Too Much Google News

I'm back in Dallas, and I had a good weekend, but I wouldn't say it was great. I've had more fun here on weekends with other co-ops, but last night's BBQ was amazing. I'll show you why:

What wasn't so hot was Germany's performance today. I felt that they just weren't aggressive enough and it shouldn't surprise me that Italy would win (I had to hit the road right after the first OT period). There was too much Google-related news over the past two days for me to not make it the main topic. First of all, Myanmar has suddenly banned Google and Gmail from its people to control the flow of information to and fro the country. It has done this with Hotmail and Yahoo Mail as well, but I just don't get why that would help them out much unless they're mandating the use of some special e-mail service that the government can actually monitor. That doesn't even make Google's list of vulnerabilities though, which actually features some pretty heavy issues for them. I think that the last one is the biggest current threat, which is click fraud wreaking havoc on sales and for their legal department. For now though, Wired has them pegged as #1 on their list of the Wired 40 with Apple at #2, which was flipped around just last year. There's contraversy over how this list is formulated to put Google at the top while Microsoft is at 36 and Intel is at 24. The last item is regarding what the Google PC will most likely be like, assuming that the speculation is true regarding its development, and that is an OS run entirely on a web server to be accessed through a cheap, thin client. Of course, this is just one guy's educated opinion and does not signify any hard evidence from an insider, and so it has flaws (which he himself brings up). The fact of the matter, in my opinion, is that this wouldn't catch on anywhere past lower income families, poor schools, and maybe the elderly. Who else wouldn't want their data on their own machine under their own unadulterated control, especially in this age of identity theft? I suppose that if Internet connections get fast enough and it's intuitive enough that people may switch, but it'll be quite an uphill battle since OS X and Windows are already so well-established.

So what's up with #2 on the Wired 40? Well, Apple has had better than expected sales of the MacBook consistently since its release, which is leading some to wonder whether we'll see a 15.4" iteration in the near future (maybe even at WWDC?). It would almost appear that they've taken the celebration to iTunes with episodes of the Blade television series (or at least the pilot, right now) being offered for free on iTunes for a limited time. I think I'll download a few myself to see if the show is any fun to watch. Microsoft has ended its campaign of annoying WGA validation checks through another furtive patch, likely due to litigious pressure stateside. This earns them some brownie points, but I wouldn't be surprised if detractors feel that this action is too little, too late. Computer World is running an article seemingly targeted at companies about how to brace themselves for the IT workforce crisis, which, similar to the Social Security crisis, is imminent because of the retiring baby boom population. I think it's high time for companies to take to the streets and encourage more students to major in CS rather than brace for impending doom. If you have a useful opinion on who should control the Internet, then be sure to write to the NTIA, a brance of the Department of Commerce that is accepting opinions through the end of the week. If you've ever complained that your voice never gets heard, then here's your chance to say something! Lastly, Weird Al Yankovic is offering his parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" for free on his website called "You're Pitiful" because Blunt approved it while his label is none to happy. I think it's a rather cool move on Yankovic's part and is kind of a "screw you" to Atlantic, which was stupid enough to attract this bad press.

I'm getting tired, so I'm going to breeze through the movie news. We have a new Snakes on a Plane poster that looks campier than what we've seen before, and I love it. I just realized looking at that poster that this movie actually comes out on my last day of work here in Dallas. Eric Bana may not be the Hulk in the sequel as Universal will not be doing it and so his contract isn't already attached. However, we already know that it'll be a redux so there's no guarantee that they'd want him in the first place, though he seems willing to return. Moviehole found out that the Silver Surfer will be CG in the upcoming movie, contrary to earlier rumors that Vin Diesel would be playing the part. I'm curious as to how this will actually look good unless the entire movie is CG. Another superhero we have news on is Spider-man, but beware because it contains a spoiler. Images have popped up tying in an interesting character with the next iteration, but I don't think that it's that big of a spoiler at all if you're debating whether or not to look. Unfortunately, the He-man and Spyhunter projects have been brushed aside for the time being as director John Woo has decided to go back to Hong Kong to work on a Chow Yun Fat movie instead. No word yet on why or whether Woo will still be attached to these projects, but I'm sure that all will be revealed in due time. Lastly, I have a couple of multimedia bits for you. One is the trailer for High Times, which I wasn't all that interested in, but it does have Christian Bale and Eva Longoria so that piqued my attention. The other thing is yet another clip from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 centered on the two men likely to bring the most ladies to the theater.

Now for the Tuesday Twosome meme:

1. Do you celebrate an "independence" day in your country? Explain:
I live in America, so yes ;)

2. Do you look forward to holidays? Explain:
Yeah, because it's a good time to take a step back from my hectic life and just hang back. Of course, it's only a break when it's not during the long session and so I don't have homework or tests to worry about.

3. What two holidays are your favorite? Explain:
Definitely Christmas and Thanksgiving because of all the family. New Year's comes in a very close third though because of all the dancing.

4. Is there a holiday you feel is a waste of time? Explain:
Columbus Day since he didn't really found America, just grabbed it for England. Still, I'll take all the holidays I can get (even though UT doesn't recognize it as a holiday).

5. If you celebrate the 4th of July, what are your plans and who are you celebrating the day with?
I packed up my stuff, watched most of the soccer game at my brother's place, and then shipped off to come back here to Dallas. Now I must end my day with a good night's rest.