August 2011 Archives - David Starkweather

I think a book about pirates is made better when you’re traveling to or are on an island…which I was while reading this.

This book was actually never sent to the publisher by the author. It was found nearly complete after his death and sadly this is Michael Crichton’s last book. Crichton was a great author, especially for those of us who enjoy a good techno thriller.

Pirate Latitudes is set in the 1600′s on the Jamaica province in the Caribbean. It’s about Privateering…that is legal pirating back in the day. Its a great adventure story that reads just as quickly as any thriller set in modern times.

It’s sad reading this thinking that there won’t be anymore books written by Crichton, he was so good at getting the details right and making them interesting to read. So if your a fan or have never read any of his books, check this out or take look at some of his others below that I’d fully recommend.

Eaters of the Dead
Airframe
Prey
Pirate Latitudes
State of Fear

Google to Buy Motorola This week amid a terrible a terrible financial forecast Google announces that they plan to purchase Motorola Mobility. At first glance this seems like an interesting move for Google, purchasing one of their largest partners for Android powered cell phones. Apparently however, the main reason Google made this purchase (assuming it gets approved) is to own all of the patents that Motorola owns (roughly 17,000 patents). Google hopes this will now keep companies like microsoft and Apple from suing or threatening to sue Google and their partners. This may also be why HTC and Samsung have said that they are behind this purchase. At least for now. Here is an interesting story from NPR that illustrates the patent suing game as a cold war standoff.

With all of that patent talk aside, the really exciting piece to this story is how this is going to affect Android smart phones and tablets in the future. An article recently came out from Fast Company, talking about how companies like Apple have done so well innovating new products because they were able to learn from manufacturing their own products. Could this move also put Google in that category? I think it might. It also might be the key to making Android even better than it already is. Previously Google would launch new flagship phones (G1 and Nexus specifically) without having spent as much time ensuring that the device itself stood up with the software it was running. Motorola should be able to provide the necessary help to ensure that Android devices, at least those made by Motorola, compare with the iPhone and any other mobile devices out there…Including tablets.
Google and Motorola

Google says it will remain ‘open’ but how long can that really last. Not necessarily on Google’s part, but looking at this through HTC and Samsung’s eyes, Motorola is now essentially a competitor who is trading with insider info. How long before they decide that its not worth the struggle to keep up? And Where do those manufacturers head if they decide its not worth it to stick with Android? Windows mobile? Thats a much more expensive operating system to run (Android is free). This would probably make Ballmer pretty happy because HTC makes great phones and if Windows could get their hands on a deal with HTC or Samsung, it would make their mobile operating system look a little better to a lot of people. Although the odds of that happening are slim to none.

The last piece to this puzzle are Android tablets and Google TV. Tablets are a no-brainer. Motorola could help make Android tablets THE tablet to buy in the same fashion as Andoid mobile devices, relegating the iPad to Steve’s fanboys. Google TV also stands to gain some ground as Motorola is actually a maker of many of the set top boxes. Their insight into improving the all-but-defunct Google TV could bring this idea back into living rooms across the country.

So what do you think about this purchase? Do you think it will even go through? And what about the future of mobile technology? let me know in the comments field below or send me a note on Twitter.

Looking for some more info on the purchase of Motorolla? Check out these articles.
Fast Company Reaction

TechCrunch Live blog of announcement

I picked this up because I enjoy books that are a little…’out there’. This book was out there a little further than I was expecting. I read the description and it seemed intriguing….a modern vampire story that was essentially the opposite of what the twilight series represented…a unique take on a group of ‘hobo vampire junkies’ in the Pacific Northwest.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this one. I really struggled to finish it and when I did I sat and thought…what the hell did I just read?! It read like a random collection of drug induced thoughts from a strung out teenager. The main character is a teenage girl who has been a vampire for a while. Tagging along with a group of other vampires traveling from small town to small town. Even though she is a vampire, she’s rarely doing much that would lead you to believe that she is a vampire. She hangs out in 24 hour coffee shops with other strung out vampires and when they get bored, they destroy the quickie marts. Nothing too ‘vampiree’ about that. The few blood sucking parts of the story are told as if in passing with little description or time spent talking about what it’s like being a vampire.

At the heart of the story, the main character keeps reflecting on her sister who she keeps trying to find. She drifts in and out of consciencenes thinking about her sister. Memories come and go, always about her sister. Eventually, the girl breaks away from her group and drifts away to find a warlock, who again doesn’t do much warlocking and the audience is left wondering if they missed something. Then the story ends. It ends and all this talk about the sister is for naught.

The Orange Eats Creeps reminds me of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas…but with vampires…sort of. It’s an odd book and not what I was hoping for. For all the audience knows, this story could have just been about some crack heads hitching rides on some trains in the northwest.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve heard all about Google+ and you’ve probably also read all about how great it is. I’d have to agree, I think Google+ is great. I also love Twitter and I use it a lot. The problem I’m finding myself in is that I also use Facebook, but I’ve never been a huge fan of it ever since I graduated from college (even though I constantly find myself checking my wall on my phone). This is primarily a result, not of Facebook but of the vast amount of people who use Facebook (which of course is the real value of any social network).

Now that Google+ has been released into the wild and millions of users are flocking to it, how do I incorporate this new social network into my social media world? More specifically, how to manage all of my audiences? Before Google+ I’ve been pretty consistent about keeping my personal (Facebook) and professional (Twitter) lives separate with a few exceptions and overlap. Now with Google+ jumping into the mix, how can I maintain a separation of my ‘lives’ AND maintain the audience for both (and in the future, all three?) networks without annoying the handful of people who follow me on both (and potentially all three).

What I mean is that I don’t want to blanket all networks with the exact same posts, every time I post. I’ve never been a fan of sharing everything to both (or all) networks with no regards for the audience. My Facebook friends are quite different from my Twitter followers and the message typically doesn’t resonate with both audiences. But even when it does, the people who do follow you on both networks could easily get annoyed from seeing the same things over and over no matter which platform they were looking at. So with respect to the many audiences, how can we fit in this third network?

The easy solution, like many people have done and endlessly argued is to simply abandon Facebook. This sounds great as I don’t really feel connected to Facebook like I do Twitter, but the Facebook audience is not automatically transferred to Google+ and most likely won’t for a long time (I’m thinking specifically about certain non-tech-friendly people who use Facebook constantly). Those people still need to be reached.

The thought of a 3rd network to manage seems exhausting and even more confusing in trying to decide which articles/updates/opinions/posts to share with each group. Google+ allows you to group all of your friends and followers into Circles, but there isn’t an app to post updates to certain circles to your Facebook friends (unless you want everything emailed to them). So you’re left managing three separate networks

So how are you incorporating the ‘Facebook killer’ into your social media world? let me know, cause I could use some help.

David Starkweather

Pirate Latitudes | Michael Crichton’s last book

Google to Buy Motorola | A Big Move For The Mobile Market

The Orange Eats Creeps | A Book Review

David Starkweather

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David Starkweather

Pirate Latitudes | Michael Crichton’s last book

Google to Buy Motorola | A Big Move For The Mobile Market

The Orange Eats Creeps | A Book Review

Where Does Google Plus fit in?

David Starkweather

Reading List

Latest Tweets

Archives