What would you do if you had $50 dollars to spend on your blog???

A Blog About Nothing has posed this question and challenge to all! So I would recommend getting in on this – $50 dollars cold hard cash (or check).. maybe in all ones… at least it’s not quarters..

So I’ll bite. This is what I would do with $50 dollars for my blog.

1) Upgrade my Basic Flickr Account to Pro Account – $24.95

All my pictures and so forth are hosted on Flickr, but you only get a 200 picture limit with the basic account. I definitely need to upgrade this. Flickr is great and if you are hosting your own blog having some place to store photos is nice; saves bandwidth.

2) Start a Blog Challenge -> “The $50 Blog Challenge! Reborn”

Share the love! This may be a product of diminishing returns, but I think passing it along and helping other bloggers would be a great idea.We are all a community of bloggers i.e. the blogosphere – this seems to be a great network tool. Many kudos to A Blog About Nothing.

So that is what I would do with the $50 dollars. Nothing too crazy or exciting. Here are a list to some other responses they all have good ideas.

Zybron Thoughts
Homelife
RotusBlog

Amazon has released a good conceptual product! The Kindle is an e-book reader, book downloader, and blog reader with integrated wireless EVDO/CDMA.

Amazon dubs the Kindle the “Wireless Reading Device”.

Reviews on this puppy are mixed. Robert Scoble of the wonderful scobleizer.com blog calls this device crap about 20 times, so it must be a dud; watch his review here.

Here is my quick review:

GOOD
1) Small portable device
2) Wireless anywhere – truly groundbreaking
3) E-paper is a good idea, let’s save some trees

BAD
1) $399 – way too much money for a simple device that is somewhat crippled
2) Not backlit – has a light dongle WTF?
3) Oddly shaped with no touch screen – The 90s called they want their PDA back.
4) First Gen – don’t be a beta tester

UGLY
Yes it is.

I love shopping on Amazon and I buy a lot of things there, but this device is an immature product. I think it is great conceptual and hopefully they will fix all the things that are just not kosher with it. So I think this is a WAIT WAIT WAIT product. I hope they don’t shelf it because I think it has potential, but this is a TURKEY, gobble gobble.

Welcome to the Internet.

You are now entering a place where only the truth matters. No more bullshit, no more lies, and no more corruption.

Okay, there is still bullshit, lies, and corruption, but the Internet is redefining how we become informed about things. There was a time when the news at 10 was how everyone got their information. Now you can get the information anytime you want or need it. This is a turning point in history. Never before has there been a global information network this robust. There were teletypes, MORRIS code, radio, satellite phones. The Internet is truly remarkable in the way it connects people and ideas.

I really don’t think governments around the world are ready for this fundamental change in how people become informed. It’s hard to believe there are corrupt governments in this day and age. Militaristic governments shooting monks, journalists, etc in “Burma” or Myanmar. Let this not be a smoke screen. There are problems elsewhere in the world. Let’s not forget Darfur.

The time it takes to become aware of problems is instantaneous, thanks to bloggers, news services, and satellite imagery systems. Awareness is key to solving problems. I don’t think the problems of the world will be easily solved, but awareness, I feel, moves things in the right direction. I’m glad that blogging has ushered in the return of the FREE PRESS. People talking about society, life, struggles, achievements, and oh yes TECHNOLOGY.

To really bring this point home I’m adding a link to the Nirvana Musing blog. The blogger, Amit, posted screen shots of a banned commercial, a truly remarkable ad by MTV.

This is why the Free Internet Press is so important. I don’t think you’re going to see this any newspaper, magazine, or TV show.

Describe an example of a poor user interface you encounter in your everyday life.

We, as humans, cannot directly communicate with electronics, unless fluent in binary, even then it is nearly impossible. Our electronic devices have interfaces for us to manipulate technology to do our bidding. We are the technology overlords and these interfaces are our only path to total domination. When a poor user interface is encountered it can be a very frustrating and angering experience for an end-user. It can also be extremely detrimental to our fragile psyche.

Why does such a popular device as the Apple iPod, which commands 75% market share, have such a terrible user interface? To each their own they will say or probably a lot of people like the click wheel design. In the opinion of this student the click wheel is a tool for mass destruction.
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Convicted Linux user, sk0t, is forced to use Windows because the government cannot support Linux to monitor his Internet activities. Do they even need to install software to monitor his traffic? I don’t think so.

I guess they just want to monitor what he is doing on his computer. Still I think there is probably a hardware/software neutral device that could work here. How can the government force something to use a certain software product? It makes no sense.

This is the guy who is responsible for leaking Star Wars III onto the net before it opened. Yes all by himself, he was responsible. Again, I don’t think so. But he faced charges and is paying his dues. Torrentfreak has a great article on the entire ordeal.

I really feel this is a case of our government just not getting it. To punish a person, IMO cruelly, for doing something that the movie industry refuses to do. If you don’t adjust your business model to changing technology you will be left behind. The technology is there, people want to use it, they are using it, but the movie/music industry refuses to change.

Rant done.