Listened to Windows Weekly 175: Wrong Again Monkey Boy

• Netcast
• Comparison between China (accelerating development) versus United States (slow moving, a has-been?) and Google/Android versus Apple/iOS.  
• Google's Android Market is a "wild west" experience compared to Apple's App Store which is curated, consistent, and overall, a higher-quality experience.  However, the advantage for Google is the pace of development and change
• Google's Android Market can be viewed as being like YouTube where anything goes until it is reported as abuse or violation

Waiting for next cool gadget (definitely not like waiting for prostrate surgery appointment)

While I continue to suffer with the battery life of my 35-month-old Windows Mobile smartphone and look forward to getting an Android 2.2 device, I find it interesting that although members of our society feels like they are caught in a rat race, simultaneously we cannot wait patiently for the next new device. 

For tasks that need to get done, weeks seem to fly by while we are preoccupied with other things or procrastinating.  Outside, in our backyard, vegetables and weeds alike grow bigger with each passing day.  My wife's tummy is getting bigger.  On the other hand, I have a hard time keeping on top of all the things that need to get done.  And therefore the launch date of the next cool gadget will be here sooner than we think.

Here's to Android 2.2 in Canada, here before I'm ready  :-)

Listened to TWiT 261: Abandon All HPOA

• Netcast
• Economics of privacy have changed.  Before it used to be becoming public (well known) was expensive: You were either Marilyn Monroe or a shmoe.  Now, to stay out of the lime-light (keep your personal details private), you have to pay extra or make an extra effort 
• Is the reason that Android phones are selling more than iPhones is that iPhone is still restricted to AT&T in the US?  And AT&T reception is relatively poor?  And that people are still locked into contracts with other carriers (that don't have the iPhone for their network)?
  

Listened to This Week In Google 54: Wave Bye Bye

• Netcast
• Potential malware in Android apps 
• Vulnerabilities in the Safari browser in the iPhone, iPod Touch, etc. that also enable jail-breaking
• Need for firewalls (controlling outgoing traffic) and UAC for these devices 
• A certification process for Android apps, paid by developers of apps
• As with so-called free applications available for Windows, Linux, etc., any type of code that is not from a trusted source is installed at your own risk.  An application may not wipe out your data but perhaps worse, it can send your data to malicious users for their purposes.  Code to be wary of include Firefox Add-Ins, GreaseMonkey scripts, etc. that may not normally be viewed as "applications"

Listened to net@night 161: Felicia Day

• Netcast
• Introduced me to Felicia Day, who appears on many lists for hottest geek girls (e.g. The Top 10 Girls Geeks Love).  She apparently was on Buffy.  
• Funny videos (Game On, Do You Wanna Date My Avatar) starring members of The Guild, a comedy web series
• Which led me to watch Episode 1 of The Guild which was quite funny.  Will watch another episode when I have time
• From desktop publishing to YouTube, computers and digitization has polluted the world with paper (by users that didn't know how to use computers properly) but more recently, also put into the hands of people the power to express themselves and share/broadcast professional productions out of their basements, home offices, and backyards

Listened to Windows Weekly 166: Revenge Of The White Icons

• Netcast
• Windows Phone 7 integrates your various accounts to services, e.g. your Flickr photos, Facebook photos, etc. all live together.  Contrast this with the need for a separate Flickr app, separate Facebook app, etc.  that you start up and exit, start up and exit.
• This drive in the marketplace to have apps for everything is a throwback to when we had desktop apps for everything rather than using online services.  That is, the pre-Internet age.  E.g. CIBC now offers a Blackberry app for online banking--why?  Why not have a web site that is optimized for smaller screen devices so all mobile devices can use the web site.  Google seems to be able to design decent mobile device-optimized web sites (Gmail, Google Calendar, etc.) so why can't other organizations?  Native apps seem better suited for those applications taking advantage of or accessing the specific hardware of the device, or intended for offline use/don't need constant internet access to function adequately

Listened to This Week In Google 52: Android Goes To War

• Netcast
• Users of social networking websites should be given a clear choice of what they make public and what stays private (by default)
• However, there are benefits to making things public, e.g. your real-time location may give you coupons to a bakery you are in.  Also, people may share things with you they might not otherwise do, by knowing what you've made public--mutual benefit because of openness 
• The problem is when some social networking websites prevent access to data (via APIs) that people have already indicated as public.  This data then cannot be mined by other organizations or analyzed for societal benefit
• With data showing that more Android phone are being activated per month than iPhones, and the number of Android apps becoming available, iPhones and their apps may be relegated to a niche market, like computers with Mac OS, in the near future.  The $99 USD to become a iPhone developer and the need to do development on a Mac hampers innovation (as some of the brightest developers may simply choose not to be limited by Apple)