The Best Blue Hue

Have you ever put on a blue shirt, only to be disappointed by the imperfection of the hue of the blue? Well, fret no more. Scientists at the Oregon State University have found a solution to the age old question of the “perfect blue”. As Lab Spaces explains, “An accidental discovery in a laboratory at Oregon State University has apparently solved a quest that over thousands of years has absorbed the energies of ancient Egyptians, the Han dynasty in China, Mayan cultures and more – the creation of a near-perfect blue pigment."

If you are like me, you are rejoicing at the fact that this mighty quest has been completed, and… wait, what was this ancient task, finding the perfect blue? I may be in the minority, but I am wearing a blue shirt at the moment, and find I have little quarrel with the its blue. I find it odd that a more perfect blue is the focus of scientists’ attention. When I think of the energy needs of today and how science has yet to provide a viable solution to the quickly diminishing natural sources of energy, I wonder how finding a better blue is a victory. Sure, this new blue is great, but is it cause for celebration among scientists who could otherwise be finding new sources of energy? Probably not.

Jail, The New Detention

There's nothing like a good old-fashioned food fight. Although apparently in Chicago (dare I take the Fox News route and mention it is Obama's home town and then try to imply/explicitly state some kind of causal relationship?), food fights are akin to a murder rampage or a drunk driving charge, as they all land you in the same place: jail. Did I mention these cuisine warriors were children in elementary school? Come on Chicago. I know you lost the Olympics, but don't take out your frustration on the kids. As the New York Times article explains, “'My children have to appear in court,' Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth-grade girls who spent eight hours in jail, said Tuesday. 'They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and treated like real criminals.'”

Somehow this seems ridiculous. Children having a food fight should have recess taken away, not be carted off to the police station. The notion that charges are being filed are absurd, but now many students have to go to court to keep a misdemeanor off of their records.

This says it all, “By the end of the day, 25 of the students, ages 11 to 15, had been rounded up, arrested, taken from school and put in jail. A spokesman for the Chicago police said the charges were reckless conduct, a misdemeanor.” Taken from school to jail. Fantastic message, city of Chicago. Great lesson you're teaching the kids. And apparently it's the only one, because you pulled them out of school.

The Wave of the Future? or You Can't Stop the Signal

For all of this Blog's rants on the technological godsend/evil internet juggernaut that is Google, it is hard to believe that the subject of Google Wave has yet to feature prominently. Wave is Google's “revolutionary” new communication/collaborative workspace platform that is sloooooooowly being rolled out to people who signed up as early as May. While technophiles the world wide web over have been hailing it as a breakthrough, one has to wonder, is Wave really the next Gmail or Google Search?

A simple explanation of what Wave does is efficiently allow people to collaborate. Imagine being able to work on a project with other people, in different locations, and having the ability to instantly share text, pictures, sounds, and files. (And keep imagining, because the chance of you actually getting a Wave invite soon are in the mid to high 'absolutely nots'.) While it is revolutionary in a way, one of the first things I though (along with about a baker's dozen other people) is “wow, this sounds a whole lot like Microsoft Groove, just for free.” It's funny how our first intuitions are usually correct. Now, you're probably saying to yourself, “oh, ya...Microsoft Groove...I've heard of that..” Microsoft Groove is very similar to Google Wave, the main difference being Groove is PC based and Wave is Cloud based. Functionally, they are nearly identical, with the edge going to Groove for its seamless Microsoft Office integration.

Seven years ago, a similar analogy could have been made between Gmail and the number of private internet email systems that utilized Outlook. Outlook was and is the superior mail client, but who doesn't have a Gmail account? It's free why not sign up? That is the attitude that has allowed Gmail to become the largest webmail provider in the world. Wave has this factor going for it. Strike that. Wave needs this factor to be the revolution people have come to expect it to be. You see, Wave is currently in a private (or invite only) beta. Which has basically created a situation like this.

Wave's biggest hurdle is not Groove, the application you've never heard of. It is the closed beta that for some reason Google has imposed upon it. I remember the Gmail beta, where invites were about as rare as water on a boat. Wave is at the other end of the spectrum. Every time Google releases a new set of invites, Wave is a trending topic on twitter, and message boards are abuzz with people begging for invites. Some of the more desperate are even turning to eBay, where invites are now being sold.

If Google really wants Wave to be the wave of the future, they need to saturate the market, make the ability to use Wave a commodity that is able to be bought and sold.

It should also be noted that Google Wave purportedly gets its name from the show Firefly, with a Wave being any kind of transmission from one ship to another. And Firefly was awesome.

Tragic, Simply Tragic

I really have nothing to say. I shed a tear.


Victim In Fatal Car Accident Tragically Not Glenn Beck