Google Wave

Think back to 2001. The media was hyping some code-named invention ("Ginger" I think they called it) that was going to revolutionize transportation. It was going to revolutionize where we live. It was going to revolutionize how we commute to work. It was going to revolutionize how cities are designed. It was going to revolutionize human life.

The Segway is released to some fanfare. I admit, I was pretty envious when I heard that my brother got to try one out, not long after the release, within the halls of Nebraska's state capitol.

Yet, there was also a lot of skepticism. How is this little two-wheeled device going to revolutionize the world, again?

Today, you can buy a segway of your very own, and perhaps it will revolutionize your world. But, as far as I can tell, it hasn't yet revolutionized much about where I live, how I commute, how my city is designed, or my life in general. It seems to have revolutionized the outdoor mall-cop realm and the hugely significant (ok, sarcasm) tourist walking-tour market. Maybe someday it will revolutionize the world, or technologies first employed in the Segway will impact me. But for now, not so much.

Over the past several months, Google Wave was talked about with similar hype. It was hyped as a revolution in communication. It was going to revolutionize how we share information. It was going to revolutionize how we work. It was going to revolutionize how friends interact. It was going to revolutionize human life.

A little while ago, I was offered a Google Wave invitation from a coworker and snapped it up. I'm not among the first 0.01% to sign up for new technologies, but I'm certainly in the top few %. I was hopeful that this revolution in communication really would change my world.

Now, admittedly, google wave doesn't yet have as many users as it needs to be a revolutionary communications tool (can't use it to communicate to most people I know). And, it's in beta and I imagine there are few features coming. So, things may change. But, so far, it seems to be going the way of the segway - cool concept, that might lead to other things, but not nearly as interesting as I'd been led to believe.

In overly simplistic terms, Google Wave is a way to communicate with a single person, small group of people, or a broader realm - either of people you know or people in the public. You can have discussions that include maps, quizzes, video clips, etc (and probably more to come). You can collaborate a bit by these discussions, editing what other people wrote or at least discussing ideas.

It was hyped as more, but thus far I'm seeing Google wave mostly as a pretty discussion forum (which is so 1999, though, right?) or hyped-up chat interaface. It won't yet replace email, texting, wikis, social networks, or much else, at least not for me.

I could see it gaining popularity among some types of people, if it reaches critical mass (and it's a google product, so I kinda imagine it has potential to reach critical mass).

• I might imagine Matt & I using a private wave instead of gmail chat, if waves ever were as easy to access as chat is. Gmail chat is robust enough for what we need -- we can share video clips, links to maps, and use emoticons for at least a type of emotional expression, and we both type fast so it's quite close to real-time (not that google wave can change that, however)
  
• I could imagine that my husband's coworkers could use it someday, in place of some of their email chains back & forth about software bugs or features.
• I imagine that larger circles of friends or family members could use it to have a central place to go for a larger discussion -- the kind you don't want to have back-and-forth in email and involves too many people or too lengthy content to happen on chat or your favorite existing social network.
• I could see it used by people who want that open-to-anybody public discussion forum idea, which though an old idea on the internet isn't used a ton today. (Most message boards or discussion lists I'm aware of are losing interest these days, yet most social networks are not yet coming up with great ways to foster connection by people who don't know each other.)

It's not going to revolutionize how I call my parents. It's not going to revolutionize how I sit down with a leader at church over coffee and talk about real life. It's not going to revolutionize how Matt & I share documents listing our next round of home improvement or travel ideas (we do that via google docs, which works fine). It's not going to revolutionize how I share info with my coworkers. It's not going to get me off facebook or twitter. None of this, at least not unless it undergoes a major change with new features.

A true revolution in communication at this point (when we've mastered sending information at light-speed and collaborating in a lot of ways), I think, simply must address the non-verbal aspect in real-time. Give me a tool that can substitute for the closeness & safety you can feel while sharing a cup of coffee, being able to sense people's emotions & build trust, and I will call it a revolution!

Maybe 100 years from now, everybody will be riding around on a Segway in cities that are radically different from today. Maybe 2 years from now, everybody will be using Google Wave from their smart phones, web-enabled cars, televisions, and toasters, and using it to change how they do life. But, for now, I think both of these technologies have been over-hyped.

Random updates

What's new around Matt & Becky's world...

Not much!

No trips, no cooking classes, no home improvements, nothing very exciting lately, alas. Matt's been working a few late-nights recently as his company works on some innovative and exciting new products. I've been working a lot (too much, but not as much as Matt). In between I've managed to make several more scarves for the project I mentioned earlier. Only one left to finish!

For Halloween, we're working on our costumes for a coworker's party on Friday night (no hints). I'm going to help a friend-of-a-friend (who's only in the US from Taiwan for a little while) carve her first-ever pumpkin on Saturday. Then, we'll return home to hand out full-size candy bars to neighborhood kids. Whatever you think of Halloween, I don't think you can argue with the merits of full-size candy bars towards being nice to your neighbors. :) Plus, we live on a hill- got to incentivize kids who are willing to walk up here!

So, while I don't have a whole lot of great interest to share, here are some links for you:

• Please vote for Jack - SDSU mascot - in the Capital One mascot challenge. Jack is tied for first (in terms of wins/losses). The standings are tight this week, so be sure to vote for the Rabbit and not the funny-looking red creature from Kentucky!
  
• Watch a clip of Ashley Cleveland singing "I See You," a beautiful Rich Mullins song. We saw Ashley playing Threadgill's Gospel Brunch on Sunday morning.
• I hope you've already heard about Cake Wrecks, one of the funnier photo-blog-commentary sites out there. This one shows cakes (some of which are rather skillfully made, actually) but which are ironic, funny, spelled wrong, etc. I think this post sums up the funny pretty well. Matt & I were cracking up last night browsing these pics.
• I recently made a great new photo book at shutterfly, with pics from our 2009 trip to Maui. Turned out beautifully and wasn't very much work at all!
  

84% complete

Stolen from Lisa, who stole it from Vince, who probably stole it from somebody: the map of states I've visited.


I have visited 42 states (84%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Admittedly, a few of these were when I was a young kid (Oregon, Washington, Utah, Montana, Wyoming) and there are a few more (Delaware, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia) I've only seen via a small portion of interstate highway. But, otherwise, I can remember being in each of these states. I didn't count any airports, since I think that's cheating!

After our adventures this spring on our way to Hawaii, I can even say I've been out of just the Las Vegas airport and have explored a bit of Nevada (a very tiny bit, precisely the area between the airport and the nearest In-N-Out Burger).

Keeping warm

It feels a bit like January today (at least by Austin standards) with cooler temperatures & rain.

To celebrate, I finished off another scarf to send to some international students at SDSU (the one in South Dakota, of course, not the one in San Diego!). See a super-close-up here.

I can picture a student wearing this, heading across campus like I and so many others have done: head down, walking on somewhat slippery sidewalks into a brutally cold wind. Hopefully they'll be thankful for a little extra warmth on a cold day.

I hope they'll be warmed inside as well as out.

4 years ago today

4 years ago today, Matt & I were married. Happy day!

Today is a happy day as well, though we're celebrating in a different way. We're going to get the best fajitas in Austin with some good friends (one of my bridesmaids, and one of our wedding ushers, actually)), then back to their place to watch the season premier of Mythbusters. Do we know how to celebrate or what? :)

(We will most likely be going out, just us, for a nice meal this weekend - but were more in the mood to do something casual with friends today).

Can you get a good bagel in Austin?

Shortly after we got married, Matt did something both wonderful & horrible: he took me to New York City and while there, we visited Daniel's Bagels (not far from Grand Central Station). Since that fantastic trip, I have been forever spoiled on finding a quality bagel in Austin.

As I learned in a very influential video (ha! check it out below - it's the band The Newsboys, believe it or not) during my formative years, if a bagel is "not boiled in water, it's just a roll with a hole."



While I can't say exactly that local places DON'T boil their bagels, I can tell you that there's something that's not quite right about bagels from Einstein's or Panera, and most definitely something not right among those sold in bags in the bread section, or individually in the donut section at the grocery store. If you ever had a real NY bagel, I think you'd see the difference. A real bagel has a dense, chewy interior and a crisp exterior (and no need to be toasted). The things you get at most places in Austin have soft bread-like interiors and flimsy crusts.

The best bagels I've found at a restaurant in Austin, believe it or not, are from Dunkin' Donuts, and only then if they're toasted (otherwise they're WAY too bready). These don't begin to compare to the joy that is a real bagel, but they'll do in a pinch, as a platform for cream cheese, if nothing else.

Runner-up is frozen Lender's bagels, microwaved a few seconds to thaw then toasted at home. These, also, aren't quite right, but do the job fairly well (and are darn cheap!).

Maybe I need to search out more locally-owned non-chains to find good bagels around Austin. We've found great bagels in Ruidoso, NM last fall (place is closed now, though - boo). Just last weekend, we got fantastic bagels at almost 8,000 feet in elevation, in Avon, CO.

If you know where I might find a good bagel in Austin, please let me know! If you recommend something good and worth visiting again, I just might buy you one to celebrate!

*By the way, I think Austin has a similiar lack of a good baguette. Maybe I'll comment on that hard-hitting topic sometime soon!