Friedbeef’s Tech

Ah, World Cup season is upon us. 32 countries, 3 billion raving fans, all part and parcel of the largest sporting event in the world. Not that anyone needs help getting into the spirit of the beautiful game, but here are 7 ways to do it the high tech way.

1. Yahoo (Konfabulator) Widget:

This is a little widget (mini-application) which sits on your desktop, in the background, and grabs you the latest world cup headlines, photos, and match fixtures from the world cup without having to open your browser.

2. ESPN Podcast

No time to read about the world cup? Just download the latest news and commentary onto your MP3 player and listen to it on the go. (Also available via Itunes)

3. Footiefox Firefox Extension
This Firefox browser Add-on integrates smoothly in the status bar of your browser. A nonintrusive panel on the status bar displays two little flags and the score - that’s about it! Handy even after the world cup, for normal league matches.

Features include:

• display of current soccer scores in your status bar
• all matches at a glance on the customizable score board
• support of more than 18 European leagues plus many international championships
• visual and acoustic notification when goals are scored
• kick-off times in local time, world cup teams in local language

4. Google IG Module

Google has released a gadget which you can publish the latest live scores, matches and standings via their personalised homepage Google ig. Get more information on Google’s complete world cup arsenal in the related link below.

5. Soccernet Gamecast

If you’re stuck somewhere without a TV during a match, find a TV fast. Failing which, get a running text commentary of the ongoing game with Soccernet’s Gamecast (look under live scores section -> Gamecast)

6. BBC Football’s RSS Feed

Don’t waste time checking in on your latest soccer news by repeatedly visiting your favourite football website. Let the news come to you instead via RSS.

7. World Cup 2006 Official site

Of course, round up your world cup tech journey with a visit to the official site where aside from the usual news, and photos, you can get your hands on video match highlights.

Related Links:

Google world cup service compendium

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zeit·geist | Pronunciation: ‘tsIt-”gIst, ‘zIt | Function: noun | Etymology: German, from Zeit (time) + Geist (spirit) | Date: 1884 | Meaning: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.

The Google Zeitgeist is the definitive guide to what the internet is searching for. Being a fan of the annual edition, I only recently discovered that they publish monthly international editions as well.

On Malaysia’s list, we had some expected entries such as songstress “Siti Nurhaliza”, and the major Malay newspapers. Given the hype, I’m surprised local superstar “Mawi” did not make the cut. In fact, it looks like “shower curtains” and “backgammon” are more important to Malaysians than the “Akademi Fantasia” (local talent show) winner.

Here’s the full list:

1. Berita Harian (local newspaper)
2. Harian Metro (local newspaper)
3. Naruto (Japanese anime)
4. Utusan Malaysia (local newspaper)
5. Jawatan Kosong (employment opportunities)
6. Shower Curtains
7. Jobstreet
8. LDHN (Tax agency)
9. Air Asia
10. Final Fantasy
11. Siti Nurhaliza (Malaysian songstress)
12. Naza Sutera
13. Malaysian Idol
14. Backgammon

Related Links:

Worldwide Zeitgeist
USA Zeitgeist
International Zeitgeist
Annual Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist Archive

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Open letter to anyone thinking of starting a Web 2.0 company…

Dear New Web 2.0 Company,
As much as us early adopters love to experiment, here’s a little wishlist for all of you…

• Give us the option of a quick exit. We love your service, but something better may or may not come along in the near future. Don’t lock us into your service, instead - convince us to stay with better features. For example, if you’re an online reader, have the option to EXPORT to OPML, so we have the option to take our feeds with us.
• Make it easy to port over our information from other existing services. If you think your platform is superior and that everyone should start using your standard because it’s better than the existing one… Think again. Make it easy for us to jump onboard. For example, if you’re a social bookmarking site, make sure you are compatible with del.icio.us.
• Innovate, not just differentiate. Yes, you think you’re different from the rest, but you’re the tenth online picture sharing service we’ve seen this week. Please give us something that blows our mind. The facial recognition features of Riya, is a perfect example of true innovation.

Thanks & regards
Hapless Web 2.0 User

Sounds simple? You only need to skim through lists like this one below to see how many Web 2.0 clones there are, with poor entry and/or exit features built in…

Related Links

Web 2.0 List of companies via Mashable
Do anything you want with Web 2.0
Visit your favourite websites in a fraction of the time via RSS

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