It seems like only yesterday I was shilling.... I mean... "praising" Google for all the cool stuff that they keep putting out. But I guess even the greats have to put out a stinker every once in a while.

It looks like the general consensus all... over... the net is that Google Video is a huge bomb. Not only does the interface suck, but the content offering is anemic, at best. On top of that, Google has created their own DRM (for the paid videos) that makes it impossible to import the videos on to a portable device. Some are even saying that videos you purchase are only available as live streams, which means you can't truly download and view them offline (I haven't confirmed this one yet). Google also won't tell you what format the video is in until you've purchased it. All that stuff combined, Google Video is looking like a really lousy release. Me thinks they shoulda done some more in-house testing before letting this thing out into the wild.

But, as with anything Google makes, there are always a few cool attributes to it... and since I'm such a "glass is half-full/look on the bright side" kinda guy... (whuh?!?) I'm gonna point a few of them out to you...

So... I'm sittin' around, minding my own business last Friday, and I go to check something on my website (can't remember if it was email or the home page or whatever), and I notice that my website doesn't appear to be responding. I figured that the site was down.... again.... which actually isn't all that abnormal for the web host that I was using. But I couldn't do anything to fix it, because first thing Saturday morning I had a band coming in to do some recording, and then right after that, I had to run out to go..... wait for it......... camping. Yeah... that's not exactly part of my normal weekend activities. Needless to say it was a last minute whim someone had while we were hanging out Friday night that I got suckered into.  (ok... so I liked it... but that doesn't make me any less of a nerd.)

So basically, I was busy, 24/7 for the next two days and had no way of finding out what was wrong with the site... so I just left it at that and hoped that they'd have it back up in a reasonable amount of time.... but boooooy was I wrong.

Last time I drooled over the latest web-tech from Google, it was because of a cool new feature in Google Maps. This time... they've made a few enhancements (or should I say, optional enhancements) to their homepage. As ahead-of-the-curve as Google has always been, their homepage has always been very minimalistic and simple (which is one of the things I always liked about them). Most search engines flood their landing page with so much content, and news feeds, and crap that you have to squint just to find the "Search" field (which is the only reason you go to the page in the first place). But Google has always had a very uncluttered, fast-loading home page that gives you exactly what you need, and nothing more... but now, thanks to their latest groovy toy, you can have your cake, and actually find the freaking Search field too...

You know... I thought I was the quintessential musical nerd. I'm nerdy: I write my own software... I own a watercooled computer (I'll pause while you giggle)... I build all my computer systems (and those of my friends.... and family... and people I don't even know)... I spend every waking hour in front of a computer. And I'm musical: I play drums... I play guitar... I do my own home-recordings. So you'd think that would qualify me as the ultimate musical nerd.... but you'd be wrong.

And it's all because of these guys...