WolframAlpha is a “computational knowledge engine” – and that’s truly the best way to describe it. Basically, it provides answers and details about almost anything. Not just links to sites that may have the answer but the answer, or detail, itself; presented in a clear and organized layout.

Here, just give it a try real quick. Type in your birthday ( in whatever format you want):

It also does complex math and statistics, provides nutritional information about food, lists movie details, and tons of other stuff. It’s difficult to show you exactly all the things it can answer for you in a simple blog post. I suggest you go to the site and check out the screencast and example searches to get a real idea for just how much WolframAlpha can answer for you.

Plus, there’s a bunch of handy extras like an iPod/iPhone app, a desktop app, and even some plugins for your favorite browsers.

Using Google to search for information is great, but if there’s any question or quick detail you want – go to WolframAlpha first!

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s also a lot of mobile integration so here’s Google’s short feature video about the mobile specific functions:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’d like some more details, check out Lifehacker’s run down on this new service as well. It actually isn’t a way to beat Twitter or Facebook but help you reign it in and access the data you want to access in one place. In the meantime … it’s time to play with a new Google toy.

UPDATE: If you don’t want Buzz to bother you in Gmail just follow this easy Lifehacker guide.

There is a relatively new site called Super User that has been developed by some very well known tech gurus including one of my favorite – How-To Geek. The site is a combination of  Digg/Reddit, wiki, and forum and at its core it allows you to ask a question and get answers back from the techie masses.

The site is specifically for hardware and software questions and more details about the types of questions and answers can be found in the Super User FAQ and About pages, but the basics are: if your computer is doing something you don’t understand or you have a question about using your computer, Super User is the place to go.

Besides just asking questions you can watch the hot topics to see what interesting items the Super User community is discussing as well as search through to see if someone else may have had the same question and already found an answer.

As a moderator, the How-To Geek has written up an excellent run down on what exactly the hope of Super User is and here is the line that make me truly support this site:

“Super User was created by a group of guys that really believe in putting the reader first.”

This site has the potential to be the best tech support resource on the internet with tons of common users and techie geeks working together to make computing just that much easier for us all.

Facebook has rolled out a new feature this weekend called Facebook Username. This allows you to have your Facebook profile be a name you choose (and is available) instead of a string of numbers.

For example, my Facebook profile page is now http://facebook.com/insomnic and fits nicely on a business card or page listing (easier to remember too).

Of course, depending on how you set up your privacy and your goals you may end up having your Facebook profile show up before your LinkedIn or personal website so be sure to check your Facebook privacy settings to be sure the right pages show up in search results.

Also, there is an interesting timeline of how this service offering will play out written by Anil Dash. Give it a look for a humourus look at how these types of changes sometimes play out.

So go grab your custom username now before it’s gone. Be sure to remember that if it’s too complicated it’ll be hard for people to remember and if you have creative spellings of common words people will misspell it. Good luck!

Google Wave will combine services like Email, IM, Wiki, and Twitter/Facebook Feed/Friendfeed together into a single, live updating service. You’ll be able to post a message to friends and they can comment back or discuss it live (you’ll actually see other people’s edits as they type them). It even includes live translation services as well (which is also available in GMail Labs). Check out the links above or the Google Wave about page for more specifics, but it certainly seems like it could be an interesting new communication medium.

Many people ask me about BitTorrent and to be honest, it’s not easy to explain. I’m going to try here but I’m going to do it with lots of help.

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol based around a distributed sharing system and optimized for large files.

While completely accurate that description isn’t really useful in getting started with BitTorrent.

If you’ve ever used file sharing programs before like Napster, Kazaa or Limewire … BitTorrent is nothing like those. To explain how BitTorrent is different I’m going to get some help because as simple as it is to use, the initial understanding on how to use it is can be confusing.

I’m going to send you to a bit of learning before we move on to a couple other topics. First, Lifehacker has two guides to getting started with BitTorrent; a beginner’s guide and an intermediate guide. You can skip the intermediate guide for now but definitely bookmark it for future reference. The other excellent guide is The Big Book of BitTorrent by Aibek. That is a free PDF book about 28 pages long… that’s more of a reference tool but will answer pretty much all of your quesitons. Start with the Lifehacker beginner’s guide…

Once you’ve looked through those items you’ll notice that you’ll need a program and some websites. The program handles the downloading and the websites are where you find the torrents.

If you didn’t read the guide here are the quick and dirty basics (but you may or may not understand them just from this little bit):

BitTorrent uses torrent files to connect your BitTorrent program with other people sharing the exact same file. So a torrent file for the movie Elephant’s Dream is like a bookmark or ticket that connects you to all the other people downloading/uploading the movie. People who have the entire file are called seeders and people who are still downloading the file are called leechers or peers. You will be connected to multiple people who have the same file and you will download pieces of the file from different people and others will download pieces from you. So you download the Elephant’s Dream torrent file and open it with your BitTorrent program which connects you to others to share the actual movie file of Elephant’s Dream.

So back to what you need… a program and some torrent sites. If you are on Windows I recommend uTorrent (it’s actually µTorrent using the metric presentation for “micro”) and for OS X and Linux I recommend Transmission. The uTorrent guides are very good as well for help in using BitTorrent even if you aren’t using uTorrent. Each program has a different interface but all BitTorrent applications work in a similar fashion so once you are familiar with one you can use pretty much any of them and it’s just a matter of extra features.

So you have the program and now you need to start sharing. This is where a good set of BitTorrent websites comes in handy. For beginners, I recommend The Pirate Bay and Mininova. Those sites should provide you with pretty much all the items you may be looking to download. Demonoid is also a popular location but requires membership and sometimes they aren’t open to new members – but you can get an invite if you ask around. The Pirate Bay is probably the most open and busy torrent tracker (the backend service that directs your torrent “ticket” or “bookmark”) so you’ll find lots of content there. Mininova also has a lot of content and is a bit more manageable in regards to browsing particular catagories.

A note on piracy… there are lots of laws and rules about piracy and some of them apply differently depending on your situation and the content. There are loopholes and so forth but put simply: if you didn’t pay for it, and you should have, then you are stealing. That being said, BitTorrent is not digital piracy… BitTorrent is just a system for transfering large files.

One last note… BitTorrent is a LOT safer than other file sharing services but you can still get infected if you download and install the wrong thing. Be sure to check through torrent site comments and run antivirus utilities just to be safe.

So that should provide you will all the information you need to get started with your file sharing. Don’t let the amount of information be too daunting … it really is easy to use.

Good luck and happy torrenting!

To use the feature, click the More button on any map and select Webcams. You’ll get some icons popping up on the map if any webcams are available. Clicking on an icon will bring up an image from the past 15 minutes. Clicking the image will take you to the webcam page for a live view.

This is an interesting add-on to include for “Virtual Tourists” visiting a location (currently done via Streetview) or for checking current conditions in an area before you head out.

YouTube is starting to horn in on Hulu’s action by partnering with Sony, CBS, MGM and a few other studios to bring some TV shows and Movies to their streaming video service. The choices are pretty sparse at the moment but there are a few gems like Alf, Married with Children, Cliffhanger, and Starman. One of the studios that have partnered is Bandai so anime fans can pick up some rather recent english dubbed series like Code Geass and Gundam 00.

It’ll be worth checking back on occasion as I’m sure more and more content will be added.

Embedding is obviously disabled for these shows but here is a classic you just can’t pass up: MacGyver Season 1 Episode 1 … Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

No… not cola or soda. POP is a function of web mail that allows you to access your email from another place besides that company’s web interface. So what does this mean for Hotmail users? Well it means you can switch to Gmail with ease because you can still get your Hotmail emails after you switch! It makes the transition much easier.

If you are interested in switching then head over to the How-To Geek for detailed steps to swap your Hotmail/MSN/Live account for a Gmail account. Once you have setup your email then it’s time to go through some of the other Gmail switching tools like contact and email import. Check Lifehacker’s article about the Gmail switching tools for more details.

Why switch to Gmail? My main reason is that their spam filtering is top notch and there’s just something about the different options and tie-ins with other Google services that it has become extremely useful. A good example is a function they just added to allow Picasa, Flickr, YouTube, and Yelp to be previews in the email itself. Check out the Official Gmail Blog post about this update for more details. Look through some of their other posts to see some of the other recent updates and features.

The other feature I like but is hard to grasp for some new users of Gmail are the function of labels instead of folders to organize your email. Labels show up as links on the left of the Gmail interface similar to how folders would show but they work differently. Instead of moving an email to a specific folder, it can be assigned a label – kind of like applying the folder to the email instead of the email to the folder. The advantage of this is that an email can have multiple labels without having to be duplicated in order to be in multiple folders. Lets go over an example.

Pretend I run an anime viewing club (whee!) and I order Cowboy Bebop The Movie for an upcoming viewing. I get an email confirmation from Amazon about my order. I apply the label “Orders” and the label “Anime Club”.  Now I can find that email if I click on Orders or if I click on Anime Club. If I used folders it would only appear in one or the other. Add the power of Google search and I can do a quick search to show me all my emails that are labelled both Orders and Anime Club and I can see all my anime club orders!

That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as organizing is concerned and luckily the Gmail help is very good at working you through all of these options. Another good place to check for getting the most out of Gmail is Lifehacker’s directory of Gmail tips, tricks and hacks.

Sorry about all the text of this post (the links have lots of screenshots though). To make up for it here’s a couple videos to watch that may brighten your day just a bit:

Cute (awwwww factor 11):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kinda Dirty Funny:

Click here to view the embedded video.

UPDATE: Gmail has now also added an “Undo Send” function that allows you to recall a message within seconds of sending. A very useful function for those accidental sends.

What this means for most people is nothing because the majority of users won’t go anywhere near the cap, but for some users this may cause a problem. Normally, going over the cap would get you a warning and if you repeatedly go over the limit they’ll either shut you off or charge you extra; most likely the later. Once the caps are in place and the rules are laid out the penalties will be known.

The caps are set as 100GB for the 15mbps tier and 250GB for the next tier. Those on the 60mbps will have no cap. This might vary depending on market area because there isn’t a 60mbps option in my area. I don’t have Charter, but if I did, I’d have to go with the 2nd tier program as I routinely go over 100GB by a little bit … of course if I had the option I’d probably already be on that 60mbps plan! This is why these caps shouldn’t be too big of an issue at this time; most people who would go over the cap have already bumped up a level.

Check out the Ars Technica article and also the discussion section for details and some interesting information and opinions about these caps.

Here’s a quick video overview of the service:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The good thing is that you can be selective on who can see your location and you can turn it on or off as you wish. I can see a few useful functions though and hopefully it will have a few more fine tuned controls as it matures.

You can install it into an iGoogle page using this link or go to http://www.google.com/latitude from your mobile phone.

UPDATE:
Privacy settings are more advanced than I originally thought.  Here is a good video about the privacy levels available:

Click here to view the embedded video.

She covers the basics as well as specific tips for the following sites:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Social News (Digg, Reddit, etc)
• FriendFeed
• YouTube
• StumbleUpon
• Blogging and Commenting

The information Tamar provides is invaluable to new and current users of social media sites and she explains ways to really leverage these services to get the most out of them without shooting yourself in the foot.

Here are a couple comparative screenshots from the “Where the Hell is Matt” video which is available in both normal and HD versions.

Normal Quality

HD

As you can see the difference is pretty obvious and it is even more obvious when you watch these videos in full screen.

A word of warning.  HD is very bandwidth intensive so remember that more quality equals more data to download or stream. If you have bandwidth caps or a slower connection you may want to skip the HD quality for now.

This seems like an update related directly to Hulu and Vimeo higher quailty offerings which have been drawing people away from YouTube even as YouTube begins hosting more content (like movies and TV shows).

It seems workplaces will see even larger bandwidth spikes around lunchtime now.

I liked aspects of Pownce much more than Twitter but a social network is only as good as its user base and Twitter is very hard to beat. It was a good run Pownce… good luck in your next incarnation.