Getting Google

I CRITICIZE A LOT OF TECH COMPANIES here in Mike's List. This week, however, I'd like to stop and marvel at a truly great Silicon Valley organization: Google. Everyone knows that Google is great at returning freakishly high-quality search results. But that's not the whole secret of their success. Here's what else makes them good: 

1. They don't "sell out." One of the most annoying trends on the web these days is pop-up, pop-under and pop-after ads. The conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley is that that intrusive advertising is the only way to make money on the Internet these days. But by rejecting pop ads, Google shows how long-term success comes from satisfying people -- not using and abusing them. Google was recently criticized for "selling out" (including, admittedly, in one of my own "Broken News" headlines) with their Self-Service Online Advertising Program. They were erroneously accused of doing exactly what several of their competitors do. Microsoft Network, Yahoo, America Online and Terra Lycos all use Overture Services as their search engines. Overture takes money for "sponsored" placements in web search results for the advertiser's products. In many of Overture's customer web sites, you can't tell the difference between a real result and a paid ad. Google does sell advertising, but those ads appear in shaded boxes on the right of the page -- it's impossible for users to confuse legitimate search results with ads. 

2. They have a sense of humor. For example, Google is available in dozens of foreign languages, including both Pig Latin and Klingon. 

3. They don't "leverage" what's popular to shove garbage down user's throats. Most dot-com companies that had any success quickly ruined it by taking what they did well and using it to force less popular but more lucrative services, links and products on users. Not Google. They know they're a search engine, not a portal. 

4. They keep it simple. Everybody likes Google in part because their home page isn't cluttered with junk and hype. They have tons of great features. But they keep them out of your way. 

5. They haven't abandoned their geek roots. Though Google is a high-revenue Internet giant, the home page still has it's very un-corporate "I'm feeling lucky" button. When I first started using Google, it was a Stanford research project. From a user's perspective, it hasn't changed much. And that's good. Google is quirky and has personality. People really appreciate that. 

These five attributes give millions of people a warm and fuzzy feeling about Google, making them want to return several times a day, every day. (Google has even inspired fiction.)

If all Internet companies had the vision and discipline to stick to these five ideas, the Internet would be a much better place and more companies would enjoy Google-like momentum, customer satisfaction and long-term success.  

Now THAT'S a Convertible

The Swiss design company Rinspeed has created a nutty concept car called Presto, which transforms itself from a two-seater to a four seater by physically expanding in length. A motor and two gears stretch the car with the press of a button. A four-cylinder, 1.7-liter common-rail turbo diesel engine in dual-fuel configuration, based on a Mercedes-Benz engine, gives the Presto environmentally friendly power. 

Robot-Induced Guilt for Elderly Patients

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) AgeLab in Boston, Mass., are working on robot pets that help motivate elderly people to take their medication and eat proper diets. "Pill Pets" have to be cared for, or they'll "die." People care for them not by giving the robots virtual "food," but by taking their own medication and logging that with the pet. Researchers found that people are more responsive to caring for a pet -- even an annoying virtual robot pet -- than to alarms and reminders. If the pets get on the nerves of patients, they can strangle them, which is good for stress relief. 

Found Video

Here's video of a Harvard lecture by Segway inventor Dean Kamen -- delivered from a Segway!

Thank you!

I would like to thank all the people who contributed to the Mike's List movement last week. Your contributions keep Mike's List totally ad free and free of charge! If you haven't done so, please take a moment and give a few bucks to the cause! : ) 

Shameless Self-Promotion

I'll be on Craig Crossman's Computer America radio show this week! You can hear Computer America on your local Business TalkRadio station or over the Internet each Sunday from 1pm to 3pm Silicon Valley Time. Don't miss Computer America!

Hollywood Spy

Aaliyah, star of the movie "Queen of the Damned," died in a plane crash last August, but the filming was only halfway finished. Though most of the main scenes had already been shot, there were dozens of action shots and random scenes that still required the star. So the filmakers shot the scenes without her, created a computer-generated Aaliyah, then planted the digital star in the scenes. For dialog, they recorded Aaliyah's brother saying her lines, then used computers to make it sound like the dead star's voice. 

Follow-Up

I told you in the issue 31 "User Manual" how to get Mike's List via AvantGo. Since then, AvantGo has decided to charge people who have more than eight users. According to AvantGo's new pricing scheme, I would have to pay $270,000 in order to serve my entire readership with a custom channel. Please forget everything I told you about using AvantGo for downloading Mike's List! : ) 

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I touched a raw nerve last week with my "Access of Evil" editorial, and received hundreds of angry e-mails that mostly fit into the following categories: 

1. "How dare you criticize George W. Bush, you commie pinko $#@!"

2. "I subscribe to your newsletter for computer info, not political opinions, you commie pinko $#@!"

3. "Why don't you stick to something you know about, rather than veering off into politics, where a commie pinko $#@! like you doesn't know his $#@! from a hole in the ground." 

I replied to all the letters, but for those of you who were surprised, confused or offended by the last issue and didn't write, here's my reply: Mike's List is a humor newsletter that's less about technology and more about the cultural and social effects of technology. I veer into social issues, science, politics and other realms, but try to stick to a humorous technology angle. 

My aims were to 1) point out the surprising lack of Internet restrictions in Iran -- one of the "Axis of Evil" club members; 2) point out what's wrong with the "Axis of Evil" label as it's applied by Bush; and 3) draw attention to Saudi Arabia's role in global terrorism, which is in my view clearly the hub of the real "Axis of Evil" behind the September 11 terrorist suicide massacres. I think I achieved all that, and expected to get some criticism and cancelled subscriptions. (I was surprised that nobody -- not a single reader -- defended Saudi Arabia or the fact that the U.S. government considers that regime a friend and ally.) 

I don't mind the controversy. I say what I feel I need to say, and try to keep it humorous. This was a particularly sharp satire, but I think it was appropriate. 

Have you seen additional coverage of a Mike's List item? Let me know! 

Gotta-Get-It Gadgets

GARMIN International says they'll ship in June these awesome "Rino" waterproof walkie-talkies with built-in GPS functions. The walkie-talkie part supports distances of up to two miles using FRS channels and up to five miles using GMRS. The GPS part keeps track of everyone in your group (everyone who has a GARMIN -- the rest will get lost) using what the geniuses at GARMIN called Peer-to-Peer Positioning and what I call P2PP. This patented P2PP system let's you "beam" your location to other users, showing them relative bearing and distance. Rino 110 and 120 should cost about $200 and $300, respectively. 

A company called Velotrend sells a product called BikeBrain. It's a Palm-based bike software and shock-resistant mounting hardware that gives you real-time directions, real-time speed graph, an altitude profile of your route, and speed logging for post-ride upload and analysis on a PC. 

Have you seen an amazing new toy? Let me know! 

Wacky Web Sites

"I Found a Duck" is the official web site of the first ever international rubber duck race. 500 ducks were dumped in the wild and forced to fend for themselves, relying on the kindness of strangers to win a long race across the globe. The progress of each duck is logged and tracked on the site as it wends its way around the world. 

The Bunny Corp. is a fake company with a funny web site for people who like bunny rabbits -- deep fried. 

Express yourself! Lay down some crazy riffs with the Kitten Burger Electronic Latin Jazz Keyboard. 

If you'd like to lose your lunch, check out the live University of South Carolina Roach Camera! 

Kids, it's the Belly Twins web site -- home of the world's most famous identical twin boa-constrictor belly dancers!

Here's another gratuitous Bruce Lee web site. "I Know Where Bruce Lee Lives" let's you make your own strange Bruce Lee movie and record it for posterity. 

A web site chronicles the transformation of web sites, services and products from free to for-pay. The site is called -- what else? -- The End of the Free. 

 If you see a really crazy web site: Let me know! 

Reader Comment

Mike, In your last newsletter you stated that the MagLev trains weren't used yet except in labs. Here is a link to an article stating that China is the third country to use such engineering technology. This technology has been around and is being used in places other than a lab, like your article suggested.
Dave

Mike, I read Mike's List from beginning to end, and noticed the photo of you in the "Steal This Newsletter" section at the bottom. I couldn't get over the resemblance of the photo to my beloved late puppy, Brandi. She weighed in at about 235 lbs. and had a similar predilection to Starbuck's as you seem to have. If BT wins the lawsuit against Prodigy for patent infringement, I plan to sue you for infringement on my photographic concept!
Stephen

I get hundreds of reader e-mail messages per week, so I can publish only a tiny fraction of them. I reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Send comments to: [email protected]

Last Week's Mystery Pic

No, it's not Noika's first attempt at a penny loafer, a card-counting shoe for cheating at Blackjack or an automatic "player piano-style" tap-dancing shoe as suggested by some readers. It's Agent 86 Maxwell Smart's shoe phone from the 1960s American TV show, "Get Smart." The picture was taken at the "Spies: Secrets from CIA, KGB, and Hollywood" exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation in Simi Valley, California. Brilliantly cheesy dialog, written by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and ridiculous gadgets made the show a huge hit. Even though I cropped the picture to throw you off, many hundreds got this one right. Here's the full picture. Click here for more about "Get Smart" -- and don't forget to click "Next" at the bottom of each page to see the whole thing. Congratulations to Jason Priesmeyer for getting smart first. (Sorry about that, Chief!)

 Have you seen an amazing, hard-to-identify picture? Let me know!

Mystery Pic o' the Week

What is it? Send YOUR guess to [email protected]. If you're first with the right answer, I'll print your name in the next issue of Mike's List! 

Mike's List User Manual

If you've got a web site and would like to get a link on the high-traffic Mike's List links page, Here's how to do it. The link page is an exchange program: You link to me and I'll link to you. Just go here for complete instructions on how to link to me, then let me know by sending e-mail. It's that easy!