Digg, like I’ve said many times in the past, is my favorite news website because it offers a constant flow of interesting articles to feed my Internet addiction. To read (Digg.com) news articles, you have to click on the headine, which either opens the website in a new window or in the same window (as Digg was in). What would make “digging” articles even easier would be to incorporate a small frame above the article, to allow for digging without having to go back to Digg every time.

Confused? I made an example (click for bigger picture):

It’s reminiscent of the frame you see when using Google’s image search, but instead of images it uses Digg stories.

With the frame you could add navigation links, thus allowing you to see the next article without having to go back to Digg. The frame feature would be a useful addition to Digg even if it were an optional setting. The idea of a Digg frame seems to be another step closer to a Digg toolbar, which would then put Digg in competition with recently acquired StumbleUpon. None the less, I have high hopes for the popular social news website.

It’s been a while since Apple has refreshed their iPod line, but from popular Internet sources it will be soon. Before Apple releases the (supposed OS X based) iPod there are a few minor features I want to see.

Delete songs/podcasts/videos - The only way to get rid of a song/podcast/video on an iPod is to do it through your computer, but why not through your iPod? I tend to listen to podcasts once and then will delete them so I don’t confuse them with ones I haven’t [this might be from being OCD]. I have yet to own an iPod/MP3 player (other than the PSP) that has the ability to delete.

More specific sleep time - Right now the iPod allows you to set your sleep time for fifteen, thirty, forty-five, sixty, or ninety minutes, but why not more specific times? Falling asleep to a podcast is something I have come accustomed to, so setting the sleep timer for the duration of that podcast is what I want, no more or less. I could always set the timer for more, but the next song tends to be something that will wake me with an unwanted surprise.

On/Off switch - On the fifth generation iPod the only way to turn the iPod on/off is to hold down the play button, which seems simple enough. The only problem is that when your iPod freezes (which it seems to do a lot of) there is no way to turn it off until the battery drains. I want a switch that will cut the power to the iPod. This will make resetting and starting over much easier.

These minor features may seem picky, but they are something that would make an already great music player perfect.

What do you want to see in the new iPod? Leave your ideas in the comments.

One of my favorite applications for the Mac is Overflow and at WWDC 2007, “Stacks” was preview and show some very similar characteristics. Overflow is a simple application that holds files that you don’t use regularly, instead of filling up your dock. Stacks seems to be much of the same, in that it holds files for easy access. Can Overflow compete with a pre-loaded application? I decided to email Dan Messing (of Stunt Software) to see what he had to say.

Stacks may indeed be competition for some users using Overflow, but I think Overflow has a bit of a different goal than Stacks does. Stacks seems to be intended as a quick way to store temporary files, such as files downloaded from the Internet, without creating a clutter on your desktop. Overflow is generally used for more permanent files or applications.”

After looking at the Stacks video on Apple.com I can see where Dan is coming from. Overflow seems to be more for applications and not temporary files and documents. The final decision will be the made by the users when Leopard is released in October. For now, Overflow is a simple, yet useful application, for Mac users.After watching the Stacks video and using Overflow, how does everyone else feel?

Billy Reid from Very Tasteful! and Doogtoons Weekly Wrapup has posted a new song on his site, “True Story“. The song is well written, funny, and is just as catchy as any other song on the radio. While I was listening to the song, a friend asked me who the singer was (thinking it was a major artist) and I laughed. Maybe Billy should release a CD, I would buy it and his singing much more bearable than Weird Al’s.

Nice work Billy!

Listen to Billy’s Song, “True Story,” here.

I was recently thinking about Google and it’s absorption growth over the past few years. What was once a simple search engine is now one of the biggest Internet companies in the world with the ability to suck up anything in it’s path. Google has proven that if a company is beneficial to Google’s success they will snatch them up in a heart beat, but when is enough, enough?

Well, the helpful blogger that I am, I have an idea for Google. I call it Google Intra and instead of searching the whole world wide web, it searches for Google-owned services. This may seem pretty stupid (and it is), but in twenty years and countless acquisitions, Google Intra will be the Internet (0r intranet?).

My idea comes at a price, Google, I want at least a billion dollars. It may seem a little spendy, but in twenty years it’ll have been a bargain. Google, if you would like to contact me about my idea email me at mail@r3fresh.com.

Verizon has been my service provider since my first mobile phone (some eight years ago) and they have been great with coverage and rarely do I ever have dropped calls. Last February, I upgraded to a new phone, Motorola KRZR k1m, and the phone has been great.

The phone is also a music player, but to put music on the phone you need the driver, to get the driver you needed the “V Cast Music Manager”, to get the V Cast Music Manager you need XP (not OSX or Vista). The Vista version was coming though, when I first looked at the chart it said it would becoming out in March. Verizon kept their word and it came out yesterday, July eleventh, that’s three months of delays.
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