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Got something you want to say about an event in the tech world? Want to publish a review of an iPhone application? We've opened up registrations to mavrev.com to include allowing you to publish your own blog right here on mavrev.com. Now, why would you want to do that, when you can host your own free blog on WordPress or any other blogging service? Any time a new blog post is made, we'll take a look at it, and if we think it should be featured on the main page of mavrev.com, we'll do just that.

You may be asking, but what about ownership or limits on my posts... Well, there aren't any. Anything published on mavrev.com blogs is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States license (CC BY-NC), which means it can't be used for commercial purposes, and must be attributed to you when republished or built upon. We're also not going to limit or censor anything you post, as long as it isn't spam (defined as content posted with the intent of selling goods or services, or to drive traffic to your own website to "read the full story" etc.) We ask that you respect others in your writings, as well as anyone who may comment on your posts. If you go against these simple rules, we will remove your access to publish new content on mavrev.com.

So, have at it! I know most people don't write blog entries anymore, and prefer to tweet their thoughts, but there's still a place for more in depth and longer articles such as my review of the BNO News iPhone app. Registration is free (of course) and only requires you provide an email address (which we won't use to send anything but password reminders, and notifications that you choose to subscribe to such as replies to your postings), and pick a username (preferably your first name).

Cheers!

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Review: BNO News iPhone App

After spending a week with the recently released BNO News iPhone app ($1.99 + $0.99/month) I must say it really is the first of its kind. Sure, there is the AP Mobile app (free), but it's never actually... well, breaking news. By the time I get an update from the AP Mobile app (through push), I've already read about the story on Twitter (usually through @BreakingNews actually), or heard about it from friends elsewhere. Now, don't get me wrong; The AP Mobile app is a great app, it's just not very good when it comes to breaking news.

However, that's exactly what the BNO News app does. And not only does it like it claims, it also does it fairly well. Granted, I have had a few delays that seem to have been caused by Apple's push servers, rather than the reporting itself, since updates were usually already posted on their Twitter account. But when there aren't delays, the push notifications always beat the AP Mobile ones (when they even send any out), and even beat their updates on Twitter a few times.

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The Begining of the End: tr.im Shuts Down

The popular URL shortener tr.im just announced it will be closing down immediately, with URLs working until December 31st, 2009 (the full text of their announcement is included below). And tr.im was no small operation. So now what happens?

Well, the biggest outcome of this is that all tr.im links will be dead by early next year. That means links that anyone has tweeted, emailed, or posted at any point in the time since its inception will be dead and broken. This only reinforces the gigantic problem with URL shorteners; it is crippling the infrastructure of the internet. Yeah, it's bad.

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BNO News releases iPhone App with Push

Earlier today the Breaking News Wire BNO News released their iPhone application, which uses the push technology of iPhone 3.0 to bring users the latest breaking news stories as soon as they happen. BNO News originally started as a breaking news account on Twitter (@BreakingNews), and has recently branched into FriendFeed and email services.

The application costs $1.99, with a $0.99 charge per month, after the first month which includes a month of notifications for free. Push notifications only includes major stories chosen by BNO News' editors by default, while the user has the option to be notified of minor stories as well. Users of the iPhone app can also choose to have a "sleep period", where push notifications will not be sent.

While there is a $0.99 charge per month for full notifications, the app is still fully usable without the recurring fee with a limit of one push notification per day, however full access to all BNO News reports is always available.

I have not yet had the chance to use the app, but will be getting a review copy soon and will post back next week with my thoughts on it. BNO News also says that versions for both BlackBerry and Android are being considered. The full press release by BNO News and BitMethod, the company who developed the application, is below.

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