Random Bits

More industry talk about Gmail as a new messaging paradigm. Might be overblown, but it is great technology. Gmail a Gentler HailStorm?

A long primer on RSS, but worth the read. PCWorld.com – News on Demand

While e-mail creaks and groans under the weight of spam, worms, hyperactive filters and false positives, RSS offers the chance for a new context, eWEEK's Steve Gillmor says. Gillmor might be exaggerating, but RSS is definately getting legs. I expect that RSS will take over the newsletter distribution part of e-mail very soon. As E-Mail…

Many minds collaborating better than one brilliant person solo…good arguements for collaboration software I think… Instead of looking to a single person for the right answers, companies need to recognize a simple truth: Under the right conditions, groups are smarter than the smartest person within them. We often think of groups and crowds as stupid,…

There seem to be a lot of articles on metrics lately. This one is great for making the case that the basic glance at page views and visits isn't enough. Dig deeper, try to understand what users are trying to do. Then you find the real gems. With Data Analysis, Less Isn't More

Sounds interesting. This is free service to embed chat into a webpage. Okay, sounds like great technology, now how are they going to make money? An interesting enough idea to try. The important factor is how it integrates with your existing web presence. Want To Interact More Directly With Your Customers? Get Chatango – RG…

This is a really cool concept. And I think users will take to it, but don't expect this to be able to just walk down the street, meet your buddy at the local coffee shop and do this…it takes a wireless network and servers to drive the whole process. But maybe with flash drives getting…

Good head to head to head reviews. But I think most of these packages are out of the league of most users to purchase and implement. Definitely stuff for the enterprise-level crowd. Site Analysis Gets Expert Treatment

I think Seltzer really missed the boat on this one. Yes the problem is that users don't update, but the update process is no walk in the park. Computers and OSes need to be more self-healing and the updates need to be able to be delivered in small enough chunks that dial-up users (who are…

How amazing this is? IM a virtual travel agent and make travel bookings. The review I read said it was still a little buggy, but I think we're getting to point where intelligent software is meeting powerful computers to make it all come together. Welcome to TravelMessenger – talk to travel