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No, that is not a typographical error in the article title. A knol is defined by Google as “a unit of knowledge”. At least, that’s the subtitle of their newest released product, Knol. Knol appears to be a Wikipedia clone, but with some distinct differences. The biggest difference is that the author of an article becomes the owner and is tasked with determining whether or not subsequent edits will be included, all or in part, in the entry. Of course, the system is a bit more complex than that, allowing for various types of collaboration. Additionally, it appears as though there are some members who are flagged with a cute, little, green, graphical, “Verified” tag. I would think that this lends a little more weight to the author’s knols as opposed to random folks who write about buttermilk pancakes. Not that buttermilk pancakes aren’t delicious. Quite the contrary. My point is that there is a “gold rush” on knols, so if you’ve got lots of spare units of knowledge floating around between your ears, you might want to pop over and add them to the new Wikipedia killer… erm… Google project. There are many topics related to medicine, and it looks like many of the verified authors are from medical institutions or universities that specialize in medicine. ...

What started as a simple reply to Matthew Dryden’s comment on the July 18th tech5 podcast here at Indigo Spot turned into a long-winded response. Matt asked, Speaking of rocky web ad business…I keep hearing that Twitter will eventually die out due to lack of ad revenue. Do you know the story on that? Show Me The Money! I don’t know that Twitter will die out, but there is a fun discussion that surfaces every few months about how Twitter is going to monetize their service. I am not sure that they aren’t already. ...

I can’t recall exactly how I first came across Jo Beaufoix’s blog, but ever since I landed on it, it has been on my site list here. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she is a writer, or perhaps it is her ability to portray life through her writing, but Jo has a knack for making her audience laugh. Bounce Rates Jo Beaufoix’s blog is the most popular outbound link here at Indigo Spot. That may be purely because of the curiosity factor. I mean, after all, it is a unique name that sticks out in a line-up, but when competing with links to sites such as 43 Folders, Daring Fireball, Upstart Blogger, and Zen Habits, it is impressive that even my meager traffic hits that link the most. And by the most, I mean four times as much as the second most popular link, which is Put Things Off (an awesome site in its own right, written by Nick Cernis). ...

The military has long adopted technology and pushed the limits of technology through research and development. The use of these technologies, whether newly developed or existing, is not always the intended use. From a cultural standpoint, it would be desirable to think that the military always uses technology in an ethical and good manner, but what is good for some is not for others, and what is good during the stress of battle and confrontation is the preservation of self. Many soldiers are presented with this problem, but may only have a few seconds to react to a situation, and so the military must provide them with the tools necessary to survive and to kill the enemy. ...

It is astonishing to think that there are pharmaceuticals that can not only extend our lives, but that can eradicate diseases that were once plagues, and even still are in some areas of the world. The technology of drugs and medicine has reached a fever pitch, and with greater understanding of the human genome, we are developing cures by the dozen on a yearly basis, each one more effective than the next. However, not all drugs are created equal, nor have they all been show to have a guaranteed efficacy. Add to that fatal side effects and pharmaceutical technology does not appear quite as good as it initially might have. ...

Tobold wrote an article today on his blog about the future of story-telling in MMOGs. In it, he states, It would be a lot easier for a new MMO to stand out from the competition with a unique and better coherent story, than to create a better virtual environment. And the AoC example of Tortage even shows how a well staged story can give the players the illusion that they actually had an impact, changed something in the virtual world, even if real change remains elusive due to the multi-player aspect of virtual worlds. Epic stories and better story-telling could really be the “next generation” of MMORPGs. ...

David Allen had a smash hit on his hands when he created and shared his GTD (Getting Things Done) system with the world. What he may not have counted on is that the system would be so popular that the GTD “industry” that sprang up around it has made it so complex as to defeat the purpose. So what are we to do? It’s a fantastic system and has been proven to work for even the most busy of people. Of course, there are some of us who are not quite so busy, or some who are not always able to stay connected to the Internet, or even some who just do not trust technology or cannot use it well. ...

MediaDefender is a company that was hired by the RIAA and MPAA to perform DoS and DDoS attacks on BitTorrent tracker servers suspected of hosting illegal files. Over the Memorial Day weekend this year, they attacked Revision3 (Louderback, 2008), a Web2.0 and Internet media company that hosts multiple audio and video podcasts. Because they were being flooded with over 8,000 SYN requests per second, they could not keep their site up. What added insult to injury was the fact that Revision3 found out who was performing the attack, but could not reach anyone at MediaDefender as it was a holiday weekend, and apparently they left the attack running and headed out to the picnics. When Revision3 finally did contact MediaDefender on Tuesday morning, it took an additional one and a half hours to stop the attack on the Revision3 servers. The attack was directed at port 20000 of the Revision3 BitTorrent tracking server (Louderback, 2008). BitTorrent is a form of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing that uses a tracking server, or trackers, and distributed files to provide quick and efficient file transfer, particularly for large files over the Internet or other networks. Rather than hosting the files themselves as in other P2P networks, a BitTorrent tracker simply keeps track of the files that users are sharing and which users have which bits. By doing so, it can enable other users to connect to the network and download all of the bits into one cohesive usable file on their computer, all the while sharing out the relevant bits that they have already received. ...

Technology differs greatly from the common American societal viewpoint. It is not simply about personal computers in the home of every person, or touch screen interfaces, or even cloth that will make the wearer nearly invisible. Rather, technology is that which can be put to practical use. Often the practicality is extended to suggest an ease of use or a simplification of the task that the technology addresses. The Oxford English Dictionary defines technology as a. A discourse or treatise on an art or arts; the scientific study of the practical or industrial arts. b. transf. Practical arts collectively. c. With a and pl. A particular practical or industrial art. d. high-technology applied attrib. to a firm, industry, etc., that produces or utilizes highly advanced and specialized technology, or to the products of such a firm. (OED, 2008) Given this general definition, it is easy to see how many modern objects and practices can fall under the umbrella of technology. The Oxford English Dictionary supplies several additional definition including Special Combs.: technology assessment, the assessment of the effects on society of new technology; technology transfer, the transfer of new technology or advanced technological information from the developed to the less developed countries of the world. (OED, 2008) ...

In the past few months, a couple of new Web 2.0 services have sprung up with the intent of handling your web site comments for you. These two services are Disqus and Intense Debate. The common goal of the two is to track comments across sites and centralize the conversation. This, in theory, creates a social network of sorts, or even just a community that can span corporate sites and personal ‘blogs. I had seen Disqus in use on several other sites, and was intrigued. With the availability of a simple to install WordPress plug-in, I could not resist giving the service a try. The first hurdle to overcome at the current time is the inability to import current site comments into the Disqus system. The developers have assured users that this feature will be in an upcoming release, so that’s a good sign. ...