Category: Geek

Don’t get hacked!

Every now and then a new Google feature comes along that I feel the need to blog about instead of just sharing the announcement in Reader. The feature that I’m writing about today isn’t really flashy or magical, but it’s incredibly important, and it applies to everyone. It’s not just for geeks. In some ways, it’s especially not just for geeks.

Please take 15 minutes of your time to enable 2-step verification in your Google account. This is time well-spent. It makes it much harder for someone who is not you to access your account and do nasty things like tricking your friends into sending money to a scammer. This is especially important if you use the same password on multiple services like Facebook and Twitter or your school email, which you totally shouldn’t do by the way, but I know many people do.

Please enable this feature on your own account, and you bonus points if you help friends or family members enable it on theirs.

And while you’re at it, remember to back up your data.

Lunar eclipse

I checked out the lunar eclipse tonight, and it was pretty cool. It looked like a full moon, except that the Moon was dim and had a red tint, and it was very dark outside. As for the stars, I think every star was visible. I even caught a glimpse of a shooting star, which is always fun.

Teaching parents about tech

For this holiday season, Google has set up a site called Teach Parents Tech which has some easy video tips that you can send to those who often look to you for tech support. I found my way into one of the videos, which is about currency conversion. Check it out:

It was fun to be in front of the camera for a change, but I don’t think I’ll be making a habit out of it. It was a good excuse to see what wearing makeup is like though.

During the shoot, they asked everyone to share a story about giving their parents tech support. My story was about how I was showing my mom how to do something on the computer by controlling her screen remotely. (We live on opposite sides of the country.) Then, a week later, I was talking to my grandmother, and she was telling me how my mom was controlling my grandmother’s computer to do some tech support. So, while I was trying to show her something else, what I really taught my mom was how to do tech support!

Some of the family tech support stories were chosen for a promo video, but mine wasn’t as you’ll see it doesn’t really fit the theme! I’m sure my mom is glad she was too advanced to make it into this one:

Online shopping

Even today, I still get a cool feeling after ordering something online. I really like the odd idea that just by pushing a button, I’m causing someone hundreds or perhaps even thousands of miles away to put something in a box, which is then handled by several more people as it’s driven/flown a great distance before arriving at my door. It feels even cooler when I ship it to someone else’s door.

Then again, I also get excited when I send something to my printer from across the room. My keyboard is an amazing remote control.

Multifunctional

I recently read that it’s good to dream, as that’s when you can have creative breakthroughs. Actually, that’s not quite right… I read that it’s good to take breaks and go for a walk or something for a creative breakthrough, but when I started writing this post I thought the tip was to dream.

I recently (like, 10 minutes ago) woke up from a glorious nap after an exhausting day. And what was I doing right before I woke up? Dreaming about work. Here’s what happened at the end of the dream:

Some sales person was visiting Google to show off some new devices that I suppose he wanted Google to buy. After he talked for a bit and I advised him to “get to the demo,” we got hands-on time with the products. One of the products that I noticed, which at first didn’t appear to be functioning, was an inkjet printer. What caught my eye about it was a button for “Panini mode.” This is certainly relevant to my interests. I opened up the top part of the printer, just like one would to change the ink cartridge (I was preparing to tell the salesman that I don’t typically purchase inkjet printers), and inside was a hot sandwich! What an awesome demo. I was about to eat the sandwich when I realized that it included slices of banana, which I dislike. Still, excellent product idea.

One happy customer

How about this for customer service? I was watching a movie, Amazon automatically detected that I had a less than ideal connection, and without any prompting from me, they refunded my money.

Hello,

We noticed that you experienced poor video playback while watching the following rental(s) on Amazon Video On Demand:

Twelve Angry Men

We’re sorry for the inconvenience and have issued you a refund for the following amount(s):

$2.99

While Amazon Video On Demand transactions are typically not refundable, we are happy to make an exception in this case. This refund should be processed within the next 2 to 3 business days and will appear on your next billing statement for the same credit card used to purchase this item.

Please visit our troubleshooting page for tips on ways you can potentially improve your viewing experience:http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200256920

We hope to see you again soon.

Amazon Video On Demand Team

Electric test drive #2: Nissan Leaf

Earlier this month, I took a Chevy Volt for a test drive. Today, I drove a Nissan Leaf.

At the test drive event, they had a little sales pitch thing with equipment displays and videos that they led us through first. I think they stretched it out a little too much to keep people occupied while they were waiting to drive, and it was incredibly corny. The style was almost exactly like what you see in the old World’s Fair films, so I’m sure that in the future people will be laughing at the marketing pitches, because we’re laughing at them today.

But, marketing aside, the test drive was okay. I could only take the car on a pre-defined route through the streets of San Jose, so unfortunately I never got to go more than 35 MPH and spent a good portion of the drive waiting at traffic lights. The car handles just like any other car, and I didn’t notice the regenerative braking as much as I did on the Volt. I’d have to try it out on a highway to form a more informed opinion, but right now I think I prefer the Leaf over the Volt in terms of driving experience.

I wonder which car I’ll get to drive next.

I drove a new car today

Today at work I had the chance to test drive a Chevy Volt, GM’s electric (or plug-in hybrid, or whatever you want to call it) car. I’m a big fan of electric cars, so this was a lot of fun for me as it’s the first time I’ve actually driven one.

In terms of a review, there’s really not much to say, as it’s not much different than what you’d expect any car to be like. It felt like it had more torque than my Accord, so that was fun, plus I just like the sound of an electric motor. The only part of the driving experience that felt different than what I’m used to was during the regenerative braking, but it wasn’t distracting. You can also throw it into low gear which will also try to capture some energy when you let off the gas, which I suppose you could get used to and only engage while driving in a hilly area.

Up next: I’ll be test-driving a Nissan Leaf on Halloween.