I just read an article in BusinessWeek about Google's new web-based calendar service. The article's title is 'Google Pins Hopes on Calendar', apart from the pun this title says a lot about what BW thinks about Google; basically that it is struggling to find revenue-making products. Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li is quoted saying 'Google has rethought the entire role of a calendar', well thank you Google but how far can you go with 'rethinking' the calendar??!! From what I've read, Google Calendar won't do much different to any other calendar, the main selling point is the ability to merge your calendar with relatives etc., thus making it easier to share information about your dates/availability etc.

It seems to me that Google has lost it's way. Yes, it is hands down the best search engine on the net (although I miss AltaVista nearly as much as I miss the dotcom days), but almost everything else it has produced (apart from maybe GMail & Google Earth (which is useless I add)) has failed to attract massive numbers of users - remember Google Talk (the laughable rival to Skype)? Froogle? or MySpace-rival Orkut?

The company is kept alive because blind investors are purchasing their stock at a huge pace; creating a falsely rich company that has yet to prove itself as a real long-term player. Stranger still, Google's founders who claim to be environmentally-friendly recently bought a Boeing 767 airliner (with space for 300 people) to convert for their private use, not that I have any problem whatsoever with people owning private planes, but they should practice what they preach.

Eu quero te levar,ver o sol se pôr
quero viajar, meu amor
Na cor do teu olhar, quero me perder, quero te encontrar
No fim de tarde tingido de vermelho o mar
Enquanto a lua se arruma toda pra chegar
Eu quero celebrar sem nenhum motivo,simples fato de estarmos vivos
Eu quero te beijar e sentir o sal nos teus lábios
Sentir a noite chegando feito pássaro
Que vem fazer seu ninho em nossos abraços
E nada,nada vai nos dividir

Nada vai nos impedir de viver nosso grande amor
Nada pode substituir
Nada vai nos impedir de viver o nosso grande amor

Eu quero te levar pra qualquer lugar,onde eu possa te namorar
Eu quero ter você 24 horas
Eu te quero agora....

I just came across a new web-based operating system called YouOS. YouOS is cool because it allows you to run a virtual computer through a web browser, which you can access at any net-connected computer. This could have big implications for people who work from different computers (laptop broken, work from an internet cafe? library? etc.) or who need to collaborate on work; YouOS keeps your data saved and when you log back in again the 'computer' is the same as you left it.

The major downside now is that all software for YouOS has to be designed for YouOS (albeit using Javascript & HTML, a relatively easy way to develop desktop applications). The platform does come with some proprietary software, like MP3 players & office software, so this downside isn't that bad. The implications of more and more Javascript/HTML based applications being used I think is a good one - note that desktop widgets on Mac OS and Windows are usually developed this way. The ultimate thing is that the end user gets to develop his/her own software, using one of the easiest methods around.

With more and more processing being done at the server, the demands on individual computers will be less, meaning that we are slowly heading to a thin-client based computing world (in offices/factories at least) where the machine you use at your desk is a very basic computer which would only have to connect to the Internet/Local-Wide Area Network and provide web browsing facilities. This in turn will push the cost of personal computing down and enable more people to benefit from having a personal computer.

www.youos.com

The 'winter of discontent' is officially over, at last. It's been a tough winter, and a long one at that, seemingly at least. I miss the sunshine, and blue skys, and frappucinos and everything else about warm weather. Actually, I miss living in a mediterranean country, but I traded that in with good reason, albeit temporarily. So as I said, it's been tough; pretty much up-hill since October/November, work-wise anyway. It's now time to move on. The time has gone so fast, and so slow, and I've had the real time to reflect that I haven't really had for a few years; I'll let you know when I decide if that's a good or bad thing.

I'm still not quite sure where I'm going, but that's fine, I'm sure it'll be fun and interesting. Hopefully it will include a bit more sunshine, more travel, and more success.

Time to bite the bullet, Cross the Rubicon.