Archive for October, 2007

Biggest Google Slap So Far?

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

We’ve all been reading a lot this month about Google’s updates to Page Rank and how a lot of sites have been adversely affected by this.

After much of the buzz has calmed down, I’ve noticed that it appears Google has slapped my own site, this one, in a strange way.

http://www.joetech.com seems to have been completely removed from Google and my Page Rank of 5 seems to have vanished entirely. Either this is a very strange glitch that will hopefully be resolved very soon, or Google has penalized JoeTech.com in a big way for perhaps one of the following reasons:
- writing positively about Google at times
- being online for over 10 years
- not selling links
- not spamming or submitting my URLs to link farms

What gives, Google? I’m pretty sure I’ve been pretty nice to you and followed the rules.

The 8 Ugliest Cell Phones On The Planet

Saturday, October 27th, 2007

Everyone’s always talking about the coolest new cell phones, but I think it’s also important to bring some attention to the abominations that somehow actually make it it market. It seems that too often, some company decides to do something different and new, but lands way off the mark. Here are 8 phones that you will pray nobody every gets you as a gift.

F88 Wrist Watch Mobile Phone
(thanks, GizmoWatch)
I decided to start with something that isn’t all that horrible. It is a bit super-geeky, in fact, but just too bulky to be caught wearing. I mean, you might as well walk around with a Treo strapped to your wrist and get it over with.
F88 Wrist Watch Mobile Phone

Virgin Lobster 700TV / HTC Monet
(thanks, Mobile Gazette)
Lobster? Really? I think whoever named it was trying to send a message to the people who designed it. It’s different, sure, but it’s not “good different”. Let’s chop that fat off the side for starters.
Virgin Lobster 700TV / HTC Monet

Car Themed Phones
(thanks, DialAPhone)
If you are so ego-sensitive that you must have your cell phone look like your expensive car, people are probably already laughing at you behind your back, so go ahead and buy one of these. It’s a cute idea if you’re a 10-year-old.
Car Themed Phones

Ugly for the super rich
(thanks, World of Wonder)
At a cool million bucks, this is one of the ugliest things you can go broke buying. If you see someone sporting one of these, steal it and smash it into bits. This is financial Darwinism for people like Paris Hilton.
Ugly for the super rich

$23k Ivory Ugly
(thanks, TechEBlog)
You could spend $23,000 on this super-ugly phone, or you could just buy a white phone and send it to me along with $500. I’ll drop the phone out of a moving car every day for 3 weeks, then I’ll leave it with a 3-pack-a-day smoker for a month, then I’ll send you back a phone that looks close to the one pictured here.
$23k Ivory Ugly

Dual LCD, Many levels of ugly
(thanks, Gizmodo)
A dual LCD phone probably sounded like a great idea when it popped out of someone’s mouth. Then they started putting the plan into action. How hard can it be to make the first real dual LCD phone? Not that hard, I guess, when you completely forget about making something anyone would want to use, buy, or be seen in public holding.
Dual LCD, Many levels of ugly

Football (soccer in the USA) Phone
(thanks, PCNews.ro)
I know it’s a phone, but I still want to kick it. This is actually pretty brilliant. Next time your 12-year-old begs you to buy them a cell phone, just grab one of these babies and you’ll probably not be begged for a car 4 years later.
Football / Soccer Mobile Phone

The Ugliest Phone Ever
(thanks, MobileWhack)
This phone should be set aflame, stomped out, urinated on, shot, and then buried in a deep, deep hole. I don’t know why anyone would pay thousands of dollars for this hideous phone, but if you know someone who did, get them mental health assistance immediately.
F88 Wrist Watch Mobile Phone

Chevy’s New Corvette-Truck Hybrid

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Take a look at this picture and tell me why anyone would ever do this to a Corvette:

Truckvette

Truckvette

Truckvette

I guess you can find just about anything on Google StreetView with StreetViewFun.com

The funny thing is that picture was from Mesa, Arizona. I guess the heat does things to people’s heads out here.

Honda Asimo Crashed My Wedding Anniversary

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

This past weekend, I surprised my wife with a trip to Disneyland for our first wedding anniversary. What I didn’t know was that Disneyland has a few new treats. I had tried to make the whole trip about our anniversary and a weekend for her, but she was as accommodating as she usually is when it comes to my technology lust. When we saw that they had an Asimo exhibit, we immediately went in and had a seat.

Here’s the videos I captured with my still camera:

Asimo Walks

Asimo Runs

Asimo Ascends Stairs

Asimo Descends Stairs

Asimo Dances

Asimo Balances and Kicks

Asimo Can See You

Bonus, Disney’s Scream roller coaster from my perspective yesterday.