TylerDCA's shared items in Google Reader

Google Says Don’t Quit Microsoft Office Yet

2009-11-13T20:55:03Z

Don’t put all of your eggs in the cloud’s ample basket — or in this case, Google Docs — right now. At least that’s the opinion of Dave Girouard, president of Google’s enterprise division, who recently warned that their cloud-based Google Docs is not ready to fully dethrone Microsoft Office.

In an interview with ZDNet Asia, the exec confesses that Docs is “much less mature” than other Google web apps such as Gmail or Calendar. “We wouldn’t ask people to get rid of Microsoft Office and use Google Docs because it is not mature yet,” Girouard explains. “We know it.” As one of Google’s four presidents, his message carries a lot of weight behind it.

But that caution is only temporary. In the next year, Google expects somewhere between 30 and 50 updates to Google Docs, making the feature set more robust and improving performance at the same time. After that, Girouard says, Google Docs should be powerful enough to handle the “vast majority’s needs.”

Girouard is quick to point out that Microsoft Office is “an overkill tool for most people” — a quote that Computerworld seems to interpret that even with a souped-up Docs, it won’t be a feature-for-feature competitor for Office.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is forging ahead with its own web-based version of Office in an effort to thwart Google Docs’ momentum. Time will tell if word processing and number crunching in the cloud will take off, but in any event there should be some good competition vying for your attention in the next year.

Oilers' Pisani heads home, out indefinitely

2009-11-13T18:43:06Z

Shared by TylerDCA
This is terribly crappy.

Oilers forward Fernando Pisani has left Atlanta and gone home to Edmonton after a recurring bout with ulcerative colitis.

Microsoft Bans 1 Million Xbox 360 Pirates

2009-11-13T07:25:00Z

Over 1 million Xbox Live players around the world lost their ability to access their online accounts when Microsoft dropped the bomb on suspected "pirates". Microsoft stated the banned consoles were modified to allow them to play bootleg games, many of which were downloaded from pirate sites and burned onto disc. Tech bloggers drew an immediate link to the release this week of blockbuster Xbox 360 game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

FUNNY, BUT NOT FUNNY-FUNNY

2009-11-13T14:52:58Z

Shared by TylerDCA
That is less funny since Swayze is dead-dead

Pictures by: dunno source Comic by: adamcomixed via Comix Builder

Google Wave Adds Follow/Unfollow Feature for a Cleaner Inbox [Google Wave]

2009-11-12T19:30:00Z

When we taught you the first Google Wave search you should know (with:public), Wave automatically added public waves you read to your inbox, and an empty inbox quickly became hard to come by. Today, Wave fixes that with a handy Follow/Unfollow button.

Now, rather than automatically adding a public wave to your inbox as soon as you look at it, you have to explicitly choose to follow public waves.

Here's how following works: When someone adds you directly to a wave, or if you contribute to a wave, you will automatically be following that wave. When you see a public wave that you would like to get updates on, you can chose to follow it by hitting the follow button in the wave panel toolbar. You can remove these waves from your inbox by hitting the "archive" button, but when there is an update they will pop back in. You can switch between following and unfollowing a wave as much and as often as you like.

As old public waves you were automatically added to update, they'll start disappearing from your inbox unless you go back in and explicitly follow them. Keep in mind that Unfollow has replaced Mute, so you can also Unfollow waves you've started or been explicitly added to if you no longer want to receive updates in your Inbox.

We realize many of you are still waiting on invites (we'll continue to do our best to hand some out every week), but trust us when we say this is a nice update.

Follow your waves [Google Wave Blog]

Last Weekend Blew

2009-11-12T17:00:07Z

An iPhone Blogger’s Trip to the Dark Side with Verizon’s Motorola Droid

2009-11-12T17:37:04Z

Much has been said about Verizon’s latest addition to their smarthphone arsenal, the Motorola Droid, some good and some bad. I decided to pick one up and decide for myself. It’s been a little less than a week that I’ve spent with my Droid and I must say, I’ve actually come away quite impressed. Now by no means am I saying the Droid is the best looking device on the market, nor is it the perfect smartphone — that simply does not exist. But what we have here is a very solid effort by Motorola. Sure Apple is at the top of the game in regards to UI, ease of use, speed, etc… but they have to play some major catch up with the release of their next iPhone — namely on display, notifications, and multitasking.

For the full run down follow me after the break!

Display

I want to start with the first thing that really pops out when you turn the Droid on — the display. I will admit I never had issues with the screen on my iPhone… until the Droid came along. The Droid’s display has a resolution of 480×854 and is 3.7-inches of pure delight. So much so that after using the Droid for almost a week now when I look at the screen on my iPhone everything on it comes across as being blurry.

Apple, we all beg of you, please make Rene’s dream of an iPhone HD come to life by giving us a better screen on the next version of iPhone. Pretty please…

Notifications

The way the Droid handles notifications is not something new but rather a staple of the Android OS. Like many of you, I feel the iPhone does a very poor job with any sort of push notification whether it is a incoming text message or a sports score. So poor in fact that if I receive a sports score and then a text message right afterwords I have no way of knowing the sports score ever came through! On the Droid I can get all the scores pushed to the device and have email, text messages, etc and a simple swipe down on the screen reveals every single notification. I’m not sure about any of you but how the iPhone handles push notifications is getting pretty old at this point.

Multitasking

According to our poll of what Droid feature would you like to see on your iPhone, many of you would like to see the ability to multitask 3rd party applications. Apple’s response to your request has been that multitasking will kill your battery faster than you could ever imagine. Are they correct? Yes and no. Multitasking will have a negative effect on your battery but it’s not as much as Apple claims it to be. Apple needs to let the consumer decide for themselves. If they’d like to take a hit in the battery life department to be able to multitask 3rd party applications, why not let them? Give us the option and make everyone happy.

Conclusion

So what does this all mean for Apple, and for me? Will I be ditching my iPhone for the Droid? No. I could never leave all of you behind. But I will be keeping the Droid as it definitely has my attention. I can’t say it’s the Verizon network as AT&T service is top notch where I live, but the three things I discussed above have me hooked and good. The Droid really is Apple’s wake up call in a sense. It’s finally a competitive enough device that it should force them to step up and greatly improve upon the iPhone next time around. While I would never tell any of you to do away with your iPhone I will tell you this, if you have a chance to pick one up and give it a whirl, do so as you are sure to enjoy it.

If you are interested in learning more about the Droid be sure to check out Android Central’s full hardware review as Casey knocked it out of the park. And if you’ve already tried the Droid, drop us a note in the comments and let us know how it treated you.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

An iPhone Blogger’s Trip to the Dark Side with Verizon’s Motorola Droid

Looking at the changes to Snow Leopard's top command

2009-11-12T18:26:00Z

Learn about some key changes to the Unix 'top' command in Snow Leopard

Vimeo rolls out mobile-friendly site

2009-11-12T18:04:00Z

Video-sharing site Vimeo has introduced a mobile version of its site. Newly-encoded versions of the videos are now accessible on the iPhone and on Android devices

Ontario to outline HST exemptions

2009-11-12T16:28:51Z

Shared by TylerDCA
Who are these idiots? The whole idea is that you don't put in exemptions. If you put in exemptions you might as well leave it as two taxes. So stupid.

The concept of blended taxes is that because some things get taxed that didnt before the blended tax should be lower than the two seperate taxes.

IE. blending PST (8%) and GST (5%) should be about 11-12% range not 13%.

This HST makes no sense the way they are implementing it.

Fast food and beverages sold for less than $4 are being added to the list of items Ontario will exempt from the provincial portion of the blended sales tax

Farm Force

2009-11-12T14:00:00Z

Well look at that! A comic! It’s here even though Tony found a new cave while Wes nervously worried about his own demise.

10 Manliest Man Caves

2009-11-12T07:45:00Z

Some guys love power tools. Some love cars. Some are happy with a comfy chair, a remote and something to nosh on. Then there are those who need to go above and beyond—to create a space that most men only dream about. Today, we call these spaces "man caves." In these caves, though, the only things being fired up are amps, Blu-ray movies, video games and gigantic TVs (sometimes multiple ones). They are places where a guy can play with his toys without worrying about prying eyes or greasy kid fingerprints.

District 9 Blu-ray Lands a Week Earlier

2009-11-12T14:07:59Z

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has moved forward the release date of the science-fiction sleeper hit 'District 9', which will now hit store shelves on December 22, in time for Christmas shopping. Disc specifications and special features remain unchanged from those initially announced....

Read full article at Blu-ray.com

Inebriated woman falls in front of oncoming train

2009-11-10T20:00:20Z

A woman who appears to have been inebriated fell onto the tracks in a Boston subway as a train was rushing towards her. People on the platform frantically waved at the train, which stopped in the nick of time.

Microsoft Patents Sudo's Behavior

2009-11-11T21:38:00Z

Foofoobar writes "Just when you thought all was safe on the crazy patent front, Microsoft has come out of the obvious patent closet to file patent number 7617530, which basically duplicates the functionality of 'sudo' which is found in all Linux systems. PJ over at groklaw has a wonderful writeup on the entire fiasco."

PO: MONEEN “The World I Want To Leave Behind” dbl LP gold vinyl

2009-11-11T22:22:09Z

MONEEN “The World I Want To Leave Behind” dbl LP gold vinyl

Glad to see Dine Alone releasing some of these great albums on vinyl. This record is limited to 400 all on Translucent Gold.

This is the most complete, mature album Moneen has ever recorded. They’ve often been linked to the emo scene in the past, but their songs continue to prove they don’t belong pigeonholed in any one category or genre. Ranging from up-tempo punk riffs to beautiful, soft ballads, The World I Want To Leave Behind is truly Moneen’s most balanced work to date.

We will have records by December 8th.

Grizzly Bear Eats Airplane

2009-11-11T15:35:06Z

An unnamed Alaskan bush pilot went on a fishing trip and neglected to wash down his plane afterward. The 1958 Piper Cub was just too much temptation for a bear to bear.

The fishy aroma attracted a passing grizzly bear who, clearly frustrated at not being able to see the lovely “noms” it could smell, took the plane apart in an effort to find it. Aircraft fabric is no match for bear claws. The bear also chomped both tyres for good measure, then departed the scene.

Alaskans are a hardy bunch, however – as tough as the aircraft they fly. The pilot radioed for two new tyres, three cases of duct tape and a couple of rolls of cellophane to be flown in so he could repair his craft and get home.

Duct tape: is there anything it can’t do? The story includes a picture of the plane after repair. Link -via Fark

Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos Recipe from...

2009-11-11T18:51:01Z

Shared by TylerDCA
Alanna makes those oftenish!

Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

Recipe from fortheloveofcooking

via seriouseats: junkfoodsjunkie

What is Google Wave?

2009-11-11T15:09:15Z

This Google Wave video made me laugh:

(Friends of VC) Fear Before’s crew member Seriously injured in Australia

2009-11-11T15:59:18Z

During their recent tour in Australia, one of Fear Before’s friends and crew members was seriously injured and needs your help. A letter from the band is below:

Dear friends of Trent Jacobi old and new,

As you may or may not have heard, our beloved friend, Trent Jacobi, was involved in a very serious freak accident on the morning October 30th while on tour with us in Australia. Before I go any further, let me assure you that in the long run Trent is going to be OK but until he is well, there are many problems that need to be sorted. I’ll start from the beginning…

Trent has been an absolutely vital element to Fear Before the March of Flames. He has been on nearly every tour with us for over 3 years and is responsible for our light show, good spirits on long tours, belly-up unending laughter, counseling for when we need it most, and most of all—being the greatest guy that works hard and asks for nothing. He believes in us and what we do. He supports us to no limit. Now we need to return the favor.

Trent paid his own way for this trip. He went to great lengths to save every penny of his in able to join us on our first tour in Australia. This was his vacation. We all arrived on the 21st and were greeted with overwhelming hospitality. The first show in Brisbane was absolutely incredible. In the days to follow things only got better. Australia was a dream come true up until the time of the accident.

On the morning of the 30th, after a great show in Melbourne, we were up late with our tour mates in Gatherer. We had not yet stayed up to see the sun rise over Australia and so it only seemed appropriate to go up on the roof to view such an event. Only a few people went up but they came down minus one. As it was described, Trent was in the middle of a sentence when he just “disappeared”. What happened was he stepped on a weak point in the roof and fell 25 feet onto concrete. His fall was barely broken by landing on a bike. We believe this is the only reason he is still alive. All the doctors were amazed that anyone could survive a fall that far without serious spinal damage or head injury.

His injuries are as follows:

-Fractures in his pelvis
-Multiple severe breaks in his left arm
-3 broken ribs
-Punctured lung

These injuries will require very serious surgeries, including metal plates put into his pelvis and restructuring his left arm. Not only are these surgeries serious and very intensive, but also they are going to be unbelievably expensive. Trent does not have medical insurance and is currently in the hospital awaiting his second of several forthcoming surgeries. Due to severe pain and trauma from the fall, he was unable to come with us back to the USA and it looks as though Trent will be there for a very long time. Even when his surgeries are done he will have to undergo physical therapy and will not be able to return home until deemed healthy.

Many people revere him for his remarkable will to always find happiness in what life hands him, and he is doing just that with recovery. He is remaining strong and wants everyone to know that although he may be in pain, he is not wearied. But he needs our help…

His medical bills are well beyond the reach of anything we can cover. With the help of many people and whatever little bit anyone can afford, we can make a large dent in these bills. Anything and everything you can give is appreciated. No donation is too small. Thank you all for supporting Trent and us in this time of need.

Sincerely,
Fear Before and Equal Vision Records

Donations for Trent Jacobi are accepted via PayPal: