Google explains why Gmail was sad…
September 2, 2009
If you’re a hardcore Gmail user, I don’t need to tell you that Gmail was down yesterday. The Gmail Blog has an explanation of the outage, which officially lasted for 100 minutes. So, here’s the reason you couldn’t get to your Gmail yesterday, straight from the horse’s mouth: apparently Google took down some servers for routine maintenance. This would have been fine, but because of some recent improvements to the way Gmail handles requests, the request routers became overloaded. This caused them to shunt the workload over to other request routers, which quickly became overloaded, too. Oops.
Fortunately, Google has tons of extra capacity just waiting to be switched on in this kind of emergency, so things were back up and running relatively quickly. Google has quite rightly determined that their request routers need some failure isolation improvements to prevent a similar chain reaction in the future, and they promise they’re working on it. Maybe this will quiet down all of the “#gfail” naysayers who freaked out via Twitter the minute the service went down yesterday.
Google refutes USA Today report on blocked Skype application
August 23, 2009
While Apple was busy batting away the FCC with its litany of reasons why its app approval process is totally hunky-dory, Google was apparently having its own VoIP-related firefight. It seems that an article in the USA Today which hit newsstands this morning alleges that the internet giant sought to block (dare we say reject) a full Skype application from making its way into the Android Market. The story claims that the application was neutered to become “a watered-down version of the original that routes calls over traditional phone networks” — which would obviously cast a decidedly malevolent slant to the benevolent company’s policies.
Here are the facts, clear and simple: While the first generation of our Android software did not support full-featured VoIP applications due to technology limitations, we have worked through those limitations in subsequent versions of Android, and developers are now able to build and upload VoIP services.As we told USA Today earlier in the week Google did not reject an application from Skype or from any other company that provides VoIP services. To suggest otherwise is false. At this point no software developer — including Skype — has implemented a complete VoIP application for Android. But we’re excited to see — and use — these applications when they’re submitted, because they often provide more choice and options for users. We also look forward to the day when consumers can access any application, including VoIP apps, from any device, on any network.
Google algorithm spots would-be quitters
May 19, 2009
Google, concerned by the recent departures of several top executives, has developed an algorithm to try to identify which employees are likely to quit, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal said the internet search and advertising giant had turned to mathematical formulas because it was “concerned a brain drain could hurt its long-term ability to compete.”
The newspaper said Google examined data from employee reviews and promotion and pay histories to try to identify which of its 20,000 employees were most likely to leave the Mountain View, California-based company.
Laszlo Bock, who runs human resources for Google, told the Journal the algorithm helps the company “get inside people’s heads even before they know they might leave.”
The newspaper said Google officials were reluctant to share details of the formula, which is still being tested, but it had already identified employees “who felt underused, a key complaint among those who contemplate leaving.”
Edward Lawler, director of the Centre for Effective Organisations at the University of Southern California, told the Journal Google was “clearly ahead of the curve” in taking a more quantitative approach to personnel decisions.
The Journal quoted current and former Google employees as saying the company is losing talent because some employees feel they can’t make the same impact as the company matures.
Recent departures from Google include Tim Armstrong, a senior vice president, who left in March to head AOL, display-advertising chief David Rosenblatt, and Asia-Pacific and Latin America president Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.
Others who have left recently for start-ups such as Facebook and Twitter include lead designer Doug Bowman, engineering director Steve Horowitz and search-quality chief Santosh Jayaram, the Journal said.
The Acanac Online PC Experience - Really?!?!?!?
July 26, 2008
First, let’s take a look at the company!
From their Website:
“Acanac is the sister company of Canaca.com Inc one of Canada’s Largest
webhosting companies. Acanac takes the same principles brought to you by
Canaca, great service at a great value. Acanac provides cost effective Residential
and Business phone service at an affordable price. We also offer High speed DSL
and dial up access as well.We are truly a global communications company
connecting the world for less.
Acanac’s core value is to make sure that you the customer is served with the
utmost respect and professionalism. This is the reason that we are one of
the few companies that offer a unconditional money back guarantee.
We recognize that down time is not an option for your internet access and
that you deserve crystal clear Phone Service at all times. That’s why we
have invested heavily in hardware, and facilities this ensures that you, the
client is up and running on 24 hours a day seven days a week.”
My Experience Loathing with for Acanac
The Search for a VPS Begins - July 14th, 2008
Looking for a cost-effective way of hosting multiple websites I came across a company called Acanac. They are offering a Online PC (Virtual Private Server) with the following specs:
Price - $23.95/month (12-month)
Speed - 10mbps up/10mbps down
Static IP - 1
Bandwidth - 500GB
HDD Space - 100GB
RAM - 750Mb
Root Access - Yes
OS - Centos 5
Software Included with CentOS
(Standard with any lin box)
Firefox
KTorrent
Open Office
http streaming
ftp access
File Encryption
Gftp client
Games
IM
Lenovo X61 - 4-month failure
April 20, 2008
After receiving the X61 as a gift, I was very pleased. I have always bought IBM’s and would never buy another brand. However, let’s take a look at the road-map of my IBM ownership, and the issues that I have faced. It may be time to pack it in and say sayonara to IBM / Lenovo.
Road Map to failure (Issues that required Warranty Service):
2004 - 2nd Year University IBM T40
- 6-Months after first turning this laptop on, the motherboard fails and is sent in to IBM free of charge.
- 13-Months - LCD is resembling a leper and is sent in to IBM
- 24-Months - Cracks formed on palm-rest & leper LCD is back, not sent in to IBM
2006 - The Real World - IBM T42
- 1-month after purchase, ethernet fails and has to be sent into IBM
- 9-months - Hard drive failure, sent in to IBM
2008 - Web Guru - IBM x61
- 4-Months after receiving the great gift, “Fan Error” is received when attempting to turn-on. Computer will not POST, which makes for a very expensive paperweight. Will be sent in to IBM…
Is this just bad luck with IBM/Lenovo or does there seem to be a deeper issue with QA. Maybe, it’s the nature of the beast and laptops have high-failure rates. Whatever it is, I think that it may be time to give another company my business. The hard part is going to be finding a laptop company that makes laptops that don’t feel plastic-like / cheap….
Any ideas?
YouTube Resolution Tweaking
March 4, 2008
Tired of looking at mediocre quality videos on YouTube? Depending on your internet connection, YouTube automatically adjusts the quality of the videos that you can view.
Add this “&fmt=6” (without the quotes) to the end of the URL and if there’s a higher quality video available it will begin loading right away. Otherwise you’ll sit there staring at a loading symbol until you realize that it’s not working.
The quality difference is noticeable but don’t expect HD content to be loaded.
Acer Customer Support - A Rip-off to remember
February 15, 2008
What do you get from Acer when you buy a Premium Ferrari Laptop for $3000?
1-Ferrari “Branded” laptop
1-Year Warranty that does not cover battery/acpi issues
1-Battery
10 or more Bloatware programs that are automatically installed
eRestore which restores your computer to its original state (bloatware included)
ePerformace utility built by monkey’s that removes critical Windows Processes
A burnt lap ‘n’ berries - Warning if you are male do not use this laptop
What do you get when your out of warranty for 1-month and your computer won’t shut down?
A 45-minute customer support phone call that includes rude and useless speeches from obviously unqualified people with very little technical knowledge
An offer for $3/minute technical support or $479 return to depot service (This does not include the parts that they may use to repair it)
Buyer beware when purchasing an Acer Laptop! Customer support is a necessity when purchasing hardware and Acer is obviously not up to the task. They’re by no means a premium company and they should not pretend to be by offering a $3000 laptop. I’ll stick with IBM who has not let me down in 6-years with 3 different laptops.
