Desktop, Meet the Web

I have a Physics test tomorrow and I haven't even started packing for my trip home tomorrow, so you can imagine that I'm in a hurry to get this post out of the way. I may not even have time tomorrow night o put one up, but I'll be sure to post a notice if that's true. Anyway, Read/Write Web has really been churning out some great editorials lately, so I'd be remiss to not take a moment to reflect on their thoughts on the evolution of personal computing with the Web. They go through specific examples, but I'm going to speak broadly here: we definitely won't see everyone depend solely on the Internet like some have suggested in the past months. It's not feasible to have your life offloaded to some server because it removes your control over it and it will likely slow down your life, especially if your Internet goes out. The smart players need to plan ahead of the trend and realize that it's important to integrate web applications with users' standalone desktops. Even Spiceworks, an Austin startup that actually spoke here at UT again last week, realizes this since they coded it in Ruby on Rails and yet the program runs easily off of a computer's desktop. It talks to their server for ads and upgrades and the like, but the program doesn't break if your Internet does, and I think that's fairly important. Anyway, I'll leave this topic at that, but you should read that blog post if you're interested in this topic. There's definitely much to be said about where personal computing is going, and I'm sure that I'll hit on it regularly.

Microsoft has confirmed that Vista and Office 2007 will be released on November 30 with the catch that it's intended for businesses, not home users. I'm not business-savvy or anything, but does this sound stupid to anyone else? Why would a business want software that's supposedly not safe for consumers but is a-OK for them? It's been a while since I've talked about IP TV, but the sales of IP TV equipment seems to be experiencing very healthy growth. Granted, we aren't seeing mass deployment yet, but we're definitely seeing the base of a market being built up. Lastly, programmers like me who are too lazy to try to navigate through APIs will enjoy gotAPI, which does the legwork for you. It's only slightly better than the one I had mentioned a few months ago.

We now have a trailer for Evan Almighty, and I have to say that it looks pretty bad. The whole Noah's Ark angle just sounds lame. Tom Cruise has found a new home with MGM in its United Artists brand, so I guess that he'll be on a rampage to compete with Paramount now. I'm curious to see how he fares at UA where I'm guessing they'll give him a little more control than Paramount had. Lastly, Rogue Pictures has the rights to make a movie based on the wildly popular old-school Castlevania video game franchise. Not sure if this is good or bad, probably bad, but Castlevania always had a kind of neat storyline.



Now for the 3x Thursday:

1. Are you in to clothes and fashion? Does it matter to you? Why/why not?
I enjoy being fashionable, but I don't predicate my wardrobe on being particularly trendy. I just buy what I think looks hot on me, not what looks good at the time. Like I'd never get a pink shirt (bad color for me) just because it's the in thing to do, and I wouldn't get a shirt with that ugly frayed collar because that's just stupid. However, I make sure I look good when I can.

2. Girls: Do you wear heels? Why/why not? Are they comfortable? Guys: What's your take on dressing up in suits and ties?
I like suits and ties, but not for everyday. I don't like it for on campus interviews either, because it makes my day really uncomfortable.

3. What do you think of these people today who wear their jeans on their asses? You know, boxers sticking 3/4 of the way out...wearing a 40 waist when it should be a 32. Do you think it's becoming? Do you care? Why/why not?
There's a biased question ;) Of course, I agree: it's stupid. I think much lesser of people who wear their underwear like that as if they're retarded.

Bonus Question: Do you like to get dressed up? Why/why not?
Yeah, it's just a lot fun to get gussied up.