Chrome OS—The big announcement this week is that Google is planning on shipping an OS dubbed Chrome OS targeted at netbooks.  Much of the speculation is that this is just a first step toward a full fledged competitor to Windows and OSX.  My guess is that it will be an “instant on” OS that is lightweight and will allow its users get to a browser quickly.  To do this, it will more than likely do away with a lot of the features of a traditional OS.  If you look at the Chrome browser, this is exactly what it is.  It lacks most of the features of IE and (especially) Firefox, but it gets to the web quick.  I use it on a daily basis just for this reason.  It opens faster and loads pages faster than any other browsers.

In theory, it sounds like a good play for Google.  But, I can see a number of potential pitfalls.  The first is that, for the most part, people do not restart their computers on a regular basis.  I have a Macbook that I only reboot to switch operating systems and a PC that before I had overheating issues I rebooted only a handful of times.  Restore on both OSX and Windows 7 is fast enough that any sort of quick booting feature seems unnecessary.  The second problem I see is that its aim is netbooks.  Right now they are underpowered and run best with older operating systems, but with how fast hardware prices fall, I am pretty confidant that they will soon have similar specs to our current laptops.  And, we are already seeing a lot of news around Windows 7 on netbooks and a possible future Apple netbook.  So, it is not like Google is entering an overlooked segment.  The final problem I see with Chrome OS is that it is entering an extremely competitive market where the two primary competitors have strong products.  It would be different if Google would have launched a competitor a couple years back when Vista was getting torn to shreds in the PR department.  But after using Windows 7 for the last couple months, I can tell you that MS is back with a great product.  And, Apple has the high end of the market locked down with OSX.

In the end, we will have to wait and see.  I do believe that in order to break into the OS market, Google will need more than just its name;  it will need one or more killer features.  And, I honestly do not have any guesses as to what those will be.

Nokia’s Future—Nokia has been blasted the last couple weeks in the blogosphere.  First, Gizmodo proclaimed Nokia is doomed in its N97 review and then Scoble followed up with a blog entry on how Europe (primarily Nokia) no longer matters in mobile.  After using my e71 for a couple months now, I think that both of these articles are right on point.  I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the company is doomed, but based on my experience, Nokia has a lot of problems.  The e71 itself is a pretty good device.  The hardware is amazing, but the Symbian OS leaves a lot to be desired.  The out-of-the-box experience (which unfortunately is what most reviewers rely on) is not good.  It took me months to find a theme that I thought was comparable to the Blackberry and iPhone themes (out-of-the box).  But even then, the app switching and general user experience of the device is not good.  Yes, Nokia devices can do everything that most of its competitors can do.  But, it is like putting a Cadillac engine in a Malibu.  Sure, it can compete on specs with its competitors, but overall you don’t get the same feel.

But that is not the only problem I have had with the e71.  Outside of the OS, the second most important thing in smart phones these days are apps.  I am not saying that Nokia’s app store (Ovi) has to have as many apps as the iPhone, but they do need to have their bases covered.  And, Nokia definitely has some big gaps.  First and foremost, Nokia still does not have a Facebook application for the e71.  To me, this is crazy.  Nokia Labs is off designing all these crazy apps like a Mobile Web Server, Diary, and Sports Tracker.  But, they still do not have a freakin’ Facebook app for all their devices.  Are you kidding me?

To wrap this up, my experience pretty much follows what the big tech blogs are saying.  Nokia needs to make some big changes and soon.  And a good start would be filling some gaps in their app lineup.

During the four day weekend, I think at some point I shut off my brain and am no longer able to make complete thoughts. As a result, this is going to be short. I started the long weekend by going to Grant’s Farm for the first time in my life (I know, I know) and going to see the Cardinals beat up on the Giants. And, I finished the weekend drinking beer, playing washers, and listening to country music (it doesn’t get much better than that) at my Graduation party.  Somewhere in between, I got to see a pretty good fireworks display and shot off a few of my own.  Overall, it was a fun weekend.

Apparently, without regard for our personal health and safety, Ryan has signed us (Rengel, the Hoff, Thundercat, and I) up for summer basketball.  So, we need a team name.  Here are the suggestions that have been thrown out there:

From Eric:
We Got Thabeet
Tips and Drills
Intentional Foulers (reference to Rengel)
Super Heroes in Training
Basketball Brawlers
Boom Boom Pao (updated)

From Matt (me):
Bricklayer’s Union
Rengel’s Glass Ankle
Three’s Company
Tropics
Spartans
Xerxes’s Hordes
Nihilists
Urban Achievers

If you have any ideas, add names in the comments below.

Man, it was a hot one this weekend. Every day the temperature was over 95 in St. Louis.  This made any activity outside unbearable.  I found myself running from one air conditioned spot to the next.  On Friday, I attended a wedding and had a late night (for me) at Talaynas.  I hadn’t been there in about 2 years.  But, it looks like they really made some improvements.  They added about 20 more disco balls then I remembered and a new bar.  If their goal was to be the tackiest bar in St. Louis, they are pretty close to achieving that.  On Saturday, I attended the post-wedding barbecue.  Despite the heat, I was able to get a few good cuts in with the Wiffleball bat.  Now that the wind is dying down, it is starting to feel more-and-more like Wiffleball season.  On Sunday, I spent the day hopping between Father’s day parties.  When, I got home that night I found my computer locked up.  Apparently, some time over the weekend my primary hard drive had a meltdown.  It looks like the root cause of the issue was two of my fans shutting down.  I spent part of Sunday and most of Monday night fixing it up.  After I installed a temporary fan (pictured above), I upgraded the system to Windows 7 RC.  I had been meaning to do this for a long time, but this was the motivation I needed.

Anyways, that was about it.  It was an extremely busy weekend.  I am putting some thoughts together on Windows 7 RC.  So, check back in a couple days if you are interested.

I have been doing low-carb dieting on-and-off for about 3 months now. To be specific, I have been really doing a combination of low-carb and low-gi diets combined with a large increase in running. I have had a lot of success with this combination. When I started, I weighed in at 205 pounds and could run probably a half a mile without getting extremely fatigued. Now, I weigh between 180 and 185 and run 2 miles around 3 times a week.  Because I have had some success at losing weight, I get questions every once and a while and so I will try to answer them here.

What is a low carb diet?

Low carb diets go by a number of names—Atkins, Southbeach, Diabetic, etc. Overall, a low carb diet is a diet where you simply reduce your intake of carbohydrates. Usually, the goal of the diet is to eat anywhere between 20 and 30 carbohydrates in a day. The end goal of the diet is to simply eliminate the spike in blood sugar that causes excess production of insulin.  Apparently, this spike makes it difficult for your body to burn fat.  I am no scientist, so you can read a more in depth explanation here.  There are two ways to eliminate this spike—(1) cut out carbs, and (2) cut out bad carbs.

Cutting carbs is pretty easy, just look at the nutritional information on food, and keep the total under 30 for the day. It is actually more difficult than it sounds, because a lot of our favorite foods have tons of carbs. For example, a 20oz of Moutain Dew has 77 carbs. Cutting bad carbs is a little more difficult.   Bad carbs are those that have a high GI.  Carbs with a high GI break down faster than low GI carbs and cause an insulin spike.  Finding out this information is a little more difficult because it is not included in the nutritional information on the back of most packages.  But a good rule is to avoid white bread or anything sugary.  And, instead opt to get your carbs from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

How do I implement the low carb diet?

Basically, I do my diet in phases.  The first phase (usually 2 weeks) I am very strict about what I eat.  I focus on keeping my carb count low.  I primarily eat meat, cheese, vegetables, and nuts.  And, I avoid anything with sugar or potatoes.  I eat a lot of salads and I opt to make wraps rather than sandwiches.  I eat some fruits, but mainly low sugar fruits like raspberries and blackberries.  I really don’t think that this phase is that healthy, so I try to limit it to just two weeks.  It does seem to be extremely effective in cutting weight.  After that phase, I then shift to primarily a low-gi phase.  In this phase, I add in whole grain bread, whole grain pastas, and all fruits.  This is actually pretty maintainable long term.  And, to my knowledge, is a very healthy diet.

What about fast food, etc?

On both diets, you really cannot eat fast food.  On my first phase, I do not eat at fast food restaurants at all.  It is completely counter-productive to losing weight.  But on my low GI track, I will treat myself to fast food.  I usually just try to make an effort to run that night.  On a side note, once you go low carb, you will realize how much harder it is to get up off the couch once you have eaten a high carb meal.  Also, I will occasionally go to sandwich shops.  But, I try to eat  their wheat bread when available.  I do realize, of course, that wheat does not equal whole grain.  But with that said, it is still a little better for you.

The most important part…

Personally, I think the most important part to this diet (and any diet) is exercise.  When I started this diet, I set exercise goals.  For me, I focused on running because I had done this in the past and actually really enjoy it in short intervals.  But, I think anything that gets the heart rate up would work.  I believe you are able to lose weight just eating lower carbs (or lower gi carbs), but I think it is a lot more effective when you exercise.

Basically that is all I have on this topic.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below.

At the end of April, I posted about my first month with my new mackbook.  I figured I would take a little time to put together a follow-up on what I like and what I dislike and add some new thoughts and a final wrap-up.

What I Like

I still like the hardware of the Macbook, the simplicity of bootcamp, the fonts, and the keyboard. The construction of the Macbook is stellar. Like I said before, this notebook was $1200 and it feels like it is worth every penny. I still dig the multi-touch pad…well, most of the time. I have an ongoing problem of accidentally zooming in when using Safari. I think 60% of this problem can be contributed to user error, and about 40% to the system. The fonts are great. And, the OS is still smooth. In the previous post, I said that I liked Safari 4. Well, that love affair quickly ended. While for the most part it does the job, I did notice that I got that little spinning rainbow icon when loading complex pages. This is the Mac’s version of locking up. So, I have switched primarily to Firefox. And, I am really looking forward to the beach ball (Google Chrome) coming to the Macbook.

What I dislike

I really still do not like the OSX dock. Yes it is pretty, but it has a lot of usability issues. Minimizing windows has a completely different action than switching windows (changing focus). And, I find it extremely difficult to manage multiple windows of the same app. I am told expose is good for this, but honestly, you should be able to do this with both the dock and expose. I hear that Apple may have taken a page out of the Windows 7 book by given the dock a Windows peek like feature, so I definitely look forward to this.

And, some new thoughts

I am currently building a PHP app. And, have been using Aptana and subversion to sync my work across my Windows machine and my Macbook. So far, development for PHP on the Mac has been a breeze. There was definitely a lot more setting up I had to do to get OSX’s Apache server properly configured. But once that was out of the way, programming on the Macbook has been a pleasurable experience. I think the biggest difference for me (versus Windows) was the fonts on the Macbook. They are just so smooth, and are definitely nice to look at when pounding at the keys for two hours.

A final wrap-up

There are a lot of things people tell you about the Mac experience: the OS is beautiful, it is just easier to use, it doesn’t crash, you don’t have to worry about viruses, etc, etc. In the end, I would probably only agree with the first one. I think that OSX is definitely better looking than Vista and XP (maybe not so much when compared to Windows 7). But, I do not think it is easier to use. For me, the taskbar and most of the windows management is counter-intuitive. And, as far as viruses and crashing…I have not experienced either on my Macbook nor my Vista machine. So, that is a wash. I guess that brings me to the final question…would I recommend getting a Macbook? This is a pretty difficult question. The premium hardware definitely sets it apart from its competitors. But, overall, I really prefer Windows 7 (even in its beta form) to OSX. I think for people that are die-hard OSX fans, it is a no-brainer. But, if you are on the ledge, I probably would recommend waiting around until Windows 7 comes out and make a decision then.

There has been so much going on in tech the last couple weeks, that I feel I would be a bit remiss in blogging if I didn’t at least mention it. So, here are a few thoughts I have about the mobile, gaming, desktop, and search spaces (as these are were the majority of announcements have come).

Mobile—The last week has been all about the pre and iPhone.  The pre looks like to be a truly awesome platform.  I love the idea of cards as a way to switch between apps.  Like windows revolutionized the desktop space, I think cards will do the same for the mobile space.  I think multi-tasking is core to the future of mobile OS.  My e71 has multi-tasking (albeit in a totally less attrative form) and I could not imagine having a phone without it.  If you watch McNamee’s pitch on the pre he sells the device as essentially a phone for power users.  He says that its main competitive advantages are the immediacy of information, multi-tasking, and a nice keyboard.  For me, these all ring true.  Honestly, these are the same reasons I went with the e71 over other devices.  The phone seems to do everything that my e71 does, but with an iPhone-like interface.

With that mention, lets transition to a quick discussion on the new iPhone.  Like its predecessor, the 3GS features the same killer interface and design.  And lets be honest, it is because Apple did very little in its 3.0 update to change how the device works.  Honestly, I can’t really fault them for that.  At this point, they have the best phone in the segment.  It is easy to use and has great app support.  And, the $99 price point is extremely interesting.  I think that is going to pull a lot of late adopters out of hiding.  It will be interesting to see if the low price point on the phone will make up for the high contract costs, because I know a lot of current dumb phone users still look at the reoccuring costs (or total cost of ownership) as a main reason not to get into the segment. Overall though, the iPhone launch was a little lackluster.  I thought we were going to see the true third generation of the phone with a killer OLED screen and a smaller footprint.  I guess we will have to wait another 6mos to a year to see what they have in store for the next generation. With that said, I think the 3GS will more than keep the iPhone faithful happy.

So, which would I chose?  If I was buying today, I would get the pre.  After watching the videos on the engadget review, I was astounded by how the interface works.  My first impression was that this was how a phone should work.  But, I am not going to go out and buy one today.  I just got my e71 and it still does 95% of what I want.  And, buying first gen hardware is always a crap shoot.  Regardless of my opinion, the space is getting interesting.  It is the first time in 2 years that a strong argument can be made for a competitor having not just a competitive (ahem, Android and Blackberry) OS, but a truly better OS than the iPhone.  And, I think the next couple months will be crazy for mobile as the rush of Android and Windows Mobile devices start flooding in.

Gaming—Honestly, I haven’t picked up a controller in a long time on either my Wii or 360. I kind of feel bad, but that is not where my interest lies currently.  What I am excited about is the future of the Xbox 360.  To say they were the best of show at E3 was an understatement.  With Natal, Zune support, Twitter, Facebook, and (what I am really looking forward to) Last.FM support, the system has moved out of the realm of game console to entertainment console.  I hope they take all this a step further and begin to offer an open marketplace for apps (ala the iphone).  As far as the other two big players go, I was completely disappointed with their E3 performance.  Sony had a couple cool games but nothing compelling enough to make me want to buy their console.  And, Nintendo really is starting to get old fast.  Yes, the motion controllers are fun, but there are not a lot of compelling uses for the console outside of parties.  I am glad I own one, but I would like to see something a little new and exciting from the company.  Because as it stands right now, if Natal can do half of what is advertised, I will not being buying a Wii HD (or whatever comes next).

Desktop—At the WWDC, we finally got to finally see the details of Snow Leopard.  And man, I wish I wouldn’t have sat through the announcement.  It looks to be an extremely boring release for the company.  The performance tweaks are nice, but it looks like the company is content to put OSX in its current form up against Windows 7.  And, I think that is a losing proposition.  But hey, for $29, I am more than willing to upgrade my Macbook.  On the flip side, Windows 7 is looking better-and-better.  If they hit the rumoured $49 upgrade, it will be a good fall for Microsoft.  I just hope that they have a family pack or allow users of the RC to upgrade to 7 for the same cost.  I really do not want to shell out $99-150 to put Windows 7 on my Macbook.

Search—I am currently testing Bing out and I kind of dig it.  I really agree with a lot of people that search has become a commodity.  You get pretty much the same results out of the three major services.  What I like about Bing is that I can filter down ambiguous searches and also get a quick preview with the little ajaxy thing they have to the right of the results.  Also, it looks way better than Google.  And, I do put some value into that.  The problem with both Bing and Google is that I don’t think that either of them are as good as Twitter Search for a lot of my searches.  So, I am still divided.  For opinions I go to Twitter, for questions I go to Bing, for programming queries I go to Stack Overflow, and on my mobile I use Google.  And, maybe that is a good thing.  But, honestly both Google and Bing really should get on the Twitter band wagon.  Because, a real-time search inclusion on either of their sites would be a killer feature.

So, there you have it—my insights on mobile, gaming, desktop, and search.  I know a lot of you will not agree.  So, feel free to express your opinion below.

I currently support IE6, but not well. Above is a screenshot of my site in the browser that everyone loves to hate. Its actually not too bad. All the images are messed up, but that is because IE6 never really supported PNGs well, and I am not interesting in writing a hack to fix it. Also, the header seems too big. I am not going to speculate on why that is. Should I be embarrassed to be a web developer and have my site look this messed up in a browser that still garners around 14% market share and approximately 9% of my page views? Nah.

Ugh, if it was that easy to get back to the weekend.  This weekend was fun, but extremely short.  Friday, I hung out with my girlfriend and checked out the best South City has to offer.  I am really starting to dig the Macklind area.  They have a number of good restaurants including the Macklind Avenue Deli—a little deli with a huge beer selection.  On Saturday, I met up with Dozier and visited the Post Sports Bar on Manchester for lunch.  I had a delicious Philly steak sandwich and a couple of good beers.  Overall, it was a pretty good bar.  After that, we hit up the taste of Maplewood. There was not much doing there, so I headed up to the Hoff’s house to do a little swimming and watch the NBA.  To my dismay, the big O beat my Cavs.  We ended the night at Harry’s and an all night music listening event at Hoffs.  It was definitely a fun night.  Although, the lack of sleep made my Sunday seem really short.  I definitely want to take it easy next weekend, but that is going to be tough with the Heritage Festival on Friday night and John’s bachelor party on Saturday.  I need a weekend from the weekend.

Looking forward, I am starting to get excited for the NBA finals.  I actually like both teams.  But, I am a huge Kobe fan, so I will be leaning that way.  I think the Lakeshow is going to be tough to beat.  But, if Orlando gets hot from three it will be a good series.  I am guessing Hoff, Ted, and the Wrangler will be pulling for O-town.  And, Eric and I will be pulling for the Lakeshow.  I think we definitely need to get a watch party together for a couple of the games.

I think that is all I have got for now.

It has been so long since I have written a post that I almost forgot how to login.  This weekend was perfect.  It was long, not too busy, and I get a ton of stuff done.  Friday, I took the day off and headed up to the Cardinal’s game with my friends.  We left a bit early to catch the end of the Cav’s game and witness Lebron’s game winning shot.  I also ran into my brother-in-law up at Paddy-o’s.  He had the night off and suffice to say, I think he was having a good time.  On Saturday, I went to dinner with my girlfriend at the Melting Pot and we enjoyed some delicious fondue.  We then managed to make it up to Dubliner for Mike #3’s birthday celebration.  Sunday and Monday were dedicated to the families.  The big highlight on Sunday was that I actually caught a fish.  After letting two jump off my line (I have no idea what I am doing), one finally gave up and I reeled him in.  I think it was a pity catch.

Besides the regular goings-ons, I have been revving up my workouts lately.  I have also been watching a little NBA.  I figured I would take some time to talk about both.

PDBC+R—I am starting a new workout plan this week.  I am calling PDBC+R. Essentially, this workout consists primarily of 5 exercises.  The first four are strength training exercises—pull-ups, dips, bench, and curls.  And, the final exercise—running—is my cardio element.  I like this plan because it is simple and provides a pretty solid full body workout.  My two focus areas for the next couple weeks are pull-ups and running.  Right now I am using a weight assist machine to do pull-ups, but the goal is to be off this in a month or so.   For running, my main goal is to push over the 20 minute mark and approach the 3 mile mark per run.  Currently, I am running 2 miles in about 17 minutes when I get on the treadmill.

NBA Notes—Lebron, Carmelo, Hedo “the turkish Michael Jordan” Türkoğlu, and Kobe have really made the playoffs fun to watch.  Whereas the dirty play of Dahntay Jones and the ridiculous celebrations of J.R. “I just got burnt by Kobe” Smith have ruined most of the Denver victories.  I have poked fun at the No Fun League in the past for cracking down on celebrations, but now that I see the alternative, I think I am going to stop.  And, it is crazy to me that the suspension happy NBA has let Jones push a player in the back and trip the same player on two subsequent nights without recourse.  Ridiculous.

Anyways, that is about it.  I have a few ideas for posts in the back of my mind.  And, I am working on a new blog design.  You can get a sneak peek on Flickr.  I should have it up by the end of the week.