The Best Ever

Dear Every Company Out There,
Please stop touting your newly released products as "the best ever". If you make it a practice of releasing less capable products as the years pass, you will quickly find yourself out of business. The very fact that you're releasing anything new says your shiny new product is "the best ever". Please stop telling us. If your products don't speak for themselves, you're doing something wrong.

I'm not sure where this practice started, but the first time I remember encountering it was sadly Steve Jobs. I say sadly because, in my not so humble opinion, this stain is the single trait in Steve's marvelous presentation skills that tarnished his otherwise pristine delivery. Sure, the first time he said it the expression was somewhat endearing. The second time, though, I remember thinking, "Did he just say that again?" Then he said it again, and again, and again, and again... and again.

So, if you're tempted to adopt this man's presentation proficiency, please discover the things he did so expertly and lay "the best ever" to rest with the best ever.

Sincerely,
Your friend who wants your advertising to be as fresh and new as your products

30 Times

The hymn I Know That My Redeemer Lives (LDS Hymns # 136) testifies 30 times that Christ lives. No wonder I get tearful every time I sing that song. I was really touched by the Spirit during our church meetings today. We didn't even sing that song, but someone spoke of Christ as our Redeemer, which prompted me to look up the song and read through it.

Last year we were challenged by our bishop to read the Book of Mormon as a ward. After finishing, we were encouraged to send a one sentence testimony to the ward clerk to be included in the ward's history. A couple weeks ago a youth stood at the pulpit and bore her testimony of The Book of Mormon. It was simply that "He lives!" It was such a powerful statement, and coming from a youth, so meaningful. And I'm sure it was even more meaningful to her.

I know Christ lives. I'm grateful for his endless love to me. The gift of His atonement brings me peace and hope for eternal life with Him and my Father in Heaven one day.

Google TV

Another gripe session, sorry. Why is it that so often I feel like I'm not part of the vast majority of the world's population, at least that's what the media tells me. From Google's "Quick Tour > Why?" page about Google TV comes the text, "From the start, it will be able to work with any TV."

Awesome! I love companies and products that target the masses. I'm excited about the possibility of what Google TV can be, even if a little bit confused about what exactly it is. But the most confusing part is when I go to the "Get It" link to see what I'd need to do to jump in. On that page, "There are two ways to get Google TV".

1. Get a standalone Sony Internet TV.


2. Get a separate box to use with your current HDTV.

Now, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm sharp enough to understand that this means I'm out of luck. My perfectly fine 27-inch standard television still shows video content from all the sources I need: TV; DVD; VHS (sad, but true); composite input. But while the cost of HDTVs has come way down and is in the nearly affordable range now for some sizes, I'm still not going to replace my television just so I can get Google TV.

I don't have a problem with companies pushing technology forward. But it really bothers me when they present it as if the "norm" is that everyone within earshot has the latest technology.

Am I alone in this? Is anyone else in the same boat, or am I truly one of the only people in the country who doesn't have an HDTV?

9.8 Miles!

Holy cow, Bonnie and I ran 9.8 miles this morning! That's the longest run I've ever done in my life. We thought we'd pushed 9 or a little more, got home and checked on the Gmaps Pedometer and I think we were both quite surprised at the result.

So, my motivation right now—besides just the general need to stay healthy—is Lake Tahoe. We're going next summer with Bonnie's family, and I'd love to look good enough to not feel self-conscious taking off my shirt to play in the water. I haven't felt that for... well, I've never felt that :)

Anyway, what works for you to keep you motivated? What do you enjoy doing to stay healthy?

Is Firefox Going Too Far?

So, I've been hoping HTML 5 would finally see the light of day, after how many years waiting. And I've been pleased with the support Safari's had from I believe version 3 on. Well, I thought it seemed a little funny and curious when I saw an unexpected message after updating to Firefox 3.5.2 the other day. On the "What's New" page (found here), it said that "Firefox 3.5 is the first browser to support open video formats, allowing movies to become part of today’s dynamic web pages without requiring a plug-in."

Now I'm not going to argue the point about "open video", still looking into what that is exactly. However, I am going to argue that Safari has had non-plugin-requiring video for quite some time. I didn't know exactly when that occurred, so I started searching. The first reference I found is from the WebKit site, HTML5 Media Support. This was from 12 November, 2007. That's a ways back, and at this point, support of the video tag was already in the nightly builds. Then I found a post from streaming video site about how Safari was the first to support the new HTML 5 media tags, called Apple's Latest Safari Browser First To Support New Video And Audio Tags In HTML 5. This one comes from 4 April, 2008.

So I have to ask, is it just me, or does this seem quite presumptuous of Firefox to act as if they're the first to provide video content sans plugin? Am I just reading this too wrong, and the focus of their statement is really supposed to be about "open video", because it's not really the impression I get.

In either case, I am grateful that HTML 5's future can be helped by support in a much larger market share browser such as Firefox over that of Safari. I look forward to the future of media in HTML.

Looking for responses here, from the zero people who read my posts who even care about this discussion :)