Technology, music, sports, and anything else that comes to mind.

Well, dear readers, I promised to get back to you and let you know if I ever made the switch from Google Gmail and Google Calendar to the MobileMe suite, and now that it’s been a year, I figure I better let you know what happened.

Well, this is pretty simple folks. MobileMe has done absolutely nothing to convince me to transition from the Google application suite. MobileMe kind of reminds me of plain vanilla ice cream. Not the kind made with natural vanilla but the kind that has a yellowish tint made from imitation vanilla. It seems that at some point, my expectations for web applications has gone well beyond the customer that Apple is aiming to please.

It seems that Google is on the other end of the spectrum. It constantly works to improve its applications and produces impressive web applications using the latest technologies. That’s not to say that Apple isn’t doing the same with MobileMe, but the functionality that Apple produces is so simplified that it seems like something that was introduced five years ago. I’m sure there is a market for that type of thing, but it’s not a market I fit in anymore.

So, why am I sticking with Google? Well, it’s all about innovation and it’s all about standards. As I said before, Google seems to constantly improve its mail, contacts, and calendar programs. It is a leader in providing communications solutions like Google Talk and Google Voice. It is constantly on the cutting edge.

What’s even more interesting is that Google supports industry standards so thoroughly. Want to use any modern email program to access your Gmail account? No problem, Google has you covered with POP and IMAP. Want to use a modern calendar application to access your Google Calendar? No problem, Google has you covered with CalDAV.

Needless to say, I am still in the Google camp, and I am deeply entrenched at this point. Gmail (including chat), Google Calendar, Google Voice, Google Docs, YouTube, etc. It is going to take something so magical and so game changing to claw me away from Google that only one company on the planet has the ability to pull it off.

Come on Apple, MobileMe is not nearly good enough. Impress me! Convince me that you have the creativity and ability to produce something so game changing yet so right that everyone will want to use your web applications. You’ve clearly done it with the iPhone. Now do it one the web.

Good morning all. I have been wanting to test out the newest version of AIM for iPhone to see if the push notifications really work as they suggest, and I am quite happy to report that they absolutely do.

What does this mean to you? Well, if you often send SMS messages to people with an iPhone or BlackBerry (and many other phones), this means that you can send messages via AIM in real time using your data plan instead of using your alloted SMS messages.

Additionally, AIM for iPhone allows you to send SMS messages for free to any of your iPhone contacts with mobile numbers via your AIM account. So not only can you communicate on the AIM network using your data plan, you can also communicate using SMS via AIM using your data plan. This seems to me like a great way to avoid spending money on an extra SMS plan.

What makes this extra special nice is that you can also communicate in real time with your AIM buddies using their computers as well. Can this get any better?

There are two versions of the AIM app on the iTunes Store: a free version supported by ads and a $2.99 version with no ads and landscape keyboard capabilities. For some, $2.99 is a small price to pay for a landscape keyboard.

Happy messaging!

I have been using Blogo to post to Twitter and this blog for some time now, and it really is an amazing piece of software.

One thing that is really nice is the Safari integration. For example, when I am viewing a Flickr photostream, set or tag page, I can click the Send to Blogo bookmark, and Blogo is smart enough to ask if I would like to include a link or a slideshow (see below). Blogo also has built in support for other sites like YouTube. Very nice.

• Hey Southwest! During the morning rush, you should probably make sure all of you computers work. Just a thought . . .. #
• Rental company suggests 2.5 hours before flight but opens only 1 hour before first flights of day. Make sense to anyone? #

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• I am convinced Congress does not understand Wall Street compensation. It’s easy; everyone is paid as if they were in sales. Top to bottom. #

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• Heading to the office for the first time in a year for some intensive product training. Looking forward to seeing the new office and people. #
• Bruce, no Rosalita? What’s the deal, man? #
• Watching SportsCenter realizing I missed a really, really good game. #

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• Had crappy pizza in Vegas out of boredom. Now In-N-Out is not in the cards. Very sad. #
• I still cannot believe the only place to watch the game in the Vegas airport is in the jam packed Tequileria. Lame! #
• On the plane. Taking off soon. First leg to Vegas then on to San Diego. Miss the direct flights to SD. #
• I must be on the only full flight out of STL today. Rest of airport is empty for the most part. #
• Sitting at lovely Lambert St. Louis Airport waiting for my flight. This place is dead. Must be Super Bowl Effect. #
• Still coming to grips with the fact that I scheduled my flights today so I will be in the air for the entire Super Bowl. #
• Out with Adler stocking up for the week. Store is pretty busy this morning. #

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