Google Fail

So I live in College Park, Maryland; which is directly on the North Western side of the infamous Beltway…and let me tell you: traffic is a bitch right outside of DC.

For those of you unfamiliar with the DC area, there is a single, unifying highway that loops completely around the metropolitan area of Washington and it is absolutely plagued (daily) with traffic.  It is, with out a doubt, one of the most traffic-prone highways in the country, and it can take up to an hour and a half just to travel 15 miles to my hometown of Rockville, Maryland.

Anyways, if duty, family or friends call and I need to head back west towards Rockville, I have taken it upon myself to check Google Maps for the traffic.  Google recently started collecting location data from people who use smartphones and have Google Maps installed.  When this geo-location data is cross referenced with location change over time gives Google the unique opportunity to display live traffic on their maps…or so they say.

Whats that you say? That sounds awesome! Well it would be, if the damn data was correct.

Tonight I took a short trip back to the Rockville area for a meeting that was scheduled to begin at around 7:30pm.  I figured, given no traffic, I would be able to venture home in about 30min MAX.  So I open up my browser and head over to maps.google.com, only to discover at about 7:00pm (optimal time for departure from College Park under ideal circumstances) that the entire route back is shaded in red.  Red = slow (or sometimes danger or stop…but this is irrelevant to this discussion).

Since according to Google Maps the traffic was bad and I had no time to waste, I decided to head out west anyway. And guess what? NO TRAFFIC.

I was in a green situation, not a red catastrophe like I was expecting.  After about 5 minutes on the highway, traversing many more miles than Google Maps predicted, I checked Google Maps on my Palm Pre.  Still red! Even in the area I was currently in.

So no, Google Maps can’t possibly have “live” traffic reporting.  I even restarted my phone just to see if it was a caching problem…but no, Google was just flat out wrong.

Google, take off the “live traffic” label on your maps.  I really rely on that to planning my schedule in a hectic traffic are of the country. Could you (Google) or anyone else provide a legitimate excuse for a misrepresentation like this? I can’t see one…and I am part of the Google Generation.  My contemporaries, at the very least, need to feel like they can rely on Google…and usually they deliver.  But no on this one.

I’d really like more in depth idea of how Google’s Live Traffic feature truly works, or the “Live” aspect of the system needs to be revised or removed. Gracias.

</end rant>

So I believe I have found a security hole in Google’s login systems, and why they need to unlink usernames with YouTube accounts, or they need to at least address this issue.  I’ll be brief.

Say you have a Google Account.  Say your other friend has a Google Account.  These two accounts are independent of each other, as in they have different User Names and Passwords.  Now, say that one of you, lets say here that its you, who creates a YouTube account to share with me.

This is a very common circumstance.  I have about 3 different accounts in YouTube that I share with other people, it makes it convenient to maintain the account, especially if its a busy one.

So here is the security hole: if I log into this ‘Shared” YouTube account, all I need to do is head on over to Gmail and waalaa! I’m now in your Gmail.  I have full access, and I can poke around all you want, without you knowing except for that little IP log at the bottom of the Gmail window.  I could do some real damage  and snooping.

This is a serious issue, please unlink the accounts.  Email is rarely shared, YouTube accounts are.

UPDATE: This is the response from Google about this issue.  Apparently these accounts were linked, and this is just the nature of the Google Accounts system.  I agree with the security team, there is no large risk, but this is still a problem in my opinion.

From Google:

Thank you for the clarification, and for helping me figure out the
nature of the problem.

As you noted, the user in fact disclosed his Google account password
to you, along with an “alias” on YouTube. This alias serves simply as
a nickname for his canonical account with Google, and the password
could be readily used to access services such as Google Mail or Google
Docs without the need to rely on YouTube at all.

Although the fact you gained access to all Google services by logging
in via YouTube with this alias may sound somewhat counterituitive to
people less accustomed to a variety of Google services, I believe
there is no security risk. As noted, you could have used the same
password, and his canonical account name, to simply log in at:

https://www.google.com/accounts/Login

…to gain access to the same services. Canonical account names are
not a secret, and could be easily discovered, e.g. through the YouTube
UI itself.

Now, it goes without saying that sharing your password with other
parties is usually not a good idea, for a number of reasons; if this
can’t be avoided, we would recommend creating a separate Google
account for this purpose.

My Short Rebuttal:

Absolutely Sir, I will add to my blog post now.  I have to say though, that it would not be a bad idea to give Google Account’s access permissions.  This would also prevent something confusing like this from happening.  The basic fact is, while your correct there is no large security risk, this user (my friend) had no intention, nor any indication (according to him) that he was allowing me to access his Gmail without his explicit consent.  Just something to consider…

I would like to praise Google right now, for their quick response time, and detail centered approach.  This encounter with them was exciting in its short life span.  Onward…

If you don’t know already, Twitter used to have an option in the settings area that allowed you to choose whether or not you could see reply’s of a particular user you were following that were replying to another user. In short, if you don’t know the person in an @reply from a user, their tweet with that reply would not show up in your timeline feed. You could, before the controversial change, opt to see them or not.

Now you cannot see them, and that is the default setting that cannot be changed by the user anymore. The reasons for this change, again in short, is to limit the API calls (relieve stress on Twitter’s servers) and because only 3% of users enabled the option to see @reply’s to people they did not know.

The problem is that now I cannot start ANY tweet with a user name, even if its not a reply, I am just starting my tweet with their user name. For instance:

Laura sucks at running.

I would write this on twitter as:

@limerasp sucks at running.

This is not a reply to her, rather a statement that begins with her Twitter user name. With the recent change to how Twitter handles @reply’s, any user who does not follow @limerasp, will not see my publicly intended tweet.

This has happened to me about 4 to 5 times recently, and I think that its something that needs to be changed. I don’t want to add ‘Well, ” before a publicly intended tweet that starts with a user name; but thats exactly what I’m being forced to do now.

I didn’t really mind the whole @reply change at first, but I’m starting to see that it puts Twitter at both a semantically and socially disadvantaged position. I can’t say exactly what I want to say, or at least I have to add words to my tweets that I otherwise would not include, and honestly, everyone should be able to see an @reply, even if the user isn’t following that particular user. The reason is it promotes the conversation. When I follow someone, I follow them not just because I like what they are saying, but because I like THEM as a person (in-so-far as I know them). I do want to see who they are talking to, because of what I will call the Transitive Follower theory.

It’s this: It is of high likelihood that a frequent conversation between an unknown user and a user who you follow that the unknown user is a worthy follow.

Simple. Kind ofa obvious, but needs to be said.

If you don’t want your stuff public, send a DM. That’s what they are there for.

Now whats the problem with this?  Well, everyone, and I do mean pretty much everyone, wants to get off of the Twitter website ASAP and use a client that sits on their desktop.  If not a desktop client, they are using the Twitter API in a number of other ways on another site, normally another social network mash-up site. This is because while Twitter is a great service, their UI isn’t as seamless as Tweetie for Mac or Twhirl or as popular as TweetDeck.  It’s not that Twitter’s UI is bad, its just why would anyone rather be reloading the pages on a website to see their replies rather than just switch to an already loaded tab sitting on your desktop. So really, the Twitter.com domain isn’t being hit by folks like Facebook or Myspace (as they have graphed out), rather they are relying on Twitter’s API to deliver the service. The incredible amount of API call statistics, I would assume, is not accessible by Nielsen since Twitter is a centralized service running exclusively through themselves.

I call for a new study to be published with these variables addressed, or reveal that they accurately analyzed Twitter’s retention rate with respect to Twitter’s API.

1. Only tweet links.
2. Talk about how their inbox has 1,000′s of unread emails that must be answered.
3. Constant @’s to my tweets that have nothing to do with what was said.
4. Only retweet other people’s tweets.  What, have you no thoughts of your own?
5. Celebrities or other famous-types who don’t interact with fans.
6. Celebrities or other famous-types who have someone else tweet for them.
7. Constant self promotion.
8. Ridiculous use of Adjix to gain money from links (it’s even worse if an ad is embedded into the tweet).
9. Tweet once in a blue moon. I will never see your tweets, so whats the point of following you?
10. Tweeting about completely useless information, like “I’m hungry”.  At least tell me what you are eating or going to eat; or even you inexplicable love for a particular cuisine.
11. Anyone who is rude in 140-characters or less.

What kinds of tweeple do you drop when weeding needs to be done?

Can I get a timeline on when the site will be finished?

No, you can’t.  It’s not that I don’t want to give you a specific time when the project will be finished, its just that too much of it depends on you (the client).  You need to sign my contract, give me content, feedback, reviews, and opinions.  The process of creating and implementing a website is a two party business.  Giving you a timeline is like saying, “Hey! I like that date, it makes a smiley face on my iCal if I make your entire project due here!”.  It’s that arbitrary.

I want to use the logo my wife made and have that as a basis for the whole site.

Sir, honestly, its drawn in pencil.  It lacks color, depth, and professionally.  Why do you even want a website?  Are you marketing your brand/self or just want to showcase your wife’s ability to use a #2?  Use it for a basis for the whole site?  No sir, no.  This is just a bad representation of yourself and your site.

So I want a website with a back end, custom design, and a year worth of dedicated hosting.  Can you do it for like $300?

I certainly can, but I won’t.  People STILL have no idea what it takes to deliver a fully functional, hosted, robust website.  Web developers put tremendous amount of time into the tiniest aspects of a website, so at first your misunderstanding of the value of this work is acceptable.  But to give me that sad-puppy-dog-face when I explain how I can’t do it for that amount is just heartbreaking.  I’m sorry already!  I really wish I could drop half of my serious clients and do your website for you in 2 days with a $300 dollar budget, but….I just can’t: it’s like throwing away the business!  Make me some kind of Indian god with 8 arms, then I will show you some awesomeness for $300, but that surgery would be quite expensive.

Can you make the content text something other than Georgia (or tahoma, verdana, arial, courier…)?

No, I cannot.  I already explained how these fonts are standardized amongst all browsers and OS’s.  No, I know you have heard of sIFR, but it is insane to apply it to the entire document. (I know I know, wait till CSS3 rolls out)

I would love it if you made a flash splash page before visitors got to the main site!

What, you mean like this?  No.  Bad design choice.

UPDATE:

So if you make me the website, can you also make me #1 on Google search results?

Sigh.  Ma’am, do you know how many websites there are?  Your business is called ‘Susane Boyle’s Cupcakes’.  Havn’t you seen her youtube video?  It’s been viewed 41,000,000 million times.  How. The. Hell. Am. I. Going. To. Compete. With. This?  (thanks @gayadesign)

Jordan Sheckman
the new bb facebook app is tight man
Evan Samek
you trying to grab a beer sometime soon?
Evan Samek
yeah man
Evan Samek
it is awesome
Evan Samek
downloaded everyones photos in my bb
Jordan Sheckman
right, thats tight shit
Jordan Sheckman
i really hate that about the iphone, that an app like that could never fly cause they restrict all the proprietary apps from third parties
Evan Samek
yeap
Jordan Sheckman
although i think third party apps can change address book photos
Evan Samek
why not?
Evan Samek
it will be better with iPhone 3.0
Evan Samek
its just apple needs to stop limiting shit
Evan Samek
in general
Jordan Sheckman
actually ya, i have an IMing app that links to the address book and changes the photos.. but not from facebook, from their buddy icon
Jordan Sheckman
oh, youd be proud of me.. i spent like a half hour defending the pre yesterday to a friend of mine
Jordan Sheckman
he read articles about how it’s not going to succeed and will tank palm
Evan Samek
ehhh
Evan Samek
yano who knows, but i dont think so
Evan Samek
i think it will be a success
Evan Samek
it kinda already is
Jordan Sheckman
and how the only buzz for it is among technophiles and the general public will never drop their iphones and blackberry
Jordan Sheckman
but i said i think there is a market for it… for people who want a fun smartphone (like the iphone) that does great productivity (like the blackberry)
Jordan Sheckman
a lot of people (at least people i know) have stayed away from the iphone solely because they need to write emails all the time and the blackberry is the best keyboard for the job
Evan Samek
exxactly
Evan Samek
i think the new iphoen will have a QWERTY tho
Evan Samek
if they were smart they would do it
Evan Samek
when can you grab a beer man to catch up?
Jordan Sheckman
ya but theyve been sooo insistent on how great their touchscreen is
Jordan Sheckman
adding a keyboard would make that look bad
Jordan Sheckman
i think palm’s biggest problem now is being confined to sprint… on one hand it will help because the tried-and-true sprint customers that cant leave will finally have their smartphone (like you!)… but on the other hand sprint is waning as a company, and it’ll be harder to get anyone to switch to sprint than it was for the iphone to get people to switch to at&t
Jordan Sheckman
haha… how bout we grab that beer when you buy the pre!
Evan Samek
haha
Evan Samek
that cuold be in a month or two
Jordan Sheckman
really whenever man… if you can make it into the city… just so hard for me to get to CP, especially during the week
Evan Samek
i can easily make it into the city
Evan Samek
your just busy with amanda all the time
Jordan Sheckman
just give me a day and we can meet after work
Evan Samek
k
Evan Samek
il ler you know
Jordan Sheckman
cool
5:16 PM
Evan Samek
the thing about the pre is this
Evan Samek
they need to release it soon
Evan Samek
very soon
Evan Samek
the longer they wait, the more it hurts them
Jordan Sheckman
absolutely
Evan Samek
unless its truly going to be PERFECT when it is released
Jordan Sheckman
and they need to start marketing!
Jordan Sheckman
all they have is that one tv ad that shows it at the end for a split second
Jordan Sheckman
the average joe wouldnt even know that was the pre
Jordan Sheckman
people all over the world know theres a new iphone coming in a couple months
Evan Samek
there is actually 3 tv spots now
Jordan Sheckman
most non-techies havent even heard of the pre
5:21 PM
Jordan Sheckman
but ya, their main hope is to get a leg up on the iphone before it comes out
Jordan Sheckman
and then they really need to get more phones out there running webOS
Jordan Sheckman
a company cannot survive on one phone alone
Jordan Sheckman
it worked for apple, but their not a phone company, they (were) a computer company
Evan Samek
well its definietly going to be on other phones
Jordan Sheckman
i know that, but that needs to happen soon if webOS will be popular
Jordan Sheckman
look at where androids at
Jordan Sheckman
people barely give a shit about it anymore
Evan Samek
i wouldnt be surpised if they added webOS to other phones within the month that the pre is released.
Jordan Sheckman
cause the g1 sucked, and nothing else ever came out
Evan Samek
yeah
Jordan Sheckman
i dunno about a month, SOMETHING would have leaked by now if that was the case
Jordan Sheckman
i’d say maybe by the holiday season
Evan Samek
but it will blow up this year too, because andriod is open, it is going to get huge and fast
Evan Samek
but PALM has been more secretive than apple!
Jordan Sheckman
android?
Evan Samek
yeah
Jordan Sheckman
it’s had like 8 months to get huge
Evan Samek
yeah but with only one handset
Evan Samek
as soon as 3 are available, it will start to grow
Evan Samek
no doubt
Evan Samek
i played with it once, and its really really sleek
Jordan Sheckman
thats their problem tho dude, they waited too long
Evan Samek
yeah
Evan Samek
and we dont want to see that happen to the Pre.
Jordan Sheckman
right now, developers want to develop for the iphone cause its hugely successful, and they want to develop for webOS cause its easy, exciting and new
Jordan Sheckman
who wants to develop for android right now?
Jordan Sheckman
they needed to capture those developers waaaaay early in the game, and because their single offering sucked, they didnt
Jordan Sheckman
ive been reading more and more how its the developers that make a platform successful
Jordan Sheckman
the app store is single-handedly responsible for the majority of the iphone’s revenue over the past years
Jordan Sheckman
*year
Jordan Sheckman
it was a revolution, that only now everyone has caught up to with their own stores
Jordan Sheckman
apple’s amazing man… they have such a great understanding of their market its uncanny

Jordan Sheckman
hardware and software aside, they know exactly the right models to employ to get everyone to play nice with each other, and to create a great end-user experience… itunes, app store, even their sdk

Awesome points made by Jordan.  Just thought I would share with you.

Info about Jordan Sheckman:

Jordan is a web developer/designer with Reingold Inc. based in Georgetown in Washington DC.  His website is http://portfolio.j2sheck.com/ and his twitter account is @j2sheck.  Always on top of wireless tech news, he is the ideal guy for strategy in regard to marketing for such products.

Below is a screenshot of a concept for a local musician, Robbie Cooper, that I am in the process of developing.  What do you guys think? Criticise! Suggest! Compliment! Enrage me!  Anything goes.

Oh, and please retweet if you wouldn’t mind! Thanks!

Make direct message and ReTweet more accessible

Don’t make me right click to get this menu.  Make the menu appear when rolling over the picture or the ege like the reply icon as in Twhirl.  These functions are not secondary, they are primary to the twitter user.

Why are hashtag subjects (#) so gray against a gray background?

This just makes it hard to see the subject in a tweet.  Increase the contrast, it is not something that should be hidden with the background.

Everything else is pretty damn good.  Haha.  This was a shorter critique then I thought.