Along with a few other things, Google says:
Biased results? No way. Providing great search is the core of what we do. Business partnerships will never compromise the integrity or objectivity of our search results. If a partner's page ranks high, it's because they have a good answer to your search, not because of their business relationship with us.
In my future niece's defense, the picture on the container did look sort of like a dishwasher. Sort of.
I got an "A" in my computer programming class! Of course, it was an introductory-level course at a community college, but still.
This may be a first: The New York times has created an interactive graphic that ties into Google Maps. I've seen Google Maps mash-ups before, but never from a mainstream media outlet.
Will this be the start of a trend?
Microsoft more ethical than Google?
From the NY Times:
Google will also make a special effort to incorporate AOL video programming in its expanding video search section and it will feature links to AOL videos on the video search home page. These links will not be marked as advertising.The article doesn't say whether Google does this in other cases, but if money is being exchanged for links, clearly those links should be labled as advertising. Google is a media company, after all, and transparency with users is a hallmark of media ethics. You'd think that Google would have more appreciation for the value of user trust.
An executive involved in the talks said Time Warner asked Microsoft to give AOL similar preferred placement in advertising and in its Web index and that Microsoft refused, calling the request unethical.
There's something seriously unbalanced in the global economy when the U.S. can afford to outsource video game-playing.
This guy obviously has a lot of time on his hands and perhaps a very understanding wife.
Nice. This may be the feature I need to start using this nice little service as my primary instant messaging client. If only it had Yahoo interoperability.
Update: With video, Skype's memory usage has shot way up on my machine (to about 25K). Now I see why Yahoo Messenger hogged up so much memory compared with the old Skype. Of course, Skype 2.0 is still in beta, so we'll see.
A pretty interesting discussion on Slashdot about the future of my industry.
Poynter had a similar piece a few days ago.
I've been saying this for a few months now, but the problem isn't journalism, blogs or the Web. It's newspapers' inability to adapt its advertising model to the Web.
They've been too worried about how to get people to pay for the product rather than looking at how to capitalize on readers' migration to the Web. Google and Yahoo don't charge subscription fees for their basic services and still manage to make a bundle. Why can't newspapers?
The Poynter piece has two suggestions (among several) that I think are particularly on-point:
- Install Web analytics and ad-management systems that enable advertising managers to identify clusters of content (or clusters of users) that can attract the highest possible prices on a CPM basis.
- Hire people who can sell online advertising effectively -- as a separate buy, rather than bundled with print ads.
I'm not sure how the folks at Mozy are going to make any money at this, but it's a wonderful, easy-to-use service. Automatic continuous backups of up to 2 gigabytes of data. It's not something you'd use to mirror your hard drive, but it's great for your most important data -- in my case, OneNote interviews and Word documents.
I have yet to see any backup system -- paid or free -- that's so easy to use. I hope they stay in business.
Maybe they'll come up with a paid option. Or better yet, maybe Google will buy them.
It looks like there won't be a fourth season for Arrested Development, the best comedy on television now and possibly one of the best in the last 10 years. Sigh.
(The Arrested Development news is at the end of the story.)
Microsoft is wooing developers with this one-year promo. This limited-functionality "express" version is perfect for beginners like me.
Tripod apparently has no problem putting up links to "Jessica Alba naked" on my site, just because the site mentions her. And this is on top of the annoying popups and the sidebar stunt in IE.
I need a new Web host. Any good free ones out there?
For you Firefox users, here is a very handy extension that lets you load IE-optimized sites in a Firefox tab. Nice for sites with ActiveX controls you need or for clueless designers that insist on making their pages IE-only.
And for all browsers, Yahoo has updated its map service to better compete with Google. Unlike Google, Yahoo uses Flash. It's a little slower, but has some nice features that make it easier to plan routes and find nearby points of interest.
One thing I don't like is that printed-out routes aren't as easy to read now (the old style had giant L and R circles that made it easier to see turns while driving -- I know you're not supposed to do that, but still!). It's still in beta, so maybe they're still working on the speed issue and route printout style.
I use my TomTom GPS software for that kind of thing now, but Yahoo Maps is still nice for pre-planning and finding places not in TomTom's database. And since TomTom updates its maps only when upgrading the software, Yahoo and Google are sometimes more accurate.
As a former carrier for (now-defunct) rival Tulsa Tribune, I always knew those Tulsa World delivery boys were no good.
Well, I'm killing time in the DeAnza computer lab. My presence is required by my C Programming class even though I finished the lab assignment last week. I suspect the assignments are going to get harder later on in the semester.
I must say, I really like structured languages over the old version of BASIC I used in high school. I'm told more recent versions, such as Visual BASIC, are more structured.
Anyway, I'm wondering how long it would take to get a computer science degree, or at least enough of a background to get admitted into a CS-related master's program.
Interesting feature of Google Talk: you can be logged in from two machines simutaneously. If someone sends a message, you'll get it on both machines. Not sure how useful this is, but it's interesting, perhaps a feature of the Jabber protocol it uses.
Apparently, Google Maps and Google Earth are using separate satellite databases.
The new Mill Avenue (Tempe, AZ) bridge (according to Google Earth):
The "old" bridge (according to Google Maps):
Speaking of Google Earth, the firm has posted some overlay imports showing Hurricane Katrina damage. Maybe this will get somebody in Washington off his butt.
Skype now forwards incoming Intenret calls to a regular phone. You have to pay SkypeOut rates for the forwarded calls, but still -- very cool.
Google has launched its foray into the instant messaging arena with Google Talk, its answer to Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, MSN Messenger and several other services.
While Google's entry is a nice, simple client with a clean interface and open protocols, I can't help but be a little disappointed. Usually when Google comes late to the party, it offers something unique. Gmail blows away the competition -- and I say this as a longtime Yahoo Mail user who pays $5 a month for a decent spam filter! Meanwhile, Google Maps really changes the game in online maps. I still use Yahoo Maps for the easy-to-read printed directions, ability to store frequently-used addresses and SmartView feature for finding train stations near meetings in San Francisco. But Google Maps has a much nicer interface; I hope Yahoo copies it soon. And finally, Google is just a much better search engine. Case in point: it's easier to get to a specific address on Yahoo Maps through Google than through Yahoo itself!
That said, Google Talk falls a little flat. It has a nice voice feature, but so does Skype, Yahoo and a few others.
To its credit, Google is going with open standards and a pledge of interoperability, which counts for a lot. Maybe well see cool third-party development that will propel Talk above the others. We'll see.
According to this Slate article, I may have helped popularize the term "Meth Mouth."
Although users have been snorting, smoking, injecting, and swallowing methamphetamine in great quantities for more than 40 years, the phrase meth mouth is brand new. It makes its first Nexis appearance in Investor's Business Daily as an unsourced one-liner in a Jan. 31, 2003, digest of news: 'Methamphetamine's drying effect on saliva glands leads to tooth decay and gum disease, dentists say, a trend known as 'meth mouth.' 'For the record, I didn't invent the term. The study I cited used it. But I did like enough to make sure it fit into the extremely limited space I had to write it.
More than two dozen different stories about meth mouth have appeared in Nexis since the IBD mention, but the majority of them fail to advance the story in any significant way. The better articles note, as IBD did correctly, that methamphetamine users suffer from dry mouth (xerostomia), which contributes to tooth decay and gum disease."
Paid for by me and other Santa Clara county taxpayers, of course. In her defense, Liz Kniss pointed out that she went to the same conference in Phoenix last year:``They had been so questioned about whether they should be going to Honolulu,'' Kniss said. ``It was of great interest to the press. Nobody ever thought it was interesting when I went to Phoenix. It's interesting that people think Honolulu is more glamorous.''
Where would people get that crazy idea?
Story here.
It's finally done. I consider this, along with Google's toolbar, a must-have for Firefox.
Funny. These were my exact thoughts when I read this story.
Some Wall Street analysts assert that Mr. Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costco's customers but to its workers as well.
Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder."
Actually, I'm not sure about that. But I do know that I just installed the original Doom on my Motorola MPX220 and it runs great. This is an old game, mind you, but I remember when you had to have a pretty decent PC to play it.
I also remember being amazed by the graphics and at how much better the game was than Wolfenstein 3-D. And how much better Wolfenstein 3-D was than the original Castle Wolfenstein, which was the coolest game in the school computer lab because the enemies shouted German.
Man, I'm getting old.
Besides a girlfriend, that is.
I think this has been around awhile, but I just discovered it today. Microsoft's sarch page now includes something called Encarta Answers, which can solve problems with variables! Example: x^2 + 4x - 17 = 32. You need an Encarta Premium subsciption to use it to the fullest, but going through MSN search gives you a two-hour "pass" to some features. Pretty nifty, and a step up from the also-handy Google Calculator.
If you enjoy making fun of "journalese," you'll find these fake news lleads hilarious. Ouch. Funny, but ouch.
Nice little forum with add-ons for Google Earth, including real-time weather maps, traffic and 3-D models of cities Google hasn't gotten around to doing yet. This is what's so great about APIs and a network of millions of people.
Tempe's Mill Avenue bridge, as depicted by Google Maps.
If you don't like/can't afford FrontPage or DreamWeaver and need something a little more full-featured than the Web authoring tool in Mozilla Composer, then Nvu might be just what you're looking for. Features of this free, open-source page design software include: WYSIWYG editing, tabbed editing, advanced CSS support, FTP publishing and more. Screenshots and a complete feature list here.
Four cool things to write about, two from Google and two from Yahoo:
Google Earth: A free and improved version of Keyhole, a cool satellite mapping system that until now was available only by subscription (the service still sell premium subscriptions). Basically, this is an interactive mapping service that uses satellite imagery and 3-D perspective in a really cool way. If you've ever wanted to see what it would look like to fall to Earth from space, here's your chance. Recent improvements include 3-D terrain and buildings for major cities (rather than a perspective view of 2-D pictures) and fly-through driving directions, which actually might come in handy.
Personalized Google search: Now Google can (optionally) keep track of your searches to get a better idea of what you're looking for in future searches. I haven't actually seen the filter in action yet -- Google says it may take awhile to get a good search history. The results page will indicate whether the search has been personalized, for times when you want a standard search. And you can always turn off the feature permanently.
Yahoo Music Unlimited: I don't quite like the standalone player, but $7 per month, a nice selection of tunes and and 192-kbps encoding add up to the best subscription music service on the market. Yahoo has published the players APIs, which could lead to all sorts of cool add-ons. Someone has already created a taskbar mode that works a lot like the one for Windows Media Player. I hope this isn't a bug, but I can transfer protected files just fine to my iPaq, even though it's not listed as a compatible device.
Yahoo mail: I haven't seen the actual beta yet, but the company has announced a faster, easier-to-use e-mail service that makes better use of Web scripting and XML (for you techies, a set of technologies collective known as AJAX -- Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). If you use Google's Gmail or Google Maps, you already know why this is a big deal. Yahoo bought Web e-mail firm Oddpost last year, but this is the first confirmation they'll be using the technology for its free e-mail service. I still pay for Yahoo Mail Plus because of the excellent spam filter, disposable addresses and because it serves as my "permanent" address.
mercpage
Originally uploaded by Ken Spencer Brown.
This is her
This is the line for the midnight showing of Star Wars III - at the least popular theater in town!
I just bought my tickets for the midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith.
But most of the reviews show that this one is much better than the last two prequels. The New York Times reviewer says it's even better than the original Star Wars. So that justifies the midnight showing on a workday, right?
Microsoft has released the final version this excellent desktop search tool, which in my experience is the best of the three big file search tools (the other two are Google's and Yahoo's. All three are very useful, but MSN is the only one of them that indexes OneNote files, which I use extensively. It has tangibly improved the way I work, eliminating the file- and email-hunting that used to take up so much of my day.
Why are these tools any different from the regular Windows search function? For one, they're faster than the standard Windows search, even othose aided by Windows' annoying indexing service, which many power users turn off. Second, the new tools search the contents of files, not just the names. So it's easier to find that Coxinha recipe, even if you don't remember whether you found it on a Web site, saved it as a Word file or got it in an e-mail. And all three tools set themselves in your Windows taskbar, so they're always ready to use.
If you haven't tried out the services, you should. They're free.
I saw this at the Computer History Museum (it's here,not in Seattle). My favorite feature, as listed on the box: "Displays all words." As a writer, I can certainly see why this would be helpful.
Well, I found an old version of my page, so I won't have to re-do everything. This whole mess stemmed from some new photos-on-the-go functionality I'm trying to add to the site so I can post text and photos from my phone and Pocket PC.
Yes, as you can tell from all this free computer time I have, Andrea is in Brazil. I'll be joining her in two weeks. Maybe someday I'll find a job that offers real vacation time.
From Infoworld (via Yahoo News): Need DRAM? Best Prices Still to Come
This blogger talks about his dinner with Microsoft's Jim Allchin and gives some cool details about the upcoming version of Windows.
Andrea goes to Spain: The San Jose Mercury News sent Andrea to this year's Malofiej (a Society for News Design conference) in Bilbao, Spain. Here, we can see her having trouble with my iPaq. More photos here.
Someone broke into my car -- probably after I left it unlocked, as I tend to do -- rifled though everything, but apparently didn't find anything he liked. Which is kind of insulting if you think about it.
I had a very nice mouse and keyboard in there, a pair of headphnes, some home-burned CDs and a couple of framed prints I plan to give to Goodwill. My stereo, factory installed, separates the radio and CD player. This setup hides the CD player near the cupholder, which makes the radio look like your basic factory-installed radio. Of course, even if the would-be thief had seen the CD player, if would probably fit only in another Honda Civic.
Ha ha!
Of course, this is probably a good sign that I should get a car alarm and clean up the car so no one is even tempted to see if I have anything valuable. Sometimes I do leave my laptop int he trunk.
The jaugernaut continues as Google unveils its new map service. It's a slick offering, with a 3D look for pushpins and direction bubbles. And if you click and hold your mouse button, you can drag the map around on the fly. There's lots of other nice little touches.
The one thing that this doesn't have yet is the ability to save frequently used adresses for quick directions like Yahoo, which is the deal-killer for me. But Google being Google, I'm sure they'll add the feature in eventually.
I've been neglecting the blog recently -- I've been extremely busy with work and life -- but I have some cool things to mention:
AAC+: Dolby's new sound format, which is part of the MPEG4 standard, gives really good sound at bitrates as low as 24 kbps. Don't believe me? Try Tuner2 and find out for yourself. I think you need Winamp 5.05 or above to use the format
Star Wars Republic Commando: The game demo is out. I liked it.
Lifehacker: This Web site explains how to do lots of techie and non-techie things. Pretty nifty.
Picasa 2: The new version of Google's photo-management software is out. It's free, and makes managing photos easier than it is on the Mac.
Police: Girl died after mother forced her to drink bleach - Jan 14, 2005
"A woman angry with her 12-year-old daughter for having sex forced the girl to drink bleach and sat on her until the child died, a police detective said.
The girl's 9-year-old brother was forced to watch the attack, Detective Warren Cotton testified Thursday in a preliminary hearing for Tunisia Archie, 31."
Iraq a new terror breeding ground
Another brilliant success from the man we re-elected to keep us safe.
