I need to succeed in business. I’m tired of looking at the thermostat thinking, “I can’t afford 72.”
Archive for October, 2005
“If you stare into the Abyss long enough the Abyss stares back at you.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche
“We are moving to a Google that knows more about you.”
- Google CEO Eric Schmidt
Welcome to the Internet. Here, take a Google fruit basket as a welcome gift. No, no, don’t worry, it’s free. No charge. Nada. We just want you to have a pleasurable experience.
Oh, I see you like oranges.
How would you like a napkin to protect your shirt from juice splatters? I happen to have one here that matches the blue button-up 100% cotton short-sleeved shirt you ordered yesterday.
No? Okay, I respect your privacy.
So…
How about a juicer?
—notes—
[1] Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher of the late 19th century who challenged the foundations of traditional morality and Christianity. He believed in life, creativity, health, and the realities of the world we live in, rather than those situated in a world beyond. Central to Nietzsche’s philosophy is the idea of “life-affirmation,” which involves an honest questioning of all doctrines which drain life’s energies, however socially prevalent those views might be. [bio from this site]
[2] Google CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking to financial analysts, February 9, 2005, as quoted in the New York Times the next day.
“Google aims to monitor whatever you type in your word processor, the things you copy to your clipboard, the position of your mouse, the content of your emails, instant messenger messages and more.” [original article below]
I found this while I was catching up on my e-mail. Everybody talks about Google these days. Heck, even the Amish are probably sick of hearing about them. Google Google Google Google. Working with computers and the ‘net, I’m almost numb to the name from media overkill. Just when I think I’m pretty much jaded to anything Google, I read something like the above quote.
Hey, you know what, Google? If labor gets cheap enough, maybe you could hire someone to follow me around every waking moment of every day. They could see me go to the post office, the supermarket, the park, and all my favorite stores. They could log what movies I go see and what I order from restaurants. If they pull up beside my car at a stoplight, they can jot down what song I’m listening to on the radio and if I lip-synch or just belt it out without caring. Then, once you know me - even though the sports magazine I bought at the newsstand was an errand for a guy at the office and I only walked into the cigar store to use the bathroom - you can start popping up uninvited every public place I go. If I leave my house door unlocked or a window accidentally open, it’s not like you’re forcing your way in, so I guess you’re welcome there too, aren’t you?
But I’m being absurd.
Why hire someone when you can do it electronically on a global scale for free?
—original article—
Axandra news archive: 11 October 2005
1. Facts of the week: The Google-Sun deal and its impact on search
Copyright Axandra.com
Web site promotion software tools.
Last week, Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt and Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy announced a distribution partnership.
What did they decide?
Google’s toolbar will be bundled into downloads of the Java Runtime Environment and Sun’s Java will be used to power new software developed and released by Google.
Google might also include links to Sun software that directly competes with Microsoft software such as the Open Office suite in future updates of its toolbar.
What does this mean for search?
This is probably only the first step in Google’s and Sun’s battle against Microsoft. Google wants to win more market share on the desktop of computer users and it wants to move computer applications from the desktop to the Internet.
Google has also recently filed a new patent that indicates that Google is working on a way to constantly monitor all of your actions in order to build personalized search queries.
According to the patent specification, Google aims to monitor whatever you type in your word processor, the things you copy to your clipboard, the position of your mouse, the content of your emails, instant messenger messages and more.
If Google has access to Sun’s free Open Office suite, it might be easier to do that. By gathering as much information about you as possible, Google can offer you personalized search results and - more important to Google - personalized ads.
What does this mean to you?
It seems that many of Google’s recent “free” applications mainly serve the purpose of gathering more data about you for Google so that Google can monetize that information for targeted ads.
If you use many different Google services, you share a lot of information with Google. It’s up to you to decide if you’re willing to exchange private information for “free” software and services.
This distribution partnership is probably only the start. It’s likely that we can expect a lot more from this alliance between these two online giants.
I saw a hit and run today.
I looked down for a second and when I looked back up, the lady in front of me was pulling out onto the main road when a guy in another car came out of nowhere right at her. My first thought before he smashed right into her was sort of an unemotional, “Whoa. That guy is going to hit her.”Right afterwards, “Damn. I’m going to be late to my meeting.” I felt a little guilty that I didn’t wonder if anyone was hurt first, which made me think about how desensitized we are to crazy things like this.
Next thing it was like, “Wait-a-minute! He’s not just pulling into the parking lot beside me, he’s taking off like a bat out of hell!” I tried to get his license number but failed. It was a white car. I’m sure that will help a lot. If life were anything like CSI, they’d catch him with any number of surveillance parking lot cameras and tire skid marks. This is real-life Fort Wayne, though, so he’s long gone and scott-free. Great, now I’m jaded too.
I pulled up beside the woman who got hit - only moderate damage to her car - and we rolled down our windows. As the people behind us honked their horns, I passed over my business card in case she needed a witness.
Desensitized and jaded, but I’m civic-minded. So, is that a start in the right direction or just the last thing I haven’t lost yet?
My laptop is alive. And it doesn’t want to be.
I’d always thought of my laptop as an inanimate tool until this morning. It all started two days ago when my brother and I ordered new Sony Vaio laptops to replace our almost four-year-old Vaios that are barely holding together. The *very* next morning after placing the order, I get to the office and take my laptop out of it’s bag. The LCD is broken. It’s still viewable, but it looks like a window with cracks spidering across the top third of the display. At the time, I figured Murphy’s Law - nothing mystical.
That was yesterday.
This morning, I picked up my case by the shoulder strap (just like *every* other morning for the past four years) and I heard the sound of zippers unzipping followed quickly by a loud crash behind me and felt a very sudden lightening sensation of my laptop bag. I turned around to see the laptop several feet behind me up against a wall with the battery compartment door another foot away and the battery spilled out onto the floor. I put it all back together and it still works, though the battery door seems a little less tight than it used to be.
Normally I’d say “dumb accident” but two days in a row?!? Immediately after ordering a replacement laptop?!? I’m a both-feet-on-the-ground kind of man, but I can’t help but believe my laptop is depressed that I’m leaving it for another, younger, processor and that it’s trying to commit suicide!
I’ve since removed the strap from my bag - so it can’t hang itself. I’ve updated my virus software - so it can’t poison itself. Tonight, I’m gathering together all the other house electronics and organizing an intervention. Chin up, little Sony… I’ll always be there for you!
Well… at least for another 5 to 10 business days with standard shipping.
I was at a birthday party with a bunch of eleven-year-olds this weekend.
3 girls took to calling me, “Mister Old Guy.” For example, “Mister Old Guy, you’ve got a lot of grey.” Real quote.
The birthday boy stopped me and said, “You know why I like you?”
“Why?”
“Because you look old…”
Argh.
“But you act like a kid.”
Hmm… Okay, I can take that. 