Google

It's that time of year. Google has decided to close Google Reader and many people, myself included are disappointed. On the other hand, there is something about RSS readers that I have always thought made them seem really archaic. That said, I wish Google wasn't closing this down.

This isn't the first time Google has cut a project from its roster. Google Health, a Twitter clone whos name I can't remember, Google Notebook, Google Video, and dozens of other projects have preceded Google Reader(Surprisingly, however, Orkut is still around). The difference with Google Reader seems to be the mass scramble across the internet to find a substitute for something that has stood largely unchallenged on the internet for years. It makes you wonder what kind of post-apocalyptic world we would be living in if Google were to cut something like GMail, or if the company itself were to vanish completely.

Having said all of that, I still don't see to much of a problem with how Google works. I have been able to see where they have cut certain projects because they didn't improve Google as a whole and I can understand Google wanting to move staff working on extra projects that don't really fall inline with the Google ecosystem to the many half-finished projects they consider a critical part of it(Hangouts comes to mind). I see a lot of good possibilities in the direction that Google is heading and I am optimistic about what will be provided to us as users in the future.

P.S. Is it just me, or is Google no longer the reckless baby that it once was?

A Long Working Vacation in the United States

I honestly never expected this day would come, but it has. I am currently looking at spending a year or more in the United States of America. As some of you may have known, I have decided to spend the rest of my life in Japan, returning to the States occasionally to spend a week or so with family and friends. Unfortunately, a series of unfortunate events have changed what would be a short holiday to a working vacation that will last for so long that I might end up curled into the fetal position before it is all over.

The prospect of this return has caused me to look at the pros and cons of returning to the States.

Pros:

• Family
• Friends
• Waffle House

Cons:

• Leaving the Japanese lifestyle
• The lack of Japanese food
• Not being around and speaking as much Japanese
• Being around and speaking English
• Having to import the vast majority of the things I desire
• 秘密です
• Feeling like a fish out of water
• 秘密です
• Mediocre Italian Restaurants
• Going back to being terrified to leave anything lying around anywhere.

There may be other pros and other cons, but I can't think of them right now.

•