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Everybody do the (Google) Wave!
As I mentioned previously in my Picasa post, I’ve only recently become a Google fanboy.
Oh sure, I was pretty close already with all my email coming to me through Google Apps, as well as my use of Google Reader to help me keep up with all the webcomics and tech news I follow. And then there’s Google Analytics for my websites and well, I could keep going, Google makes a ton of different, very useful products…. I use just about everything that Google has put out. (Yes, I’m aware that I’m not using Blogger, but I prefer WordPress just because it’s on my own server.)
Really, though, the announcement for Google Wave and its accompanying (way too long at 1:20 minutes) demo video is what finally turned the tides and made me into the gushing, ravenous fanboy you see before you.
Tomorrow, September 30th 2009, will be the day that Google starts inviting people into Google Wave. I’m hoping that I’ll be one of the few 100,000 that gets in. If not, I’ll be crushed, but I’ll wait patiently in the hopes that one of my friends or anyone that reads this blog (all two of you) might have an invitation to spare and can let me join in on the Wavey goodness.
Good luck to all the hopefuls out there!
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Picasa 3.5 Now Has Facial Recognition
I’m certain that I’m not alone when I say that the phrase “I have a lot of photos on my harddrive” is an extreme understatement. I have 35,000 photos and images, give or take, and I’m sure that there are many of you that have me beat by a fair margin.
Needless to say, a little photo organization is important, no matter how many photos you have. A while back I started looking for a program that’s good at doing this, and eventually downloaded Google’s Picasa. While trying to figure out the best way to use Picasa to organize, I got distracted with something else and pretty much forgot all about my original goal. The photos remained unorganized.
Fast forward a couple of years to yesterday when Google’s blog announced face recognition in their latest version of Picasa.
Most of the time I shrug off claims like these as just gimmick features that barely work. However, this is Google claiming this, and lately they’ve done some pretty amazing stuff with their software. Because of this, I’ve become a bit of a Google fanboy and after seeing this news on my RSS feed (using Google Reader), I was anxious to get home and try it out.More
Microsoft Courier Concept
Lately the rumor mill has been spinning about a tablet that Apple is supposedly putting out in the future, but from what I understand, Apple keeps denying the existance of such a device. Yesterday Gizmodo revealed Microsoft’s latest concept device, the Courier. Recently I came across Microsoft OneNote and fell in love with the software. This appears to do much of the same thing, and if it does it as smoothly, my need for gadgets won’t let me pass it up. I’ll let the video and story from Gizmodo tell the rest.
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Those graphics are really boxy
A friend of mine on Facebook posted the link to this article and I thought it was worthy enough to post here. I love kids and the things they do. Hanging with them is always so much fun because you get to see them experience things for the first time. And I guess I can vicariously experience them for the first time again as well.
This article just goes to show that it’s not really all about the shiny graphics, or the enhanced dolby 7.1 surround sound. It’s about captivating imagination. So, adult gamers, go out and buy yourself a PS3 or 60 inch screen TV, just make sure you give your kids the box to play with while you break in your new gadget.
Here’s an excerpt:
It looked like a frenetic moving day at the Children’s Discovery Museum.
Empty cardboard boxes littered a corner of the first floor exhibit space, piled up or strewed around as if someone had just finished unpacking them.
But what looked like the discarded packaging for a new exhibit was actually the exhibit itself.
It’s called Box City, and its accidental success proves that when it comes to toys, one kid’s trash is another kid’s castle. Or doll crib. Or submarine.
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