There’s this new website out there called hunch.com. It’s developed by an 11 person team, made up of a crew of MIT computer scientists and the co-founder of flickr, so it isn’t like it’s being put together by some 12 year old and her gaggle of giggling girlfriends. (Or so we hope). And it’s pretty much the tech-ed up version of the ole magic 8 ball. Minus all the shaking. You know… “Should I ask that hot girl from Accounting out on a date?” “Should I take that new job offer?” “Do I look fat in these pants?” Well, maybe not the “fat in these pants” one…Hunch may have some tact.

Normally, here at Gadgetell, we are the ones who tell you all about the tech you need to know. Well, the tide is turning. Because I’m going to be getting out on the streets videotaping and asking real people real questions about …well…you guessed it. All things tech. And that’s where you come in. What more »

My, my Google. That was quick. I’ll just bet you’re a ton of fun on a date. Launched just this past July, Google’s “Lively” program (in hindsight, one can’t help but chuckle at the name they chose), is already being killed off. I can hear the trumpets in the background as I type.

I guess all those risque room names and sex rooms weren’t even enough to keep you afloat, though they did cause quite a stir. But, even that wasn’t enough to keep the public’s interest focused on this dying program. Poor Google. I guess you aren’t the King of All things Internet after all…at least not when your “idea” is one you pretty much just copied. Continued. . .

There are lots of methods of educating children offered these days. Private school, public school, online charter schools. But somehow it seems the actual education kids seem to be getting is often on a downhill slide. And to many, this is a major concern. The latest in the list of ways to help fill in the gaps you think your child’s schooling may be lacking, or even if you just want a little “extra,” is Brightstorm. Continued after the break.

Sony’s latest model in their Reader family, the PRS-700 gives consumers the opportunity to choose how they would like to experience reading electronically. It is much closer to an actual “book” experience, but with all the cool e-reader add-ons.

The PRS-700 features an interactive touch display, that allows readers to actually flip pages simply with the slide of a finger. You can also look for terms in a book or a document, take notes on the virtual keyboard, or even use the stylus pen to highlight text you find especially important or interesting. This PRS-700 has plenty more features, check them out after the break.

Getting ready to show off their version of an electronic paper at a trade show today in San Diego, Plastic Logic’s yet unnamed device may just be a needed boost for the floundering newspaper industry. The device continually updates wirelessly, and can store content from newspapers, magazines, books, whatever…hundreds of pages worth. It has a screen that is about 2.5 times the size of the Kindle, yet it only weighs about 2 ounces more, and is actually thinner than the book reader.

Mozilla Labs announced yesterday the release of the Initial Prototype of the latest project meant to connect the web with language – Ubiquity. From a quote on their blog, the folks over at Mozilla Labs hope to “find new user interfaces that could make it possible for everyone to do common Web tasks more quickly and easily.”

Ok. So, what the heck does that mean? An example of what they are saying their program would be useful for could be this. You just snagged some concert tickets from a radio contest to a show happening tonight. Coolness. Only you haven’t been to this venue before, and neither has the friend that you’re emailing and inviting. Not so cool. Heck…you haven’t even heard of the band. Do you even know if you want to go? Is there anywhere to eat on the way? Now, normally, you’d have to be searching out the address on some mapping site, looking up the band for some info on them, copying all of this into an email (including either links or the map itself as well). Lots of typing, clicking, searching, copying, pasting, right? Well, this is some of what Ubiquity hopes to get rid of.

Amazon just announced the acquisition of the start-up book sharing company Shelfari. They are on a roll with literary-related purchases, as just earlier this month, they bought AbeBooks, an online seller of rare and used works. Now, what makes this Shelfari purchase a tad more interesting is the fact that one of their main competitors is LibraryThing. And AbeBooks just happens to own 40% of LibraryThing. Keeping it in the family Amazon.

LibraryThing however, is not seeming to have that much respect for the Shelfari site. Just yesterday they wrote on their site that Shelfari is a “clone” and that it is “..somewhat less intellectual, less featureful”, among other zingers. And there they are practically cousins.