At WinSuperSite.

What is the equivalent of that one in US? I don’t remember seeing any Volvo car in US with that high of an mpg.

There is no US equivalent of this Volvo page. Draw your own conclusions.

Ok, Google logo change happened a while ago and it is not new anymore. I just noticed the similarity today. It is kind of mirror or upside down of the Microsoft Windows logo with a different shape. Blue, yellow, green and red in four squares. Was that intentional or just a coincidence?

I would like to introduce you to HAL 2020. Unlike the other HAL that was mostly software residing on a super computer, HAL 2020 is hardwired in to small and simple computers that you and me uses. Ok, not yet but by 2020 .

When I say small and simple computers I mean the laptop or desktop or netbook or the smartphone you use. By 2020 you would expect smartphones with 3D screen projections, meh (that is a new word in some dictionary already) no privacy, or rollable screens and keyboards to be your main and probably only computing device.

May be there is not much of computing going on there. It is capable of streaming at really high bandwidth. All computing is offloaded elsewhere. If you care too much about privacy, you could get powerful computing and storage at price that you can keep at home but still will use your smartphone (if you can still call it phone because that may not be the main function) that talks to the super number cruncher elsewhere.

That’s all for introduction.  Come back later for more…

My browser knows too much about me. I am glad the browsers today are not actively collecting and remembering my information. What if all those sites I visit, emails that I send, things I purchase and so on can be used to “better serve my needs”? Like showing me ads based on my browsing history, not just the search terms I used.

I think Chrome is the beginning of an era where ads are targeted at me based on my past actions and habits. May be that Minority Report style ads need a few more years to develop but the ads can be delivered to me through my computer or a device like that.

To deliver that “experience”, Google need few things. One is an OS that knows it all. It takes years to develop a complete OS. In the meantime a smaller OS for communications device can be developed, like Android. It will know what I am doing, where I am and other things based on the phone’s capabilities. Capabilities like GPS, WiFi etc. The Chrome browser will be built in to these OS’s. That will provide more information about me based on my browsing habits as I mentioned above.

Now let us say Google installs billboards all over the place that are connected to the telephone towers. Cell phones in the vicinity will register with the towers and also know the exact location of the phone if I accept the “Can this application use your location” pop-up which many of you are already familiar with. Or may be that is already embedded in the terms of service with phone company. Based on the number of people nearby, the billboard can display ads that appeal to most people, people who spend most money, more likely to spend money or things like that. That looks like a much easier way to get that Minority Report like ads to you sooner, right?

It may sound scary today but it will be normal tomorrow. I will just get used to it and won’t bother to think about how it works because it was “always there”, so what is the big deal about it.

I just used Google, Chrome and Android as an example. But Microsoft and Apple could do it today if they want to do it. They already have everything that is needed to get there. But you cannot do such things overnight and get everyone too excited and scared. So they will bring out things slowly in to the market one at a time. OK, I added that one just to spice up the conspiracy theory.

Watch this ABC news video on Yahoo.

Somewhere I read a blog saying that the next one year mainstream media which is supposedly left leaning will be working hard to portray that the US economy is downward spiraling. I thought that was a right wingers opinion. I am not a leftist either. As a gamer, I was watching the game sales. GameStop sold $2.3 billion worth of merchandize during this holiday. That is a 35% increase. I can understand people spending some money on good stuff for holidays even if economy is not doing that good. But on video games? 35% increase over last year when economy was doing supposedly better?

Did you spend more money this year during holidays?

Do you want to cancel your subscription to these liars to save money for the recession? I won’t because I am not sure there is one coming?

Every year right after holidays, temporary employments by big stores etc are terminated which results in high unemployment rates at the beginning of the year. This is a 2 year high which means nothing.

Now I am going to add some more based on that ‘left winger’ assumption.

Left wing analysts will continually downgrade businesses throughout the causing the stock market to tumble. Watch out the names of these analysts? Do they have US interests or are they moles or just left wingers?

Now read this Bloomberg article. It says the economy will slowdown but will not recess.

I have to add that the greedy day traders in wall street also causes stocks to tumble when market does not meet their over the top expectations.

For a company that is struggling to survive, I was a loyal customer, just like I am sticking with Vonage. So far I have been a fan of NetFlix. But when these little underdogs piss me off with bad customer service, I don’t know what to think. They were doing a pretty good job of keeping me happy so far. I never had to call the customer service. I had to report a few broken DVDs, that’s all.

Let me explain what my issue with NetFlix is. The only links that I use on NetFlix are my queue and the link to “titles releasing this week”. The reason I use the releasing this week link is to avoid going through all old movies that I have already watched or not interested and get to the point as fast as possible. Today I go to add new movies to my queue, and the link is gone. In that place, there is a page garbled with old and new movies with now way of knowing where to find new movies. I searched for the link all over and I could not find it. Then I called the NetFlix customer service for the first time and they tell me that the link has been removed to improve the experience. Who’s experience I ask. The CS rep says they were trying out various options and customers seem to like this one better. Not sure who tried those options. I have seen this before. But removing a feature that I use most does not seem like a way to better way to serve a customer. Blockbuster still has that link on their web site. I am not sure if they will follow suite.

Now let me tell you, how many of us have unlimited time to browse through all these titles and click or mouse over them to find more information, date of release etc to make a decision? I personally don’t have because I do have a job to attend to, family and other priorities. Anyone who thinks they have a right to my time will loose my business with them. I have the same issue with Costco, at least the one in Sunnyvale, CA but that is another story. Would you wade through a store without clear markings on the aisles for hours to find out the one item that you need or would you go to a store that marks their aisles clearly what those aisles carry? Safeway or Target vs Costco is an example even though Costco claim they are supposedly in a different type of business. I would say, not anymore.

For your reference, I found some links on this subject.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/sd-dvd-film-documentary/266507-netflix-new-week-link-gone.html

http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2007/11/netflix-hiding.html

http://blog.netflix.com/2007/12/releasing-this-week.html

Some people on these web pages find out about new releases from other web sites and then rent the movie from NetFlix site. Honestly, I don’t think that is what I want to do. I am not a fan of going to another site to find information about this. If they say the movies are out there, you just need to find it, my answer is, I am not sitting at home doing nothing else. I prefer to spend that time elsewhere whatever that may be. Also, looks like they just took advice from a few readers of the NetFlix blog instead of asking real customers. When the company gets hit with a barrage of negative feedback and cancellations, the bosses will have to ask these web site design guys, what they were thinking. Also, most of the feedback on that blog entry seems to be negative. What it says is that NetFlix, like many big corporate’s, doesn’t care. As long as there is competition, that attitude will get you in trouble. I also think the only people who encouraged the new format are Blockbuster employees

The New Releases RSS feed is not same as what used to be in that page. Not categorized and does not include Indies and Foreign titles.

I am going to wait for a few weeks and then move to Blockbuster. I really don’t like Blockbuster, but I think I may have to live with that. I can get pretty much everything that I get from Block Buster online service plus in store rental and return. I prefer not to go to a Blockbuster store because of bad in store customer experience at block buster stores.

Warning: Some language may offend certain people. Here is the link. I haven’t played the game but I just bought a copy. After the listening to the review I feel awful.

Here is one of my favorite links to fallacies. There is nothing new about them but you realize how widespread these fallacies are. It may make you think twice before you put forward an argument.

Fallacies from the Nizkor Project

If you want to replicate your past successes, look for the true ingredients for the success in them. You may be surprised not to find fancy names among them.