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Karl Olson

About Karl Olson

http://karlrolson.com

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Some Thoughts On Google Reader’s Impending Death

Some Thoughts On Google Reader’s Impending Death

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With out much fanfare, and in spite of the fact that Google has various other vestigial services and products that haven’t gained any mainstream adoption or traction (Google+ is being crushed by Tumblr for coolness, and on that note, why isn’t Orkut jammed into Google+ yet?) the company has decided to kill one of my favorite Google services, Reader. In fact, since I started using Reader in 2007, I have read nearly 175,000 items. That’s in spite of occasional sabbaticals from using the service because, well, I could pretty much do nothing but read news for hours on end. Now, to be fair, there are various Google projects that had a narrow, but devoted fan base (App Inventor, Wave, Buzz.) However, while Google’s internal metrics may say it’s not worth keeping the lights on at Reader, the fact that Google Reader’s closure globally out trended news of a new pope suggests the service was very widely loved and used. Huge read counts like my own came up in blog and

Google Nexus Q Review – Unconventional But Awesome

Google Nexus Q Review – Unconventional But Awesome

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The Nexus Q is (or should I was say was) going to definitely be a bit of an unexpected entry from Google. For all of the other leaks that were coming out ahead of Google IO, information about a Google-made media streamer was absent until the morning of it’s announcement. With it’s eye-catching design, robust build quality, made in the USA credentials and $300 US price tag, it’s probably the last thing any tech analyst would’ve expected out of Google. It’s also quite an odd duck when it comes to being a media streaming device. On it’s surface, it’s comically limited as it stands. Officially, the only way you can use it with an Android phone or tablet with the Nexus Q connect software loaded on it, and even then, you can only stream audio from the Google Play Music app and stream video from YouTube. In comparison to various devices including the AppleTV and the various Roku streamers, all of which retail for a 1/3 the cost or less

Nerdcore Watch: July

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This month’s hottest Nerdcore Hiphop releases: Already Out: Childish Gambino – Royalty Just in time to celebrate the anniversary of America’s independence, Community’s Donald Glover dropped a brand new mixtape under his rap alter-ego, Childish Gambino. Between a solid chart showing for his commercial debut, Camp, and long overdue recognition from HipHop aficionados thanks to advance leaks from this very mixtape, one might wonder if the slightly geeky tones that have endeared Gambino to many Nerdcore fans (to Glover’s chagrin at points) are buried and over. However, it’s clear between track titles like “1up”, references to Adventure Time, and guest appearances from people like Tina Fey and Kristen Schaal that there is still a geek streak that runs through Gambino’s work. At the same time, guest verses from Rap luminaries including ScHoolBoy Q, Ab-Soul, RZA and Ghostface Killah underline that Childish Gambino is anything but a novelty act at this point as well. Various Artists – The Nerdcore Now VPC 2011 Compilation On a more strictly nerdy tip is this

Google Nexus 7 Tablet Review: Not For Me, But Maybe For You

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Allow me to start by saying I know I am painfully lucky to have my geeky hands on this device. Getting tickets to Google IO took staying up all night, and even they sold out in a mere 5 minutes, in spite of doubling the price for attendance. Yet, personally, I’ve never really had much love for the 7 inch form factor, especially when paired with an LED screen and no keyboard. I mean, as it stands, tablets aren’t the greatest productivity devices. Multitasking is messy, and until Windows 8 hits, most tablets will be running operating systems that basically need to login into a desktop machine to do any serious work. 7 inch tablets take the screen size down to difficult-to-use levels, especially since a significant portion of your screen is further lost to an on screen keyboard. This is probably why my daily driver is an Asus Transformer. I get all the tablety fun, but with a great battery and more importantly, a physical keyboard with great connectivity

Android App Review of HoverNote

Android App Review of HoverNote

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Most mobile operating systems and even desktop operating systems are gradually moving away from the windowed model. Yet, constantly bobbing between applications doesn’t really fit every scenario, especially with the screen real estate of tablets. However, it’s possible to have floating apps that could sit on top whatever full screen work you’re doing, though not officially supported by Google. Thus, floating calculators, web browsers and even a video player have been cooked up, but there was no simple notepad application. Given the tablet’s rise in educational settings, and Android’s popularity with the more computer oriented, that felt like quite an omission. Not being able to take notes about an e-book without bouncing to another full screen app feels weird. However, it seems that call has been answered in the elegantly simple HoverNote by developer Mike J. Lim. Full disclosure: Mike’s a friend of mine, and yes this is not a free app. However, after seeing this application in action, I actually bought it off Google Play myself, and I liked