Tech Talk

How great would it be if you were connected to someone who could offer you some really neat perks — like free travel, for I don’t know, a year?

JetBlue Airways is doing just that.

Presumably to increase the number of fans it has on its Facebook page, the airline has offered really generous perks that will increase as the number of its “friends” do.  Currently, JetBlue only has 63,863 fans, which isn’t very many for a corporation with the exposure it has.

Among the prizes offered:

• A pair of roundtrip flights given away to any JetBlue destination from Dec. 9 through Jan. 31.
• A team prize of a 5-day/4-night getaway package for four
• A one year “All-You-Can-Jet” pass valid for travel in 2010

Of course, in order to enter these amazing deals, you must give the airline access to your profile information, become a fan and share your phone number, e-mail address and postal code.

Now talk about buying your friends.  But with that said, JetBlue, if you’re listening, I think I could be friends with you for unlimited travel for a year.

The most recent alien sighting at Google

Unidentified flying objects have been spotted around the Google homepage twice this month — giving birth to wild speculation as to what will happen next.

A mysterious Google logo appeared in the form of crop circles suddenly Tuesday morning. Around the same time, coordinates pointing to 51.327629, -0.5616088 were transmitted without warning or explanation through Google’s Twitter account.

Last week’s alien-themed logo depicted a UFO abducting the second of Google’s O’s.  When one clicked the logo, a search page detailing “unexplained phenomenon” emerged.

Many Internet surfers, sci-fi phenatics and followers of Fox Mulder concluded the map coordinates are centered over the very spot in Surrey, England where the first UFOs landed in H.G. Wells’ 1898 “War of the Worlds.”

The first of two UFO sightings at Google this month.

Some conspiracy theorists have deduced that the Googleplex has been taken over by aliens, while others say it is an appropriate means to mark the 143rd anniversary of Wells’ birth, which coincidentally happens to be Monday.

Even National Geographic reported that new crop circles, and provided a little history and perspective.

Several Web sites have reported that a third message could be released next week, at which time the signs may become clear.

The truth is out there, as so much as you want to believe.

For years, newspapers have been able to keep the price of their products relatively low in part by inserting advertisements throughout its pages.

Fig. 3B, as shown in The Register, is a pictorial diagram of an illustrative page image including margins suitable for printing advertisement and other content.

Now, it seems, Amazon may be developing a similar strategy for its e-book reader, the Kindle, as well as paperbacks purchased through its book publishing service.

The Register, a British tech Web site, reports that the retail giant filed two U.S. patent applications July 2 potentially setting the stage for customer-tailored advertisements:

“While on-demand printing hasn’t yet ‘adapted to modern marketing,’ the patent states, many ‘free’ internet sites are able to operate at a profit by serving up ads along with their content.”

“The patent applications explain that embedded ads could be contextually sensitive. For example, Ann of Green Gables could include pitches from the Cavendish tourism board, or the ending of The Great Gatsby advertisements to local automotive repair shops. Alternatively, the ads could be targeted to a customer’s general interest based on their Amazon user profile.”

However, one of the two patents states that the introduction of advertisements would benefit customers, stating:

“Including advertising and/or related content with on-demand printed content may prove advantageous to a consumer. For example, a lower price may be offered to a consumer regarding a request for on-demand printed content if the consumer is willing to accept advertising in the printed content. …  Additionally, a consumer may benefit from content-related information that is not part of the requested content, such as supplemental reference material, relevant footnotes, illustrations, and the like. Content-related information, as well as advertisements may be included in the form of appendixes or in-line with the requested printed content.”

You can check out the second patent here.

While I initially hesitated at the idea of inserting advertisements in books, I have come to the opinion that it would actually be a good thing.  Not only would it likely reduce the cost of printed books, and potentially lead Amazon to eventually offer a free ad-supported e-book for every printed copy purchased as the MediaPost hypothesized, it could offer the reader relevant suggestions and ideas as to what else he or she might enjoy.

What do you think?