Sediment of Thought

Nimbus Rant

2011-07-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Just posted some thoughts about the decline of Nimbus Brewery on BMSMBBQ.

Google+

2011-07-09T12:23:00.001-07:00

I've been on the web since 1995, back when I used a modem to connect to the U of A's CCIT - didn't even have a graphical browser at that time. Took 5 minutes to print a single image off Usenet into a text file and then uudecode it.

Even with that early exposure to the Internet I sat on the sidelines during most of the "social" revolution that took place on the internet. I never signed up for MySpace, or even Facebook - primarily due to privacy issues but also because I didn't want to commit to yet another "account" somewhere, especially with such private information involved.

I've always loved Google (although I think Buzz and the high priced ChromeOS netbooks suck - if they were $100 each it might be something). I use gmail, Google Reader, Picassa, Blogger (mostly for the BBQ blog, I almost never update this as you can see!), Google Docs, Chrome, etc and make extremely heavy use of my Google account. The fact is, Google already knows everything about me...so when I managed to get an early invite into Google+ via the Slickdeals forums I figured I'd give it a shot - after all, would use an account I already had.

I like the ability to manage circles which seems to give more control over who I share things with than Facebook does. So far it doesn't seem like I have to share any more info about myself than I do today.

I also like the Google+ hangouts & have already engaged in video chat with several friends but the Youtube function in hangouts needs a lot of work - without synchronizing video so everybody sees it at the same time it just doesn't work/doesn't make sense. Also saw several bugs where it just stopped playing altogether.

The photos within Google+ also need work. Even if I have something shared with the world on Picassa (for use by a blog for example), I don't necessarily want them shared with everybody on Google+ - and there is not that level of granularity yet. I also noticed that Google+ isn't picking up legacy comments on Picassa, but will show new comments on Picassa - it needs to show old ones too (they may fix this sooner or later - but seems like something easy that should have been caught early on, before they opened the invitation floodgates?). What I'm saying is Google+ doesn't really appear to be ready for primetime - between obvious photo issues & youtube not working worth squat in hangouts it looks to me like Google opened it up a bit early...

Also, there aren't any games yet on Google+. I think PCs defeated Macs in the 90s/early 00s because of the more widespread availability of games on the PC platform. If Google+ doesn't do something about that soon I can't imagine they will be widely adopted (except by anti-Facebook weirdos like me).

Anyway, finally getting my feet wet / letting down my guard - see you on Google+.

New BBQ Blog

2010-01-23T23:09:00.003-07:00

Just set up a new BBQ blog called Bite My Shiny Metal BBQ! It will function as the site where Scott and I detail the results of our grilling adventures.

The name of it is of course honoring our pal Bender Bending Rodriguez from Futurama.

Anyway, give it a visit. Link can be found above and in "My Favorite Blogs" off to the right side of this webpage.

Google Reader

2009-03-25T16:13:00.010-07:00

I've recently been obsessed with Google Reader. In the past I've generally been on top of new technologies but for some reason I never played with RSS feeds or investigated their use --- for whatever reason. I guess being behind the times comes with having a Mainframe-related career, eh?

Anyway, I used to visit several news sites - CNN, The Housing Bubble Blog, The Smoking Gun, Google Finance, Robh Ruppel's Blog, Hotdealsclub.com etc, etc - now I have Google Reader which takes all the updates on these sites and puts it in one easy-to-read place.

I was afraid of RSS for a long time - but now I'm a convert! I recommend that you check it out - it'll change your life. The concept of RSS and sharing information has also renewed my interest in this blog - so here I am again!

Another Useless Vanity Blog

2007-12-12T20:15:00.003-07:00

"You know how I know it's the end of the world, Lenny? Everything's already been done. Every kinda music, every government, every hairstyle. How we gonna make it another thousand years, for Chrissake?" - Max, Strange Days

Max was right, it's all been done before - every everything, especially every kind of blog. I wish I could resist the urge to create another useless vanity blog, but unfortunately I've got nothing better to do. Sorry in advance.