I just spent 23 minutes watching the future. Browsers were invented by guys like Marc Andreesson in the early ‘90s to make it easy for people to find websites. It is really the primary piece of software for most of today’s computer usage.

So, why isn’t it innovating? Why doesn’t my primary piece of software learn my habits? Why am I going to the same 8 or 10 websites everyday and looking for updates? Why is customization limited to my iGoogle landing page?

Why am I using archaic feeling things like 3-click or worse, cut-and-paste, RSS feeds? In fact, let’s talk about this… Robert Scoble and Seth Godin both love RSS feeds—the information you want is being served to you as soon as it is available with no need to search! So, why are only 4% of people using this service?

My answer is that it is not intuitive, it’s not simple. We want something that makes sense with how we use it and not worry about how we find it and set it up.

So, I signed up for the Beta version of RockMelt. It is built off of Chrome (my current most-used browser) and, in trying to quickly explain it to a co-worker I dubbed it “Google Chrome on Steroids.” But it does some completely distinct things…

I’m not trying to sell RockMelt, so no product review, here, but I am pointing out that smart people are looking at how internet usage and web browsing have changed. And that can only mean good things. Making an experience around how we actually use a technology is the type of advancement that brings on widespread adoption. In Scoble’s interview with the guys at RockMelt they said they’re not worried about monetizing at this phase. Well, that’s because if they get this right, the money will come.

If it is simple and intuitive (Note: Microsoft discussed rebranding RSS to increase it’s popularity) and actually helps me to have a better browser experience, I will use this new tool. And I will be back with a product review!

More on RockMelt is available here:

From Wikipedia, “a guru (Sanskrit: गुरु) is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority…. In its purest form this principle manifests on earth as a divine incarnation (saint), a person with supreme knowledge about God and all creation.”

In Hinduism and Buddhism, this is a spiritual teacher, esp. one who imparts initiation. Specifically,  each of the ten first leaders of the Sikh religion are formally “Guru.”

This word has been redefined until it no longer has meaning. And it has just become silly. If someone else calls you a guru, they’re probably mistaken. If you call yourself a guru, you’re a tool. I once had a boss that called me his “marketing guru.” I felt flattered and was letting it get to my head when I heard him call the technologically-challenged co-worker who backed up his hard drive his “technology guru.” Turns out, he just liked the word “guru.”

I am restating some ideas already expressed by Seth Godin, David Kirkpatrick and Mark Zuckerburg, but I believe the current greatest enemy to online privacy, copyrighting, legal, libel, and simple self-governance, is the issue of user anonymity.

The motion of many organizations, including the social media leader, Facebook, is towards an internet that requires identification and validation of the user.

The method currently used is very primitive: validation through registered email, placing verification code onto a personal website or blog, and early steps into universal profile connections such as Google’s Friend Connect, OpenSocial, and Facebook Connect.

The leaders in this are obviously Google and Facebook, both racing to become “The Internet,” essentially being everywhere and touching everything, the most recent play by Facebook of putting the “Like” button everywhere. But here is where the move toward a user-identified web is affecting the world of online gaming:

Bye-bye trolls? Blizzard forums to use real names

July 7th, 2010 @ 12:49pm

By BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – Activision Blizzard Inc.’s move to require people to use their real names if they want to post messages in online forums for games is the latest sign that online anonymity is falling out of favor with many companies.

The upcoming change has upset many gamers who prize anonymity and don’t necessarily want their gamer personas associated with their real identities.

Blizzard, the maker of “World of Warcraft,” said Tuesday that the new rule will go into effect later this month. It will apply first to forums about the highly anticipated “StarCraft II,” out July 27; other games are to follow.

Blizzard hopes that making people use their real names will cut down on nasty behavior in the forums and create a more positive environment. Players will have the option _ but not a requirement _ to display the name of their main game character alongside their real name.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said Blizzard is the latest company to require real identities. But he added businesses have “a lot of freedom” in doing so.

Facebook, the world’s most popular online social network, asks users to sign up with their real names. The company tries to delete fake profiles it comes across. A growing number of blogs and news sites are also abandoning anonymity. The Buffalo News said last month it will start requiring commenters on its website to give their real names and the towns they live in, just as they would do in a printed letter to the editor…

Article continued here: http://bit.ly/beMaK4

This morning, Seth Godin posted this:

You rock

This is deceptive.

You don’t rock all the time. No one does. No one is a rock star, superstar, world-changing artist all the time. In fact, it’s a self-defeating goal. You can’t do it.

No, but you might rock five minutes a day.

Five minutes to write a blog post that changes everything, or five minutes to deliver an act of generosity that changes someone. Five minutes to invent a great new feature, or five minutes to teach a groundbreaking skill in a way that no one ever thought of before. Five minutes to tell the truth (or hear the truth).

Five minutes a day you might do exceptional work, remarkable work, work that matters. Five minutes a day you might defeat the lizard brain long enough to stand up and make a difference.

And five minutes of rocking would be enough, because it would be five minutes more than just about anyone else.

It is a great example of the quick shots of inspirational adrenaline that Seth scribbles out nearly every day (sometimes multiple times a day) on his blog. But I would amend his wise words just in the slightest and add emphasis to one line in particular.

First, the amendment. I don’t think five minutes is enough. I also believe that we are capable of much more than that. I appreciate that Seth is letting us off easy, but I personally feel that I can work in flow for between 30 minutes to 2 hours almost every day. For more on Flow, a brilliant practice that you should be bringing into your business life, you can go here.

Now for the emphasis. He says that a potential great work is “to deliver an act of generosity that changes someone.” I say that the greatest work you can do is lift another person with your generosity. I would emphasize Seth’s point that the work you do in a day is measured by the people you can effect.

If you are in business, your output of a product or service is only as good as the positive change it creates in the lives of your customers. But you, as a human, are also only as good as the positive change you are directly making in the lives of your people. Your employees, your co-workers, your family and friends should all end each day feeling appreciated and fulfilled, bettered for having passed through another day of trials, growth and human interaction.

And that typically takes you just a little longer than five minutes.