With the exception of Microsoft and its Windows operating system, there is no other technological brand that I use more than Google. There is hardly a day that passes that I don't use some Google product or service. I regularly check my Gmail throughout each day. I use Google search to find information on just about any subject I care to look up. The Google image search also comes in quite handy (see some of the pictures posted below). I share various documents through Google Docs, an incredibly handy feature to use on class projects. I was using Google to search for popular brands to write about before it hit me that I could write about Google itself. Even this blog is written using the Google service Blogspot/Blogger.
I have Google applications for my mobile phone, too. In fact, anything I might do on a regular desktop or laptop computer, I can probably do it on my phone. One prominent service that I use often is the maps feature on my iPhone which is powered by Google Maps. Another application involves voice-based search; instead of typing in a search query, I can just speak into the microphone what I want to look for, and Google's voice recognition software will translate what I say into a search query.
The fact that everything is free is just the icing on the cake. Whenever I think of Google, two words come to mind--"free" and "useful." My only potential concern with Google involves the amount of information that Google gathers about me as an individual. While I'm enjoying everything Google has to offer, the same can be said about Google enjoying everything I have to offer. Still, it's become a trade-off I'm willing to accept.
Even with all of the information that Google gathers (whether I give it voluntarily or involuntarily), the Google brand still makes me feel "safe." Maybe it's the whole "Do no evil" catch phrase that Google supposedly adheres to, or maybe it's because Google's products are just so pragmatic and useful--either way, the Google suite of products and services will likely continue to have a prominent use in my life.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The BS of the BCS
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is the system put in place to decide on which two college football teams will compete in the National Championship Game at the end of each college football season. The system itself is comprised of a variety of polls with both computer and human elements. At the end of the season, the two top-ranked teams in the BCS system play each other for the national championship.
The issue, however, is that there's always an argument that one team that was left out of the championship game was more deserving than one of the teams that did make it into the game. For instance, this past year the Oklahoma Sooners played in the title game; the Texas Longhorns, however, were left outside looking in despite having an identical win-loss record as well as having beaten the Sooners on a neutral site earlier in the season. Other teams have been left out in the past as well with no chance to play for the national title even though the teams' bodies of work would indicate that they should have a shot. Auburn was left out of the title game several years ago after going undefeated in what is considered to be the toughest conference in college football. Plus, if a team is not a member of one of the six major conferences, they have pretty much absolutely no chance to play in the title game, regardless of their body of work.
One of the biggest calls for a change come from people in favor of a playoff system, not unlike the mega popular NCAA basketball tournament. The argument goes that it is better to let the teams compete on the field to decide the national champion as oppposed to letting "experts" and arbitrary rules decide. The Onion, as sharp as ever, recently published an article satirizing the BCS as compared to the NCAA basketball tournament. Despite being a "fake" article, the satire perfectly captures what many BCS opponents are feeling.
These days when the term BCS comes up, college sports fans (including myself) immediately think of a complicated and severely crippled system that hardly ever makes much sense. Unfortunately, the money involved will likely keep the BCS system in place for the foreseeable future. Only when fans stop buying what the BCS is selling will a serious change come about.
The issue, however, is that there's always an argument that one team that was left out of the championship game was more deserving than one of the teams that did make it into the game. For instance, this past year the Oklahoma Sooners played in the title game; the Texas Longhorns, however, were left outside looking in despite having an identical win-loss record as well as having beaten the Sooners on a neutral site earlier in the season. Other teams have been left out in the past as well with no chance to play for the national title even though the teams' bodies of work would indicate that they should have a shot. Auburn was left out of the title game several years ago after going undefeated in what is considered to be the toughest conference in college football. Plus, if a team is not a member of one of the six major conferences, they have pretty much absolutely no chance to play in the title game, regardless of their body of work.
One of the biggest calls for a change come from people in favor of a playoff system, not unlike the mega popular NCAA basketball tournament. The argument goes that it is better to let the teams compete on the field to decide the national champion as oppposed to letting "experts" and arbitrary rules decide. The Onion, as sharp as ever, recently published an article satirizing the BCS as compared to the NCAA basketball tournament. Despite being a "fake" article, the satire perfectly captures what many BCS opponents are feeling.
These days when the term BCS comes up, college sports fans (including myself) immediately think of a complicated and severely crippled system that hardly ever makes much sense. Unfortunately, the money involved will likely keep the BCS system in place for the foreseeable future. Only when fans stop buying what the BCS is selling will a serious change come about.
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