TypeKey "User ID" problem update

Received a response to the "Type Key" issue I blogged about earlier here. Below is an excerpt: "Unfortunately, this appears to be due to an issue with the TypeKey registration system - it's likely that usernames containing punctuation such as yours should not be able to be registered, because a URL should not contain these characters. However, it seems that the registration was not properly disallowed. In Movable Type, the URL is derived from the "author name", which is the TypeKey username. So, because you have a . in your username, the URL is technically "correct" as displayed by Movable Type. The problem is that the TypeKey system couldn't make a file with a . in it, so that URL results in a 404." In the context, I also would like to say that the TypeKey support has been very responsive to my questions. Commendable job! Thank you. TypeKey "User ID" problem update - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 -

Google's Click-to-Call / Pay-per-Call service

Google is apparently introducing yet another new service in the advertising category tagged "Click to Call" / "Pay per Call" service that allows a person browsing Internet to speak directly to an advertiser. The way it works is -- (i) User sees an ad with a little phone icon next to the ad (ii) Clicks on the phone icon & enters his/her phone number (iii) On clicking "Connect for Free" button, Google calls the user's number (iv) When the user picks up the call, Google connects the call to the advertiser and establishes a two way communication path. Though there is nothing new about this "Click to Call" technology, it is interesting to see Google incorporate this into its ad service. See the attached screen shots. Edit: Apparently, I received a mail from one Greg Yardley indicating that I'd have to give proper credit to "someone" who originally posted these images of Goog's C2C. As far as I can remember, I grabbed the news hint from some wire and googled to find sample images (not sure on which site I found those images.) which I then edited by removing the irrelevant portion and posted them here. Greg, are you saying that you originally posted these images on the Net? BTW, Greg finds my GD on-the-fly watermark ridiculous without much of an explanation. Google's Click-to-Call / Pay-per-Call service - -

Riya Alpha

Riya, currently tagged as the "company rumored to be acquired by Google" in the blogosphere is reportedly inviting 1000 more to its alpha-2 test phase. All the buzz that this Silicon Valley startup has received over the last few weeks has really driven the expectations to a sky high level and it would be interesting to see how well Riya stands up to these. Few things to note though -- (i) supports only JPEG in alpha. (ii) no Safari support. If you are a firefox/flock person then you are in luck. (iii) the "Riya Uploader" that is used to upload fotos to the site hogs up the CPU cycles. So, it needs to be run only when the system is idle. For point #(iii), I think it could use some help from the desktop search utilities...i.e., run in the background and only when the system is detected to be idle and make this parameter user configurable. G'luck Riya. Gotta see how it fares. Riya Alpha - -

18-year-old high school senior sworn in as Mayor

Michael Sessions, an 18-year-old is sworn in as the mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan in USA. He defeated Douglas Ingles, a 51-year-old incumbent by a margin of 2 votes. Mr. Sessions who turned 18 in September, too young at that time to make the ballot, ran for mayor as a write-in candidate launching his campaign just a month ago with the money he made from summer job, $700, just a little bit behind what Mayor Bloomberg spent to be reelected in New York City -- $67 million....Woah :) This dude ;-) is probably the youngest mayor in US politics. 18-year-old high school senior sworn in as Mayor - -