Now it's easier to search for videos @ Google and YouTube

In a previous post I talked about my almost inexistent tv watching habits. Somethings have changed since then. First, a friend of mine upgraded her TIVO box and gave us (my and my wife) her old one.

I've always been a fan of TV on demand. I think that you should watch what you want, and not what TV producers want you to. Now with TIVO, I can specify the kind of programs I like, and when I get home (or when I have time to sit in front of the TV), I can review the recordings that were made while I was out. It's really cool.

Anyway, that's one thing that has changed. The other one, just came into effect today. You know that Google acquired Youtube a while back. Since then, there has not been much of a change. Google video and Youtube pretty much remained the same. Well, starting today, you can type your search parameters in Google Video, and you'll get results of both Google Video and YouTube. This is really useful. Imagine...I have a friend who is obsessed with watching girls fight. Now it's easier for him too!

Give it a shot!


More on this story: Google's Official Blog

-R

Are technology and love compatible?

I have a friend that finds it very difficult to understand the benefits of technology. He is the kind of person that browses the internet, but when he needs to register, he doesn't because he doesn't know how to. He browses online stores, makes his picks, and then calls and order over the phone because he doesn't understands how online ordering works. He's a pretty intelligent dude, but he simply doesn't wants to learn. The funny thing is that this person is 27 years old.

He often tells me how technology has changed the world for the worst. He once mentioned the example of places like RAHOLA and CINE FOTO, places where you used to take your 35mm film rolls and get them developed. Most, if not all of these stores have closed down, because digital cameras have made traditional cameras obsolete. Printers allow you now to print your own photos at home, and if you want them professionally printed, just upload them to COSTCO.com and go and pick them up later.

I get into many arguments with him, because I make a living out of technology. I develop software to pretty much replace "brick and mortar" operations. I think that we need to constantly re-define ourselves to catch up with our environment, and technology is not an exception.

However, today I found a site that really scares me. This website allows you to automatically generate poem to your loved one. Simply go to the website, type in the name of your recepient, and optionally if you're going to use the poem along with a gift, and BOOM...you get your "base" poem, which you can then refine, changing the contents of different lines. Notice how the other lines adjust in order to keep the rhyme.

Here's one I wrote for myself.

I wrote this letter especially for you
To prove that my love for you is true
Never shall I kiss someone else's lips
Never will we make any boring trips

I would rather have you than a million bucks
Or than a mansion, no matter how deluxe
Words cannot express
What I felt when you said 'yes'

Alco, you mean so much to me
I never knew this could be
You are my sweetheart day by day
I hope you will never go away

I hope you can put this XBOX 360 to use
It is a gift you cannot refuse
This poem has come to an end
There are many more I would like to send


-R