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Google Engineers Admit: Cloud Computing Up in the Air

November 20, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Internet No Comments →

Submitted by David Thomas, at www.buzzcut.com

What really is cloud computing?(Mountain View, CA) After years of engineering investment and marketing hyperbole, search engine giant Google came clean last week at its Mountain View headquarters that the “cloud computing” promise was just a bunch of castles in the sky.

“At Google, we have a fine tradition of thinking big and letting our imagination run wild as we try to glimpse the great big tomorrow of the Internet,” said company spokesman Brandon Clearky. “But we also have a core corporate value of ‘doing no harm’. So despite some intense internal debate–and, honestly, some pretty heated flame wars on the internal message boards—we decided we shouldn’t lie to people just to keep our stock price up.”

At issue in the Google announcement is the future viability of cloud computing, a concept that envisions users with simple, low-end, low-cost machines connecting to a massive online computer network that manages the bulk of processing and file management.

“This is pretty much what Sun was pushing 10 years ago and the thing that has since pretty much put them out of business,” noted Paul Morgan Stanley market analyst Hester Cocklin.

Wall Street investors, intent on maintaining their seven-figure salaries in the face of economic meltdown, have staunchly supported the cloud concept for year as sound, fundamental business. But with a storm of consumer expectation rolling in, the promise of the cloud has quickly dissipated.

Is cloud computing real? Google doesn\'t think so

Said one Stanley Morgan Morgan Analyst, on condition of anonymity, “Sure, the whole cloud computing thing seemed pretty much pie in the sky from the very beginning. I mean, seriously, Google Docs is neat but who wants a word processor that can’t format tables correctly What, is this Word 7? Hello!

“But what choice did we have? Without gee whiz tech to over-promise, we might as well just hand the entire country over the Chinese rather than wait for the trade imbalance to do it for us. Count me out on that Chariman Mao!”

Those Google IPO guys are so richSources close to Google leadership describe the cloud computing concept as “A great idea that seems more plausible when you are driving 100 mph down the Pacific Coast highway with a hot blonde way out of your league and wearing poorly fitting designer clothes in a car bought with inflated Google stock.”

“But when you look at the fundamentals of storing everything in the world for everyone in the world data and doing all the computation for everything in the world,” explain corporate watchdog Doug Doolie, “Well, in that case, it’s all a little bit Star Trek don’t you think Mr. Data?”

For its part, Google promises the cloud computing debacle will blow over soon.

“It’s not like Google to not to make money hand over fist while reaching the sort of approval rating that would make Jesus weep, ” said Clearky. “Besides, when Microsoft gets wind of our Candyland operating system plans or our intention pay out Ad Sense accounts with vials of real Unicorn blood, well, hey, then it’s all just gonna be forgive and forget.”

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Friday Fishwrap (11-14-08): “How to Behave on a Forum”

November 14, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Friday Fishwrap No Comments →

yooRyoo\'s Friday Fishwrap!

Happy Friday! On today’s Friday Fishwrap we reveal to you the results of last Sunday’s “Is It Real?” and then share with you a fun, geeky video we found on the www…ready to get started?

Last Sunday, we presented Hamsterster - a social networking site, along the lines of Dogster and Catster, where Hamster owner could create profiles for their furry rodents and share them with fellow Hamster-owners (”Have you seen Mr. Cuddlewinks profile - I just uploaded new pics of him in his plastic ball!”). Then we asked you to vote, if it’s indeed real. Here are the results:

  • 29% thought it was real
  • 29% thought it wasn’t
  • 43% weren’t sure (and voted “maybe”)

The real answer - Hamsterster is INDEED REAL!!! And check out these fun pictures pulled from the site (of Patchy, Twinkle Toes and Mr. Bothari, respectively):

patchy - isn\'t he cute?twinkletoes - isn\'t he cuteMr. bothari - isn\'t he cute?

I am not sure I should be disturbed by Hamsterster, or just accept it. Anyway, now on to our video:

This Friday Fishwrap clip was forwarded to me by Jerimiah Owyang, and I thought would make a perfect - albeit geeky - video inclusion in today’s posting. Please enjoy, “How to Behave on a Forum”


How To Behave On A Forum - Funny videos are here

With that, have a great weekend! Tune in this weekend for a Special Obama2.0 update post!

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“Second Wife” - a new online virtual world for fundamentalist Mormons!

September 16, 2008 By: zenboy Category: Computer Gaming No Comments →

The makers of the ever-popular SecondLife online virtual world announced plans today to introduce a new online world platform, designed specifically for the fundamentalist arm of the Mormon religion - “Second Wife.

In this new virtual community, users are encouraged to create virtual compounds of suppression and poverty, populate their family with thousands of virtual offspring (”cyber-springs”) - all without the menacing arm of the law getting into their way of life.

“We’re excited,” says fundamentalist founder Pastor Mannie Grange, “we’ve been waiting for something like this ever since, ever since…ever since we were kicked off our compound in Colorado and lost our Comcast DSL connection.”

One of the first SecondWife communities

In Second Wife, users create avatars that have limited choices on body types and clothing. Men avatars have a scoring system that allows them to tally the number of women they connect with, and the number of cyber-springs they create. Women, unfortunately, have no scoring system, and are only measured on the length of their dress and the oneness of their eyebrow.

Rough rendering of Second Wife women

With this announcement, already existing LDS organizations on Second Life are planning a mass migration to this new gaming platform, packing up all of their existing belongings in Second Life vans and trucks, and hightailing it out of the SL community under the cover of darkness.

Critics have already decried this new community, noting that their are no age restrictions required when enrolling. In an attempt to reach the leaders of the Fundamental LDS organization, we received an automated email response:

“Sorry I can’t respond to your email - I am off to farm new, fertile pastures. However, your email is important to me, and I will respond once they lay in a T1 line to this godforsaken place.”

Second Wife tabernacle shot

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Friday Fishwrap (8-22-08): Stephen Colbert offends Cantons throughout the US

August 22, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Friday Fishwrap No Comments →

yooRyoo\'s Friday Fishwrap!

Happy Friday!! It’s that time of the week where we learn whether our last Sunday’s “Is It Real?” is actually a real company, and watch a few funny videos in yooRyoo’s weekly wrap-up called The Friday Fishwrap!

Last Sunday, we featured one of our most highly-contested “Is It Real?” companies to date - a social networking site centered around David Hasselhoff - Hoffspace. A brief description was provided (by the Hoff himself):

“While two people from two entirely different countries and backgrounds may seem to have nothing in common, the only thing they might have in common is me… So I decided to start a network where people from across the world might come together and get a conversation started over me.”

It was hard to tell if it was real or not, and all week long, the voting went back and forth from yes to no. During that week, Hoffspace was declared a violation of international internet domain, and then Chuck Norris rose to defend it. What a week - and here are the final vote results are:

  • 46% of you voted yes (and must be big fans of David Hasselhoff)
  • 38% of you voted no (and swore to poke their eyes out if it were true)
  • 16% of you voted maybe (and seemed to be confused by the whole matter

The real answer: Hoffspace is indeed true (yep, get those sharp sticks ready, those of you who voted no). You can find out more at David Hasselhoff’s own website: www.davidhasselhoff.com. In fact, we should all go out and create your very own Hoffspace profile, and upload videos of how much we love (or hate - in a blinding, hating way) this idea?!?

Tune in this upcoming Sunday for a new edition of “Is It Real?” and until then, enjoy these great videos of Stephen Colbert insulting various towns named Canton in the US:

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Friday Fishwrap (8-15-08): The Rise and Fall of Twitter

August 15, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Friday Fishwrap 1 Comment →

Happy Friday - it’s time for the Friday Fishwrap. Before our video, here are the results of last Sunday’s “Is It Real?” poll. We asked if the FaceBook group “I Tend to Fart in Public” is real…I mean, I know there are crazy FaceBook groups, but can this one actually exist?

  • 67% of you thought it was indeed real (I worry about you people)
  • 33% thought it was fake (like none of you have ever farted in public…)

The answer? “I Tend to Fart in Public” is indeed real! For those of you with FaceBook profiles, here’s the link (yes, it’s a private group - I wonder why). Tune in this Sunday for our next installment of “Is It Real?

Until then, we leave you this Friday with a great, viral clip that features a well-known WWII figure struggling with his Twitter posts - enjoy!

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Crapulous - the newest Facebook game application from Hasbro

August 05, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Computer Gaming No Comments →

crapulous - it\'s better than Scrabulous

In a crazy move (on a triple-word play, no less), Hasbro games announced today the release of one of their newest online, Facebook game application - Crapulous!

Crapulous is an ASCII-based application available through the Facebook application interface, allowing users to clumsily play against a “computer-generated AI” player through command-line scripts.

“Loosely fashioned after such engaging games as Zork and that one the Matthew Broderick kid played in ‘Wargames,’ we’re convinced Crapulous will be as popular as ICQ,” commented Hasbro spokesperson, Crash Bandicoot.

wargames - take that WOPR

Although early beta-tests revealed difficulty installing the command-line window interface on most computers, Crapulous has already gained a significant early install base, revealed Mr. Bandicoot. “We’re definitely excited by the usability testing on Windows NT machines, but only those with more than 256kb of RAM,” he added.

Nonplussed, the creators of Scrabulous have already released their replacement game, WordScraper, and have already tracked more than 8 billion installs.

Hasbro has already tentatively announced a complete roadmap of ASCII-based games for Facebook, through the remainder of 2008, including:

  • BattleCrap - face off against another player, in this exciting, turn-by-turn script-based battle game
  • CrappyLand - where kids and adults move simple emoticons through a flat, 2-dimensional land of fun
  • Hungry Hungry Crappos - exciting turn-based action, where you compete to “eat” more “&” symbols than your computer based foes
  • Oper-crap-tion - your skill at kernel commands is put to the test…fail, and you might hear the dulcit sound of an 8-bit alarm tone from your speakers

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Is It Real #4: “Twannabe” - be a poseur on Twitter!

August 03, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Is It Real 2 Comments →

Is It Real? - a test of your Web 2.0 savvyIt’s time for the weekly installment of Is It Real? - where a Web 2.0 company or technology is presented, along with a brief description of what the product actually does and then we ask the yooRyoo readers: is it a real company or not? Here’s the catch - you can’t use the web in anyway to help you with your guess!

We’ll run the poll all week, and provide the answer next Friday. Think you’re up to the challenge? Let’s go:

Imagine this scenario: you got your Twitter account and found two dozen people to follow (and maybe half of those follow you), but you really don’t feel popular enough. But, some of the people you are following have hundreds - thousands - of people they follow. Surely there’s a reason for their popularity. So, how do you get as popular on Twitter?

No problem - Twannabe is here! Twannabe allows you to enter in the name of one of your “Twitter Heroes” and it automatically determines which of those thousands of contacts you should be following!!! Simply add those contacts to your “follow” list, and voila - Twitter popularity automated for all of us Twitter poseurs!

Note: this is limited to only 2000 contacts…sorry!

So, Is It Real? fans, it’s time to ask: Is Twannabe Real? Vote below!

Is Twannabe real?

  • Sure, Twannabe has to be real - and just in time, since I need to really up my Twitter stats! (50%, 2 Votes)
  • No way is Twannabe real - I got popular on Twitter on my very own, one follower at a time. That's the way it should be! (50%, 2 Votes)
  • Maybe Twannabe is real - but getting popular online can't be that easy... (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 4

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Friday Fishwrap (8-1-08): “The Machine is Us/ing Us”

August 01, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Friday Fishwrap No Comments →

yooRyoo\'s Friday Fishwrap!

Happy August 1st, everyone! It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for the Friday Fishwrap, where we not only share an end-of-the-week video with you, we also reveal the answer to this week’s “Is It Real?“…

If you recall, last Sunday we featured a company called Ribbit:

Ribbit is an open platform for telephony innovation giving their developers unprecedented access to their technology through the Ribbit API and allowing them to innovate at will. Their business is built more like a software company than a phone company, counting on their developers to create the next generation communications solutions the world has been waiting for.

Then, we asked you to vote on how real this company is. Here are the poll results:

  • 66.7% of you said it was real
  • 22% said that it wasn’t real
  • 11% just weren’t sure

The answer: Ribbit is indeed real! Savvy readers could have discovered this by reading our comments - one of which came directly from a developer at Ribbit:

Well, as someone who has been on the team at Ribbit for most of this year, and have watched both their developer community and awesome innovations like Ribbit for Salesforce (letting you phone in CRM updates) and the AIR iPhone http://www.merhl.com/?p=29 gain popularity, I guess I can tell you without fear of croaking: yup. Ribbit’s real.

Thanks for those comments, Ellen Petry Leanse. I think it’s cool that Ribbit is available on the new iPhone!

Thanks for voting, and tune in this Sunday to vote for next week’s “Is It Real?” Until then, enjoy this Friday Fishwrap’s video: “The Machine is Us/ing Us”…

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Is It Real? #3: “Ribbit - an Open Platform for Telephony Innovation”

July 27, 2008 By: cboyer Category: Is It Real, Uncategorized 1 Comment →

Is It Real? - a test of your Web 2.0 savvyIs It Real? is a Sunday feature on yooRyoo where we introduce a new Web 2.0 company and ask you to decide whether or not the company is indeed real, or if it is something we made up. We’ll give you the company name, a description of the services and any additional detail that we think might be helpful for you to decide.

Your role is to review the company, and without the help of Google or any other online source, determine if it is real. Vote with the poll below - polls will be open until Friday, in which we’ll reveal the answer in that Friday’s Fishwrap.

So, without further ado, here is this week’s company: Ribbit - an Open Platform for Telephony Innovation…

Ribbit’s team is comprised of traditional telephony experts, “Voice 2.0″ experts as well as various web development, social media and infrastructure experts.

Ribbit is an open platform for telephony innovation giving their developers unprecedented access to their technology through the Ribbit API and allowing them to innovate at will. Their business is built more like a software company than a phone company, counting on their developers to create the next generation communications solutions the world has been waiting for.

Their first product is called “Amphibian” which allows users to manage mobile voicemal like email through widgits in iGoogle and Facebook, and “Experience Caller ID 2.0 - dip into the social web and know not just who is calling but what the caller has been doing.”

So, Is It Real? fans….Is Ribbit real? Vote below, and let us know your thoughts. Answer revealed this Friday!

Is the company Ribbit real?

  • Yes - Ribbit is so useful, as has such a solid business model...it must be real! (67%, 6 Votes)
  • No Way - there is no way Ribbit is real. If it was, I'd just croak! (22%, 2 Votes)
  • Maybe - I could see the appeal of Ribbit, but I am not sure. (11%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 9

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Toot 2.0 - now available for the iPhone 3G!!!

July 21, 2008 By: cboyer Category: microblogging No Comments →

toot2.0 - toot on your iPhone

In a rush to release a new iPhone application through Apple’s iTunes store, Toot 2.0 has just been released for the new 3G platform.

Toot is a microblogging technology that allows connectivity to your online friends similar to Twitter. Using bio-tech implants, Toot allows you to automatically update your health status on the fly! Through wireless connectivity, Toot implants convey your biometric information status to a website console that integrates with all social software platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, WhoIsI). Imagine conveying your health status in 140 characters or less - what a breakthrough!!!

Now available for the iPhone, Toot 2.0 is already gaining a wide acceptance with users:

  • “I waited in line two hours at the Apple store for my iPhone, had to wait another 45 for AT&T to run a background check and initiate my cell phone account…now I can’t wait to get home and Toot on my iPhone!” said one Apple zealot.
  • Another user wrote: “I have been Tooting all day and all night since I got my new iPhone. It feels great - but I wonder if there is some way I could wash off my phone - it’s beginning to smell.”

Forget Twitter, forget FriendFeed, forget Google Talk - it’s time to Toot 2.0 on your iPhone!

Information regarding Toot1.0 can be found -> here.

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