Friday, May 4, 2007

Worried about Contact Me Forms ??? Now Relax and Enjoy !!!

Contactify is a new service to create a simple “Contact Me” form that let’s people send you emails without knowing your email address. Create an account in a few steps and get a URL back that points to the contact form, which contains a captcha to reduce spam. It works well, but it would be nice if they widgetized this to allow people to add it to their MySpace page or blog without sending people off to the Contactify website. There also appears to be no way to turn the form off, so once people know the URL it’s almost as good as having your email address.

The privacy policy for contactify is also too generic. They need to make a statement that emails collected will not be used for any purpose, period.

Top 15 geek blog sites

Of course, not everyone will agree with our selection. If you think a blog site that's not on my list deserved a top 15 spot, share it with me in the comments section.

1) Lifehacker
www.lifehacker.com
Lifehackers' motto says it all: "Don't live to geek, geek to live." This blog offers timesavers of just about every stripe, from Firefox shortcuts to tips from the "Getting things done" faithful.

2) IT Toolbox Blogs
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com
IT Toolbox has a number of "in the trenches" IT pros who talk about technology and management issues. There are specialist blogs dealing with security, databases and project management, among other subjects. It's a versatile site.

3) Valleywag
http://valleywag.com
Bring in the noise, bring in the snark. Valleywag is for those who believe that the tech industry lives or dies by the scuttlebutt pinging around Silicon Valley. And it's amusing for those of us who prefer that the lotus-eaters of Northern California stick with the dishing and tongue-wagging, leaving the rest of us to get the real work done.

4) Kotaku
http://kotaku.com
Kotaku is the snarky, gamer uber-blog. It has everything from reviews and gossip to cheat tips. Just about anything you'll ever need, including which game to buy and how to play it.

5) Danger Room
http://blog.wired.com/defense
Wired's military and defense blog writes about some of the coolest and scariest military technologies -- not to mention scandals, debates and other military news. Lots of video and imagery are included.

6) Gizmodo
http://gizmodo.com
Gizmodo's got the scoop on all the latest toys and cool and wacky inventions -- from high-def TVs and coffee makers to booze belts and USB drives. You've got to love a site that publishes photos of a solar-powered bathing suit. Yeah, they also blog about serious technology news too.

7) O'Reilly Radar
http://radar.oreilly.com
This is where you can read Tim O'Reilly (founder of O'Reilly publishing) and others discuss networking, programming, open source, intellectual property, politics and Web 2.0, emerging technology.

8) Techdirt
http://www.techdirt.com
Techdirt is a newsy, "tell it like it is" blog that frequently features debates on the hot issues in the Internet and computer fields. Scandals are a specialty. Simplicity is its hallmark.

9) Groklaw
http://www.groklaw.net
Groklaw's raison d'etre is needling SCO in its long-running legal fights against IBM and Novell, but the discussion sometimes veers toward other issues that involve technology, intellectual property, and government regulations.

10) Hack a Day
http://www.hackaday.com
Want to learn how to add USB to a cheap Linux router? Create a snake robot? How about an XBox 360 laptop? Hack a Day has these basement projects and many more. This site is for the serious techie. At the same time, it's good for a laugh or a new hobby.

11) Engadget
http://www.engadget.com
As Coke is to Pepsi, so Engadget is to Gizmodo. It's all about gear, gossip, techish issues and the occasional rant. It's got great product photos, and the editors have access to pre- and early-release gadgetry. Also, some really funny home-made junk. But we prefer Gizmodo.

12) Feedster
www.feedster.com/feedpapers/Technology
Like drinking from the hose. This Web page brings together blog sites about technology, sports, celebrity gossip, food, personal experiences -- you name it. It also offers a blog search feature that allows you to input words or phrases, and it has a very cool RSS aggregator for news feeds. It also injects some great humor into technology news. An all-around great site.

13) Forever Geek
http://forevergeek.com
Forever Geek is a great site with a myriad blogs on diverse topics, from technology and general interest news to movie and game reviews. Definitely a geek paradise. If you want to learn about the upcoming Iron Man movie or read a review of Photoshop CS3, this is the place to go.

14) Rough Type
www.roughtype.com
Nick Carr -- of "Does IT Matter?" fame -- has a sharp-minded blog that discusses all manner of issues and trends relating to technology. Always an entertaining read, Rough Type often locks horns with companies, people, technologies and policies that rub Carr the wrong way.

15) Smorgasbord
www.smorgasbord.net
Billed as a site for gadget- and game-loving geeks, this blog also serves up articles that cross over into the political and celebrity news of the day. The combination of entertainment value and tech news make Smorgasbord a top contender.