Livin' the G-life

In addition to the plethora of other web-based apps that Google is producing, I recently discovered Google Calendar. Upon first use the interface seems to be very intuitive and snappy. Currently it has not been integrated into my Gmail interface, and actually took a while for me to figure out why it was not displaying. Nonetheless, I will give it a more thorough test when it's integrated into my Gmail interface.

While I love the simplicity and cost (Free is good, right?) of Google's products, it now seems to be getting a little scary. Many people forecasted that the path Google was choosing will be a privacy advocates bad dream. Not only does Google have info about what I talk to my friends about through Gmail and Gchat, as well as what I search for through my Google personalized Page, but now they know what I'm doing and when and where I'm doing it with Gcalendar. While Google has had the "Do no Evil" Motto for some time and seem to be sticking to it pretty well, the fact that they collect this data and have it stored somewhere is the scary part. Now, even if the current people at Google have no intention of using this personal data without our permission, it still has the chance of falling into others hands. It just seems like a bit too much information collected on me to be sitting on a HDD somewhere. Where will this data be in 10 years? 20 years? 50 years? What if a future oppressive government were to seize the data? They could use this data to spy/imprison/eliminate possible troublemakers based on emails sent years ago that do not agree with their political views. Of course this is a worse case scenario, but the fact that it's possible is what scares me. In spite of all this concern, I will continue to use Google's services for now. They are just to useful and easy that it's hard to turn down.

On another somewhat frightening note, it seems that the President of China's first visit to the states will be for a dinner with Bill Gates.

In personal news, not much has been going on. I've been searching for a house to rent for several weeks, but haven't found anything that stands out yet. I will be buying a new(used) motorcycle soon, after I sell my current one. Oh, and one last thing. If you are using Myspace and reading this, please learn how to design a webpage that is somewhat readable and functional. Also, stop using static background images that contain colors that are the same as your text and make posts that are somewhat coherent. Another thing, stop playing damn music on your website, it's annoying and your taste is music is really bad. If I want to listen to music, I'll fire up my media player and listen to my music. It seems that Myspace is the new AOL.