Google is at it again…Total World Domination.  The Walmart of the Internet has created Google 411. A fast, easy and FREE directory assistance service.  From any phone, dial 1-800-Goog-411 and simply answer the questions:

1. What city and state?

2. What business name or category?

You are then given a few choices to go with….all voice activated.

Google uses the information provided by Google Maps to list your business so make sure your phone number is correct on your Google Maps / Google Local listing.

A few of the FAQs have some hidden information about what you are giving Google. 

For example:

How can I limit the information Google collects when I call Goog-411?

Google says:

There are a couple of ways you can control the way we collect and store information from your calls.

First, to delete any information we’ve associated with your phone number in the past, press the star (*) key at the beginning of your next call to GOOG-411 and follow the steps from there. Your phone number and all information associated with it will be deleted from the GOOG-411 system. We still keep anonymous information about all calls, but this information won’t be stored with your phone number.

Second, to avoid having any information associated with your phone number in the future, just block your caller ID before you call. With many phone services, you can do this by dialing *67 before the phone number. In most cases, you can also block your number through the menus on your mobile phone. For specific details on how to block your caller ID, contact your service provider.

Can I advertise on this service?

Google says:

At this point, we do not have advertising opportunities for this service.

Does anyone believe that won’t change in the future?

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Smoking is an addiction that stops many people in their tracks.  It is very difficult to stop once you start.  The best method to stop is never start.  However, for many that is no longer an option.  The Cigarrest method could help you stop smoking.  Cigarrest is designed to help stop the cravings that are associated with nicotine. 

http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200805/1211573314.html

Motor Home Specialist has one of the largest selections of new and used RVs on the planet!  Check out the inventory on their Motor Homes website.  Travel Supreme Motor Homes.

How’s $3 million for 30 seconds sound?  That is $100,000 per second in case anyone is counting.  What a bargain!  The Super Bowl has long been a prime audience for many of the nations biggest brands.  Soft Drinks, Banks, and Beer top the list of companies willing to shell out the dough. 

Budweiser has exclusive rights among during the broadcast leaving Coors to scramble for another way to capitalize on the “big game”.  Coors Brewing Company is inviting its consumers to submit their user generated content ( VIDEOS ) online to win tickets to the event.  The “Who Wants it More?” promotion runs for 5 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.  Consumers are challenged to create videos demonstrating why they deserve to get tickets to the 2008 Super Bowl.

Users upload their Coors videos to coorslight.com or coorsbeer.com along with an entry code that comes from specially marked cans and bottles.  The promotion is advertised through web advertising, point-of-sale, out-of-home, and radio ads.  I’m not sure the “entry code” is a great idea.  Seems like that could conflict with the amount of submissions. 

Coors will keep the videos on the site through the promotion period but “doesn’t have plans to use the submissions in further advertisements.”  YEAH RIGHT!  I see another Miller “Over the top” Home with Christmas Lights and Rockin’ Music Display coming.  That started out the same way, got viral, and then Miller decided …”Hmmmm, this viral video thing might have some worth.”

Each week Coors is picking a winner.  The weekly winners will then compete head to head I guess….why else would there be a weekly winner right? 

I think this really has a chance to be a very cost effective yet rewarding campaign for Coors.  Who knows….you might get the next “She Bang She Bang” dude or “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE” guy.?.   So far the entries are a little weak.

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I saw this ad campaign last year ( 2007 ) and could not for the life of me remember the particulars.  I have since tracked it down and decided to blog about it selfishly so that I will always have a copy of it :).  The ad campaign ( below ) features “real-life” images pasted to the side of various convenience machines ( ie: ATM, Phone Booth, Washing Machine, etc. ).  The campaign was created by Scholz & Friends from Berlin.

“Life is too short for the wrong job.“ With this message, Scholz & Friends Berlin advertises for jobsintown.de and delivers surprising insights into the inner life of machines.

This campaign won a host of awards in 2006/2007.

click image for larger view

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Good design is good design.  When good design mixes with functionality it’s great design.  A trip through today’s department stores and you will notice the world of design introduced into more and more household products.  Sleak, shiny, and colorful appliances are now the rage.  Kitchens have appliances that look like something from The Jetson’s.  Fridges that tell you when to order more food.  Water Filters that tell you when its time to replace them.  And vacuum cleaners that look almost too nice to use. 

Take for example this little beauty.  Yeah, it’s a vacuum cleaner.  Are you kidding me?  Looks very different than that old bulky 80’s-ish style.  It’s a Dyson.  Dyson’s have pretty much become the front runner when it comes to design, functionality and reliability.  Even their website takes design very seriously. 

From the showroom to the Dyson parts area of the website, you can tell the site was really well thought out. 

1. Easy to navigate. 

2. Simple to locate products or parts. 

3. Nice to look at. 

Great job Dyson!

Motor Home Specialist

Dallas Web Design Map

Water filters improve the quality of water for residential use. You can purchase replacement water filters or refrigerator water filters. 

The evolution of the Internet has pretty much always had parts of it that were annoying or ‘A Hassle’.  This site will hassle you all you want…but in a good way…I guess.  I’ve been Stumbling like a crazy person for the last two days.  New toy I guess, but it really is a great way to find a ton of information on the web.  The latest fine was HassleMe.co.uk.  Its great.  You tell them to hassle you every X amount of days, about X topic and they will. 

Some of the Popular Hassles are:

1. Go to the gym every 4 days.
2. Call your mother every 7 days.
3. Practice the Piano every 3 days.

Its great, you just put in your email and you will get “semi-regular” emails reminding you of the the things you need to be doing.  Freakin’ Cool Man!

Water filters for homeowners prove better tasting water.

I have recently become an avid Stumbler on Stumble Upon.  I’ve “had it” for a while but just started using it.  Maybe I’m the last person to find this site ( or saw it back in the day and just now watched it ) but this is a cool site: http://www.eightprinciples.com/ .  I like how the flash is done.  Simple and minimal with a nice use of color and typography.  I think you will enjoy!

Image from www.myflashresource.com

http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,2000562391b,00.htm

There was a good article today from SiteProNews that did a good job explaining the Basics of RSS by Werner Schamberger.  Below are some clips from that article that I think explain it pretty well and shows the benefits to you.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  Maybe it should be RIS for Really Intimidating Syndication. RSS is used to publish and publicize updates from a website ( or blog which is really the same thing ).  It is intended to give readers a brief taste of the content on the website so they don’t have to dig through pages and pages of content to find something that interests them.  The RSS feed usually contains the title of the content and a brief summary as well as a link to the content.

Benefits of RSS

1. It gives you the latest updates. Whether it is about the weather, new music, software upgrade, local news, or a new posting from a rarely-updated site, you can learn about the latest as soon as it comes out.

2. It saves on surfing time. Since an RSS feed provides a summary of the related article, it saves the user’s time by helping s/he decide on which items to prioritize when reading or browsing the net.

3. It gives the power of subscription to the user. Users are given a free-hand on which websites to subscribe to in their RSS aggregators which they can change at any time they decide differently.

4. It lessens the clutter in your inbox. Although your email address will be required to enjoy the services of online RSS aggregators, RSS does not use your email address to send the updates.

5. It is sp@m free. Unlike email subscriptions, RSS does not make use of your email address to send updates thus your privacy is kept safe from sp@m mails.

6. Unsubscribing is hassle-free. Unlike email subscriptions where the user is asked questions on why s/he is unsubscribing and then the user is asked to confirm unsubscribing, all you have to do is to delete the RSS feed from your aggregator.

7. It can be used as an advertising or marketing tool. Users who subscribe to or syndicate product websites receive the latest news on products and services without the website sending sp@m mail. This is advantageous to both the web user and the website owner since advertising becomes targeted; those who are actually interested in their products are kept posted.

There are of course disadvantages which will be outlined in a future post.

So, you’re ready to start using RSS…..

You are going to need two things to get started: An RSS Feed and an RSS Reader.  The feed comes from an RSS-supported website ( sounds simple right? ).  The RSS Reader is used to display the content via the contents source code.  Blogs are a natural selection because they most always contain a build in RSS Feed.  You can add RSS Feeds to any website with a little XML or help from a source like FeedsForAll.com. 

Now, if your webserver supports PHP there is a very easy tutorial you can follow here.

More sources for easy RSS implementation include:
Easy RSS for All with FeedForAll and Easy RSS Content Generator

If you have questions…just comment!