Logical Eccentricity

I’ve been using Writely over the past couple of days, and so far I really like it. It is extremely useful for simple files, especially blogs. I can save ideas and posts online on Writely and then come back to it when I get time. Despite this, I don’t think Google should develop Writely as a replacement for Microsoft Word. Rather they should first tightly integrate Writely into their other products like Gmail, Google Pages, Google Groups, and Blogger.

By integrating all of these services, users will be able to move from blogging, to emailing, to creating websites, to posting in forums, without needing to learn a new interface. More importantly, people would be able to use all of these services in conjunction, for example, use Writely as an editor for you emails, and email directly to post onto your blog, or onto message boards. While some of this stuff is around right now, all of them have different interfaces. Writing an email in Gmail looks nothing like writing a blog post, which looks nothing like posting on forum. Finally, by integrating all of these services, as Google improves one of them, all them will benefit, and improve the overall system.

Last but not least, if anyone wants a Writely Invite, leave a comment with your name and email and I’ll send one your way.

Disclaimer: This is my usual ranting and raving, it is not directed towards anyone.

We live in an information age, an age where information, knowledge and power go hand in hand. The problem, people never have all the information, especially when we deal with other people, we never have the full story. Based on this imperfect information set we make decisions. Then other people interpret our decisions based on the information set available to them and respond to it in some way. And so the cycle continues, and the original person responds back. But inherent in this process lies the problem, neither party has all the information, and making decisions with what they know.

What can be done about this?  Nothing really, there is no way to have all the information about something, unless you are directly involved with it. I’ve made mistakes of acting on impulse, and on what information I knew at that time, and getting it all wrong. You feel terrible when you realize your mistake. But what is more annoying is having people judge you based on imperfect information. At least to me, I get very annoyed when people judge you, and they don’t know you. To top it all off, the worst offense is when they judge you, and then try to force that same viewpoint onto other people.

Nothing can be done about it, other than for both parties to accept the fact that neither has any idea what is really going on, and move on with their lives.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Friendster have become very popular recently, and I just realized something. I’m a member of way too many of these sites. I’ve got accounts on: Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, Doostang, Hi5, Orkut, the new Aim Pages, Xuqa, and I’m trying to get an invite for MyWallop.com as well. Why do I have all these accounts? I don’t know, maybe I’ll try some sort of experiement with it. See what kind of overlap there is in membership among the sites. Any other ideas?

 EDIT: I’m now on MyWallop as well… a review of both MyWallop and Writely sometime over this weekend.

I saw the Da Vinci Code on Sunday, and before I start my review, please keep in mind the movie is a work of fiction. I have read the book, and I really enjoyed it; it has been one of the better books I’ve read in a while now. That being said, the movie was a bit disappointing. The adaptation of the books was excellent, they had pretty much everything, and that was the problem.  The book is fairly long, and as a result, the movie was way too long. The main problem was that there was nothing to hold onto in the movie. When you read the book, the first chapter grabs you and doesn’t let go. Its keeps you interested, basically it’s a great page turner. The movie didn’t keep this same feel to it. The opening sequence of the movie didn’t do anything. Overall, the movie was just too slow.

All that aside, it was a good movie. I did enjoy seeing everything that I had imagined come to life on the big screen. Much like Harry Potter, it is a completely different experience to read the books versus watching the movies. In summary, I don’t think the movie lived up to all the hype around it, at least for me it didn’t. Approach this film with little expectation, and you will enjoy the ride; approach this film with high expectations, and you will be disappointed.

The summer movie reviews continue with Poseidon. There is nothing to this movie other than action. If you watch it, leave your brain at the door and watch the fun, or bring it along and try to figure out who will die next. The funny thing is, you really don’t care who dies, because you get no information about them, and they are so one dimensional and they say nothing of meaning through out the entire film.

The plot is very simple. A huge, “rogue” wave hits a cruise ship, The Poseidon and flips it over. Since this is a movie, the wave hits a few minutes into the New Year, so most of the passengers are all dressed up in the ballroom celebrating. So, we have a large group of passengers trapped in the ship; remember the ship is upside down, so the floor is now the ceiling. Basically, our intrepid main group leaves the “safe” ballroom in search of an exit, and a way off the ship, which clearly must be through the propeller shaft.

Overall the acting is pretty good, the actors take what little material they have and try to make the best of it. It does seem that they did most of their own stunts; this gives the movie a more realistic feel to it. So, if you are looking for anything other than action, look elsewhere. Action is pretty much all you are going to get out of this; other than the previously stated comedy of trying to figure out the next death, that is. I would say, save your $10 for one of the much better movies coming out later this summer, and watch Poseidon when it comes out on DVD, or even better when it airs on TV in a few years, you won’t be missing anything.