EdgeBeat – Page 3 – Based on a true story

Google Wave, Email reinvented

Post author By peteDog
Post date May 29, 2009
2 Comments on Google Wave, Email reinvented

Yesterday Google unveiled their upcoming product Google Wave. And if you haven’t heard of it yet, you surely will soon, as everyone is starting to talk about it already. I watched their presentation of it yesterday and was very impressed. It can very well be the next big thing, especially since its being made available as an open standard for everyone to use and build upon, just like email is today, not a closed proprietary system. If people adopt it, this might be the way we communicate and collaborate in the future.

Yesterday, during the Google I/O keynote, Google’s VP of Engineering, Vic Gundotra, laid out a grand vision for the direction Google sees the web heading towards with the move to the HTML 5 standard. While we’re not there yet, all the major browser players besides Microsoft are aligned and ready for the next phase, which will include such things as the ability to run 3D games and movies in the browser without additional plug-ins. But Google wants to take it one step further with a brand new method of communication for this new era. It’s called Google Wave.

Continue reading “Google Wave, Email reinvented”

Random Crap

Feeding the addiction

We hardly ever watch TV these days at home. The commercials just kill me. And in the US, they’re even more obnoxious and frequent than in Sweden. (that’s really the only other frame of reference I’ve got). I, like many others in these new and interesting times, prefer watching shows on my own terms. Or at least that’s what I tell myself anyway – that they are my own terms, and not dictated to me by some big media conglomerate high up in the sky. So the best way to rebel against this TV nonsense, is of course….. to watch TV. On DVD that is. Or the interwebbietubes. Because, that’s like sticking it to the man, right?

Right now we’re hooked on the Wire. Previously it was Sopranos, Entourage, Dexter. The list goes on. There are just so many good shows out there and so little time. It’s a little like having an endless supply of cocaine, but not enough noses to snort it with. There ought to be a 12 step program for this somewhere, because I’m willing to at least admit addiction. And promise to quit right after we finish the Wire. Only 4 more episodes to go.

The Good Life

Bye-bye leper car

I got a new car. Well, a new old car. My previous one, a 21-year-old Toyota Camry that I’ve written quite a lot about in my previous blog, was still working, but since I was offered to buy my wife’s grandma’s car (Ford Taurus ’99) that she is no longer using for a good price, I grabbed the opportunity and upgraded.

While the new car isn’t exactly new or, how do I put this gently… sexy (according to SNL it’s the car that many thirtysomethings drive to show the world they’ve given up on their dreams), it does possess some features one would consider useful or maybe even necessary for a functioning vehicle, such as a heater and A/C, working radio and both tail lights intact.

Cartoonz

When pigs fly

Post author By peteDog
Post date April 28, 2009

The Good Life

Alien no more

It is now official. I am American. I still don’t feel like an American. But then again, I never really felt very Swedish either. Or Polish for that matter. Having Polish parents while living in Sweden has made me somewhat confused over where I really belong. I have always conveniently chosen to answer where I’m from depending on the situation. When someone made fun of Sweden, I was Polish. When someone teased me about being from Poland, I was Swedish. It worked out great, and sometimes I felt sorry for those poor kids with only one country of origin. How did they manage?

Now, I have yet another identity to delude my sense of patriotism.

The ceremony was pretty nice. It was me and 850 other people from 93 different countries who took the Oath of Citizenship at the same time. Pretty neat. The only thing I found somewhat ironic was when they played “Born in the USA” through the loudspeakers, before the ceremony, in an auditorium full of 850 foreigners just about to become neutralized naturalized.

We celebrated afterwards by eating out. I had ribs, coleslaw and a Budweiser, instantly feeling a lot more American.

Stuff I Like

Preparing for the Apocalypse

Post author By peteDog
Post date April 21, 2009
4 Comments on Preparing for the Apocalypse

I love getting myself worked up listening to conservative talk radio. It’s a form of entertainment I indulge in at times when in a car and without anything else interesting to listen to. In times like these I turn to Sean Hannity and Bill Cunningham to keep me company. In a way they’re very Orwellian in their style, sometimes reminiscent of the Two Minutes Hate from 1984, but stretched out for hours on end to fill the great demand.

Endless people call in patting themselves and the host on the back for being “Great Americans” and whatnot. They talk about how the president is going to take their guns away from them and why it’s a great idea to stockpile weapons. They talk about how the war in Iraq is going great and how we’re winning. And they talk about the economy and how there’s a left wing conspiracy to make us all communist. It’s all pretty entertaining and all that fear mongering is quite normal for this particular station. They have a great line-up of talk show hosts that specialize in it after all. What caught my attention yesterday as I was listening was not that though, but one of their commercials.

Cartoonz The Good Life

New Job

Post author By peteDog
Post date April 18, 2009
3 Comments on New Job

I guess this isn’t news anymore, but I did actually manage to find a job finally…… even after I banged my face up on a plate glass window.

Neil and Buzz should be happy that they got the easier task……

Cartoonz

The Most Dangerous Game

Random Crap

Walking into stuff

One thing I do not recommend doing right before going into a job interview is walking into a plate glass window. Very few things in life are more humbling than just that. Fortunately there were no eye witnesses (unless a security camera somewhere picked this up and gave someone a good laugh), so little harm was done, besides some non-visible facial bruising, a slightly bloodied lip and a damaged ego.

At this point I would like to congratulate the window washer for a remarkable job. If a video of the event did in fact exist I would allow it to be used as a testament to his impeccable craftsmanship. It could also be used in a compilation of other videos of me walking into stuff, such as: Me walking into screen door, lamp post or a street sign.

Apparently, thinking clouds my vision and impairs my ability to see immobile objects in front of me, no matter the size, often leading to events where a “ding” or “clonk” sound can be heard, and pain felt in the affected body parts. Usually the head part.

I’m amazed I still have teeth. I lost my pride and dignity long ago.

Funny Stuff

Watch out Folsom

Too bad nothing can’t be done about this.

Preemptive Memorial Honors Future Victims Of Imminent Dam Disaster