You must have heard of Google Maps, if not actually seen it. (Well, if you haven’t, you definitely should….how about NOW?)

These guys are surely something! They have taken Mies van der Rohe’s “God is in the details” rather seriously.

(I would be careful if I were them… anti trust cases are too much to handle these days, you know!)

After you have viewed the source, and agreed that it’s much simpler than that of GMail (which no one can make a head or tail out of – save, the guys who made it, and that too after unobfuscating!) you might be still wondering how could something be as fundamentally simple yet so complicated at the same time.

I did too… but not for long. I found that Joel Webber was already waaaaay ahead.

He explains in intricate details how the system works on his blog. It also has a link to explaining bookmarklets to another page which in turn is a treasure trove of links to Google resources. So does zmarties, who incidentally has a lot of other info on Google.

 

And finally, if you want to be up to date on what Google guys are up to, bookmark their common blog.

Let’s talk about the iPod….rather, let me put in some of the views on the iPod.

(courtesy: wired).

There have always been incidences of preferential treatment doled out to the “who’s who”, and not all have been something to write home about. Apple stores in LA have their unique stories. An interesting read.

 

Microsoft and Apple were always at war… or so it seemed. Until the iPod hit the stores! Now, everyone supposedly has been warned … Hide Your IPod, Here Comes Bill

If you’re interested in everything apple, they have a section iDolatry dedicated to it. It’s called the Cult of Mac

.

That apart, buying an iPod is a tough decision.

You either have features, or you have style. A friend of mine already gave in…for the time being…and has got Creative’s MuVo (no, not the pink one as they have shown there, even tho’ he got it for his valentine).

Another one is keen to acquire one of Creative’s Zen Micro that he’s asked from a friend coming from abroad.

 

IPod lacks on features big time, no doubt about it. Even though it’s the 4^th Generation now, iPod photo coming in after the 4G models, much needed features like the FM radio are still awaited. Speculations are rife on what might be offered in the 5G version….both for iPod as well as the Powerbooks.

 

BTW, did you know that the iPod photo comes with “an AV cable that plugs into the iPod photo's headphone jack (!) and outputs both audio and RCA composite video to any television”? ipodLounge has all the relevant links and the reviews… especially for power users.

 

I definitely think that it’s worth waiting until they allow easy customizations on the menus etc. for the colour screen on the iPod before I buy one….i would not like to use it ‘stock’. After a long and tedious search, I found the tech specs for the iPod Photo. You can find specs for almost every apple on everymac.

 

Finally, celebrities and buying decisions for the iPod can be best summarised by this verbatim quote from Jack Trout. "The dedicated machine that does one thing brilliantly tends to work out much better than the land of multifaceted machines," Mr Trout says. "That's why people tend to buy a Palm Pilot and an iPod."

 

Couldn’t have put it better myself!

The mark (II) of a new dawn arriveth! And with it, springs forth a new blog.
Okay, enough of that.
Something about what this space is going to be… I’ll try my best not to stray too far. (Notice how I stopped myself after the second line..! Man, and *damn* that was tough!)
I was thinking what this would be starting off as a place for information, make that refined… no, not just that, refined, analysed sorted kind of information that would filter most of the topics that I am interested in, and surely hope you would be too.
The highest and most important of those, undoubtedly, would be the Automobile, and its current incarnation. The best of the ‘must have’ objects, gadgets, cult items and “icons” will follow suit.
Most importantly, I’ll be adding thought to the articles on one of my most favourite site, www.wired.com. Additionally, I’ll be discussing on the latest sensation that has swept the world, (not Nicole Rae) Apple iPod, which I am seriously hoping that I get some spare cash by way of some windfall so that I can have one.
More on that later…
BTW, if you were wondering about the difficult-to-spell word between the dots in the URL, keep doing so… (Bet you thought I’d be explaining it now!)
Those amongst you, who know, will know. The rest would have to cross their fingers and keep reading these blogs (not compulsory, mind you) hoping that some day, I might reveal it. And better bookmark the site, even I have problems typing in the correct spelling.
So long!