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Bicycle Laws: Keeping You in Your Car

02-Apr-07

Now that Spring is approaching, I figured it would be a good time for me to yank the good ‘ol bicycle off the rack and put those good ‘ol fashioned pedal powered wheels in motion. The destination? My local gym. My thinking was that I would save myself some miles on my car, some gas, and the hassles of parking by simply riding my bike to and from the gym. And that is what I did .. until I got pulled over.

Today, while doing my not-so-daily trek from the gym, I was stopped by two bicycle cops. Serious! The problem? Well there were a few … lets take a glance at them:

  1. Crossing-over. I was riding in the bike lane. The light was green, but the walk sign was red. As I approached the intersection I swayed into the cross-walk lane (to give myself some distance from the traffic) and went through the green light (red walk sign). Apparently that was bad. According to the cop, I have to be either in the bike lane (following car traffic signals), or in the pedestrian lane (following pedestrian signals). I cannot pick and choose. Sounds a bit picky, but I kind of understand; I guess.
  2. No bike helmet. Pretty self-explanatory. I always thought bicycle helmets were an option?
  3. Listening to iPod. I only had one headphone in, but according to the good ‘ol police man, that was a no-no. What is strange is that it would have been OK if it was a hands-free set connected to my phone. Sounds a bit unreasonable to me.
  4. No reflector lights. I am supposed to have one “white” light on the front of my bike, and one “red” reflector light on the back. This all occurred during the daylight, but they figured they’d mention it anyway.

The end result, a fine of $81 for each offense. Sounds a bit ridiculous to me. I can’t believe each of those carries a fine of $81, so I checked. According to the City of Kent website on Bicycle Safety:

  • Always ride on the right side of the road in the same direction as traffic.
  • Try to use bicycle lanes.
  • If you must ride on a sidewalk for safety-you must be courteous to walkers.
  • Watch traffic closely for turning cars or cars pulling out of driveways.
  • Stop at all stop signs and obey traffic (red) lights just as cars do.
  • Be careful at intersections.
  • Always walk your bike across busy intersections using the crosswalk and following traffic signals.
  • When riding with friends, always ride single file.
  • Never change directions or change lanes without first looking behind you and using the correct hand signals.
  • If you ride your bike after dark you must have reflectors on your bike and a working headlight.
  • Only one person should be on a bike at a time. DO NOT have a friend sit on the seat behind you or on the handle bars.

And from the City of Kent’s official City Code:

A. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall have committed a traffic infraction punishable by a monetary penalty in the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25).

Hmmm, $81 sure is a long ways away from $25. Easy mistake I guess. And I couldn’t find any information regarding riding with headphones in, but I didn’t really do that thorough of a search. I guess lucky for me I was let off with a warning. It’s sad, but needless to say that will probably be my last trip to the gym via pedal power. I guess that is what I get for trying to be active. Grrr.

Do these bicycle laws sound a bit absurd to anyone else, or is just me?

[Update: 2007.04.08] I got a few questions regarding my ticket, or lack thereof. To be clear, I did not get a ticket, merely a warning. The ticket ‘would’ have been $81 for each offense.

Filed in Cultural, Health, Political | | Comments (3) »

The 5 Flaws Of Discussing Black Folks

21-Feb-07

It is Black History Month, and with that it is inevitable that some conversations pertaining to black people and black culture are going to take place. In the past I have seen, and participated in, my fair share of those conversations. And through them all I have noticed that they all seem to suffer from 5 major flaws. The flaws are committed by both sides of the discussion (blacks and whites), and present in nearly every discussion I have ever heard. With that in mind, my intention is to bring them to light, determine why they occur, and help individuals avoid committing them in the future.

    1. [The problem with blacks is they have no good black leaders.]
    This comment is offered frequently as the reason why blacks still struggle. It is also typically followed by statements about either Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton as examples of poor black leaders. This is all arguably true, but should not be accepted without first realizing why there are currently no strong black leaders.

    Positive black leaders get silenced. There are no influential (aka positive) black leaders in America because so far in history all influential black men have been killed or imprisoned. All of them. Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Huey P. Newton, Tupac Shakur, etc, etc. All of them were jailed and/or killed, and all of them were positive black leaders. Now whether or not the previous mentioned is defined as a positive black leader is up for debate, but all of the above mentioned were about mobilizing blacks into doing for self, which in my opinion makes them positive. In addition , they all had the means to speak to masses. They had their individual approaches, but their messages were all fairly similar. And as stated, they have all been silenced.

    2. [... well look at how they dress.]
    These statements, supported by both blacks and whites, are usually an effort to justify someone (often police) mistreating a perfectly law-abiding black citizen. In essence, the perception is that if the individual didn’t want to be treated like a criminal, then they shouldn’t dress like a criminal. Therefore, the individual is asking for the negative attention and asking to be profiled.

    The flaw in this argument is that historically blacks are not discriminated against because of their appearance, they are discriminated against because they are black. The generation prior to the current one did not wear baggy clothes, yet they were still discriminated against just like the generation prior to theirs, who also did not wear baggy clothes. Therefore, to think that if all black men started to wear suits they would be discriminated against less, is to think a bit unrealistic. Instead, the likely outcome of such a mass change would be for a new stereotype to arise in its place.

    3. [...one of my good friends is black. He doesn't act like a thug.]
    I have found that statements such as these are often the pleas of whites in an attempt to illustrate that they are not racist, and/or separate themselves from the potentially racist. They are typically well-meaning statements, in that they do not serve to do harm or discredit someone’s feelings. Unfortunately, these statements are actually counter-productive to their intentions.

    In short, the statement in and of itself has a touch of racism. As an example, a white person stating how their black friend is a great shining example of how blacks should be because he is not like ‘those’ blacks, is the equivalent of old white slave masters decrying all blacks, except for the one that he let live indoors, as lazy and ignorant. Sure the wording may be different, but it still splits blacks into two groups; good ones and bad ones. The good ones being the few who get approval and are befriended by a white male, and the bad ones being the ones who don’t.

    4. [Slavery ended over a hundred years ago, when are they going to get over it?]
    This argument is used to silence the black communities voice about current day struggles. It is often followed by the “race-card” and “reverse-racism” labels that everyone loves these days.

    The problem, is that slavery is not the only issue. If discussing things such as reparations, then yes, slavery can be the only issue. For things such as equality, employment, and education however, racism and segregation play a much larger part than slavery in and of itself. So yes, slavery ended over a hundred years ago. The blacks struggle however, did not end with slavery.

    In fact, government sanctioned racism (aka Segregation), was only outlawed in 1964. 1964! That means that a good portion of the people reading this have parents or grandparents who were born into segregation and are still alive today. In addition, the segregation generation is also the one currently holding the majority of the CEO titles at top companies. And remember, it was outlawed at the federal level in 1964. That means that de -segregation didn’t really hit the local communities and start to be OK until late 60s early 70s. That’s a big BIG difference from a hundred years.

    5. [...racism doesn't exist like it used too.]
    You hear this frequently when someone is attempting to highlight how things are drastically better today than they were yesterday. The thought, therefore, is that blacks should be quiet, not complain, and feel lucky that they live in America. In essence, they should ignore any wrong doings because hey, things are better than they were. I have heard this numerous times, and it is an absolutely absurd thought.

    In short, Racism is Racism. What racism was 50 years ago, racism is today. Just like murder 50 years ago is still murder today. The definitions have not changed. Maybe it is dressed up differently, and maybe it is called something different (profiling, stereotypes, insecurities, etc.), but racism is still racism and it is still prevalent in todays society. It could be argued that crimes based on racism do not happen as frequently as they used to, but that argument would prove that race based crimes do still occur, which therefore would prove that the blacks continued struggle/uproar is not only justified, but necessary.

Thoughts?

Filed in Cultural, Political | | Comments (2) »

Online Bookmarks: Good Ideas, Bad Design

23-Jan-07

Recently I decided to abandon traditional browser based bookmarks (favorites for you IE users) and delve into the world of online bookmarking. One of the big pushes for me to venture into the world of online bookmarks was my hatred for the tiresome task of importing and exporting bookmarks at several locations, the impossibility of keeping them synchronized on multiple machines with no hassle, my recent migration from the Windows based platform to the Macintosh world, and the inability to easily access my bookmarks from temporary locations. I had my reserves, mostly because I am slightly skeptical about what third-parties would do with my information, but figured I would give it a try anyway.

One of the first places I looked for keeping my ever-growing list of favorites online was the infamous del.icio.us. This website is the defacto king of bookmarks in the blogosphere, so I figured I would give it a shot. Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed.

While the website is popular and a good amount of people use it, I just did not see it as being very practical for me. The official decision came down to two factors that I just could not live with. The first being that every bookmark is shared with the entire world by default. While browsing their website will quickly show you why they have this feature, I personally do not want to participate. It is interesting to see that a specific web address (URL) has 3,453 people linking to it, but it is not so great to have people scouring my bookmarks in detail.

The second feature was the layout. By default your bookmarks are listed by date, with the most recently added towards the top of your list. In a sidebar you have a list of tags (everything Web 2.0ish must have tags…i guess) that you assign to your bookmarks and clicking on one of these will display the bookmarks saved under that category. However, the bookmarks under that category are still listed by date (or title if you so choose) with the newest one on top. And while this system works for a few bookmarks, I do not see it being easily manageable once you get a few hundred pages bookmarked with 20 or 30 tags.

Maybe I am asking too much, but I want to conveniently find a bookmark from any computer using less mouse-clicks than it would using the traditional browser based bookmarking system. Is that really too much to ask? Apparently!

I tried a few other online managers such as MyWeb by Yahoo, MyBookmarks, Google Bookmarks and just about any other web-based service that will let you mark a page for later viewing and none of them really provide the type of experience I was looking for. So finally, at the point when I was ready to abandon the idea, I found salvation in the most unlikely place; Google Reader.

Google Reader is actually not an online bookmarking system. Instead, it is a news aggregator. Fortunately for me, most of the websites I visit on a daily basis and therefore care to bookmark have feeds that I can subscribe too. In addition, Google Reader allows you to “star” an item (anyone who uses Gmail will know exactly how this works) for later retrieval. This makes browsing a website, coming across an interesting article, and saving it to read later an absolute breeze. As an added bonus, Google Reader is accessible and easy to use from mobile phones.

Now what about those pages with no feeds that you want to save for future reference? Well, given the absolute letdown of the above services, I decided to go with the one I disliked the least; Google Bookmarks. I actually dislike Google Bookmarks because the navigation has the same issues as del.icio.us, but it wins my vote for no reason other than the fact that bookmarks are kept private by default. I understand everyone’s love for sharing, but I simply prefer to have the option of sharing something over the option of keeping something private.

In closing, I think there is serious room for improvement in the world of online bookmarking. While del.icio.us is great for finding interesting sites that other users have come across recently, it, like the others, does not do a great job of managing bookmarks in a way that is convenient for the user. So until that time arrives, I guess I will keep adding pages to the poorly designed Google Bookmarks.

Random Information: I did decide to use my del.icio.us account after all. I use it to keep a running list of “interesting” websites I come across that I want to share but not write about. You can find those in the “Notable Mentions” section in the sidebar.

Filed in Computer, Personal, Website | | Comments (3) »

Apple’s iPod Replacement Program

18-Jan-07

So the other day, Saturday to be exact, I broke my beautiful black iPod Nano. How? Well I guess I just have good luck. I threw my Nano in my pocket as usual and went to hop in the car. As I was getting into the car though, I managed to get the screen of my iPod stuck between my leg and the steering wheel … and … crack. And just like that, my Nano had a screen that did not show any information. Needless to say, I was not happy. Not at all.

Naturally, I found myself at the Apple Store looking for a Nano replacement. I knew my screen could not be fixed, but the lady wanted to ask, so she inquired to see if the screen could be fixed. As expected, she was informed that the screen could not be fixed easily or cheaply. What I did not expect however, was to find out that I could get a 10% discount on a new iPod if I gave them my broken one. According to the Apple guy, with Apple’s Replacement Program, you can get a 10% discount on new iPods by giving them your old iPod. That is a good deal, and I am a fan.

So what is the moral (or point) of this post? To let you know that if you have an old iPod lying around, or if you are due for an upgrade, make sure you get your 10% discount when purchasing an new one. Me? I walked out of the store with a new silver Nano and transparent hard case in my coat pocket and a lot less money in my bank account. Grrr.

Filed in Apple, Business, Electronics | | Comments (0) »

Apple iPhone: The Best Device I’ll Never Own

10-Jan-07

So Macworld is over and Apple, as expected, released their much anticipated iPhone; a cell phone, web browser, photo viewer, touch-screen PDA, iPod and computer all-in-wonder machine. It’s nice! And it looks even better (from the pictures I’ve seen). However, as good as the device seems, I do not foresee myself getting one anytime soon nor do I see it being even remotely as successful as Apple’s iPod.

Now before I really get into why I think that, let me say that I am aware that the point of the device is to combine the iPod and cell phone. I get that. And I think it is generally a smart move. I just think Apple did it badly. OK, now lets get into it what is wrong with this device.

[So what's included in the package?]
The first problem I have with the iPhone is its ‘includes.’ What this means is that when you purchase the device it includes a phone, includes an iPod, and my personal favorite, includes service with Cingular (this may change in the future, but they said multi-year agreement…). These are all non-negotiable items that you get when you purchase the device whether you want them or not. So if you want just a wide-screen touch sensitive iPod, or if you just want an ultra-portable Macintosh computer, sorry, you’re out of luck. You get them all. Take it or leave it.

Now I know there are people out there that want an iPhone. I know this. However, I truly believe there are more people out there who want the device sans-phone. This could be because they are locked into a different carrier but want a new iPod, or perhaps because they want to use their iPod to watch movies on a long flight (you have to turn cell phones off on airplanes remember). I know personally both of the above are true which leaves me with little need/want for the phone portion of the device.

But phone/ipod ties aside, the worst inclusion of them all is Cingular. Because while tons of people love their iPods, I’m willing to bet that they hate cell phone providers even more. Every person I have ever met over the age of about 15 has a serious opinion about providers. They love provider X and despise provider Y, and very very few will ignore those opinions to gain access to a specific phone. Personally, I am of the like Sprint dislike Cingular camp. And as much as I would like an iPhone, I don’t see myself going back to Cingular anytime soon. And I simply dislike Cingular and refuse to switch. Imagine the people who hate Cingular.

So what we are left with is a very niche product. Not only does someone have to want an iPod and phone in one package, they also have to want (or be willing) to put up with Cingular.

[Now how much does this thing cost?]
The iPhone is not cheap. I wouldn’t say that the price is unreasonable, but it also is not cheap and will definitely play a major factor in the adoption rate of the iPhone, or the lack of adoption I believe. As it stands currently, you can get a 4GB iPhone for $499 or an 8GB for $599. Keep in mind that this INCLUDES (there goes those inclusions again) a 2-year contract with Cingular. There has been no price announced to purchase it without a 2-year contract, but if it is similar to typical cell phone deals, you can figure another $200 to buy the phone outright. That is expensive. Very expensive. Too expensive.

The price may not seem bad for some, but to most I think it will be. I know I personally have about $400 worth of electronics in my pocket right now (iPod Nano and LG Fusic), but the difference is that these items were purchased separately. I bought my 4GB iPod Nano ($250) and then some months later bought my LG Fusic ($150). And while the totals are close, the affects the two would have on my financial situation is not. Spending $250 today and $150 in six months is not as financially burdensome as spending $500 tomorrow. This is why I opted to pass on the Treo I really wanted for the LG Fusic that would get the job done.

But what about the fact that you get the iPod AND a phone together? Well, even then the numbers do not seem to add up to me. I can currently get a 4GB Nano for $200 (I’m using the Nano because of its size, not its features. Comparing the iPhone to a $300 video iPod makes the iPhone seem even worse due to the huge difference in capacity), which means I would be spending $300 for just the phone component. That is an expensive phone. And unfortunately for Apple, most people do not have expensive phones. In fact, the only expensive phones I see people with are the ones their company purchased for them. And I know that this phone also includes an OS and other goodies, but really that just won’t matter.

Smart phones, albeit expensive and a touch difficult to use for some, do not sell in big numbers. Why? The cost and the features. Sure, people would like to have extras (calendar, Internet, IM, etc.), but nobody really wants to pay for them. Consider the RAZR. Everyone wanted a slim design phone when it first arrived on the market, but it only started selling once it came down to the $150 price range. Another example is the Treo. It’s a great device that works well, but does not sell in huge numbers due to its price point.

Lastly, you have to consider the cost of Internet access for the phone. And currently, Cingular is charging ~$40/month for unlimited access. That is on top of the normal voice plans. That is expensive. Especially when Sprint is offering unlimited access for less than half that ($15/month). I know this was one of my deciding factors in choosing to drop Cingular as my carrier. And while Cingular’s charges are not necessarily a fault of the phone, the phone is only available on Cingular, so it has to be taken into consideration.

[Who exactly are they marketing this device too?]
If you read the numbers, or walk into an iPod store, the iPods market is predominately people between 12 and 28: teens, college kids, and first generation business folks. This sounds like a huge market, and it is, which is why the iPod has done so well. Unfortunately for Apple, if you look at each segment of the market individually the iPhone is not marketed very well to any of them. In fact, it almost alienates the majority of the typical iPod / cellphone demographic.

    Teens: Apple has a lose-lose problem with the teen market. First, most teens do not have cell phone plans of their own. They are bundled with their parent’s plans. Therefore, they get whatever service their parents get. Therefore, having the phone be Cingular exclusive is going to be a problem for the teen demographic unless their parents already have Cingular service. Secondly, parents are not likely to buy their teenage kid a $500 cell phone.

    College: The cost of this device is going to be a huge hurdle for the college crowd. Typically, college kids live life on a very tight budget, and while you can visit almost any campus and see kids walking around with iPods, I challenge you to find a handful of college kids walking around with valuable phones (Blackberry’s, Treo’s, etc.). It’s not going to happen. Yes college kids go for style, yes they go for cool, but more than anything they go for price. And $500 out of a students financial aid reimbursement check for the quarter is NOT going to sit well with them.

    Business: This has to be Apple’s ideal market because here you have a good amount of middle-aged can’t quite let go of being cool individuals with expendable income (umm, yeah, I guess you could include me in this category minus that last detail). Therefore, this is the demographic most likely to pay premiums for a ‘cool’ device. So what is the problem? The problem for Apple will be that this is also the group likely to have the most definitive opinions about providers. They know who they like, they know who they do not like, and they are willing to pay more to get the service they feel they deserve. So if that individual prefers Verizon, they will stay with Verizon, and purchase a Motorola iAlmost instead of jumping ship or wait until Apple releases the iPhone on Verizon’s network.

[And all of this means...]
In closing, what this means is that while the iPhone is an impressive device, it is unfortunately an extremely niche product that will enjoy an exceptionally slow adoption rate. So while it will be talked about heavily and make other manufacturers rethink their future releases, it won’t be nearly as successful (and thus revolutionary) as the iPod or the mouse (Apple’s other revolutionary products according to Steve). The other two products enjoyed success because they solved problems such as an individuals need to easily navigate a computer or need to transport/listen to tons of music easily, without adding many hurdles. The iPhone however, throws several hurdles in front of its attempts at solving people’s need to combine their phone/music player into one product.

Filed in Apple, Business, Electronics | | Comments (0) »

2006 Prediction Results

02-Jan-07

Now that 2006 is officially over, it is time for me to look back and see how accurate my predictions were.  Let us get started.

-: Music :-
Not sure about this one.  50 Cent actually had a record year with The Massacre selling over one million units.  However, as predicted, ever since his album was released you haven’t heard much about/from him.  As for the Thuggish/Gangsta style of rap taking a backseat to the educated, I was wrong.  They did take a bit of a backseat, but it was to the dance heavy South and their “snap” music.  Sure Common, Kanye, Mos Def and the rest of the educated bunch did well, but not nearly as well as I thought they would.

-: Movies :-
It was a bit of hit and miss with movies.  I do not remember how expense movies were a year ago (you would think I would have jotted that down), but with current prices hovering at just over $9, I think I was a bit wrong in suggesting that movies prices would “almost double.”  They definitely increased, but I doubt enough to warrant an almost doubling title.  I was correct with the remake prediction (not sure how many remakes were released in 2006, but memory tells me there was a lot).  So while I was correct in predicting that sales of some big name movies would be less than expected, my predictions were quickly silenced by the likes of Borat (great movie BTW).

-: TV :-
I think I hit this nail on the head.  Reality shows (Survivor, Flavor of Love, Dancing With the Stars, etc.) were a huge hit in 2006.  So huge that Flavor of Love was the most watched non-sports show on TV (for that week).  Crazy, huh?  I have to admit I even tuned in to a few episodes of Flavor of Love.  In addition, television dramas (or epic series) were a major hit.  All of the shows I mentioned in the prediction (24, Prison Break, etc.) did well, and their was even room for some newcomers such as Heroes and Ugly Betty to gain some significant ratings.  And last but definitely not least, people swarmed to iTunes to download television shows.  I have yet to buy one, and I really cannot wrap my head around why people do, but I said they would and I was right.

-: Cars :-
Well let’s see.  Hybrids are not as big of a deal as I thought they would be.  They picked up steam with the introduction of the Prius, Hybrid Civic, Hybrid Accord, Hybrid Camry, etc, etc.  But still sales of Hybrids are far below what I was expecting them to be.  In addition, neither Ford nor GM filed for bankruptcy as I predicted.  Ford did come awfully close however, and just recently issued debt secured by its assets to curb their financial woes.  So in short, I was a bit off on the car predictions.

-: Tech :-
My favorite category, and unfortunately probably my worst.  In December 2005, Apple’s total market share was roughly 4.35%.  I was expecting this number to nearly double.  And while Apple did have a good year due to strong sales, its total market share only increased to about 5.67%, far short of my predictions.  In addition, I predicted that Google’s stock price would crash.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  It did take a bit of a dip in early March, but it has since increased and is back to its over-valued figure.

So overall, I guess I did not do ‘that’ bad.  I would not say I did good, just not ‘that’ bad.

Filed in Business, Cultural, Personal | | Comments (0) »

Getting Work Done Outside Office

09-Dec-06

Ever since I moved to the Macintosh platform (I have been saying that a lot .. I know, but it is a big deal .. trust me), I have been searching for a decent alternative to Microsoft Office. I have my quarrels with Microsoft over many of their products, but Word and Excel are two products they do well and that I use religiously. In fact, I would say Word and Excel are the two most frequently used programs on my computer; period. And since I do not want to lay-down a few hundred dollars for the Macintosh version (I have used it and I am just not that impressed by it), I ventured out to try and find a decent alternative. You would think that finding a decent word processing and spreadsheet program would be easy .. wrong.

My first stop in my search was Apple’s own Pages. I cannot say that I am entirely impressed with the product, but since it was included as a free-trial with my Macbook, I figured I should at least consider it. As Apple’s first entry into the word processing arena it is not a bad product. It does everything that you would want a word processing program to do (format, bold, italicize, etc.) without including unnecessary and unwanted in-your-face features. I like that. However, that is all it offers. There is no alternative to Excel. So while you could probably get your word processing needs satisfied with Pages, you will still be stuck searching for a place to put your charts and graphs. And since the processing program will run you $79, it is hard to recommend it to anyone. In fact, I would recommend that most people not even bother opening the program in its current state. The program is nice, and has potential, but unfortunately for Apple the $79 price tag unjustifiable considering the Student & Teacher version of Office is only $149.

My next stop is the infamous Open Office. Open Office is supposed to offer a complete and free alternative to Microsoft Office. It includes alternatives for both Word and Excel, as well as some other extras that are useful. So as a package and an idea, Open Office is impressive. However, as a Macintosh application it is frustrating. The program requires that X11 (an Apple application) be installed on your computer before it can function. Installation is relatively easy (pop in your restore CD, check some boxes, and off you go), but the fact that I have to do that is just irritating. In addition, every time you open Open Office, X11 opens. This means that when you go to exit the application, you also have to exit out of X11. And if you accidentally close X11, you will also close Open Office in an unsafe manner and increases the risk of data being lost. A small complaint I know, but it is still irritating enough to keep me from using the program or recommending the program. So while Open Office is by far the most formidable competitor and offers a complete office suite, until they decide to abandon their use of X11, I think it is more of a pain than it is worth.

My third stop was Google’s Docs & Spreadsheets. This particular application is a bit different from the above mentioned as it is completely based online. This is great for people who travel or use several computers (such as myself), as their latest and greatest version is always accessible. And, just like Open Office, Google’s Docs & Spreadsheets is free. It does have its shortcomings though, the biggest of which is that you have to have an account with Google to use it. This is no big deal for me as I already have a gmail account, but I could see it being a significant hurdle for people who have email elsewhere and do not want yet another set of credentials to remember.

As for the actual applications, Google Docs application is very straight forward. You get a text box with a few basic editing options. It also has some advanced functions such as posting to a blog, exporting in PDF or Word format , and collaborative editing. All of these are welcome features, and I particularly like how they are located out of the way and will not interfere with your typing. In fact, I am typing this entry from within Google Doc’s & Spreadsheets right now. My only complaint about the application is that it does not check for correct grammar. It has spell check, but one of my favorite features of Word is its ability to analyze your sentences, find runons, repeat words, or just all around awkwardness, and warn you with a nice green squiggly line. Google’s Docs does not do that. Sad. As a basic word editor though, it functions very well and is available anywhere you have an internet connection. A definite plus for the blogger, student, editor, or professional on the run.

Google’s Spreadsheets application on the other hand, while usable, is not as straight-forward or as complete. The online interface is a bit frustrating to use (clicking in cells, selecting them, etc.), but it is bearable. The problem is that Excel operates like a program while Spreadsheets operates like an online application. So while selecting non-adjacent cells in Excel is relatively easy using the “ctrl” key, doing the same thing online is virtually impossible. This makes formatting much more time consuming as you either have to select a large area by dragging, or select each cell individually. Another limitation is that the applications’ canvas is significantly smaller. You can only have 20 columns and 100 rows. This is a big change from the 250+ columns and 65,000+ rows available in Excel. And while I do not usually use 65,000 rows of data, I do frequently use more than 100.

So in the end, Microsoft Office still rains supreme. While each of the above mentioned applications provide a piece of the overall package, no single application trumps Office in its ease-of-use and thoroughness (Open Office is close, but I really hate the X11 requirement). I should state however that Google Docs has quickly become my word editor of choice. As mentioned, it does not have the bells and whistles that Word has, but the convenience of opening any web browser on any computer and being able to add / edit my work is a priceless convenience that I am growing very fond of. However, Google Spreadsheets has gone almost entirely unused. I just cannot get over the size limitation and slight awkwardness of the user interface. Good thing for me I have an XP machine with Office 2K3 laying around.

Filed in Apple, Computer, School | | Comments (0) »

Full Season of Heroes for Free

05-Dec-06

I have to applaud NBC for finally getting it. They have put the entire first season of their popular TV Show Heroes online for free, and in a convenient format (Flash). The video quality is not great and you have to watch commercials, but I like it. Now if some other studios (Fox, Comedy Central, etc.) would take notice, I might watch a bit more TV .. err .. computer.

[TV Show Link]

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Greatest Football Catch Ever?

19-Nov-06

What do you think? Is this really the greatest football catch you have ever seen?

[Video Link]

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Microsoft Zune (aka iPod Killer)

14-Nov-06

So the Microsoft Zune was released today. If you are unaware of what the Zune is, it is Microsoft’s supposed “iPod killer.” Well, all day long the tech sphere has been filled with posts blasting Zune, its software, and its pricing structure. And from what I have read about the device so far, I cannot say I am terribly surprised.

However, what did surprise me was how CNN (yeah, you know that worldwide news channel) blasted the Zune. Seriously. The video is just painful. I love how they keep asking if it does this and that, only to be told “no.”

Personally I have a few problems with the player. Mainly that it 1) does not work on Macintosh machines and 2) uses some crazy point system to purchase songs.

Anyway, check out the video. It is definitely entertaining.

[Video Link]

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