There's a cool feature in Google Maps that's probably been around for a while but I haven't noticed it:  Wikipedia links.  On the map itself, near the buttons for switching between map and satellite views is a button that says "More..."  One of the options is Wikipedia, which shows links to Wikipedia articles that have something to do with the map being viewed.  In most areas, it's just information on cities and towns.  But in more zoomed-in areas, there's information about historical events and unusual facts.  Very cool. #technology

I'm a geek.  I wear a watch religiously.  I've been known to throw my watch-wearing in people's faces with such witticisms as, "If you really wanted to know the time, you'd get your own damn watch, jerk."  Wearing a watch is probably my longest-running habit, starting when I was about 10.  I wear my watch every day.  In school, at work, to church, on weekends, on vacation, in a tent in the middle of the woods.  Second to breathing, watch-wearing is the most regular thing I do. 

Today, I forgot to put my watch on. 

This is troubling for a number of reasons.  For one, it's a habit.  I've been wearing a watch every day for about 15 years.  Like every friggin day.  Everywhere.  All the time.  Since I'm not a morning person, I robotically follow a very simple yet reliable system in the morning:  Shower, dress, put things in pockets and put watch on, drink warm liquid, go to work.  I don't deviate much from that pattern.  Somehow I managed to put the things in my pockets without putting my watch on.  It's like I got dressed in the shower. 

Second, it's Monday, which inevitably means some stupid meeting will appear out of nowhere and ruin my lunch break, which it did.  And of course it's Monday, so I forgot to bring my lunch, which means I had to go out and get my lunch, which means I had to keep checking my watch to make sure I got back in time, which means I was reminded again and again of the fact that I forgot to wear my watch. 

Third, this is my last week at work before going on vacation.  So of course I need to check my watch to see what day it is.  And of course I can't remember even though I just checked 3 minutes ago. 

The funny thing is that I'm at a computer all day, so I can easily check the time and date there.  There's a clock on my desk phone.  There's a clock on another part of my desk.  There's a clock in my car.  And of course I carry a cell phone.  There's really no shortage of timekeeping devices, yet I still feel like a chicken without a head.  What a ridiculous situation my habits (and breaking them) have gotten me into. #technology

I have a huge amount of respect for a person who can ignore a phone call.  Whether it's at work while we're having a conversation, at home during dinner, or just driving in the car, a person who ignores a call shows that they think the actual is more important than the potential.  Sure, there are times when "you really need to take this call", but that's why God created voicemail.  Haven't we as a civilization reached the point where people follow the three basic rules of phone usage: 

1. If it's important, leave a message.
2. If it's really important, call back in 10 minutes.
3. If it's really, really important, stop calling.  You've obviously overestimated your importance.

#technology

A few online versions of popular newspapers allow users to comment on individual articles.  It's a way to engage the reader and make people feel like their voice is heard.  But in reality, it's a way for average Joe to leave unintelligent, unthoughtful, usually racist comments.  It's a good idea in theory, and I don't know a better way to do it.  But for whatever reason, it seems like the caliber of comments on these websites is a bit sub-par. #technology

A great way to get people to ignore you and form a growing dislike for everything you do is to send mass text messages, especially during major holidays.  I got a mass text message this weekend wishing me a Happy Easter.  That's nice.  Or, rather, it would have been nice if the sender had spent even a fraction of a second thinking about who the message was being sent to and why the message was being sent in the first place.  But, more likely than not, the sender has a "send crap to these people" mailing list in their phone so they can send unthoughtful, meaningless messages to as many people as possible, giving the impression they truly care about each and every recipient. 

To be fair, I've received a few good mass text messages, including an engagement announcement and a few other things.  But that's the exception, not the rule. 

I guess what annoys me most about this practice is that it didn't even exist a few years ago.  Before text messaging, it's not like people sent emails or made phone calls about this type of thing.  But like any new technology, as soon as it got in the hands of the common man, its usefulness dropped off exponentially.  Remember when email was useful?  When you could send a message to a friend and have a legitimate conversation, unhindered by forwards and spam and advertisements?  Like email, text messaging is starting to become less and less useful. #technology

Since I sometimes sound like a robot when I answer the phone, I often think about the right way to answer the phone.  At home, it's pretty simple:  "Hello?"  I don't have caller ID, and I don't want to give out any personal information because the idiots that call my home phone are usually trying to sell me something (except you, Wendy's mom [and you're not an idiot]), so I stick with something plain and simple.  My cell phone has caller ID, and of the two or three calls I receive each month, I always know the caller, so I greet them by name. 

That leaves my work phone.  Many of the people I work with have a habit of using an official greeting.  They pick up the phone and simply state the group we work in.  No "Hi."  No "This is [X]."  It's like the Cosby Show:  "Huxtable residence."  But we have caller ID at work, and these same people use the same greeting for everyone, which is stupid, especially if the caller doesn't work where we work.  It was especially annoying with a guy who used to work near me.  He would get a few hundred phone calls every day, and every single one of them was a personal call.  But he would still do his stupid official greeting every time.  I always thought, "You barely work for our group, so you probably shouldn't be using our name to represent yourself." 

Update (2008-03-21 2:32pm):  This post is lacking.  Here are a few examples of good phone greetings: 

1. Tom Miller (from KRHS):  "Whooo is it?"
2. Kramer (from Seinfeld):  "Go."
3. "Talk to me."

That is all. #technology

I like seeing the date in search results on Google.  Put differently, I hate not seeing the date.  Last week I was searching for something and came across a result that seemed relevant, so I clicked it.  It turns out it was from five or six years ago.  In terms of technology, that was several lifetimes ago.  It's one thing if you're searching for something that's pretty static.  From one year to the next, even from one decade to the next, the information concerning a static topic probably won't change at all.  But if you're searching for something dynamic (e.g. technology-related), chances are it just changed yesterday, so that search result from the late 90s is no longer even remotely applicable. #technology

A guy just called me at work.  I could see from the caller ID that it wasn't someone from my office, and I didn't recognize the number, so I used my standard official-business-yet-not-too-formal "Hi, this is Dave."  There was a pause at the other end before the guy told me who he was and why he was calling.  He said, "I couldn't tell if that was your answering machine or not."  I think I find that offensive. #technology

My Panasonic digital camera records movies in .mov format.  I don't know why, and I can't change it.  The problem is that Windows XP doesn't show thumbnails for .mov files, which is an issue when I want to look through my pictures and videos with the whole "View → Thumbnails" option selected.  I searched the internet for a solution several months ago and didn't find anything.  I just searched again this morning and found a pretty simple solution, though I'm surprised at how relatively obscure it is and how hard it was to find.  Here's what you need to do: 

1. Download QuickThumb.dll from here.
2. Copy to C:WindowsSystem32.
3. Go to Start → Run and type regsvr32 QuickThumb.dll.
4. If there's an error, download msvcr70.dll from here and repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. Go to a directory with .mov files, switch to thumbnail display, and possibly press F5 to refresh.

I can't believe I didn't discover this sooner.  That really annoys me.  And it annoys me that the internet wasn't much help for a while. 

(I'm hosting all necessary files here.) #technology

I'm pleasantly surprised by how much better electronic devices work when they're fully charged.  This is especially true with devices that send radio signals, such as Bluetooth earpieces and FM transmitters.  Last week, my Bluetooth thingy was all static-y and crappy.  After I charged it, it worked like it was powered by a nuclear reactor designed by God himself (which I would suspect would be quite powerful indeed).  Electronic devices should really tell you these kinds of things.  There'd be more faith in technology if people understood how much radio transmission signal quality is related to power. #technology