraints. With 50% information and 50% inspiration, the CIO's journey through a city's challenges could propel that city to new heights.

From staffing to program development, a Chief Information Officer is consider the general of a city's tech army.

Allan Frank brings 35 years of knowledge in technology and business leadership to his position as Chief Information Officer for the City of Philadelphia. His background includes co-founder of a publicly-traded Consulting and Research company, Senior Partner in a Global Professional Services Firm, and extensive experience in setting strategy, implementing and operating core business processes, product development, marketing, internal IT management, software development and all facets of building a world-class technology/services organization. He is also a recognized as an expert in the areas of information delivery, decision support and knowledge management. Mr. Frank holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Master of Science in Computer Science, and Master of Business Administration in Finance from Lehigh University and he is also a non-practicing Certified Public Accountant.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The future CIO may be a non-geek
• BREAKING: Philadelphia Weekly Grabs New CEO From The Voice In Apparent Effort To Stop Years-Long, Almost Cosmic Levels Of Suckage

Twitter's New Layout

Image via CrunchBase
The news and votes are in! Most of the estimated 1 million Twitter.com users like the new site design. In the new Twitter display, Tweet'amis will notice that following/followers/update status is located high on the page. Making this information more prominent allows users ease of access.

Fortunately, Twitter has a link to the "Notice something different?" blog post which details that changes which include customizations and speed improvements.

Overall, this change will most like not shock most Twitter users. Instead the change will be met with appreciation.

If you haven't yet, give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to view your replies, direct messages, favorites, and followers.

Most users experience a split second delay while Twitter tech made the change over to the new design. That alone is admirable. For most, a change over causes user anxiety and a subsequent lose of confidence in the platform. Certainly, many other providers could learn something from Twitter. I suspect that the Twitter staff was a flurry of high-fives after the change over. Well, allow us to high five also. Well done, Twitter.com. Well done.

Target's Field Trip Grants

Image via Wikipedia Have you ever considered taking your students to a nearby tech company so that they can talk to the company's staff members and find out the great news and services that the company offers?

Well, now you can do just that because Target will award 5,000 Field Trip Grants of up to $800 each during the 2008-2009 school year. Now young people can expand their horizons and find out all of the tools that are available to positively enhance their lives by taking the show on the road and experiencing learning locations beyond the classroom.

Read more about the Field Trip Grant from Target and apply.

How to Set-up Your Linksys Wireless Router

If you have a more than one computer in your home or office, you may want to share an internet connection. Sharing an internet connection is a great way to save money and encourage efficiency. The new news in networking is that most Linksys wireless routers are up to 9 times faster than Wireless-G. Follow the steps in the video below to set-up a wireless router in your facility.

Autism and Children's Fears

During our special back-to-school radio program on September 13, 2008, we will speak with the rockstars in medicine and human services to uncover some of the treatments for autism, and anxiety in children.

Uplift from Autism Inc.

Evelyn Hawkins is the President of Uplift from Autism Inc., a corporation dedicated to helping parents with Autistic children. Evelyn experienced many trials and tribulations and even some upsets as a
parent of a child with Autism. Evelyn's dedication to helping her autistic son, Isaiah for the past six years lead to the development of a breakthrough educational system that increased her child's social, motor, and emotional skills.

What Role Does The Media Play In Children's Fears?
From information on hurricanes, terrorist attacks, and the war in Iraq, children are constantly being exposed to frightful and gruesome images on television daily. More and more studies are showing young children are suffering from high anxiety with parents reporting that they wake up from nightmares. Doctors are prescribing medications for these anxieties. Is this an answer? What can parents do if their child is frightened by something they saw on television? What can children do if they are scared? How can parents know the difference between fear and anxiety? Able to discuss this and more is Jason Edwards. Edwards wrote his first book, Will Allen and the Great Monster Detective to help his own daughter deal with painful anxieties. Edwards is also a schoolteacher and has a B.S. degree in psychology. With over 20 years of experience helping children he has seen first hand the toll that anxiety can have on them. He can offer tips for parents and children on dealing with fear. Jason Edwards is a schoolteacher, and has a B.S. degree in psychology. He is also the author of Will Allen and the Great Monster Detective, which he wrote to help children deal with fear and anxiety.

Using Microsoft Word to Update Your Website

Great News. Image via Wikipedia Did you know that you can use Microsoft Word to update your website? Please note, in order to complete the following instructions, you MUST:

1. Know your website login information. (Please check with your website storage provider if you do not have this information.)
2. Back-up your site first.

STEP 1 - ACCESSING YOUR WEBSITE WITH MS WORD

1. Open Word.
2. Click File->Open
3. Type in http://YourDomain.com.
4. Enter the username and password (Please check with your website storage provider if you do not have this information)
5. You will see a list of files and folders. Double click the page you would like to edit to open it.
6. Edit the page.
7. Click Save to save it back to the webserver.
8. Using your web browser, navigate to http://YourDomain.com to see the changes

NOTE:
a. Files must end in either .htm or .html.
b. File names are Case Sensitive.
c. Do not use spaces in file names.


STEP 2 - ADDING A HYPERLINK

To add a hyper link form one page to another ---

1. Select the text you want to be a hyperlink.
2. Right click the text. Select Hyperlink
3. A box appears with all the files on your site. Double click the file you want it to link to. Done.

Finding Readers for Your Blog

Image by Getty Images via Daylife It is easy to write about a topic that is of interest to me. I find it difficult to write about a topic that I am not interested in. The same holds true for reading blogs. I find that blogs that hold my attention the most are blogs about technology, business, finance and community organizing. I realize that those subjects are vastly different from one another, but my interests are diverse, also. That is why it is important for a blogger to capture my attention in the first paragraph by either asking or answering a question that he knows many people in his genre would ask. By doing this, the writer will immediately connect with me and I am more likely to continue reading.

Most often I visit the blogs of people I already know. I like to read their perspective on a recent news item. I read blogs that my friends and family members have created. I especially frequent blogs written by people who have attended classes that I've taught. Former students are my key readers, also. I often suggest to bloggers who are attempting to gain new readers that they volunteer to teach a class on their favorite subject at their local community center. Instructors who are an opinion leaders in their respective fields are hard to find. Subsequently, many students would be happy to read the blog of such an instructor.

It is also a great idea to link-to or reference your peers' blogs. Not only does that increase their exposure, but it boosts your exposure, also.

Generally speaking, whether your are a blog writer or reader, it is a great idea to spread the word about blogs that you find to be interesting.

News: Chris Richardson of American Idol Discusses Technology

Chris Richardson and American Idol. Hearing those words, most people think of the harmony, talent, singing and adoring fans. When hearing the words, “Chris Richardson and American Idol” the last thing a person thinks of is technology. But, ya know, I AM the Tech Crusader. So, I imagined that people want to know what one of the most popular names in entertainment, Chris Richardson, has to say about technology.

That’s why we sent the field reporters from the Technically Speaking Radio show, Ken Houston and Jerome Rogers to get the scoop on the American Idols Live! tour at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA featuring the Season Six Top 10 Idols.

Chris Richardson’s favorite tech device is his camera. He loves to capture what’s going on. He agrees that technology is great!

But, see/hear him for yourself:

Click the Play button to view video

Online TV Grows in Popularity

Image via Wikipedia Mike Saxon
SVP, Brand and Communications
TNS

Online TV Viewership Has Doubled in the Last Two Years. Mike Saxon joins us on this week's program to discuss this phenomenon.

How does online TV change the business model?
How will online TV and traditional broadcast TV intersect?
What Interactive capabilities come along with online TV, and how will that change the industry?

Mike has been with TNS since April 2007, and is responsible for the Media Optimization area within the Brand & Communications research business. In his role, Mike helps clients improve their ROI across their marketing efforts and enhance their web and mobile usability. He is also leading the digital advertising effectiveness initiative for Brand and Communications.
Before joining TNS, Mike ran the wireless sector research team for IAG Research, an advertising effectiveness measurement firm. In the role, Mike worked with the major US carriers to ensure that their TV and Mobile advertising executions were consistent with their corporate objectives. He also pioneered the development of new methodologies for tracking mobile advertising. Prior to IAG, Mike spent much of his career with the VNU organization. With Nielsen/Net Ratings, he led the development of media measurement products around the globe. Previously, he built and ran the ACNielsen Advanced Modeling team servicing the Nabisco unit of Kraft Foods.
Mike holds a BS in Labor Relations from Cornell University, and an MS in Business Administration from the University of Illinois.

The Interview:

JC: So how does Online TV change the business model?

Mike: You know this is the real interesting thing, right? In the old days, you had TV which was just on one screen and to measure it was pretty easy. You had your Neilson folks and you measured what they watched. And that worked real well for the business because if you knew who watched the TV show, you know who’s saw the advertising. And remember the business is the advertising.

JC: Yes

Mike: In the short term, we now have a big problem because the TV shows are being shown on mobiles, they’re being shown in your bedroom, they’re being shown at work. And you know what, the measurement systems haven’t caught up yet. So there’s a lot of talking going on in the media industry about well, how much should we be charging for the advertising. And it’s a big problem.

JC: Yeah

Mike: The longer term, and here is where we get into the interesting part is we’re gonna stop worry about how many people saw a TV show. We’re gonna worry about, stop worrying about how many people saw Lost. We’re gonna start thinking about how many people saw the Ford ad.That’s what we’re gonna start thinking about. Cause it’s real easy to track the advertising now.

JC: It really is, isn’t it?

Mike: And what’s amazing is, that that advertising will be targeted to you, to me differently.

JC: Yeah.

Mike: Based on where I live and where you live. And how much I make and how much you make. You and I could see very different advertising.

JC: Yeah, that’s true. So, how will TV and traditional broadcasting intersect?

Mike: Well, ultimately, they are going to be the same. This is the other neat thing. They’re both going to digital. And what that means in real life is that you and I as individuals can talk back. The TV comes in but we can talk back. What that means is, on one hand, the folks who are broadcasting the TV know if we are watching. And number 2, we can fast-forward and rewind, and we’ll be able to do that both on line and interactive. Ultimately they’re going to be the same thing. IF you think about it today, right, you probably have broadband at home. I’m just guessing.

JC: Yeah!

Mike: Is the company that provides your internet the same company that provides your TV?

JC: Certainly, yes.

Mike: Ok. So really, what’s the difference? You can view it on your computer, you can view it on your TV if it’s the same type. Though ultimately those two things are going to come together and you’ll just decide, do you want to watch on your big screen in your living room, your little screen in your office or your screen in your bedroom. And web broadcast will be sort of a meaningless distinction.

Morris: I have a question, Mike. This is Morris ????. I remember back in the early 90’s when Bell Atlantic and a couple of the other big names in the industry, when they were talking about voice and video and streaming over the same twisted pair. Is this the realization of that technology, pretty much?

Mike: Yeah! You know that was really before it’s time. Are you talking about the Orlando experiment?

Morris: Absolutely.

Mike: Yeah. You know that was really before it’s time. I mean video on demand if you think about it, has now been around for a few years and that’s what they were trying. This is really taking a step beyond that and saying, rather than saying, I have a screen in my office where I have my computer and I have a screen in my living room where I have my TV and I interface with my computer in one way and I interface with my TV in another way, it’s all going to be the same.

Morris: So really, if, well, let’s just use me for an example, as a business owner, I can now have the ability to target my market more effectively because they are just using one monitor, it’s all coming in through the same pipeline, and then I can actually let me know, you know I’m not worried about what show their watching, because I really don’t care, I just want to make sure they’re gonna watch my ad

Mike: Exactly. You’re exactly right. What’s happening now is if I know you are a small business owner. I know for example that there are gonna be certain types of ads that I’m gonna want to show you. And I’m gonna wanna make sure that they get delivered. So I’m gonna A. Know that your TV is on. Because I’m gonna be able to know that because it’s digital.

Morris: Sure

Mike: Right and I’m gonna know that it got delivered to a running TV. And I don’t really care if you saw it in the office or you saw it at home but I’ll know which TV was on.

Morris: I’ll know which TV was on. And I can even, am I mistaken in saying that, the technology is already there that I can know that if there were five monitors in the residence, how many monitors were on.

Mike: Exactly

Morris: Cause that can take place now when you look at the cable company when how they deliver the new, the other version from the local telephone company.

Mike: Exactly, so here’s where that’s right. So you will know exactly which screens are on. Now if you want to go one step further, the obvious question is, but you don’t know if Mark was listening. His TV may have been on. Here’s a really neat way to get beyond that. What there’s two things that can happen. One that’s happening right now. Is there are panels of people for measurement, who walk around with a special cell phone and every 6 seconds it picks up what noise they’re listening to and uploads that and we can get a sense of any advertising that they’ve listened to whether it be out of home or in the house or radio in the car, what have you. That technology could also be applied to set top boxes. Is anyone actually in the room to listen? Do we hear voices? Ok.

Morris: Well, I’m just sitting here. I’m the conspiracy guy here.

JC: He’s becoming terrified.

Mike: And I’m feeding into that aren’t I?

Morris; Right. Cause I’m wondering now with television going digital. We’re looking at television, is the television going to be looking at us? Because now your talking about telephones in a pocket that tells people what the noise is around them. Well , will you all be sitting in your office looking at us through our television screens?

Mike: We may not be looking at you….

Morris: But you’ll be listening…

Mike: I’m just a measurement guy. We may not be looking at you but they may be listening. Absolutely.

Morris: Yeah. Through the television.

Mike: If you think about it, if you just simply want to know, what did the person listen to my ad? Were they there? Now, that’s an easy way to do it. Now, let me tell you something. I used to work for Neilson. He is big brother if there ever was one. I can tell you straight up, very honestly, Neilson or any of the other broadcasters have absolutely no interest in your personal life. I am having worked for big brother, I am not a conspiracy theorist. Cause I know how the data actually works….

JC: The capability, yeah….

Mike: And there’s really, it’s safer there than it is with your neighbor. Just as a….

Morris: Well then television will come…. Well then the next step is to move telephones through televisions….visual telephones….with the digital age, right?

Mike: Absolutely, and that’s already here. Most, I don’t know about your area but where we do research now we ask folks who’s your telephone provider. And right now in major urban areas, for starters you get upwards of 30% of young people, actually don’t have a land line phone. And then when you ask the remainder who provides their phone service, I don’t remember the number but a very large percentage gets their phone not from the phone company but from the cable company. Or over Vios. Fiber Optic.

JC: Yeah. Cause even like last year, Sprint did a promo with us where they asked us to use their Spring phones. So we were actually watching Sprint TV too via the telephones. But I just want to also go back to the discussion Jerome and Mike were having in reference to listening. And what Mike was talking about and listening to what users are doing was are they actually listening and watching TV or are the users watching TV, that’s a concept that’s sort of tracking, whether or not they’re watching the commercials, have they seen the commercials, not that the companies are listening to a conversation that’s in a house.

Morris: No, I didn’t say that. But the capability is there.

Mike: Well I don’t – but that’s no ones goal because….

Morris: They don’t care.

Mike: Yeah, that’s know one’s goal. The goal is simply to make the advertising. It’s really at the end of the day, it’s about relevance. The reason they do this and the reason they’re trying to target and listen is because they want to serve you ads that you’re gonna pay attention to . The end of the day it’s actually better for you.

Morris: I have a question Mike. When you take a look at how you have the monitor and the provider, whoever their provider is has the ability to just send out….. is it going to work the same as the digital alarm companies do where they just send out the pulse and the pulse just picks up audible noise or are they really going to have something where you have to give them permission to do it. How do you see that playing out?

Mike: Oh, I would imagine this would be permission only.

Morris: Okay.

Mike: I don’t think you’re ever going to get to a case where they’re, you know that’s a really good point, where they’re listening to what you’re doing without your knowledge. I mean that’s …. No one would be contemplating that.

Morris: Because that’s when I was listening to you and Jerome have the initial conversation. I know a lot of people would probably, just from listening, to it, it would sound as if, okay someone is monitoring what I’m doing. And, you know, that could be disturbing and I could see someone getting a little upset about that.

Mike: Oh, that would be terribly disturbing and no, no, nobody’s contemplating serendipitously listening without your knowledge. And thank you for clarifying that. Certainly not anything that any of the media companies are contemplating.

JC: If you’re just tuning in, you’re listening to the Technically Speaking Radio program on 1540am WNWR Your New World Radio Station. We have the pleasure of speaking with Mike Saxon who is the Senior Vice President for Brand and Communications for TNS. And Mike is responsible for Media Optimization area within Brand and Communications Research business. In his role, Mike helps clients improve the return on investment across their marketing efforts and enhance their web and mobile usability. Now Mike, you talked about Online TV growing in popularity, what interactive capabilities will come along with on line TV and how will that change the industry?

Mike: Well I think that’s another really exciting development is what’s gonna happen ultimately is all the things we have on our TV - rewind, fast forward, play, pause – and TIVO capabilities, the recording capabilities, the ability to store, are all going to be constant across your broadcast TV and what your doing in your office. And what that means, really is, again this shift from appointment TV to content on demand. So you as a consumer are going to be able to decide when and where you want to watch and how much you want to watch at a given time. And the industry then moves from worrying about show dates to simply release dates. It’s an idea of releasing content in to the world frankly , and letting it find it’s outlets. So what’s exciting then for the population is that it’s far more control over what your watching and when. And it’s a great great development for the population and for the industry. It means that you again move from paying attention to who’s watching this TV show between eight and nine and who’s watching it over the next week or two weeks on what platform. To understand who saw your show.

Jerome: You’re talking about advertising, Mike. This is Jerome again. I just see target audience for TV commercials. But I’m like….I’m like that little guy that you probably won’t be targeting Lear jets too but I want to see a Lear jet commercial. You know what I mean? Would I have to watch a golf show to see that? You know I’m sitting there, and maybe not in that realm of people who can afford that then you won’t be targeting me with that thing….or high end cars….or that type of thing if I’m not …

Mike: You know that’s an interesting question. Targeting advertising is a double edged sword. What I mean by that is, there’s always going to be room for mass market advertising. There’s an old adage, Big Brands didn’t get that way by targeted advertising.

Jerome: Right

Mike: Right. Oreos didn’t get to be Oreos by targeting only, you know, kids. But it targeted everybody. But there’s always gonna be mass market advertising. What we’re really talking about it, a good example would be a car advertising, Lear jet advertising is one…that would probably be more targeted. But that’s in general good for everybody because there is whole slots of the population that aren’t interested in certain ads and why show them? You’re just wasting everyone’s time.

Jerome: Well I mean it. I’m just putting out there ….it just goes to the imagination of what could be…. It just expands a child’s imagination….you know what I mean? A lower income child that they could look for. You know what I mean?

Mike: I absolutely see what your saying. I think you’re right. Smart marketers will keep that in mind. I think you’re absolutely right.

JC: Yeah, cause this is one of the few times I have to agree with Jerome because they’re a lot of things I watch that are different than what people on my block or even in the city might want to watch. I really like dirty stuff like Squawk Box, I like to watch that. And there are things I have to watch because of what I do for work. Or you know, they may not have anything to do with my individual personality. So it’s going be difficult for I think the robots to manage and market to me as an individual as I would buy for myself and what I might buy for a client.

Jerome: Because they’ll start forming….certain types of people….because you JC are a nerd…

JC: Thank you, Jerome.

Morris: This is Morris. Maybe you can just clarify my thinking and correct me if I’m wrong but if I’m the person who’s doing the advertising, JC, I’m really working at not just the demography of where you’re living at, I’m really looking at the show that you’re watching and at the same time, lets say you’re in the Philadelphia market but your looking at a time share. I’m still gonna have my advertising tied to the type of person who would watch that type of show.

Jerome: That’s what you can’t do, Morris. Cause as I was growing up you probably want to advertise Hip Hop to me but I was looking at Inside Edition.

JC: What you’re saying is something that they do now. They do what we call geo targeting or geotags … for geography. And that means the Philadelphia market. That’s or the Pennsylvania market.

Morris: But I’m saying once you have this technology, if I’m looking at… who can I target market insurance to….and I look at what type of person would buy this product. Well age 50 to 80. What type of shows have they traditionally watched? Well, they watch Bill Nye, the Science Guy. So I want to put my commercial associated with Bill Nye the Science Guy. It doesn’t matter what time you watch it or where you watch it but t when your watching Bill Nye, the Science Guy you’re going to see my commercial.

JC: But only for consumers in your market of Pennsylvania.

Mike: The point is while that’s one way to market using goes…. It’s really kind of course. Cause there are a lot of people 50 – 80 who are not necessarily interested in insurance, maybe they got it earlier.

Morris: That’s true.

Mike: What you’d really be more interested in finding out…you know what you’d really like to do is advertise to people who have spent the last couple weeks searching on line for insurance.

Morris: That’s another way you can do it. But as I’m saying the technology is good for not just targeting traditionally, you can mold it because now the person who’s watching the monitor doesn’t have to be just tied into watching Bill Nye the Science Guy at a particular time. They can watch it whenever they want. And I don’t care when they watch it or where they watch it as long as they’re watching it. And on the marketing end, I want the person who’s doing the research to tell me what type of person is going to watch this show.

Mike: You’re 100% right. That’s exactly right. So, this is your basically, the analogy you’re drawing there, if I may, tell me if I’m wrong here, taking the internet advertising model which is say if I want people who are interested in finance whether that advertising on Forbes.com which is expensive, let me advertise somewhere else which is less expensive to people who have visited Forbes.com. And on TV it would work the same way. I know this person watched Bill Nye the Science Guy at some point. Maybe I don’t want to advertise on that show but I can advertise to those people who watched the show at a different time.

Morris: That’s right. I’m more interested in the type of person who watched that show and I need to know more information about them. Their age, what else do they watch, what else do they purchase… So what I’m saying is when you combine the two medias, I make lots of loot. If I’m really willing to get good at it.

Mike: Right and I do think it’s worth pointing out here that this is really less scary than it sounds. AT the end of the day what you’re doing is that you’re ultimately helping people, you know, if they have a need…if you have a product that you think has value…your simply making sure that you’re reaching those people.

JC: Exactly. Qualified buyers. So Mike, we really appreciate you joining us here on the Technically Speaking Radio Program.

Mike: It is absolutely been my pleasure.

JC: Have a fabulous, tech filled week.

Mike: You too.

JC: Bye bye. You are listening to the Technically Speaking Radio Program on 1540 am WNWR Your New World Radio Station. We’ll be right back after this break.

Review of Google Chrome

(aka online beta testers will work for free)

In this week's news, Google launched Chrome, its beta response to Firefox 3. Like bees to beta honey, the world's tech enthusiasts e-elbowed each other to be the first to critique the web browser. The verdict thus far is most people like the sleek no-frills browser. The Incognito Window, a snooping spouse's worst nightmare, is a bit suspect for my tastes. Overall, I would have to agree with the Tech Illuminati, Google has made it to third base with this one.

Pros

• Like most popular browsers, it allows for easy importing of bookmarks.
• It allows html, plugins, and javascript to play nice together
  
• Omnibox: Keyword searches via the address field is a delightful plus, also.
• To manage security and RAM, it creates separate processes for each new tab opened.
• Open source is always a good thing, right? (mash, mash, mash)
  

Cons

• It has been noted that Google's Chrome may not support GIF animation frames, however.
  
• Google's Chrome does not support Lively...a Google product.  What's up with that?
• Currently, the Chrome browser does not work on Macs. However, knowing Mac users, they will have a Chrome for Macs version compiled by the end of the week.

Middle of the road
The Report bug or Broken Web site feature: Google Inc (GOOG.O) has offered all self proclaimed Tech Illuminati the ability to send reports of program bugs. Now, isn't that thoughtful of Google....

Myspace joins the Department of Homeland Security?

When logging in to their Myspace accounts, the last news item that most users would expect to see is a note from "Tom" announcing the popular social network's partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security has asked MySpace to help distribute information about Hurricane Gustav. This information includes links to "How to Get Help", "Finding Friends & Family", "Health & Safety", "Donate & Volunteer", and "What Government is Doing".

While this isn't the first time that Myspace has worked with security officials, it is the first time that this union has bordered blatant self-promotion of a government agency. Yes, let's call it what it really is. After Katrina, our government learned that it is important to use every available outlet to let citizens know "What Government is Doing".


Although It is encouraging to know that our government is learning to use social media to increase the potential for a successful evacuation and rescue programme, one must consider the pros/cons of this type of union. Will Myspace and other social networks be swayed by Big Brother? This is an obvious concern.

Can government agencies truly effectively harness the power of social media without violating citizen privacy?