Right now, Pownce (prounounced the same as "pounce") is the new kid on the block that's way cooler than your old MySpace or Facebook was. And they're doing that oh-so-hip invite thing to get you drooling. But will it take off? I don't know, but I'm kinda interested in trying it.

Many are considering this to be more like Twitter or Jaiku than a Facebook. Well, at least for now. But this does a couple other cool things. First of all, you can set up groups of friends and only send messages to these friends. Otherwise, you can send a message to only one friend or any couple friends you want. Or, of course, they can be public. Second, you can send files to friends. No, they're not as attachments, they're stored on Pownce's servers for your friends to get. Third, not only is there the website, but there's a really nice application made of the new Adobe Air (formerly Apollo) technology, so you can run Pownce on your Mac or Win desktop.

From the look at the specs, this stuff is also using the coolest in Open Source technologies. Of course, it's running Debian, Apache and MySQL, but it's also running on the new Django framework for Python. Plus, it's got everything a Web 2.0 start-up team needs, from Kevin Rose, the inventor of digg to a designer who almost defines the "Web 2.0" look and a blogger chick who does most of the development.

What's going to stop them? Not much, except that you know everyone is sending each other music and movies and the suits aren't going to let that last too long.

So, the iPhone has been in the hands of consumers and reviewers for over a week, and there's been many reactions. Here's what I've found after reading about it, listening to podcasts, and also using it myself.

First of all, as I've already said, the lack of an SDK to make dedicated applications may enhance the reliability of the device, but it seriously hinders my like of it. I can see why they'd want to sandbox all of that in the browser, but in order to support powerful functionality, developers need access to things such as Google Gears and Adobe Air (formerly Apollo) to allow useful applications even when disconnected from the 'Net as well as Flash support.

Also, there's a number other things that are just stupid. Apple claims that the iPhone is the best iPod they've ever made, but there's a couple problems with that claim. First, it only holds up to 8GB, a bunch of which will be taken up by the OS and other data. Second, they recessed the headphone jack so that only headphones made for iPhone will work in it, unless I feel like taking a knife to my current headphones. Bad, bad idea, Apple. I'll wait for a version that doesn't lock us into iPhone peripherals. Third, although the chipset apparently supports high-end stereo Bluetooth headphones, the software does not, so the only thing you can use is one-ear Bluetooth headsets, and who wants to listen to music on that? Turning it on its side widens the web browsing experience as well as others, but only in the web browser can you get the wider, bigger keyboard as well. That might be nice to have throughout.

However, after playing with an Apple iPhone a number of times in the past week, it definitely is an amazing phone. It's the easiest phone I've ever used to browse the web (at least over WiFi) and to input text. The integration of Mail, Phone, and Google Maps throughout the iPhone is amazing, for your contacts can easily jump to Maps, calling them, or e-mailing them. Zooming, panning, and selecting areas by pinching are all really easy and the interface is very consistent and simple throughout.

There are many ways it blows my current Samsung phone out of the water, but I'm going to stick with my current phone for a while longer. First, the rumors seem to be that some of my concerns could even be resolved in a new version by the Christmas season, although I kinda doubt it. Also, I like to do lots and lots of research for a big purchase like this, so I need to spend more time reading about capabilities and features and testing it out myself. (Some people might know that I actually spent about a year and a half reading up about phones before I finally bought my Samsung i500.) One thing I love is that Apple has their iPhones set up in the store, ready to use and test to your heart's content, which is is a lot better than almost any phone store, where they almost never have the smartphones hooked up or functional. In the end, I'll probably get an iPhone, but it may be a bit before they work out the issues and I buy in.

I remember in 2004 that PHP 5 was released. At the time, I was not a great programmer (and I'm not sure I am yet either), but I definitely did not understand what made PHP 5 better, that's for sure. Now that I understand PHP better and use it much more on a regular basis, I know how much easier it is to develop web sites with PHP 5.

Back in 2004, hosts were, for good reason, not too eager to upgrade to PHP 5 because it was still not that widely used and therefore not as reliable as PHP 4. Also, it would most likely break some of the functionality of their customer's PHP 4-based sites. Sadly, a majority of hosts still give these reasons over 3 years later.

Thankfully, some good Open Source folks are working to change that. GoPHP5.org is a coalition of open source project developers and hosts who vow to be converted to PHP 5 by February 2008. The hosts will be running PHP 5 natively, and just to push the industry along, the projects such as Drupal and phpMyAdmin are no longer supporting PHP 4 on versions after February. Those of us who use PHP 5 can look forward to leaner, more efficient programs next year, and I, for one, don't think it can come too soon.

On Saturday morning I headed out the door about 8am and told the persons in the living room that I was headed with my family to Duluth. When one person asked, "What's Duluth?", I knew that a blog post had to be written. Duluth, MN is easily one of my favorite cities to visit in the world, and it's less than three hours away from home!

Duluth is located at the far west end of Lake Superior, the largest and deepest of North America's Great Lakes. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, the town was populated because of rich iron and copper deposits throughout the northern regions of Minnesota. The city quickly became a worldwide port as locks and dams connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. During the 20th century, Duluth was a major industrial port in the region, although that waned a bit in the late 1900s. Currently, the seaport is still used to ship out metals like iron ore and taconite around the world, but most of the city makes its living on tourism.

Duluth is built on a rather steep hill overlooking the western edge of the lake. stretching almost all of the seven miles across the lake is a sandbar that makes the western side into a nice, natural harbor. However, the city of Duluth built a canal to bring the boats directly into the harbor instead of rounding Minnesota Point, as the sand bar was called. However, some method of getting across the canal was needed, so in 1905 a large structure was put above the canal and a gondola was moved from side to side. It proved effective for a number of years until traffic became more and more demanding, so in 1930 a road that spanned the canal was built. In 55 seconds the Aerial Lift Bridge rises over 200 feet to let seaworthy boats pass underneath.

One thing not to miss is exactly that: the huge cargo ships that come from all over the world. This past weekend we did not see any up close, but I've had a couple times where a boat over 1,000 feet long fills up the whole canal and you're only 30-40 feet away from a hull towering above you. It's tons of fun and an amazing experience for this Minnesotan. (Get plenty of up-to-date news and photos at DuluthShippingNews.com.) Apparently a German world-class cruise ship makes a stop in Duluth every fall as well.

What else is there to see in this town? Well, one of my family's favorite parts is the Lakewalk. The Downtown Lakewalk includes a bike path and boardwalk for the first mile east of the Aerial Lift Bridge, and then a combined bilke/walk path for the remaining 2.5 miles. Another senic area is Skyline Drive, a road that rides the edge of the hill and provides great scenic views of Duluth and the harbor. Along Skyline Drive is Inger Tower, an old cement watchtower that is another great overlook. Also, when coming into Duluth, don't miss the Thompson Hill Visitors Center, where you can see the best view of the city and the harbor just before the freeway descends into Duluth.

For those looking to spend a bit of money, a number of the tourist attractions are worthwhile. The Vista Fleet gives guided tours of the harbor area throughout the summer and it's a great way to learn about the harbor, the big boats, and how things work in there. If you'd rather stay attached to the dock, The William A. Irvin is an old cargo ship that has been docked in Duluth for a couple decades and tours of the ship are given. This is another great way to find out what goes on these ships and just how big they are. Within the last couple years they've added a retired Coast Guard vessel to the tour as well.

The city's old rail depot is now home to the St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center, more commonly just known as The Depot. It's a nice museum of the area's history and culture, but my favorite part since when I was really young is the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in the back of The Depot. Here, you can find all kinds of old trains that you can actually walk through. I don't know if they still do, but they would still run one of the old streetcars out of the station about a half mile and come back, which was lots of fun to ride in. There are real trains, model trains, and lots of old train-related items from days gone by.

If free is more your style, I highly recommend looking around in the Lake Superior Maritime Visitors Center, right next to the Aerial Lift Bridge. This is a free, public museum that has tons of info on the geography of Lake Superior as well as the shipping industry of today and days gone by. Of course, there's plenty of history of the Aerial Lift Bridge too. We haven't really ventured into Downtown Duluth proper in probably a decade since the tourist scene right on the lake started picking up, but there's miles of Downtown connected by skyways, so even rainy days can be somewhat fun.

And, finally, a trip further up the North Shore of Lake Superior is always a good day trip from Duluth. Almost every time I've been to Duluth, we spent at least an afternoon around Gooseberry Falls, a beautiful stop on Highway 61's stretch of scenic viewpoints. The upper and lower falls are beautiful and allow for great places to walk around and play in the water. I have pictures of me and family members sitting underneath this rock since I was 2 or 3, and this time my cousin's daughter got her first photo there. Just a little way up the shore is Split Rock Lighthouse, and a bit further is Temperance River, which is now cut very deeply through some stones and is a great scenic area as well.

The weather up there is often very nice, a bit cooler because of the lake. (Last weekend was definitely an exception though, with highs in the 90s.) No matter how hot it is, though, I'd recommend not swimming in the lake. Around this time of year, the water is about 45 degrees Farenheight. There is a nice beach on Minnesota point that is very shallow and gets a bit warmer, but expect to freeze some body parts if you go in the water. Also, on the way to and/or from Duluth, stop halfway at Tobie's in Hinkley, MN. We always go for the Ice Cream outside, but many stop for their baked goods. Still, the city of Duluth is one of the most beautiful and fun places to go in Minnesota, and some even say, in the world.

(Thanks to Lisa for the great photos and all for a fun weekend vacation.)