Google Pushes Update To My Favorite Productivity App. But Will Google Keep Survive?

The Awesome App

Those of you who've seen me on my phone may know how much I LOVE my Google Keep app (also here) for productivity and note-taking -- both on the desktop and on the go.

• It offers voice-typing AND transcription from any screen on your Android with one tap (Evernote doesn't). 
• It syncs seamlessly with the web app. 
• It's fast. 
• And it makes searching and archiving notes incredibly easy (think Gmail-easy, Google-smart).

Yesterday Keep gave me a pop up where it showed two conflicting versions of the same note (i.e. two notes containing slight differences) and it allowed me to select which one I want to keep. AWESOME!

This had been a huge issue in the past, especially with too-frequently unreliable networks (at least too frequent for on-the-fly edits to important notes). I'd make edits in the mobile app (let's call that v2 of the note), and lose connectivity unknowingly. The edits would get saved only locally on the mobile device, and, still unaware that they weren't synced, I'd go and make new edits on the desktop app. Thing is, I'd be making those edits to v1, and thus creating a v3, not realizing that all my edits from the mobile app (on v2) were never saved, and would -- poof! Be gone. Google Keep never saw the edits I made in v2, and behaved as if it had overwritten them entirely. Huge issue.

Once I finally realized what was going on, I got smart and jerry rigged a solution: I would copy-paste-all of my new note (v2), and then save it in a Gmail compose window until my network decided to behave again and I could replace v1 one with v2. It's not difficult to see why this was incredibly cumbersome. (And I still stuck with the app! I must have really liked the other features...)

So Keep took a page (if you'll permit the pun) from MS Word, and gave us (insert choir singing heavenly "aaah!"): version control. Totally. Rad.

And then today, we got this!

The new features are as follows:

• Printed text in images will now be searchable (what?!)
• The list capabilities have been greatly improved (you can turn a non-checklist into a checklist and choose whether crossed out items stay in their place or move to the bottom - combining one feature of Gmail Tasks and improving on it), AND 
• There is now even a Trash, so you have more than just the "Undo deleted note" feature of the past. 

These are AWESOME features. So I've got my fingers crossed that this means Google will start supporting the app a bit more (or a lot more) than they have since it was released (which was about a year ago, a week after Google Reader was sunset.)

One big, looming question is, when will there be a comparable iOS app? Currently, there are only 3rd party apps, and they're pretty shoddy. They give Keep (less than) nothing on Evernote (in iOS *only*). 

I want to surmise Google's own iOS version is on the horizon, but every iPhone user who's seen my Keep wants to switch to Android. So maybe it's better they not release the iOS app? Could a single app win over a good portion of an entire ecosystem?

The Big Worry

The other big question, of course, is whether this app will survive Google's bigger plans, regardless of its popularity. 

Google ticked off millions of users (exact figures vary) when it sunset the crazy-popular Google Reader after 8 long years of passionate romance between user and product (that's 80 years in Internet terms). They only gave users 4 months to migrate their content.

In spite of Google's assertion that the sunsetting was due to declining use (see plenty of evidence to the contrary), Reader is widely believed to have been sunset in order to redirect consumption and sharing to Google Plus (and to bring over all those Reader users) in a competitive bid against the only real behemoth in the space of purely social networks (Facebook, in case you live under an actual rock). As a former Googler, I can neither confirm nor deny those claims (NDA), but I do choose content for my blog carefully. 

At the moment (and as a private citizen with no inside info), I don't see Keep being part of a larger strategy to break into some segment Google's tentacles aren't already gripping quite firmly. But it's early yet, and anyone's guess. 

What do you think? 

Will Keep release an iOS app? Or will Google count on the Android app to convert the luddites of the War of the Mobile Platforms (aka iOS users)? 

What's the likelihood of Keep being sunset after years of fruitful love affairs with many happy users? (Insert polyamory joke here.)

Feel free to comment below.

Got a Linguist-Friend? A Survival Guide for Laypeople

As a linguist and general lover of language, I often end up talking with people about language. Many people complain to me about their various linguistic pet peeves, often while displaying a lack of awareness of their own "misuse" of language. All of this makes for some amusing situations. (I usually don't point it out - because that would be condescending and annoying.)

If you were to ask a linguist about "misuse," they might actually tell you there isn's such a thing as "misuse" in natural language. Why? Well, there are two key qualities that virtually every linguist possesses, yet they run directly counter to one another:

1. Our profession's only mantra - and it's an important one - is: "be descriptive, not prescriptive" about language and its use. (What a layperson may call "misuse," a linguist would merely describe as a person's idiosyncratic dialect, their "idiolect.")
2. In terms of our adherence to rules of grammar, all linguists can fairly be labeled "grammar Nazis." 

As you might imagine, these two directly-conflicting driving forces can easily become the perfect recipe for a minor existential crisis in your linguist-friend.

The Conflict and the Angst

These two qualities might be the most fundamental aspects of being a linguist.

On the one hand, we are way into language, so we generally know how to use it. Many of us have been fascinated with (or fixated on) language and its patterns since way before we officially declared our courses of study. As such, we are peeved when we see errors. We are true grammar Nazis. (And you are all but guilty subjects in our plot for total world domination through grammar superiority. Kidding. Kinda.)

On the other hand, given that "be descriptive, not prescriptive" is the professional standard, we are technically not supposed to tell people (prescribe) how to use language, but only to describe how they use it.

So naturally, the grammar Nazi impulse come into conflict with the professional mantra. We are only supposed to describe how people speak, but there is this internal impulse, bred in us for years (in equal parts by teachers, parents, and our own arrogance), to correct something if it doesn't meet the standard definition of "proper language." (Though, as it turns out, such superiority complexes are not reserved for linguists alone).

The Facts

To be or not to be?

The truth is, language change is natural. Languages have evolved just as species have, and as natural mutations occur in living beings, so do they also in language. 

For example, have you ever stopped to consider how crazy the verb "to be" is compared to something like "to call?" 

Whereas "to call" is conjugated like this:

I call

You call

S/he/it calls 

and so on,

The verb "to be" is ALL over the place: 

I am

You are

S/he/it is

and so on. 

So what is the DEAL with "to be?" Was it ever normal like the majority of our verbs?

The answer is that it probably was. But through the long course of the English language (and indeed, any language), the verb "to be" has been used much more than almost any other verb - and as a result, it's experienced a ton of mutations. So today, it looks the way it does. 

But what about the rest of the dictionary?

Some version of this morphing basically happens with all words. 

As a matter of fact, the reason there are so many exceptions to language rules both in pronunciation and in grammar (e.g. "call - called," but "think - thought," not "think - thinked") is because our language - and all languages - have undergone so many changes over time that are independent of how people want them to behave, and instead reflect how people actually use language.

Language evolves on its own, through use, and through the mouths of many - almost regardless of what we may want it to do. 

Consider the fact that "ain't" is already in our vocabulary. It's still not part of the prestige dialect, i.e. the formal written language of English, but that's a matter of social winds, and may change some day.

This has already happened with oodles and oodles of words - like 'teenage,' 'computer,' 'kooky,' 'jargon,' 'to Google,' and countless others - those are just the ones that have entered the language in the past 100 years. There are words that didn't exist 200 years ago, 300 years ago, 451 years ago, and so on. (Source: etymonline.com) And of course, there is the indomitable 'twerking.'

Of course, writing language down and teaching it through writing helps preserve some aspects. (There are far more factors besides writing that influence the natural evolution/preservation of language, like other contact languages, technology developments, etc.).

However, what I want you to walk away with, is that, rules or no rules, language change is as natural as is its preservation.

There IS no "right" way to speak. There's only the way group X or person Y says it, or the way group Z or person W says it, and so on.

Language is a living, breathing thing. It evolves as it is used, and it sometimes ends up in the form that is most pervasively used - not the form that is prescribed by stuffy scholars in ivory towers (ahem, ahem). 

The Resolution

So when I say "misuse," I say it with a wry smile and a grain of salt - because although there are prescribed rules, there is technically no wrong way to use a language. As long as there is mutual intelligibility, and speakers are able to communicate, variations in language (to linguists) are (or ought to be) merely interesting.

Linguists, of course, have years of grammar-Nazi training working against us in this respect, and formal training is supposed to ease our existential angst a bit.

But if you ever get a pensive look (or, more likely, a lengthy explanation) when you ask a linguist what the 'the right way' to say something is, remember that all this backstory is working its way through our minds at that moment. Our impulse might be to tell you the "right" way, but we're trying our darndest to, instead, provide you with a more thoughtful, nuanced answer.

Do you have your own "Friendships with Linguists" survival tips?  Please post them in the comment section.

(NB: For more new words for 2013, see this blog entry by the Oxford Dictionary._

List of Free, Reputable Online Learning Sites Updated

I've just reorganized and added a few more entries to the page. Below are some Q&A generated by the news - please feel free to leave comments or write in with your own questions. Enjoy!

Q: Nela, I've signed up for quite a few of these, but I've never gotten motivated to keep at it. Any suggestions for how to keep at it? Have you used any of them yourself?

A: Denise - great question! I've used most of the ones on the first list at one time or another. In my experience, "necessity creates ability" - i.e., I've basically used them only when I've had to!

We get stuck on things when we A) have too many options and B) don't have a clear idea of our goals. I would recommend taking a moment to think about the following:

1. What is it that you hope to get out of taking one of these courses? 
2. Dow does the course contribute to your overall career trajectory? 

Once you have a clear idea of those two, I think you'll have an easier time making a decision and sticking to it. We'd all take ALL of those classes if we had "world enough and time" (to steal from Shakespeare)!

[That said, the other thing that creates ability is...procrastination. And I can tell you I use TED.com and plato.stanford.edu when I catch (or...create ;-)) a "free" moment. Also, plato.stanford.edu is curated by academic experts, which makes it an even better reference than wikipedia, so I frequently use it to cite things.]

Write to us! What are your favorite reputable online learning sites? Do you have any tips on how to translate impulse into action? Or how to separate the 'wants' from the 'needs?' 

Nurturing our pleasure instincts is important, too -  how do you make time for the sheer 'wants?'

On the new season of 'Arrested Development'

After much hemming and hawing from viewers and critics following the show's cancelation in 2006, Netflix scooped up Arrested Development from Fox and resurrected the series as a Netflix "semi" original production. (This after plans for the show to be revived as a movie were canceled.)

Netflix's other two original series, House of Cards and Hemlock Grove, are suspected to have attracted renewed loyalty from the exclusively-streaming set after the dilution brought on in the last 3-4 years by competitors like Hulu, and the explosion of easily streamable content by sites such as Sidereel.

(The author of this blog confesses to being absolutely ADDICTED to everything about Hemlock Grove, from the Dexter-like intro music, to the plot twists, supernatural themes, and the bone-chilling but irresistible villainness Olivia Godfrey, played by the beautiful Famke Janssen).

So, impressions after viewing the first 10 (out of 15 total) episodes of Arrested Development? If you're just at the beginning, hang in there - the content does get a *little* better down the line. Things begin to make sense.

But even this far in, I keep wondering whether it will measure up to prior fame. Dare I say I fear it runs the risk of being...sophomoric?

The show may have jumped the shark in previous seasons - whether they'll be able to reasonably surpass those seasons remains to be seen. Given the brilliance of other Netflix originals and the fact that John Krasinski was involved in this season, I have hope. :)

Survival of the Fittest in a Free Market: A Conversation With God

ME: Dear God, why is there such utterly disappointing "professional" web design?

GOD: Firstly, you should know that bad web design is just a matter of survival of the fittest - in a web design free market.  And secondly, you should know that it's all part of a "bigger plan."

ME: What do you mean, "bigger plan?"

GOD: Well, "bigger plan" means something different to me than it does to many of my decipels. 

Believers will tell you that a "bigger plan" means that bad design is there to teach us about good design. You may have heard analogous theories about why, for example, bad things happen to good people. 

And these same believers will tell you that in this "bigger plan," anyone who has suffered [from bad web design] in this life will be rewarded [with good design] in the afterlife.

ME: So....what are you saying actually happens? What is this 'bigger plan' actually?

GOD: I, on the other hand, will tell you the truth, my child. This "bigger plan" is actually just natural selection: the weak designs don't survive the evolutionary marketplace! Over time, bad websites will simply go the way of the dodo. I typically swing more humanist, but when it comes to crappy products, I believe firmly in Adam Smith's socialist capitalism, and the economic analog of natural selection: the power of the free market.

To be clear, I still don't believe in social Darwinism, though.

ME: Dear God, if you are claiming survival of the fittest, it sounds like you support evolutionary theory.

Tori Amos Sells Out Something Other Than A Show

How is it possible that the woman who wrote 'Crucify' is parading a newly plasticized visage on a website where people spend thousands of dollars wallowing in the purchases of "discounted" luxury goods?

Every finger in the room
Is pointing at me
I wanna spit in their faces
Then I get afraid of what that could bring
I got a bowling ball in my stomach
I got a desert in my mouth
Figures that my courage would choose to sell our now
[...]
Why do we
Crucify ourselves
Every day
I crucify myself
Nothing I do is good enough for you
Crucify myself
Every day
And my heart is sick of being in chains

At the heart of 'Crucify' is, arguably, a rejection of the guilt we feel for wanting to resist any number of the forces of conformity. She wants to say "F you," but cowers, and then wonders why in the world she bowed to this, why she sacrifices and martyrs herself for a society that will never be pleased with her, that will continue to badger her unrelentingly, telling her exactly how and why she is inferior, until her final submission is rendered via her becoming the perfect doll society wants, with her still feeling imperfect even when the transformation is complete. (See also Pedro Almodóvar's 2011 film The Skin I Live In.)

How is it, then, that the woman who wrote about resisting ethically unfounded societal pressures is giving in to the consumerist machine? As if her doll-approximating new face weren't enough, our once-hero goes on to expound exactly how and why spending money on meaningless scraps is relevant in her life. 

Has Tori filed for bankruptcy? Is she trying to "reinvent" herself? (And if so, why?) Is she really in need of work that badly? Or is this the simple result of the pernicious and merciless assault on the vanity of women of all ages, particularly those in their 40s?

People buy overpriced goods to assert that they, too, exist and do meaningful things in a world that has distanced itself from (if it hasn't lost completely) any real meaning: we are distant from the production of our food, from the building of our dwellings, from the education of our children, from the connection with our families and communities. Ironically, material culture of some civilizations is the only proof of their existence.

The Tori Debacle has great implications for Naomi Wolf's Beauty Myth and Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique. To be continued.

Desert Storm Phases of Invasion (expand for best view)

Fascinating: A summary of the Operation Desert Storm ground offensive, February 24–28, 1991, by phase of invasion (expand for best view).

Courtesy of wikipedia.org
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/DesertStormMap_v2.svg

Correlation vs. Causation (expand for best view)

Although he didn't author it, Mark Twain famously wrote,

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

I saw the below awesome graphic on Reddit a couple days ago. Boy, was Twain right: if you do it right, you can prove just about anything with numbers. Just imagine the possibilities!

Oh wait...you don't have to imagine. It's campaign season!

Courtesy of reddit.com

http://www.reddit.com/r/geek/comments/120duu/correlation_vs_causation/

The Bible Defines Marriage As... (expand for best view)

Marriage is NOT just between a man and a woman, for the Bible tells me so.

Courtesy of Gawker

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17m7ymo0bc12hjpg/original.jpg

Lesson #1: Filesharing vs. Piracy

Economists Say "Revenge of the Nerds" Is a Lie

Reposted from The Atlantic Wire

"There's a study out there by the National Bureau of Economic Research which should strike fear in the heart of any dweeb patiently waiting for his Count of Monte Cristo moment. The study says those popular kids, like that no-good prom king who may or may not have made your high school life awful, will actually out-earn you because they're so freaking likable.

"We estimate that moving from the 20th to 80th percentile of the high-school popularity distribution yields a 10 percent wage premium nearly 40 years later," reads the abstract to the work of Gabriela Conti (University of Chicago), Gerrit Mueller (Institute of Employment Research), Andrea Gaeotti (University of Essex) and Stephen Pudney (University of Essex). Simply put, being popular pays dividends.

What these economic research nerds looked at was Wisconsin's Longitudinal Study, which surveyed one-third of Wisconsin's high school seniors (around 10,000 people), and the then-called friendship nominations—essentially the scientific version of voting for prom royalty, where you're supposed to name your three closest friends—for patterns 35 years later."

Continue reading at the Atlantic Wire.

Street Campaign Trades Free Shoes for Instagram Photos

Reposted from http://mashable.com/2012/10/22/aldo-instagram-shoes-israel-video/

"Montreal-based footwear brand Aldo staged a charming out-of-home campaign in Israel, inviting passersby to snap a photo of their shoes, upload the photo to Instagram with their shoe size and the hashtag #aldo, and ring a bell. In two minutes, a large, rolling present box then appeared, containing — as you might have expected — a new pair of Aldo shoes in their size.

The bell was rung more than 450 times and 500 photos were uploaded to Instagram, producing nearly 800,000 interactions, the Israeli creative agency who produced it, Smoyz, says.

The stunt was reminiscent of those produced by Coca-Cola as part of its Open Happiness Project. Over the past few years, the beverage brand has deployed a variety of vending machines and other vehicles that give away free cokes and other prizes in exchange for smiles, hugs and other positive interactions."