Weather.. Weather Everywhere.

Welcome the the lastest notice from Mother Nature that the planet is warming.  

Snow.  Snow in Las Vegas, snow in New Orleans, snow in Houston.

Now all you Gore haters are going "What is he talking about? Snow!  It must be getting colder - that Global Warming story is all crap!".

Sorry to inform you, this is exactly what was anticipated to happen with global warming.  Wetter weather with a little cold snap creates snow - lots of snow.

2008 is the coldest 'warm' year in the last 10 year cycle.  This is primarily due to a moderate to strong La Nina in the Pacific.  If you want to know what is going on in the artic - check out the Artic Sea Ice News.  The most troubling aspect of this to me, is the warming of the artic via the ocean.  I am hoping some naturally occurring counter balance to this will happen - perhaps more cloud cover due to increased evaporation.

Even if you don't believe that humans have caused this latest warming cycle - I'm surprised at the lack of preparation for the next 50 years.  Watch for the Chinese to start planning  - at least they have a historical culture that thinks about multigenerational planning.

We're just happy we're on high ground.

Decision 2008 McCain vs. Obama

Welcome to perhaps the billionth blog regarding the upcoming Presidential election.  

I live in California. We're more consumed by Proposition 8 than the question if California might go to McCain (very unlikely).

There are several things I've realized with this polarizing election: 

1. There are a lot of racist and rather unintelligent people still in the US.

2. My grammar sucks but I still can occationally get my message accross.

3. History has been lost or ignored by many of the McCain supporters.

4. The Internet is pushing opinion beyond analysis.

Look at this lovely post by the North Country Gazette entitled "McCain/Palin—-The Least Of Two Evils".    

Here is a great sample: "Quite frankly, Obama turns my stomach.  I want a President who is 100% American, who doesn’t have questions about his citizenship lurking in his background, who isn’t trying to buy the election, who doesn’t have questionable ties to voter fraud and ACORN, who doesn’t have family members who are reportedly illegal immigrants and isn’t so consumed with himself."

100% American? WTF?  What would 98% American be? 

Buy the election?  The largest grass roots based fund raising machine ever - that means the MOST people gave money for the intellectually challenged.

The rest of the sentence is just babble.  "so consumed with himself." - Arrg.  Who do you expect runs for the fecking President of the United States?

Next on my hit list: "It’s been reported that his aunt, Zeituni Onyango (I personally want an good old American name for my President, not a name like Barack Obama that doesn’t even sound American) had been instructed to leave the U.S. by an immigration judge after her request for asylum was turned down four years ago."

Good old American name for my President?  My goodness.... someone has seriously missed the idea of what the United States is.  What the hell is an good old American name? 

Written by a democrat no less.  This is a very strange election, I am registered republican and am worried about the changes in taxing and regulation that the Obama Presidency will impact on the US.

Over the Air HD (or the End of Cable?)

I recently moved to the suburbs and in this time of introspection, I was reviewing my Television options. Now, I've been a strong supporter of satellite tv (via Dish and DirectTV), mostly to counter Comcast - who most likely is the most evil corporation next to record companies. I have become very comfortable with my Dish DVR - which has a simple, intuitive interface and easily records our favorite shows. This costs us approximately $65/month - or $780 per year. Not extravegent in the Bay Area - covers several of the major pay channels, Lifetime, ComedyCentral etc.

On a lark, I purchased a $29 HD antenna from Radio Shack, mounted on a board so it wouldn't blow over and placed it on the roof. Turned on the TV and did a quick scan for Over the Air channels on my Sharp LCD TV.

WOW. Did you know that the networks are broadcasting three channels each? Substantial HD content? Above and to the left is a sample for tonight - just HD - just a few.

Ok -so now I'm feeling a bit more confident on how I'm going to get content. How about a DVR?

Hit up Tivo for a HD 180 hour DVR and Wireless G adapter. On its way.

So with the Tivo, I have on demand, rental, purchase etc. Can watch YouTube videos (got to love a quick Muppet Show Mannnammanna), can display my Google Picasa pictures on the TV, Music, and videos from my computers, etc.

Total cost - about 1/2 a year of Dish. Tivo is ($12.99/month).

I'll let you know if I'm satisfied once I setup the Tivo.

Google Revisited

Google is still wandering after my post in March. The ad revenue piece has vanished from the news - stock regained some of its losses, hanging out around 530. Still, I'll take the 80 points of gain - especially in this market. Move up your stops, in the case that China or the US economy truly tanks.

ECB (Europe Central Bank) raised interest rates this week, but I don't think anything is going to stop the "strong dollar policy" (what a crock - can you say flip-flop?) of the Bush administration. All it took was kicking the US consumers' ass with a lower dollar driving Oil price inflation to get the administration to figure out perhaps a weak dollar isn't what it's all cracked up to be.

Fear the Fearmongers

I've been watching Google stock over the last several weeks and have noticed an interesting group psychology driven by the news coverage of the last week.

For a quick historical perspective glance at the Motley Fool article from Dec 21, 2006:

The Worst Stock for 2007: Google

Next up - The Sky is Falling! Click-Thrus are lower ... Arrrg.

Google is not about ad revenue. I'll say that again for the slow learners. Google is not about ad revenue.

Oh yes, ad revenue is the current driving force for revenues. Note the word current. Google is an incubator of ideas financed by a rather large bankroll. Forget about the latest 'Facebook' valuation or purchased solution. Google is about transforming the way we interact both in a business perspective and social networking perspective.

Google Apps - what's the fuss?

Microsoft Office (per Jeff Raikes) could hit revenues of $20 Billion by 2010. It's $16 billion now. That's right, MS Office revenues are currently MORE than all of Google's revenues. Cost of the current suite is around $130. Google CAN charge for Apps. No, really. Googles greatest competitor for this space will not be Microsoft - it will be Sun. I imagine that the market space for this type of product will remain steady (around the $16 billion level) for the next 10 years.

The Future is so bright....

Back to the point about incubation. Perhaps just a listing of areas that Google is working will give you a better sense of what opportunities exist for this company.

• Google Maps - intersection of data and geography.
• Google Earth - being used by more governments around the world.
  
• Book Search
• Google Base - Craigslist without the last in, first seen garbage.
• Patent Search
• Google Health
• Android (phone OS)
• YouTube - ok first TV show a flop. Break down the barriers to subscription access to TV.
• Feedburner - if you don't see the value of RSS metrics integration into Google analytics, you miss the point.
• US Government Search - competes with FirstGov
• Google Renewable Energy - $10's of millions to make solar,thermal, wind - cheaper than coal.
• Search Engine - it is quickly becoming the oracle at Delphi. Fed Ex numbers, flight tracking, patents, Vehicle ID(vins).
• Google Apps - Think Education, Healthcare, Legal, Federal, Business.
• Google TV
• Google Wireless - spectrum for Google use or resale?

Ok - this is not an all inclusive list - I'm just tired.

Is Google just ad revenue? The future will decide.