FW: Friday versus Monday

He He, fantastic!

Bye Bye HD-DVD

So finally after months of speculation the finals of this generations beta max vs. VHS battle is over and HD-DVD has not come out the winner.

ENGadget.com reports that Toshiba - the main big brand supporter of HD-DVD is to call a halt to its HD-DVD production. >link

So it's Blu-Ray then for us lot... So all those that bought Playstations are ok and will win. Although I do feel a little let down, there was no real battle, no high street 50-50 split with people having to make a real decision. Just those that bought a Toshiba with HD have now lost out, and Toshiba (obviously) have no plans to reimburse those that are left with effectively a useless bit of technology that will be obsolete.

Altohugh I am sitting here smug, glad that i waited for the end to this and knowing i paid over £200 less for not having HD-DVD,or should that be I did not pay £200 for something now obsolete less than a month after i bought it.

It's been coming for a while -

Warner's decision to go to Blu-Ray
Walmart stops selling HD-DVD
Guardian report from CES 2008
Times online early explanation - highlights some of the pitfalls of HD DVD
Early lead for Blu-Ray

*UPDATE* it is officially over - read press release here

Will Google take over the world?

That's quite something really. But in terms of online market share Google is alread huge.

So, what can you do with Google already?

• Google Searches
• If you are not well listed on Google then you are loosing 80% of the UK Search Market and business
• Google Adwords
• Pay to display your website and business higher
• Google Checkout
• Allow all the people that have come to your site via Google Searcha and Adwords to purchase fom your site
• GMail
• Send all your emails with Google, even sort out all your Adwords and Checkout Items
• Blogger
• Add all your thoughts here please!
• Sketchup
• Design items for clients or design items to place in Google Earth
• Google Earth
• View the world, place Sketchup items in the 3d world and mark up where your business is and allow people to plan a route to you
• Google Analytics
• See how many of those Search Engine and Adwords visitors stay on your site and where they go
  
• YouTube
• Put up videos of your business for free and be found in Google Searches.

WOW! thats a bloody lot of stuff really and i'm pretty sure i have missed something out.

So what's the problem?
Privacy - Google now has loads of details from me for hundreds of things. From my email to my business checkout. This information would be superb for any number of companies - who would be prepared to pay Google a very handsome sum for it.

So why do i still use Google?

Simple - It is fabulously easy. Integrated - everything links. Microsoft are crap at this, seriously - they could do so much more, plus having to load up each program drains memory. It would be great to simply run music without having to have the huge memory consuming media player runing and for any of you who have read my other posts will know that i think Vista is little more than a facelift for an ageing product.

Plus - Until Google start to use my information in a manipulative way i think i will be staying as I am.
Love integrated and effective products that take up only as much memory as the browser you're using? Love Google!

Google will take over the world, but it will be an integrated takeover

An Answer to Englands housing problems?

Lets think like Tokyo - we have a housing shortage, yet at the same time thounsands of people cannot afford the houses that are available. In my town alone there are 1,000 empty homes yet there are not enough? seem silly, also stupid in fact. the fact is s that in England houses are boring, all look the same, seriously they all do.

So i have seen the future of housing ladies and gentlemen and here it is!



Quite damn ingenious! It is a real solution to the housing shortage in the future. Seriously, it is not some clammy lil tiny shabby box - ok it's small but everything is there. And I'm sure in the real houses of the future that it will all be electric - or is that not "green" enough for future housing?



Stylish - affordable and only takes up a tiny bit of space! You could fit four of these future houses into the space of just one current shambolic heap of boring design!

Microsoft Surface

Look more Technology from Microsoft.

This has been hanging in the background of rumours and images and videos etc for quite a a while. Looks rather good and fun - and unlike Vista actually different.

I'm having a nightmare here. My Nokia Mem card will not be read by my laptop and i have billions (possible exaggeration) of images that i want off of it. Also my dear phone has decided to be an arse, BUT rather than let me upgrade it online myself Vodafone UK actually have to take it back and upgrade it themselves, tell me there are no real problems and attempt to charge me for the work.

But anyway back to to Surface.

First things first.... it has a kinda post-millennium purple colour scheme that of course has to be that best part of it. Then you have the applications Microsoft want to use this for. In fact Surface is no longer just a computer it is now actually part of the furniture (Some of you might argue that it already has been for years).

But this is real huge sized furniture like - a table.

Now has Microsoft thought about what this puts them up against?

Whilst they are computer people they are now going to take on IKEA, or will we see a flat pack version of surface, available from Swedish merchants everywhere?

Vista pt 3

Why?

That is my only question so far.

It looks better. Great... But what else?

I cannot actually see the huge benefit to using Vista. It feels a bit stop-gap, like there is something else that is coming soon or just that something new was needed but Microsoft was not sure what to do so it botoxed XP.

So what we're really looking at is a Operating System that has spent far too long in L.A... whereas the i-Mac has spent far too long in Paris.

Plus it is bloated - you simply cannot run it on a single core processor, now i know there are a lot of graphics to deal with but hey - why? what? confused?

Vista goes against the grain of things these days more power, more speed, more performance, but all at, less weight, less power consumed, less size, less memory used.

Vista is like a 60's child in the noughties - i want more of everything and i will be bigger, brasher and ballsier. True American.

Another one bites the dust - or can at least see it coming

The New York Times has a story today about the jobs cuts and shenanignans affecting the Newspaper industry.

The question has to be asked though, how did they not see it coming?

Everyday some old person dies - that in itself is not the issue, (unless it was your relative, sorry), but what is the issue is that these older folk are still of the Newspaper age - to whom the Sunday paper IS Sunday, not just something to pass time with.

But nowadays that's not the case. I attempted this week to introduce my father to online newscasts and T.V.O.D. (T.V. on demand)

This was to stop him watching the news when we were having tea - Why is this such an issue?

Well by the time i am having dinner i have already seen the morning news bulletins (Vista Sidebar RSS, 'Vista update coming soon') I will have also had the BBC up on screen all day and probably watched the News on the "BBC iplayer" which is rather fantastic.

But there it is - I am now almost completely "Newsed Out" why do i need to bother to get out of my chair and head to the shops to get a newspaper?

I get a more focused analysis on specialist websites than i do through a paper - News that i want, when i want it.... well done there internet?

If I were one of those sitting there wondering how to improve my newspaper I would simply do one thing - jack-it-in, save thousands on production costs and production staff costs and shift everything online and work on attracting advertisers and attracting users to buy from your advertisers.

I sure hope though that this effect won't trickle down into magazines. Surely it won't will it? i mean the internet isn't that good - oh shit we're screwed

Yes We Can Obama Song by will.i.am

Obama certainly seems like a good change from the w***er that is George Bush. As far as it goes from this side of the pond a success from the democrats, either candidate, will be a lot better

Vista pt 2

Vista is all good!

Loaded up fine - worked fine - connected fine

But

It does feel a bit like a hollywood make-over rather than a full scale new version of windows. Not much of the function on the front end has chenged, just another annoying confirmation box if ever you want to change the system settings... annoying

So yep its a nice upgrade - am glad i bought it with a system and didnt bother spending money on a facelift

Vista

Evening all, this promises to be an entertaining experience and one full of swearing i have just installed Vista

check back for whinges!

Damn Annoyed!

That’s what I am today.

I have attempted to install Google Checkout – fantastic little bit of kit that allows purchases to be made via Google, only 1.5% + 15p per purchase, bargain really!

- - - BUT - - - -

There is absolutely no telephone support line. Which is not good when there is hardly any information on tax or the invoicing side of things. It all feels a little half-assed. Why are they not competing with the might of Visa / other methods by not offering a full service?

Google is a name many on the internet trust. So it made sense to us to actually use their service, there is also little work involved from the Buyers point of view and Google gets them by the short n’ curlies by having them sign in to Google.

The sellers are also encourage to spend more on Adwords (Adwords spend x10 = free order processing amount) so for Google it’s Win-Win

And another thing!

If you have a forum for users, make sure you actually respond to their gripes – reading through the Google Merchant forum (Linked here) all you hear is scare stories! Not very promising from the true internet superstar.

Have Google lost their focus?

Or is this showing that really Google cannot compete against other firms who have been dealing with irate customers for years?

OR

Should these internet companies just leave it to the people who know best and actually keep their eye on the ball. Yahoo lost to Google when it put content on its pages rather than improve their search engines – Ebay is suffering from PayPal hatred – just keep your eye out over the next few years, the superstar of the internet may be heading for a big heap ‘o customer complaints~?

Speaking of which - hello Blogspot.com - yes Google aren't ya!