If you are want a faster browsing experience on the Internet, OpenDNS may be an option for you.

Giving you a simplistic version of DNS (or Domain Naming System) - it is a system that translates domain names of websites and servers (like Yahoo.com, Google.com) to numerical IP addresses. Each IP address acts as a unique identification of where it is located on the internet and to which company or business it belongs to. Think of it like a street or house address. So when you type in a domain name on your browser, visit a web page or send an email, your ISP’s DNS Server automatically and transparently does the IP to Domain translation.

There are 2 factors that may influence and enhance your internet browsing experience:

Once you are sure that the first factor is out of the way, you can start concentrating on the later - making sure you have a good DNS. However, that may be a futile effort as most local ISPs would not give you access to their servers or mess with their DNS settings. That is where OpenDNS may be advantageous.

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Hop over to CrunchGear to join their “The Steelcase Worst Workspace Challenge“. The person who sends in the worse looking workplace stands to win a $900 Think Chair or a Leap Chair. 4 runner-ups will get a gift card from iFrogz. The Challenge will run for 7 days starting today.

Update: We have TouchStone Invites to give out for free. Click here for more details.

We have had the pleasure of getting an invite to test the Touchstone Beta this past week.

What is it?

For those who have not heard about it yet, Touchstone is a free desktop app that helps you track important changes in your favorite sites by displaying live alerts. Think of it like a highly filtered RSS Reader that is intelligent enough to pick out the articles you.

It looks at incoming information (like RSS, Atom Feeds, Emails and Gmail), runs them through a set of filters (as specified and administered by you) and outputs the results in a horizontally scrolling ticker on the top of your desktop. The alerts and notifications can be tailored to how important you feel it is. Optionally, it could intelligently scan your computer, learn and recommend keywords based on what you have done in the past.

It is an output adapter that “consumes only the amount of attention required for the relevancy of the alert - something they call The Policy of Diminishing Attention Consumption.

In essence, it gives you the alerts and news that you want without sifting through lists of RSS readers and email.

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Kwikset, manufacturer of residential doors and door hardware, has introduced a biometric keyless entry system for the home called the SmartScan.

Smartscan basically uses your thumbprint to gain access, with Grade-1 security and thus eliminating the need for any keys. A stand alone system without any hardwiring, it features 3 levels of controlled access and backup key usage. The battery that operates the deadbolt has a life of about one year (based on 20 accesses per day).

Operating the system is as simple as swiping a valid fingerprint across its sensor and SmartScan then reads the fingerprint patterns. It is programmable up to 50 fingerprints and has a special time lock out feature that allow three levels of access options. What this means is that 24/7 continual access can be granted to different family members, temporary access for house sitters/ contractors and restricted timed access for babysitters or housekeepers. Those parents keeping a tab on their kids would love this one as those teens won’t be able to sneak back into the house anymore (if they’ve passed their curfew) without someone letting them in. You can also stop the potential worry of losing your keys and a stranger having access to your house.

Pricing and release dates are not available yet but this represents what we’ll likely see within next generation homes.

Product page [Kwikset]

Brian King of BeeTooBee.com has surveyed 287 Web 2.0 startups that were posted on the TechCrunch forum, coming up with his own “2007 Web 2.0 Idol”.

His measurements were compiled within a time length of 40 days and based on 2 aspects i.e. the interest of the forum community with how many views were made and the number of comments on the thread.

It wasn’t a surprise to see that the top 2 startups fitted the current trend of the web - a video feed multimedia site (in the style of YouTube) and a content sharing Digg-like site. The most popular categories were social networking (with 39 companies) followed by Search (27) and Media Sharing (21). The lack of unique startups surveyed makes me wonder how many of them were started to jump on the bandwagon without proper thought and business models. It is indicative of how saturated the web is with social networking, search and media sharing sites.

Brian certainly did a good job and the list was pretty interesting. However, I thought that several other measurement factors could have been added in the mix i.e. how much it was talked about on Google, its visual appearance and functionality.

The full list with each startup’s info can be seen on the BeeTooBee site.

Web 2.0 Idol List [BeeTooBee]