www.leray.us

This story comes for a good friend and has haunting similarities to Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ (which I recommend to everyone to read in these “interesting” times). This happened to her yesterday and she agreed to let me post her words. Couple of things:

• I have only removed her name and workplace
• Except for the second to last line, all other embellishments were added by yours truly.

It’s situations like this that continue to make me fantasize about being someone like Edward ‘Brill’ Lyle from the movie ‘Enemy of the State’ who was able to live off the grid.

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I’d like to take a few moments to share my morning…I lost my driver’s license. I called DMV and explained the situation, they told me I could not use my social security card as it is not ID but I could use my marriage license and my voter’s registration. No problem. I show up at DMV at 8:15, doors open at 8:30, I get right in. We do the eye exam, all the prerequisites. Then the woman says, “You have not updated the name on your social security card.” I confirm but as it’s not ID, no problem right? WRONG. The DMV computers nationwide are now linked to not only the IRS but also the social security office. DMV is not permitted to issue me a DL unless the name on the DL matches the social security card. She prints out a form and sends me downtown. I get downtown but I can’t get into the social security office which is in the court house because I don’t have a picture ID. I explain that I can’t get a picture ID because I don’t have a current SS card. …After some discussion and logging of my name, address, workplace, and a comment on my appearance, I get to go inside.I get inside, take a number and wait twenty minutes to see a woman who asks to see my DL. I give her the paperwork from DMV, the marriage license, and the voter’s registration. She can’t accept this because she needs a photo ID. Here we go again. I give her my Costco card. She wants a passport or a DL; I can’t get the passport or the DL without the SS card. I can’t get the SS card without the picture ID. I get angry and WTF is your problem slips out which attracts the attention of a cop who saunters over to observe. I dump my purse out onto her desk which in turn irritates the woman who says she “ONLY needs a DL or a passport to give me a new card.” In the fray she sees my company badge. She says she knows she can trust IBEW. Evidently my credit cards, video rentals, Costco, and everyone else are all rather shady. So, I give her my badge. She says, “Maam, the last name is different.” I explain that the #%$#% company won’t issue a new badge without a SS card which she won’t give without a DL, which DMV won’t give without a social. (Anyone feeling lost in an Abbot and Costello show yet?).I am also informed at this point that the IRS database, the social security database, and the DMV databases are all linked. Had I filed my taxes under my married name which is different than my card, it would have been a federal offense (but again our socials are not IDs). It is not mandatory by law that you replace your SS card when you marry and change your name but it is an offense to have your name on your taxes and your DL not match your SS card. What part of non-mandatory is our gov’ missing?The woman finally decides that if I belong to IBEW she can give me a new card but it will take two weeks to arrive so she gives me a letter to take to DMV as proof (yes, I know I don’t really belong to IBEW but none of this can possibly be happening in reality so I think I’m okay). On the way out the first cop is joined by a buddy who feels a need to do that construction worker guy thing and make a comment or two. I really hate cops.

I head back to DMV. I wait another 35 minutes to be seen and then find out that the social security system takes 48 hours to update so no DL until Friday. The end result….I have no DL and I have no SS card. However, I can rest easy at night knowing that through measures like this our gov’ment is protecting the “security and integrity of documents issued by states.” DMV told me that, it must be true.

I’m diggin’ the new Google Apps for Your Domain service! I tried this out for ABATE of Alaska (a biker advocacy group that I maintain the website for) and have become quite impressed.

The Apps for Your Domain is still in beta, but unlike other companies…I’m willing to try their betas. Right now the services offered is mail (via Google Mail), a shared calendar, chat and a rudimentary web page tool.

The best service so far is the Gmail for your domain. Show me a host that provides individual 2.5 gigabyte mailboxes over and above the webspace paid for! You also have to love the fact that you get Gmail’s excellent SPAM filtering as well as POP3 if you prefer to have the mail delivered to your mail client. I am also impressed with the fact that I had to add seven MX records for the mail service. By having so many MX records, you ensure that if the primary mail server is down, the mail message will be temporarily sent to another mail server designated by the MX record. The reason for setting up multiple MX records is for a reliable mail delivery (to which Google is becoming well known for).

The next service, the calendar is also not bad. It seems to be based upon iCal since it imports and exports to it easily. I like the layout, colors and flexibility of the calendar as well. My only issue to date is you have only two real choices for you calendar – public or private. My issue with this is that to give access to other domain users easily is to make your calendar public, which then makes it available to anyone. If you set it to private you need to allow access and that is a real pain in the ass the way it works now (you have to search for and get permission – granting outright does not seem to work…yet).

The chat requires you to download an app, so consider it another IM….except that this one is specific to your domain.

The page creation tool is actually quite robust (I was expecting something VERY rudimentary), but I was able to play around with the site the other day and you can visit the results of that artful playing on the web: http://karl.leray.googlepages.com/.

You can choose from a wide variety of colors/designs and creating new pages is simple (reminds me of TinyMCE with the additional ability to manipulate layout). You can also edit in raw HTML if you prefer that method to a graphical interface. I fully expect to see more improvements (such as a possible integration into their Blogger).

The translation tool is also available, though not as a configurable service. I expect that the other varied apps: Blogger, Docs & Spreadsheets, Groups, and Picasa will be forthcoming as well.

All in all, worthwhile for the small domain wanting the power of Google.

For those thinking of using the services, you must have complete ownership of your domain and DNS!!

A couple of months ago, you wouldn’t have thought that Google would be able to stand toe-to-toe with Micro$oft.

However times have changed…..

As Google rapidly rolls out new products, the company best known for its wildly popular search engine is muscling into the software giant’s turf, including its stronghold: the PC desktop with it’s new Google Apps for Your Domain which will let small businesses, nonprofits, and universities use, inside their own domain, a free package of services that include Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk text and voice messaging, and Google Page Creator.

Analysts say Google’s aggressive ambitions could pose a formidable threat to Microsoft because it gets to the heart of what drives Microsoft’s dominance: its control of the PC user through the Windows operating system.

If successful, Google could help refashion computing, making people less reliant on storing information on the Microsoft-powered PC on their desk and more dependent on free Web-based e-mail and search functions that can be accessed anywhere from any device regardless of the operating system. This trend already has a name:

Web 2.0….and next month a conference in San Francisco.

The obvious risk for Micro$oft is that the computer desktop as we know it could cease to exist if this trend of “Disruption and Opportunity” as it is being touted continues. The question now becomes whether computer buyers may one day decide that they no longer even need a Micro$oft operating system or Office Suite. The two companies are already battling it out on fronts including Web search, free e-mail and better ways for searching individual computers. Analysts say that’s evidence Microsoft should−and likely is−taking Google much more seriously.

This Google vs. Micro$oft competition is good news for us because it means more choices and better products−for example, Google’s expansion into e-mail already has forced Microsoft, Yahoo!, and others to dramatically increase free storage and be more mindful of browser compatibility.

As it became clear that Google and other search engines were increasingly gaining control over people’s time online, Micro$oft rapidly began developing its own search technology (they had previously outsourced that job to Inktomi who was acquired by Yahoo!).

While Micro$oft denies that Google has been the impetus for improvements in its products, these latest events illustrates that Google is proving to be customer-driven while Micro$oft tends to be more reactionary driven.

In any case, the battle between the two titans is now undeniably engaged–this time, on Micro$oft’s home turf.