A Great Big Misunderstanding...

Today, the day before iPad-ness rules the earth, I bought an iPhone. My employer (Cycling '74) offered me the privilege, and I jumped in with both feet. Geek Out!!!

One of the things that I downloaded was the Google iPhone app. It basically lets me do All Things Google, including access to all my GApps-based Cycling information. It also includes some neat additions, like a Voice Search module that lets you speak in the phrase to search.

Now, just a few days ago, I'd done some digging around in Google Maps, and stumbled on a street view of Oconto Falls, WI (population approaching zero) that had a picture of my cousin walking out of a family restaurant. This made me think that Google had become too powerful, Big Brother-ish and scary.

So imagine my delight when I lifted the iPhone to my face, clearly and distinctly said "Darwin Grosse" into the microphone, looked at the screen - and saw that it had successfully found thousands of options for me to "donate clothes" throughout the San Francisco area. Ha ha ha ha ha...

[ddg]

Amazon to the Rescue!

Thank God that Amazon is watching out for us! Kristin was just checking her Amazon marketplace account and found the following Very Important Product Recall:

"This is to inform you that the following item has been recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC): Gerber Gator Machete and Gator Machete Jr."

OK, so about 10 seconds of research tells me that this isn't the same Gerber that makes the baby food, so this wasn't necessarily made for little kids. Still, how would you know if this thing malfunctioned? The Gator lived long enough to eat the junior machete weilder? So who's complaining, exactly?

[ddg]

Heading to the Evil Genious Bar for a break...

Quarter is now officially done. BLOrk tomorrow. Then Madison. Needed a good laugh, and the Onion story on Google has run its course. So there's this...

[ddg]

The modern mix-tape

As you know if you've been reading this blog, I've been doing some research on Berlin School music and the impact that networking has had on the fan base. I put out a survey to some fans, and got back a lot of interesting material, including information on web services I'd never heard of. My favorite is 8track.com, which gives you a place on the web to create and host a mix-tape of your favorite tracks.

One of the respondents pointed me to his new-school Berlin School music mix tape, and I've been enjoying it all evening. You can check it out here. This gives you a sense of where my head is at right now...

[ddg]

Reputation Management - What do you want from me?

Last year, a really smart guy (Rafael Fajardo, one of my professors) lit into a discussion about reputation management. The idea is that you, alone, are responsible for getting and maintaining your reputation online. I've been thinking about this ever since, and have developed some ideas about the process.

It seems to me that this breaks down into a few different issues:
1. You have to get ahold of anything that might refer to your name or chosen moniker.
2. You have to develop a site that represents your view of the world, art or whatever.
3. You have to maintain this information in perpetuity.
4. Once you start developing a base of followers, you have to feed them.

So I've started the process, and have dealt with #1. Luckily, with a name like Darwin Grosse, it's pretty much unsoiled territory. I'm not sure what Mr. John Smith might do, but maybe that's why there are people that call themselves buttmunch2000.

I'm working on #2, but I'm falling apart at the seams to put useful stuff up there that doesn't conflict with my other online crap. I suspect that at some point I'll have all of my music, videos and other goo linked from there, but I can't deal right now. I've got a lit review to write.

The hardest, though, is #4. I have a few, deeply disturbed, followers right now (you know who you are), and I'm not doing a good job of keeping them fed. So this is what I need. People - what do you want? Tweets? Smart blog talk? Links to kitties doing chin-ups?

[ddg]