Google Street Car Video in San Antonio, Tx

Posted by David  •  Jun 17th, 2011 6:03:59 pm - Subscribe | Mood: good | Music: Party Ben Mashup - Every Car You Chase

Yes I was totally geeked to see a Google Car in San Antonio Texas! I was one of the lucky ones to see the Goog Car during my lunch hour. Yeah, sure everyone seems to see them going up and down all over the country, but to see and know what it is pretty damn cool.

This afternoon I took at late lunch, probably around the hours of 2:30pm to 3:00pm or so when a co-worker and I noticed something funny pass us up as we were in a Bill Millers drive through. I made the assumption immediately that it was a Google car, and laughed, and he said yeah it is!

Doing my best to catch up and making some abrasive maneuvers, I finally was able to pull up right behind the Googler in the Google Car. My location was at Wurzbach Pkwy and Perrin Beitel here in San Antonio, Tx. My co-pilot (no longer my co-worker) took some video footage on my iPod Touch, and the video below is what we have.



I made a few edits, not many...and removed our audio, and replaced with with Party Ben's Mashup - Every Car You Chase. I felt the music was only appropriate, being we were chasing it down.

Did you know:
1. The Google Street Car can driven by it's self.
2. The Google Street Car is monitored (driven) by an engineer.
3. The Google Street Cars are usually Toyota Prius hybrids and an Audi TT's.
4. The Google Street Car has multiple video cameras, radar and laser technology.
5. Google has developed a Google Trike for Parks and Trails.
6. Google has also developed a Street View Snowmobile that was used in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
7. Google has even developed a Street View Trolley used to examine museums.

External Links:
1. Location at Wurzbach Pkwy and Perrin Beitel Road
2. Autonomously Driving Google Car by Robert Scoble
3. Google's Driverless Car: The Next Alternative Vehicle?

Does any one else have any footage they would like to share, or any cool experiences?

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STELLAService Results of Internet Retailers Customer Response Times

Posted by David  •  Jun 15th, 2011 6:05:43 pm - Subscribe | Mood: good | Music: No Music

Stella Service which used a network of full time mystery shoppers to evaluate, and rate each Internet retailers customer response times. They made over 1,200 interactions via phone, and email to these companies regarding a product or service and here are the results of
that survey.

1. Sierra Trading Post located at sierratradingpost.com ranked 1st when it came down to the shortest amount of time that customers had to wait on hold. 6 seconds!

2. Office Depot located at officedepot.com best at getting back to emails. 48 minutes!

3. Barnes and Noble located at barnesandnoble.com gets the worst support customer hold time 8 mins and 3 seconds.

4. Crate and Barrell located at crateandbarrel.com gets the worst email response time at 88 hours to get back to you. Keep in mind these are the averages.

Only one company made it in to the top 10 for the speedway email and phone support and that was The Disney Store, at disneystore.com 12 seconds to answer the phone, and 1 hour and 47 minutes to respond to email.

Would any one agree that response time under 1 hour is not bad to receive an email response? I know at where I work, we do our best to respond in the first 10 to 15 minutes.

External Link:
Top Response Times from the Top 100 E-Retailers

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Text Messaging in Decline in 2010

Posted by David  •  Jun 15th, 2011 5:25:50 pm - Subscribe | Mood: good | Music: This Week in Google

Entry remarks on the decline of text messaging in 2010 and how telecommunication companies plan on making that money back.

A CTA report says that texting only grew 8.7% in the second half of 2010. That's the smallest increase in a really long time. If people aren't texting what are telecommunication companies to do?

Will they just add data caps, and charge like crazy for that data? Will the make the consumer join a substadiesd plan? Would they introduce a data only plan that includes texting and increase rates? The answer is yes, yes, and yes. In fact you may already be
experiencing limitations like these. So what can you do? Try finding another provider, use an instant messenger! Bits are bits, and paying for texting is the most expensive data plan out there.

I have yet to experience texting outside of Google Voice, and refuse to pay for it. Guess I'm cheap like that.

Comments 2  •  Jun 15th, 2011 5:25:50 pm - Subscribe  •  Tweet this entry | Post a comment

Microsoft Windows 8 Developers to Code in HTML5 and JavaScript

Posted by David  •  Jun 14th, 2011 7:01:00 pm - Subscribe | Mood: good | Music: No Music

This entry states that Windows 8 Developers are to Code in HTML5 and JavaScript for a more graphically pleasing interface. Wow, this must really rub Windows developers the wrong way, but is it a time for WC3 standards? Let's discuses!

Microsoft has stated to developers if you wish to developer in a more immersive and Flashy front end, than you are going to have to code in HTML5 & JavaScript if you want those immersive apps that go full screen and stay in that experience you going to have to use HTML 5 and JavaScript.

Most of us are probably thinking right now. FINALLY! Microsoft is going to adopt standards into it's platform. But developers are saying, "we have decades of experience in .NET, Windows platforms, in Silverlight, and now you want us to throw away all of that? None of us have done scripting languages before!"

Microsofts rebuttal will probably be, HEY Developers! You can continue using .NET, Silverlight, etc, but everything else will be HTML5 and JavaScript coding for a more beautiful interface.

Your thoughts? I was so happy to hear about Microsoft going HTML5 to stay compliant, but now I understand all of those that are hurt by it. Is it time for a change? Does all software need HTML5 scripting? Who cares if the UI is pretty, I am more concerned with it working and functioning at 100%, but is this possible? I suppose we will have to wait for the Microsoft Build Conference in September for developers.

External Links:
Microsoft confirms its Windows developer conference is named BUILD

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Nook Simple Touch Reader has a Web Browser

Posted by David  •  Jun 14th, 2011 3:09:16 am - Subscribe | Mood: good | Music: Funeral For A Friend - She Drove Me To Daytime Television

Did you have the latest Simple Touch Reader by Barnes and Noble? If so you might be interested in knowing that it has a web browser.

The Newest Nook, The Simple Touch Reader has a web browser in side of it's system, and you don't have to root it. Barnes and Noble does not list the browser has a feature. I do not have one but it is said you can navigate to websites using the search bar. Reviewers have been stating that the browser is a little buggy, so I suppose that is why Barnes and Noble does not list it as a feature.

But is this the reason to get the Nook Simple Touch Reader? Black and white screen, with a slow refresh rate at 1 frame per second? Is the Nook cheaper than Amazon, or the Apple Bookstore? I guess if you want a reader, and browser you should get an iPad or Android Tablet.

Comments 2  •  Jun 14th, 2011 3:09:16 am - Subscribe  •  Tweet this entry | Post a comment