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Tag Archive: Chad

Gmail Gets Canned Responses

Gmail users have a couple of new, useful features to play with now. One in particular can prove very effective. Canned Responses allows users to respond to mails with a pre-written auto response. Simply save it with the Canned Responses button and import it when necessary. The Gmail Filters option also allows the responses to be sent automatically.

In a blog post, Gmail engineer Chad Parry wrote:

"If you are sick of typing out the same reply every time someone emails you with a common question, now you can compose your reply once and save the message text with the ‘Canned Responses’ button."

Sony Bundles up Metal-Blue PSP for Madden

If PSPs decked out with graphics from Star Wars, Spiderman, and God of War haven’t tickled your sports-loving fancy, perhaps Sony’s latest attempt, a Madden-themed system, will be just the ticket. Sony announced on Wednesday that the August release of Madden 09 on PSP will bring with it its own PSP bundle with a metallic-blue PSP and other goodies.

The package will include the special-edition PSP system, a copy of Madden NFL 09, a voucher to download Beats for free from the PlayStation store, a 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo card, and the movie NFL: In Just One Play on Universal Media Disc. The movie, hosted by NFL receiver Chad Johnson, showcases legends including Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Larry Fitzgerald, and more.

YouTube Windfall For British Musicians

YouTube Windfall For British MusiciansUnder a new agreement between Google, which owns video site YouTube, and the MCPS-PRS, which collects royalties, British artists will now be paid when their content is used for backing tracks on videos posted tothe site.   MCPS-PRS said it has licensed 10 million pieces of music for use on YouTube. Although the agreement doesn’t address the copyright issue, it does mean performers will be paid.This mirrors a similar agreement reached in the US for American artists.   Google will foot the bill for music used by online content creators. No one is saying exactly how much is involved, butit’s almost certain to stretch into millions of dollars coming from that large Google wallet.   Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube said,    “We‘re pleased tobe working in cooperation with the MCPS-PRS Alliance to provide the YouTube community in the UK with the best possible user experience. This agreement is another great example of how we are workingwith the music industry to explore new and creative ways to compensate music creators.”  

The Web Celebrates At The Webbies

The Web Celebrates At The WebbiesIt’s that time of the year again, and last night saw the 11th annual Webby Awards in New York, as the Internetcelebrated itself   Each category had a Webby winner and a People’s Voice winner, and in several instances they were the same. BBC News snagged bothNews awards, while NPR won in the Podcasts. Last FM grabbed both Music Awards.   Pan’s Labyrinth was the unanimous choice for Movie of the Year, How Stuff Works took away the trophy for BestCopy/Writing, and Cute Overload won in the Weird category.   There were over 100 different categories, with 8,000 entries from 60 countries. Flickr was one of the biggest winners, winning Best Practices, Best Visual Design, and both in Community. The intriguing Social Networking Award went to an outsider,Linked In.   There were also several Special Achievement Awards. People of the Year went to Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, the founders of YouTube, while eBay found itself with a Webby Achievement Award. David Bowie also grabbed aLifetime Achievement Award. The Best Actor in the Films and Video area went to Ask A Ninja, and Jessica Lee Rose (Lonelygirl15) took home Best Actress.   It was a night for mercifully short acceptance speeches. As they took theiraward, Hurley and Chen simply said,   “YouTubers, this is for you. We never thought so many things could be blended.”   Artist of the Year went to hip-hop band the Beastie Boys,for a concert video that was filmed by 50 members of the audience, which the judges hailed an a prime example of the interactive world. The band’s response was,   “Are we gettingpaid for this?”

Amnesty Uses Satellites to Monitor Darfur

At this point, most technologically-savvy individuals are used to the idea of satellites in orbit around the earth, enabling everything from international phone calls and Internet connectivity to GPS systems and the hundreds of channels of television we seem to think are part of our everyday live. Now, in a first for a human rights organization, Amnesty International is using satellite imagery technology for a purely humanitarian purpose: monitoring vulnerable villages in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region. And you can help.

EMI And YouTube – Together At Last

YouTube might have experienced a few hiccups along the way, but lately it’s been speeding ahead. The video giant has announced a deal with EMI that will let YouTube users legally access video by EMI artists, which includes such iconic acts as the Rolling Stones.   Under the agreement, userswill even eventually be able to use EMI recordings in their own projects, which stands as a major step forward in usage.   Given that YouTube has been beset by law suits for pirating copyrightedmaterial, and is still in dispute with the communications behemoth Viacom, which is suing it for $1 billion, this has to bring a sigh of relief. It’s just ayear since EMI was talking to YouTube about unauthorized music videos posted on the site.   With EMI signing on the dotted line, it means that YouTube now has all four of the world’s bigrecord companies – the others are Sony BMG, Warner, and Universal – on board. Chad Hurley, CEO of YouTube, said,   “We’re excited to add EMI Music’s stellar roster of artists’content to our site and make it available to our community.”   It’s only ten days since EMI agreed to let itself be taken over by private equity firm Terra Firma for a cool $4.8billion.

PayPal Adds Markets, Language Support

Online payment service—and eBay subsidiary—PayPal has announced it has expanded its reach to 87 new national markets, and had finally made its primary site available in three new languages. The new additions make PayPal available in 190 markets around the world.

As of today, users will also be able to access the main PayPal site—and all online transaction processes—in Spanish, French, or simplified Chinese. Users with Internet browsers configured to prefer any of those three languages will automatically be offered to view the site in their preferred language when they first visit the site.

Denmark Tops Global Tech Rankings

The World Economic Forum has published its Global Information Technology Report 2006–2007 “Network Readiness Index” (PDF), an assessment of 122 countries’ ability to take advantage of information and communication technologies, both in terms of their adoption and deployment but also taking into consideration the nations’ overal business climates, government policies and regulation, and the preparedness and technology stances of key stakeholders.

Last year, the United States reclaimed the top spot in the survey; this year, Denmark claims the number one slot, while the U.S. slips six places, also being beaten out by Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Japanese Media Still Unhappy with YouTube

Just after its acquisition by Internet titan Google, popular video sharing Web site YouTube pulled down nearly 30,000 Japanese video files from its service in response to complaints from JASRAC, the Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers. However, Japanese publishers are far from happy with YouTube’s efforts to remove copyright violations from its service, characterizing the company’s response as “unsatisfactory.” However, publishers are still hopeful a solution can be reached without litigation.

Tune Into GoogleTube

Last week’s speculation is this week’s fact: Google has just announced it plans to purchase the popular online video site YouTube for $1.65 billion.

According to Google, YouTube will continue to operate independently under its own brand to preserve its identity and maintain the loyalty of its user community, while the two companies aim to provide a “better, more comprehensive” way for users to find, watch, and share online videos. The acquisition is also expected to open up new opportunities for mainstream content providers—e.g., music labels, television networks, movie studios, and game developers—to distribute material to the online audience.

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