What's wrong with this picture?

If any of you know the douchebag that didn't give up his seat to this little old lady, please punch him in the nuts.

Is Google gearing up to wage war on Facebook and Myspace?

Buried under several settings and account menus within Google's products is the ability to create a "Google Profile".  Up until now, the extent of your Google existence was your status message on Gmail and the various pieces of content that you've uploaded to Google's products, such as Picassa and YouTube.  While this may have been out for a while, this is the first I'm seeing on this.  In the explanation of Profiles (http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=97703): "A Google profile is simply how you present yourself on Google products to other Google users."  From your profile, you can:

1. Send and Receive messages without revealing your email address
2. Share photos on your profile
3. Create a page about you
4. Add contact information
5. Show your location

I don't know about you, but this sounds a lot like what Facebook does, doesn't it?  Facebook started essentially as a page that defined who you are, and then developed modules to better define yourself through pictures, events, and groups.  Google, on the otherhand, is starting with several products that define you, and creating a profile to tie these products together to define who you 

are.  Starting with Picassa pictures and Maps location for now, just wait until Google starts to allow users to integrate YouTube, Blogger, Calendar, Docs, Finance, and more into their profiles.  Just thinking about how many Google products I already actively use, and Google's initiatives with OpenSocial, Facebook may be in store for a war to dominate the social web.

Google to buy Twitter?

While reports have indicated preliminary talks, I think people's imaginations have run wild with this one and have made it a far bigger issue than it really is at this point.  To use a sports analogy, it would be like a team acquiring an all-star to add to their roster.  Given Google's track record, it would seem that their strategy is more in line with drafting a rookie (read: new technology) with high potential and developing it within its system.  However, this doesn't mean that this isn't a good idea.  Here are some random thoughts if this were actually to go through:

1. Twitter would benefit from the beefier Google infrastructure => extinction of the Fail Whale.
2. Google would gain a larger foothold in the social space and gain more ammunition for its war against Microsoft.
3. Twitter would gain resource support against Facebook's attempts to become more like Twitter.
4. There would be a plethora of opportunities for integration between Google's Mail, Calendar, Reader, etc. with Twitter's information stream.

While I think this will eventually make it into the same rumor bucket as when Google were supposedly buying Digg, you never know what can happen.  Just look at the New York Yankees and the Boston Celtics.

My New PC

After weeks of painstakingly comparing different components, brands, and technologies, I've finally finalized my new PC setup.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 P45 (Crossfire compatible)

4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066 Dual Channel RAM

Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit video card (Crossfire ready)

500 GB SATA 3GB/s 7200 rpm 32MB cache HDD

20x DVD+/- R/RW Burner

Linkworld 500W ATX Tower + Power Supply

Total Cost: $650

Comments?

Interesting Thought Regarding Bush and Obama

In the second Batman movie, Harvey Dent was considered Gotham's "White Knight", because he represented a change from the dangerous and corrupt society Gotham city had become.  At the end of the movie, Dent was killed after commiting several crimes caused by manipulation from the Joker who sought to tarnish Dent's image.  Looking to save the hope that Dent had built up for the people of Gotham City, Batman took responsibility for Dent's crimes.  In the end, the people of Gotham wound up hating and fearing Batman, but thanks to him, Gotham's "White Knight" image stayed untarnished, and hope continued to live on.  Thus, Batman became Gotham's "Dark Knight".

To quote another movie, "It's only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment."

Why do I bring these two movies up?  Well, I had an interesting thought this past weekend.  Up until now, this country deteriorated slowly and the general public tolerated it, particularly the nation's youth.  People complained, yet did nothing about it.  They were content to simply let it continue  the way it has and maintain the status quo because although it wasn't optimal, at least it was comfortable.  Change is not comfortable.

So what if events had turned out differently?  What if Senator Kerry had won 4 years ago? Was the country ready for change 4 years ago?  Would we still be swearing in President Obama today?  So as much as America and the World have criticized former-President Bush, we would not be where we are today without him.  He has been assigned responsibility for more things than a single person could, in reality, be actually responsible for.  America needed to believe that if a single person could cause such a deterioration in such a short time, than a single person, like President Obama, can bring about change.  So, in a sense, former-President Bush is America's Dark Knight and President Obama is America's Hope.  Had America not had its focal point for deterioration, it would not have realized that it was on the brink.  America has found the will to change.  Yes, this is our moment.