I’m under this silly impression that if things continue as they have, before very much longer, everything in the United States will have a “Powered By Google” sticker slapped on one of its edges. The best title I could come up with for this vision of the United States as a pseudo-amusement park, pseudo-country, pseudo-IT-mecca is “GoogleWorld”, forgive me for not being more original or more creative — I wanted it to be absurd sounding.

Lending credibility to that theory, Google continued its strategic domination of search, just recently connecting GoogleMap’s mapping and routing features with their latest search related service/tool, namely GOOG-411.

What in the GoogleWorld is GOOG-411? GOOG-411 is a toll free service that allows you, through speech-to-text technology, to do Internet searches for things like businesses, without typing of course. Neat stuff.

This new integration with GoogleMaps for GOOG-411 allows users to say “map it” during search-related phone calls, and receive a text message (or E-Mail) containing some details about their search and the results, but especially, links for the result’s locations on GoogleMaps, making them easier to find on the Internet, and then, in the real (Google)world.

I wonder if this Kitt knows where I left my black, rubber-banded Timex, circa 1981.

A handful of programmers (or perhaps thinkers works better), through entries in blogs, have been collaboratively jotting down a few things. What few things? 3 things they learned about software in college, and 3 things they learned about software outside of college.

Here are a few examples of this little phenomena: Dare Obasanjo, Scott Hanselman, Insane World’s Author, Kenegozi’s Author, Shawn Oster. I’m sure there are countless more I didn’t find, or haven’t read. Of that short list Shawn Oster’s is of particular interest.

Now, I didn’t go to a college. But, I work at one. So, I wondered, does that count? Can I play along too? I’ve been in IT for over a decade. I’ve created software solutions big and small for organizations like: the Department of Defense, the Computer Science Corporation, Lucent Technologies, all Six Stock Options Exchanges, and now Academia. And, in considering all those environments, I thought, “software is too tight a focus for me.” And, again, I never went to college.

Instead of what I’ve been reading, which has all been very useful, I decided to broaden the discussion slightly, to meet my experience. I wanted to contribute. Anyhow, here are: 3 Things Learned in School, and 3 Things Learned On-The-Job.

In School

1) Nothing in this life will be worth more than a teacher who can reach you.

2) History is a subject that speaks to us in the many colors of learned lessons. And, sometimes in shades of lies.

3) Show up on test days.

NOT In School

1) Speak up! Especially in the beginning don’t be afraid to offer your ideas, of getting fired or even just being noticed. The beginning is the best time for all those kinds of things! Its the time you’ll be expected to make mistakes. And, the time you’ll gain the most perspective on them.

2) If you are not your own master, the world will happily take you by the hand and lead you where it thinks it needs you. But, you may not be very happy with where you end up. So the lesson is, if you do not shape your world your way, your world will shape you its way.

3) Take off on test days.

Here is an interesting tidbit of law.  The US Congress would like to make it illegal to spoof Caller ID.

Title: A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit manipulation of caller identification information.

Sponsor: Sen Nelson, Bill [FL] (introduced 2/28/2007)  Cosponsors (4)

Latest Major Action: 6/27/2007 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

You can find more details here.

And now announcing the New Holy Trinity…

How about a campaign called 3 Ways to Make America Better… something like this…

Socialized Universal Healthcare

Give Americans what the majority of the industrialized western world has had since before the 1950s. Do what has already been done for other basic human needs such as was done with our Postal, Policing and Fire Agencies. Make it possible for us to pay to care for each other, as to we do to serve, protect, and save each others lives in so many other ways. And, give every single American the facility to be free to become strong, respondent, productive American citizens.

A required, progressive course set in Civics and related Social Sciences, introduced early on, and added to all levels of academic curriculum

Make it the responsibility of academia to educate at every level of respective discipline, the effects works will have on the community. Also, lets try and understand as best we need to, as Americans, how and when our democracy can, or has, broken down, so we each are prepared to react accordingly; this, so that all injustice does not beget but only more, that it is found as soon as possible, removed as quickly as possible.

The creation of an agency that will begin and assist in a federal down review of all active law, and the communications of needs for revising, or removal of law to the legislating body, most especially those laws that are found to be harmful to the people, through the consistent or complacent infringement of freedoms or perpetration of fraud.

If we are to have Home Land Security, it must be assured from within. Allow the law of the land to be assured for the people, by the people, that no letter of it whatsoever reduce any American’s freedom, and at the same time none of his or her responsibility either. Let us be sure no law, or aggregation of laws, introduce any unforeseen happenstance in which injustice is the result. Lets be certain, through ever-vigilance, that those words we live by are also worthy of living and dying for.

When I was young, you did what you had to do because, ultimately, you wanted to hangout, that is what mattered. As a result of trying to build up a reputation, seeking people, and in trying to make determinations about who you were (seeking self), you had a certain perspective. I mean, remember when getting a ride from Mom and Dad was embarrassing enough to make you walk?

Well, a lot has changed, look at the article “How Kids Lost the Right To Roam In Four Generations”…

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These shadow sculptures are very, very interesting, as well as beautiful constructions despite their sense-defying nature. Looking at these works of art for me, offers an insight into how we as people attribute life and meaning to inanimate things or give substance to the abstract — the redirection of light as pockets of shadow being likely one of the most inanimate or abstract things. Enjoy.

Boy, the IFPI does not like file sharing. Oh, for anyone who does not know what the IFPI is, the statement below was taken from their mission page:

IFPI represents the recording industry worldwide with some 1400 members in 75 countries and affiliated industry associations in 49 countries.

Here are few things they call “Inconvenient Truths” on the topic of file-sharing, released recently.

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When I opened this site, I vowed that if I was to link to another site permanently, it would only be because I read the content there faithfully. While that may mean any number of things; things like I may or may not like the idea or the people involved, personally; or, that I may agree or disagree with the idea, or people involved, on any number of other issues; it certainly does means one very important thing: I take being associated with people very seriously. And, I’ll tell you, thats because I’m a tactician…

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