I think this is going to work out allllllriiiiiight.

I signed up the other day with a company called YourMusic.com. Basically, it’s a new service from the people at Columbia House (which is a service I despise to be perfectly honest) and here is how it works: you sign up for an account at no cost. Then, you browse their catalog* and add music to your “queue.” After you’ve added a few items, you’ll then be sent your first item in queue within a couple of days. The price of EVERY single-disc album is $5.99 and my favorite part: FREE SHIPPING. I’m really quite excited about it (therefore, the blog entry) because there are dozens upon dozens of old albums that I’ve always wanted to get but never wanted to fork over $10 or more each for them. Right now, I’ve got about 25 items in my queue consisting of the following:

Earthlink, Google, Skype, and VoIP

Interesting article at Computer Business Review online about a new partnership between three huge tech leaders.

“Called the Internet Voice Campaign, or IVC, the group’s mission is to boost adoption and usage of VoIP in the country.

EarthLink,
Google and Skype are among founding members of the group, which is part
of The VON Coalition. Level 3, Pulver.com, Sonus Networks and USA
Datanet also are part of IVC.

IVC hopes to break down barriers to VoIP adoption, which include
concern of 911 support, privacy, security, call quality and power
failures, by educating consumers about the benefits of VoIP and
dispelling misperceptions.

IVC plans to conduct a survey later this year to find out what types of
services and products consumers want from VoIP. The group also will
launch a VoIP consumer awareness campaign.”

Skype has made leaps and bounds just over the past year alone so who knows what they can bring when partnered with the likes of Google and Earthlink.

Google Takes “Desktop” Out of Beta

According to Google’s Official Blog, Google Desktop 2.0 has come out of beta testing and includes a few more enhanced features than it’s predecessor including new panels for its’ popular sidebar as well as plug-in scripting support such as JavaScript and VBScript.  One feature the folks at Google seem to be touting is its’ new mapping panel for the Sidebar “which lets you do all the usual cool maps stuff — local business info,
directions, sightseeing — plus a new one: finding new locations
relevant to the web pages and emails you’re reading and showing them in
your maps panel.”  I haven’t experimented with it yet but I think it will wind up being something I will soon hate to be without.

Now, personally, I’m torn on which desktop search application to use on my machines.  I enjoy the fact that Google has brought desktop search to light thus having many of the biggest tech giants (including Apple, Microsoft, and Yahoo!) following in its’ footsteps…each bringing its’ own quality product with them.

However, I don’t think Google Desktop cuts it yet for business use – mainly for speed and compatibility.  I feel as though, based on my own tests, that MSN Desktop Search is faster – the deskbar and the find-as-you-type method by which it delivers results is positively instantaneous the majority of the time.  The same cannot be said for Google Desktop.  Both Google’s deskbar and the web interface seem to deliver results fast but not as fast as MSN’s.  Is this just me?  Has anyone else noticed this?  I’m going to be honest and say that I truly do loathe giving props to Microsoft in any shape, form, or fashion but I think I have to – at least in terms of business use.  One big winner for me is MSN’s ability to index, without use of additional plug-ins, archived e-mails within Outlook as well as Outlook’s other folders is, hands-down, a big plus for the business user. 

I’ve mentioned business use for these products a couple of times so let me elaborate on that just a bit.  I do two different types of work: I.T. at a small, non-profit organization and then I do Web and graphic design for my own little company in my spare time.  When it comes to my own company there’s no way I’d be able to use MSN Desktop Search because it’s just not compatible enough.  The amount of plug-ins available for Google Desktop far outweigh the amount available for Microsoft’s product…mainly due to Google’s total acceptance of plug-ins presented to them.  Therefore, I can pretty much search everything from the most obscure, hidden file on my computer to entries in my Thunderbird inbox and have the results delivered to me in a tab of my already-open Firefox window.  That’s a big plus.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Google, Desktop Search