Netscape Says "Digg v3 Disappoints" and so do I So one of my most beloved sites for a face lift, a nip, a tuck, some botox and a little category augmentation... like most people who just came out of such comprehensive surgery, I have to admit that the site actually looks worse than before.

Nevertheless, we will have to wait and see how it develops from here on in, as that will say a lot more about the success of the surgery, rather than the initial look. Cause so far, I feel that have managed to add a considerable amount of clutter rather than clarity. Actually, the change is what I would imagine would happen to the Apple site if Microsoft got their hands on it.

So far, I have not had too much time that to notice the superficial changes and one or two internal ones, but over all I remain unimpressed. One MAJOR concern that I do have, is the removal of the feature that lets you edit your comments... it was really handy, why was it removed? Why oh why?

SIDENOTE: As for Netscape, I find it truly ironic that they will now 'leverage their client base' to out-digg Digg. Today the masses know that IE is the only browser, tomorrow they will know that Netscape is the only site of its kind. Irrelevant, I know - but you have to admit that the irony is too good to ignore.

read more | digg story  ¶ 6/26/2006 05:10:00 PM 0 comments

  Full of Advertising Email (aka Hotmail) So performing my monthly ritual, I log into my Hotmail account, which I rarely use but keep active simply cause there are a few people who still have the address and on rare occasion I do log into MSN Messenger (which is another story for a later date).

Well lets see what we've got here...

• Spam
• Spam
• Email
• Spam
  
• Hotmail spam
  
• Email
  
• Email
• Spam
• Hotmail Spam
• Hotmail Spam
• Email
• Hotmail Spam
• Spam
• Hotmail Spam
• Email
• Hotmail Spam
• Spam
• Spam
• Email

Well that was fun, and it does not even take into account what was sitting in my Junk Mail Box. Maybe we should rename the Spam sent by Microsoft/MSN as MSpam. Then there is also the huge banners that make loading the site such a lovely experience.

I'm told that the new MS Live Mail (or whatever it is called) is actually pretty decent... though the fact of the matter is that I have been burnt by Microsoft so many times, that I would rather go else where. Luckily I have gmail, which I could not be happier with.  ¶ 6/23/2006 06:40:00 PM 0 comments

  I am living in fear That's right. Every moment I am working on my PC I am living in fear.

FEAR that my computer will freeze as I am in the middle of that important presentation. FEAR that my word processor will fail as I am putting the finishing touches on that document I spent 6 hours preparing - and shredding the last saved files in the process. FEAR that my browser will crash just as I found that one website with the vital information I needed - the one that took me a boatload of time to find. FEAR that my email program will crash repeatedly in the same day, killing the train of thought I was riding.

This really sucks. Seriously, I've had to reboot my PC once already, my MS Outlook has crashed a record three times this afternoon., and the day is not even half over yet.

The more this happens, the more I long for a internet connection stable enough and prevalent to only have to use web applications. We have the technology. Why are we not there yet?

Ok, Outlook has restarted... so back to work.... for a little while at least.

[update] Odd little thing, it seems that now my spell check in Outlook is not working. For those of you who may be pointing at MS Word as the culprit, don't even think about it - I disabled it as my default email editor a long time ago, due to how unstable it was.  ¶ 6/20/2006 01:37:00 PM 1 comments

  Forecast for the Week Unstable with a chance of intrusion.

Should today be representative of what I have in store for the week, I think I will have to call in sick for the rest of it. So far today, I have had to do the following:

Reboot PC - 3 times (due to 'unusually' slow performance and app crashes)
Restart Outlook - 2 times (it just decided to crash twice... so far)
Kill IE - yes, it froze today... but that barely raises an eyebrow anymore.
Install 'security updates' - another 10 or so, I've pretty much stopped counting as I know I'll be screwed one way or the other.
Kill & Restart MS Word - Twice.

This of course does not take into account all the minor annoyances that I've been putting up with along the way... but that's just Windows environment for ya. Closer and closer I feel I am being pushed into the world of Apple or Linux... it will no doubt be this year.

All I want is a system on which I can work with which I can expect a reasonable level of stability and reliability... Why is this so much to ask for?  ¶ 6/19/2006 02:06:00 PM 0 comments

  Picasa Web Albums Test ? Beta, Labs, Test ? What gives?

Yesterday Google announced on their blog what was essentially another new web product extension of their Picasa software (of which I am a big fan). However, this post has nothing to do with that.

My question is the in regards to the "Test" label they've added to it. We understand that it is not ready for prime time, but unless you provide us with some definitions as to the difference between Beta, Labs, Test, etc, it feels like you are simply going through a thesaurus and looking for other ways of saying 'its not finished'.

Its kinda confusing, especially for those who don't know Google's culture very well, or at all.  ¶ 6/14/2006 09:21:00 AM 0 comments

  Updates are ready for your computer. No wonder that Microsoft Vista is so far behind, it seems their engineers are still busy patching holes in XP. I just got 13, yes 13 critical security patched downloaded to my computer.

My gosh, this is computing? On the bright side, I no longer have to be patching things myself, on the flip side, I have to admit that I do not really trust all the stuff that is being installed by Microsoft. Its that purgatory 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' kind of feeling.

I have faith that right before, or maybe during the launching of Microsoft's mega-super-duper OS, the GMen will launch a co-branded OS that will NOT make our machines obsolete overnight. Something light and fluffy which will probably be no more than a web-server running a Google File-System that can run a few of their yummy apps offline while at the same time, sync-ing everything with their web services.

In the meantime, let me close everything I am doing, install the 'updates' that just came in, restart my PC, pray that everything still works, hope that I did not loose any functionality in my programs as I did in that last little IE 'update'.

Yippy dipp-e-dee-doo. Thanks Microsoft, for keeping me safe from the nasty people who would exploit the swiss cheese you call XP. I'm getting a little cynical, I guess the figured I needed to take a break anyways.

UPDATE: It seems I was not the only one who noticed this little bombarment of patches... ElectricNews.net had a great little write-up; as did PC Magazine with a more detailed description of the patches.  ¶ 6/13/2006 02:16:00 PM 0 comments

  A voice from the void. All this time I thought I was writing for writtings' sake. Then someone added a comment to a blog entry. This is a first and I have to admit that even though it was not a *positive* review in the traditional sense, it was in fact a positive in the fact that someone actually took a moment to post a comment, so thank you anonymous guy from Seattle (RB? Is that you?).

Ok back to the procrastination station we lovingly call the internet. ;-)  ¶ 6/09/2006 04:52:00 PM 0 comments

  Does Google Google the Googlers? Quick thought - is Google Googling the Googlers?

I was looking at a few postings that mentioned that Google had setup a new page that does not yet exist, which should indicate that this and that is going to happen, and therefore that and this may happen.... blah blah blah.

Now I love rampant speculation as much as the next guy, but it got me to wondering if Google sometimes does this type of thing on deliberately? Is it possible that sometimes they may allow a 'leak' or the impression of just such a thing without any pre-compiled or pre-conceived plan or agenda? Could it be that they do this simply to find out - just to find out what people can come up with?

I mean, it is clear that there are a lot of folks out there who hold Google on a pedestals, perceiving them as the end-all be-all visionaries of the internet frontier. Granted, they've snatched enough of the best and brightest to earn such a reputation; but what if, they also leveraged the imaginations of their greatest and most vocal fans?

Lets think about it for a moment. Done yet? Great. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Ok, perhaps is may sounds a little nutty, but talk about the ultimate in customer service - open a discussion with your greatest customers / fans, and let them come up with ideas they would like to see, or have them dream the impossible dream; and then make it happen.

Remember that old saying, "the perception of reality is reality". Well, why the heck not. If people can conceive it and believe it, no doubt they can achieve it... or at least will the GMen to do it.

Naturally this would require considerable resources in terms of searching the entire web for random discussions and editorials... oh that's right, they do that anyway. Ok, so it would only take a few guys a few minutes of time to create an algorithm to track this sort of thing... oh sorry, they've already done that too with Google alerts.

Hmmmmmm. So I guess all it would take is one guy and five minutes.

In any case, I thought it was a neat idea and if Google decides to use it, I ask only a nominal 50% of the profits... or a free t-shirt and coffee mug.  ¶ 6/08/2006 11:51:00 AM 0 comments

  On second thought I got an invite, na na na na na.... I'm sooooooo cool. Yippy.

Ok enough gloating.

I promise to possibly think about one day writing a review... Maybe.

:-D  ¶ 6/06/2006 07:15:00 PM 1 comments

  Long term focus, short term skirmishes So Google has rolled out another web app today, and to tell you the truth, I'm kinda bummed out by it. Though the reason is cause I was not able to play with it yet. I have however been mildly entertained by the vast difference of opinions that have been expressed online about it; having read that this is the beginning of the end for Microsoft to this is actually a benefit for Excel and will benefit Microsoft.

The fact of the matter is that this is indeed many things, none of which are a watershed moment, direct attack, or attack at Microsoft.

This is an exciting example of an internet company playing in real time, versus internet time. If you've never heard of 'internet time', lets just say that its a lot like dog years, multiply and time span by 7 and that's the rate at which such a company is expected to grow. That said, has anyone noticed that Google does NOT do this? They are taking a very slow, systematic and controlled approach in their attack.

Its rather brilliant I must admit, whether intentional or not, the fact is they are making a lot of people very nervous very quickly, but the nervousness quickly fades as the hype about a new product or another begins to fade. The result however is their deliberate (or perhaps not) and systematic attack at the cracks in the foundation of the industry - not any particular company.

For so long I have heard so many of the same companies who today are criticizing Goggle's' inferior product complain about MS (or other vendor) plugging so many features into any given program, of which not even 5% of which are actually used. Well boys and girls, you wanted that 5%, Google gave it to you.

Now bare with me for a second as I discuss another briefings, but rather remarkable program that Google launched some time ago, one that had a few great tricks but did not really 'revolutionize' anything other than providing a massive amount of storage space and a web-centric way of looking at things - that's right, the beloved Gmail.

When Gmail started, its main difference was not really its massive storage or its unique and wonderful labeling feature - I would argue that these where the RESULTS of their web-centric way of thinking of email, rather than a focus on features. What I'm trying to say, is that Google did not start of by saying 'lets take email and make it better', but rather 'what would be really great to have in an online email system'?

Semantics? I think not. Its the (current) soul of the company, its what other companies should really be afraid of. This is because for the most part, Google is not re-making, or simply webifying, the wheel - its reassessing our needs (ok, theirs and ours by extrapolation) based on just that our NEEDs not our desire to for a web-based version of the same re-heated soup.

Once they have their foot in the door however, the progress continues, and like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going and going. Has anyone noticed the sheer amount of additions that have been made to GMail since its launch? Chat, Multi-language spell checking, highlighting, contact book, etc, etc...

This happens with everything they launch, once the hype dies down a little a new feature comes along. From where I stand, this serves three main functions: 1) constant improvement of the system; 2) continuous media hype - be it loud or a whisper / wide-spread or niche focused; and 3) continuous training.

Of these, I think that number 3 is the most potent. Think about it for a moment. Did you get it? No? Fine. I'll explain. In short, it practically eliminates the learning curve, while at the same time increases the number of 'expert users' who would be available to help anyone out. Make sense yet?

Ok, I'll explain. On my PC, I have MS Office and Open Office. Which do you think I use more than the other - MS Office of course. There is just too much to re-learn in making a complete switch, and with each version that comes out, I will have to re-learn them again... not fun. But with an evolving program, I know that I will grow WITH the program, continuously; and if I am late to the game, I can always ask someone who did.

So back to my point, as I do recall having one, which is that Google's new spreadsheet is one of many beachheads that will have little impact in the immediate future, though overtime, will grow and flourish as more and more people slowly adopt the programs.

Mind you that Google is not playing for today or for tomorrow, but for the day after that. You think they are hiring all these brilliant minds in order to come up with tomorrow's next big thing? Think again, tomorrow's next big thing is typically a NEW OLD thing, and just what challenge does that hold for them? None.  ¶ 6/06/2006 04:32:00 PM 0 comments