Tech Talk
And they said 8-track tapes were dead…
Saturday, December 3rd, 2005OK, anyone remember this guy?
Simulators are so cool…
(hat tip: Mike Starr)
Categories: Tech Talk, The World Wide Weird | 2 Comments »
GDBMS – Google Base arrives
Wednesday, November 16th, 2005Google just put their Google Base product into beta. All of the articles I’ve read about this are repeating the same meme – this will be competition for auction sites and classified ad sites (like eBay or Craig’s List). That’s true, of course, but I think this has the potential of being much, much bigger.
A database is the backbone of just about every significant software application, regardless of its business model. If you’re a large company, you’ve got your application living on one or more web servers, talking to a database living on one or more database servers, and all the architectural components that come with that (routers, load balancers, etc.). The hardware, software and support required creates a barrier to entry for smaller, start-up companies. These folks are generally relegated to hosting their applications through some ISP-provided add-on service (like Blogger, GeoCities, CafePress, etc.), and manage their data through FTP tools, with an occasional canned server-side script or two.
If Google gets serious about this service (and by serious, I mean they guarantee some level of uptime, response time for high volumes, backup & restore functionality), they could become the default web server for thousands of small businesses that are limping along with a half-baked solution today. This is fascinating because such a solution would be a big boon to their customers (who may even pay a fee for it), but wouldn’t do much to augment their search services. What good would it be, for instance, if a Google search for “Nike sneakers” returned an online shoe vendor’s current inventory or a distributor’s customer record for Nike’s shipping department?
There’s also the omnipresent issue of security. The very idea of putting your database server outside the firewall is heresey today if the data is at all sensitive/private. If Google builds a security architecture that people can trust, they may gain some larger customers as well. At that point, though, the data needs to be actively excluded from the search results.
There are lots of options here. I think we’ll see it develop into a lot more than a classified ad engine.
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More Vista reviews
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005The folks at InternetWeek have posted their latest review of the Windows Vista Beta. Most of the review, sadly, basically says “this is interesting, but they haven’t turned it on yet so it’s too soon to tell.” Thanks guys. I know you’ve got publishing deadlines and all, but if you don’t have much to say, why not wait before publishing the review?
More interesting to me was the review of Internet Explorer 7. Again, Microsoft seems to be using the new OS as an opportunity to add new UI experiences, rather than just tweak the ones we have. Such is the case with QuickTabs, which will show you a thumbnail view of all your open tabs on one screen, so you can click on one of them & expand it to full screen based on the thumbnail. Usability will obviously be judged when we’ve got it in our grubby little hands, but the concept (and the screen shot) are cool so far.
I also like the idea of being able to open up a set of tabs, and then bookmark the whole thing (so that later, you can retrieve all those pages at once). The reviewer has a problem with the UI for this, but I guess that’s what betas are for. Even with a clunky UI, I can easily see myself using this feature – depending on what I’m working on, I often find myself with the same three or four websites open at once. To be able to open them all with one (or even a few) clicks would be super-convenient.
Categories: Tech Talk | 1 Comment »
Sentences that didn’t make sense 5 years ago: “Excuse me while I Yahoo my TiVo.”
Monday, November 7th, 2005I’ve been wondering out loud for many years about why no one’s built a VCR or other recording device that can be programmed remotely (either via telephone or internet). It seems Yahoo and TiVo have finally gotten the job done:
TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq:TIVO – news) and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO – news) on Monday launched a service that allows TiVo users to program their digital video recorders remotely using Yahoo’s television information Web sites.
I’m not a TiVo user, but if this catches on, I’m sure the other DVR providers (I use Comcast’s) will follow suit relatively quickly for fear of losing subscribers. So now, when I expected to be home in time to watch <fill in favorite mindless TV entertainment vehicle here>, but find myself stuck in traffic, working late, or whatever, I can pop over to my web browser (or my blackberry, or my PDA) and tell the DVR to tape the show I’m now going to miss.
Still more evidence that we were all born at exactly the right time…
Categories: Tech Talk, The Future is Now | 3 Comments »
Mac users need not apply…
Sunday, October 30th, 2005It seems if you’re a Mac user, you’re going to need to jump through some hoops to work at American Express, Target or Sears:
At American Express, for example, job seekers are greeted with this warning: “At this time, the system does not support Mac environments. If you don’t have access to a PC at home or work, please check out a local public library for Internet access, local Internet cafes, or the nearest government Work Force Center.” . . . job seekers at Target and Sears may just get an error message or have their browser crash when using Apple’s Safari browser.
They’re all using the same third party vendor who’s software doesn’t support Safari. They claim they’ll have a Firefox compatible version out by December, but they’re in no rush to support Safari because “customers aren’t clamoring for it.”
So here’s my question: Forgetting about American Express for a second, don’t Target and Sears at least sell Mac accessories (if not Macs themselves?) Can anyone say PR problem?
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Hitting the iPod nail on the head…
Friday, October 28th, 2005This article wonders if the incompatability of most of the common iPod accessories will put existing iPod owners off from buy a new iPod. Here’s my answer, anyway: Yes.
My iPod is well used, and I’ve purchased two accessories – the iTrip for playing music in the car with the kids, and the Nyko button relocator for listening by myself on a crowded commuter train. When the Nano came out, I figured the next thing would be a 20GB (or more) flash version, at which point I’d probably buy a second one so my wife would have one for driving around town with the kids while I’m at work.
Now, I have to deal with the following realities:
- The new 30GB model does not cost $299 as advertised. It costs $359, because I need to shell out $30 each for a new iTrip and button relocator (both of which are not yet available)
- When the iPod charge runs down, I typically recharge it while playing music (especially with the kids in the car who don’t want to hear about “recharging” on a long trip without their music). Now that the devices will use the Dock connector, this won’t be possible (unless they build a passthrough port). All of this besides the point that I’m not sure I see how you do a button relocator if you need to connect to the bottom of the device.
- Apple is now requiring a licensing fee from the people that make the peripherals (the article linked above says 10% of the wholesale price), so it’s possible that the replacement devices will run me more than $30 each.
Seems the tempation to flex that monopoly muscle lives outside of Remond, WA after all…
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Perhaps a giant India-shaped blanket?
Wednesday, October 19th, 2005It seems the President of India is worried that terrorists will use Google Earth to attack his country:
High-resolution pictures are freely available on the Internet and are provided by many sites in addition to Google Earth, Kalam said. He cautioned officers during his speech to be aware of emerging “open-source intelligence.” He also showed the audience aerial pictures of some of the sensitive locations in India.
“When you look deeper into it, you would realize that the specific laws in some countries, regarding spatial observations over their territory and UN recommendations about the display of spatial observations, are inadequate,” he noted.
I thought we were past the days of “the Internet is only good for porn” and “How did kids survive before electric typewriters?” Look – all good technologies have the potential to be used for evil. The problem, in every one of these cases, is the evil. Not the technology.
Categories: Political Rantings, Tech Talk | Comments Off on Perhaps a giant India-shaped blanket?
Vista Watch – Beta 1.99
Wednesday, October 12th, 2005InternetWeek has a review up of the latest Windows Vista beta. Some quick thoughts:
DISCLAIMER: It’s never a good idea to review software based on someone else’s review, rather than seeing the software yourself. So everything here is just speculation based on what the reviewer (in this case, Scot Finnie) wrote and the screen shots he’s included:
– Performance is better.
Good news. Not surprising, but still good news. I like the goal they’ve set for themselves – “Windows will turn on & off in two or three seconds – like a television.” I have no expecatations of that actually happening, but I like the way they’re thinking.
– Live Thumbnails
Hover over the taskbar, and you can see a minature version of the minimized window (complete with working video, etc. if it exists on the page). This sounds moderately useful, but I’ll need the actual user experience to know for sure. It also occurs to me that if your machine is a little light on memory, this is the kind of thing that could make the hard drive thrash just by navigating around. If it’s snappy, though, it could be a good thing.
– Flip
They built the same minatures into the Alt-Tab function (which I basically have in XP through some add-in someone sent me years ago). That’s probably more useful than the live thumbnails. Again, though, time will tell.
-Flip3D
Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Expose. I liked Expose when I saw it, but Microsoft’s answer sounds better to me. Expose was a little invasive (all the windows moved all at once). This seems more seprated from the actual user experience – sort of a timeout while I select a new app. As above, we’ll see…
-Windows SlideShow
Finally, the ability to re-create those movies where the person’s screen saver says “You’ve got e-mail” over a floating envelope graphic or some such nonsense. Cute idea when integrated with other, non-PC devices. Another example of using the new OS as an opportunity to expand the human-computer interaction beyond the current paradigm (rather than just making everything faster or slicker).
-Windows Gadgets
Sounds like a direct competitor to OS X’s widgets. The review doesn’t say too much about them. I found them kitschy on the Mac, and expect the same on Vista.
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TiVo In Your Pocket
Friday, October 7th, 2005It sounds like there a still a few glitches to be worked out, but we’ve finally gotten to TV In Your Pocket.
It’s not exactly a click-and-go sort of thing, but neither is it very difficult to send your favorite programs to your Windows-powered mobile device.
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DisneyPods…
Friday, September 30th, 2005My friend Mike was just saying that the market is missing a digital music player just for kids. Enter Disney.
To be fair, this isn’t exactly what Mike was talking about. He was suggesting a more Fisher-Price like device, with large plastic buttons that automatically played the kid’s favorite song. A device that could be thrown around, dropped, kicked, and covered with all the various liquid and semi-liquid substances that always accompany small children.
So it’s not ideal. But the price point is pretty good ($49.99), the storage is OK (128MB, expandable to >1GB), and the Disney brand can only be a plus. Also, nothing mentioned about any technical details (i.e., how do you get songs on there? Will Disney be selling MP3’s online? What software will they provide?)
Still…interesting.
Categories: Tech Talk, The Disneyverse | Comments Off on DisneyPods…