Traditional software applications, the type you buy on a store or download from the internet and install to your hard drive, are sometimes referred as "rich applications". Applications that run on an internet browser or from a network server are sometimes referred as thin or web applications.

Web applications are normally associated with a service and are controlled by the service provider. It is a very convenient distribution model for developers because they control what version the user runs and skip the middle man, saving on costs. The disadvantages are lack of control over what browser the customer is using (making development more complex) and relatively limited development platform. Programming languages are not very expressive and transferring data back and forth is frequently a security and performance challenge.

Rich applications have complicated distribution models and, no matter how maligned by the trendy, give more control to users. You only change them when you want to as in, let's say, the infallible security patches. They also keep your data "yours" as it supposedly never leaves your hard drive. Of course if you go to another computer your data won't be there.

Now we have a hybrid mode. My Zune software is a rich client with a service component and it was updated today. I thought it was a security patch or something, but no - it was a full-fledge upgrade. The new look feels older than the old look and, because I was distracted, now I have crapware, err... games installed on my device. A few other features I will never use look interesting so it kind of balances itself out considering I can uninstall the games.

The only reason I'm writing a post about it is a new feature I absolutely hate. Don't get me wrong, the device is pretty cool, I am absurdely cranky today and teh feature that annoyed me is minimal. Someone decided to start counting how many times I played my own songs and tell me about it. I feel like mommy is watching me.

I also really, really dislike the retarded "smile" icon they added next to the songs played counter. The whole "social" thing on the Zune annoys me beyond imagination and squarely set on the "not for me" quadrant. Since I was forced to create a community profile, my name is "no community". I considered changing it to "^%$@^#", but that might attract a certain type of people. I wish they had an adult mode on the software that would let me sign in to get the service but hide all the "cool" features.

Folks, what about a "I am totally uncool" checkbox? If you select it the sound quality increases and all social features are turned off?

I predict the future will be unbearable. Millions of Britneys and Jonas brothers types grouped on a orgasmic conundrum of social interaction until we all degrade to percussion as the only form of music and no right to privacy, crankiness or dissent. Aldous Huxley will eventually be right and I will have to live in Alaska with the descendants of Sarah Palin, sitting by the fire with a shotgun.

It is a well know trivia fact that geckos can climb fast by using inter-molecular forces to stick to the wall. I never really learned how until I saw the video below. It also shows a very insightful look on how animals move and shows some cool robots that are at the same time extremely simple and unbelievably resilient and flexible.

Well-known trivia facts give us the feeling of knowledge, but are not. For instance, if I ask people why tides exist a very common answer is that the moon gravity affects the seas. Nice answer and it explains why the sea raises on the direction of the moon. But high tides occur both on the direction of the moon and on the exact opposite of earth. Reality is, of course, way more complicated.