My employer blocks pretty much everything fun and interesting that can be found on the internet, including any type of streaming media.  This includes videos from legitimate news sources like CNN.  Today I clicked on a link to a video news segment, fully expecting it to be blocked and to be treated like a criminal trying to do illegal things.  But the video started to load.  Actually it was a commercial before the actual video.  But then after the commercial finished, the actual news video wouldn't load because it was blocked.  So thanks, big stupid employer.  You let me watch meaningless commercials, but not news.  Thanks. #technology

I predict that in 5-10 years, corporate IT networks will be obsolete.  Sorry, all my IT readers.  You'll probably still have jobs because people's computers will keep breaking.  But you can forget about network cables and email servers.  With things like wireless broadband and web-based email, there's no need for a corporate-centric network.  Anything that can be done on one of those networks can be done on a wireless broadband network.  There's no need for corporate IT policies, internet filtering, or bandwidth throttling because it'll have nothing to do with the corporate network.  It's all in the hands of each individual user.  And corporate software policies like antivirus protection and the slew of standardized, cookie-cutter bloatware that IT departments ruin install on users' computers will become obsolete because, again, those things are network-centric.  Who cares if one of your users gets a virus on their machine?  It won't affect anyone else on the network because it's a different kind of network.  And I've mentioned before my opinion about web-based email:  It's infinitely better than corporate email.  It's more reliable.  It's easier to access.  There's more storage space.  Who cares about security because nobody does secure things through email anyway (though I have a hard time believing Gmail's https is any less secure than biometrics, a smart card, and a 10-character password).  With a $100 wireless broadband card and $60/month unlimited access, I don't need a corporate network. #technology

I've always thought it's kinda stupid to put movies on an iPod so you can watch them on a plane or while traveling.  Watching a full-length movie on a 2.5-inch screen seems a little ridiculous.  But when you think about, it makes a ton of sense in terms of aspect ratio.  If you're ok with watching a movie on one of those 10-inch screens on an airplane where you're likely sitting a good 5-10 feet away, it's roughly the same as watching a 2.5-inch screen from 12 inches away. #technology

Despite my awful experience switching my cell carrier to Sprint (and them losing my old number) and the staggeringly copious amount of negative opinions circulating on the interwebs, I've come to the conclusion that Sprint is actually good sometimes.  Here's why: 

1. They have great coverage.  This probably has something to do with sharing Verizon's towers.  However it's done, it works out great for me.  I pretty much always have service.
2. They have a high-speed data network with cheap unlimited access plans.  AT&T and T-Mobile have slower data networks.  Sprint and Verizon have faster data networks.  Verizon charges no less that $45 per month for unlimited data access.  Sprint charges $15.
3. They have a cheap low-minutes calling plan.  I don't need 6000 minutes per month, no matter how much it costs.  Looking over my cell phone bills for the past several months, I noticed I use about 150 minutes per month, max.  Sprint has a 200-minute plan for $30.  Verizon's closest is its 450-minute plan for $40.  Too many minutes for too much money.
4. They have a cheap lots-of-text-messages plan.  $5 for 300 text messages.  I don't need unlimited text messages for $15, Verizon.

I could easily come up with another list that's twice as long, full of all the horrible things about Sprint (mainly that it's great as long as you don't have a problem that requires you to talk to a human), but I'll stop here.  Sprint is sometimes good.  You heard it here first. #technology

I hate software that thinks I want it to start when Windows starts.  Am I not smart enough to determine what I'd like my computer to do when I start it up?  Do I really need a software developer to make that decision for me?  I think not.  Jerks. 

Today's example is Amazon Unbox, the software that enables you to download stuff from Amazon.  Not only did it make itself start with Windows, it made it difficult to change that option.  Why would I want this program to download stuff from Amazon as soon as I turn my computer on?  What if I'm *gasp* not connected to the internet?  And why does it warn me that I'll have to start the program manually if I disable it from starting automatically?  The word tautology comes to mind. #technology

It seems like every time the following statement is uttered, "X gigabytes?  I'll never fill that amount of space," we find another way to fill up digital storage space. 

In 1998, my family got its first internet-connected computer.  It had a 10 GB hard drive.  We thought, "We'll never fill that amount of space."  Sure enough, with each new version of Windows and each new digital hobby (mp3s in this case), 10 GB filled up fast. 

I had a similar thought with my laptop in college.  It was around 12 GB, and I knew I could fill it up, but I doubted it would happen.  Then I was introduced to software bloat, where each new version of a program comes packed with more and more useless cruft, taking up more and more precious storage space. 

My current laptop has a 60 GB hard drive.  I recently noticed it was about 85% full.  How is that even possible?  I don't have much digital music, I hardly have any software, and I don't download movies.  It turns out Windows XP takes up a good 8 GB somehow, and five years of digital pictures definitely add up (especially when the resolution keeps increasing).  Oh, and seasons 2 and 3 of the Office don't help.  But that still leaves 20 GB unaccounted for. 

As technology advances and storage space multiplies, we keep finding ways to fill it up.  It started with mp3s.  It went to digital pictures.  Then it went to higher resolution digital pictures (with larger file sizes).  Then it went to movies.  Then it went to TV shows.  I wonder what we'll fill the first terabyte hard drive with? #technology

When I'm writing things for this website, I like when it's a simple thing that requires little to no thought.  Like the thing about crack in butts.  That one pretty much wrote itself.  Even the thing about presenteeism was pretty easy.  It pretty much just poured out of my head and onto the screen.  But the most recent one was different.  I kept writing things and deleting them, leaving my computer and coming back.  I couldn't decide what I wanted to say or how I wanted to say it.  And then I ended up with what's there.  It seems like there was very little thought put into it, but it was actually quite mentally taxing.  Usually if writing something takes longer than 15 minutes, the quality and efficiency decrease exponentially with time. #technology

Everybody complains about Twitter's constant downtime problems.  It was down during the Macworld keynote address.  It was down this past weekend (I think).  As a non-user of the service, the one thing I always read about Twitter is its constant downtime issues and its scalability woes. 

I have a pretty simple solution:  STOP USING TWITTER.  For reasons still unknown to me, many people have adopted Twitter as one of their top three must-haves, right after email and RSS feeds.  What with the growing number of other solutions to the non-existent problem of keeping up to date with minute details of your friends' and acquaintances' daily lives, there are other boats in the ocean besides Twitter's (Jaiku and Pownce to name two).  And by rejecting their service, you'll be giving them the exact feedback they need and deserve:  Figure out how to scale up or host your service, and then look for users.  Don't gain a bunch of users and then scramble to figure out how to keep your website working.  If Digg can do it, if Flickr can do it, if del.icio.us can do it, then you can do it.  Jaiku would be my top choice because Google just bought it.  When was the last time Google had downtime problems? #technology

My apologies to anyone who uses Internet Explorer to view this website.  You might've noticed that it looked pretty ugly for a couple weeks, with things spread out unevenly across the page.  The problem is that I design my website to be viewed with Firefox, because that's the browser I use.  Firefox follows web design standards, Internet Explorer usually doesn't.  So everything looked fine in Firefox, but it looked awful in Internet Explorer.  I think I fixed it. #technology

I really hate when Jason Kottke has guest writers.  Especially this Choire guy.  If I wanted to read what he had to say, I'd read his website or any of his many publications.  It turns out I really don't like what he has to say, and it's really ruining the normal Kottke experience.  I usually read Kottke to find interesting links about unusual topics.  But this current guy is totally different, and I don't like him.  Take that as Kottke freedbacking, Mr. Kottke. #technology