The Revision Bar

It's Victo Spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Happy Victo Spring everybody! Today marks the day when we flip the calendar from the dark days of February into March, and thus begins our rush towards the official arrival of Spring. It's been a long uphill battle since the days when the winds first turned cold and the days got shorter.

Congratulations! You've made it!

Tonight also marks the third annual Victo Spring celebration dinner. Pictures of the event will be posted here as they become available.

For more on what Victo Spring is all about, read about it here.

The Legend of Victo Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:41:00 +0000

As a kid there were times of the year I loved. I loved the Spring and Summer, with the warm winds blowing and tons of outdoor opportunities. Perfect weather for a day-long bike ride, a leisurely walk or a family barbeque.

The Winter was another story. Since I lived in New York which got its fair share of snow, winter was the flip side of summer in every way. Outside activities consisted of trudging through snow and trying not to fall on the icy driveways and sidewalks. Exercise consisted of shoveling or snow blowing all that snow, with only the occasional bit of sleigh-riding to actually enjoy it.
The temperatures drop so low you gasp every time you step outside. You learned to combine trips outside to do more than one thing. Go outside to get the newspaper in the morning? No way. Better to wait and grab it later on your way out.

Yes, winter life can be harsh. But it's never harsher than the months of January to March. Those are the deadest months of all, that grey zone where there's not much going on and people all over are simply trying to hang on, to look forward, and wait. Wait until things warm up and thaw out. In short, they're waiting for Spring.

As a kid, I was no different. I waiting for Spring more fervently than anything else. To me Spring meant a return to freedom. Freedom to go outside, have fun and get back on the bike. Get back in the pool. Get back to life. The life that seemed to get put on hold when the mercury dropped in November and the snow started flying.

However, there was a problem. The calenders seemed to mock me. I would open up my new calendar to January and see a snowy scene, maybe left over from the Holidays. Snow, ice, trees. Fine. I lived with that for a month. No big deal since the scene outside matched what was on the calendar. Then, a month later I'd flip the page to February. Another cold scene. This time it would usually be a house, village or person in a snowy, cold environment. The message? "It's February and it's STILL cold." I would grimace since my own situation had not changed.

Then, it happened. I reached the end of February. The very next day, March 1, I flipped the calendar page to March. Suddenly, like Dorothy opening up her black and white door into the technicolor world of Oz there it was: a beautiful Spring picture. A sunny sky and green grass framing some gorgeous scene. Sometimes it was a mountain, sometimes a family playing in the yard. It was beautiful. Warm. Inviting.

I stared at it in disbelief. Surely these calendar makers weren't serious? Outside my window was still snow and ice. It hadn't gone away overnight despite the calendar transitioning from February to March. Spring hadn't suddenly arrived today just because the calendar page was flipped and we were suddenly in March, right?

And then it hit me: It should have.

Yes, in my teenage reasoning I came upon it: since the calendars all have a nice Spring scene on it for March, and since Spring really does arrive later in that month, we needed something to commemorate that in-between period. The disparity between what the calendar picture shows and what's really outside.

And thus I created my own holiday. Victo Spring.

To be fair I started out simply referring it to as "early spring" or "my spring", both of which drew curious stares from people who overheard it. Some offered to teach me about the lunar cycle and the seasons. Others just shook their heads. But the reality of it was this: Spring was imminent. We had taken the first step by making it into March and flipping that calendar page, whose picture revealed a change was taking place. Although not there yet on March 1, it nonetheless indicated that there was a big warmup heading our way.

Over the years I got older, got wiser, but never let go of my holiday which had now become known as Victo Spring. I carried it with me and little by little mentioned it to other people. I mentioned it to my wife who at first thought it was hilarious. She eventually warmed up to it when she realized I wouldn't let it go. When we had children I made sure they were indoctrined from a young age. It became a family tradition; sometimes mocked, sometimes applauded, and sometimes just a curiosity.

But then an interesting thing happened. It started to take hold. My wife and kids mentioned it to their friends. The network of people who knew about it started to grow exponentially. Other friends heard about it and began asking questions. I dutifully explained it all to them and they smiled. They all seemed to like it. They said that over the years they too had grown tired of waiting for Spring to arrive. They liked the idea of Victo Spring and they embraced it themselves.

Victo Spring became the preeminent way of heralding the imminent arrival of Spring.

So much so that a few years ago they asked me, "How is it celebrated?"

And at first I had no clue. I had always just flipped the calendar on March 1st, done a little Spring dance (it's not pretty) and went along my way. That was the earliest Victo Spring celebration.
But now people were asking to take it to the next level. Surely there must be something we can do to celebrate the arrival of March and Victo Spring?

And so three years ago we started our annual Victo Spring celebration dinner. It always occurs on March 1, which is of course the actual arrival of Victo Spring. We open it up to all, and we go out to a Hudson Valley restaurant, pretty much take it over completely, and have ourselves a great time. We have dinner, swap stories, get re-acquainted with friends we may not have seen in a while. It's a way to usher in Spring and get some social activity back in your life. Many people have told me that after a long, cold, possibly snowy winter, they love the idea of an annual initiation to Spring ceremony, almost as though we're holding it to invite the Spring winds and warmer weather to arrive. In short, it's just what some people need.

I invite you to embrace Victo Spring too. Embrace the fact that Winter is coming to an end and Spring is headed your way. Consider this your wake-up call: the Spring equinox is coming. And things are definitely heating up.

Picture This: No More Kodak Cameras

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:33:00 +0000

It was my first. I picked her up from a local store since I had heard good things and the price was right. I couldn't believe the concept: a camera that used no film and hooked up to a computer to show the pictures. It seemed like the whole Polaroid instant film concept taken dangerously far into the technology realm.

It was the Kodak DC-215. It was my first digital camera.

No, it wasn't the best I ever had. That honor still goes to my Olympus C740-UZ, with it's 10x zoom and amazing depth of field. The DC-215 wasn't even the most reliable, as anyone who had one back in the day can attest. It's one big weakness? The battery tray. It had a habit of not staying shut and popping open at the worst time, splaying your batteries all over the floor of wherever you were: your home, front lawn, Disney World, etc. However, it had the distinction of being the first, for me and I'm guessing for a fair number of people. It ushered me into the new world of digital photography, with better than average picture quality and a seemingly unlimited number of pictures. And with that in mind it was perfect that the company that delivered this was Kodak, a company whose name was synonymous with photography. When you think cameras, Kodak comes to mind.

But no more. This is the year that Kodak will halt production on it's cameras. As in: it's not going to be in the camera business anymore. At all. Period. Oh, and did I mention that Kodak invented the entire concept of digital cameras? Well, it did. And now it shutting down because it can't compete in the industry it created.
Competition from other manufacturers, as well as modern-day camera integration into all cell phones, has battered this former industry leader. Unable to eke out a living in their own industry, they're shutting down.

Not to bemoan the subject, but what kind of a world is it where the Kodak company exists but doesn't make cameras and doesn't make film? A strange world indeed. Perhaps at some point it will come back as a niche or upscale offering, with a luxury camera that appeals to die-hard professionals or techies. But until then, since it can no longer compete in the consumer space, it's time to wave goodbye to the last of the Kodak cameras. By the end of this calendar year they'll be nothing more than a sizable piece of history. And hopefully, that history will contain pictures captured by Kodak cameras.

Why February is Cause for Optimism

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:39:00 +0000

Traditionally thought of as the darkest, coldest month, in fact February is one of the most positive months for change. There's lots to like: the days get noticeably longer, with the sun staying around later in the day postponing sunset until a more reasonable hour. Think about it: during the dreaded January it's truly the dark days -- it's pitch black by 4:30 pm. 4:30 pm! That's the time for a coffee-break, not lights out. In February, whether people realize it or not (and usually we don't) much is done to rectify this. Truthfully this started in mid- to late-January but it kicks in big time in February. Starting as early as Feb. 1, the days stretch out until at least 5 pm and that's just for starters, as each day another minute or two is added to the day. By the time the end of February hits, daylight doesn't end until a more respectable 5:45 pm, or shortly before most people are thinking about dinner.

Another good thing February has going for it: it's the last full month of Winter. February is what I call a Countdown Month, where it's 28 days of waiting for us to get to March and the imminent arrival of Spring. There is the sense among lots of people that they can survive X number of days to get to March. After all, they've survived this long, since November, then December and the arrival of the winter solstice on December 21. They rationalize they can probably make it 28 more days. And, although Spring doesn't hit until March 20, there is some sense of relief when you flip the calendar to March. As if you're helping hasten the arrival of Spring. As if it's really coming. And so, February is the conduit, or countdown, to that. Don't believe me? Open almost any calendar and look at January. Snowy picture. Winter scene. Flip to February. Pretty much the same. Different location. More snow. More cold. Now brace yourself as you flip to March. It's almost always a beautiful Spring scene. It's getting you ready. It's almost here.

This is the big pay off from February. And it's glorious. And starting today, it gets underway. Enjoy. Let the countdown begin.

RIM's Spiral to Oblivion

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:09:00 +0000

I can almost hear the announcer now: "Hang tight -- this is going to be a fast ride from this point on." While it may seem like this is referring to some theme-park ride in fact it's not. It's a ride of a different sort, and all of us have been on it for a while, but it's going downhill. Fast.

We're talking of course about Research In Motion (RIM). The company that helped create and usher in the modern smartphone device (I'd credit RIM and Palm with starting the whole movement collectively, and Apple for making it mainstream). They really were first to market with the concept of an always-connected device. At that time it was a 2-way pager with a keyboard. People could page or message you and you could send text messages back. Sound familiar? Kind of like what we do everyday with our cell phones and SMS text messages? Well in 1999 it wasn't so familiar. In fact it was new and novel. Emergency workers, doctors, and then IT professionals flocked to the device. CEOs and management-types too. It was the most-loved device in the world, and it carried that title proudly for years.

Then came the challengers to the throne. Those that thought they could do what RIM did, but in a phone. Palm was first, initially with the Palm VII which had an antenna for two-way communication. They then followed up with their expansion into cell phone/PDA combinations by introducing the Treo phones.

None of this was especially good news for RIM, but in a competitive market you have to be ready for people trying to emulate your success and take your market share. Throughout all of Palm's advances, RIM held their own. There was something that the company had that others didn't: some form of coolness, of cachet, of being an innovator. It was very similar to what we now attribute to Apple. They quietly did their thing, coming out with new products, slightly new form factors, and proceeding cautiously and conservatively. This turned out to be a double-edged sword as it initially helped keep their established fan base but also proved to be it's undoing as others came out with new solutions, new products and better ways of doing things.

And this is where Apple came in and changed everything with the introduction of their first iPhone in 2007. From that point on RIM was stuck trying to play catch up, as their industry-leading device and platform suddenly began to look very, very, old. Compared to the iPhone's usability and operating system, the Blackberry with it's non-touch screen and trackball looked either quite cute and old-fashioned or downright ancient. One by one users began to migrate to the iPhone. Then, as the iPhone began adding specific apps, corporations began to see how it could replace and even improve upon, the Blackberry. When Google introduced their Android operating system in 2007 it may as well have been one of the final nails in Blackberry's coffin. Now there were two major smartphone platforms, each significantly better and more robust than the Blackberry.

Late in the game attempts to catch up weren't met with much success either. You have to give RIM points for the attempt, but with such product introductions as the Blackberry Storm, with it's problem-laden click-screen that you have to believe was rushed to market, then later with the Blackberry Playbook, a tablet device which didn't even have calendar and email functions, you have to see that they were floundering. The business version of thowing up your hands in despair and taking a few last hail mary shots, hoping one of them will stick.

Hard to believe that only two and a half years ago, already battling both the iPhone and Android, in August 2009 Fortune Magazine named RIM as the fastest growing company in the world. If we had to put a definitive mark of demarcation on RIM's lifeline, it would have to be here. It's decline from this point has been swift. But then again, that's what this whole technology sector is about, right? Change. Disruptive. Competitive. You blink and everything's change. And everything has indeed changed for RIM.

Which brings us to today. RIM, still alive but on life support, is still trying new strategies. They've recently shown their two CEOs to the door, and appointed a new one. While it remains to be seen what kind of life he can re-inject into the company, things aren't looking good. Not when you consider that everything that's done from this point on is being watched very closely for signs of further troubles or a miraculous turnaround. The latest ad strategy doesn't seem to help very much. Users want fresh, new devices. They want leading-edge applications. They want devices which are easy to use. And, while the world does indeed seem to love superheroes, I'm not sure this is the tactic RIM should be taking.

It remains to be seen if RIM can pull this off, but I have to say this PR campaign seems misguided.

It's Winter!

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:28:00 +0000

Feign your mock-happiness here.

Oh, it's not all that bad. Winter is technically the time some very good things happen: there's some major holidays (Christmas, Hannukah, New Years) and all the parties that ensue (that's a good thing, right?) For some families they even invite a fat man in a red suit to come into the house in the middle of the night withthe vague hope that he'll leave presents (I know - scary, right?). There's the comaraderie among friends and family and the general well-wishing. Some folks even like the cold weather and the different sports and activities it offers, like skiing and sleigh riding. See also: pelting your family member with snowballs.
Oh, who are we kidding? Winter is barely tolerable. It's cold, it's miserable, and the time change that occurred in November will have everyone going stir crazy by the time March comes. At least you can do things without the humidity. That's a plus. We're just going to have to make it through this.

While we're discussing the seasonal change to winter, here's some sites that explain it in more detail. Enjoy. Stay warm and celebrate.

Daylight Savings Time

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0000

A great explanation, tongue in cheek at times but on the whole quite accurate, of Daylight Savings Time: it's origins, ramifications and usefulness in our current world. Recommended.
http://blog.cgpgrey.com/daylight-saving-time-explained/

And change those clocks today, if you live in one of the affected areas.

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Happy Halloween!

Is This the New Windows Explorer?

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:44:00 +0000

Techcruch today has a story on a mock-up that looks like an updated Windows Explorer. Only one problem: it looks nothing like any version of Windows Explorer ever released. While most die-hard Windows users can readily admit that Windows Explorer was in dire need of new features (witness the plethora of third party makers like Explorer++ and PowerDesk that are quite popular) a facelift certainly wasn't one of them. In fact, Microsoft seems to have done the unimaginable: taken the basic workhorse but quite fine interface of Windows Explorer and given it the (gasp) Microsoft Office interface treatment. The bastards! It's almost as if they want to annoy their users or reduce productivity. Maybe both.
Personally, this looks like something that was overthought. Too many buttons, too many features, all displayed on the GUI. Designed by Committee perhaps, or maybe a small team gone wild. In any event, it's certainly not a great interface and does not help the user do their job or easily perform their tasks. And make no mistake: these are things a well-designed interface should do.

Read the full details and see it for yourself.

Putting up a Paywall.

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:47:00 +0000

Couldn't resist. Something in this reminded me of The Revision Bar.

Is abandoning your blog the new "it" thing?

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:11:00 +0000

The Revision Bar has a long history behind it, dating back to the 1990s. Content creation was no problem in the early years. The Internet was in full swing and there was no shortage of new sites, new topics, and new inventions. Most of them found their way onto the main page of this site, along with witty commentary.

Longevity is an odd thing and is only good for the specific time period of which the item is being assessed. Most of the time this site has been going, there had been plenty of content and new items being added on a regular basis. The last two years or so, as other opportunities have emerged, that flow has diminished. Trickled even. Slowed to a drop this year in particular.

This is of interest because it seems to be a phenomenon that happens to most bloggers at some point. We leave old blogs scattered throughout the net like used cars on the side of the road; abandoned, apparently unwanted. It's typical to hear a blogger rattle off the lists of their old blogs with a laugh. Left behind, nothing more now than a reference point on the list of things they've written.

However, there's also a movement to keep these blogs alive; to revive them and ensure that the site remains relevant and flush with new content. After all, if it was a worthy idea when the site was first created, it may well merit further investment and content. Sometimes tweaking is in order, so that the new site better serves the designs and needs of present day. Often it's these changes, that take considerable time and effort, that originally made their owners abandon them in favor of new sites to start with. But after some time passes, the lure of the old familiar site returns to their mind and makes them think about it anew. One recent example is a site called Foldedspace. They've outlined their history quite well, how the site fell into decline and their plans to revive it. In this endeavor we wish them the very best of luck and hope that other blogs, long left for greener pastures, find their writers returning to dust off their dashboards and resurrect an old friend. Abandoned sites may well have some life left after all, and serve their audience better when the writers are still minding the store.

And perhaps there is hope for the Revision Bar as well.

Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:46:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day

For all those with someone to share it with, enjoy today (to all the rest: sorry, but you're not alone. There's enough grousing on the web today to waste tons of your time -- and by then the day will be over. See? Problem solved). For those wondering where this god-awful cards and flowers holiday came from in the first place, a quick Wikipedia scan shows that it originated from Christian martyrs, then evolved into a day where lovers profess their affection for one other. Bonus points if you can establish the thread that ties those two together (we've tried and our heads hurt). In the spirit of helping out, CNN has tips on how to avoid the holiday, and Gizmodo has a list of some Valentine Day disasters. Check it out to see if your experiences make you worse off than others, or if you've gotten off easy.
And, for those that want to eschew Valentine's Day but still have a laugh, check out Star Wars Valentines. Chewbacca is one hairy valentine.

NORAD and Santa Claus

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:15:00 +0000

A great story on how NORAD, the top-secret military installation got involved first with Santa Claus (you can blame Sears for that) and then with tracking the big guy while he does his job on Christmas morning.

Personally, we love the idea of the Santa Cam network.

How We're Killing the Newspaper

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:24:00 +0000

It's a growing trend: move more information online and remove it from the location it's been traditionally published. We've been seeing this more and more lately. It started with catalogs, which seemed like the best fit for the internet. You could look at the items and shop anytime. However, then came something more near and dear to many people's hearts, the television listings. We all know they're available online, and that's great when you're working and want to plan out your evening and see what's going to be on. However, when you're in your living room in front of the TV, and you want to see what's on now, don't you really want to grab the television section of your Sunday newspaper and just look it up? For those people that don't have Guide-enabled TVs, and don't have Tivo or any other on-screen directory listing, the Sunday TV section was the mainstay of their television experience, the trusted friend that shared couch space but never grabbed for the chips nor balked at the channel selection. But no more. It's been axed long ago, in just about every major newspaper and many smaller ones. Readers were urged to "check their local listings online", never mind that there's still a large contingent of (mainly older) folks that wouldn't know how to navigate to tvguide.com if they had to.

Now another blow has been delivered to these same folks: the removal of the movie theater's listings from the newspaper. In a recent story that shows the progression of this, it's detailed that papers are pulling the movie listings mainly because of one thing: they never had any control over it in the first place. Rather than the community service most folks assumed it to be (after all, movie listings had always existed in the paper) it was instead something very different: it was a paid advertisement put there by either the theaters or the movie studio in general. That being the case, the financial environment lately has necessitated lots of cost-cutting measures, and this was one of them. Apparently the movie theaters and studios think that they're already reaching most of their potential audience members via the internet.

But are they? According to recent statistics, internet usage has indeed grown to encompass the majority of the country, sitting at 74.7% as of this year. While this may initially seem to back up the action to move more data online and remove it from newspapers, consider this: that leaves 25% who don't use the internet. Or, to put it another way, a full quarter of our population. We all know who they are; they're our grandparents, maybe even our parents. They're aunt Sophie who's the nicest person you'll ever meet but never got into computers. They're the guy down the street who stubbornly refuses most technology. They're also the guy who spent years in the technology field during his career, and now shuns all high-tech gadgetry as a way to get back at the career he spent so long toiling at, a kind of middle finger as he collects his pension. These are the people who are being left out, now robbed of their ability to flip open the newspaper to see what movies are playing.

This move also pushes us more and more into the mobile internet territory. While the newspaper used to deliver all this data to us everyday, and it was totally portable and able to be accessed from just about everywhere (i.e., you could buy a newspaper in just about every town, big or small, in the country) now that data is being pushed online with certain expectations. The expectation is that you'll be able to access it, not only from your computer and your easy-chair, but from wherever you are, via your internet-enabled phone. That's right, this is the final piece of the puzzle, the cell phone. As cell phones become more like smartphones, and everybody has one with a data plan, it's expected that we'll all be able to get to this data that's been ripped from the newspaper and plunked online. It's expected that you can get your movie listings, sports scores, weather, and television listings anywhere, at any time, from your phone. While this might certainly leave out the same non-participants we listed before, that list certainly grows shorter when you're dealing with a cell phone. After all, grandma might not have any interest in computers or the internet, but she does have a cell phone in that purse of hers, and certainly someone could show her how to retrieve basic internet from it, even if it's not from a web browser but instead by something like Google SMS, which will return internet data to you in a text message. See, there's many sneaky ways to get the data you need, and not all of them involve a browser. But more and more lately, none involve a newspaper.

And when you put all that together, along with the decline in advertiser dollars in newspapers across the country, and the overall decline in their subscription base, you've got the perfect storm for the decline of the American newspaper, set out to pasture by the arrival of the internet and your cell phone.

MI6 Boss's Identity Revealed on Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:11:00 +0000

For those using social networks, especially twitter, URL shorteners have become a way of life and a staple of their tool set. They allow long URLs to be pasted into status and messages using a minimum of characters. While there are many services to choose from, there's inherit risks involved, so be careful what you click on. It is interesting that there is money to be made in this space, due to all the demand, and that's a bit more than some of the other services can say. Twitter has yet to make any real money, although they say they're working on it.

Meanwhile, who knew social networking had a dangerous side to it? Sure, there's always the risk that you'll say something that offends, or that the high schoolers out there will post - ahem - inappropriate photos, but that was largely the extent of it. However, consider the case of the head of MI6 (that's 007's boss for all your James Bond fans out there) who's wife ousted his identity on Facebook. Wow, all those spy movies were right; you really can't trust anyone!

Guerilla Drive Ins

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:58:00 +0000

Summertime; just the mention of the word brings images to the mind and an almost uncontrollable smile to the face. One of the great traditions of past summers is the drive in, which has all but vanished from the landscape these days. Sure, there's still some around, but nowhere near the amount there used to be. That's why some enthusiastic people, eager to relive this experience, have set up their own. This may in fact be the beginning of the open-source drive-in. We wonder if there's also an open-source popcorn movement.

Meanwhile, what says summertime more succinctly than going to that drive-in on your new motorcycle? Even if you did get it at Best Buy, that is.

Unlimited Coffee Time

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Ever feel like you're overstaying your welcome when you grab a coffee at Starbucks and then stay there for hours while you whittle away the afternoon? Ever had (or feared) the barista coming up to you and escorting you out because some unseen timer expired and you exceeded your limit? Well, fear no more. Starbucks is proclaiming you can stay as long as you want. We're still not sure how the while "free" wifi works though. According to the story, "Customers (with Starbucks cash cards) get two hours for nothing". Is this just one of their re-loadable cards, and who's checking?

While you're sipping your coffee enjoying your unlimited wifi (or two hours, whichever it really is), check out one of Esquire magazine's best albums, one that every man should own, Van Halen's Fair Warning. But hey, don't feel excluded -- this is also for the ladies out there, since Diamond Dave always was a ladies man. Queue it up and enjoy it, but be ready for the opening track, 'cause it's rough and fantastic.

iPhone Artwork and Breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:35:00 +0000

So who says you can't create artwork using anything but Photoshop? Bah, we say -- check out this New Yorker cover created by the iPhone. Well okay, it was created on an iPhone by a real human, but it's still very good. Come to think of it, maybe the iPhone just kicked in some artificial intelligence and did this all by itself? Now that would be a story.

We've now recommended something for you to read, and to complete your breakfast we suggest you go to McDonalds for an egg mcmuffin. Specifically the one in Chicago, where they'll let you know in no uncertain terms when it's ready.

The Smartphone Soccer Mom has No Privacy

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:15:00 +0000

It's been a while since we've talked about Smartphones, but meanwhile they've kept chuggin' along in sales. So much so that they're the single hottest category in cell phones right now, due to their growth. While normal cell phone subscribers seems to have just about peaked, with seemingly every citizen of every country carrying one, the hottest market is the upsell to smartphones. Heck, now there's reports that soccer moms are one of the largest groups now flocking to smartphones, using the devices to keep track of their broods and their business. Technology's great when it lets you actually achieve your goals. Take that Microsoft, with your endless security patches and driver updates; I'll get my info from my phone, thank you kindly.

While these moms, and everyone else, are busy using their smartphones, they're not just checking calendars and schedules. They're twittering, facebooking, and using all the usual social networking their data plans can handle. There's reports now that twitter may have to adapt to survive, or be sacrificed completely to pave the way for what comes next. This seems doubtful, but it very well may adapt, and even become more mobile-central. There's also reports that past fan-favorite Myspace may be making an offer for iLike.com, which would combine two powerhouses in the online music / social networking world.

Meanwhile, all this data being funneled through your cell phone means a bottle-neck of one thing: your privacy. With all that data coming through one pipe and one provider (whatever cell company you use) some are saying that this could be the end of privacy.

Fun and a Little Weird - Amazon and Zappos

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:50:00 +0000

It's just been announced that Amazon and Zappos have joined forces. It will no doubt be considered a buyout, but it's an all-stock deal that enables Amazon to help Zappos expand it's brand. As the economy continues it's belt-tightening, expect to see more deals like this. The recent renewed talks between Microsoft and Yahoo (yeah, that tired old story again) just underscore this, and show that to survive, many of the top companies must buddy up and marshal their defenses. In truth, this latest rumor doesn't have Microsoft buying Yahoo as previous rumors this past winter, just an arrangement for a search deal. And wouldn't that make Bing just that much sweeter?

Animation on the Edge

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:00:00 +0000

So Spider-Man has had a rough time of it lately. Last year his beloved Aunt May almost died, and he made a very controversial deal with the devil to keep her alive. What really happened is he mucked with the time continuum, such that she never died, but other people didn't either. Harry Osborn, most notably. Also, his marriage to Mary Jane never existed. Wow. Brand New Day indeed. Anyway, lately he's gotten into trouble for some borderline risque pictures in a collection found in a school library. Whoops, that little deal you made didn't erase that, now did it?

And far far away on the sexy scale, we find evidence of George Lucas having a bit o' fun with his characters in a Disney world. However, we do not want to see Mini in Leia's slave girl outfit. No, no no.

Windows 7 Deals

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:23:00 +0000

Calling all deal hunters: you've only got a few days to score a great deal on the next version of Windows, so-far going by the catchy moniker Windows 7. Apparently there's half-price deals to be had at Amazon and Best Buy, but you've gotta shell out the money for 'em by July 11. Still not a big deal, and a great chance to save some money and not give it to Bill Gates. He won't miss it, trust us. There's also a chance you could get it for free if you're enterprising enough. Get to work people, we need to get out of this mess Vista got us into. By all accounts, it looks as though Windows 7 just may be up to the challenge.

Also, when you finally get that shiny new OS, here's some helpful-hints for why you should always think twice before you send that nasty email (use Google's mail goggles if you must), and how to digitize your life and get rid of clutter.

The Google OS

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Google's plans have always been ambitious, but they've recently stepped up their game in a big way. No longer content to have your email, documents, calendar, credit card info, and all the rest of your personal info and computing attention, now they're setting their sites on the final frontier: the entire operating system. In what can only be explained as supreme power-play, and a credible threat to Microsoft, Google apparently wants to control it all. The new operating system will be built around their Chrome web browser; apps will be hosted by Google, and will be centrally served from Google's servers, working in the browser. Fixes, updates, and such will all be handled directly at the source (Google's own servers, in the same way that updates to Gmail, documents, and all the rest of Google's properties happen). The advantages to this are enormous, but it remains to be seen if this setup will be robust enough for real work.
At it's heart, this will likely be a resurrection of the networked thin-client which was so heavily hyped in the mid 1990s.

It didn't work then.

But this is Google. And it's going to be one heck of a ride.

Two Gone, One Out of Beta

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:57:00 +0000

Things on the internet change all the time. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. If you were a fervent user of Geocities or Yahoo 360, chances are you're in the latter category, as those sites have been dropped. Killed. Left behind, like 10-mile stragglers during the latter stages of a marathon.

Geocities is perhaps the one to lament during this; it was the one site that truly hearkened back to the origins of the user-generated web. It was one of the first sites where anyone could set up shop, grab some online real estate, and start writing to their heart's content. Although not specifically credited with it, it was probably the originator of the blogging c0ncept, as that's what most of the sites actually were. The Heartland/Hills neighborhood (all the pages in Geocities were subdivided into neighborhoods, which gave Geocities citizens a way to relate to this new online paradigm, and also organize it's content) was where The Revision Bar started out, and we'll always have a fondness for it, even though it's now been digitally razed. Heck, we can't even go and pay homage to the parking lot where it used to be, as it's all just digital bits, and they've been returned from whence they came.

Yahoo 360 comes as less of a surprise, although it too was a nice service that's being discontinued. To be fair though, all the functions are all just being moved over to Yahoo Profiles.

But here's some actual good news: Google's Apps, including Gmail, are now officially out of beta. At last. It's only been, what, years?

Firefox 3.5

noreply@blogger.com (Victo) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:51:00 +0000

Today is Firefox 3.5 day, when the beast is finally unleashed to the world. According to the specs, it's faster and has a host of new improvements; the trouble is, how has it kept up with it's competition? And no, we're not talking about Internet Explorer...