Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity, Web services, Social Software, Beta, web 2.0

We recently previewed the new Evernote clients — for web, mobile and Mac — and now we’ve got even more details about what’s in the works for this popular cross-platform capture tool. Evernote’s CEO, Phil Libin, talked to Download Squad about Evernote’s expanding catalog of features. The biggest news is today’s launch of a desktop client for Mac. We also have 2000 invitations to the beta to share with Download Squad readers, so make sure you read this whole post to get yours!

Libin says the Mac client has been improved a lot even in the short time since demo videos were released on the Evernote website. We were already impressed with how nicely Evernote played with Apple’s Pic Booth — snap a picture of some kind of text, like a handwritten note or a business card, and Evernote will be able to recognize it and make it searchable. Libin says that, even though Pic Booth works well for this, Evernote also has direct support for Apple’s built-in iSight cameras.

As with the Windows client, all the memories you save in the Mac version can be automatically synced to your phone, your Evernote web account, and your other personal. This opens the door for some creative use cases: Libin says he gets around his poor sense of direction by saving his trip itineraries and Google Maps before he leaves the house. Another staff member took pictures of his prescription medications, so he could remember what they looked like and make the labels searchable. The Download Squad team down at SXSW could no doubt have used Evernote for another neat trick: taking photos of people you meet at conventions — Evernote will search the text on their nametags!

Continue reading Evernote launches Mac client: 2000 beta invites for Download Squad readers

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Filed under: World wide web, Video, Blogging, Social Software, Beta, web 2.0

Forgive us, great Ceiling Cat. We discovered the only way you can even attempt to introduce a service called Poodz is to use LOLspeak. And even then… we’re totally fearing for our mortal souls.

Poodz (oh come on, stop giggling) is a microblogging service. Clear on that? Yeah, we weren’t entirely sure what microblogging was either, but since a few of us here are pretty short, we decided to check it out..

Turns out there are no height restrictions with a microblog. Truth be told, we still don’t really know what a microblog is as opposed to a plain ol’ videoblog. That’s what Poodz is, when it’s all boiled down.

It’s kind of a Twitter-esque, YouTubey, Facebook-infused service. It’s kind of like Seesmic in a way. Well, actually, in a lot of ways. From country of origin to general functionality and concept it is, there’s no denying, a lot like Seesmic.

Continue reading I uses Poodz. Srsly. ‘Scuse mah French, plz.

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Filed under: Cards, Debt

Today, credit rating bureau Experian rolled out the “Emerging Credit Score, a new credit scoring tool to assist lenders in evaluating the creditworthiness of unbanked and underbanked consumers.”

The Emerging Credit Scores, and similar programs from the other bureaus, rely on telephone and utility bills, and catalog/internet purchase histories to arrive at a credit score.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that “the new scores could be good news for those who pay their bills promptly but don’t have established credit histories. In the past, banks often ignored this group because they’d no way of evaluating the risk.”

This is great news. For too long, it’s been difficult to establish a good credit score without using credit cards. That’s no problem if you use your card responsibly but, according to CardTrak, 60% of people don’t pay off their credit cards each month. In addition, a Dunn and Bradstreet study found that credit card users spend 12% to 18% more when using a card instead of cash. This is wonderful for retailers but bad for you.

We should reconsider the notion of getting a credit card to build credit. Innovations like the Emerging Credit Score are making it easier to qualify for a mortgage without getting involved with credit cards, and that’s a great option for a lot of people.

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Filed under: Borrowing, Debt, Tax, Transportation, Wealth, Fraud

Recently, I came across an interesting figure. Congressional analysts estimate that the United States is currently spending $12 billion a month on its overseas wars. According to Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, co-authors of The Three Trillion Dollar War, an analysis of the U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the conflicts and subsequent occupations will end up costing the United Says between $1.7 and $2.7 trillion dollars by 2017.

Frankly, I can’t even envision that much money. To be honest, I can’t even wrap my mind around the buying power of $12 billion! Still, as we’re nearing tax time, and as we’re debating the cost of our upcoming “Economic Stimulus Package,” I started to think about how much money $12 billion is. For research, I decided to check out a few other government programs to compare the relative cost of this war.

Of course, everybody’s favorite foil for the military is education, so I decided to start there. While federal funding for education covers only 12% of the total cost, it is still quite significant. According to the Department of Education, Federal educational spending for school year 2007-2008 is $68.6 billion, or just over 46% of the yearly cost of the wars. To give another comparison, in 2007, the United Says total spending on highways was $39.6 billion, or roughly 27.5% of the money spent on the two wars in the same period.

To give you an idea of how much money this war is siphoning out of your pocket, keep in mind that our gargantuan economic stimulus package is running $168 billion, $110 billion of which is going to individuals and families. Even if considering the overall cost, this major package is only $24 billion more than America is going to spend on the wars in 2008. Considering the actual part that’s going to real people, the economic stimulus package is actually $34 billion less than the cost of the current wars.

In 2003, not long after the Iraq war began, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stated that “When it comes to [Iraq’s] reconstruction, before we turn to the American taxpayer, we’ll turn first to the resources of the Iraqi government.” His statements were amplified by his Deputy Defense Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, who said, “The oil revenues of [Iraq] could bring between $50 and $100 billion dollars over the course of the next two or three years […] we’re dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon.”

Wolfowitz was surprisingly prescient. In fact, Iraq is currently exporting over 1.9 million barrels of oil per day. In 2007, that generated $41 billion, and it has already generated $9.4 billion this year. However, this money isn’t going to pay for Iraq’s reconstruction; instead, it appears to be sitting in non-Iraqi banks. Recently, Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John Warner (R-Va.) asked the Government Accountability Office to review Iraqi oil revenues and reconstruction funding to determine why such a big percentage of these costs are currently being shouldered by American taxpayers.

Seems like a pretty good question.

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Filed under: Cards, Debt

Today, credit rating bureau Experian rolled out the “Emerging Credit Score, a new credit scoring tool to assist lenders in evaluating the creditworthiness of unbanked and underbanked consumers.”

The Emerging Credit Scores, and similar programs from the other bureaus, rely on telephone and utility bills, and catalog/internet buy histories to arrive at a credit score.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that “the new scores could be good news for those who pay their bills promptly but don’t have established credit histories. In the past, banks often ignored this group because they’d no way of evaluating the risk.”

This is great news. For too long, it’s been difficult to establish a good credit score without using credit cards. That’s no problem if you use your card responsibly but, according to CardTrak, 60% of people don’t pay off their credit cards each month. In addition, a Dunn and Bradstreet study found that credit card users spend 12% to 18% more when using a card instead of cash. This is wonderful for retailers but bad for you.

We should reconsider the notion of getting a credit card to build credit. Innovations like the Emerging Credit Score are making it easier to qualify for a mortgage without getting involved with credit cards, and that’s a great option for a lot of people.

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Filed under: World wide web, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

Day four and we’ve lost track of which injured more, our livers or our feet. After yesterday’s Facebook keynote revolt, we planned on a day of exceptional interviews and kept our tightly packed schedules close at hand. As they often warn, life is what happens when you’re making other plans.

We did manage to hook up with the folks at Twine for a fantastic interview which really explained what’s behind their beta mode invite only fortress. After that the guys from Five Runs stopped by to talk about their fantastic new app for monitoring your Ruby on Rails server, a piece that’s sorely needed in the modern web services space. Shiv Signh from Razorfish then met up with us to talk about how social media can work for huge corporations, and some of the hurdles they face in adopting healty social marketing practices.

The bad sprits Zuckerberg left in the event hall yesterday were still floating heavy in the air. Around 2pm the word came down that there would be a rematch. Zuckerberg a mulligan, a do-over in the vernacular of the playground, this time off site, and the inter-conference grapevine was douced with gasoline and set ablaze. There would be blood, someone’s milkshake would be drank, and the whole thing was going down at 4pm.

Continue reading SXSW Day Four

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