August 6th, 2008 by Jim Dauphin
I, like the average American, spend alot of time on Google. Whether it’s Googling the latest buzzword, or using one of the latest and greatest Google Apps. Yeah I use Gmail as my main mail account and have used GChat, Picasa, Google Docs, Scholar and the whole bit. The one thing I noticed, with the exception of Google.com Search every single App I use is a “Beta” says so right there in the header.
I have been using Gmail for like two years, how is something in Beta form that long?
If “Beta: is an excuse they can make so no one else can come out with a better App because Google Apps are never complete then it is a bad excuse.
The internet is an evolutionary medium and it is this very nature which makes every page and application an eternal Beta, as the sites evolve to meet the new needs of the users. Unlike conventional products which are the same from the minute they leave the factory to the minute they enter the waste stream, a user could log onto their Facebook, Gmail or any other site and have a different product then they did the day before (I know firsthand since I only learned the ins and outs of Facebook and today there is the new version out!).
Google why must you Beta? Is it the bugs in the software? We have all been using Windows since 3.1 so we know to expect “Unexpected errors” to occur.
Just call it what it is Application Version 1,453,674,432.0 and counting!
August 3rd, 2008 by Jim Dauphin
According to Webster to google means “to search for information about a specific person through the Google search engine”. But shouldn’t the definition be expanded to “to scam millions of people in to purchasing a stock at an exceptionally inflated price”?
Don’t concur with me? You probably will get googled! Just kidding!
I am a big fan of corporate America. I am glad that our system of capitalism allows businesses to make money in a huge number of different ways, including the sale of stock. The problem is when the average American (or person of any country for that matter) who barely can balance a checkbook get’s a “Hot Tip” to buy a stock and the prices soar for no apparent reason except demand for the stock (not for the company or it’s products).
Does Google have some amazing products and services? Sure as hell they do! I mean Google Maps Street View is frighteningly awesome! And yes 9 times out of 10 when I want to do a web search I go to http://www.google.com/ like everyone else. Does that intellectual property have a value? It sure does. And in Google’s case it has quite a high value. But when you compare google with other more “hard asset” rich companies like… CSX for example who’s stock price is hugely backed by hard assets (land, infrastructure, equipment, cash) which can be liquidated for cash you wonder how you can go wrong?
(((If a stock is 2/3 backed by hard assets it would be really tough for that company to mess up so bad that the stock value decreases by more than the 1/3 not liquifiable. (Don’t worry I’m sure you can find more than a dozen examples to contradict me, but I’m just trying to enrage some people!) )))
So here’s the deal: If you made money in Google awesome! If you haven’t yet, now is probably not the time to try! You might get googled!
***Disclaimer: You could have picked almost any stock and I would have found a reason it is total garbage!***
August 2nd, 2008 by Jim Dauphin
What compels people to read articles online? Is a genuine curiousity for the topic? A striking headline? Too much free time? A release from office work?
Why online? Before the 21st Century people read newspapers, books, magazines, periodicals(what?), and even letters! GASP! (The millennials in the audience are wondering what the hell those are!)
The Technological Revolution of the 90’s and Zeroes has made it easier and easier to digest information, but at what cost? I mean I was ahead of the curve, I read articles on my StarTac ten years ago!
Today people read the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, or US Weekly (lol) on their cell phones, PDAs, laptops, watches?, cars, TVs, Wii’s, who knows what! It’s a saturation of media, an abundance of information; and often no way of knowing what is true and false.
You read my writing long enough you realize I have a very strange punctuation style (not exactly MLS approved!), I make up words and definitions! (and hope to make up many more!), and basically say whatever I want in a matter of fact way!
I am not alone in this style. Any kid with a laptop (hiptop, blackberry, or Wii) can write a blog (facebook, myspace, or hack a supercomputer!) and tell the world what they think (and alter Wikipedia so the world takes it as fact!)
Sometimes it’s just nice to sit back and read something printed (and I don’t mean on your BubbleJet!). At least that way you know that someone spent a lot of time (or at least a minute or two than I did on this article!) and some money to put the thing in print. Plus you get a feeling, an experience when reading printed media that you don’t get when communicating with the internet, listening to the radio, or watching the news (and you most likely get more than the highlights, the explosions! the money shots! from the headlines).
However you read, read, but remember I wrote this article in just as long as it took you to read this and I’m no expert, I read everything online too! So read on!
