Morbidly Aweseome feature… Google Inactive Account Manager service

So I had this really surreal experience which I wanted to share with you guys. It’s sort of morbid so I apologize in advance!

I’m Not sure how many of you know about Google’s “Inactive Account Manager” service. Basically it’s just a pleasant name for an “e-Will”. What do you want Google to do with all your Google stuff after you… well.. die. Maybe not so important for some but very important for others like me that use Google drives for storing of key information on bills, investments etc. The kind of information you would want to pass on to others after you are… unavailable… to put it mildly.

The surreal experience was writing an email to Rashmi which I knew would only get delivered if I didn’t access my gmail account for 3 months, something which has never happened. Once I started writing the email, and the situation under which she would ever read such an email sunk in, there was so much I wanted to write in addition to the mundane logistics of which bills need to be paid by when.

Anyways, as morbid as the experience was, I encourage those of you that have made it this far in my diatribe to use this feature if you are a heavy google user and want to ensure that people have access to your google account in the unlikely event you are indisposed for an extended period of time.

Basically what it does is let you compose an email to up to 10 individuals and assign them access to your various google sites (Youtube, Picasa, Gmail, Google Drive etc). In the even that you don’t access your account for 3 months, and after Google has tried to contact you via alternate email and SMS, Google will send the email to the identified individuals along with providing them access to the services you selected.

It’s actually very useful so I encourage you to sign up for the service.

https://support.google.com/accounts/topic/3075532?hl=en&ref_topic=2864354

To iPad or not

Since I'm in the market for a tablet computer I've been reading articles on the various options.  As an avid and satisfied iPhone user my first choice is to go for an iPad.  At the same time as the father of a growing infant that will (I'm sure) eventually want to go to college my thoughts have started turning towards saving some money.  Normally I would be the last person to even consider anything except the iPad but of late I've also been looking at some of the other options.

A frequent complaint that people voice about the Android market is the level of fragmentation.  I had the same problem when I started delving into the world of Android tablets.  It's just too dang confusing!  I got lost in the sea of combinations, different version of the operating systems, different manufacturers and numerous options within each! 

I've narrowed down the competition to the Kindle Fire and the iPad.  Both these choices are being driven by being a satisfied consumer.  The majority of my "e-time" is spent between the iPhone and my Kindle e-ink reader and while they both have two distinct functions, I'm extremely satisfied with both.

There are a number of in-depth reviews avaiable online.  I love the responsiveness and the display quality of the iPhone.  I also love the stuff that just works... mainly web pages.  There is a marked difference between how web pages look on the iPhone versus my Samsung android phone.  It comes down to whether or not I'm willing to risk the quality of the user experience for saving some money.  The small annoying things like a laggy interface and non-responsive screen can make the difference between the tablet being a daily usage device or a display piece.   

So I guess this is as far as I've gotten. I'm leaning towards the iPad but eventually the cost concious side of me may prevail and I'll end up with the Kindle Fire.  Needless to say if the sensible wife prevails then I'll end up with neither!   

The new iPhone is out!

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2009 AT 9:37AM

The apple World Wide Developer Conference came and went, bringing some exciting news on the hardware and software fronts for iPhone lovers across the globe.

As predicted by many the iPhone 3.0 software version is out and will be available for download on the 17th of June.  With it come additional features and tweaks to the current iPhones, breathing new life into them.

Much awaited cut-and-paste is finally here.  Leave it to Apple to have people cheering about a feature which is standard on all smartphones.  It will be a relief to finally be able to copy and paste information from emails & SMSs into other applications.

Tethering is also finally here, this will allow iphone users to use the iPhone internet connection to browse the internet from their laptops.  Not a big deal for us in India right now, but will be great once we get 3G!

There are a number of additional enhancements to existing features.  Landscape mode, stereo bluetooth and synchronizing of notes to name a few.  Go here to see all the new features in the 3.0 update and remember to download it June 17th! Best of all it is free to all iPhone users!!

New iPhone 3GS is out! 

People had been speculating about a new iPhone being announced but it wasn't till 24 hours or so before the WWDC that anyone talked about the iPhone being in stores this quickly.  Line up for your new iPhone on June 19th (USA). Most of the rumours I heard talked about announcing a new iPhone this week for release in the fall.

The S (in 3GS) stands for Speed, which should give some indication of the biggest improvement in the iPhone over the 3G.  Though in all fairness it should have been called the Video, since for most people that will be the newest feature.  In addition to the long awaited video capability the iPhone 3GS comes with an upgraded 3 MP camera that has touch focus, which means you can select the area within the photo frame to focus on.

For me the most compelling reason to upgrade to the 3GS would be the additional processor speed.  My current Macbook Pro is 5 years old and I've basically replaced it with my iPhone 3G for email and web browsing.  The MBP is now relegated to the music storage device and podcast downloader for synching with the iPhone.  There are times when the lag on the iPhone really irks me so I'd love the speed bump being promised by Apple.

The 3GS will also come with some additional goodies like a built in compass and a better case back that promises to be less of a stain magnet. In all other respects though the new iPhone will be visually identical to the previous model.

Specific to India, I've not seen a confirmation yet, but word on the street is that Vodafone and Airtel will bring the new iPhone to India in August and offer the MMS and tethering functionality!  I'm really stressed out since this only gives me 3 months to convince my wife that an iPhone would be the ideal present for a loving husband like me :-)

Countdown to the new iPhone

THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009 AT 4:29PM

Wow, so it's probably true now that Mossberg of the WSJ is talking about the new iPhone supposed to come out next Tuesday. I'm more excited about the 3.0 software update for exisiting iPhones, but that may just be a case of sour grapes since the chances of my getting a new iphone are less than 0!

So here is what Walt has to say

Apple already has announced it’s adding MMS, universal search, and copy and paste. And, although Apple hasn’t announced any new hardware features, I expect to see an iPhone with up to 32 gigabytes of memory, video recording, a higher-resolution camera, a compass, and greater operating speed. Plus, there are persistent rumors that Apple will announce at least one iPhone at a drastically lower price than $199.

However, Apple isn’t likely to match two of the Pre’s big advantages: multitasking and a physical keyboard.

For more information you can read Walt's review of the Palm Pre, where he makes these comments about the new iPhone. 

Stay tuned - supposed release of the iPhone will be at Apple's WWDC on Tuesday June 9th.

New online stuff that I don't understand yet

THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009 AT 4:00PM

There are a couple "new" techie applications out there. Maybe not new as in cutting edge technology, but more like new to me.  I consider myself one of the late early-adopters, which means I'm not the first to latch on to new technology but am not far behind the pioneers of the tech world.

There are three newish applications I've bene using which I'm still in the process of understanding.  Here they are, listed in my order of comprehension - Bing, FriendFeed and Wolfram alpha.

So Bing, pretty straightforward - Bing Is Not Google :-) I guess that says it all.  Bing is Microsoft's attempt at ratcheting up the competition with Google.  It's a search engine that has some pretty nifty features compared to google.  Of course as a die-hard google fan it'll take more than some fancy colors and over-mouse-hovering-graphics to get me to change, but I'll definitely be keeping my eye on Bing over the next few months. If for nothing else then the fact that saying Bing brings back fond memories of that long-gone TV show.

Next on the list of new online toys to play with is FriendFeed.  I've go to say, not real sure how to use this one yet.  It seems very useful, often mistakenly compared with Twitter, FF is more of a online feeds congregate-or.  One place to go where you can see most of the information you're interested in reading, but more importantly - one place where all your friends can go to see what you are saying on the web.  It takes feeds from most of the popular social news / blogging sites like facebook, twitter, digg, etc.  I guess my problem with friendfeed is that it just reminds me of how un-geeky my friends are.  One of the greatest tragedies of my life - I don't have enough geeky friends that are interested in the same soul-uplifting, heart-warming, techie stuff that I am.  If I did then FriendFeed would be the place I'd tell them all to go.

And lastly, but least understood by me, is Wolframalpha.  The bottom line is that as Leo Laporte said on one of his recent podcasts, I'm just not smart enough to use wolframalpha.  I can tell you what it's not, it's not a google, its no bing and it cant be called a search engine.  Rather than searching for pre-answered questions on the internet Wolfram alpha computes answers to questions based on data it has within its databases.  Like fine wine, WA is an acquired taste.  I've been forcing myself to try and use it at least once a day to understand what all the hype is about.

So there you have it folks, techy stuff out there that I don't understand yet :-)  While I'm still trying to figure this out I hear Google Wave is in the works. Am not even going to go there!