Spousal Avoidance Center

Google Buzz was launched last week. Those without a Gmail account may not even know it exists. After a week of using it here are my initial impressions and opinions of what it is now and what I would like to see it become:

What it is:

• A social networking arena built into the Gmail interface, you can access it through your Google profile as well (profile creation is required upon initial setup)

What it does well:

• Ties well to Twitter, Picasa, FlickR, Blogspot, and custom URL’s of your choosing
• Integrates “Buzzes” into conversations ILO @ this @ that Twitter style communication
• Connects instantly with your Gmail contacts creating an instant friend network
• Geotags “buzzes” made from mobile devices (have experienced this first hand)

What it does less than well:

• Allow you to search for people by business, school, or area (location), like Facebook does
• Some pieces of privacy could still be an issue (Initial setup per post is Public, IMO should default to Private)*

*To Googles defense they jumped quickly and fixed a few of their initial privacy issues that were being voiced loudly by critics and fans alike. This is very promising to see that they are on top of what the community wants from the service.

My network is small and it will be that way until I can find a way to connect with my actual friends, ie: Facebook, not just random friends, ie: Twitter. I am not the person that will ever get my news info from a social site which is why my Twitter account is just a place that recieves feeds from my blog posts. I may take the time to search for some of my actual friends on Buzz and see if I can find them. I would love to start using some of the sharing features like the Picasa web album sharing, however I don’t want to share them with the world. In the infant stages of Buzz I see a lot of promise. The interface is clean and fairly easy to use with a slight learning curve. I would love for this to become more of a personal connection site than a business connection site. I am growing tired of the changes to Facebook and all the apps that come with it.

Just my $.03

If you are using it what do you think about it?

Popularity: 1% [?]

 
A summer action flick that didn’t disappoint. The action was spectacular, the acting was good, and the story tied to the first two movies well. Bale, Worthington, and Bloodgood all deliver convincing performances. CGI Arnold cameo was one of the best CGI humans ever created. Thoroughly enjoyed and definitely re-watchable.  B+

Popularity: 2% [?]

Recently I was able to utilize an upgrade and some decent negotiating skills to get the HTC Droid Eris for $15 after account credits and instant rebates at Best Buy. Coming from a very good “dumb phone” (LG Dare) I wasn’t sure what I was missing. The move to a smart phone was one I wasn’t sure I wanted to make due to the additional monthly costs. Now that I have made the change I know why people all over the world pay additional for the features a smart phone gives you, even if a lot of these features are really dumb. Now on to the phone:

Here is the CNET Video review:

Since that review there has been one OTA update addressing a few minor bugs. Also HTC has verified via a Twitter post that the phone will receive an update to 2.x Android OS sometime after the first of the year (it is currently running “cupcake” or 1.5).

My previously mentioned phone was all touchscreen as is this one with the difference being the type. The LG Dare is resistive (pressure) and the Droid Eris is capacitive (heat). It took a little getting used to it but the new glass screen is much more fluid to use. The multiple home screens, 1,000’s of apps to choose from, and overall ability the customize the phone has me singing the praises of the device. There are occasional slowdown while running different apps at the same time and the text messaging can’t seem to keep up with my typing speed but these are minor issues. The call quality has been excellent on both ends. Battery life is another minor gripe but will last a day on average without heavy app use.

Overall this is a great phone and I would encourage anyone currently with or thinking of switching to Verizon to give this phone a look, even before the Moto Droid which is getting all the advertising time and money.

Summary:

Highs: Multiple home screens; 1,000’s of apps; beautiful screen; responsive touchscreen; 5.0 megapixel camera; Android 2.x? coming soon; PRICE

Lows: Battery life; occasional OS slowdown

Popularity: 3% [?]

First off let me say to anyone who knows me even slightly well, yes it even came as a surprise to me that I can read. Having read through a total of 1.5 books since the age of 17 I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. Luckily reading a book is not much different than reading online news, status updates, or picture captions from men’s interest magazines, all of which I do frequently.

Now on to the book. “I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL” by Tucker Max. In one word I would describe this as: awe-inspiring-laugh-out-loud-in-the-middle-of-a-full-airplane-badass. It’s a long word but but I’m going to add it to the wiki notes under the description of this book. The book is a collection of blog entries from the author’s website. It follows him and his group of college cronies and describes, in vivid detail, their many comic hi jinx with alcohol, women, authority figures, alcohol, and women. The group of guys could be any group of guys in later years of high school or college. That is what makes the book so great. For any guy who is not completely morally sound you may have done things similar to what is written. Even if you haven’t you’ll find yourself wishing you could have been involved in some of the adventures.

This book has stories that are awesome and funny, stupid and funny, and repulsive but still funny. If you are a guy, you like women, you have drank alcohol in excess even once, and you can can read I would recommend the book. It has made me laugh out loud more times through 162 out of 320 pages than any of the best comedy movies have lately. Pick it up it won’t disappoint.

Popularity: 3% [?]

For about a week I have been part of a group of XBOX Live members able to preview some of the features for the fall update. Here are the some of the new features and my opinions on them.

Facebook: I think this feature is great. Being able to check the FB News Feed, view photos, leave comments, and update your status from the comfort of your couch after watching a movie or playing a game is extremely convenient. Many features are missing such as apps, pages, chat, and notifications. Of those the only one I would want to see added would be notifications. Typing sucks with the XBOX controller and on screen keyboard, but a USB equipped keyboard would solve this issue. Overall pretty cool.

LastFM: I have been on LastFM’s competitor site Pandora for years and it has opened my eyes to tons of great music. LastFM’s interface is very similar and easy to use. The XBOX dashboard for the suggested channels is great and controls are right on screen when you need them. I love being able to turn this on while getting taking care of daily house duties. I am a fan of streming music sites and this just adds to my love for them. No doubt this will broaden the spectrum of music I listen to even further. My username on LASTfm is nicknick5219 if you’re interested in taking a look at what I’ve been listening to. Once again, overall very cool.

Twitter: I have only accessed this a few times and to be honest I am not a Twitter power user anyways. It seems very good though. You can view your entire list of Tweets from the people you follow, view trending topics, and update your own twitter status. You do not get access to your followers list, your direct messages , or any @ messages. Overall though should do the trick for a quick check of all your daily tweets.

ZUNE HD: I have not viewed any videos through this service but here are a few of the features. The new ZUNE video marketplace offers videos in 1080p HD. My television is only capable of 720p anyways so I don’t benefit from this. I will say there are some fairly new releases available at the touch of a button, but at a pretty steep price of $4.00 standard def. and $6.00 high def. for the rental. Not bad if you don’t want to leave your house to get a movie though.

I will keep you updated on anything else I notice as the days of use continue.

Popularity: 3% [?]