Google gets better. What's up with that?

Well, what's up with it is that Google wants to take over the Internet wholesale (in my opinion, anyway). In many ways, the Internet is where everything computer-related is heading. Actual, physical computers are becoming merely portals to the Internet. If Google owns and/or controls the Internet, from wireless access points to browsers to web services like email, they hold the reins for nearly all of technology.

Google has the capability of becoming bigger than Microsoft, because Google reaches every single machine in the world. Microsoft only has a major foothold on Windows PCs, since they make the OS. Admittedly they have a minor foothold on OSX PCs, since their Office suite for Mac allows Apple users to collaborate with what has become the de facto standard for word processing. spreadsheets, and databases. (MS also has an indirect foothold on Linux OS's, since OpenOffice was created solely to be compatible with Office.)

Anyway, where I'm going with all that rambling is that Google has a direct impact on nearly every computer user... meaning that they have an even greater opportunity to rule the world than Microsoft does. And, on the plus side, people actually like Google!

Sign up for Gmail!

You can now sign up for a Gmail address without an invitation! You just need to have Google send you a text message and they'll send you a confirmation code for a free account.

Or, if you know my email address, I'd be happy to send you a free invitation... I've got 50 right now.

More Mini-Putt games

First, a course with all the same holes as Mini-Putt 1, but in a different order and with an updated interface:
Mini-Putt 3 Classic

Second, another game with the same interface but with new holes (and more dinosaurs!):
Mini-Putt 3: Jurassic Putt

(the link above goes to Psycho Goldfish: a site with a bunch of Flash games, including the Mini-Putt series)

Alzheimer's linked to daydreaming

Apparently, the portion of the brain that fails when afflicted with Alzheimer's disease is the same portion that younger people use when daydreaming, remembering, or utilizing other non-active unfocused parts of our minds.

So, apparently, overuse of the faculties of critical thinking, problem solving, and task resolution can lead to atrophy of the latent areas of the mind and possibly Alzheimer's. However, this article in The Australian is very cursory; I'd love to read something more in-depth once it gets published.

Are sizzling gadget sales cooling off?

According to this article, "Forty-nine percent of U.S. and Canadian households say they have all the gadgets they want."

This pretty much describes me. I'm very happy with all of the gadgets I've currently got (whoa. did I actually say that?), and I don't really need anything in addition. However, while market saturation is causing a dip in growth for sales of electronics, there is no way that this will cause any sizable dent in the amount of such purchases.

But electronics manufacturers and retailers will have to get money from someone else-- I'm pretty satisfied. Well, mostly. An iPod might be nice (eventually)... ;-)

Homeland Security Chief Tells of Plan to Stabilize Border

FINALLY!!!!

A DHS chief who is proactive about stemming the tide of illegal immigration. And-- surprisingly enough-- this NYT article actually calls these breakers of US law "illegal immigrants" instead of pandering to socialist Democrats who insist that the term is demeaning. "Undocumented," my eye.

As usual, there's somebody to complain... even when things are going right. The criticism is that not all of the "holes" are going to be plugged by Michael Chertoff's new plan. But hey, it's at least a step in the right direction. Do these people actually think that, unless a plan is PERFECT and INFALLIBLE, we should sit idly by and do NOTHING? I think that the critic cited in the article, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, is just afraid that he'll have nothing to study (and, therefore, no livelihood) if plans like this actually work.

From IRC re: Google Talk

"All users be aware: Google have now released an instant messenger based on jabber, but the new google messenger has a VERY dodgy privacy policy: http://www.google.com/talk/privacy.html - in this policy are such gems as recording "who you talk to" and when you talk to them, and selling of statistical data to marketing companies. Be very scared people, be very scared."

These are not my words (they were contained in a global IRC mesage from Brain over at ChatSpike), but I'm not at all surprised that Google has adopted such a hearty information-gathering approach to its IM software.

I don't use IM all that often, so I'll probably just stick with AOL's protocol (though not their client - AdiumX is all I'll ever use) instead of laying my life out on the line for Google. I do use gmail, but I'm comfortable with having computers scan my email to present targeted ads. I don't know how much I'd enjoy knowing that my real-time conversations were being recorded by the service provider-- even if they only record the fact that the conversation took place and not the messages themselves.

Windows Got Ya Down? Try a Remix

This is a cool article about the various (and, until today, unkown to me) "remixed" versions of Windows XP there are; from tiny install packages to those with Service Pack 2 already added. I wonder if these modified versions are legal for legit license owners to install, if they are desired only for the pared-down features? Do they leave the "insert your CD key here" screen in the install process, so I could keep it legal?

Until I know that, I won't explore this "option" any further.

Company names

An interesting list of how some tech companies got their names.

This week in wireless

Well, "Last week in wireless," now that I've finally gotten around to putting this CNET News article on my blog.

The article talks about Intel's plan to blanket cities with free or inexpensive Wi-Fi coverage. I'm all for it, and I wish San Diego was on Intel's list of "Digital Communities." However, our city has bigger things to worry about than Internet connectivity right now...