So, Songbird is actually just singing a different tune

Apparently Songbird developers flock to websites whenever their product is mentioned. That’s fine by me. Developer Nivi has commented in my previous post regarding my non-acceptance of the Songbird build:

We may be doing a bad job communicating the (eventual) Songbird value proposition. Songbird isn’t supposed to replace your web browser. It is supposed to replace your media player.

The fact that that concept never occurred to me upsets me to no end. I’d like to blame it on their misrepresentation of the product, but it’s far more likely that I’m simply dense. In investigating the Songbird build, I really should have discovered this commentary from Mike Arrington:

One thing to clear up is that Songbird is not an online application – it is (among other things) a next generation media player. And it is absolutely turning my head around in the way I think about certain things.

That would have significantly cleared things up for me.

I’ve re-downloaded the preview build of Songbird and I’m trying it out again with a severely altered point of view. Here’s hoping I actually get it this time.

Blogged with Flock

Bill Gates moves from Microsoft to charity

Link: CNN.com

This was unexpected news. Bill Gates has decided to hand over the lion’s share of Microsoft’s reins and concentrate on the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation charity he and his wife built. Good for him. Let’s hope Microsoft continues to make people’s lives easier while Bill and his wife continue to make people’s lives better.

Blogged with Flock

Songbird isn’t singing to me

In a previous post, I referred to the Songbird Firefox build as "an unfortunate waste of code." This comment prompted Rob Lord–one of the principal Songbird developers–to ask me in the comments of that post why I felt that way towards their product. I guess the wonders of Technorati keep even this obscure little blog from complete anonymity. Rather than respond in the comments of the post, I decided to speak out about the Songbird build right here, instead.

The problem I have with Songbird is that it's too specific. I don't need a media player in my browser. When I'm browsing the web, I want a browser. When I'm listening to music, I want a media player. I want them separated because to me, they provide distinctly different experiences that I do not feel need to be integrated.

One of Songbird's highly-touted features is the ability to serve up MP3s embedded in a single webpage, or possibly scooped up from an entire website. I have never needed this feature, ever. While I can see how it can be used, I simply can't see why I would want to use it.

And maybe that's my problem: I don't want it. I'm obviously not the prime target audience for this sort of software. Just like Flock isn't the prime target audience for many browser users. Flock fits me because it has the tools I want. Songbird has none of the tools I'm looking for, and so using it would be pointless to me.

In that same post I linked above, I made the comment (in regards to Flock):

I'm a proponent of new technology–even recycled technology–when it's done right and provides a user with an added or varied experience that is demonstrably beneficial to the user.

"Demonstrably beneficial" is a highly subjective phrase. I'm sure there's an audience for the Songbird software. I call it "unfortunate" because it actually has tremendous potential. But I think it would be better served as an advanced extension for Firefox rather than a completely separate build.

Maybe using the phrase "waste of code" was a bit harsh, I'll admit that much. Especially when you consider that fact that it's currently sitting at version 0.1.1. It's basically a preview build. I will definitely try it again later when it hits public beta, but I'm not expecting it to ever become my default browser. Songbird just isn't singing to me.

Blogged with Flock

You need bombs for world peace, right?

Link: Physorg.com

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the San Francisco Bay area and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are competing to design America’s first new nuclear bomb in two decades.

You know, I was just thinking the other day that we really needed a new nuclear weapon design.

Critics say the project could trigger a new arms race with Russia and China, and undercut arguments that countries such as Iran and North Korea must stop their nuclear programs.

Gee, ya THINK?!

Sometimes I really dislike you humans.

Blogged with Flock

My Flock experience – part the First

Day one using Flock, and I must admit, I'm coming away impressed so far. Flock's integration with various forms of social "web 2.0" functionality and awareness makes my Firefox implementation look pitiful. A messy mash of extensions and bookmarks that is nothing but clutter. Flock is clean and personalized to an alarming degree.

I'm actually posting this using the built-in blog tools. Yes, I can do this already with Firefox and the Performancing extension. But this is one element of the Flock implementation that creates a complete user experience. Not only am I blogging from the browser, but I have access to the photos I've loaded to my Flickr account, as well. And there's a nifty little "web snippets" tool built-in that allows you to snag bits of text or images from sites and store for later use, such as in blog posts. It's like Google Notebook.

I've never used del.icio.us before, and I must say that I prefer it now over Blinklist. It's cleaner, faster, and–it's integrated with Flock. Storing bookmarks to del.icio.us is a breeze, and they show up quickly in both the Flock browser favorites and the del.icio.us website. I'm a fan of that feature.

The RSS feed aggregator is nice, very similar to the experience you get at Bloglines. Since I like Bloglines, you can probably guess whether or not I like this built-in aggregator.

There's small annoyances, sure. Like how bookmarks can only be displayed horizontally within your bookmark toolbar. I like to store my bookmarks in folders and have them cascade down vertically from my toolbar. But there's a handy switcher tab at the end of the bar that lets you select what folder you want to see in the bookmark toolbar instantly. So, switching out from favorites is at the same time easy and annoying. Is that possible? I deem that it is.

We'll have to fix the part where I can't add tags to this post. That will be reported already, I'm sure. But I'll pop over to the Flock beta community in a bit just to make sure. UPDATE: once I hit the "publish" button, a list of all my categories appeared and allowed me to make selections prior to final uploading of the post. I kinda thought it would be a bit strange for the Flock team to entirely neglect the "tagging" option. It's pretty much a defining factor of web 2.0.

Overall, my day one experience is overwhelmingly positive. I'll be continuing to play with the features for a few days, and periodically updating my impressions here.

Blogged with Flock

Google moves Picasa from PC to web

Link: Picasa Web

Looks like Google has finally started moving from PC-centric thinking–overtaking the user desktop–to web-based thinking–overtaking the internets. I use Picasa, and I love the program for its astounding ability to keep my thousands of photos on my PC organized. It’s easy to find the pictures I want and edit them, reduce red-eye, crop, add effects, etc. But I just can’t do the one thing that everyone needs to be able to do with photos: share them.

There were two options for Google: integrate Picasa with an established online photo-sharing site such as Flickr, or (the more likely option), create their own.

Introducing Picasa Web. Using the “test” system (is Google sick of using the term “beta” these days?) is by invitation only, you have to sign up on their front page and wait to receive an invite. So, I’ve signed up, but haven’t test-driven just yet, so we’ll have to wait for the verdict a little bit longer.

In order to sway users, Picasa Web cannot simply be a Flickr clone. The integration with the Picasa desktop software will be nice for users who are already using it. But introducing Picasa Web won’t get many users to download and use Picasa. They need to have a fantastic web service that not only rivals Flickr but completely and utterly trounces it. Every feature you’ve ever wanted Flickr to include but hasn’t yet should be available in Picasa Web and heavily Google-branded for those purists that feel that Google can do no wrong. Only then will Google begin to see the true benefits of having this system in place.

As with all other things, I’ll be testing out the new package, and reporting back as to my impressions. 

Will Firefox users flock to Flock?

Link: Flock

The new kid on the block, Flock, is supposedly launching their first public beta sometime this afternoon/evening/night (version 0.7 — internally referred to as "Cardinal"). The theory behind the new browser is basically web 2.0. It's social. It's efficient. It's integrated. Bookmarks are stored on del.icio.us and displayed within the browser via a custom "live bookmark" system (which is basically how I currently store my own bookmarks in Firefox, only I use Blinklist instead of del.icio.us). Photo storage and sharing is integrated with Flickr. And I'm not sure, but I heard there's some Last.fm stuff going on in there, too (don't quote me on that).

I'm a proponent of new technology–even recycled technology–when it's done right and provides a user with an added or varied experience that is demonstrably beneficial to the user. I'll be downloading the beta and playing around with it's feature set. I'll report back if it's something worth looking into.

Hopefully, it's not another Songbird. That's an unfortunate waste of code.

alt.NPR’s Press Start gaming podcast

Link: alt.NPR: Press Start

What happens when you take a game media commentator and a comedian and throw them into a podcast together with NPR.org systems manager as host? You get alt.NPR's new bi-weekly podcast, Press Start.

Press Start is hosted by NPR's Robert Holt, who currenly serves in the capacity of reviewing video games for All Things Considered and as the system manager for the NPR.org website. Holt is joined by Kyle Orland, who runs the website VGM Watch, dedicated to "making snarky commentary" on video game journalism; and Ralph Cooper, who works for Satellite One and fancies himself a comedian.

This podcast is a welcome relief from the deluge of gaming-related podcasts currently available. I myself listen to podcasts from IGN games, 4 Color Rebellion, the Wiire (despite it's name). And I've discovered that each podcast is always the same thing: four or five guys, chatting it up for over an hour about the latest news, each giving mercilessly detailed exposition on their opinions of how the news might make or break the entire gaming industry. They all apparently love the sound of their voice, and think their opinions matter most, and want to make sure you hear it. In detail.

Press Start is a breath of fresh air. It's three guys chatting it up for just fifteen minutes about a single topic related to video games. It's concise, it's informative, it's not self-indulgent, and it's highly entertaining. I heartily suggest you add it to your subscriptions.

So, why are we so excited for Nintendo’s online support?

Link: Nintendo Players

I had never even heard of the Nintendo Players website before I came across it. They have a god-awful looking website, but also a very interesting article that looks at all of the officially announced games and what online capabilities–if any–have been revealed for them. The effect when all of this is brought together is startling. Evidently, just because Nintendo has claimed they now "embrace" online play, doesn't mean they are actually going to include it in their games.

The most disappointing news probably comes from the game that shows the most promise for online play, Super Smash Bros. Brawl:

Secondly, the franchise creator and game's producer, Masahiro Sakurai, recently posted on his blog that the development team has not even begun work on any online modes, any online features that do make it into the game will be very simplistic, and there are no plans for any type of online ranking system (which, based on how popular Super Smash Bros. Melee is for large tournaments, seems necessary).

While any of that information could potentially change, it really doesn't seem likely. This does not bode well as many Nintendo fans are likely imagining Nintendo implementing a system to rival Xbox Live. While this has never been promised, the dream is out there, waiting to be realized. Fans will be disappointed to learn that reality will more than likely not even closely resemble their fondest desires.

Pity. 

PS3 launch will definitely NOT be fun

Link: GamesFirst!

Looks like the launch day shortages of PS3’s that Sony announced are going to be worse than expected.

An internal Gamestop email expressed concern over how many PS3s their chain (which is the largest videogame retailer and includes Ebgames as well) would have available. A local store that received between 50 and 100 Xbox 360s at launch is expecting to get no more than 20 PS3s.

Hastings, a major retailer in the northwest, and based out of Texas, has opted not to reserve PS3s at all. Out of fairness, it should be noted that this is not merely a response to the rumored PS3 shortages. It is, in a big way, a reaction to Microsoft’s launch of the Xbox 360. For many retailers who realize they will sell out of these new systems on launch day regardless of whether or not they’v taken preorders, refusing to reserve systems is an obvious time and headache saver that eliminates the need for such concerted launch-day planning.

Emphasis mine, though it likely would have popped out like that for you even if I hadn’t bolded the text.

Insane. Let’s hope Nintendo does their launch better.