Protect Your Name And Your Reputation

Something that you need to definitely have to do when you divorce is watch yourself, and watch your name. Google it if you have to. I have personal experience with this phenomenon.

My present girlfriend had the wonderful experience of being stalked by her ex. He started a website solely for the purposes of trying to make my girlfriend look bad, put her down, and talk about personal information. He would put pictures on his site and allude negatively towards her work habits, personal experiences, and et cetera. Absolutely a prince, you might say. Eventually, it took a threat from the FBI, local law enforcement, and various websites being pulled from free sites for violations of terms of service to make him cease and desist.

My ex is similar, but does a different kind of stalking. On her MySpace page, (a page that which I read regularly) she describes how miserable she is and attempts to slam me as having a drinking problem and being an irresponsible and deadbeat dad... despite my regular OVER payments for child support - never missing a payment, regular visits, and general overall support. The reason that I am not with her is that we don't get along. I DO want to be with my child 24/7. It's a huge difference, and an emotionally and legally expensive one. Update! After talking to the offending person, she agreed to remove the offending content, which is great. She didn't, and just made her pages private, but hey, that's better than a poke in the eye. We'll see.

Solutions? I'm not sure that I have one, and if anyone has any great ideas, then I'm all ears. I'm already considering legal action. However, if your breakup with your ex was acrimonious, then learn to use Google. Be your best private detective. Keep a journal It can be a little annoying and perhaps may cause you fume a bit, but make sure that you have all the possible information. At least that way, if you decide to follow through, then you'll have all the information. Over at WiredSafety.org, they have a lot of great information about cyberstalking and a number of other Internet crimes.

Here's one that you can write down; despite any odd thing that I might see in her behavior, actions, or choices, you will never see me slam her in print. That's no better than gossip, and despite the fact that our relationship didn't work out, she does have good qualities for someone else. That won't stop me from being the dad of a three year old.

Remember as well; self improvement is the best form of revenge.

No Respect - No Respect For These Google Products At All, I'll Tell Ya

With all apologies to Rodney Dangerfield, here's a good list of a bunch of Google products that simply get no love.
 

But how many people do you think would discuss being able to set up customised RSS feeds in Google News? Or being able to download source code in Google Code? How many people would know that Google offers various possibilities for users to help improve their products?

Here are some Google services that need a lot more loving (cue Barry White music) :

Makeuseof.com.  I think that I like their website.

 

Everyone here knows that I love me some Google stuff.  Google has it's own category there on the side of the page.  Here's your chance to take a look at some of the things that I'm always writing about.

 

 

Google: We're In Ur Store, Mappin' Ur Stuff

I haven't made a post about Google in a while, so imagine my surprise when I saw how you can be an independent contractor for them , especially since it's not April Fool's Day.  Requirements include the power of speech and a camera.  From the FAQ:

 

1. Why should I become a Google Business Referral Representative?
   
   Joining the Google Local Business Referrals (LBR) program is a great way to earn some money while connecting people to the businesses in your neighborhood. The information you collect could be seen by millions of people who use Google every day. And you'll be helping the businesses you refer attract new customers while also making it easier for people in your community to find the products and services they're searching for.

2. What will I be doing as a representative?
   
   As a Google Business Referral Representative, you'll visit local businesses to collect information (such as hours of operation, types of payment accepted, etc.) for Google Maps, and tell them about Google Maps and Google AdWords. You'll also take a few digital photos of the business that will appear on the Google Maps listing along with the business information.  After the visit, you submit the business' info and photo(s) to Google through your Local Business Referrals Center, and we'll pay you up to $10 for each listing that is approved by Google and verified by the business.

   All you need to be a successful Business Referral Representative is a passion for helping local businesses succeed, a love for the Internet (some knowledge of Google is great, too), and access to a computer and a digital camera.

Say again?  Google will pay me for taking some pictures of some local businesses?

Wow.  Where do I sign up?

By the way, I found this via Reddit, so you'll probably never see this article again, so take some notes. 

 

Seriously, I'm thinking that Google is:

- Rich as all get out, and

- Preparing for world domination.

First Google Checkout, Now This

You might remember a previous post about Google Checkout, the service that competes with Paypal and thus has caused rifts between two Internet giants - Google, and eBay.

 

Enter Amazon.

 

Look for a launch announcement by Amazon this week or next of a new web service around payments, adding to their S3 (storage), EC2 (virtual server) and other services. They've been quietly testing the service, which will compete with PayPal and Google Checkout, for a few weeks. It is an extension of the existing Amazon Payments , which allows third parties selling items on Amazon's extended network to receive payments from buyers.

Techcrunch for the win.

 

Have you been getting the feeling that Amazon is slowly, but surely, sneaking up on us all?

 

I love the competition, personally. 

 

Things are about to get ugly up in here.

Freak On The Street

On the Freakonomics Blog, our heroes spend some time with Stephen Chau, one of the wizards at Google Maps behind Google Street View - the application that allows you to see a street level view on Google Maps - which has caused a full Internet freak-out over at Boing Boing and several other websites.  Check out Street View.  It's... impressive.

 

Here's Mr. Chau on privacy concerns:

 

At Google we take privacy very seriously. Street View only features imagery taken on public property and is not in real time. This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street. Imagery of this kind is available in a wide variety of formats for cities all around the world. While the Street View feature enables people to easily find, discover, and plan activities relevant to a location, we respect the fact that people may not want imagery they feel is objectionable featured on the service. We provide easily accessible tools for flagging inappropriate or sensitive imagery for review and removal.

Each Street View imagery bubble contains a link to "Street View Help" where users can report objectionable images. Objectionable imagery includes nudity, certain types of locations (for example, domestic violence shelters) and clearly identifiable individuals, if those individuals request takedown. We routinely review takedown requests and act quickly to remove objectionable imagery.

Street View invokes mixed emotions from me; I admit a little bit of a freak out when I noticed that most of my neighborhood was mapped on Street View, then a little relief when I noticed that they didn't have MY streets mapped.  On the other hand, I'm awestruck.  The only problem that I see is when our friends in the government start using a souped up version of street view for surveillance.

 

I'm quite sure that's next unless someone at Google commits to a smackdown of that idea with the quickness.  Money does talk, though.

 

Do no evil.  Don't let me down, guys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regular Google Is Not Enough?

If it isn't, try the experimental Google search.

 

Google is always experimenting with new features aimed at improving the search experience. Take them for a spin, and let us know what you think.

I'm actually not exactly sure what this is, but I'm going to try it, anyway.  I'm an early adopter of Google products by nature.

 

Yes, I know that I haven't been posting as much lately.  I promise that I'll make it up to you.

Global Warming

Every now and then, I come across something that seems too ridiculous to be true, and I have to do a double take and reread.  Today I came across one of those items that I found so positively outlandish that I had to read it repeatedly, and I'm still having a hard time digesting it.  From Global Warming:  The World's Endangered Destinations:

 

Northwest Territories, Canada: Polar bears have become one of the more obvious victims of the impact of global warming. With about 23,000 square miles of Arctic sea ice melting every year, the bears' hunting grounds are shrinking rapidly. Some scientists predict polar bears will be extinct in the next century. 

 

What was that, again?

 

With about 23,000 square miles of Arctic sea ice melting every year...

 

23000 square miles?  Really?

 

For a sense of perspective, and with the help of Google Maps, I did a quick sanity check on exactly how big that is, and came up with this:

 

From Denver going south, go to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

From Denver, going east, drive to Kansas City, Missouri.

 

Stop.

 

That's how much Arctic ice will melt this year.

That's insane.  How can that not be an imminent threat?  How far above sea level are Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Manhattan, again?  How about Tokyo?  Or London?

 

 

 

Happy April Fools Day, Google

Those kids over at Google.  They're at it again.  Introducing Google TiSP.

 

Sick of paying for broadband that you have to, well, pay for?

Introducing Google TiSP (BETA), our new FREE in-home wireless broadband service. Sign up today and we'll send you your TiSP self-installation kit, which includes setup guide, fiber-optic cable, spindle, wireless router and installation CD. Wow, I want some!  Let's look at the FAQ. What are the system requirements? Windows XP/Vista (Mac and Linux support coming soon) Internet Explorer 6.0+ or Firefox 1.5+ with the Google Toolbar Round-front or elongated toilet providing at least 1.0 gallons per flush Use of automatic toilet bowl cleaners is not recommended Does my water company support TiSP? TiSP was developed with the support and assistance of a large number of major metropolitan water companies. A full list of companies that support TiSP is available here. If yours isn't listed, please contact them to verify their ongoing and unstinting support before you even think about signing up for TiSP service. Can I use TiSP if my home uses a septic system? Sorry, but no -- TiSP requires the use of a central sewer system to connect your home to the Internet. Uh, wait a minute.  Central sewer system? Let's look at the install. Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines. Nice.  Nice one, Google! Ah, good joke, but they had me fooled for a minute.  As long as Gmail Paper is for real, then I'm good.  From the Gmail Paper website: Is it free? Yes. The cost of postage is offset with the help of relevant, targeted, unobtrusive advertisements, which will appear on the back of your Gmail Paper prints in red, bold, 36 pt Helvetica. No pop-ups, no flashy animations—these are physically impossible in the paper medium. 36 point Helvetica?! *smacks head*

Phones: Soon To Be The Most Interesting Hardware Around

...and Apple gasped.  Unless this is all part of the Big Plan.

 

The head of Google in Spain and Portugal has confirmed that Google is working on a mobile phone. "Some of the time the engineers are dedicated to developing a mobile phone," Isabel Aguilera is quoted as saying on the Spanish-news Web site Noticias.com.

A Google spokeswoman in the United States released this statement when asked for comment: "Mobile is an important area for Google and we remain focused on creating applications and establishing and growing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide. However, we have nothing further to announce."

Google stateside has repeatedly declined to comment on rumors of a Google Phone, but the smoke has been rising lately.

That's from News.com, via Reddit.

 

Can it be true? 

What does this mean? 

Will there be a battle royale between the iPhone and the GPhone? 

My first inclination is towards suspicion.

 

Yet somewhere in the distance, an almost imperceptible but unmistakable explosion can be heard, and the nature of that sound is the first salvo in the war to win the hearts and minds of first adopters and assorted technologists everywhere. 

 

Google versus Apple.

 

The lines have been drawn.

 

 

 

 

 

and Google Said, "Let There Be Light!"

...and there was light...

 

In a speech Friday night to the Annual American Association for the Advancement of Science conference, Google co-founder Larry Page let slip with a truth we all suspected:

"We have some people at Google [who] are really trying to build artificial intelligence (AI) and to do it on a large scale…It's not as far off as people think."

Yep, you read that right, Google is trying to build real AI. The worlds most dominant online company, with the largest conglomeration of computing power the world has ever seen, is trying to build artificial intelligence, and according to Page it isn't that far away either.

Where?  901am.com.  Hat tip:  Fark.

 

Everyone, I mean, EVERYONE who has read anything about Google in the last few years, and I've made enough posts about Google for them to merit their own label, for God's sake, knew this was coming.

 

I just hope that I'm on their good side.  I think that I might be.

 

But... To Serve Man... it was a cookbook, you know.

 

 

 

Gmail For All

I haven't posted anything about Google in a while, so I thought that I'd mention that Gmail is no longer invitation only...finally .  How long have I had a gmail account, again?

 

I know Google could change their mind again, but it seems that Gmail is finally open to everyone.

If you don't live in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Japan (Gmail is already open there), go to gmail.com and see if you can create a new account.

 

Courtesy of the Google Operating System Blog.  Seriously, I have no idea where I find this stuff.  No lie there.

 

And speaking of our Googalian overlords, perusing the web yet again, my eyes briefly skimmed through a blog post by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and gym-rat-geek hero (which means that I can't help but like him):

 

In looking at Google's public technology discussions, it appears that a thin client, distributed computing future is exactly what they are expecting.

Google has created and continues to expand huge datacenters around the world. From whats been written, they contain tens, if not hundreds of thousands of processors all clustered and networked together. They are connected to each other via fiber, and are in turn connected by dark and lit fiber to every and any internet peering point they possibly can.

Its a critical distinction that they only have fiber to peering points rather than having direct access to homes. First, in a world with net neutrality, it means Google has the fastest access to common points connecting to the last mile than anyone else. More importantly, it throttles how much bandwidth they can deliver to the home. You can lead a 10mbs stream to a peering point, but you can't make the ISP drink it. Sure it will pass through, but there are no quality of service requirements at that peering point. Google can put some beautiful HD content out on their servers, and it will be perfect.. until it gets to the peering points, at which point it loses all its priority and becomes just another packet. Which is the downside of net neutrality. Google can't buy their way to having their packets given priority, so those who expect big bandwidth video to the home from Google Video... as both Google and I mentioned in this post, it aint gonna happen the way things stand today.

That said, Google is in a unique position with their datacenters and infrastructure to dominate thin client computing and everything they are doing seems to point in that direction..

 

Check out Blog Maverick.

Basically, he's saying that Google is THE WAY.  Obviously he's paying attention.

 

I'm old enough to remember when broadband was THE WAY and was going to change everything.  I remember the first time I used a Netscape browser to open my documents in a Windows operating system by mistake.  I even remember the first personal computer that I really used on a regular basis - it was a Bell and Howell computer, which then ran using an Apple operating system, pre-Mac, pre-Apple II, pre-everything.  Apple doesn't licence out anymore, but I remember using it regularly.

 

These days, though, are all about Google.  They are, quite obviously, doing things that nobody has any business doing, which I've posted about on several occasions (hint: check the Google label in the sidebar), and apparently have no qualms about continuing to go strong to the hole.

 

Google.

With great power comes great responsibility.  The world is watching.  Don't let us down.

 

Stan Lee rocks.

 

Google...Ten Years Ago

View Google on the other side through a time machine.

 

Here's a picture of what Google looked like in 1997, courtesy of the Freakonomics Blog .  Messrs. Levitt and Dubner's blog has a soft spot for me in part because I read the book and loved it, in part because I'm an economist at heart, but probably mostly because I'm a freak.

 

It's crazy how far we've come.  First, Stanford.  Next, the world.  Consider Google a lesson on how to stick with a good idea.

Google Groups

I simply must give a shout out to someone that really helped me out today.

You see, today I realized that Firefox was simply not rendering my blog correctly in Blogger.  Must I mention again that I'm an enormous Firefox, and for that matter, open source fan?  Imagine my horror.

Enter Google Groups.  Enter the Blogger Help Group.  From "wasted":

Incorrect commenting in the Stylesheet.

What?!  Isn't this in HTML?!

That's the way HTML comments are written, but NOT css comments. CSS
comments begin with /* and end with */ as the lines above it are.

Either remove that line or comment it out correctly.
/* below main changed from 410px t0 400px, sidebar changed from 210px
to 180px */

Different browsers handle errors differently, in Firefox's case, that
error causes a lot of the CSS that follows the error to not render.  

Oops.
So, for this gem of information, you wasted, and you, Google Groups, get a plug from Clark.  wasted, I wish that you had a website for me to plug.  Thanks for your help.

Google Shows Some Love to the UNCF

Not surprised.  Google has started a scholarship for African-American students.

 

As part of Google's ongoing commitment to advancing computing and technology, we're pleased to tell you that the United Negro College Fund and Google have partnered to create the UNCF/Google Scholarship Program. We hope this program will encourage students to excel in their studies, inspire them to become role models and leaders, and help remove the financial barriers for African-American students wishing to pursue an engineering degree.

 

Courtesy of the GoogleBlog.  But the deadline is October 5, so hurry, now!  Here's the info.

 

Here's the part where I say:

I hate the term "xxxxxxxxxx-American".

 

Mexican-American.

African-American.

Latino-American.

Irish-American.

Polish-American.

Chinese-American.

 

Please.  At what point do you stop using the "-American" part in your identity?  How many generations are required until you go from "Dash-American" to "American"?  Two?  One?  Five?  How ridiculous.  It's like you're an American-In-Training, or instead of being on the American Team, you're on the practice squad, because obviously you need a season or two of training, although you can travel with the rest of the squad on Sundays.  Diversity should be celebrated; however, hyphenating one's nationality or ethnicity with "American" is not the way to do it, thanks.  I never thought that was a good idea.

 

With that, I will link to this blog:  The Assimilated Negro.  Seems like I've linked to this before, but I can't remember.  I must be a Forgetful-American.

 

Expect a permanent link to follow.

 

Computer Geek-Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello, World!

Thought I'd shout out to a few places that have been visiting lately.

 

Hello to: Beijing, Morocco, Raleigh - North Carolina (hello, North Carolina State), Phoenix, Boston, Florida, Denver AND Parker, Colorado, Northern and Southern California, New York City, Germany,  Falls Church AND Herndon, Virginia (waves to the Feds), Cincinnati and Maumee, Ohio, Hong Kong, and the home of the Simpsons (pick a Springfield).  Happy 18 years!  God, that's a long time for ANY show.

 

Thanks, everybody! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...And Speaking of Google...

Ok.  Last Google post today.  But it's a Google day.

 

Guess what this week is?

 

Banned Books Week!

 

And who is celebrating?

 

Google.  Again.

 

Google Book Search is our effort to expand the universe of books you can discover, and this year we're joining libraries and bookstores across the country to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week – a nationwide initiative to help people learn about and explore banned books. You can start by browsing these 42 classics – books we couldn't be more pleased to highlight.

 

It's true.  Google never stops.  They are relentless.

 

Do yourself a favor and read some really good books today.

 

I've read 27 of those books listed.

Beat it if you can.

Googlerrifc

Wow.  These Google folks, they don't play around.

 

The Internet search juggernaut's senior vice president of engineering and research was describing a new and urgent reality facing Google. "Can you build global products with a workforce that is only in Mountain View, California?" Eustace asked, posing a rhetorical question to the several dozen assorted Wall Street types in attendance, some of whom were dozing off as he spoke. "The answer is, no you can't. The technical talent that we need to solve the next generation of problems in search does not all live in Mountain View, California."

Eustace left out the part about the 300,000 square feet of space that Google plans to occupy in the heart of the city. It's a poorly kept secret that the company will soon open a huge new office and networking facility at 111 Eighth Avenue. Google's new base in the city will dump a sizable influx of Google employees into the social and professional environment of Chelsea and the West Village.

 

Where found?  The Village Voice.  Ah, Voice.  It's been too long, indeed.

 

No, folks, I swear that Google isn't building Skynet.

 

But I bet that they will build the biggest computer network in the world.

 

Just a guess.

 

Where can I get a chip for my brain?

 

 

 

 

 

Googleberg

That's a mashup of Google and The Gutenberg Project, in case you were wondering.

 

Imagine those two in cahoots.  Especially now.

 

Now Web users can use Google's powerful servers not only to look up words in the Dickens novel, but also to download a copy -- a process that can take anywhere from a few seconds to about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the book and the speed of the user's Internet connection. The book arrives as a set of scanned images from a printed copy of the book, and some include original drawings, library markings and notes jotted in the margins by previous borrowers. Google Book Search's copy of ``A Tale of Two Cities" was scanned from a copy printed in 1908 by the University Society. A rubber stamp on an inner page indicates that the original book was obtained by the Harvard College Library in 1942.

Google won't say how many books are currently in its index. But with the ability to scan books at six of the world's biggest libraries, Google's library of public domain titles could surpass that of the Gutenberg Project, which contains about 16,000 titles.

When was the last time that I linked to the Boston Globe?  Never?  That's what I thought.  Strange, that.

 

For now, the Google Book Search service offers full downloads only of ``public domain" books, whose copyrights have expired. These include many of the most famous titles of all time, such as the writings of Dickens , Shakespeare , and Dante.

 

Why, thanks again, Google.  Also thanks to the good people at Project Gutenberg, who I should probably put a permanent link to somewhere.  Why, I just downloaded Dante's Inferno today (no, not as a roadmap).  However, as you can see from the article, Yahoo and Microsoft are teaming up to create an alternative book download service.  Oh no!  Can Google succeed?

 

With all due respect to this movie:

 

Prince Microsoft:  Your Google is dead.  I killed it myself.

Princess Buttercup:  Then why is there fear beneath your eyes?

 

Indeed.

 

 

 

 

Google Checkout - Paypal Competition?

Competition for Paypal?  Surely this must be a good thing.

 

Internet search engine giant Google has announced a system to pay over the internet in an attempt to become an even more prominent player in internet shopping.

The widely anticipated move puts it in direct competition with one of its largest advertisers, the auction website eBay, which owns leading internet payment service PayPal. The system, called Google Checkout, allows consumers to buy things over the web without constantly having to enter their account details.

Grabbed via Telegraph.co.uk.

 

Verrry interesting.  But I wanted more info.  So I went to the source:

 

One cool feature of Google Checkout is that you can buy from stores with a single Google login – no more entering the same info each time you buy, and no more having to remember different usernames and passwords for each store. To help you find places to shop, you'll see a little icon on the Google.com ads of stores offering Google Checkout. It's an easy way to identify fast, secure places to shop when you search. And after you've placed your order, Google Checkout provides a purchase history where you can track your orders and shipping information in one place.

Because we see big benefits for shoppers as the service grows, our immediate priority is to help more online stores join Jockey, Starbucks Store, Levi's, Dockers, Buy.com, Timberland, Zales, and others to offer Checkout on their sites. To keep website integration simple, we've built a range of integration alternatives such as cut and paste buy buttons, pre-integrated ecommerce partner offerings, and an API that supports more advanced integration.

 

That's the Official Google Blog, by the way.

Sounds cool.

When I get a chance to actually use it, I'll get back to you.  I'm not sure it's a Paypal killer, but it certainly sounds like it could have some interesting applications in the future.

 

What can't Google do, anyway?

 

Personally, I think they're on the verge of building the Planentary AC, but that's just me. 

Big props to whoever actually gets that reference.

 

 

 

Advanced Googlish

Lately, I've had the urge to find very specific information quickly.  Who wants to dig through acres of websites to find what it is that they want via the wonderful Google?

 

Not me.

 

Well, here's better Google searching for you.

 

Google (and many other search engines) has the ability not only to search on keywords, but also using a more "database-ish" query language to really narrow down your search results. Below is a summary of a few of the most useful lesser known features.

 

Hello, Cyberwyre.  Thanks be to Furl.

 

I suggest - no, insist - that people catch up on this.  Read this post.  Feast on the key information contain within.  Then, print the article contained at the site.  It will make your Google searching easier, quicker, and more productive.  Then you won't have to ask your Friendly Neighborhood Search Expert.

 

Excelsior!

...that was for the ubergeeks.  Nothing to see here, all you normal people.