What’s going on with the Tech Bottle blog?

Admittedly, it’s been a long, long time since I last updated the Tech Bottle blog. It’s not that I’ve fallen months behind on technology.  I have been reading and interacting with tech enthusiasts but I haven’t been posting here.  A New Years resolution is to keep the blog updated on at least a semi-regular basis. Here’s what I’ve been doing and what’s caught my eye:

• I’m still a big supporter of Google Buzz. I think it is intelligently designed and well executed. I tend to read much more than I write on Buzz but I have been getting back in the swing of things. It’ll hopefully be rolled into the rumored Google Me service which apparently goes by the code name Google +1 now.
• I’m also liking Quora and Diaspora quite a bit. Quora is a Q&A forum of sorts. It’s like Yahoo! Answers, in a way, but Quora is populated with real techies and entrepreneurs.  Diaspora is the “open” alternative to Facebook.  Readers of my blog know that I’m not a big fan of Facebook. Diaspora has better privacy settings and it’s more intuitive to use than Facebook.  Quora is open to all but Diaspora is by invitation only (I think… I tried confirming but they are upgrading their servers… a much needed chore for them).
• I’m still running Ubuntu linux at home.  I am pleased to report that I haven’t had to boot Windows or virtualize Windows even once since converting to Ubuntu nearly six months ago. Oh, in Ubuntu I’ve been toying with MythTV which is pretty darn cool but difficult to set up.  I also revitalized a 333 MHz old Dell machine with 256 megs of RAM by installing Ubuntu. It’s usable but, well, not quite snappy enough for my liking.
• I’ve downloaded the Dell build of Chromium OS but I need to clean up and fix a USB stick to try it out.
• I’m eagerly awaiting the HTC Thunderbolt, which is rumored to be Verizon’s first 4G/LTE phone.Tell me this isn’t a great looking Android phone?  I have an upgrade saved up on my account.  The only thing that would keep me away from the Thunderbolt would be an encrypted bootloader that would make rooting and custom ROMing the phone impossible (or, at the very least, extremely difficult).
• Also in the mobile industry, I see RIM slipping further into irrelevance.  They announced a switch to a completely new OS built from an operating system designed for touchscreen GPS standalone devices. The new OS won’t be available for a long time (my guess, over a years… 2012) yet they’re still selling OUTDATED Blackberry OS devices like the Torch (major flop) to keep revenue going. Goldman Sachs downgraded RIM’s stock not too long ago. Oh, and RIM has a dual core tablet in the works that some are touting but others are already criticizing (mostly re: battery life).
• The CR-48 Chrome netbook looks great to me but I haven’t been able to score one. I’ve been reading about it on Buzz from those lucky few who received them.

That’s all folks.  Expect more in 2011.  Have a happy and healthy new year.

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