Finally the old JotSpot has been released by Google. Google Sites made a big splash yesterday, and by the end of the day most bloggers were complaining about how much JotSpot had been stripped down from the original application. I’ve had a JotSpot account since the early beta days, so when I finally got around last night to accessing Sites, I was also a bit disappointed. Thinking about it again this morning, I realized that - like most everything else Google releases - Sites may be a simplified version of JotSpot, but it still is quite powerful. I know of a few small organizations that I help out that will absolutely love this Google wiki product.
My old JotSpot account still looks and operates the same, and I believe there is a plan to offer optional migration of old JotSpot accounts over to the new Sites. Once I’ve taken a full spin, I’ll post a thorough review of Sites. I’m already getting the feeling that, once I spend some time working with Sites, I’ll like it a lot.
I just got an email from US Airways (really the old America West) that has this charming message:
Today, US Airways announced a change to our baggage policy. Beginning May 5, 2008, we’ll charge $25 for a second checked bag. As a Preferred member, you and anyone traveling on the same reservation, are exempt from the fee. We value our most frequent flyers, and we want to continue to make your travels as easy as possible.
So, along with the unbelievably filthy airplanes, the obtrusive advertising on seatback trays, and lack of vegetarian meal options to buy on board, most people will have the pleasure of handing over an additional $25 for the 2nd bag that US Airways will promptly ‘lose’ when flying through the Philly airport. Of course frequent flyers like me, who rarely check in bags, will have the fee waived if we give them the secret handshake. Bravo USAirways, Bravo!
I’ve written in the past about GrandCentral, a web based service that aims to centralize your phone number management. Google acquired GrandCentral last summer, and had shut off new user sign up. Well, if you were waiting for an invitation, Google is now ready to give you access (from the Google Operating System blog):
If you’re in the US, you can now get a free invite to GrandCentral, the Google service that centralizes all you phone numbers and adds new features on top of them (the service is free, at least for now). “GrandCentral provides an innovative web-based voice communications platform that helps you manage all your phones and phone numbers through one simple interface. You get a single phone number that forwards to all of your phones, giving you one number for life.”
Read more here: Get GrandCentral Invites
