Jack’s Sunday Roundup – Belated Edition

Get along lil dawgies.

Yes, the presence of the Sunday Roundup has been sporadic, but it’s back!

1) Scott Brown is the new Senator from Massachusetts. As many of you know, I currently go to school in Massachusetts, so this is a unsettling reality for a variety of reasons.  But there is nothing that I can say that hasn’t already been said (and anything I would say would be heated), so I’ll just let that sit where it is…

2) In response to the “Massachusetts Massacre”, President Obama has ordered David Plouffe back into the game to help run the larger Democratic strategy for the 2010 midterm elections. Despite the above article, Plouffe’s presence actually makes me a feel a WHOLE lot better.

3) Avatar is now just two million dollars away from being the highest-grossing film of all time.  Go team Cameron!  (For my review of this crazy ride of a film, click here.)

4) Apparently, the New York Times thinks that an article about a girl trying to get “un-grounded” is news.  They are wrong.

5) In a grand twist that defies logic but embodies coolness, science now allows me to listen to sounds of water underneath the Antarctic ocean whenever I want. Oddly, it’s a lot cooler than it sounds (and it sounds cool!).

6) In response to the whole Google vs. China standoff, the US Government has sided with Google by citing internet freedom as a method of foreign policy. Go get ‘em, Secretary Hillary Clinton!  China reportedly doesn’t really care, but that’s kind of their general stance on everything right now…

7) Some really, really crazy/awful guy sold the Iraqi Government $85 Million dollars worth of “bomb detectors” that were completely fake. His contraptions may have cost the lives of hundreds or even thousands.  This stuff is beyond wrong – it’s destructive to the fabric of human morality.

That’s all for now, folks.  Click on through to the other side…

4 Google Wave Frustrations

This post is being cross-posted on jackslashjosh, my new cooperative blog with Josh Richard.

I love Google Wave. I really do. When I got my invite the other day, I squealed with delight (but in a really manly way). Since that time, I have created several Waves with folks for a variety of reasons, and the whole system has proven pretty effective and fairly efficient.

You’ll also notice that we have our own little wave going here at jackslashjosh. Just click on that top right-hand corner thing and – if you have Google Wave already – type us something.

That said, there are definitely a few really annoying things about Google Wave. Don’t misunderstand – I’m totally aware that it’s in “Beta”. Still, what would a Beta be if I couldn’t offer criticism?

Thus, I present to you…

Things that frustrate me about Google Wave:

1) Pinging is the most impolite form of communication imaginable. In concept, “pinging” someone is supposed to be kind of like sending them an Instant Message…except that, you know, it’s not.

For starters, it doesn’t work the same way as Instant Messaging. Pinging someone essentially just starts a new wave with them, which is odd, because instant messaging is a type of communication that is NOTHING LIKE A WAVE.

See, instant messaging is supposed to mimic actual conversation. This makes sense, because inpolite conversation people take turns. Sure, two people in a conversation might say something at the same time, but then they say “jinx!”, laugh it off, and move on.

But nooooo, “Pinging” doesn’t let you laugh it off. No, pinging makes you watch the other person type while you try to have a conversation. Thus, a conversation between two people quickly turns into a who-can-type-faster-so-you-get-out-what-you-want-to-say-first-oh-god-I-just-misspelled-that-let-me-fix-it-before-she-notices contest. It turns both parties into interrupter kings a la Rep. Joe Wilson, and I am NOT okay with that.

Also, pinging makes me incredibly self-conscious about my typing abilities, and that si nto colo, oGoleg.

2) Google Wave hates the rest of Google, and the rest of Google hates Google wave.

…And we all lose because of it. Let me explain: somewhere along the way, Google Wave decided that it wanted to be the new King of Communication. After coming to this new realization, the Google Wave folks ALSO decided that the best way to do this is by IGNORING every other form of digital communication.

First, they started by beating Instant Messaging into a hollow shell of its former self (see above).

Second, I can’t get email updates or have a notifier tell when a Google Wave is updated. This is stupid.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the logic here: why should I have to go through two forms of communication when I can just go through one and check your Google Wave? Well, Mr. Inquisitive, I’ll tell you why:

I have an iPhone. Do you know why I love my iPhone? Believe it or not, it’s not because I have an application that lets me roll a creepy-noise-making imaginary monkey around suspended platforms of death (although that is awesome): it is, instead because my iPhone gets my email. Why is that cool? Because that means I can work/play/communicate with ANYONE no matter WHERE I am on earth. (before you say anything, places without 3G service do not, in fact, count as “earth”)

But guess what I can’t do with my iPhone? Oh, that’s right, I can’t access ANY form of Google Wave, so I can’t have ANY idea what’s going on in a Wave unless I’m sitting on my computer with it open in my browser.

So, you know, I COULD do work on the “super efficient” Google Wave and only be able to talk to my co-wavers when I’m sitting in front of a computer with a really good internet connection…

…Or I could just, you know, use email, and talk to anyone whenever I want.

Also, this “screw the world” approach to the rest of communication has right ticked some other people at Google off. The creator of Gmail, for instance, hasn’t even tried the dang thing.

3) The idea that Google Wave is a new, novel concept – it’s not. Don’t get me wrong – Google wave in its current incarnation is certainly a new thing for the masses, and it is definitely new to have all of these technologies shoved together into one package within a browser.

That said, there are some things that predate Google Wave by about 12 years – namely, Hotline. Granted, Hotline was a desktop application and did not have the in-browser gee-whizz effect that Google Wave does. Still, the little program had a host of great features:

1. the ability to live-chat with a group of people, and watch what they type AS they type it.
2. the ability to have host dozens of people per server (think “wave”) and allow them all to participate
3. the ability to have someone send you a direct message outside of the group chat window (think “ping”)
4. the to drag-and-drop files on a server and allow people to access those files all at once.

Sound familiar? It should: it’s a lot like the Google Wave list of features. Granted, Google Wave and Hotline still have a lot of differences, but I just want to point out that the amalgamation of these features into one program isn’t necessarily “new.”

4) Google Wave is based in Australia. As we all know, Australians do crazy, crazy things (I’m looking at you, Josh). I’m not saying that this will make Google Wave crazy…but it’s worth thinking about, and don’t blame me when a Croc eats your Wave.

So there you have it, folks. If you have any comments on the subject, feel free to let us know by clicking the Wave icon in the top-left corner of the blog….

…and then you can bask in the irony.

Sunday-esque Roundup

It’s late, but it’s Labor Day Weekend.  It’s like one giant Sunday anyway.

Some things form this past week:

The People Who Are Complaining About Their Kids Having to Listen to the President of the United States Are Just Silly - They just are.  And the media is silly for making this a big deal.  The man’s remarks aren’t deceptive, they’re dang inspirational.  But you know, maybe these Virginia parents are right.  I mean, who would want a “socialist” president to come speak to students at a public school run by the government.  Next thing you know, Barack Obama will be filling your kids’ heads with “socialist” ideas like “giving everyone a fair shake” and “supplying every child with an education at nominal cost to the individual and paid for by tax dollars.”

Yeah.  That’d be really crazy.

Labor Day Has to Do With, You Know, Labor - Oddly, most people don’t realize that Labor day has to do with the Labor Movement.  For my fellow southerners, that means it’s about those things called “Unions” – which we don’t really have.  Back in the day, they used to march in honor of the day.  I personally think we should that back, because we don’t march enough today (I’m talking to you, Mississippi).

Google Books is Way More Awesome than I Ever Gave it Credit For, and Microsoft is Trying to Steal it From Us All – I remember when Google Books launched several years ago.  I was a young, idealistic freshman at Presbyterian College, and I thought everything Google made was mana from heaven.  Gmail, GCalendar, GMaps – it was like Google was dedicated to making my life easier, one snazzy click at a time.  But then Google Books launched…Honestly, I thought, am I ever going to use this?  There are only, like, 200 books on there, and are they really going to scan every book in the world?

Apparently, Google’s answer to my question was “Yes.  Yes we will scan them all, and then provide them to you virtually free of charge.  We are Google – hear us scan.”  Libraries the world over have decided to completely cooperate with Google, including the 4th largest – New York Public Library (20.4 MILLION volumes) – and the fifth largest – Harvard University Library (15.4 MILLION volumes) libraries in the world.  Thus, despite the fact that I was unable to get the book that I needed for class tomorrow, I can now read the whole thing on Google books – free of charge.

And yet Microsoft wants Google Books to die.

Translation: Microsoft wants me to fail, and thus doesn’t care about education.  Spin?  Maybe.  How I feel about it?  Definitely.

Joe Kennedy Isn’t Going to Run for Senate – This is a last-minute addition (this was just announced an hour ago), but believe it or not, this is kind of a big deal for folks in MA.  Lots of people expected another Kennedy to run and, through force of sheer name recognition, emerge as the new Senator from Massachusetts, and thus the next generation of Kennedy politicians.  But now he’s not, and the field is wide open.

This could be a fun election.  Stay tuned…

And now, to read until I can’t keep my eyes open…

The Afternoon Suggestion Blitz

(note – some folks might not be able to see the links.  Let me know.)

1.) Looks like Tea is making a comeback.  As a former coffee aficionado myself, I can honestly say that I drink a heck of a lot more tea these days than coffee.  Those of you who know me and my obsessive coffee-drinking habits, don’t be alarmed: I still drink coffee, but I’m trying to ween myself off my even more obsessive coffee addiction that I developed during the campaign.  I’m a big fan of good ‘ol Twinings myself, as well as the now ever-popular Tazo teas, but I fear that I am only grabbing the first tea I find on the shelf…do any of YOU have suggestions on your favorite type of tea?  Is there really good fair-trade tea?  I feel so lost here…

2.) Google just released their annual Zeitgeist.  Weird name, but a very cool look at how our global society uses the internet.  In a broad sense, this is essentially a breakdown of the names, products and terms that were searched for the most on Google in 2008, but it’s a bit more complex than that.  Sure, you can see that “obama” is the “fastest rising” search word on the internet and that “gymnastics” seems to have been the top sport, but you can also see some pretty interesting graphs depicting WHEN people searched for these things.  ”Batman”, for instance, saw a HUGE spike in searches the day that The Dark Knight was released, which also happens to have been the largest opening day for ANY film in Hollywood history.  On the political side, it would seem that John McCain was never as searched for as Barack Obama throughout the campaign, and that Sarah Palin’s search numbers had a huge spike the day she was announced as the VP – I suppose the American public really didn’t know that much about her.  Granted, a lot of this seems fairly predictable, but it’s interesting to see how much the internet seems to mirror real life, or at least the news cycle (speaking of news cycles, fox news seems to have been the most-searched-for news source for politics…hrm…).

3.) If you’re Presbyterian - particularly if you are of the PC(USA) ilk – you should read this.  Some interesting stuff in their about the “presbymergent” church.

4.) This is kind of old, but if you have yet to discover Hulu, you should do that like, right now.

5.) Check this guy MURS out.  Once the video starts, skip to 6:00 minutes in (the first song is fine, but I’m a big fan of the second one).  Crank it.  The best part?  He does all this stuff live with no notes, right off the cuff.  Also, skip to 12:00 minutes in to hear him throw some seriously awesome stuff about the West Coast, rap music, leadership, and – of course – Barack Obama.  Props.

That’s it for now.  Hit up the comments section for more suggestions!