Well, that is what Robert X. Cringely thinks.

Cringely makes some serious points.  Google -- at $700 per share -- is a very secretive company that dominates a large part of the web space.  I know that I spend many of my hours working with clients on Search Engine Optimization -- a specialty that Google literally created with their search engine rules.

The problem?  Google doesn't publish any rules on optimizing your site for their search engine.  It's really an art.

Their behavior is very much like Microsoft's when it comes to business partnerships.  I know this all too well -- as a product manager for InterAct Accessories in the 1990s, I saw how Microsoft liked to bring in "potential" partners, then steal their ideas.

Microsoft plays for keeps.  So does google, especially when it comes to web advertising.

It's something to keep in mind.  We could very easily see a dichotomy build up, with Microsoft's virtual monopoloy on the desktop versus a Google monopoly on the Net.  Soon enough, we could have a substantial oligolopy that breaks down innovation and harms the consumer experience.

Be sure to read the article. Cringely is smart, and sees things a lot of others don't.

I recently started trying out the new Amazon Unbox service in conjunction with my much-beloved TiVO.

Unbox is a neat service which allows you download videos to your TiVO or your PC at a very low cost.  From a rental perspective, the price isn't as good as what you would get with Netflix or Blockbuster.  But from a purchase standpoint, it's pretty good.

The one downside, though, is that the downloads aren't "immediate".  Depending on the speed of your connection, it could take some time to download the video to your system.  Because of the bizzarre way that TiVO has to encode video for display, it's pretty much a 1:1 download.  A one-hour show will take you at least an hour to download.

But that is the only drawback I have seen so far, other than the limited library.

Give it a try... I am sure you will like it.

Once again, the mighty Scott Adams nails the complete and total idiocy of today's approaches to IT and interactive technology management in today's Dilbert cartoon.

All I can is that I live this every day of my life.  It makes truck driving school look attractive.

I am adding a poll question to the site.  Should we add a message board to the Gunpowder Chronicle?

Now, if I do decide to add a message board, I would most certainly require registration to post on it, and posts would probably be moderated.

If you have ideas on what forums we should have, post them as comments here. I am interested to hear what my readers have to say.

If there is interest, I'll do it.

Well, Runaround Sue has re-appeared over at his old blogspot address.  And he is claiming once again that the hackers are ruling the roost.  Only his story today has shifted.  Yesterday, they were "tracking down IP addresses".  Today, he "needs to contact our server and find out what the problem is".

But wait, I thought you and your host were teaming up to bring down the big bad mighty hacker. Today, you can't get in contact with them?

Very suspicious, very suspicious indeed.  Which story is it, Runaround Sue?  Or is this just another one of those claims like you will root out and expose the real Fightin4th?  Because we know it is never your fault.   Nothing you ever do could cause a shutdown. Like maybe violating the Terms of Service of your host.  Or being so amaturish that you can't even optimize a couple photos so you don't suck the bandwidth out of people's connections.

Runaround Sue's sbynews.com has been suspended.  At 11:33 pm, the site is showing the following:

This Account Has Been Suspended

Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.

Runaround Sue is now claiming that someone is trying to hack his site, and they are tracking down the IP addresses as they speak.  Hmm... so did they issue subpoenas for that information yet?

The reality is that his site is slow because he is a complete and utter moron who does not know how to scale and optimize images -- or use tools like Picasa or Flickr -- to do it for him.

With the news that the newest shuttle in the fleet -- Endeavour -- has a gouge in its heat shield, I think it is time to ground this white elephant.  Space exploration should move on, but the nonsense of a re-usable orbiter is long since been proven stupid.

Do you know the nine scariest words in America?

"I'm from the government, and I am here to help."

Ronald Reagan's famous quip has been repeated often, and it has never been more true.

Niall Ferguson, a noted British author, spreads Fear, Uncertainity and Doubt over at The Telegraph  while worshiping at the alter of the oft-discredited Malthus.  Ferguson, in traditional modern British style, forgets the influence of markets (good and bad) and the results of well-intentioned but stupid policies on the part of government in claiming that our bigger worry should be about grain, not oil.