By Chief Gizmateer
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
TIOTI (Tape It Off The Internet), a new download service looking to provide subscribers with legitimate television downloads with purchases and Bittorent feeds, is accepting email addresses for sending out invitation to use the service.

Here’s an excerpt about their service:

We currently index 1,600+ TV shows - 90,000+ episodes - and we are matching everything up with content sources like iTunes, AOL and Amazon Unbox - with more to come.

Our beta feature set allows you to do exactly what it says on the tin and do it in style. With integrated message boards, groups, personalised badges and an extensive API, we have lots more great stuff coming soon too.

So we’re slightly curious as to why they used the obsolete word “Tape”…

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

I read an article not long ago that claimed the briefcase industry was in trouble if not in imminent danger of going the way of the fedora as an everyday business accessory. Men no longer needed hard cases to lug around the “Johnson file” and instead switched to backpacks, laptop bags, rolling briefcases, and super modern lightweight portfolios. At the same time, the business card - long the staple of meetings and trade shows has begun showing a similar fate. When was the last time someone handed you a card? And do you even own a card scanner and all that business?

Today a company called Moo.com has launched Skype Mini Cards: silly little mini cards with a custom jokey message on one side and your Skype ID and number on the other. Think of it as the MySpace version of business cards.

We Say: I LOL’d. NSFW. !!11!! Actually, We Ask: Do you still carry and distribute business cards, and do these appeal to you more?

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

I found this new polling tool from a startup called PollDaddy. To test the new service out, we created a poll. We are calling it “Gut Check” and if you like the feature as well as the poll service, maybe we’ll roll it into our usual offerings.

Take it for a spin:

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

So it is official - Froogle is out, Google Base is in. Need We Say: All your base are….

———————————————————————–
Froogle Merchant Announcement
Changes to your Froogle Merchant Center account

Dear Froogle Merchant,

We’re pleased to announce Google Base (http://base.google.com), a new resource that offers you the tools you need to submit your Froogle bulk upload files (formerly known as feeds) and keep them updated. With Google Base, you can:

* Create and send bulk upload files
* Add and define custom attributes specific to your offers
* Confirm the status of a bulk upload without having to contact the Froogle support team
* Edit and check the status of each item in your bulk upload

To get started, simply sign in to Google Base with your Froogle Merchant account login and password:

Your existing account and product information has already been transferred and is now viewable in Google Base. Along with Froogle, your content should also be viewable on http://base.google.com; you can search there to verify that your items appear online shortly after you post them.

Please note that Google Base has replaced the Froogle Merchant Center. From now on, when you click “Information for Sellers” on the Froogle home page, you’ll be brought to a new sign-in page. You can learn more information about this change here.

We hope you enjoy Google Base. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at feeds-support@google.com.

Sincerely,
The Google Team

By John Tintle
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Today I will be doing a quick review of Goowy, an online desktop replacement. The site name is a play on words: pronounced “gooey”, Goowy is aiming to replace the GUI or “gooey” interface on the desktop in the online world. To do this, Goowy gives you a single online “webtop” where you can check your email (1 account at this time), keep up with your instant messaging clients, and keep your contacts, calandar, and 1 Gigabyte of online storage for your personal files.

The Goowy email service is pretty straightforward using POP3 settings to access your mail account, it offers access to MSN, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo or your personal POP3 email service. There are no real advancements in the online checking of the email here, but it works.

The “enhanced” instant messaging feature allows you to log into the 4 major instant messenger programs with one handy Flash-based application. Nothing really new here either, except you can have access to all the messengers via one web page anywhere you have Internet access.

Bottom Line: I have been using this for a few days now, and have really taken a liking to it. Goowy allows me to keep all my contacts, calendars, and email available to me anywhere there is web access. While Goowy is still in its early goings and in the future will be offering certain features for paying customers, its a nice online application in the Web 2.0 way of the world. It may not be a breakthrough, but I do find it quite handy. So give it a shot while its still free and let me know what you think.

Try Goowy Here

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

Having fun with images is not something you get to do every day as a tech blogger. It’s hard enough uploading product shots, but every now and then we love to mix it up.

To date we have covered:

–How to create your own “Dummies” book cover
–How to create your own cartoon strip out of an instant message chat thread (Hilarious)
and today, how to add a cartoon speech baloon to any image with SayWhat.

We Say: The best part if that you can email the picture as well as post a link on your website. Let the games begin.

Get Started Here
Source: Say Wigflip.com

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

The idea is not new, but FeedoStyle is one of the more flexible feed scraping services I’ve seen. I use a site called Feed Roll that used to let you create your own “roll up” of RSS feeds, but for some reason they shifted to a model that only offered feeds from selected publishers -which left out the little guy, like RealTechNews. FeedoStyle (still in beta) lets you build a custom set of feeds from any RSS source. (See the news box for RealTechNews below.) You can do scrolling news, or just a plain list, adjust colors, and so on. Very nice.

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Try FeedoStyle Here

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

They say there is no such thing as bad press, which means the gang at Chevrolet must be popping champagne right about now. The Internet backlash over the make-your-own Chevy Tahoe commercial campaign launched in conjunction with the TV show The Apprentice is on fire right now. The concept was fun and soooo “web 2.0″ - let everyday users make their own TV commercial featuring the Tahoe and then, well, everyone will go buy one.

Of course, most wily online folks weren’t about to do nice puff pieces, and so what we have is an assortment of Chevy Tahoe commercials usually focusing on bad gas mileage, oil shortages, global warming and so on.

We Say: Nice use of technology and the backlash should not have been a surprise to anyone. Expect to see many more build-your-own ad campaigns around until someone gets truly vulgar.

Here Are Some Favorites:
–Show Me the Pictures
(Child asks Dad to show him pictures again of animals and trees while they drive)

–Global Warming? Turn up the AC

–Ah Greenland
(How to turn Greenland into a water skiing paradise)

–It’s Getting Hot in Here

View More Tahoe Ads Here
Source: heavyonthechevy