So, Amazon is announcing their fancy Amazon web services system. This is supposedly so that "developers [get] direct access to Amazon's robust technology platform."

Well, as someone who uses the Alexa traffic data on a regular basis, I can tell you one thing - Alexa is apparently running on some separate "platform" that really really sucks.

Note: "sucks" is a pretty strong and immature word, but it's the word to use online when you think someone has a bad idea. So, if that's off-putting, get over it. Or start a "sucks sucks" site.

Recently I was asked what I thought of Angie's List. Frankly, I had no idea. I was told it was a pretty neat list that has good ratings of local retailers. The idea is that you are looking for advice on a company to hire for a service (e.g. car repair) so you check Angie's List and see the advice and ideas of other users who have used the site. It's basically like Better Business Bureau, City Search, or one of thousands of other local directories. Many of these directories are broken: biased reviews, paid inclusion, incomplete information, etc. This is where Angie's List claims to be different. They use "only" consumer generated content and require a "small fee" to keep the reviews unbiased.

For a little while now Google has been offering a payment for referrals of an IE user that result in a "Firefox with Google Toolbar" installation. (that links to information about the program, not a link that would make me money).

Firefox Flicks is starting up a new sponsorship drive to get their ads on TV. If you get in early enough and for $10 then your name will appear in the ad.

I sponsored the Daredevil add because it has such a great feeling to it. It reminds me of indulgent time spent in recreating as the sun goes down. It's the california equivalent of spending a day rock climbing in Eldorado and then coming home to a nice hot shower (and beer). And the music is pretty fun, too.

So, what is the future of video?

I've discussed this a little bit before and more directly gave a practical example of how Google and YouTube etc. are going to p0wn cable networks and then today I found yet another example of the shift.

Here's a handy little "cheat sheet" that tells you what all the SVN status codes mean. I was tired of doing

svn status

? files/small.txt
? files/small_0.txt
M boards/phorum/cache
M boards/phorum/include/db/config.php

man svn

So I made this simple little sheet. Print it out. Stick it on the wall. In a month, you know the codes and throw it away (or better yet, give it to your friend who is learning SVN).

Dear Google,

I'm writing to remind you that you are a search company. You make the computer do stuff for me because my time is more valuable than the time of your server-farm-borg. I was looking for this which I get in my feed of cvs commits but I couldn't find it. Finding stuff is your job, ok. So, please start keep doing it in all of your products.

Thanks, you're the bestest!
Greg