I had to wait awhile before Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service came to my neighborhood, but it was worth it.  I have been using them for several months now and am very pleased.  There are still a few items I like to get regularly that they don’t stock, but I am hoping they will in the future (there is a way to make requests).

I really dislike going to the grocery store except for a quick run for a few items.  I have used grocery delivery services in the last 3 cities I’ve lived in, but Amazon Fresh is the best I’ve encountered.

The website is easy to use and items that are not available cannot be added to an order (I hate when a delivery person shows me a list of out-of-stock items).  You can select from numerous delivery options and expect them to arrive on time, with no paper work involved.

I have friends who like the “unattended” dawn delivery so they find their items in bins on the porch when they get up.  I go for the “attended” delivery, so I can add wine or beer to my order.  I have always been able to choose a convenient time, often later in the same day if I order early.  If you forget something, you can add it to your order if it’s within about 6-7 hours before delivery time.

Just to be clear, I am not affiliated with Amazon or its grocery delivery service, Amazon Fresh, nor am I receiving compensation of any kind for this post.  I just want to give them a boost so they continue to stay in business.  I have known several previous delivery services to fail.

There are 4 grade school age children in my extended family so I tend to notice technology designed for kids.

Safe browsing
A new browser called KIDO’Z is an Adobe AIR-powered desktop browser app that gives kids a safe and fun environment to play games, watch videos and/or visit pre-approved websites, says TechCrunch.

When you first install the AIR app as a parent, you can configure the age and gender of your offspring as well as your location and preferred language.

The settings operate at a content level, so KIDO’Z automatically caters to the media it thinks is most suited for your kid(s) at first launch.  Parents get password-protected access to an admin panel where they can add more or restrict access to certain content, set limited time frames for usage, and so on.

The user interface is very visual and colorful  and can be used by kids who cannot read yet.  There are three main areas:  games, videos and websites.

“All media can be opened and viewed inside the app’s interface, and in fact kids can only leave the KIDO’Z environment by exiting the browser altogether. CEO Gai Havkin says the tool will later be extended to a closed network of communication tools, including e-mail and instant messaging features making it more of a social experience but without the security and privacy hazards of existing services.”

KIDO’Z is currently free of charge, but paid content packages are expected in about three months so parents can buy additional video material, games etc. for a couple of dollars per month.

Create fantasy maps at Kidlandia
Kidlandia, is a web destination where parents and kids can create personalized cartoon fantasyland maps named for the people and places that tell a child’s personal story, notes TechCrunch.

“Kidlandia lets parents and kids create maps of a fantasy land, where the child is King or Queen of their own eponymous fantasy kingdom such as ‘Leenatopia’ or ‘Michaelland.’  You can insert family members or friends names into the map, so other areas of the land incorporate family members’ names.  The map also features whimsical characters from horned Uniquills and scowling Grumps to long-trunked Yuhoos on the map.”

Parents can order prints of the map that have been created online with prices ranging from $40 for a small sized scroll to $180 for a larger sized, high quality, framed print of the map.  Maps can also be printed on scrolls, that are easy for the child to carry around, or on canvas that is stretched over a frame to be hung.

Although “Kidlandia is a creative idea and the price points for some of the maps are fairly reasonable”, poster Leena Rao says that “there doesn’t seem to be any integration with the web to create a virtual world for kids alongside the product, which doesn’t make the site very interactive.  Webkinz and Disney’s Club Penguin create virtual worlds for children to immerse themselves in a fantasy land, and have become increasingly popular.”

Windows 7 release impressions
Engadget has taken the new build of Windows 7 “for a bit of a spin around the block.”  You can explore with them a few Windows 7 tidbits and observations.

They comment on the look and feel, remote media streaming, Windows XP emulation,  and more, and speculate on the release date — before Jan 2010?

More Gmail emoticons
For the fun of it:, if you’d like to add a couple of extra smileys and images to your gmails, you can go to the Labs feature and enable the one called Extra Emoji.

Save the setting; and now when in “rich text editing” mode, you can click the smiley, and then select from several image sets, some with animation.

Video uploads for all Flickr users
Flickr now lets all users, whether they ride for free or pay $25/year (Pro accounts), upload brief video clips.  Those with Pro accounts can upload high-definition videos, but video length is capped at 90 seconds for everyone.  Flickr videos can be geo-tagged to indicate location.

Approximately 3 million pictures and videos are uploaded daily to the site which is visited monthly by 73 million people worldwide.

New iPhone app for Amazon’s Kindle
iPhone has introduced the Amazon Kindle iPhone application which can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store.  If you are out and about with some time on your hands and want to keep your book — or book collection — with you on a small device, this app will make you happy.

If you don’t own a Kindle, you will need to buy ebooks from Amazon through a web browser on your computer or iPhone, says Mathew Miller at ZDnet.   Check out the post for his video showing ebooks on both Kindle and iPhone.

FCC Chief nominee is Net neutrality backer
President Obama has nominated Julius Genachowski as the nation’s top telecommunications regulator, picking a campaign adviser who has divided his career between Washington, D.C., political jobs and working as an Internet executive.

Genachowski is likely to continue the Democratic push for more Net neutrality regulations, which are opposed by some conservatives and telecommunications providers.  He was a top Obama technology adviser and aided in crafting a technology platform that supported Net neutrality rules. [via Slashdot]

Photo by Gilliamhome.  Creative Commons license. 

Places, tools for online learning
Robin Good’s site says, “In this collection you will find the best resources and hundreds of tools relevant to your personal growth, learning and educational resources, as well as to social media, video and business that Dr. Siemens has picked, collected and reviewed for you.”

You’ll find online tutorials and how-to sites, free places to learn online, places for educators, top tools, social media starter kits, tools for video creators, and more.

Winners of Crunchies announced
Readers nominated and voted for their “best of” choices in several categories.

Some of the winners include Google Reader, Facebook, Cooliris, and Amazon Web Services.

Check out the whole list, including the runners-up, here.

Best games to look for in 2009
Wired Blog Network names eleven top games that players can anticipate in 2009.

Games for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation3, Windows, and Mac are included.

Once again consumer electronics are a major focus in Las Vegas.   In preparation, several sources made predictions.

Wired speculated that some of the cool gadgets to be found at CES include an ultra-light Windows-based notebook, WowWee’s latest toy robot, and a keypad-secured USB drive.

PC Magazine jumped in with predictions about five trends to expect.  Here’s some detail, see the article for more:

1. A smaller show — about 10 percent fewer attendees than in 2008, including a smaller exhibit floor
2. Palm “goes Supernova” — the new OS may make a big first impression but then fade quickly in comparison with its competitors
3. Netbooks proliferate — smaller is better (cheaper, too)
4. Dell will unveil the real “Adamo” — rumors have abounded, what will it be?
5. On-demand video will rule — last year Blu-ray won the DVD standard wars, now it’s time for video-on-demand which is becoming evident already as we see devices from Roku, LG and TiVo streaming Netflix and other services

A friend and colleague (thanks, Jean) brought Gizmocall to my attention recently.  Once you establish an account, all you have to do to make a call is enter the phone number or username on the GizmoCall “telephone” (accessible through your browser) and click call.

There is no set-up fee or download required.  GizmoCall says all you need is an Internet connected computer with a browser and Flash version 9 or better.  A headset is recommended for optimum call quality.

You can open GizmoCall in a separate window, login and you’re ready to make or receive calls from other GC users.  Once you have the handset on screen, use the “test” icon to make sure you can hear and be heard.

You can call any other GizmoCall, Gizmo5 users, 800 numbers, or SIP address for no charge.  To call a traditional phone number you will need to buy $10 of call-out credit.

There are some special configurations you can arrange for a small set-up fee.   There is also a Firefox Plugin which will automatically make any phone number on a web page clickable and place a call via GizmoCall.

Read/WriteWeb has been doing a series of top 10 products and has just posted their choice of the top 10 products for the mobile web.

The iPhone really gave the movement impetus when it was introduced in 2007, with a plethora of apps being developed for it this year and appearing prominently on the list.

iPhone apps are proprietary, however, in contrast to the recently introduced Android open source project and the development of the first phone powered by the Android OS, the T-Mobile G1.

Among the top products for mobile are some you might have anticipated, such as Twitter and Google Maps for your phone (which now includes Street View), as well as some apps for listening to music on your phone — and more!

Google just marked its biggest launch of Street View imagery as they close in on their 2008 goal of covering more of the U.S.  They doubled coverage in the United States, bringing Street View to several states for the first time — Maine, West Virginia, North Dakota, and South Dakota — and adding imagery for Memphis, Charleston (SC), and Birmingham.

The year wasn’t only about adding new cities, but also about improving Street View’s functionality.  Adding Street View imagery to the Google Maps API led to many new uses.

Street View was integrated into Google’s driving directions, and a substantial upgrade to the user experience was introduced very recently.

Of course, Street View is not limited to the U.S.  Check out how it works and the many places you can view.

The Official Google Blog has a before and after “street view” of the U.S., as shown below.