Google Glass: One Year On

[caption id="attachment_13117203371" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Here I am at Google Glass Basecamp in NYC on June 26, 2013 having the Glass basics taught to me by a very patient Google Employee called Haley.[/caption]

Exactly a year ago, today, I visited the Google Explorer NYC Base Camp to pick up my Google Glass. It's been a wild ride since then. I've met lots of people who think Glass is really neat and I've seen plenty of hate for Glass users online and in the media. It's been great living in the future. I love taking photos with a wink, shooting hands-free video from my point-of-view and having a ton of information delivered directly to my eyeball whenever I want it. It is beyond awesome.

[caption class="attachment" align="aligncenter" width="474"]

http://youtu.be/EGnM5PsTMIA
This is what it looked like from my point-of-view last Friday when I took Glass on one of several ziplines near my mom's place in South Carolina!

[/caption]

However, it is also frustrating because I feel like this future is being made difficult by people clinging to old ideas and then there are a few odd choices made by Google.

As of today, Glass is better than ever in some ways and worse than ever in others. Last June, the OS was very rough but it was easy to hack and get it to do things that I and developers thought it should do. However, six months ago, Google stopped updating the OS monthly and, three months (I think) after that, they updated the Glass OS so dramatically a ton of my hacks stopped working. What was worse was that Glass started running slowly and even started locking up.

It was like Google had replaced the Glass OS with Windows XP. #arg!

On too many occasions I've found myself in the middle of an adventure, trying to take a photograph only to watch as Glass got stuck in the middle of taking the photo. All I could see on the display was the viewfinder frame and a blank image. Sometimes seconds later, other times almost a minute later, Glass would finish taking a picture but thanks to me having gotten bored and having moved my head, the shot came out blurry.

[caption id="attachment_13117203376" align="aligncenter" width="474"] So, when Glass got it's huge update, this is how a bunch of the photos ended up looking because it sometimes couldn't just take a photo.[/caption]

Several updates later, things have gotten better, but it's still rough around the edges and none of the updates since June have solved the problem that causes me to never wear Glass at home: the battery.

[caption class="attachment" align="aligncenter" width="474"]

http://youtu.be/lrubtbSkOMA
Captain America seemed pretty interested in Google Glass, but I didn't mention the battery problem to him.

[/caption]

The Worst Things About Glass: The Hate and the Battery I Hate

Tied for "Worst Thing about Google Glass" are the battery and the absurd backlash online and in the media against Glass.

The battery makes me scared to use it because I am worried the battery will die when I need it the most, say when capturing some unexpected event on video or in a photo. The battery dies really fast. Glass is going online to get my tweets and news updates and a bunch of other content and that kills the battery in a few hours. I have Dropbox installed on it and that probably makes it worse, but Dropbox uploading every photo and video I take is still no reason for the battery to drain almost completely. Especially when I am only taking a few photos and not doing anything else (not talking to it, not translating stuff, or watching videos or anything else, the vast majority of the time).

As a result, when I am home, I keep Glass plugged into the wall and not on my head. When I am out and about, I wear it, but often turn it off if I am in a supermarket or someplace else where I don't expect to need it. Of course, sometimes, I need it unexpectedly and thanks to slow boot times I end up just leaving Glass powered down and use my iPhone for what I need.

This is a problem Google needs to address, in my opinion. I didn't think the battery would be a problem, but it is. One thing Google also needs to deal with is the Glass-hate online and in the media. There are some seriously childish people out there who think that If you wear/use Glass, you're an asshole or that you look stupid.

They call us "Glassholes".

Haha! Get it? SO CLEVER.

[caption class="attachment" align="aligncenter" width="474"]

http://youtu.be/675EYDuG2ho
Peter Pan seemed to dig Glass just fine and Tinker Bell didn't even notice I was wearing it! What's wrong with all those Glasshaters out there on the intarwebs?

[/caption]

Last time I checked (right around grade school, I think it was) calling people names was what made you an asshole, not using a smart device with a totally new form factor. Sure, that may make me a nerd, but that's fine with me. You want to live in the past, that's your choice. I'd rather live in the future. I wish someone had said this to Daily Show corespondent, Jason Jones, when he did a piece a couple weeks ago on how dumb Glass is. He seemed perplexed as to why anyone would need or even want to wear a computer on their face. The Glass Explorers he had in the piece explained the most obvious benefit of Glass--that you don't have to reach in your pocket for your phone and then unlock it, and then find your app, etc. This is a good point, but doesn't cover what I think is the best reason for Glass.

Glass is for People with Brains that Adapt: in Other Words, People

Back in 2012, not long after Glass was first announced by Google, technologist Rod Furlan built his own version of Glass out of an HMD (Head Mounted Display) he found on eBay and an old iPod Touch. Writing about it on ieee.org in December of that year, he hit the "why" nail on the head:

When I wear my prototype, I am connected to the world in a way that is quintessentially different from how I’m connected with my smartphone and computer. Our brains are eager to incorporate new streams of information into our mental model of the world. Once the initial period of adaptation is over, those augmented streams of information slowly fade into the background of our minds as conscious effort is replaced with subconscious monitoring.

In short, it's a new way to be connected to the world. Furlan goes on to explore the idea of "augmented cognition" which is what these streams will allow us to do. That is to say that devices like Glass will augment our ability to know and understand things more quickly and more easily.

Think of it like that scene in "THE MATRIX" where Neo learns kung-fu by having it downloaded into his brain. While that's not possible yet (duh), right now you can call up video lessons on Glass to teach you kung-fu. In theory an app could be designed that could use Glass' sensors and camera to help you with practicing your various kung-fu moves.

In more practical terms, if you meet someone at a party you can quickly Google them to find out more about them. Or if you're a surgeon in the middle of an operation you could literally "phone a friend" and have a consulting surgeon watch from another city or country and consult on the operation. You could come across a person who needed CPR and within seconds have instructions on how to do CPR served directly to your eyeball, or even better, an EMT on the display walking you through the process live. Or if you get lost behind the wheel, ask Glass for directions.

I feel like the people who don't understand Glass are really unimaginative people who would rather not challenge themselves by examining new things that aren't easily understood. I can think of a couple names for people like this but I'll leave the name-calling to the schoolyard bullies.

[caption id="attachment_13117203379" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Daisy Duck found me on Deck 4 of the Disney Fantasy and asked for a photo--how could I refuse? And hey, she didn't seem to think I looked dorky wearing Glass![/caption]

Are those two things all there is to dislike about Glass? Sadly, no. There are the aforementioned bugs in the new OS, the fact that Glass heats up a lot when it's processor gets busy, and the (in my opinion) snail's pace at which new software is being developed for it. Oh and after taking Glass into humid climes, the foil on the prism is bubbling a bit, though that has yet to hinder it's functionality.

Should YOU Buy Google Glass Now that Anyone in the US Can?

I'd say yes, assuming you're a tech fanatic, like me, who can't wait for the future to get here alreadyyyyy!

However, if you're not like me, thanks to this iPod-style price-strategy Google seems to be employing here, you probably want to wait a few years to jump on the Glass bandwagon. Over a decade ago, when the iPod first came out, it was overpriced and underfeatured. It was a luxury item for early adopters who could see the direction the future was taking us in. I wasn't sure at first but finally jumped on the iBandwagon with a 20GB 3rd gen iPod--still priced at $400ish if memory serves. Slowly but surely, features got added with each new iPod model and the price came down, too. Now, 15 years on, iDevices are ubiquitous. I suspect that Google is planning on the same thing happening with Glass.

The future is here for some of us and it's damn cool.

Here are some fun Glass-related photos and videos I couldn't fit in anywhere above:

[caption id="attachment_13117195680" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Seriously, I have no idea why people think Glass makes you look stupid. This is actually a pretty slick-looking piece of tech.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_13117203377" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Captain America seemed very interested in Glass.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_13117203377" align="aligncenter" width="474"]Saluting with Captain America and Google Glass![/caption]

[caption class="attachment" align="aligncenter" width="474"]

http://youtu.be/EwG938HxT8Y
Having my photo taken with my wife and Daisy Duck aboard the Disney Fantasy back in April.

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[caption class="attachment" align="aligncenter" width="474"]

http://youtu.be/JuKqlijsywA
Here is what it looks like to sit in the front of a raft while riding the AquaDuck water ride on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship. Yes, I dared to take Google Glass with me on a water ride. Don't worry, it's not an excessively splashy water ride and Glass can take a bit of splashing just fine though I wouldn't recommend risking it more than a time or two. In fact, I enjoyed this footage so much, I went back at night! Have a look at that, here:
http://youtu.be/52P3FHng7a4

To follow my further adventures with Glass and all of my other gadgets, please follow my on Twitter, Instagram, or right here on thepete.com!

Please check out http://petesofficial.com if you're interested in checking out the stuff my hands and brain create!

Cheap little AC-to-USBx4 travel power #adapter charges all of my favorite #gadgets at once. #SWEET

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/mqvX_5yrpA/

Cheap little AC-to-USBx4 travel power adapter charges all of my favorite gadgets

Pretty stoked--I can charge all of my favorite devices with this one AC-to-USB adapter. pictured: Glass, iPad Mini, iPad 2, cable running to my 5s which I took the photo with (which was also charging). With a USB hub plugged in to the adapter I can also charge my Pebble and my Bluetooth headphones. Ah crap, forgot to include my Android tablet. I'm sure I can squeeze it in, as well.

The adapter was $8-and-change shipped from Amazon. It's build quality could be better, but it doesn't feel like it'll catch on fire. The only catch I found was when I plugged my iPhone docked and the dock plugged into both this and PC speakers. I could hear some nasty interference/buzzing when the music was quiet. But I never listen to music without headphones when I travel, which is what this adapter is for. Anyway, so if you're looking for a cheap way to charge a bunch of your USB gadgets, this seems like a good choice. I'm taking a two week trip next weekend and will report back if I have anything negative to say about the device.

You can order it right now from Amazon.

My Week with the Fitbit Force

[caption id="attachment_13117201768" align="aligncenter" width="560"] My wife's Fitbit Force (she didn't return hers as I did). It's displaying the number of calories she's burned today. The Force comes in two colors, black and "slate" (which is like a teal). Buy it on Amazon for $130. Photo courtesy of my wife.[/caption]

When I first read about the Fitbit line of fitness trackers, I was vaguely interested in them. I felt like they were cool enough but nothing I was particularly interested in. Then I read that they could monitor sleep patterns. That piqued my interest, since I'm just not very good at sleeping. If competitive sleeping was an Olympic sport, I would be so bad, I'd be the last kid picked in gym class.

So, I've been interested for a while in better understanding how I sleep. So, when my wife decided to get the Fitbit Flex, I thought to myself how much better the Flex would be if it actually functioned like a watch, as well. So, I took another look at the Fitbit line and found the Force. I decided to get one and my wife decided to exchange her Flex for one, as well, since I did the work of tracking two down at a Best Buy here in the city.

The End and the Beginning of Google Glass

[caption id="attachment_13117201712" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Self-Portrait with v1 Glass[/caption]So, for me the lure of Google Glass was threefold. First, I loved the form-factor and have long believed it would be the future of computing. Second, getting picked as one of the first 10,000 people to be allowed to purchase Glass was a big deal to me as a tech fanatic. Third, it would be a blast living on the bleeding edge of a genuinely new technology.

And it was a blast--I'd put on my Glass and I felt like I was living in the future looking at everyone else still living in the past. In the beginning, almost seven months ago for me, the sky was the limit with Glass. Google had said we should experiment and do what we wanted. As tech fanatic and a purely amateur hacker, I started scouring the wilds of the Internet for instructions on how to sideload full Android apps onto Glass so I could do more than the paltry Glass OS would let me do.

TheGlassLog: Sideloading real #Android Apps onto #Google #Glass and Livestreaming and Instagramming from Glass

[caption id="attachment_13117196222" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Believe it or not, Instagram works on Glass. It's getting it on there that's a pain (and even then, it's not perfect, but sooo close!)[/caption]

Ever since I first read that the OS that runs on Glass was a tweaked version of Android, I was curious about running real Android apps on it. As I've mentioned before, what Google calls Glass apps aren't apps in the traditional sense at all, but services. Sadly, many Glass devs are accepting of Google's misnomer and now refer to Android apps running on Glass as "native" apps, when really they should just be called "apps." But whatever. The point is, Glass is still cool and it's even cooler when you run real, full-featured apps.

So, last Saturday, I set about learning how to sideload and that's when things got interesting. But there was a complication I overlooked. Even if I could get the Ustream app to sideload and run (as indie-journalist Tim Pool has), how could I log in without a way to type in my login credentials? Whoops.

Well, this wouldn't be much of a post if I didn't work out how to do it. That said, keep reading to find out how I did.

WARNING: While some in the media call this procedure "hacking Glass," I call it "following instructions" and "standing on the shoulders of better devs than myself." Seriously. To learn how to do this, all I had to do was do Internet searches for what I wanted to do and do what others have already done. Well, almost... I did have to get creative with entering text, since most folks don't seem to mind dropping cash on Bluetooth keyboards (and then adding said keyboards to the gear they carrying around) when they don't really have to.

WARNING MARK 2: After doing everything you are about to read, I discovered that system sounds on my Glass became very quiet. For a few days, I thought they simply weren't playing. No swipe or tap sound effects, no chimes chiming when I take photos or shoot video or when new content arrives. But while troubleshooting, I discovered, I could hear them, but incredibly faintly. I can live without all of these sounds except for that new content chime. Since the Glass display doesn't turn on automatically when new content arrives (like I think it certainly should) I have to rely on the chime to let me know when new content arrives. I don't know what caused the audio volume to drop so much, but I suspect it has something to do with the new settings APK I installed. The weird thing is that is some areas, the audio is fine and the microphone level isn't changed at all in any areas. I'm still debating a factory reset. I may wait for XE8, the next version of the Glass OS to see if that will fix it. I may not.

DISCLAIMER: BY CONTINUING TO READ YOU AGREE THAT YOU CAN'T HOLD ME RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOUR GLASS. I am telling you what I've done and how I've done it for research purposes only and describe only my own experience. I hope things work as well or better for use than they did for me. However, you might just get really unlucky. I hope that doesn't happen, but if it does, it's not my fault. Keep reading if you agree.

TheGlasLog: Living in the Big Apple with Glass

Yesterday morning my wife and i were on our way to midtown for the day where we had various errands/meetings etc, together and on our own to do/have. As always when I go out, I was wearing Glass. On the way to the subway, a random stranger stopped us... and asked where the nearest subway station was.

Over the following afternoon of wearing it to Starbucks, Subway (the fast food place), and several other places with LOADS of humans, not one of them approached me about Glass.

Just before going home, I stopped off at Trader Joe's and had my Glass hanging around my neck by one of those strings designed for glasses. As the very energetic and hip cashier lady scanned my items, she pointed at my chest and said something I didn't understand.

"Sorry?" I said.

TheGlassLog: Why Google #Glass Needs a Lock Screen (and a lot more): Finding something like this in your stream:

[caption id="attachment_13117196197" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Of all the words Glass could have caught, it was this one. I don't even remember saying it.[/caption]

Of course, there are quite a few things that Glass needs but a lockscreen is definitely one of them. Sure, Mike DiGiovanni coded one and has made the code available (get the code here) but he hasn't made an APK of it available yet. While I do know how to sideload APKs onto Glass (I learned how to do it here, at the Applied GlassWare blog), I haven't educated myself enough to know how to compile code into an APK (that's the file extension for an Android app, in case you were wondering).

TheGlassLog: #Glassware review: #CNN for #Glass: Super Service, Kind of Crappy Content

[caption id="attachment_13117196162" align="aligncenter" width="560"] An example of a CNN card on Glass. Seems cool enough--and it is! No NYTimes-for-Glass-style disappointment here.[/caption]

The CNN service* for Glass is actually pretty awesome. It leaves New York Times for Glass in the dust, actually. You enable it like any other Google-sanctioned service (just go to your myglass page) but when the content shows up, you get a nice bang for your buck.

TheGlassLog: #Glassware review: The New York Times for #Glass is kind of pointless

[caption id="attachment_13117196155" align="aligncenter" width="560"] What you see when the New York Times delivers "content" to Glass.[/caption]

One of the first services* to become available and officially sanctioned by Google was the New York Times service for Glass. I get their daily headlines email so I thought this would be great. I'd get the headlines throughout the day as the stories broke rather than having to wait until the next morning, right? Well, not so much. In fact, it's almost like the New York Times service for Glass is a big tease.

TheGlassLog: #Glassware review: Twitter for #Glass needs work: UPDATED

[caption id="attachment_13117196131" align="alignright" width="300"] So, yeah, for some reason, when I have the Twitter service for Glass enabled, I get Tweets posted by just a handful of people. For some stranger reason, most of the tweets I get are from British comic book writer Warren Ellis. Having his Tweets delivered to my eyeball can be a mixed blessing. >_<[/caption]

So, there are two Twitter services* for Glass. One is officially sanctioned and visible on each Glass-user's myglass page on Google. Then, there is an unofficial service you can use called "Social Sharing for Glass" from Jon Gottfried. Though, I think it used to be called "GlassTweet" but was changed due to Google demanding no one use "Glass" in the title of their product. Regardless, neither Gottfried's nor the officially sanctioned service work very well. This may not be the fault of the devs, but the limitations of the current Glass OS. I'm coming at this from a user's perspective, so I can't comment on what is definitely going on behind the scenes.*

*This post has been updated with information to correct this issue! Please keep reading! Thanks!

TheGlassLog: Why owning Google #Glass (right now) isn't as Awesome as You Might Think

[caption id="attachment_13117196088" align="alignright" width="224"] Your humble TheGlassLogger skeptical but wanting to believe as he tries out Glass for the first time.[/caption]

If you're one of the many people who wish they had been able to pick up an Explorer Edition Glass device, you may want to consider yourself a little lucky. Don't get me wrong, I love my Glass. Taking photos and video is easier than with any device I've ever owned (and I've owned many cameras, including two pairs of dedicated video glasses). However, the software just isn't there yet and Google's UI is a bit too minimalistic to be practical when considering all the cool-as-hell stuff Glass is capable of doing.

In my last post on TheGlassLog, I described how Google Glass doesn't really run "apps" nor does it really use "cards". Both "apps" and "cards" are words Google uses to describe how Glass works. In my previous post, I described "apps" as "services" (because they are not really installed on Glass but are run on a server somewhere) and "cards" as "books" on a "bookshelf" (because Google's "cards" can come with interior content thus causing the "card" metaphor to fall apart).

All Your Eggs on One Bookshelf

Now, imagine the bookshelf I described in my last post. It's perpendicular and directly to the right of your head. Every service you enable for Glass delivers content to this bookshelf. This bookshelf is also where your texts, emails, photos and videos are kept. This, alone, can make for a very confusing jumble of content to navigate through. Now think about all those services you'll want to enable.

[caption id="attachment_13117196089" align="aligncenter" width="600"] What it looks like when you are swiping forward to go backward through the books on your shelf (aka your Glass stream). The thumb nails don't render quickly, so you really don't have much of an idea of what you're scrolling past.[/caption]

When I first got Glass, I enabled almost every service Google had officially sanctioned. Tumblr, Twitter, Google+, CNN, NY Times, and a few others. Suddenly, I had my texts, emails, photos, and videos mixed in with my Tweets, news updates and Japanese pop-culture posts.

[caption id="attachment_13117196090" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The myglass page features each service in it's own box. This is easy enough to use, but it's strange that there is no way to disable these services from Glass, itself. You can access this page from a browser on a mobile device (even an iOS device) or the MyGlass app on an Android device, but not Glass.[/caption]

In short, content on Glass is organized the way it is in a junk drawer. Only, this isn't junk--it's your content! You don't just toss all of the stuff you collect during your days onto a single shelf. You have different shelves for different types of things. It should be the same for Glass.

Here are some more examples of what swiping deep into your bookshelf looks like currently:

[caption id="attachment_13117196111" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Sometimes the icons for the types of files are visible, so that helps in navigating at least a little bit. But, honestly, not so much.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_13117196113" align="aligncenter" width="560"] When thumbnails for your files do start to show up, they're practically off the screen. As a result you have to just randomly stop swiping based on the relative dates that do show up. Of course, I hate relative dating--Google really needs to get more specific. How about marking off the nearest hour for the files created in that hour? Anything is better than only citing a 24-hour window.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_13117196114" align="aligncenter" width="560"] So, when you slow down while swiping through your bookshelf, thumbnails generate faster but by then it's too late for them to really be helpful. If you keep swiping you have to wait for thumbnails for the rest of your files to render. Of course, waiting for thumbnails is a pain on most devices. But really, it's not just Google that should have gotten past this problem by now, one would think, anyway.[/caption]

So, What's a Google to do About It?

The main bookshelf should be for your own stuff--like texts and email. Your photos and video need their own shelf. Then for news services, they should get their own shelf, too. Then your social networking needs to be on a separate shelf, too. Hell, better yet, these shelves should all be customizable.

Currently, the way you enable services for your Glass is by going to https://glass.google.com/myglass and flipping these little switches. Why not add a pulldown to allow us to decide what shelf each app should be displayed on?

As far as navigating these new shelves, how about swiping up or down? Currently, swiping up does nothing and swiping down functions like the "back" button on Android devices. So, fine, use a two-finger swipe-down to navigate between shelves. Sure, currently, a two-finger swipe-down puts Glass into sleep mode, but why not change that to a three-finger swipe-down?

Having all content on just one shelf is kind of absurd. In fact, it was the very first thing I complained about when I got Glass just over a month ago.

Hopefully, when the next Glass OS update comes in early August, we'll see this problem fixed. To me, it seems like one of the more obvious problems to solve.

Thanks for reading TheGlassLog! Next time I'll be reviewing the Twitter service for Glass. Missed any past posts in TheGlass Log? Read them here!

TheGlassLog: When an App isn't an App: How Google #Glass Really Works and How it Doesn't Run Apps

[caption id="attachment_13117196078" align="alignright" width="224"] Your humble TheGlassLogger learning how to shoot video by navigating the bookshelves of Glass at Google's "Glass Store" on the 8th floor above the Chelsea Market.[/caption]
Let me explain how Google has decided we should use Glass. Imagine you are standing next to a book case, perpendicular to it. It'a a book case that has one shelf and that shelf is exactly to the right of your head. When you tap the touchpad that is the side of the Glass device, itself, one of the books on the shelf slides out so you can see it. Google calls each of these "books" cards, but that's confusing to me for reasons that will become clear in a bit. So, I'm going to stick with calling them "books."


Swipe forward on the touchpad and the book is replaced by what ever book is behind you on the bookshelf. Swipe backward on the touchpad and what ever is in front of you on the bookshelf becomes visible. Just imagine each swipe is pushing those books forward or backward on the shell. The default book is always the Home Screen which displays the time and the phrase "ok glass" (you know, just in case you forget o_O).

C'est ne pas une App

TheGlassLog: My Most Favorite Thing About Glass Right Now

[caption id="attachment_13117195925" align="aligncenter" width="300"] You're lookin' at it! And so am I--sort of...[/caption]

So many people out there seem to think that Glass is supposed to be some perfect device. After all these months of it being in the hands of thousands of people (many of whom are writing on the web about their experiences) the media and some non-media types on the Internets are still expecting to be "blown away" by Glass. Simply, Glass won't blow you away unless you are reeeeally easily impressed. I'm not and wrote about the thing I hate most about Glass last week (You can also read my initial impressions of Google Glass, good and bad, as well). It's definitely easy enough to see the potential of the form factor, but the ONLY thing Glass does really well right now is take photos and video. Google would have you believe that it also allows you to share them with ease, but really, it only allows you to share them with people you know on Google+ with ease. Sharing with everyone else is kind of a pain in the ass.

So, is the camera my favorite thing about Glass right now?

TheGlassLog (TheGlassLog) Day 1

[caption id="attachment_13117195671" align="alignright" width="300"] My wife and I sitting in the lobby outside of Google's demo stations on the 8th floor of the Chelsea Market here in NYC.[/caption]

Immediate positives:

1) Glass is very cool. This platform, as expected, has a LOT of potential. Currently, it feels like much of the world is right there, waiting for your eyeball. Though, sadly, it's not as easy as it should be to get at it.
2) It's the Wild West in here--everything is rough around the edges and harder to use than the smart phones we're all comfortable with now. This makes it more cumbersome to use Glass than a smart phone, but it's also much more exciting to use it. I feel like anything is possible it's like living on the frontier.
3) Glass is super-comfy to wear. As of Day 1, I had no problem wearing it for hours. I had no headaches, no dizziness, and no discomfort at all.
4) It works well with Dropbox--but only when I connect it to my Mac. Strangely, Glass doesn't mount like removable media and my Win7 netbook refuses to see it or my Android phone or my DSLR because the MTP drivers won't load. The latter isn't the fault of Glass, however.
5) While the battery life doesn't weather Google+ Hangouts very well, it does recharge pretty fast. It's first recharge took just a few hours.
6) It was super-cool to watch a video from CNN on Glass. It was like the news was breaking on my face.


Immediate problems:

My @photosync_app Experience or How Not to Provide Customer Service

So, this just happened at getsatisfaction.com... well, it happened over the last couple of days, but it just finished.  PhotoSync is an iPhone/iPad/Touch app that allows you to sync your photos with various devices.  It worked well for me... until I tried to sync it with Box.net.  Here's how this mini-debacle started, with a post by me, on the getsatisfaction page for the PhotoSync app from the company, Touchbyte:

I’m annoyed
thepete 1 day ago

Can't sync with Box.net at all. Error msg insists login info wrong or dir missing.

I keep getting an error trying to sync with box.net. I have the correct login info and the destination directory does exist, despite the error message insisting the opposite. What's going on?

Seems straightforward enough, right?  Let's see how they do!  First, Helmut replies:

EMPLOYEE
Helmut Schottmüller (Official Rep) 1 day ago
Hi Pete,

I can only assume that this is a temporary problem with box.com
I just connected to box, created a folder, selected this folder as destination and transferred some photos. All worked fine for me.

Could you try to log out and log in to box again in the PhotoSync settings and try again? Maybe there is a problem with your login session.

If the error still exists can you provide us with the error message and the exact thing you're doing? (are you on Wi-Fi / Cell Transfer?, is a folder selected?, what is the error message?). Knowing this would be helpful to try to reproduce your issue.

Best regards,
Helmut

Kinda reminded me of that joke from "The IT Crowd" about how the first thing they say when someone calls is "did you try turning off and back on again."  Being a tech-head, of course, I did.

thepete 1 day ago

Well, this has been happening for months--since the CameraSync app first had Box support. Every time the app is updated I try again with the same results. Whether I pick a directory or not. I've unlinked my account and relinked it. My iPad is wifi only. See my earlier post for the error message. The only thing I can think of is that Box only lets paid accounts sync from 3rd party apps (or that it's some other condition my Box.net account doesn't meet). The strangest thing is that when I select a directory in my Box account while trying to sync photos, I get the same error message but I also find that inside the directory, there is now another directory with the same name. So, it's obvious my login info is fine and Camerasync can access the correct directory (and that it exists).

Strangely, the next reply I got wasn't from Helmut, but from another fellow named Hendrik who was listed with GS only as "EMPLOYEE" but luckily signed his reply with his name.  Here's how he replied:

EMPLOYEE
touchbyte GmbH (Customer) 20 hours ago

Hi,

are you sure you are requesting support for the right app. We are the developers of PhotoSync, not CameraSync:)

Cheers,

Hendrik

What a DOUCHE... ok, I don't blame him for assuming I may not be the brightest pixel in the display, but come on--couch your terms a bit, man! As someone with a bit of CSR experience, I felt obligated to dig into him and point out how paying customers should be treated--well, any customers, really. I mean, shouldn't you be concerned with the reputation of your company beyond the opinion of your customers? I mean, you want other customers, right? After all, this is THEIR app that I can't get to work and the Box.net sync has NEVER worked for me. Anyway, so here's how I replied:

thepete 19 hours ago
Um, yeah, it's not my fault you chose a name for your app that is so incredibly generic I can never remember it. Being jerky doesn't make me any happier that I paid for your app which doesn't work as advertised.

A little douchey? Sure, but he started it by assuming a typo on my part was the same thing as being so moronic as to not make sure I was complaining to the right people. Come on--don't assume (at least not out loud) that your customers are rock stupid.  You have to admit "PhotoSync" is a pretty damn generic name.  How about using some imagination for your app name.  You know, actually try and come up with something memorable.

Of course, if he had apologized, maybe by saying "sorry, I apologize if you thought I was being rude." I wouldn't be posting this blog post right now. Instead, here's what he says:

EMPLOYEE
touchbyte GmbH (Customer) 19 hours ago
Hi,

I was not jerky. There is in fact an app called CameraSync (that also has box.net support)-thats why I asked.
I just tested with a paid and unpaid box.net account and could transfer in both cases without any issues.
So I suppose there must be an issue with your acocunt (or a setting).
If you are unhappy, we always offer a refund. Please send us your mail-address to holtmann@touchbyte.com.

Cheers,

Hendrik

Nice, so offer the refund in the hopes that I'll go away and you won't have to actually try to fix my problem. What a weaselly thing to do. But not surprising. Of course, I don't just let it lie:

thepete 18 hours ago
When you ask a customer if they're even asking for support on the right product, the non-jerky thing to do is to preface your question by saying: "I don't mean to ask a silly question, but...." Without that you run the risk of your customer thinking he's being assumed a fool. Not generally the way customers like to feel (even if they are actually fools).

All that aside, you really should test your app a bit more thoroughly. Try it with other types of box.net accounts, not just yours. It's your responsibility to make sure that, when you say your app works with Box.net, it actually does. If it doesn't work for all types of accounts, then you should say so in the app description, preferably mentioning which account types it works with. If you think it's a setting that I need to change, find out what it is and tell me. Don't just leave me to figure out how to make your product work the way you say it should.

Abrasive? Yes. Inaccurate? No. Sure, he tried it with one other kind of account, but there are others.  And besides that, I am so sick of companies thinking they are entitled to my money and/or my patronage. It's their job to be nice to me, not vice versa. I'm being nice by using their product--they should be thankful I'm willing to. Instead, most companies these days treat the customer as though THEY are lucky the product or service even exists. Let me tell ya, if it weren't for your customers, your product or service couldn't continue to exist.

But, as I was tired of dealing with this douchebag from Deutschland, I decided to check out this other app he mentioned (the one I accidentally referred to) called "CameraSync."

thepete less than a minute ago
Heh--and wouldn't you know it--I tried out CameraSync and it works great. Links up with my Box.net account like it was nothing. Thanks!

Yep, CameraSync worked like a charm! It does cost a dollar more than PhotoSync and has a couple less features, but at least it doesn't tell me it's compatible with Box.net when it really isn't. In fact, it's a much easier app to use over all. PhotoSync does do a few more things (like sync to your computer or other iOS devices) but it's also a bit harder to use and is less intuitive. The CameraSync app only requires that you open the app and let it go, once you've got the login credentials entered. And the missing PC-sync is no big deal since it also supports Dropbox. So I can sync to that and voila! My pics appear on my PC.

So, let this be a lesson to customer service departments everywhere:

BE NICE. Take on the burden of being an idiot so your customer doesn't have to. They'll be much more likely to not talk shit about you.  Or not and you might lose a customer or worse.

Draw Every Day for January 9, 2012: How Was This Ever Enough?!?

My old 5G iPod still functions, though the battery doesn't hold a charge.  Sad how I got the note backwards on the iPod screen.  Stupid.  Did the whole thing from memory (obviously) well, except for the symbols on the click wheel.

Ballpoint Adventures for January 6, 2006: This is the secret to dealing with all tech snooping!

But it also illustrates the absurdity of the snooping--the only way to avoid it is to not use the device.  It would be easier if companies (and the government) would simply not snoop.

The way we’ll all be getting around in the future?  From discoverynews:

Poo-Fueled Motorcycle

The country’s leading toilet maker, TOTO, has created Toilet Bike Neo, a talking hybrid toilet-motorcycle that runs entirely on — you guessed it — human waste.

Read more

Is that a toilet seat flipped up?  So, you literally use it as a toilet???  Well, as long as it comes with some sort of privacy shield, I suppose it’s fine. I mean, how embarrassing that would be!  You’re zooming down the highway when suddenly you run out of fuel.  NO PROBLEM!  You had Mexican food for lunch!  So, you just pull over and start to, uh, refuel, and then you get arrested for indecent exposure!!

I sometimes wonder about these “scientists”. :|

It turns out that the legendary inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla...

“It turns out that the legendary inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla (1856 to 1943) predicted mobile phones in 1909. In an interview with the New York Times (pictured below), published in Popular Mechanics, Tesla states that “It will soon be possible, for instance, for a business man in New York to dictate instructions and have them appear in type in London or elsewhere. He will be able to call from his desk and talk with any telephone subscriber in the world. It will only be necessary to carry an inexpensive instrument no bigger than a watch, which will enable its bearer to hear anywhere on sea or land for distances of thousands of miles.”

-Nikola Tesla predicted mobile phones in 1909 - Recombu

Nikola Tesla is history’s best kept amazing secret.  It’s a crime how little we hear about this guy.  Sure Edison may have invented the light bulb but without Tesla, only the rich could afford to light their homes with them.

Tesla created Alternating Current—that’s the stuff that comes out of your wall outlet.
Yeah, Tesla rocks.