Blogosphere Kicks Off April Fools Early

The very best April Fools jokes have just enough truth in them for somebody to secretly want them to be true, and to be delivered in such a way that the person being pranked isn't 100 percent sure the joke's on them.

On the Web, Google has made this a black art of sorts, between their "launch" of Google Romance and Google Mars, interspersed with their very real launch of GMail in 2004 that had everybody confused as to whether anybody in their right mind would offer a full gigabyte of e-mail for free. We all know how that turned out. It was real. Those of us (including me) who were sure it was a prank were fooled.

This year, it looks like the blogosphere couldn't keep quiet long enough for the calendars to officially flip to April 1 in the United States. TechCrunch kicked off the festivities by "announcing" they had acquired Phil Kaplan's F***edCompany.com, effectively bringing their coverage of the startup space full circle - from their launch to their eventual death. Many people, including Dave Winer of Scripting.com, were fooled. This was no doubt due in part to ValleyWag's earlier coverage that the famed dotcom deadpool site was up for sale.

That one was good. Very good. Mathew Ingram thought so as well.

Now, Robert Scoble is back from his self-imposed blog exile, saying that Apple is set to release yet another i-Device, called iReader, in collaboration with Cingular, Amazon and Google. I guess if you make up a rumor, you might as well go whole-hog and drop a bunch of company names in there. I'm surprised Nintendo didn't make the cut. He went the tried and true Apple rumor route, citing an unnamed Apple executive dumb enough to use it in public. It might have been too soon for Robert to return to the blogosphere, but hopefully his scoop won't rank among the best by the conclusion of tomorrow.

Last year's April 1 pranks were pretty good. My favorites were Slashdot.org's changing their look and feel from industrial green to My Little Pony pink and China offering to buy Google. (See last year's summary here)

We look forward to more silliness in this most silly of holidays.

Is Technorati Going After Spam Blogs?

The issue of spam blogs, or "splogs" is a big one. As blog software becomes ever more easy to use, it's no surprise that robots and scripts have been built to make fake blogs, and are engineered to look very real, as the splogs usurp other's content and present it either as their own, or as a summary, so that they take traffic away from the original author. Google's Blogger platform was recently given a bunch of grief for being the biggest generator of fake blogs, called on the carpet by no less than Microsoft, who knows quite a bit when it comes to the world of spam.

But of late, some curious changes on the part of Technorati have me wondering if the blog-focused search engine is trying to cull spam blogs from its results database. While obsessing over one's Technorati ranking can become an art unto itself, I've actually seen the total number of blogs linking to louisgray.com decreasing over the last few weeks, which doesn't make sense. In the month of March, as we've seen record traffic and a good deal of popular posts around Google Reader, Digg and Apple TV, the number of blogs linking to louisgray.com has dropped, from 60 last week, down to 55 abruptly, and now today, to 53. Puzzling.

I can only speculate that Technorati is working to delete a massive number of blogs from its database. Those most likely for deletion would be those who don't offer original content. It is certainly a difficult task for Technorati, as some incredible resources, like TechMeme and Megite, offer no original content, but instead, organize links from other authors. How do you determine what is a collection of RSS feeds and links, or what is a real blog?

I hope they first get it right, and second, that everybody's Technorati score is accurate, mine included. The next step would be in my court: increase the blog's community and see if I can accurately, naturally, raise my ranking.

A's and Giants Fit to be Tied

After an extended weekend earlier this month to enjoy the A's at Spring Training, last night offered the first chance to see our team playing something resembling a real game, in the final exhibition warmup series, against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.

Though my father-in-law laughed at me on my ride up to San Francisco, saying "I would freeze my butt off", we had come prepared, with A's jacket and cap, not just to show our colors, but to protect us from The City's elements. Not as bad as Candlestick Park, AT&T Park also presents the option to sit in cool temperatures for three or so hours with the occasional wind gust whipping through. It was clear that the food vendors weren't going to move many chocolate malts or ice cream sandwiches on the night, but they certainly tried.

The A's presented a solid lineup with Eric Chavez, Jason Kendall, Mark Ellis, Bobby Crosby, Mike Piazza, and Nick Swisher making the start, and Rich Harden throwing heat from the mound. Only injuries to Milton Bradley, Dan Johnson and others kept the team from looking fully intact. We were pleased to see A's newcomer Shannon Stewart, and hot rookie prospect Travis Buck (see ANtics below) also playing. The Giants countered with their veteran-filled lineup, including Barry Bonds, Omar Visquel, Ray Durham, Pedro Feliz, and Matt Cain pitching. The game promised to be a solid pitching matchup and didn't disappoint.

The Giants posted a quick run on the board in the first, as Harden gave up a leadoff triple to Dave Roberts, and a double to the next hitter, putting the Giants up 1-0. The A's fought back in the next inning, in their own "special" way, driving in a run with a double play. I told my seatmates next to me that was exactly what they had planned. It stayed 1-1 for 4 full innings, until the sixth, when both teams scored again, making it 2-2. But no team seemed to really have the edge, and offense was scarce. The A's only managed five hits on the night, and the Giants scattered nine. The night's cool temperatures denied any balls leaving the yard, though the Giants tried to win the game in the 9th, hitting three fly balls hard off Brad Halsey, who pitched the final three innings.

Tied in the 9th, the game went to an extra frame, where both teams didn't score, and it was called. A 2-2 tie. In baseball. Those fans, including us, who had stayed the more than three hours at AT&T Park to watch the game in its entirety, stood up and walked out without a loss and without a victory. Empty. But in Spring Training, these things are not unexpected. Both teams want to be in good shape before the season, and don't see the value of hitting each other for 17 full, like the A's did against the Dodgers last season.

Still, it was great to be back at a major league ballpark to see major league teams play. We're only a little over a week away from starting to use our A's season tickets, and I'm ready for the season to start. Now.

The Power to Set You Free (of Power Cords)

In February, I stated one of my biggest tech wishes is to find a wireless power solution for my laptop or other devices. While we've grown accustomed to wireless Internet in most major locations (home, work, airport, hotels, etc.), we're still required to lug around power supplies which present issues themselves, as cords fray and connectors get bent or misaligned.

I've suggested the first company to make wireless power simple and affordable will have a major hit on their hands. GeekWhat's Tony Chung agreed.

Now, it appears others are waking up to the potential for wireless power to become a reality. A company called Powercast has developed a way to power low-voltage devices wirelessly, and Philips will be bringing it to market, according to Mathew Ingram.. Chris Pirillo is similarly excited, saying "Finally, a piece of technology that nobody will be able to live without."

Powercast has a major write-up in the upcoming April issue of Business 2.0, which any good geek should be subscribed to, BTW. Business 2.0 says the technology isn't any more sophisticated than AM or FM radio, as it converts radio waves into DC electricity.

The biggest drawback I could find in this early access product? It only charges to distances of 3 feet, for now. So it won't power large devices, and it won't power them over the distance of a room or a house, so there's still a lot more work to do, but I really like the direction this is going. I can't wait to ditch the power cord.