All I can say about the new Google Earth project is WOW!
If you have not yet downloaded it, then do so now.
A great way to see cities and locations. The images can be a bit fuzzy (I guess to protect against stalkers looking to get precise details of somewhere), but does give a good idea where somewhere is in the world.
Other useful features allow mapping of addresses and finding how to get from point A to point B.
Well, I am just back from a week in Boston on business. Wearing my other hat as co-founder and director of Jewish media company JMT Ventures, we were out there for the annual American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) annual conference and awards.
More info on the AJPA here.
Very good conference and an opportunity to connect with the leading Jewish print players. We also announced the beta-launch of JewishBlogging.com - an aggregator of Jewish blogs.
I flew with Virgin Atlantic and was tempted to use the satellite phone. Prices have certainly come down, it now costs $4.95 a minute to place a call anywhere in the world. A few years back it was around $10 a minute and no one really used it. Mind you, even at $4.95 a minute no one was using it.
In the mid-90s, I took a flight with United Airlines to New York and they had a special offer of $30 for unlimited calls in a month. Maybe, the airlines should revisit that as a way to get people using the phones. If it was a flat fee for as much as you want in a month, then they would certainly start to recoup some of the money spent installing the kit in the first place.
I stayed at the Boston Park Plaza. There was no wireless access as default, but standard desk-based high speed access fror $10.95 a day. Very good connection. Top tip: By connecting a wireless router to the desk system, you can create your own wireless access. So I had wireless access in the room.
I’ve been away for a week in Warsaw. That is Warsaw, Poland as opposed to the other Warsaw in the USA.
Stayed at the excellent Babka Tower apartments which offered high speed internet access. But high speed, wasn’t always high speed as the connection didn’t always keep stable. But, atleast was able to use it most of the time. They also offered wireless access, but for some reason, the connection needed a password which the management said, there was no need for password. Anyway, the direct connection seemed to work most of the time.
Also, Chopin Airport is now wireless enabled and currently free to use.
Anyway, some of the things that caught my eye while surfing last week:
Good to see The Times take another step towards more blogging with a blog about music called Music Log. Sure, there are plenty of blogs out there about music, but established media embracing them means blogs begin to be taken more seriously.
It’s official Piers Morgan now owns Press Gazette. And remember Piers, if you want to talk to me about it, drop me an email.
Nearly five million homes in the UK now have broadband.
AOL is set to offer a new portal for those who are not subscribers to its service. The move will put it against the likes of MSN and Yahoo. More coverage at MediaGuardian.
Liverpool’s Daily Post is now giving readers the chance to find out how the paper is put together. Acting editor Rob Irvine has put up a blog using Blogspot and follows the lead set by The Observer which connects readers with how it puts its paper together.
There are a few teething issues that need to be resolved. The left hand links still need to be sorted out such as removing the two “edit me” messages that appear. Also a logo wouldn’t go amiss either.
But still, it’s good to see a newspaper editor giving readers an insight into the paper.
After five years as editor of MediaGuardian.co.uk, Lisa O’Carroll is leaving to take on a new role as an assistant editor on Associated Newspapers’ Ireland on Sunday.
MediaGuardian reports on its own story here.
