links for 2009-08-20

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So maybe you just recently signed up for your twitter account and started googling about how you should use it. You stumble across one of the way-too-many sites that claim to be run by self-proclaimed "twitter experts." They give you a tip that you should use some of the also-way-too-many twitter services to help you manage your account. Many of these sites offer an auto direct messaging (DM) service that will DM anyone who follows you with a little 140 character welcome message. This is NOT OK!" Totally.

Get a prediction if a flight is going to be delayed before the airline will tell you.

Good blog post on _why and his recent departure from the online world.

"As central bankers and economists from around the world gather on Thursday for the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo., most are likely to welcome Mr. Bernanke as a conquering hero. In Washington and on Wall Street, it would be a surprise if President Obama did not nominate Mr. Bernanke for a second term, even though he is a Republican and was appointed by President George W. Bush. But the White House has remained silent. And despite Mr. Bernanke’s credibility in financial circles, both he and the Fed as an institution have come under political fire from lawmakers in both parties over the handling of particular bailouts and the scope of the Fed’s power." Politics meet the real world.

"The suit by Unspam Technologies, which organizes volunteers to track down information about spammers and other online rogues, was filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Mr. Praed, the head of the Internet Law Group, which is based in Arlington, Va., has used the technique successfully on behalf of AOL and Verizon to identify people sending spam to their customers. The same legal method was used by the recording industry to force Internet providers to name customers who were exchanging copyrighted songs." Interesting lawsuit tactic.

"The deputy head of the Pakistani Taliban said Wednesday that he was temporarily assuming the helm of the militant group because its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was ill, although Washington and Islamabad have said that Mr. Mehsud almost certainly was killed by a recent missile strike."

"Since our last big launch, we've been thinking about ways to help our users better share, discover, and consume content in Reader. Today, I'm happy to announce several new features that we hope will further improve the way you use Reader." Lots of cool new additions.

"Qwest Wireless customers will be notified that they have 60 days to switch to a new provider before service is ended on Oct. 31, the company said in a statement."

This is amusing.

"In the past 20 years, more than half of America's mailboxes have been taken out of service, leaving just 175,000 nationwide." The USPS has been pulling more roadside mailboxes in the past years.

"North Korea has sent "good signals" that it wants to restart dialogue with the US over its nuclear programme, a US politician has said. Governor Bill Richardson's comments came after rare talks in his state of New Mexico with North Korean envoys."

"As of today's dev channel build, we're adding a brand new feature to Google Chrome: bookmark sync. Many users have several machines, one at home and one at work for example. This new feature makes it easy to keep the same set of bookmarks on all your machines, and stores them alongside your Google Docs for easy web access." Awesome.