Oh How Things Change…

22 10 2007

Even I like to be fair. If I’m not, some idiot sends me an email complaining, so it’s easier for me to just post corrections and updates. So I took the liberty of going back through several years of this blog and posted some corrections, or, more correctly, how my thinking changed. Think of it as a field trip, without the bagged lunches and First Student bus.

Let’s start in 2005, the first year of the Kevin’s Word (back when we were called kevin. word.):
March 23, 2005: Jack of all Trades.com

Thats what Google is becoming. An image sorter, an email service, and now a map service? Remember when it was just web searching? Me niether. There are rumers that they are working on a browser! What, Gbrowser::The searchable way to browse the web? I don’t know, but their becoming a monopoly. Most people will probably disagree. Tell me in the comments. Before Google buys out Blogger. (Wait, they already did!)

Dang, I was angry at a young age. Anyway, this was obviously back during the early days, and when I was covering technology and stuff. And I still agree with myself, although now there might be a phone involved.

April 30, 2005: Bad News…

[Gas prices] The’re still too high!

Suck it up, $1.60/gallon. Now it’s $3/gallon. Dang, what happened to early 2005?

November 4, 2005: Hey, hey, wait no, come back here!

That is not fair. Hey, Coca-Cola, I happen to like Vanilla Coke. You are mean. :-( Anyway, I’m very upset about the discontinuation of Vanilla Coke, and I am stockpiling from the stores here in Baton Rouge. The’re replacing it with some “Blak Cherry Vanilla Coke”, Supposadly a mixture of Coke, vanilla and cherry soda, with coffee!

OK, this is a a case of bad reporting (and spelling. Firefox didn’t have built in spellchecker back then). Vanilla Coke was really discontinued, and you would have loved to see my closet from the Vanilla Coke I bought after that announcement. But just as a warning to Coca-Cola: Don’t introduce a product called BlaK and Black Cherry Vanilla at the same time! Clearly They both failed and Coca-Cola Vanilla is back on store shelves, but wasn’t that interesting?

Alright. That was a wonderful trip to the past. Now, a little forward, let’s go to 2006. Yes, because didn’t we all love 2006.
(By the way, where was I when I wrote all of 2006’s articles? I went through the list, and didn’t remember any of them…)

First point:

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First Post:
March 31, 2006: Raise your hand if you like Coca-Cola with coffee

…hey, I think I see one in the back…
oh, wait, that’s the Coca-Cola product manager. Never mind.
Now maybe I’m speaking too soon, but that espresso I just finished was good. The Coke I had right before was great. Together… CALL 911! When CocaCola Blak reaches stores in Baton Rouge, I’ll try it. Saying that, I just hope I’m in good enough mental condition to right about it here.

I was very critical of Coke BlaK before it came out. If you remember also, I ended up liking it, before it was discontinued.

May 7, 2006: SUSE Ten Point One: Do I have to spell it out of you?
You don’t need to know the details, but I’ll just quote one sentence:

Oh, and ZENworks for updates.
Cool!

No, Kevin, not cool.

Note about the next one: They say, before you write an article, don’t be angry. I wasn’t angry, just bitter.
August 16, 2006: Enough is Enough, the Gloves are coming off, and it’s do or die, First Student!

This is First Student’s second year of contracting bus services here! After the trainwreck that was last year, you would think that First Student would get through their heads that signing the contract and then shooting the parish and school administrators, parents, drivers, and students in the foot would not sit well when their contract is up. Well, they didn’t. Over the past three days, every hope and every little percentage of optimism I had for this year was run over by a bus. Lack of communication, confusion, late or nonexistent service has become the new face of bus services.

On Monday, it started out better than last year. Buses came and got to school on time. But the afternoon was horrible. One kid was told that they would not stop at his house, even though they passed right in front of it, and instead was forced to get off at another street and WALK TO HIS HOUSE! What the heck is that?! This is not a game, as First Student seems to think.
Yesterday, the bus didn;t come at all, and instead another bus came around 15 inutes AFTER school started! The arrival at school was 30 MINUTES AFTER CLASS STARTED!! And even then, not many students were there. The majority came a few minutes later on other buses.Finally, our not last, but last I will talk about for today, turning around. How can First Student make students wait at the HIGHWAY! Sometimes, not even showing up, claiming they can’t turn around, even though that’s just another one of the FIrst Student Excuses. Ecspecially since there have been buses, both First Student and the previous public bus system buses (Oh, those were the days) have been turning down there for years. And the turnaround at the specific location has even been widened.
My recommendation to everyone who was affected by these non turnaround buses, if you have a turnaround, and buses have turned there successfully before, tell them that, and refuse to get off the bus.
I just hope, that when First Student’s contract is up, Corona and the rest of the school board looks at what First Student has done, and makes their descision on what is best for the students.

Actually, looking back, and at what’s going on now with First Student, I have nothing to correct.

Ah, 2006. Man it sucked. Oh, well, lets to to the current year, 2007. Dang, I’m still writing 2006 for the date…

January 1, 2007: Happy New Year

2006 sucked.
2007? If Vanilla Coke returns, it’ll be the year.Have a Yo New Year.

I am telling you, that was a coincidence.

February 8, 2007: The Krewe of Word

(no, that’s not a real parade) Alright, so Mardi Gras is just around the corner. Or, to be more technical, two down and two to the left. And because it’s been awhile since I’ve given advise in the form of a list (two years, actually), here’s some advise to keep you safe at the parades:

1. Don’t fight with me over beads. (For my Baton Rouge friends, of course.)
2. It’s not nice to call someone fat on Mardi Gras. Even if their name is Tuesday.
3. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t drink and blog. Don’t drink and set shows to record on the DVR.
4. If you’re in the parade, don’t throw your cell phone at someone, even if you don’t like them.
5. Get there early. Not too early, though. You might make someone think the iPhone’s being sold there.
6. Don’t tell DIRECTV. They might lock you in to a 2 year contract.
7. If you see a float that states “Mardi Gras is joining the new AT&T. Your world. Delivered,” you are at the wrong parade.
8. Indulge in what you’re giving up for Lent. If you’re not Catholic, indulge anyway and use that as an excuse.

In reality, I think AT&T, given the chance, would buy the entire holiday of Mardi Gras.

March 20, 2007: Blanco ain’t coming back!

YES! Not that I’m biased, or anything…
The governor of Louisiana announced at 6:00 pm Central that she won’t seek election in 2007. Not that it mattered anyway, who would vote for her, Michael Brown? Maybe if he was a Louisiana citizen. Unfortunately, this won’t help the Katrina/Rita recovery effort, at least not by a noticeable margin. Why? Because, the stupidity wasn’t just in the state government (although Pandora’s Box had to have been somewhere…), it was in FEMA, in the local governments, as high up as Washington, D.C. Of course those brainwashed Americans, ahem, Democrats (and Kanye West),would have liked for Americans to believe that the Source of All Evil(TM) was directly in President Bush’s administration, but, of course, they’ll leech on any bad story or tradegy and spin it to blame everyone else. No shame, Repubs to it to, but for some reason (Iraq?) Americans are believing it this time. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Vote Jindal. Not that I’m biased, or anything.

See, things change a lot. By the way, congratulations, Mr. Arrogant.

April 8, 2007: From the people that killed the DIRECTV/Dish Network merger of 2003…

The Carmel Group, the research firm whose analysis helped kill the 2003 merger of [DISH Network's parent company] EchoStar and DirecTV, will release a new report today that outlines the strongest arguments yet against merging satellite radio companies Sirius and XM. Read the full thing here.Read the last line: With all due respect, this proposed merger [of XM and Sirius Radio] should not be approved – under any conditions – by the U.S. government.”

With all due respect, the US government needs to realize that this is a free and open market… and companies should be able to merge and buy each other out as much as they want and any legislation against that is stifling freedom.

And if you’re going to bring up the 1980’s AT&T breakup, may I remind you how well that went?

Of course, considering how much I hate AT&T, I guess I still stick to what I originally said about the Federal Government keeping their hands out. Remember: Companies do learn.

June 29, 2007: The iPhone…

OK, I know that if I say that the iPhone sucks here, then the Apple fanboys will go “Oh, but Kevin, you haven’t even played with the phone.” So, I have refrained from criticizing the phone until I had one in my hands and played with it for myself. I did just that at the Mall of Louisiana’s AT&T store today, so now that I’ve played with the phone for about 9 minutes, I would like to tell you what I like and hate about it.

I didn’t copy the whole thing, because who cares, but anyway. One reader commented to me through email that “u didnt really twxt it cause u treid a demp phone”. I”ll presume this guy was using the iPhone keyboard, so I’ll excuse his horrible spelling, but if you wish for me to have an unbiased review of the phone, send me one.

September 1, 2007: Go to jail, Go directly to jail, Do not pass Go, do not pull up your pants…

I realize that there is a reason I get up in the morning. Why? Well, aside from the fact my iHome clock blaring Evanescence off my iPod at seven o’clock hampers my sleep, it the knowledge that there will always be stupid laws made somewhere in the world. Today’s comes from our friends in Mansfield and Delcambre, Louisiana. (Somehow I knew the first stupid law of the month was going to be from here, I just figured it would be south Louisiana)
There shall be no sagging pants.
Yes, for those not familiar with the United States, we have nothing like education or drugs or a war to worry about, so we like to regulate pants. The International Herald-Tribune has this to say on the issue:

Behind the indecency laws may be the real issue — the hip-hop style itself, which critics say is worn as a badge of delinquency, with its distinctive walk conveying thuggish swagger and a disrespect for authority.

I really hate hip hop, but I like disrespect for authority. Escpecially when authority is taking advantage of power and money to help themselves.

Also at work is the larger issue of freedom of expression and the questions raised when fashion moves from being merely objectionable to illegal.

Sure, sagging pants could be construed as indecent exposure. But then, if that’s true, then wouldn’t current indecent exposure laws take care of this? I agree (remember that, I don’t say it often) that there should be a line from where it goes to making you look stupid to making you look stupid, and indecent exposure; but then current laws should fix that right up.
I should mention, and I really hate saying this, because I say it so much, but this is America (make yourself a note, lawmakers). What does that mean? You have a right to look stupid! Is this fad harming our children? Well, think about it this way, now they think real hard as to whether to choose boxers or briefs (Because that just isn’t right.)

I also want to make one other law: White guys can’t have sagging pants. Seriously.

September 24, 2007: John Georges: You ARE a politician, Get over it!

The governor’s race in Louisiana is heating up. It should cool down once Blanco figures out how to turn that crawfish boiler in her office off, but the election ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings (not that anyone will hear her, since she won’t get out of her recliner to go vote). One of the not-so-front runners is an ant, but also John Georges. Unfortunatly, I do believe his campaign ads might be misleading. In these ads, he says to “save Louisiana” we need to not elect another politican. Well then Georges, who do you suspect we should elect? A shrimp? Fred Thompson? The Mac guy in those commericals? Because you ARE a politican. How do I know? Well, since my Yo Dictionary is gone from the top of the page until Get It Straight gets it legs, this is the definition of politician

One primarily devoted to his own advancement in public
office, or to the success of a political party; — used in
a depreciatory sense; one addicted or attached to politics
as managed by parties (1913 Webster)

You are devoted to your own advancement in public office, right? That’s what I thought. You, my friend are a politician.

Finally, let’s look at it this way: If you stubbornly refuse to market yourself as a politician, are you sure businessman is the best way to go? I mean, people hate politicians, but boy do they hate businessmen too.

I just wanted to say: I’m surprised that picture of him in front of the Coca-Cola sign didn’t at least get him into a runoff.

So, as you can see, I have a lot of corrections. Now, don’t bring them up again.





UPDATED: I Love AT&T. Now PLEASE don’t kick me off…

29 09 2007

UPDATE: AT&T has changed their Terms of Service and now says it will not kick you off of their network for criticizing them. They did that just to screw with me I bet.

Everybody’s favorite almost-monopoly AT&T (formerly BellSouth, Cingular, AT&T Wireless, SBC, the old AT&T, PacBell, SNET, etc.) knows that people absolutely love them, but just to make sure, you must love them or you’re gone.

In an email to their customers, the new Old Pain has changed their Terms of Service and added a special line to the ways AT&T can kick your ass of their precious Internet Service:

5.1 Suspension/Termination. Your Service may be suspended or terminated if your payment is past due and such condition continues un-remedied for thirty (30) days. In addition, AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes (a) violates the Acceptable Use Policy; (b) constitutes a violation of any law, regulation or tariff (including, without limitation, copyright and intellectual property laws) or a violation of these TOS, or any applicable policies or guidelines, or (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.

Yes. So that means making a joke about the globe’s look, or criticizing their policies, or mention that their once again becoming the world’s phone company on AT&T’s Internet service will earn you a cancellation.
So, here’s an open invitation to AT&T: Kick me off. I dare ya.





openSUSE 10.3 now available for pre-order…

26 09 2007

On a serious note… openSUSE 10.3 from Novell is coming October 4th and is now accepting pre-orders in Germany and North America. Pre-order now and get free shipping!

It’s time again!





Stop touching your iPod!

5 09 2007

The Steve Jobs dillusion field was in full force this morning, as Stephen Jobs introduced new everything.
I don’t want to get to specific, but if you want to know everything that happened, walk outside and scream “What happened at Apple this morning?” It’ll work.
But quickly:
Shuffles got new colors.
Nano’s got fatter and video.
Apple copied from Coca-Cola and now have a Classic- 80-160 GB Video iPod starting at $249
The iPod Touch, a rip off, also known as the iPhone – Phone. 8-16 GB starting at $300
The only good news for cheap fanboys: iPhone 4 GB Discontinued, but if you hurry you can get it for $300, previously $600 iPhone now at $400.

Apple: Seriously?

The Nano just looks ugly. I respect it for playing video now, but what’s the use? It’s just as large now, so why?
Classic: Again, why? Instead of wasting time developing a strange new interface, make the iPod Touch the 80-160 GB hard drive player.
Touch: Great idea. Except why would it be necessary to include WiFi? If people want web browsing, just buy iPhone. Jeez.

Before anyone says anything, I should mention I like Apple’s hardware. But why they think everything they do is genius (Like Genius Bars.) is beyond me.

CORRECTION (yes, I occasionally do them): As pointed out to me, the purpose of the iPod Touch could be to have a PDA iPod without the phone. Yes, I do think the Touch will go the way of the Newton.)





The iPhone…

29 06 2007

OK, I know that if I say that the iPhone sucks here, then the Apple fanboys will go “Oh, but Kevin, you haven’t even played with the phone.” So, I have refrained from criticizing the phone until I had one in my hands and played with it for myself. I did just that at the Mall of Louisiana’s AT&T store today, so now that I’ve played with the phone for about 9 minutes, I would like to tell you what I like and hate about it.
Like:

The looks. Off, it looks nice.,

Don’t like:

The keypad.
I went to Safari, then tried to bring up this blog. I couldn’t type kevinword.blogspot.com, and that really aggravated me. OK, it took reporters 5 days to learn the phone’s keypad, but I can use other smart phone keyboards just fine.

The bugginess. You see how in the commercials, the phone’s screen flips as you move it sideways. It would only do that once or twice for me. I couldn’t get the iTunes coverflow to come up. Also, in Safari, as I opened Google to try and get this website without typing in the address, I couldn’t see the text well. I tried the double tap, and it wouldn’t zoom in, except for once. I asked an AT&T employee if I was doing it right, and he couldn’t get it to work.

The battery life. It was on a dock, and even though people had been all around the phone, and using it, it had a good charge when I started to use the phone. When I stopped, it was at half-charge. That is ridiculous. I was using the EDGE network, not WiFi, and it still killed battery life.

Finally, it doesn’t replace my iPod. I have a 30 Gig iPod, and this phone doesn’t replace that. The most expensive iPhone ($600 w/2 years of selling your soul to Ma Bell) only holds 8 Gigabytes, while I use 18 gigabytes of space on my iPod.

The biggest gripe is that it’s AT&T, and I still have one year on a two year contract of selling my soul to them.

Anyway, I was there around 5:45, so I got to see the launch. I only expected to see a couple of die hard fans in line. I was a little wrong.
(Taken with camera phone)


They opened at, accordingly to my phone, 5:57 PM, but my timing could have been off. They let about six people in at a time, it took about half-an-hour for the line to be gone, but that’s when everyone else began to arrive and play with the demos.





iReally, really hate hype…

27 06 2007

iKnow you all know that the iPhone is coming to iAT&T this iFriday. (Ok, iM gonna stop that cause that aggravates me too.) You may be wondering whether I’ll be waiting in line in front of an AT&T store for the iPhone. The answer is yes. Almost. I’ll be waiting in front of the AT&T store. Not in line, and not for the iPhone. I’ll be watching the events unfold. If anyone wants to join me (several Yo.media members who I know can make it already got an email) email me at reachthegeek@gmail.com. If you hate the iPhone, join the club. If you like the iPhone, and will be waiting in line for one, go to our store and buy an ‘Apple Certified Fanboy’ TShirt!

NOTE: The Apple Certified Fanboy Tshirt is no longer available from the Yo.stuff store as of 7 pm Wednesday because Apple got upset. (Or rather, CafePress stores thought Apple might get mad and got mad at me.)
If you wanted one, well, you’re a loser anyway…





"Wrong lane, officer? My BlackBerry told me it was a one way street!"

12 06 2007

Be Sensible. Be Safe. Be courteous. Watch out for globe-monikered former monopolies looking to strike a comeback. (OK, I made the last one up.) That’s what the cell phone company formerly known as Cingular Wireless, formerly known as AT&T Wireless, formerly known as BellSouth Mobility and SBC Wireless says on their cell phone boxes (except the iPhone probably. Let’s face it: if you’re paying $500 for a phone that is horribly crippled because Apple made it, you’re not sensible).
Ever notice how many states try to pass laws prohibiting calls on cell phones on roads? Yeah, that went far. Now, the more dangerous situation is here: texting and typeing on BlackBerry and Treos. Oh yeah, they try to ban that, too. Never gets far. Why? People don’t want it. Now, I’m not saying we need to force things on people. But, if you’re weaving in and out of lanes, then that is just as dangerous and needs to be treated as a DWI or DUI offense. Why? Either way you’re not comprehending the road. Whether your drunk or looking up at the road one in every three seconds while doing work.
OK, so let’s assume you’re a BlackBerry Driver. Argument #1:
Using my BlackBerry I can do work from areas other than the office!
OK, so what is the office for? Just somewhere to go to meet up with some coworkers and get free coffee? If you work 9-5, and you are doing work from somewhere else with your BlackBerry, I hope you are getting paid overtime.
Anyway, if you are going to be a corporate stool about it and use the BlackBerry (yes, I know I’m unfairly targeting the BlackBerry. I show enough hate to Microsoft already. Palm? Ha ha…), then why don’t you not use it while driving? Would you use a laptop while driving? If no, then why the hell are you using a BlackBerry? If yes, please turn your license in at the nearest DMV office . On to arguement #2:
What if I have an emergency and someone needs to get a hold of me?
Glance at the screen real quick next time you stop. If it’s an emergency, pull over on the side of the road or in a McDonald’s parking lot. Get some french fries.

But let’s face it, BlackBerry users. The only reason you use the thing is so your company will pay for the mobile Internet.

If anyone knows who created that image, please email me so I can give him/her credit. Thanks.





Welcome to Web 2.5, now line up and let’s get aquired!

1 06 2007

I was thinking about this idea I had floating around in my Coke, I mean head (not that there’s much differance nowadays…) and the news that Last.FM, which I use, had been purchased by CBS of all companies made me finally decide and post it.
Yes, Web 2.5. How is it different from Web 2.0? Well, remember the whole culture and hype around Web 2.0? “Power to the people!” “It’s goin’ to replace the desktop!”. Yeah, that. Well, we lose it. Last.FM’s purchase by CBS only outlined it to me that this is the future. The bottom line is that right now Web 2.0 is really a lot of start ups, funded by investors, trying to give away a product and at the same time monetize off of it. The issue: it hasn’t been that successful. The only real plan for these web startups is: get acquired by a Google or a Yahoo. I’ve always thought that eventually Google and Yahoo would take a break. They had to. They have. Now, the large media companies of yesteryear are coming back, with deep pockets and a vengeance. We saw that with MySpace and News Corp. It’s only a matter of time before major news, TV, and especially music companies come in, and begin acquisitions.
What does that mean? That mean those corporations we were supposed to be getting away from with the Web, will be coming back into power. They will be ruling the Web, just like music, TV and newspapers. It was only a matter of time. What does that mean? It means the loss of independent voice. Again.





Abolish Patent Laws… Fine with me. You, Verizon?

9 04 2007

Damn patents. Two wierd things in the news this week around patents. One was that Verizon sued Vonage for patent infringement, and won. Now Vonage was told they couldn’t sign up new customers. Luckily a judge gave Vonage a stay on the judgment until an appeal is decided.
The next I just saw on Digg,
Epson wants to making those cheaper generic ink cartridges, you know, the cheap ones, illegal. Great. Kodak, the camera people, said that black ink costs about $3,000 per gallon! That’s almost as much as gas! Of course, then Kodak goes on selling their ink still too high, but whatever. But Digg member BESTenemy (if he/she had a blog I’d plug it here) put it best, better than I could without a Coke BlaK…

This is yet another reason to abolish patent laws. They are of no benefit to consumer. Those that can produce the product at competitive rates should. If the main corporation suffers – it should be the one going out of business, not the little guy. Information in form of original blueprints or reverse-engineered designs such as that of an ink cartridge should be allowed to circulate freely. If you can make the same thing for less, I’ll buy it. If I can make it for less, I’ll make it and sell it. If someone beats me, he deserves the market control. I’ll step aside and count my losses.Good point has been brought up last time we had a copyright discussion. Japan has one of the weakest legal systems in the world and it is by far one of the most technologically developed nations. Lack of legal inhibition might very well be one of the contributing factors.

Patent laws don’t benefit the small producer that cannot afford to file for patent. Instead it is a backbone of monopoly – ability to solely control production and distribution of a certain item.

I totally agree, and folks, why dontcha buy a non-EPSON printer? HP? They have the HP Linux Printing Project. That sounds good.





Phone: Fixed!

16 03 2007

The screen is back on! And, it only cost $50!