Crunchy Mustard

Computer geeks and gadget-crazies across the world felt a punch to the stomach this morning.

At 10:45 PDT Steve Jobs announced that the 8GB iPhone will be reduced from $599 to $399.

“OH HELL NO!” … I know what you iPhone owners are screaming. Yes, yes you just saw $200 wash away in front of you so you could hold the God phone in your hands a few months before everyone else.

Do no fret, I am one of those tools.

Also announced was a new iPod which will allow users to take advantage of the same touch-screeniness and side-ways flips that only iPhone users had until now. It will run at a variety of sizes and will also have wifi and iTunes Store capability. This new gadget will be christened the “iPhone touch…”

For those still not interested in the touch screen, there is an updated “classic” iPod in new and improved storage sizes. The iPod nano has also been reshaped to provide video viewing.

An even more fantastic display of toolery is Apple’s recent partnership with Starbucks. New iPod (and iPhone users) will see a 5th button appear in their iTunes music store which will allow them to listen to the latest song playing in the coffee cafe and download it.

Fantastic.

Source: CrunchGear!

**UPDATE** I just heard from a friend that all iPhone owners will receive a $100 rebate. Those who bought the phone within the past 14 days will receive a $200 rebate.

There’s a new project over at Successful Blog, and I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s a group writing project and the question is: What’s Your Blogging Metaphor?. Edit: More of a simile, actually.

Blogging has always been a hard thing to explain to the generation before us. “Web 2.0″ and “blogosphere” are things they just don’t know about. Rather than ignore this fact, I’ve come up with the perfect metaphor for blogging.

Blogging is like a county fair. You know… funnel cakes, completions, and all. Everyone gathers around - your family, your neighbors, kids, grand parents, friends. Each person brings something unique - money for amusements, pies to sell, or BBQ equipment to compete with.

All of these different attractions at a fair make up the diverse spectrum of topics in the blogosphere, or the entire “blog world.” Although food dominates at a county fair, Aunt Suzie’s pie represents a gadget review blog while Uncle Tom’s secret BBQ technique represents a fiery political blog.

Aunt Suzie proudly brings her pie to the table. She takes look at every other ladies’ pies (even though she knows hers is the best) and shares recipes, comments on the shape and style of each crust, and new ideas for next year. Think of this small congregation as a blog. Whether its a gadget or a pie, there’s constant review, commenting, and chat going on.

Now Uncle Tom… he’s a little more competitive. You see, he represents the fiery world of political blogs. Uncle Tom knows he’s got the best BBQ recipe, and he’ll fight to prove it. The men gather ’round and openly critique each others’ rigs and styles. No holds barred: review, commentary, and discussion still occur. Although none of the men want to admit it, each of them are learning new techniques, styles, and ideas during this event.

Catch the underlying theme here?

In both of these examples, discussion and feedback are the defining point. This is exactly what a blog represents. The blogosphere represents a world of discussion and commentary… just like your local county fair competitions

Right now, Facebook and Myspace are in a boxing match and Myspace is on the floor crying.

A few days ago Facebook launched themselves into the world of open-sourcedom through their brand-spanking-new developer platform. The API gives a limitless amount of third party developers direct access to Facebook’s functionality and its 20 million users. “Huh?” you say?

Commonly referred to as “apps” any Facebook user can head over to the directory and use a two-click system to install tons of different applications to their profile. There are more than 20 different categories to choose from including music, business, messaging, and mobile. Many of the applications offer direct connections to popular services such as Twitter and digg.

Facebook also fills the void where Myspace once lead with user-uploaded MP3s, photo slide-shows, and scrapbooks. These new features joined with the sleek look of Facebook (rivaling Myspace’s tainted blinking heart backgrounds) and extreme user functionality make the question of choosing a social network not a decision but an IQ test.

Users can also now remove existing Facebook applications (like Facebook photos) and replace them with new ones. Like Microsoft with Windows, this creates an situation in which Facebook is competing with other developers on its own platform.

The bottom line? Although Myspace still trumps Facebook with 100 million users over 20 million users (with growth of 300,000 versus 100,000 users per day), Facebook’s new transparency and access to its core features will offer amazing advances in marketing to create a viral phenomena like never seen before.

Me? Right now I’m updating my Twitter, while doing a few diggs, after having created a digital slide show and updating my favorite RSS feeds to compare with my friends… all through my pretty Facebook profile.

Are you feeling rather down? Do you need a small pick me up from your favorite Chinese cookie? Look NO FURTHER:

Enjoy the joy of unFortunate. Read inspiring custom-crafted fortune cookies including such classics as:

• If you can do the robot, you can sneak into robot dance clubs.
• You will make many friends (in bed).
• You will invent a humorous toilet lid.
• If a cat pisses on your futon, piss on his bed.
• You will be aroused by a shampoo commercial.
• When life gives you ham, make hamonade.

unFortunate offers fun for the whole family. You can even print your custom creations right from your home printer. WOW! Enjoy unFortunate’s super Web 2.0 ish design and create away.

While signing up for a Last.fm account (great stuff program) I stumbled upon “mypictr.” It’s this nifty little tool that lets you upload any photo of yourself no matter the size. Then, you can use their zoom and crop tool to select the part of the photo you want exactly.

Now you don’t have to worry anymore about opening up a graphic editor and waiting ten minutes for it to load. Just upload, crop, and download.

The site will crop pictures at any size for ALL of the major networks out there. You can also cut photos for popular message board types or choose the standard 64×64.

So go check out my new Last.fm account, sign up for yourself, and check mypictr out