I use the telephone every day, but I don’t think of AT&T “ruling my world.” Similarly, I use something made or hosted by Google every day, but I don’t consider myself a captive to the Google universe or even a manic advocate, the way some Apple fans are. To me, Google is fast becoming like hot water or electricity – I just assume it’s there without much thought to loyality or affection.

I have no criticisms of the “don’t worry, be happy” crowd so long as they knowingly sell their data and understand the implications of its use. It’s simply good journalism to tell the whole story so readers know and can make a choice.

What you are describing is a fundamental to the business of cloud computing – by tapping in, you have implicitly agreed to share information. I suppose by some measure there is a sinister aspect to this model, especially if there is a lack of disclosure about how information is collected and used, potentially leading to “Enemy of the State” scenarios. I’m not in the tin foil camp, but I understand the perspective.

Great Super Bowl Ad too.

People complaining about privacy? You forget that there are millions of *cough*idiots, excuse me, individuals who voluntarily share their whole lives on Facebook and the lot.

Just read a Philip K. Dick book to get an idea of the future of privacy….

It might be nasty at times, but ultimately, what is gained by this information resource I think(I hope) will out-weight the bad. And I think that is Google’s philosophy too.

Anyhow…wow, Google completely dominates South America and Europe! Minus India, Asia needs the most work.

For the tin foil crowd, here’s a new one: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/08/google_mystery_domain/
I thought it was interesting that some are finding their machines connecting to this new Google domain at startup without any application running – that they know of.
And a little-talked-about Google custom server is now running 13% of websites http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/29/google_web_server/ Hey – free is very attractive if you are willing to trade the privacy of all your users for it.

There have been many other similar reports, e.g. that Google toobar continues to report your browsing activity even after you turn it off. I’m sure Chrome reports back, no matter what settings you use.

My opinion on the China deal was that not being evil happened to coincide with business in that case. Whatever China says about wanting outside investment, it is notoriously favorable to Chinese companies and the idea is generally to steal the tech and then produce a local competing clone. Baidu was has been more or less kicking Google’s ass because of government favoritism. Here’s a major example: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/29/baidu_victory/ My guess is that the Chinese government pressures computer makers to include Baidu as the default search engine. The google exit was probably just an attempt to pressure the Chinese to give it equal treatment by withdrawing it’s free services from the Chinese market and hoping user pressure would do the trick. Whether that succeeds, it hasn’t really lost anything.

sorry, if that wasn’t clear, though, these: “GOOG, though, should pay attention to the, current, ‘cell-network’ limitations–namely, Backhaul..

If I were them, I’d light more of their ‘Dark Fiber’ assets, and go with VOIP–telephony over internet–via Wi-Fi & Wi-Max..

that is, of course, until people take this: …” from above, are My words/thoughts..
and, the article is from: http://www.gq.com/cars-gear/gear-and-gadgets/201002/warning-cell-phone-radiation?currentPage=3

or, differently, Pursue opportunities w/ RF-based wireless comm. b/c its demand-curve is, still, growing, but, note current limitations of the existing network (namely, capacity/backhaul), and the potential for the Market’s perception of the Good, itself (namely, RF-based Wireless Comm), to change..

see: “Femtocells are low-cost, low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections.

Femtocells enable the mobile operator to extend coverage, increase capacity and provide new services in areas where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable, such as in buildings or rural areas. Femtocells improve service and coverage without the major costs involved in deploying fixed infrastructure (antennas, base stations, etc.), while also decreasing backhaul costs since mobile traffic is routed over the IP network.

Unlike WiFi-based solutions which require dual-mode handsets, Femtocells enable operators to offer Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services based on subscribers’ regular 3G phones.

Percello’s cutting-edge Femtocell silicon products can be used to power residential, enterprise and outdoor Femtocell applications for UMTS/HSPA+ and LTE networks. Percello’s dedicated Femtocell SoC products enable cost-effective deployments, with maximum coverage and optimal carrier-grade performance…” to begin with..
http://www.percello.com/femtocell.php
http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=femto-cell+low-power

LSS: there’s a difference between ‘cell-tower’-based ‘wireless comm.’ and other technologies (namely, Wi-Fi/Wi-Max) that can deliver the same ‘Good’ in a different fashion..
Whether it was from George H.W. Bush’s “Thousand points of Light..”, or the Internet, itself, We should know, whether the ‘problem’ is “Government”, “Electricity Generation/Distribution/Usage”, “Communications”, etc., the ‘solution’ of “distributed, multi-point network(s)” is, ususally, the right answer..
~~
this: “…there are sources of non-ionizing radiation all around us everyday that are much higher than the exposure from cell phones…” though, is, no doubt, True.

and, to your point, I was going to say (tongue-in-cheek style): “It’s too bad that “Fear/Uncertainty/Doubt” isn’t counted as part of our GDP (for, surely, if it was, that # would, still, be growing..)”– but, sadly, in actuality, it already is..

@Mike -
Android works with GMail accounts, but it’s not exclusive – you can use Android with any email service/server you wish. And congrats on the Saints – very impressive !

BTW, is the Saint’s crushing win bullish or bearish? While I was hopeful based on past upsets, I have to admit I didn’t really expect them to pull it off based on the past 4 games.