Friday Night Links (10/2/2009)…

A couple things before we get to the links.

You will notice that as in the past, I’ll post the link in the little title of what I’m linking to. I’ll also have in parenthesis a shortlink that will allow you to post anything cool you find on Twitter or Facebook. You can even email the shortlink to your friends. Just be sure to tell them The Digitante sent you.

Also, if you just aren’t getting enough links during your week, I’m going to try to post a link or two per day on The Digitante Twitter account. To follow The Digitante, you can click that link or there is a follow button over in the right column of the blog. If you want to see what The Digitante is up to, but you don’t have a Twitter account, you can learn how to sign up by reading one of my first ever blog posts.

If you need any other ways to keep up, you can always become a fan on Facebook.

Off to the links:

• Traveler IQ Challenge (http://thedig.in/1u) – This little game requires the ancient arts of reading quickly, clicking accurately, and remembering stuff from elementary school. And you wondered why I said “ancient.” You can choose various regions, flags, and photos to challenge even the most superior of intellects. You can also slap the quiz on your Facebook profile, but if you don’t want to clutter things up, you can just post the shortlink.
• IgNobel Prizes (http://thedig.in/1o) – The Nobel Prizes are handed out each year to a select group of individuals who change their world for the better. The IgNobel Prizes are handed out each year to a select group of individuals who change their world, somehow. Whether it is a bra that converts to two gas masks (one for the young lady and one for the lucky chap nearby), research on the relative damage caused by both full and empty beer bottles (both can fracture a skull), or an Irish cop who issued 50 tickets to Prawo Jadzy (which means “driver’s license” in Polish). These are the awards for the rest of us.
• Exoplanet Rains Pebbles (http://thedig.in/1v) – This is rather amazing. The planet revolves around another star far away from here. It orbits so close that the rocky side facing the star melts and evaporates, just like water in a lake or ocean. When the planet rotates and the shadow cools the evaporated rock, it forms clouds and rains, just like the water on earth. It sounds like it is straight out of a scifi book. Also, I want to go there.
• Dell Latitude Z (http://thedig.in/1x) – At a hair over 1/2″ thick and no cord needed to charge it, this laptop is a beautiful thing. The biggest drawback is the $2,000+ drained from your bank account. A guy can dream, right?

Bonus!

Last night, I told you about Google Wave. I told you I didn’t really understand what it was. There was an 80 minute video that shows what it can do, but I don’t have the time to watch it right now. Fortunately, I can across this two-minute video where a guy explains what Google Wave does and how it can help you. (http://thedig.in/1y)

No Google Wave Invite Yet…

If you haven’t heard of Google Wave, don’t worry because it isn’t even really out yet. Google started sending out invites for this new service this morning and word on the street is that they are sending the invites out by hand, not automated like the Google Voice invites. They will send out a total of 100,000 in this first outing. This means 10,000 actual people will get invites and then they each get 9 invites to give out to friends. If you sign up here and get picked, be sure to invite your ol’ buddy, The Digitante!

Why the 9 invites?

Google Wave aims to be the ultimate collaboration tool. Google described it a couple of months ago as “email if email were invented today.” It has features of chat, email, document sharing, voice conferencing, photos, maps, and tons of other stuff.

In order for you to take full advantage of a tool built for collaboration, it would probably be wise if they allowed you to hook up some of your best friends, co-workers, or classmates.

So let’s say you get your invite, grab nine of your closest buddies, but only 3 of them sign up now, 3 sign up next week, and the last three sign up two weeks from now. What happens to the guys that signed up late? Left in the dust? Nope, Google Wave allows people to play back a Wave (a Wave is their term for a collaborative project). Then as each of your friends jump in, they can see what changes have been made to documents, catch up on all the chats, and see any other correspondence.

What happens if you just want to talk one on one? You can make asides with one person at a time and you can also make your own notes.

Alright, so what does it DO?

Here is the thing, some technology, when it comes along, takes such a unique approach and is so far ahead of its time, people can’t figure out how to use it. Not only that, but many times, the actual uses for a certain new service or tool can be used in so many different ways and by so many different types of users that it makes explaining what it does, a chore.

Here I am, a tech guy, loving gadgets, wanting to get my hands on the latest and greatest. Too bad I read reviews of Google Wave, saw screen shots, and STILL have almost no idea what it does or how I could use it effectively.

If you have an invite and you’d like to help The Digitante check out this awesome new service, feel free to email from the About page or click the Google Voice widget over in the right-hand column.