C# 411
Google, in partnership with Samsung and Acer, has announced a radical new laptop where all the software and data is stored online. It’s called the Chromebook, which is named after Google’s Chrome web browser.
The Chromebook runs a full-screen Chrome web browser and does everything via the Internet. Your word processor, spreadsheets, email and games are all web apps. There is no local hard drive, so all of your data resides in the “cloud.”
Everyone loves to hate Facebook. With over a half billion users, Facebook has assimilated most connected adults in the modern world, and resistance has become futile. Even for me — I must disclose that I actually like Facebook and how it connects me to distant friends and relatives. But like anything popular, there’s no way to please all the people all the time, so Facebook is target for lots of criticism.
Some of the negativity is well-deserved, especially regarding privacy issues. Facebook’s mission is to “make the world more open and connected,” which is in direct conflict with the desire of most people to keep their private information private. The problem isn’t that Facebook provides many different ways to share your information. The problem is that Facebook assumes you want to share all of your information to everyone — by default.
Wow, I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this little gem on TechCrunch:
Android chief Andy Rubin wrote in a 2005 email, “If Sun doesn’t want to work with us, we have two options: 1) Abandon our work and adopt MSFT CLR VM and C# language – or – 2) Do Java anyway and defend our decision, perhaps making enemies along the way.”
UPDATE: Google has restored Thomas’ service and data. It turns out that Google had a very good reason to suspend Thomas’ account. However, Google will be reviewing its policies to hopefully be more transparent and allow for appeals.
Thomas Monopoly is having a really bad week. Thomas (real name Dylan M.) was a Google fan: he owned Google stock, paid for Google storage, and had moved nearly his entire digital world to the Google cloud. Then Thomas allegedly did something wrong, and Google terminated his digital life.
Google accused Thomas of violating its Terms of Service and apparently killed his entire online presence. Thomas lost his website, email accounts, banking info, student records, 7 years of correspondence, 4,800 photographs and videos, 200 contacts, 500 articles saved for scholarship purposes, Google Voice messages, all his bookmarks, documents, backups, calendar with doctor’s appointments and important meetings, community calendars, medical records, and some very important notes.
