Those were the exact words I received from a colleague via email today. He shared this link with me describing Microsoft’s new online video-sharing service. According to the article, Microsoft released the beta version of Soapbox on September 19th, but it’s available by invitation only.
Huh? So who exactly is worthy enough to test Microsoft’s oh-so-exclusive beta? Why not make it free to the public so computer savvy people can hack away at it and submit feedback? Perhaps the competition will notice how much it resembles their own product, and how Microsoft has attempted to improve on something that’s already pretty darn good? Let me get my hands on Soapbox. I’ll run electricity through every single line of code. And feedback? Oh, they’ll get feedback all right!
Again, it’s just as I figured. Microsoft is setting out to absorb more of the market, this time it’s social networking style. *NOOO!!* I’m so disgusted at the way Microsoft continues to drive out perfectly good hardware, software… ok let’s face it, ALL TYPES of computer related companies. If it’s not one segment of the market, it’s another. Or another. Microsoft sits back and observes what interests people computer-wise, then sucks up the market. (This is not earth-shattering news, now is it?)
So get ready You Tube… you’re about to be squashed like a bug. And Faces? You’re next. And then you. Did I forget anyone?
Always one to play around with new technology, a “BusinessWeek” article got me all interested in Faces.com. I know, I know, “Enough already with the new blog stuff!” Right? But I can’t help myself. If a new and exciting widget or service is out there, I MUST EXPLORE IT. So Faces.com is my new obsession. (Humor me, please.)
While I’m still in the process of testing my Tunefeed, here’s a slideshow of our recent trip to the zoo:
Sundays are so delightful at our house. (With the usual chaos we experience in our home all week, “delightful” is not a word that we use often.) But Sunday is different, in a good way. After sleeping in past our usual early bird wakeup time, we head to the kitchen to enjoy some warm cinnamon rolls, orange juice and coffee (BLACK for me, please).
Speaking of “early bird”… today we found a little (?) visitor on our deck just outside our dining room. Whoa! What kind of bird is that?! Any ideas out there? Catholic Dad thinks that it’s some kind of bird of prey. I’ll have to agree with him. Our bird friend looks exotic to me, not the usual robin type that we see in our neighborhood.
I wonder if she eats cinnamon rolls? (We decided to name her Speckle.)
The first time I visited my folks in Italy was November 2003, and I had the time of my life. The Vatican was one of our jaunts where we saw the Holy See, Pope John Paul II. How thrilling it was to be a member of the papal audience! Needless to say, I captured some video with my digital camera. (See below.)
The funny part is that I had absolutely no idea what the Pope was saying at the time. Nada. Good thing the Vatican posted a text version here. (BTW: Polish is still Greek to me.)
