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Micro Persuasion

Daily links, insights, photos, videos and more on emerging technology.

Rooting for the CrunchPadToday

Image credit: CNET

It sounds like Mike Arrington is getting closer to shipping the CrunchPad - a device that does one thing (surf the web) hopefully really well. Even though I am consolidating my technology, I want to see the CrunchPad succeed. There are a three reasons why:

First, I love the idea that any individual can, through smart sourcing, become not just a software entrepreneur but a hardware one too. It's not only a great American story, it's another great flat earth tale too. Henry Ford, Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison never felt intimidated by gian

How I am Declaring My Independence from Technology TodayToday

For those of you in the US, Happy Independence Day! There are lots of ways to celebrate this amazing holiday. In New York, the Statue of Liberty crown is finally re-opening. Every town, it seems, has a parade. Here's another idea...

I am celebrating July 4 by declaring my Independence from some of the technology that clutters my "psychic RAM," as David Allen terms it in Getting Things Done. Last year there was a National Marked All as Read Day. July 4 is my own reminder to do the same.

I am simplifying my technology in five ways...

• First, I am eliminating any bookmarks, software/webware that I haven't used in the last seven days. This is an idea 

My Yahoo Adds Peer-to-Peer PollingYesterday

Do you My Yahoo? I still do, occasionally, though I iGoogle more these days. I have been using My Yahoo for over 10 years, but what's great is that they haven't stayed still. Now My Yahoo is getting more social.

Yahoo today added a new social feature that lets you poll your friends right from the personalized page. You can grab it here. Unfortunately, this experience only integrates  with friends within the Yahoo network. You can, however, share a link to your polls. It would be great to see this more seamlessly integrate with Twitter and/or Facebook Connect since that's where people are spending time these days.

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Question of the Day: Can a Phone Replace a Laptop? (My Take: Probably Not)Yesterday

This is something I have been thinking about lately: as smart phones (pick one, any one) get more sophisticated, can one get away traveling for business sans laptop? For me the answer to date has been: sort of. Basically, if the trip is less than two nights and I know I won't need PowerPoint, I take the risk. Still, my laptops remain indispensible.

For more, see/comment on this post from Zee on Friendfeed. What's your view? As netbooks get thinner, lighter and cheaper this may all be a moot point.

 

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Friendfeed Brings "Best of Day" to Lists, Helps You Spot Trends from FriendsYesterday

See and download the full gallery on posterous

One of my favorite Friendfeed features is called "Best of Day." I use it all the time to hone in on the most liked/commented conversations. If you're logged into Friendfeed, you can hit this link to see the most interesting conversations from your friends over the last 24 hours or this one for the past seven days. The problem with the feature, however, is that it only worked across all of your friends. This can be problematic if you follow hundreds of people,