Having Google Fiber in the Triangle would be huge. At a minimum, it would put a lot more pressure on Time Warner Cable[^f4705] to upgrade their speeds, lower prices, etc..
[^f4705]: Who might have been bought by Comcast by the time Google Fiber rolls out.
Great tip from Gabe Weatherhead over at MacDrifter about the new Do Not Link service:1
You can easily use the service by appending the target URL as follows:
The purpose of the service is to allow you to link to a website without helping that website's “Google Juice.” ↩
I love it when liberals get snippy when someone[^fn1] does not follow the liberal dogma.[^fn2]
[^fn1]: Or some company.
[^fn2]: Especially when it is something like global warming / “climate change”, which [is having problems of it own](http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/06/global-warming-in-a-few-slides.php)
> It is also worth pointing out that only a small fraction of our residential customers who have DOCSIS 3.0 speeds available to them actually subscribe to the product. Today, our broadband options are designed to meet almost any budget or household need
Statements like that make me worry that Time Warner’s “Google-Fiber-Like” option will simply be unaffordable to average consumers. One of the compelling things about Google fire is that customers get 1 GBps of service for just $70 a month. I have very strong doubts that Time Warner will offer something that.
Currently hot in my [Fever](http://feedafever.com) instance – **Google Reader Closing on July 1, 2013**
No one should be surprised that [Google’s announcement that they were shutting down Google Reader](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html) would be at the top of my *Fever* instance. Though I am sure this will cause some inconvenience to people, I agree with Marco Arment that [it is a positive thing in the long run](http://www.marco.org/2013/03/13/google-reader-sunset). For example, I already have my eye on [David Smith’s just announced syncing solution](http://david-smith.org/blog/2013/03/13/my-secret-project-feed-wrangler/).
Links related to this:
* [Shawn Blanc](http://shawnblanc.net/2013/03/goodbye-google-reader/)
* [John Moltz](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html)
* [David Sparks](http://www.macsparky.com/blog/2013/3/the-rss-apocalypse)
* [Aldo Cortesi](http://corte.si/posts/socialmedia/rip-google-reader.html)
* [Chris Gonzalez](http://unretrofied.com/blog/2013/3/13/google-reader-is-shutting-down)
* [Elliot Jay Stocks on the dangers of free services](http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4101144/google-shuts-down-reader-rss-aggregation-service)
* [Dave Caolo explains how to export your RSS Feeds from Google Reader](http://52tiger.net/daily-tip-export-your-feeds-from-google-reader/)
* [Buzzfeed](http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/google-reader-is-dead)
* [The Verge](http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4101144/google-shuts-down-reader-rss-aggregation-service)
* [Stephen Hackett on using Twitter as a RSS Alternative](http://512pixels.net/2013/03/on-twitter-as-an-rss-alternative/)
> Google just announced its first premium Chromebook, the Chromebook Pixel. It’s gorgeous. Unfortunately, it’s so expensive that I can’t think of a single person who should get one.
Ouch.
Currently hot in my [Fever](http://feedafever.com) instance – **Google Maps for iOS Released**
The day people who have upgrade to iOS 6 have been waiting for has finally arrived![^fn1]
Links related to this:
* [The Next Web](http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/12/13/review-google-maps-for-iphone-is-attractive-and-fluid/)
* [Marco Arment](http://www.marco.org/2012/12/13/google-maps-app)
* [MacStories](http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/macstories/ad-supported/~3/PV-xR6v18fw/)
* [The Verge](http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/12/3760770/google-maps-iphone-available-features-navigation-transit)
[^fn1]: Okay, that *might* be a littler hyperbolic.
It might be good time to transfer your customer information to Google:
> Going forward, Google would like to provide you high-touch technical support for the Nik Software products. In order to be able to do this Google needs to receive the information that Nik Software has about you and your past software purchases such as your name, email address, purchase history, and any other interactions you have had with Nik Software. We ask for your agreement to transfer this data from Nik Software to Google Inc. This data will be used by Google for the purpose of providing you high-touch technical support for Nik Software products if you request such support. The data that is transferred to Google will be subject to the [Google Privacy Policy](http://click.mailus.niksoftware.com/?qs=60fc4cc587b088fa476d5371053ceca1ca4eb9d68421aab7d042e3f5e1f67d2f).
The deadline is December 7th and you can make [the transfer on Nik’s website](http://www.niksoftware.com/company/usa/entry.php?view=privacy/en_transferyourdata.shtml).
Really interesting comparison. I will not spoil the outcome.
Currently hot in my [Fever](http://feedafever.com) instance – **Google Unveils New Nexus Lineup**
Google [announced a new lineup of Nexus products](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/nexus-best-of-google-now-in-three-sizes.html) today. Part of me still wonders if I would use a Nexus 7 some, though I imagine I would get more use out of an iPad mini.
Links related to this:
* [Engadget](http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/29/google-officially-lands-deal-with-warner-music-group/)
* [Mashable](http://mashable.com/2012/10/29/google-nexus-4-nexus-10/)
* [The Next Web](http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/29/google-nexus-7-released/)
* [The Verge](http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3568784/nexus-10-preview-price-release-date)
So ridiculous. I hope France passes the law and I hope Google just drops all French publications from their search results. It would be another solid lesson on the “law of unintended consequences.”
Just a FYI for now, since I have only started to look into this. It will be interesting to see how things are reported concerning this, and how those reports differ from what any filings actually say.
Google’s Senior VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra:
> I also want to make something clear: we’re going to continue offering and improving Nik’s high-end tools and plug-ins. Professionals across the globe use Nik to create the perfect moment in their photographs, and we care deeply about their artistry.”
I hope this is the case, but I will probably wait a decent amount of time before buying any new Nik plugins.
Currently hot in my [Fever](http://feedafever.com) instance – **All Apple and Google Maps All the Time**[^fn1]
Links related to this:
* [John Gruber](http://daringfireball.net/2012/09/timing_of_apples_map_switch)
* [The Verge](http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/25/3407614/apple-over-a-year-left-on-google-maps-contract-google-maps-ios-app)
* [The Next Web](http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/27/why-so-surveyous/)
* [AllThingsD](http://allthingsd.com/20120926/apple-google-maps-talks-crashed-over-voice-guided-directions/)
[^fn1]: The first 5 *hot* blocks are all related to Apple and Google Maps
Currently hot in my [Fever](http://feedafever.com) instance – **Google chairman confirms no new iOS Maps app is waiting in the wings**
Links related to this:
* [TUAW](http://feeds.tuaw.com/click.phdo?i=1d74017797f63cde33ef841e8da94835)
* [Ars Technica](http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/google-says-no-plans-for-ios-6-mapping-app-yet/)
* [The Loop](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/25/us-google-iphone-idUSBRE88O07U20120925)
* [The Next Web](http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/25/google-hasnt-submitted-maps-app-app-store-yet/)
> Pretty much all serious photographers know about Nik Software. They make many many different products! For example, there is a very fun “Color Efex Pro” that is like Instagram on designer-steroids. They also make “Silver Efex Pro” where they analyzed the Black & White processing techniques of the Old Masters and put them all into this easy-to-use product. And one of their recent releases is a very competent HDR processing package called “HDR Efex Pro.” How each of these products will show up within the Google infrastructure is a mystery, but I bet those guys will figure out something cool.
I hope Mr. Ratcliff is right and that I am wrong. I fear that in the next 3-to-6 months, we might get announcement that Nik will no longer be supporting its image editing plugins.
The key asset in the deal appears to be Nik’s iOS photo app [Snapseed](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=r*bqlTuiXSo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Fsnapseed%252Fid439438619%253Fmt%253D8%2526uo%253D4%2526partnerId%253D30)[^f5756]. My main concern, however, is what does this mean for the future of Nik’s professional-level plugins for Apeture and Lightroom? If Google starts killing off these plugins, today could be remembered as a very dark day for photo processing software.
[^f5756]: Affiliate Link.
Finally. I hated having to go to some other website for my “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” info.
I might not develop an iOS application using this, but it could be helpful for experienced Java programmers using Objective-C for the first time[^f5048].
[^f5048]: I think it would be similar to learning HTML by doing something in the Dreamweaver GUI and then seeing what HTML the program writes in the “source view.”
This has seemed inevitable since Apple announced the YouTube app would not be part of iOS6. Next up: iPad app.