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'Tis the season for college basketball

If only college basketball could take precedence over other things, like work, sleep, eating, etc., it would be possible to consume all of the necessary information to select a perfect bracket this year. Most of us, though, do need to continue our regular life, and due to unforeseen upsets, all of the information available still might not help us win our office pools.

But it doesn't hurt to try. Here are a couple of sites you should be familiar with, so you'll be ready when the brackets are finally announced:

Yahoo's quick look at the last 10 years of the web

Maybe you've heard of Sequoia Capital, Craig Newmark and Deep Blue, but do you know what they have in common? They are part of Yahoo! Netrospective: 10 years, 100 moments of the Web.

It's hard to believe that Yahoo has been around for 10 years already. I remember the first version of Yahoo, amazingly enough. Things have changed a lot.

Use the Internet wisely with subscription-based emails

If you haven't noticed, there's a lot of stuff on the World Wide Web. For some people, that might be a good thing, but for the rest of us, who seemingly waste numerous hours a day, looking for those things we missed (like the Lip Balm Anonymous site), it's somewhat nerve-racking to explore it all.

Here comes Spuds McDarth

I am big fan of toys, and "Star Wars," and "Star Wars" toys, but it appears Hasbro has stepped over the boundary with the release of Darth Tater. The toy is a Mr. Potato Head that somewhat resembles the evil villain Darth Vader. See for yourself on Hasbro's website.

Internet ties Nelly, becomes No. 1

If you're a little behind and missed it (like me), CNN recently released its list of the top 25 innovations of the past 25 years. The Internet finished first, barely beating out other top innovations like Velcro and the automatic lollipop turner.

From the Archive

Whoa, what? I have a website?

For my first post in 2013, I thought I'd remind myself that I have a website. I guess it's tough to post as much as I used to now that I have a new baby and all. I have a few updates coming soon with a book event or two, but other than that, I'm just staying busy with my day job. I guess I should sign off until I have something more relevant to offer.

Meet me at Friendster

I will be featuring the Web site Friendster in my August column. If you are a member of Friendster, add me as a friend and send me any comments you have about your Friendster experience.

Friendster, from its site, is an online community that connects people through networks of friends. If you're not a member yet, join and let me know how you like it.

Lo and behold: the first words on the Internet

Most people know of the Internet only from the mid '90s on. But actually, the Internet started long, long ago, in a galaxy, well, that you live in.

I recently came across a page on UCLA's website that showed the first words uttered on the Internet. The day was Oct. 29, 1969, which also happens to be my mom's birthday. The researchers sent an "l" and an "o" before the system crashed. Apparently they were trying to login, and, much like any old computer I've used, it crashed almost immediately.

Goodbye HostGator, hello DreamHost

HostGator, it was a good run. But unfortunately, you haven't stayed up with the times.

It's disappointing that your technical support is awful - so much so that for a basic question, I would have to restart a chat multiple times to find someone who had any idea about my question. A few times, I had more success googling and trying random things than asking tech support.

Unnamed musician mad at MySpace

The recent buzz on the news wire is that there's a clause in the MySpace agreement that allows the social networking site a royalty-free, worldwide licence to publicly display posted content.

My reaction, along with the most obvious reaction to this, is simply "Duh."

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