Month: August 2010

This is a fascinating piece, albeit speculative, about Google’s recent foray into VoIP with GMail Voice. Gmail Voice Is About Future Search, Not Free Calls It seems very likely to be true, considering Google’s similar use of reCAPTCHA for digitizing print. If true, do you care? Should Google’s T&C for GMail Voice make their intentions… Read More

Quiet time often produces the best thinking because it helps thoughts bubble up to the top of your mind. You know the places, in the shower, on the can, lying in bed. Don’t act all surprised. I often get these moments when I’m alone in the car, especially if I’m driving on a highway. Even… Read More

Saw an interesting quote attributed to Mark Zuckerberg yesterday: But guess what? Nobody wants to make lists. A bit out of context, but Zuckerberg was expanding on the best way to share things with a network of people. He’s absolutely right about lists. They are simultaneously the right way to share and too cumbersome to… Read More

The guys at Pythian, specifically Alex Gorbachev (@alexgorbachev) will be continuing the grand tradition of hosting a blogger meetup at OpenWorld this year. This meetup is a must attend because it’s the best opportunity all year long to meet your favorite Oracle bloggers and tweeters IRL and put a face with a digital identity. Oh,… Read More

I love a good meme, not sure why, but I think it’s because of that moment when you can work a meme into everyday life. Awesome feeling, at least for me, but then again, I’m a giant dork. Memes, of the internets variety, are a lot like geek speak, and I’m pondering the idea of… Read More

The latest Firefox 4 beta build (beta 4) includes the Tab Candy feature, which has been named Panorama. Firefox Panorama: Tab Candy Evolved « Aza on Design I’m running this version on Ubuntu, but not as my primary browser. Panorama looks cool, and tab organization is a nice to have feature, albeit probably a power… Read More

Luckily, I haven’t had to be this clever, but the bar has definitely been raised. Found this via Gizmodo, seen in the wild on Hermosa Beach in Southern California. Of course, haters gonna hate, as the commenters prove, e.g. no opening tag, old picture. It does look like the opening tag might be on top… Read More

Friend of the ‘Lab, Tim Hall (@oraclebase) posted a quick note over the weekend that caught my eye. More PC support… | The ORACLE-BASE Blog For me, the interesting part part is his question: “How are normal folk meant to cope with this?” This isn’t rhetorical either. It’s a serious issue with technology. Most of us… Read More

If you’re attending OpenWorld (@oracleopenworld) in September, you’re probably starting to plan your schedule. Trust me, this isn’t something you want to leave for the plane ride or the first day. This year, OpenWorld, Develop and JavaOne are all happening at once, September 19-23, and sheer volume of content is enormous. With all that good… Read More

Not sure how the city can trace bloggers who should pay this, but assuming they have that magic figured out, does it make sense to charge bloggers a fee at all? Philadelphia Bloggers’ License – $300 Fee | Geekosystem The economics of this are quirky. The cost of identifying and notifying bloggers has to outweigh… Read More

This was inevitable, and I think “grows” is a bit out-of-context. The feature launched last week so any growth measurement is premature. Discontent Grows With Facebook Places’ Ability To Tag Without Users’ Express Permission I did notice a few people in my News Feed were using Places, and frankly, I was a bit surprised with… Read More

Continuing a Friday tradition, today I’m sharing a couple web design blog that you’ll find useful, Smashing Magazine and 1stwebdesigner. Smashing Magazine (@smashingmag) First suggested to me by Rich (@rmanalan), Smashing has tons of resources for web designers/developers, ranging from operational stuff like how to work with clients to free-to-use fonts and icon packs to… Read More

Had an interesting epiphany today. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about documenting my life because I’ll soon be a father. As I’ve gotten older, my memory and now, it seems more important (urgent even) to document it somehow in case my kid ever wants to see what a really dull man I am. A… Read More

Yesterday afternoon brought the official announcement of Facebook Places, the giant network’s entry into geolocation services that had been rumored for months. We’ve been bullish on location for a couple years (whatever happened to Fire Eagle), so this announcement is huge, even though I rarely use Facebook anymore and don’t plan to use Facebook Places.… Read More

Last week, you’ll recall I had a bit of an adventure upgrading my EVO to Android 2.2. The reason was to test drive a couple new features that Google announced last week, Chrome to Phone and Voice Actions. Chrome to Phone is a Chrome extension that can send data from your browser to your phone.… Read More

I’ve been playing foursquare for about a year now, and one of my primary reasons has always been to visualize my movement through the world. Weeplaces provides the coolest foursquare checkin visualization I’ve seen so far. HOW TO: Visualize All Your Foursquare Check-ins Each city builds with traveling lines while time progresses across the bottom… Read More

This is another one of those informational posts that’s as much for me as it is for you and Google. Unlike the iPhone, which makes it very difficult to install non-approved apps on a jailed phone, installing non-Android Market apps on an Android phone is a breeze. So, if someone sends you an apk to… Read More

I love Android. I love my EVO. I’m grateful that Google opened my eyes. But, there’s a rub with Android. It’s the same one with Linux. They’re both too hard. Let me qualify before you break out the flamethrower. Obviously, they would be similar, since Android is based Linux kernel. When I talk about Linux,… Read More

So, yeah, it’s French hip-hop, and yeah, it features Facebook metaphors IRL, but it’s still clever. Plus, it has a good beat, and I can dance to it. H/t EUROPOPPED via TechCrunch. EUROPOPPED observes the irony of the American imports featured, i.e. Facebook, iPhone and hip-hop, but don’t forget Venice Beach and tourism by association.… Read More

This is cool, and as with traffic lights, it’s very cool to see innovation around objects that you’d think have reached their ultimate potential. The Sharpie Liquid Pencil: You Can Erase It for Three Days, Then It’s Permanent I love this stuff.