Yet another brilliant news headline

Because, as of right now, the Web isn't a massive network.

That's one profane Gmail iPhone app

Never thought I'd need to show ID to buy an email application.

Estimation

This hilarity is brought to you by xkcd.

Awesome: an example of augmented reality (on the iPhone)

Awesome stuff. It's nice to see this kind of thing becoming available mainstream.

What kind of augmented reality app would you like to see on your phone? Leave word in the comments.

Via Zach Holmquist.

Wow. It actually happened. Google announces they're developing an operating system: Chrome OS

The gauntlet? Thrown down. The line in the sand? Drawn. The end? Is near. True to numerous rumors over the last few years, Google announced today that it is developing an operating system, meaning it will join Windows, OS X and Ubuntu in the OS wars. It will be called Google OS Chrome (borrowing the name from Google's browser).

"...The operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web," said Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management at Google. Hmmm... think he's talking about Windows?

If Microsoft felt threatened about how much time people were spending in online apps versus their expensive (and bloated) desktop apps, they should be peeing themselves about now.

"We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. ...Most of the user experience takes place on the web. ...Users [w]on't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

Think about it: what do you do on a computer?

• Search for things (browser, obviously)
• Email (browser)
• Social networking (browser)
• Listen to music (more and more it's the browser, thanks to sites like Pandora and Last.fm)
• Look at friends' pictures (browser)
• Word processing (possible in the browser via Google Docs and others, although not very popular...yet)
• Spreadsheets (see above)
• Cropping/editing photos (browser - have you checked out Photoshop.com?)
• Chat (available in the browser through Gmail or sites like Meebo.com)

So if we're spending all this time doing things online (for free), why pay Microsoft $500 to upgrade Windows and Office, hmmmmmmmm?

That's exactly the question Google hopes you'll ask yourself.

This also has the potential to (eventually) have an adverse affect on the hardware market. As more and more of what you do involves being online, how much do you care if Intel releases their new Core i7 processor Extreme Edition? Unless you're a gamer or doing processor-intensive work (video editing, AutoCAD which, really, could be done from a server somewhere if we had the bandwidth most of Europe enjoys) a lot of what you do on your desktop can be executed on a server in the middle of North Dakota.

Your computer can just be a browser. Period.

Of course, this is the idea behind netbooks which have proven quite popular (Sprint is even offering a netbook for 99 cents) and is where Google OS Chrome will first launch...just in time to make people wonder if they should pay for Windows 7.

UPDATE: In the words of Michael Arrington: 

Don’t worry about those desktop apps you think you need. Office? Meh. You’ve got Zoho and Google Apps. You won’t miss office. Chrome plus Gears plus Google Wave plus HTML 5 and web platforms like Flash and Silverlight all combine into a single wonderful computing device. The Internet Is Everything. All the OS has to do is boot the damn computer, get me to a browser as fast as possible and then stay the hell out of the way.

Google it with Bing

Via CollegeHumor.

Why Apple won't best the Palm Pre

Kevin Rose is at it again. After some dubious predictions in the past he's saying the iPhone 3.0 will have copy and paste and, according to his source, "Brings it up to speed with all the Palm Pre stuff."

Copy and paste is probably a pretty safe bet. And I will be the first to admit that it's pathetic how excited everyone will be for a basic feature that should have been included in the original software, yet has taken TWO YEARS to make its appearance. (Assuming it's even coming - everyone has been expecting it from day one.)

As for the iPhone being brought up to speed with the Palm Pre, I doubt it. Why? Because one of the big features I see in the Pre is the ability to better manage your information. With the Pre, it pulls all your contacts from (for example) your work email, Gmail, Facebook, etc. and deduplicates entries automatically. So if my friend from work, Adam, is in my contact list the Pre will pull his work email, Gmail account and Facebook status and display them all under his name without any help from me. It does the same thing for calendars, IM, email, etc. all over the air without needing to plug the Pre into a computer. (For a good demo of the Pre click here and watch chapters 4, 5 and 6.)

Apple has failed when it comes to information management on the iPhone. They can't even get their proprietary, completely-controlled-by-them, specifically built for the iPhone, doesn't play nice with anyone else, $99/year MobileMe service to consistently work properly. Nor have they enabled the push notification feature which was supposed to be out months ago.

I'd love it if Apple pulled the same functionality of the Pre out of its hat. I really would. Especially if it's easily unlockable. I just don't think it's going to happen.

Besides, they have yet to conquer picture messaging, instant messaging, text message forwarding and all those other radically advanced cell phone features.

Thoughts? Any last-minute predictions for tomorrow? Am I delusional? Leave word in the comments.

Get Dropbox

I've mentioned the stellar service Dropbox provides in the past.

If you aren't familiar with it, Dropbox puts a folder on your desktop and anything you put in that folder is automatically backed up online. You can also connect that folder to another computer and the files and folders placed in it will automatically sync between the computers. All your files are available through any web browser. You get 2 GB free.

It turns out they have a referral program where if you sign up by clicking HERE you get 10% extra space on the free version (and I get the same amount added to my account).

Give it a try. Install it on your work computer and your home computer and watch the magic happen. It works on Mac, Windows and Unix. Even if you don't need to sync files between computers, it's still a great, simple way to get 2 GB of easy-to-use, easy-to-access, always available (even when you're offline) online backups. It also includes a great online interface so you can access your files from any computer with Internet access.

Just sign up already, OK?

Google Reader redesign

 

Google Reader got a major UI tweak this afternoon. Boo-ya. The look feels a lot like Google Docs. It makes me wonder when Gmail is going to follow suit. Then again, they did just announce a slew of new themes.

Speaking of Reader, you can subscribe to this blog by pasting the following in your RSS app of choice: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheOtherDrummer

Today, we're all winners: FCC Approves Unlicensed Use Of “White Spaces” Spectrum

 

Think wifi on steroids. Everywhere. This could be a big deal. Read about it here.

I may give into peer pressure

Great. Here we go again. It's 11:15 pm and I'm supposed to be in bed but I had a random thought while brushing my teeth.

Most people who know me would probably consider me a tech-savvy/nerdy guy. While I don't know how to program anything, nor do I speak Klingon, Elvish, or any other fiction-based language, I enjoy keeping tabs on what's going on in the world of tech and participating in my own, limited way. Yes, I probably know enough about Star Wars to be considered a complete geek to the average person. Sure, I've had more cell phones in the last seven years than most people will have in their entire lives. So you'd think that I of all people, I would have a MySpace and/or Facebook account. After all, it's how hundreds of millions of my peers function online and off.

But I don't. And that's on purpose. (I shared my feelings about social networks here.)

Up until now.

Here's the thought I had while I was brushing my teeth: why don't I create a Facebook account to tell people I'm not using Facebook.

Weird, I know. But bear with me.

One reason I don't like sites like Facebook is, if I understand it correctly, people login to Facebook and leave me a public message. I then get an e-mail telling me that I have a public message, so I login to Facebook to see what it is. OR YOU COULD E-MAIL ME. (This is similar to the problem I have with Basecamp, but I'll save that for another time.)

So instead of corresponding with people through Facebook, why not use Facebook to tell people the channels I do use to communicate? I picture an empty page with nothing but links to my Twitter feed, this blog, and maybe an e-mail address.

Despite this minty epiphany, I have my reservations:

1. I'm really stubborn about certain things, and getting a Facebook account is one of them. Even if I don't use it, the fact that I have one wouldn't settle well with me. I kind of enjoy not doing certain things everyone else is doing. I know it sounds a bit backward, but it's true. It's why I've never had a Coke and it's why I'm perfectly happy hating potato chips and french fries, thank you very much.

2. My real name and personal information would be linked to this site. Now, most of you know me and I don't think it would take a rocket scientist to probably find out everything about me online. While I've been contemplating dropping The Other Drummer moniker and just using my full name as the title of the blog (and the URL), I haven't decided to make the jump yet.

What are your thoughts on the subject(s)? Two polls have been posted in the upper-right corner. Have at it. Or, if you feel like waxing poetic, leave some prose in the comments.

Verizon Wireless triples SMS charges for mobile marketers

In addition to raising their text messaging rates 100% in the last year (along with everyone else in the industry), Verizon Wireless has now taken upon itself to triple the charge it imposes on sites that allow subscribers to receive SMS notifications to 3 cents per text.

For example, you pay $20 per month for unlimited text messaging. So you sign up for CNN to send you a text message any time there is breaking news. Starting in November, Verizon will charge CNN 3 cents for each message they send out, despite the fact that the consumer is already paying for the text message.

This double-dipping on Verizon's part not only comes across as greedy (it costs virtually nothing to send a text message - they were making a profit when they only charged less than a penny per text) but it stifles innovation. Sites like Twitter, Remember The Milk, Celllfire, and others may have to either close up shop or severely limit their functionality if Verizon insists on charging the fee.

I decided to be proactive and sent an e-mail to Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam telling him basically what I said here: it's greedy and it stifles innovation. I haven't heard back from him.

Maybe I should have also mentioned how they're delusional for wanting to be content providers instead of "dumb pipes" for giving people access to information. Verizon, when it comes to creating content it's you verses the Internet. And I think the Internet is going to win.

For more reading on the text messaging rate hike, hit up this link.

Logo courtesy of here.

Morning routine

I usually use my iPhone.

Courtesy of here.

Microsoft's second ad is out, and it's better

 The second ad in the Seinfeld/Gates/Windows campaign launched last night and hit the intertubes shortly after. I must say I like this one better. It's funnier and ties in better (although still loosely) to the actual product they're promoting. Check the ads out here.

Note: It looks like Microsoft is using Flash to run the ads instead of Silverlight, despite the "Get Silverlight" link next to the video. See below.

Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld aren't gay

Boy oh boy. People sure are reading a lot into Microsoft's new ad. I've heard everything from the phallic nature of the churro and the implication of two men shoe shopping with leather references to outcast minorities.

It's not a typical commercial. It's 90 seconds and doesn't mention the product until the last four seconds. The rest of it is filled with...nothing. And that's the point. Kind of.

What was Seinfeld all about? It was a show about nothing. Bill Gates is shopping at the "Quality shoes at discount prices store" not as some allegory to say that a Windows machine is less expensive than the Mac, but because it's funny that the richest man in the world is shopping for shoes at a discount store in the mall.

It's also funny that Jerry, also very wealthy, knows exactly which kind of shoes are available and their different qualities.

When Jerry is sizing Bill's feet and asks if what he's feeling is Bill's toe, Bill responds. "No. It's pleather." It's a joke. Get it? It actually sounds like something my sister in-law would say. Bonus: Bill isn't even buying real leather shoes.

I don't think the Hispanic folks who are looking in the store window are a symbol of the outcast people in third world countries who don't even recognize these famous, rich people shopping inside. I think it was a random clip to stick in to break up the shots in the shoe store.

I don't think Bill holding up his platinum membership card to the shoe store to earn "big top points" is symbolic of how Microsoft rewards its customers. I think it was a chance to work a joke in, as well as a more subtle bonus joke: the picture on the card is Gates' mug shot when he was arrested for speeding in New Mexico.

I understand, to a certain extent, why people are digging so deep to find meaning in the commercial because it doesn't talk about Windows at all. But the homo-erotic and/or Microsoft/discount shoe store symbolism people are trying to establish is simply ridiculous.

By itself, the ad doesn't work, no matter how deep you look at it. The additional spots in the campaign will shed some light on the direction they're taking and will tie it all together. In the meantime, take it for what it is: a quirky, somewhat entertaining spot.

Google is getting creepy

So as if Google didn't know enough about you, it now has the capability of recognizing faces in your Picasa albums. (For those of you who don't know what Picasa is, it's Google's version of Flickr, which is a popular online photo storage and sharing service.)

Draw a little box around a face and Google will analyze all your photos and find the ones that person is also in. You can then label all those pictures for easy reference later. So, for example, I'd highlight my mom's face in one image and Google finds the rest of the pictures I've taken of my mom. I label them all "Mom" and even link the picture to my contacts in Gmail.

So, yeah. Google now has pictures and contact information for everyone in your photo albums.

What are your thoughts on this?

Generation gap

My parents watch 22 minutes of the evening news to get to the weather forecast.

I open my laptop and hit "F12".

Just an observation.

In other Google news...

I got this sign-in screen when I tried to login to my Google account. Unfortunately, after sign-in it was the same ol' iGoogle. I wonder if this has anything to do with the problems going on with Gmail right now.

The world is coming to an end: Gmail is down - UPDATED x3

Heaven help us. Russia is bombing Georgia, the ice caps are melting, France is still a sovereign nation, and Gmail is down. It's not an isolated incident as people on Twitter are reporting the same problem:

Whatever could be the problem? I've never really had any issues with Gmail. Interestingly enough, I can use Gmail over IMAP on my iPhone. Weird.

One clue may be (yes, I'm really reaching here) is this new "Create an account" button I saw this morning:

Most of the time it's just a text link, although occasionally I've seen it as a blue Aqua-esque button. New UI?

What do you think? Is Google rolling out a new UI? Is it a technical glitch? Are they going to give us Push functionality? Has your account been affected? Let me know in the comments.

UPDATE: I saw a  Cult of Mac article in my feed reader saying MobileMe's mail is also down.

Oddly, when I clicked the link in my feed reader to go to the actual article, Cult of Mac gave me an error page. Hmmm...strange stuff is afoot. Perhaps my initial hunch that Apple just transitioned all their .Mac stuff to Google's services, masked in a pretty Apple design, is true. ;)

UPDATE 2: TechCrunch is reporting the same thing: Gmail is down systemwide. As a side note, I'd like to point out that I had the "story" up before Arrington did. ;)

UPDATE 3: As of about 4:35, my account is back. Same ol' look and at first glance no new features. Also, no word on the Official Gmail Blog about the outage.

I noticed something weird about iGoogle

Most of us recognize this screen. Notice the pre-selected widgets faded in the background: YouTube, weather, clock, etc. Why anyone would add a clock widget on their homepage is beyond me as most computers nowadays are able to tell time. But I digress.

When I launched my browser this morning, instead of the standard widgets you see above it was populated with what looked like popular, locally relevant widgets. There was a KSL widget, an LDS.org widget among others. I didn't think much of it, figuring they were going to suggest widgets based on popular sites in my area and logged in.

I should have learned by now that when there's some kind of anomoly with anything Google I should get a screen shot because it's not there anymore. If anyone else notices the same thing, please grab a screen shot and e-mail it to me: theotherdrummer at gmail *dot* com.