Now Congress has decided that they’ll rewrite the Telecommunications law again saying that it’s necessary because the current legislation barely mentions the Internet.

Stand-by for sweeping changes to the Internet as we’ve known it.  Looks like Government in the US is going to start looking more like China with big changes to how the FCC and another new agency regulate content, etc.

Congress to Review Telecommunications Law

Struggling Internet pioneer AOL turns 25

Turns out that those cars Google had driving around taking video and pictures of our homes, offices and streets was also grabbing information from our Wifi networks.  They’ve apparently been carrying on a practice I’ve talked about before, called “war driving” which is illegal in many jurisdictions.  It looks like data from people’s networks around the world was captured and stored.

What’s next?

Protests widen over Google’s Wi-Fi data harvesting – USATODAY.com.

Related articles

• Google Sued Over Street View Wi-Fi Issue [Google] (gizmodo.com)
• Germany launches criminal investigation of Google (macworld.com)
• UK’s Turn To Worry About Google’s Gathering Of Harmless, Public Wi-Fi Information (techdirt.com)

For those who are still stuck using the buggy and security-problem-plagued Microsoft Internet Explorer, make sure you check out Firefox.  Version 3, which has been in use for years now, provides a much more advanced, secure and faster Internet exploration experience.

Keep an eye out for the latest version, which should be out later this year.

Firefox 4 has simpler design; more privacy control – USATODAY.com.

If you could ask the CEOs and other execs of any of the Major Consumer Electronics Companies anything, what would it be?   Are you interested in their products, the direction of their industry, what pets they have, what?

This is your chance to ask them questions, an opportunity that may never happen again.  From Product Direction through Marketing, Sales and Distribution and even personal questions, they’re all fair game and this is your chance.

Since you’re following me, you probably already know that I’ve interviewed the top people at every major Consumer Electronics firm in the world.  I’ve interviewed more than 5,000 CEOs, CTOs and Marketing Officers over my past 535+ ClearChannel Radio shows in the Boston Market.

Next week, I’m going to be out at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and I’m going to be recording interviews, dozens of them.  I’ll be there with my official media credentials and recording equipment asking questions and putting together more radio shows.

Now, here’s the important part for you:  For the first time ever, I’m going to be asking them some of your questions.  I’ve never made this offer before, and I’m a little reluctant to do it — after all, we’ve all heard some people ask some pretty silly questions…  But I’m willing to give it a try.

I’m going to be using my Twitter account (@CraigPeterson) to post basic information about each guest I’m interviewing as it happens.  If you have a question for them (or for anyone), just go ahead and subscribe to my Tweets and reply when you see something interesting.  It’s that simple.

I’ll take the (reasonable) questions, ask them to the executives, record the interviews, tweet back and post the answers on my web site (http://CraigPeterson.com)  This will let you be part of the action on the floor of the largest conference and convention in the world!  Check it out at http://www.cesweb.org/

Don’t forget to follow my Tweets at http://twitter.com/craigpeterson and let me know what you think. Another milestone for social media.

The Consumer Electronics Show is coming up in January, and we’ll be there again!  And… we’ll be offering a service that will get your CES-attending clients a ton more PR for months to come.  We’re going to be producing Features and Vignettes for our clients and PR firms again — starting at CES in Vegas.

Two years ago, at the request of ClearChannel Radio, we started producing one to two minute Features for them to air.  And air they have!

They’ve each aired more than one hundred times — including during the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck shows.  Talking about great coverage!

The stations they’ve been airing on love the spots, and the companies we talk about have had tons of PR, so there’s been a lot of interest in having us start doing them again.

For the first time ever, we’re going to be recording our Features/Vignettes production from the floor of the show.  We’ll finish the production over the following weeks and will be sending the finished Features off to our affiliate stations the week after.

We’ll be charging for production, and we’ll distribute them to our ClearChannel affiliates in Boston (who have been sending them to other ClearChannel stations around the country). You can send them off to any other stations you think might be interested in some good content — netting your client some more PR

Drop us a line if you’d like to know more, and we’ll be sending out more info over the next couple of weeks to have CES-related Features produced.  It will be on a first-come, first-served basis as we can only produce and air about a dozen a month.

If you have any questions about our Features production, please contact producer+features at my website at CraigPeterson.com

Wow.  What a lifechanger — something I’ve never said before, at least when it comes to a computer accessory.  Kids are another matter entirely   Definitely a lifechanger.

This external battery fits quite nicely into my briefcase and powers my MacBook Pro 15″ for more than 13 hours!  That means I can go a whole day of using my Laptop without ever having to plug it in.  I never have to worry about going to a meeting, working at Panera or watching the kids play sports.  I always have all the power I need.

I even have it powering my iPod, my cell phone (which I use for Internet access) and my Laptop at the same time.

As I said, a lifechanger.

From their website: “HyperMac is the ONLY external battery and car charger solution that works with ALL MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (supports dual voltage) [models]. Available in 4 different sizes (60~222Wh), the HyperMac battery also powers the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and all other USB devices.”

HyperMac even sells a very well-designed car adapter, which lets you run your Laptop off any standard 12V power source.  That means that you don’t have to use the external battery in your car, RV, boat, on some airplanes and even via Solar Cells!  I had bought the DC adapter that Apple sells, and this HyperMac adapter is the one Apple should be selling.

- Safer than power inverters as you aren’t running the voltage up to 110VAC, which can present a real health hazard
- Almost twice as efficient as inverters, it’s 92% efficient, saving you $$ in the long-run.
- Cleaner power signal important for high fidelity performance means fewer problems with your Laptop, iPhone/iPod or other accessories
- Half the size of any inverter and power adapter combinations

This small and highly-functional adapter is a true winner.

We should probably start by answering the question, "What is an autoresponder, and why would I want to use one?" In its most basic form, an autoresponder is an email program that automatically responds to emails that are sent to it. This type of system will automatically respond with things like FAQs , product information and vacation messages.

High-end autoresponders provide features which allow people to opt-in and opt-out of your email list and provide double opt-in (also called closed-loop opt-in) capabilities.  These types of features are absolutely necessary if you have a list of more than a couple of hundred names, or if you’re trying to run a real business.

One of the best free autoresponders available is open-source and will run on both Unix/Linux and Windows machines. It’s called phplist and can be found at their website .  This software isn’t the easiest to install, but does have good basic instructions and can be installed by most system administrators without much trouble.

Be aware that even though this is the best free autoresponder, it isn’t the best thing to use if you are sending emails that are time-critical or if you don’t have time to follow-up on sites that blacklist you.  Sending out emails to bad email addresses (old, or expired) or to mail trap boxes will cause you to be blacklisted very quickly, which means that your email will start bouncing in a big way.  I’ve seen cases where competitors have subscribed one of these mail trap boxes to a competitor’s email list so that each time email is sent to the list it is immediately rejected — something that can be avoided by using double-opt-in.

If you’re looking for something very simple and use Google Lab’s email features (it’s very easy to get a free account if you’re not using it right now), check out the "Vacation Time!" feature to get a free, simple autoresponder.  There is also a more advanced feature you can use:

"If you’re sick of typing out the same reply every time someone emails you with a common question, now you can compose your reply once and save the message text with the "Canned responses" button. Later, you can open that same message and send it again and again," explains Chad Perry .

After enabling "Canned Responses " in the settings page for Gmail Labs, you’ll see a new drop-down when composing a message. The "canned responses" option can be used to save a new message or to load an existing autoreply. It’s interesting that Gmail saves the messages as hidden drafts: you can find them if you search for label:drafts , but they’re not visible in the Drafts view.  This isn’t quite the same set of features and functionality offered by phplist, but it may do for you or your business.

If you’d like more information on any of these points, or anything else related to Marketing Technology, post a comment letting me know.

A new web site has popped up call Setster that allows you to let your clients, partners, employees and even your family co-ordinate their calendar with yours.

SpeedDate.com allows singles to post basic information about themselves which allows users to start dating immediately, minimizes complications from lengthy profile requirements, and allows singles to make matches based on chemistry, not qualifications “on paper”  Members learn how to make the most of an online profile to communicate the right message to other online singles.  The slowdown in the economy many people are spending more and more time at home which compounds the problem of meeting people.  So with Speed Date the membership is FREE.  The three minute dates allow you to know whether there is a connection or not.  And for those who cannot live without their iPhone they have now released an application that allows you to take dating on the road at your fingertips.

About Dan:

Dan Abelon is originally from New York, where he earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University. Dan later moved to California to attend Stanford Business School, where he met SpeedDate’s other cofounder, Simon. Before earning his MBA at Stanford and starting SpeedDate.com, Dan worked as a strategy consultant for IBM Business Consulting Services. While at IBM, he founded SmartVolunteer.org, an Internet service that utilizes the web to match skilled volunteers with nonprofits. 

About Speed Date:  

SpeedDate.com is the world’s first online speed dating website. SpeedDate’s patented system allows singles to meet each other through 3-minute online speed dates from the comfort of home. In under an hour on SpeedDate, you can meet up to 15 people using live video and instant messaging. Since we launched in late 2007, SpeedDate has hosted millions of online SpeedDates.

Unlike other online dating options, SpeedDate.com allows singles to immediately determine if they have chemistry before taking the time to meet in person. SpeedDate works because you get a much better sense of your connection to another person when your first meeting is a live interaction.