I have a big announcement to make.  After months of talking about getting it done, I finally have the Global Geek News Online Store ready to go!

You can find all kinds of Global Geek News merchandise in our online store, from shirts to stickers and even chef's aprons, there is something for pretty much anybody in the store.

Help support Global Geek News and spread the word by wearing some Global Geek News apparel.  Purchases you make help to pay for the cost of keeping Global Geek News running, so go buy lots of stuff!

As I mentioned on this week's podcast, I will be traveling to Vegas to attend Microsoft's MIX 2010 c0nference.  There will be a ton of MIX coverage right here on the Blog and I am even going to try to do a podcast live from the event with whatever special guests I can grab from the conference to join me on the show.

What kind of coverage will we have?  Myself and my fellow Student Insiders will be doing a live blog of the keynotes on both day one and two (Monday and Tuesday) and I will be doing a number of interviews with various people of great influence that will be posted here as soon as I can get them posted (I'm not sure what bandwidth is going to be like).  I expect there to be announcements regarding Internet Explorer 9, Silverlight and what I am most looking forward to, Windows Phone 7 Series.  I plan to focus most of the coverage around Windows Phone 7 Series but I will have to wait and see what the big announcements are to know for sure where the focus will be.

Bandwidth permitting, I will be posting lots of pictures and videos from the event and blogging most of the time as well.  If you want to make sure you catch all of the conference coverage, make sure to subscribe with the great big button above!

The first keynote kicks off at 9AM PST on Monday morning, so make sure to be here for the live blog!

If there is anything specific you would like to see me cover or somebody you want me to interview, leave it in the comments and I will do my best to satisfy your request!

Listen to the latest Global Geek News Podcast and follow Global Geek News on Twitter!

Given the recent Twitter problems of the last week, similar to the months ago when Twitter was down almost as much as it was up, I decided I should compile a list of things that people can do while Twitter is down or showing the Fail Whale.

1.  Use other services similar to Twitter.

There are many other services that perform a similar function to Twitter that can hold you over until Twitter returns.  Many people like services such as Plurk or Pownce.  While I never cared for Plurk, I do like Pownce although rarely use it because I don't have that many friends on the network.  Personally, I mainly use FriendFeed (me).  Friendfeed is great for not only communicating in a manner similar to Twitter (it does unfortunately lack direct messaging functionality) but it is a great place for people to announce their latest online content creation.  Friendfeed is able to detect new blog posts, favorited YouTube videos, new Flickr photos and much more and then put them in your stream to share with others and get feedback on your online activities.

2.  Blog

There are millions of people who have a blog and chances are, you do as well.  Try filling the Twitter void by doing some blogging.  Whether you want to talk about how bad the drivers in your area are, or just want to share some of your favorite recipes with the Internet, blogging is a great way of expressing yourself and inviting others into your life and thoughts.  If you don't already have a blog, you can start one for free with sites like Wordress and Blogger.

3.  Read blogs!

Like I mentioned, there are millions of blogs on the Internet.  There are likely to be a ton of blogs on the subjects you care about.  Google your interests to find related blogs and join in on the discussion!  Whether you are looking to learn something or help others learn by commenting on posts, blogs are one of the most valuable things on the Internet.  Don't forget to comment on the blogs that you read!  Bloggers thrive on user feedback and you can often contribute to the discussion by bringing your own perspective to the issue (For more information on being a constructive commenter, read this blog post).

4.  Start an online discussion!

There are many places on the Internet that are great for having an online discussion such as chat rooms and message boards.  Much like with blogs, there are countless chat rooms and message boards that are dedicated to a large number of topics.  If you are having trouble finding a blog post that you want to bring you insight to, try starting a thread on a message board or find a chat room dedicated to the topic you want to discuss.  Although these communication mediums have been around almost as long as the Internet, they are still a great way to communicate with people you don't know about subjects that you are interested in.

5.  Create a video!

With services such as YouTube, almost anybody can create a video and put it online at no cost.  The only thing you really need to put a video online is a camera or webcam.  One of the great things about user generated content is that there are very few restrictions you have to abide by when creating things like online video.  Whether you want to create video of your kids to show the rest of the family, or make a funny video you hope will be the next 'Leave Britney Alone' video, when it comes to making online video, or really any online content, you are limited only by your imagination.  If you really want to have fun, try creating a video podcast!

6.  Create an audio podcast!

Speaking of podcasts, probably the most popular podcast medium is audio.  Creating an audio podcast is easy, all you need is a microphone and some audio recording software such as Audacity.  You can create a podcast on just about any topic.  Personally, I have two technology related podcasts, the Global Geek News Podcast and the Geek News Daily Podcast.  Whether you want to talk about technology, politics, food or anything else, an audio podcast is a great way to have a conversation with other people that know about the same topic as you and then share it with the rest of the world.  Of course you can go solo on your podcast, but how you run your podcast is completely up to you!

7.  Check out new podcasts!

If you are like me, you often fall behind on podcasts and need to catch up.  When Twitter is down, it is not only a great time to catch up, but a great time to check out new podcasts you have never heard or watched!  Whether you are using the Zune software or iTunes, they are some of the quickest ways to find new podcasts on topics that interest you!  If you don't use software like that, don't fear as most podcasts can be found on PodcastAlley.com.  Some podcasts aren't as good as others, but there are some great shows out there that will entertain and educate almost anybody.  If you are looking for some of my personal recommendations, ask in the comments and I will throw some great shows out there.

8.  Watch online video

There is millions of hours of video online, so you can easily watch some online video and never run out.  This often depends on where you are in the world as to what content you can get to thanks to licensing, but you can find tons of videos online on sites like Hulu.com or TheWB.com.  With these sites and many others, you can easily watch many of your favorite television shows and movies for free!  If you are looking for less professional content, there are of course sites such as YouTube, but even they are getting on the professional content bandwagon and starting to show TV shows for free!  Also, don't forget to check out the new and improved Joost!

9.  Shop Online!

It is almost the Holiday Season, its time to stop putting off that holiday shopping!  With great shopping sites such as Amazon.com and Buy.com, its easy to find the gifts that your loved ones want.  Of course its always a good idea to buy something for yourself when you get something for your friends and family!  Why hassle with the crowds at the major retail stores when you can get the same products online for cheaper and not have to pay sales tax (this depends on where you live)?  I have saved thousands of dollars by shopping online and you can too!  With the current state of the economy, saving every penny you can is not necessarily a bad idea.  Warning:  Beware of scammers!  With online shopping increasing during the holiday season, its a good idea to keep an eye out for people trying to rip you off or steal you identity.

10.  Play games online!

There are tons of great games to play online to pass the time.  Whether you want to play some simple flash games on websites such as AddictingGames.com or some great games on Xbox Live, there is a vast number of games that you can play online.  Depending on the kind of games you like and whether you want to play with others, you can choose from thousands of games to online.  Not everybody can afford the monthly fee of games such as World of Warcraft, but there are many free games that are great for passing the time!  Do a search on free games and you will likely find more games than you could ever have time to play.

These are just a few of the many things that you can while Twitter is down without having to leave your computer.  If you have any suggestions for this list, put them in the comments to share them with everybody!

Follow me on Twitter!

-Jeremy "pcnerd37" Bray

This is my fist on a good number of posts coming out of the TechCrunch50, a truely amazing conference.  Before I start posting my thoughts on many of the other companies that were at the conference, I figured I should start with the winner, Yammer.

For those of you that weren't at the conference, watching it on Ustream or reading the many blog posts from it, Yammer is basically a threaded Twitter clone for the enterprise environment (speaking of which, you can follow me on Twitter!).  The creators apparently decided to steal the threaded conversations idea from Friendfeed, throw it into their Twitter clone and make it enterprise exclusive in the way that Facebook was exclusive in the early days where only people with university email addresses could join.  In this case, its only for people with a company email address.

If you attended or followed the coverage of the conference, you would most likely agree that this was far from the most deserving company.  They didn't even bother to change the Twitter look to something unique.  Like many things that presented there, I would consider this more of a feature than a company.  It would not take much for Twitter to do the same thing, plus they already know the micro-blogging space and have a good bit of experience under their belt.  There were a number of truly revolutionary products unveiled at the event, but this was not one of them.  Adgregate Markets and Swype were just two of the truly industry changing products that were far more deserving of the honor than a Twitter knockoff.  I will of course be writing about those companies and many more in the next few days.

With over a thousand applicants to the conference, this makes me wonder just how bad the applicants were that didn't make the cut.  I don't understand how this could have even been a finalist unless there were some kind of kickbacks to the judges or if the judges were too drunk from the parties to make a logical decision.  I am completely baffled by this decision.  They came up with a business model for Twitter, good for them.  Sell the idea to Twitter, don't try to create a company out of a feature, especially when the same job can be accomplished in a more organized fashion with a simple message board.

Anyway, this is the first of many blog posts on my thoughts about what was presented at the conference.  Over the next couple of days, I will be covering my favorite companies and companies that made me ask myself why how they got got past 1,000 other companies to get into the conference.  I will also be doing a Global Geek News podcast in the next week also with more of my thoughts as well as on many of the other big topics, so stay tuned for that!

-Jeremy "pcnerd37" Bray

In an email I received this week, I was directed to a story about a New Mexico school trying to connect to its students by putting classroom material in podcast from and letting them listen to it on Zunes that the students are given.

The students of Fort Sumner High School have been given Microsoft Zunes to help them with their school work.  Students are encouraged to use the devices during class, on the bus and during school trips.  Teachers are given a $400 bonus to find 20 downloadable lectures that go along with their lessons as well as creating 5 of their own.  This is a pilot program where the schools received donated Zunes in exchange for test score information to see if they have any effect on learning.

The school is utilizing podcasts as teaching tools, something I have advocated for a long time being a podcaster myself.  I find it a great tool for picking up on something in a lecture that you didn't the first time or to distribute information in addition to the actual class lecture.

When I was going to school in Utah, since they didn't have any way to download and listen to lectures, I started recording all of the class lectures myself for review and to let other people review lectures when they needed it.  It came in handy when I didn't remember something from a lecture that I needed to know for homework or a test.  It really came in handy when studying for finals.

Being able to learn on your own time and repeat things as many times as you need is one of the biggest keys to retention.  If you have some free time or just want something to listen to during your commute, educational podcasts are a great way to fill that need and learn something interesting at the same time.  If you can learn things on your own time when you aren't worried about being distracted, you will pay more attention to what you are learning and will have an easier time retaining the information you are learning.  The ability to listen to something over and over again is also a major key to retention.  As studies have shown, repetition is great for remembering facts and seeing details that you would often miss on only one encounter.  Podcasting brings these possibilities students or anybody wishing to increase their knowledge on a particular subject.

Of course such a program has potential for abuse.  Students are likely to increase the time they spend listening to music, watching videos, or viewing photos with a device such as the Zune.  While this may be a problem with some students, I don't really think it matters.  If a student is dedicated to learning and wants to succeed, they won't let things distract them.  If a student doesn't care about their education, they will always find some kind of distraction to occupy their time even if its just counting the pimples on the kids neck that sits in front of them.  At least with something like this, it can help those who care to have a higher level of understanding about what they are being taught.

I hope this program is a success and gets adopted across the country to help the students learn more as well as cut down on the number of books they need.  If you think this idea has merit, suggest it to your local schools and see what kind of impact you can have on the lives of children in your community!

-Jeremy "pcnerd37" Bray