Time for the usual raft of Thursday Q&As, starting with The Thursday Thumb-Twiddler:

1. What is one event in the future whose outcome you would like to know right now? Hrm. I don't even know what events one can reliably predict will happen, let alone their outcome. My first inclination would be to take some sort of "gamble" item and make money off it -- find out the stock listed as highest earner for the last half of 2003 and then invest like crazy in it, find out the next PowerBall or California Lottery winning number, the next Kentucky Derby winner, etc. That doesn't seem particularly ethical, but practical.

2. If you were exiled from your country, and had only limited financial resources, where would you try to rebuild your life? I'd look real hard at the various English-speaking nations around. I'd probably go with Canada, simply because it would be easier for my family to visit me. Australia, NZ, and the UK would be alternatives. But, really, I'd rather not have to make that choice.

3. An eccentric millionaire hires you to spend $10 million to help society. What would you do with it? Jeez, where to start? I'd probably end up choosing some sort of adult literacy program. Reading is fundamental.

Then there's the Thursday Threesome:

Onesome- Coffee: Do you drink coffee? If so, do you ask for brewed or do you prefer the fancy espresso drinks? What's your flavor? I drink usually 4-5 cups of coffee a day at the office. When I dine out, it's usually a cup or two after dinner (caffeine doesn't bother me). We'll sometimes brew a pot at home, especially on weekend mornings.

When we go to Starbucks (or Panera), I'm all over the fancy-shmancy Frappacino types of drinks, hot or cold. In the office I drink the Vanilla Nut flavor, and we keep various flavored coffees at home. In restaurants, I usually limit myself to regular old coffee (with lots of cream and sugar).

Twosome- Tea: Do you drink tea? Hot or iced? Regular, herbal or flavored? Ice Tea (not sweet) is my non-alcoholic drink of choice when dining out at lunch on business. I drink hot tea sometimes in the office, as a break from coffee -- usually a flavored black tea of some sort.

Threesome- Or Me?: Ok, not really me! Seriously, what's your favorite beverage? Alcoholic or non, healthy or not? "Something cold, with lots of ice cubes on it." I drink a variety of sodas at home, most often during games. I also enjoy a beer (usually wheat); in bars, Blue Moon is my usual order, esp. if they have it on tap. On the other hand, I also enjoy wine, either red (Zin, Cab) or white (Riesling). Or fruit juice. Really depends, I guess.

And, finally, 3xThursday:

Hypothetically speaking imagine if some one really important like Bill Gates, The Pope or Adam West put you in charge of improving the personal computer.

1. What is the biggest problem with the current personal computer that you would address first? The biggest problem is that data is simply not portable enough. Part of this has to do with issues of broadband to the home; part of it is the lack of single-signon and inexpensive biometric devices; and part of it is that M$ is a large enough player in the PC world that it can sort of impose standards (rather than adopting standards), but not a large enough player to do so completely, so that we get a mishmosh of data formats, interchange methods, and, damnit, I can't get access to everything I have everywhere I want.

The second biggest is that it is still too hard for folks to do basic activities. Of course, part of that is just some folks being stupid, but intelligent, untrained individuals should be able to do basic functions (IM, browsing, e-mail, memo-writing, checkbook balancing) without extensive training and retraining.

2. Who would you pick to help you improve the PC? Who would you like to have in your corner to help you make the decisions I have no problems with pulling in folks like Gates and Jobs for their input and creativity. I just want someone other than them (me) making the final call.

3. How would you change the hardware? What would the PC of the future look like and how would people use it? I think tablet computing, joined with voice recognition (both words, meaning, and individuation) are critical for computing devices to become more ubiquitous than they already are. For a computer to replace a steno pad, a book, a phone, etc., it needs to be as easy to do the same things (in the same places) as those items do. Battery life needs to be wildly extended. Wireless networking needs to be reliable, high-speed, pervasive, and cheap.

Bonus Question for Comments: Should I get a notebook for my next Computer or a desktop with a LCD flat screen? If you don't expect to move it from where it is, go for a desktop. If you want something you can take on vacation, or work on in the basement, or bring over to a friend's house, go for the notebook.

Filed under :: Personal Q&A
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