|
=============================================================== The Kleinman Report A Quality Online Information Provider =============================================================== IN THIS MONTH'S REPORT ======================= 1) Kleinman Report Update 2) Watching Ads on Purpose 3) Free How-To Books 4) The Life of Books 5) Be Aware of Ad Ware 6) Free Virus Protection 7) What's On My Nightstand - The House of Leaves 8) About Me - What's Going on This Side of The Wire 9) URL's In This Issue =============================================================== 1) Kleinman Report Update =============================================================== Following the technology/.com sector is like riding one big loop-t-loop roller coaster - it's difficult to know when you've hit the top or are really at the bottom. This past week there were some indicators that maybe we've hit the bottom of this latest economic drop, but with companies like Kosmo.com going kaput, WebVan crying mercy, and bell weather Cisco falling it's hard to know if we've hit the bottom of this, or are still on our decent. My hope is that the .com's out there who are creating value for their customers and providing a useful service will batten down the hatches and pull through. I still believe that the Internet is a massive part of all our futures, and I hope to see good sites and good companies prosper at the end of this storm. =============================================================== 2) Watching Ads on Purpose =============================================================== One of the things I love about my ReplayTV is how easy it is to skip over all the commercials. Soon you realize that an hour show on TV is a lot closer to forty minutes without all the commercials. So if skipping commercials is so great, why in the world would you want to go to a site devoted to commercials? The truth is, some commercials are extremely entertaining, once in a while they can be like a 30 second move. The trouble is there are so many bad commercials it's almost never worth waiting for the good ones. AdCritic.com is a fantastic showcase of the best commercials on TV, it showcases the fun and creativity of well done ads without having to suffer through the truly bad ones. In case you missed them, be sure to check out the king of all ads from the super bowl! AdCritic.com - http://www.adcritic.com =============================================================== 3) Free How-To Books =============================================================== One of the things I've always loved about the Internet is that anyone, no matter what their background, education, or experience, can learn how to create and publish web pages. It's not always an easy thing to do, but with the right instruction and some patience a technophobe can turn into a web publisher in no time. I was extremely delighted when I got an e-mail from the CEO of Visibooks telling me about the launch of their site. I did a big double take when reading his e-mail announcing free downloadable How-To books on Dreamweaver, FrontPage, HTML/Javascript, and Web Project Management. Free!?!?! Yes Free! If you're interested in getting started with creating web pages or are interested in brushing up your skills you should definitely check out Visibooks. http://www.visibooks.com =============================================================== 4) The Life of Books =============================================================== Recently I've started swapping books with a good friend of mine. I'll trade a book I've read for one she's read (actually see what's on my nightstand, it's a book I borrowed) and visa versa. The experience got me thinking about the life of books (especially used ones) and how enriching it is to share the books you love. Almost in response to my thought I got an e-mail from Eric Ward over at URLwire.com announcing a new site BookCrossing.com. With the tag line 'Read and Release', Book Crossing is a fascinating way to track the life of your books. Register your book with Book Crossing and you'll be able to jot down your thoughts and feelings about the book. Once your book is registered you can print out a book mark or book labels which will identify the book as a 'registered Book Crossing book'. When you give the book to a friend, sell it on Half.com or leave it on a park bench, donate it to charity, or "forget" it in an airliner seat back pocket you'll get notified when the next reader logs their thoughts into the site, and the next person, and the next person, and the next. A fascinating concept that lets people share in a whole new way! http://www.bookcrossing.com/ =============================================================== 5) Be Aware of Ad Ware =============================================================== There used to be a time when you could download a free piece of software to your computer and it was actually free, no strings attached, no hidden agendas. But now many companies distribute applications which they call 'ad ware' - advertising supported applications which instead of paying for, you agree to watch ads... or in some cases unknowingly agree to have your computer/internet usage tracked (often referred to as 'spy ware'). Being tracked is bad enough, but what makes this even worse is that many of these applications can actually interfere with your other more important applications! When researching this issue I was delighted to find Ad Aware, a free application which scans your hard drive for ad & spy ware. Ad Aware not only detects these intrusions on your privacy, it also helps completely remove them from your system (as many of them don't go away when you do a standard un install through Windows). Download Ad Aware and see if you're being spyed on: http://www.lavasoft.de/aaw/aaware.html =============================================================== 6) Free Virus Protection =============================================================== What's a program the debilitates your computer, creates problems with running other software, costs you precious time, and money? The answer unfortunately is many anti-virus programs! Now I'm not pointing any fingers...ahem..Norton..ahem at any particular brand of software, but in my experience uninstalling a certain virus protection program has solved more than a few problems for friends and colleagues. Now don't get me wrong, I think anti-virus software is VERY important, I'm just a fan of Computer Associates InoculateIT.... A FREE, yep that's right, Free antivirus program that plays much better with other programs than some of its competitors. The two tips I give on how to prevent virus are: 1) Never open any attachment from anyone unless its something you are expecting and you KNOW what it is. 2) Download and install InoculateIT and do regular scans of your hard drive. InoculateIT: http://antivirus.cai.com/ =============================================================== 7) What's On My Nightstand - The House of Leaves =============================================================== I just love when a book gets under your skin, makes you take another look at the world around, see things just a little bit differently. The House of Leaves is that kind of book. The House of Leaves tells the story of a house that is bigger on the inside than on the outside, and the strange discoveries that are made about hidden rooms and passages in the house. It's strange and quirky, but at the center it's a great Blair Witch style chiller where what you can only imagine becomes much scarier than any boogie man or monster. It's simply not like any other book I've ever read. I've never read so many footnotes in all my life, and I can't remember a more intriguing book. I got looks from my Wife Heather as I turned the book on its side, upside down and round and round. You really have to experience this book to really understand. Additionally The House of Leaves is the only book I'm aware of that has its own soundtrack (POE's Haunted). If you've listened to that CD before reading The House of Leaves it will take on all new meaning afterwards. The House of Leaves: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...5703764/dvdtalk Poe's Haunted: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...004Y6J1/dvdtalk House of Leaves UK Site - http://www.houseofleaves.co.uk/ House of Leaves Fan Site - http://houseofleaves.4t.com/ =============================================================== 8) About Me - What's Going on This Side of The Wire =============================================================== Despite the .com economy, things are still going pretty well on my end. I spend a great deal of my time working on DVDTalk.com which has lead to doing some really enjoyable interviews. The other week I interviewed Nora Guthrie, daughter of the great Woody Guthrie. She was amazing to talk to and after doing the research for the interview and talking with Nora I really felt I had a much better grasp of Woody Guthrie and his impact. On the non-business side of things I've been very busy with one of my favorite pastimes - Improv. If you don't know what Improv is watch the show 'Whose Line is It Anyways', it's a lot like that :). I've been performing with the Portland Comedy Sportz Minor Leagues and just joined a long form Improv troupe called 'Your Other Left'. If you're ever in Portland and want to catch a performance, drop me a line for dates and times. Also I'm happy to report that Heather and I are expecting another child. She's due towards the end of July and so the Kleinman household will be even more a buzz with the sounds of kids. It's really exciting for me to be able to continue to work here from home and be able to spend some real time with my family. One of the things I've always loved about the Internet is its potential for allowing people to balance their work and their home. I feel really lucky to be able to continue to do that. Well enough rambling. I hope this Report finds you well, hope you find it useful. I'll keep writing if you keep reading :) - Geoff Nora Guthrie Interview http://www.dvdtalk.com/noraguthrieinterview.html Comedy Sportz : http://www.comedysportz.com =============================================================== 9) URL's In This Issue =============================================================== URLS in This Issue: AdCritic.com: http://www.adcritic.com Visibooks: http://www.visibooks.com Book Crossing: http://www.bookcrossing.com/ Ad Aware: http://www.lavasoft.de/aaw/aaware.html InoculateIT: http://antivirus.cai.com/ The House of Leaves: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...5703764/dvdtalk Poe's Haunted: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...004Y6J1/dvdtalk House of Leaves UK Site - http://www.houseofleaves.co.uk/ House of Leaves Fan Site - http://houseofleaves.4t.com/ Nora Guthrie Interview: http://www.dvdtalk.com/noraguthrieinterview.html Comedy Sportz : http://www.comedysportz.com Best Regards, Geoffrey Kleinman Distribution or reproduction of any kind is prohibited. This page maintained by [email protected] |