Lumpy's Corner

A few days ago I mentioned the possibility that Google may have a browser in the works. Matt Hartley then mentioned it in lockergnome web developer and then it was mentioned in linkswarm. Within a few short hours, my post literally received hundreds of views. I had no idea just how many people were interested in this topic.

I also thought it was rather old news and put it up as a snippet. I guess this is the type of stuff that most folks simply do not follow. I decided, largely at the request of family and friends, to expand on it a little.

Seems like there is more in the rumor mill than I first thought. In fact, it seems, most likely, that Google is working on an Operating System. All of this has been the topic of discussion going back as far as April 2004. (That is about when the buzz started to show up in blogs.) One of my co-workers said that "they will never be able to replace Windows, Windows is too established..."

I am sitting here listening to geekcast podcast and I am hearing that Google has finally released google print is now up and running. (Leo Leporte is also being interviewed on this particular show.) While I am listening to it, I am running about dealing with issues at work. This is one of the nice things about Podcasting, you can feed your brain while you are dealing with other things. RSS text feeds are great but you can not usually work while reading them.

One of the nice things about my job, however, is that I often can squeeze a few RSS reads in and not have any repercussions from doing so. It is in those reads that I gathered the rest of the information that follows.

It seems Google has made arrangements to add several libraries, including New York Public Library, to its database. They have been given permission to digitize the entire collection of Standford and The university of Michigan. (Those two collections total about 14 million books.) I am not surprised and rather pleased about it. David Galbraith brings up a good point regarding the real reason this is being done. He feels it is for leverage. I would have to agree.

For the record and the curious, I am still very much alive and well.

I have been busy with radiostatic.am and work. I am still managing to write something every single day. I am not getting past the draft stage too often.

By the way remember all of those Gmail invites we had... I think they are now useless.

I was actually wondering if someone would try and do something like this. There seems to be an AdSense Trojan that replaces Google Ads with imposters.

There is more information avialable at Tech Crunch. There is also a give away for the sites that run the Google referal. (Like the one below the banner ad in the right column.) If your PC is infected, the referals will be text links and not graphics.

I am cruising through my feeds and read this blog.

It makes me glad and sad. Glad to live where I live and sad for those who don't.

Let us just be honest though. Google is not a search engine company. They are not a software company.

Google sells ads. Google analyzes consumer behavior and markets product. So really what else should we expect?

I recall hearing blog articles about Microsoft doing the same. If these companies want the Chinese buck that is what they are going to do to get it. Is it morally correct? I suppose not. Is it morally evil? I think not. Am I glad that the author brought this up? Definitely. AM I glad Google is in China? Just as definitely.

I commented on his post but I think there is a bit more I could say on this one. History repeats. Centuries ago someone converted a wine press into a device that could print on paper. This caused quite a still for the governments at the time. They tried to repress that device as well. In the end however, knowledge is like a hole in a dam. Once the water starts going through it, it only gets bigger.

No doubt China is censoring Google and Google is cooperating. It will still get some information out there. Let the water flow.

This is an interesting collective voice idea.

And how bout this animation?

Regardless, some think it makes sense. I wonder if they should use the word AdSense?

I wonder if all this hype about Google in China impacted this guy's decision.

You have to look at it

This is kewl Google Maps of Mars.

I mentioned Hire Me Google a good while back. I have still been following this blog and find it very interesting. The author decided NOT to work for Google and has re-directed the blog's focus to finding others work at Google.

He seems to be succeeding.

Greetings Cyber-Friend,

I hope you all like the new look here. I do; simple, clean, and, very soon, much better organized and searchable.

For now some interesting things I found in my feeds:

• A New Twist on the Beer Run
• Popeye would be happy in this spinach powered house. (Link via Digg.)
• Here is a great list for you SciFi buffs. The Top 100 Reviewed SciFi Films. (Link also via Digg.)
• I seem to like Digg this AM. This BBC article questions the current theory about the mechanism of how HIV attacks us.
• Although there is debate, it seems that video game addictions may need more research before being considerd an illness.
• Earlier, I put up a photo with the theme "What is Wrong with this Picture ?". Also found via Digg, here is another idea not too keenly thought through.
• Here is another image; the aurora form space. (Again, Digg.)
• Nice to see somebody at lockergnome still remembers and agrees with me about Dogpile

Some people are afraid Google is going to take over the world. As far as trusting them, I am leery of almost anything on the Internet. Google has mastered helping me get sucked into CyberSpace.

Regardless of your opinion on them, there are some pretty kewl things on this Giant. And one can't deny that they have a sense of humor. Remember Pigeon Rank? There was also the brief era of the Google Bomb. So let’s get all Googley and look at some of these things, mostly from maps.

If you're interested of a pretty long list of general Google links, Neil Patel has a nice one in this article. (Despite being about a year old, the post is still a great list. Be sure to check out the links in the comments as well.)

The inspiration for this article of diversion started with This Digg Post. The Digg Link is discussing a PC World Article that shares 15 kewl pictures. My favorite is the parking problem you see here. I also got a kick out of coke logo they linked to that is supposedly made out of coke bottles. Over the years, I can also recall seeing a flying car!

Before I proceed any further, I must state the following:

I am in now way shape or form responsible if you get sucked into CyberSpace frantically clicking on all these links and links within the articles. YOU are responsible for any of your lost time. In fact, the APA has deferred including Internet Addiction as a disorder. Therefore, unless it involves gambling or porn, you are, at best, just being unproductive. However, if that does happen, just keep clicking your doctor is working on it Before you proceed you may wish to check out this list and see how many disorders you have that are being suggested. (My goal is to lobby for thier inclusion and qualify for full disability. This will free up hours of more time to surf!)

The economy is a wreck.

• Hundreds of thousands simply gave up looking for work
• Payroll was slashed by the largest amount in five years
• 63,000 jobs vanished last month
• Is it me, or is this tax refund simply a mute point?

I don't have the answers and it is depressing. Best I can do is offer up some mostly light-hearted stuff.

Certain things can happen to anyone, other things only happen to me. Is my Google Reader angry because I am trying FeedDeamon 2.6?

Two days ago, I was rading my feeds with Google Reader. Check out the summary for this head line. This hiccup was gone by the time I came returned from work. It effected not all the feed but only a few. The headlines and summaries are scrambled up. I had no luck figuring out where the summarries actually belonged. The headlines go to the relevant post. Is anyone else having this problem? Does anyone have any explanations?

I thought it might have been a little glitch or such. I tried refresh and restarting the browser but nada. The issue remained for the same feeds. I have been using Google Reader for a good while now and have never noticed this before. Other than both summaries having a spelling error or typo, I see nothing in common between them. Has it been doing this to a few feeds right along and I have never noticed?