I just canceled my week long free trial of timesvr. The $60 per month is just not worth it for my volume of usage. Here are some tasks that I had them do:

• Book two rental cars in two different US cities: they were able to quickly give me some cheap prices and place the reservation.
• Figure out if I can use my iPhone in Taiwan: they sent me a pretty detailed list of links regarding getting data and phone plans working while traveling in Taiwan. The links ranged from official AT&T sites to forum sites.
• Set up a dentist appointment
• Gave details about upcoming shows from bands I like in SF
• Changed an incoming UPS shipment address from my home address to my business address
• Research on various things to do in Taiwan

Overall, I was pretty impressed by the service and the depth of research in most of my information related tasks. I would have continued the service for a cheaper more limited offering. I really don’t need unlimited tasks per month–something like 50 would suffice.

Yesterday night was the first NewTeeVee Pier Screenings, which was organized by the beautiful Joey Wan. I got the chance to cover it as the official GigaOM photographer. The night turned out to be fabulous, and I got a lot of great shots in, including some long exposure photos like the one above. You can also view the whole set on Flickr.

Since this was my first semi-professional gig, I decided to rent some good equipment. I got the Canon 85mm f1.2, 35mm f1.4, and 580EX flash. The 85mm was unbelievably sharp and fast. I’ve read so much about this lens before, but it’s a whole other world when you get your hands on it. I was able to get shots that were previously impossible. The 35mm is a favorite among the photography socialites Lane Hartwell, Scott Beale, and Thomas Hawk. It’s a great walk around event lens that is both wide and fast.

In the end, I really enjoyed shooting the event. Since it was outdoors and unlit, the venue presented a unique lighting challenge. It was especially difficult to get large group shots in such a dark environment. I ended up doing some long exposures (one of my favorite techniques), which came out reasonably well.

Let me know what you think. And also, if anyone needs photography done for an event, send me a line at “jamesjacobyu (at) gmail (dot) com”.

I was doing a few searches on Google today when I noticed a stark change in the layout. I switched to another computer, and found that no change had occured, so perhaps my IP or computer was being chosen as a “beta” tester for the new layout. In any case, here is what I saw:

Click on the image for a larger view. The big difference is the placement of the search types into the left column. Also, gone is the fat bar at the top that used to say which kind of search you are conducting (whether it’s web, video, etc.)

Finally, the already slim page margins are shrunk even further–I believe that the logo and text are only a few pixels away from the edge of the page. Personally, I would want to see more margins, not less. But I do think the left-hand placement of the search menu is a step in the right direction.

So what does everyone think? Is Google really redesigning? Or is this just a fluke? Anyone else seen this?

digg this

Rumors are flying around that Opera will be acquired by Google. This, in a nutshell, would make me a very happy techie indeed. I love Opera. There is no doubt in my mind that it is the best browser I have ever used. Firefox comes in second place, but I feel that Opera is a more finished product than Firefox.

That, and I just find it snappier.

But Opera users are still in the minority, which isn’t always a bad thing. But, having an industry giant like Google backing Opera will guarantee even more benefits. I would love to see more integration of Google features into Opera, which it currently lacks (besides the ubiqutous “g mysearchterm” in the URL bar).

A marriage between Google and Opera would also be a great way for skeptical users to try out Opera. Heck, it’ll be the ultimate branding experience for Opera. Finally, I won’t have to convince my friends that Opera is the best browser. Period.

Rumor has it that Google Calendar will be debuting tomorrow. I really hope this is true. I’ve been waiting for something like this to dump all my important dates to. Plus, if they incorporate RSS feeds, I will be a really happy guy. I could see a million uses for this: flight notifications, anniversary notifications, integrated to-do lists. The uses are nearly endless.

It’s time to unload yet another task to Google that our brain usually needs to conduct, so that it can focus on more… important things. Right?

I don’t have a TV in my home in San Francisco, so the only time when I get any time with the tube is at my parents’ home in Colorado. Usually, I get all my news from blogs and other independent media sources (I rarely surf CNN.com) Needless to say, it’s always a very surreal experience actually watching CNN on TV.

What I find most amusing is that there are actually Blog Reporters on the CNN team. I saw this for the first time this morning when they did their blog segment, which gives an overview of notable blogs (in this case, ones that are relevant to the London bombings). They surfed to many of the sites I was looking at yesterday when the tragedy occured. I almost felt like the mainstream media were intruding into my space–it’s very weird to see familiar webpages on the TV. Also, they were shooting computer screens directly, and not screen capturing it. This is awkward at best–providing a low quality view of the webpages. They even had to pan around to see the whole webpage! It’s absolutely an awful way to convey the wealth of information in the blogosphere.

Google unveiled their new Maps tool. I love it.

Mapquest and Yahoo Maps are quite good tools. I admit to using them very often. In my experience, they’ve been about 90% accurate. When I need to get to an unfamiliar place, you’ll see me whip out my sticky notes and jotting down the Mapquest directions.

But my one big complaint against these two tools is that they’re static. The maps are very good at spotting exact street locations, but if you want to peruse around the area, you have to use their maddingly slow recenter and pan tools. This is because Mapquest and Yahoo aren’t using a dynamic design with their display. It’s all just images.

Google Maps is all about dynamic. You can zoom, pan, and center in an instant. Everything is slick and smooth. The data still loads in chunks of images, but the map is still able to respond to requests and display the incoming images. This feedback makes all the difference. I was able to accurately pan and zoom from a full size view of the US to my neighborhood in Palo Alto in under 10 seconds. Try that with Mapquest.

Of course, Google also leverages its maps with Google Local, which allows you to search and pinpoint local businesses on the map. Directions are stylishly portrayed with markers that show you a local view upon clicking.

With just one glimpse, I’ve already made the switch to Google Maps. My only complaint is their current lack of support for unpopular browsers, like Opera. But I’m sure that will go away as it comes out of beta.

Go and measure your Starbucks Density [Starbucks / 5 mi radius, or is it 25 mi^2?]. Me being in Palo Alto (nowhere near urban), I thought there’d maybe be 3 or 4 around me. But, I was suprised to find 18 stores around me.

People in NYC have been reporting upwards of 167 stores within a five mile radius.

Is it really necessary to have that many Starbucks? I know it’s an old cliche that every store is turning into a Starbucks, but when is it too much? I’ve never heard anyone griping that they can’t find a Starbucks, no matter where they are. I heard that they build at least one new Starbucks in a day. The keyword is “least”. That’s scary.