Joe Blogs

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

What About Bigfoot?!

Speculation has been persistant for some time about Google releasing a desktop operating system. I figured that it was always in the pipeline and that they would gradually develop Android and eventually release a desktop version!

Today though they've announced a new project that's referred to as a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. See what they did there?!

It's amazing to believe that Google Chrome was released only nine months ago and is being used regularly by 30 million people.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. [Official Google Blog]

Edit: I likened this announcement yesterday to the Bigfoot story just in case that wasn't made clear [hit Publish]. I published the post without adding any real substance which is exactly what Google have done with the Chrome OS announcement. It's now emerged (via Rovert Scoble) that this was well timed to take some of the attention away from Microsoft’s expected Office-in-the-cloud announcement next week. I'm interested in what will be unveiled and will make sure to update with any significant developments :)

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

One Of The Most Watched Web Events, Ever..

There were many tributes at the Michael Jackson memorial but none were more poignant or surprising than when his daughter Paris Jackson took to the stage.

Paris Katherine addressed mourners at the Staples Center on Tuesday, tearfully telling them -

"Ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just want to say I love him so much."

The Michael Jackson memorial will go down as one of the most watched web events, ever. Many sources predicted that the service would severely cripple social networks and news sites but although they were strained they maintained the broadcast from the Staples Center. I followed the early stages via the CNN/Facebook integrated live stream but opted to watch the majority on television. Twitter struggled but despite the ~~expected~~ problems the trending topics were dominated with references to the memorial. Also worth acknowledging is that fans have flocked to the Michael Jackson fan page on Facebook and made it the most popular on the social networking site. With less than 100,000 fans before his death that has increased to more than 7 million today. I'm sure further statistics from today will emerge and I'll make sure to update to incorporate that information..

Update: Here are some statistics from GigaOM that covered the event..

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Somebody End This Already

Image by toga via Flickr

I admit I was one of the people that didn't give Andy Roddick a chance today, I wrote him off even before the first ball had been served. I dismissed his chances and went with the notion that Roger Federer would just play him off the court. That he would destroy him in three Sets and reach Championship point without breaking a sweat.

Roddick having beaten Andy Murray in the Semi Final had other ideas and made this an epic final. Roger Federer eventually though claimed his record 15th grand slam crown and sixth Wimbledon title as he beat Andy Roddick 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14.

The match lasted four hours and 18 minutes, the fifth set was the climax with 30 games played before Federer was finally able to break serve. Andy Roddick was unfortunate as he had chances and his powerful serve controlled the match. Roger Federer now reclaims the world number one spot from Rafael Nadal and we now focus on the US Open which starts in August. It's becoming increasingly competitive at the top of the men's game and with Roddick looking strong, Nadal returning from injury and Andy Murray improving all the time we should witness some exciting tennis over the coming months!

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Michael Jackson's Memorial

Image by CR Artist via Flickr

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

As America celebrates Independence Day the world braces itself for the memorial of Michael Jackson next Tuesday. I have been intrigued by this story and have wrote several posts about the reaction across social media sites, the surge in the music charts as fans purchase the greatest hits of Michael Jackson and followed the story as it has developed through various outlets. Mashable have covered this well and ask the question whether Michael Jackson’s Memorial: The Biggest Web Event in History? It's an interesting view, especially considering the response to his passing and the coverage this has received! Will Internet service providers be able to handle the traffic surge that will ensue? Will there be enough bandwidth to cope? It's certain to be a memorable event that's for certain!

Friday, July 03, 2009

There's Gold In The Streams..

Image via Wikipedia

The challenge of real time search is to provide a consistant and rich experience, accurate information available in real-time. Friendfeed the service that aggregates activity shared from other social networks and profiles, co-founded by Gmail creator Paul Buchheit, entered the real-time field today.

All pages already update in real-time, this enhances the experience and adds even more value to an already extensive portfolio of features. Friendfeed tracks more than 50 different social media sites and any custom RSS feed can be imported through the service. Just enter a search query as you always have, and see new results instantly stream in at the top of your screen in real-time. No need to constantly click refresh.

These search queries can also easily be embedded into any blog and available in real time, thanks to FriendFeed. See for instance: Obama, TweetDeck or Michael Jackson. I have embedded a vanity search below for all mentions of my name that appear on Friendfeed -

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Super-Sized

Image by d_vdm via Flickr

Since joining the gym I have felt a renewed level of confidence and motivation, the objective isn't to super-size me as I don't think that is a look that would suit my frame. Like those hyper-colour socks from the 80's, reflecting on photos taken back then, that was definitely a defining chapter in my life.

Thankfully the Google crawlers aren't able to display those images, not indexed as they are buried deep in an album on the walled garden that is Facebook [for now].

As an added privilege, being a member of the gym also provides access to the swimming pool and the option for my children to swim for free. I have taken them a few times recently, from diving to teaching them how to swim each session has been full of activity. My son is gradually growing in confidence but he is still reluctant to get his head under the water, he's nearly there though. Had quite a workout yesterday as after swimming with the children I returned to the gym to proceed with my usual programme.

Seriously, today my body feels like I have gone several rounds with Mike Tyson! Although Tyson now is a shadow of the fighter that brought fear to the heavyweight division in his earlier career. That was until he lost his apetite but then I wouldn't say that to him anytime soon!! He appears to have chosen a career in the movie industry, making a cameo appearance in The Hangover which I really want to see at the cinema!

A Las Vegas-set comedy centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures

This evening we watched Transformers 2 at the Greenwich IMAX, great film, brief summary; Megan Fox, Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, Megan Fox, A return to the ancient origins of the Transformers, Megan Fox, Explosive action and fight scenes, Megan Fox.. I watched the movie with my siblings and our partners, we held almost every position in the back row and celebrated as the Autobots defended against 'The Fallen'. Worth viewing in the cinema, Michael Bay presents his trademark - explosions, action and firepower which makes it difficult to see how this will be topped this year!!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Facebook For iPhone 3.0 Coming Very Soon... Privacy Changes Too!!

Image via CrunchBase

There were several Facebook announcements today, firstly they unveiled privacy setting changes for the social network. The Everyone option does sound easier but I'm sure the changes will provide confusion and there will be the expected user backlash as a vocal minority state that the changes aren't for everyone! The rollout looks to be staggered over the next three (+) weeks so I'm sure more details will emerge and opinion will circulate.

ReadWriteWeb ask: Facebook Wants You To Be Less Private - But Why? I'm sure this will be a question than many will raise as why the shift in direction? For obvious reasons sharing information with the open web is attractive, I enjoy Twitter, Friendfeed and other sites for their openness but I don't really want that from Facebook. I will reserve any criticism/praise until the privacy update is made available for my Facebook account!

Details also emerged today on Facebook for iPhone 3.0, the developer Joe Hewitt posted a note with what we can expect from the application. He states that the application is 98% complete so should be made available shortly.

What will be coming in the new version?

1. The “new” News Feed
2. Like
3. Events (including the ability to RSVP)
4. Notes5. Pages
6. Create new photo albums
7. Upload photos to any album
8. Zoom into photos
9. Easier photo tagging
10. Profile Pictures albums
11. A new home screen for easy access to all your stuff, search, and notifications
12. Add your favorite profiles and pages to the home screen
13. Better Notifications (they link to the comments so you can reply)
14. Quickly call or text people right from the Friends page
15. Messages you are typing will be restored if you quit or are interrupted by a phone call