Technology Blog

I couldn’t help but have a bit of a chuckle when I saw this article this morning.

Is Google Too Powerful?

Where did I find it? Why, in my gmail account of course. THAT’S how powerful Google is. Long ago I pretty much ditched my hotmail account and adopted Gmail by the mere fact that I changed service providers for the first time in 8 years.

Fact is, I’ve lost literally thousands of dollars in lost revenue from personal web pages on old ISP servers that I could no longer retrieve because I either moved or they were bought out by another ISP, or some other sillyness that ensued.

The bulk of my business contacts have now reside with my gmail account and though that makes me slightly nervous, I embraced it on the basis of google’s continuing longevity.

But everything has it’s heyday. There’s always a new mover and shaker, always a new trend. Youtube is my favorite example of this.

Is Google too powerful? Maybe, but while I may have a bit of a love/hate relationship with google right now, I’d like it to remain powerful for a while.

News Article: WiMAX was the belle of the CTIA ball
Sprint is deploying WiMAX, others carriers are considering it

One day I was sipping drinks at a very push martini (or was it a sushi) bar in downtown Toronto sometime back in ‘94/’95 (could have been ‘97 but my memory escapes me).

I’ll never forget this conversation because a good friend of mine (programmer) was debating the technical limitations he felt existed in phone lines, stating it was an engineering impossibility for DSL to be as fast as what this investor was claiming. This investor wasn’t a complete slouch in the technology department but he was more of a money man than he was a tech guru. At least, given how often he slurred his words, that’s certainly what I thought of him. He made an impact when he told my programming buddy that they already had a DSL testing market in Ottawa.

From then on, I was hooked. At that point, my only access to highspeed internet was at work. In 1995 we were connected by an ISDN line (for speed references we’re talking about a 1/4 - 1/8 speed of the average DSL line to individual homes). The ISDN line served 50 workstations. Before long, we bumped up to a T1. But highspeed for consumers? That didn’t exist on a large scale until 1997. That was the pivotal year. When I later moved to Nova Scotia, things had advanced so quickly, I made the jump in my thinking that Nova Scotia must be so advanced in delivering DSL to a higher population percentage than what was happening in Toronto. The reality is: DSL along with highspeed cable internet access simply just took off.

The drunken investor knew what he was talking about.

In 2001, my ex girlfriend and I won some points from an affiliate program we were promoting, and we promptly made the jump from wired router to WIFI. This was practically unheard of at the time, especially in a small town in a small province. I rigged up all the Linksys components and within a few hours the three of us (including her computer addicted 9 year old son) were connected to the internet without the need for anymore cables ever again.

There days, friends from back east tell me that if they take their trusty laptops into town, they can usually pick up 3-5 WIFI connections from their friend’s places. *cough* not that I’m encouraging anyone to go “war driving” anytime soon.

After reading an article on WiMax in an obscure free Toronto newspaper back in February of last year, I made the prediction that WiMAX could become the next wave in internet connectivity within a 2-5 year window.

It looks like my prediction might start to come true.

WiMAX was the belle of the CTIA ball
Sprint is deploying WiMAX, others carriers are considering it

So I have a hope of course. It is my dream that I will one day ditch my cantenna device (a tube attached to my network card to boost wifi signals for better reception), ditch Wifi, and adopt WiMAX, and hopefully stay connected in real time on road at all times. I am amused that I once chatted with a friend on MSN while my wife was driving the car in and around Victoria, BC (that’s how many wifi connections there were in the city core).

Imagine not having to hop from one connection to another like that anymore. Imagine just *being* connected. Anywhere.

That’s my hope for WiMAX. It’s the next phase people. We all want it, we’re craving it. It’s time.

More information on technical aspects of WiMAX

Spam spam spam, and more spam!

I’ve seen this ad several times now: “I got scammed 37 times!” So naturally, I’m curious, I click.

Only to be lead to one of those typical one page spreads that have a link to ‘find out the truth to money making programs’, along with an opt-in email newsletter, not to mention 2 links to other one page ads to programs/tips on how to make thousands of dollars, and assurances that these are not scams, and 100% satisfaction guaranteed (if of course, you legitimately do all the steps they suggest, over a 90 day commitment).

Did I mention that these are the typical “act now and we’ll give you this program for 49.95, a full $100 off the full price” ads? Did I also mention that both links from this “info” page, just like this info page has similar popups? oh, and of course, there’s testimonials, and while I didn’t look any further, I’m sure one of more of these links has a link to an image of an “actual paycheck”.

I once got suckered into a scam like this supposed “none-scam” is, and low and behold, I was linked to a website with information alright… information that’s already free for anyone who’s curious: how to place ads and make money on Adsense.

But what gets me frustrated is the way this guy chooses to get people interested. His claims of being scammed in the past, get people interested in his story, and somehow, you the reader should feel sorry for him, identify with him, and therefore, trust that he’s giving you real information without any kind of direct benefit to himself.

That’s marketing.

It also sucks.

Why not be a little more upfront and honest about it? Do what I do, and countless others do: provide honest opinions, on sponsored blogs. Yeah, there’s advertisements. Absolutely… just look to your right, and you’ll see my Adsense banner. I’m not going to white wash this and say I’m not getting compensated because I am. (ok, this is not something I’m going to say 99% of time as blatantly as I’m stating in this blog).

But seriously folks. I want to be a respected as a surfer and possible marketer. I know that information, good solid information isn’t always free. But is the dress up really necessary? His whole schtick is: he’s been scammed 33 or 35 times, but he wants to show you 2 *true* programs that he’s making money on. uh huh. Ok, that makes you even more believable dude, thanks.

The other thing that bothered me was, his leads you into the page by saying, hey, don’t trust the get rich quick schemes, go with the one of the two programs that I recommend, they don’t make you as much money as quickly, but they work. (I’m paraphrasing here)

Well, I don’t know about you, but when one of the programs bragged about making $50,000 in one month, that screamed SCAM to me. Right there and then.

Is it impossible to make $50,000 in a month on ad placements on the net? No, in fact it’s very possible. (have I personally done it? No) Do I think that it’s possible within their 8 week guarantee? Highly unlikely.

As far as I’m concerned. I just got scammed. Scammed for reading spam.

And no, I’m not going to link to this guy’s website. Not directly anyway. You might find it on an adsense ad to this page, you might not. I leave it up to you to search for this site and judge for yourself.

Feel free to come back and tell me if I’m off base with my general discontent for his antics.

Recently, I read an article about getting paid survey work from online sources. A click here and a click there and within a matter of minutes I landed on a “free” survey site. Surveys and claims that you can be compensated by participating in surveys have been around the internet for as long as I’ve been online. In fact, I’m sure that beside this blog entry, the adsense ads on this likely have advertisements to various survey websites.

The free survey website I went to yesterday guaranteed that if I completed their 10 buck challenge, they would promptly send 10 dollars plus a 3 dollar bonus for signing up straight into my paypal account. So, what did I have to lose?

What I lost was time and interest. I was amused by performing this stunt. I landed on sites for “free” ipods, “free” digital cameras, sign up incentives for casinos, sign up incentives for *other* survey sites. I was spinning around and around so fast, to various sites all pointing to similar survey sites, that it reminded me of landing on (or I confess) searching for adult related websites. It was the ultimate circle jerk. This is a rather vulgar metaphor, so rather than have you thinking I’m a dirty pervert, I’ll quote from my favorite website for information: Wikipedia.

They can refer to a situation, often in the workplace, politics or academia, where people are stroking each other’s ego without producing anything of value.

Quite honestly, survey filling can be rewarding if you know where to find these. I don’t have that talent, or more to the point, I don’t have the interest. It wasn’t long before I realized that pointing me to other survey sites was making this guy about $1.00-1.75 per referral. In other words, he kept his website free because he found ways to be compensated. I would have to sign up for about 15-20 websites to receive 10 bucks from him. You do the math. He was going to essentially keep half his money.

Are free websites therefore as scammy as paid ones? I’m not sure I have an honest answer to this question. I’ve decided to keep TechJobs free for now, because I firmly believe there are jobs out there available for telecommuters that do *not* involve paying a cent for this information.

If *anyone* has ever stayed on a survey site long enough to actually get direct payment for your opinion, I’d love to hear your experiences. Incidently, if you spam me with your affiliate link, I’ll simply ignore and delete your comment.

My little venture yesterday only did one thing for me: it brought me close to poking my own eyes out with the sharpest tool I could find on my desk. I concluded that as hard as it is to build a website up or a blog, I find this kind of work 1000 times more rewarding than filling out my personal information over and over again for…… essentially nothing.

For the last couple of weeks, my curiosity has peaked as a canadian commercial for blogtv.ca has made its rounds across several Canadian television networks. I’m not even going to bother to find a commercial link on YouTube. So unless anyone is really interested in seeing a singing belly promotion, I’m not going to bother.

Article link:Blogtv.ca hits the streets

I surfed over to the site today wondering about the format, not to mention how this site will make its money. This project is backed by Alliance Atlantis which explains the intense commercial campaign. But will a Canadian only video blogging site take flight the likes of YouTube?

We’ll soon find out but have mercy on us Canucks, eh? No more singing bellies.

Commercials turning into pilot projects? Hmm… As much as my wife and I giggle over these 30 seconds of pure joy, I’m not 100% sure that 30 seconds can translate into a 30 minute comedy pilot. Yet, that’s exactly what ABC is planning on doing.

ABC developing ‘Cavemen’

So, what is this exactly? Is this art imitating art? Is it the ultimate in product placement? I’m not sure. Certainly this particular commercial captured my interest enough that I went searching for it on YouTube. In fact, 9 times out of 10 the reason why I surf over to Youtube is just so I can watch something on my own time that I thought was funny on tv, be it commercials, talk show moments or political faux pas. What I don’t use YouTube for is to peer into people’s living rooms while I listen to their bad karoake.

I’m pretty skeptical about how far an idea should go. I’ve been a fan of Geico commercials for years but the question remains: will I have the patience to sit through a 30 minute spoof or a spoof of a wha…?

The answer is obvious to me. Since I haven’t made the technological jump to TiVo or a personal DVR more likely then not, I’ll just surf over to Youtube when I’m interested.

I think this is going to jump the shark before it starts.

It’s not news that YouTube is perhaps the biggest “mover and shaker” on the internet today. Who HASN’T heard of YouTube? One of my best friends I left behind on the east coast when I moved west last year doesn’t own a computer and has probably seen more YouTube clips than I have. I’m not sure any one person or thing could become as ubiquitous as YouTube. More so than say, Madonna. Another friend of mine, in fact, the friend that shares YouTube with my other computer illiterate friend once told me his theory that almost every person in the western hemisphere thinks about or stumbles upon Madonna at least once a day. Interesting theory. I don’t completely buy it. In fact, I openly disputed that idea with him. You can too. Just don’t do it while in a car with the radio on. It just might prove his theory correct (which, is kinda scary when you think about it)

YouTube is in that same category. In fact, I’ll state here and now that I personally believe that YouTube is now MORE popular than Madonna. And now they’re giving out awards! Check it out here.

I’m personally choosing not to click on “the best”. Not yet anyway.

From the site:

2006 was a pioneering year for online video, user-created content and the YouTube community. You let us into your bedrooms, created new forms of entertainment, and radicalized popular culture. Now it’s time to reflect on what a tremendous year it was and recognize the best of the best during the first YouTube Video Awards

Hmmm, I’m not 100% sure videos created from inside our bedrooms is a terribly *good* idea. I’ve never been inspired enough to post on YouTube.

But I confess, I’m one of those millions of people inspired enough to peer in. So way to go to those who are “the best”. Maybe next year there will be a YouTube show on TV hosted by Billy Crystal or Ellen Degeneres. It’s an odd idea isn’t? But then, nothing surprises me anymore.

This morning I landed on another blogger’s site, where he had a photo of himself in his cubicle.

I physically twitched at the site, and not because of the guy. He was average looking. No, I was reminded of similar pictures of myself in what is now an almost very distant past by career standards. January 2007 marks 6 full years since I’ve left the world of cubicles behind. It boggles my mind sometimes that it’s been that long. But when I look at the standard grey coloured separating walls, or the office chair that’s supposed to be ergonomically sound but your butt still hurts because you’re still sitting on it for 8-9 hours straight, I can’t help but be thankful I’ve been out of that cubicle jungle.

That’s not to say that a cubicle career isn’t rewarding or doesn’t have its merits. I know myself well enough to know that had I not had any other option for work, I have continued in that cubicle infested call center environment that I worked in in 2000-2001. Since then my income has been mediocre, although averaged out over a 6 year period, my home based income scores higher by at least 10,000-15,000 per year higher. And that’s with taking a lot of liberties in my life, oftentimes working part time or not at all. In the last 6 years I’ve been able to travel extensively with my laptop to California (where my wife lives), to other parts of the states, and to Europe last fall, while still being connected to my work.

The total brutal truth about my life at this point is that my income is on par today to what I could earn at a call center as a technical analyst (assuming no advancement to management positions for at least 2-3 years). I would be working or suggested/forced to work longer than 45 hours per week or be at the whim of an inflexible part time schedule.

This spring, my dependent mother-in-law will be coming to visit for a few months giving a much needed break to my wife who happens to have a solid, union backed, well paying but busy job in the states. A call center let alone any other position I’d qualify for in the work force would give me any kind of flexibility that I’m looking for these days. I think most of us with dependents at home can understand this at a deep deep level.

I dabbled in entrepreneurial ventures on and off since 1993. In later years, I lived with my ex girlfriend and her son, and at the time, after much discussion, we concluded that regular school wasn’t an option for him at that point, and home schooled him for 2 years. If it wasn’t for our business venture, he wouldn’t have had the opportunities to go to a private school shortly afterwards. Around that same time, we cared for, or made sure my girlfriend’s mother was cared for after hip replacement surgery. And finally, as recently as last year, I was able to visit my ailing mother and spend in total, about 2-3 weeks before she past away from a year long battle with a rare blood disease.

Hmm. It’s funny as I think about this. I didn’t think I’d be getting this personal in a technology blog, but the reality is I’ve come to really value self employment with all of its ups and downs, with all of my personal mistakes and oftentimes, lack of followthru or lack of confidence to venture in areas I’m perfectly capable of doing. These days I think a lot of it has to do with continuing to find your passion.

My passion died at the call center in 2001. The gray walls did nothing for me.

So, my apologies to cubicle inhabitants. I know your pain well, I really do. But I got off that spinning wheel a long long time ago, and don’t have any intention of ever getting back on. Not without some serious serious compensation.

I’ve been playing Flash Circle TD for days on end. I’m not sure if it’s as addictive as the first, but it’s definitely more challenging.

It’s now being hosted by candystand.com

There’s no interest now, so, whatever money you have, you have to make the most of it when placing towers in strategic spots. (Those who played the first version of this game know what I’m talking about)

I didn’t think I was much of a gamer, but the last week or so, I haven’t stopped.

So, be WARNED!!!

Hats off to the brit who designed this game though. I hope he was handsomely compensated while the rest of us rot our brains playing this game.

Candystand.com has been around for ages. They have hundreds of flash games, many of them promoting extensively candy products within the games themselves. Purist lovers who grew an addiction for the first version from mid January will be happy to know that towers aren’t shooting pieces of juicy fruit to would-be creep monsters. While there’s definitely a difference in strategy for this version of the game, it’s as addictive as the first.

I’m happy for the programmer. If you can create a game so popular that Candystand wants to host it, then you’ve made it big.

Direct link to the Flash Circle. My personal best so far is 2,546 points. I suspect as more and more people play this new version, that score won’t be all that significant at the “hard” level for very long.

I wonder if we’ll see more versions in the future? Either way, there’s not doubt in my mind that this is one example of an internet success.

I want to be reincarnated as a programmer.

Yes folks, by now, I’m sure there’s tons of blogs writing about The USB Absinthe Spoon Do a search on technorati, do a search on google, you’ll find it. But my fascination with this started thanks to a simple link share with a friend of mine on MSN.

This really struck my funny bone. And no, I wasn’t chasing little green fairies at the time, I swear. But having experienced a little absinthe ritual fun both in europe when I travelled there last fall, to recently when I returned I couldn’t but laugh at this gizmo, gadget, or… hoax?

There’s some speculation that this fantastical gadget is nothing more than an email grab. Create a buzz about a fake product, collect some email addresses while you’re at it. The makers of this supposed gadget “didn’t know” that the response would be so positive and so global. The deal was (and is), for you to write to them on their site, as to why you think you deserve a prototype of the USB Absinthe Spoon.

I couldn’t resist. I wrote. My comment was somewhere in the 400th mark. My reasoning for “needing” an absinthe spoon was simple: I’m left handed.

In any case, this is a fun little buzz that I’m following. I sure hope they make big bucks regardless of whether this product is real or not.