Well, it seems Google, everyone’s favorite Internet company, is trying to take another leap forward.  This time on two fronts. For one, by promising language translation software that works right from your cellphone. And secondly, with their new social networking tool, Buzz.

Let’s talk cellphone interpreter first. The basic plan is to create software that can translate on the fly, letting us break through a few language barriers as we traipse across the globe. While this would be totally awesome, even with the ambiguous time-table of “a few years” away, I have my doubts on Google being able to accomplish such a lofty goal. Even the most advanced consumer voice recognition software has trouble with basic sentences, despite them being spoken in the most robotic, monotonous voice imaginable.

This sort of tool hasn’t even breached the voice-to-text wall, as can be shown on even the most advanced Google platform (Android 2.1). If a 1 GHZ powered smartphone (the Nexus One) operates (at best) like a lisp-impeded translator, then what hope does Google really have when dealing with not only dozens of languages, but hundreds of dialects? For me, it’s an unfounded hope. Because quite frankly, how cool would that be?  Even if I don’t happen to visit other countries all that much, this is a smart step in the right direction and would absolutely love for the do-everything company to succeed.

So, what’s the word on Buzz? Well, it appears Google is taking very incremental steps to creating the smartest idea ever. First it was Gmail, then Google Docs, Wave and Talk, and now Buzz. Basically Buzz is a glorified Facebook status that acts like Twitter. You have followers and can post various things. There’s also your Gprofile that friends can look at.

What makes this different than anything else? Besides that Google is doing it? Well, it doesn’t seem like much, but it does appear that privacy is a big thing and you can choose to let people follow you or not.  All in all, it’s another neat piece, but perhaps too little too late to be anything other than jumping on the bandwagon. Once again though, we’ll have to see what Google does with it.

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There have been plenty of complaints about the health care debate not being transparent enough, and that President Obama and the Democrats have not included the Republicans enough in piecing together legislation for a health care bill.

There have been accusations that the president has not kept his word. For example, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz tried calling the president out in a question at the Republican retreat a couple weeks ago.

“When you stood up before the American people multiple times and said you would broadcast the health care debates on C-SPAN, you didn’t,” Chaffetz said. “And I was disappointed, and I think a lot of Americans were disappointed.”

Fair enough. Although the majority of the congressional hearings and committee meetings dealing with health care were, in fact, televised on C-SPAN. I guess the question for critics of this sort is how do you logistically make sure that every meeting is televised? Should every single hearing be televised? What about unofficial talks before actual meetings? Conversations? Opinions? I am as big a supporter of transparency as anyone, but it undeniably gets a little messy.

But now, perhaps in response to the criticism, the White House has invited congressional leaders of both parties to a summit to discuss health care with the hope of moving forward and making health care reform a reality. And yes, it will be televised in its entirety.

Unbelievably, almost immediately Republicans criticized the gesture. The talking points were heard far and wide, migrating from Fox News and the EIB Network directly into Republican leaders’ mouths. “It’s a trap,” they said, typically followed by “I don’ t know what to expect.” There are also fears the president is trying to “intimidate” the Republicans and Americans into a “government takeover of health care.”

From what we know about the debate, it is hardly a trap. By the time it takes place, Republicans will have had nearly three weeks to prepare. The Democrats’ updated bill will be posted online before the gathering, challenging the Republicans to put forward legislation of their own. Both parties were allowed to choose additional participants and staff members specializing in health care policy. In other words, if Republicans are caught by surprise or feel trapped, it will be their own fault.

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The Welsh group Los Campesinos! released their first two pop-tastic albums about eight months apart, both back in 2008, and now, after a year and a half of much anticipation (at least for me), their third record Romance is Boring has finally arrived. But as its first track indicates, if you haven’t heard much from Los Campesinos! you’ll definitely be jumping in “In Medias Res” with Romance is Boring. This album is not as user-friendly or upbeat as their previous two — things are heavier for these campesinos now.

On their debut album Hold on Now, Youngster, you’ll find a track called “You! Me! Dancing!,” which is just as ecstatic as you’d expect a track with three exclamation points to be. In contrast, on Romance is Boring, lead singer and lyricist Gareth tells us just how much it hurts to share your lover with God, to watch a friend waste away from an eating disorder, and to wake up next to your partner even more bored with your love life than you were the day before. Not to mention lamenting over some intense sexual frustration, screaming about self-mutilation, and dedicating an entire verse to the colors of some girl’s bruise. This album is not LC! for beginners, but it is probably their most solid work to date.

I tend to judge an album on the number of lines I wish I had written, and with Romance is Boring I lost count after the fourth track or so. This band’s lyrics are about as intimate as lyrics can get. Gareth recently said in a post on the LC! website: “I put so much personal and biographical stuff into songs that it as good as breaks me.” Nowhere is that more apparent than on this album. He bares it all, whether he’s telling you what went through his head while locking lips with every girl he’s ever kissed or desperately begging, “Please just let me be the one to keep track of the freckles and the moles on your back.” His vulnerability is what makes these lyrics so effective and this collection of songs so ridiculously relatable. Just try listening to one without thinking, “Hey, me too.”

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Dear Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,

This year is a momentous one for the Oscars, primarily because you’ve nominated ten movies for best picture. Bravo. When I saw which movies had made the cut I was especially surprised. Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker I was expecting, but District 9? Hell yes!

Sadly, however, your august body of voters have chosen this year to overcompensate for past stodginess by also nominating Avatar. Like everyone else on the planet, I’ve seen Avatar. And I had a good time. I bet it was even fun for you too, and you probably didn’t feel that guilty about taking a break from all the French New Wave and Italian Neorealism.

The problem is that Avatar really isn’t great. It’s popular and it certainly looks pretty, but what else does it have? Cartoonish bad guys? Topless aliens? When it comes right down to it Avatar is just a Fern Gully mash-up with an enormous budget. It’s impressive, yes, but hardly profound. (This very publication has a review here that says as much.)

Which brings me to my point: please don’t let Avatar win Best Picture. It’s true that last year’s slighting of The Dark Knight was stupid and it’s understandable that you don’t want to make the same mistake twice. However, remember that being popular or impressive isn’t the same thing as being great. Also, there are a whole bunch of other best picture nominees that are popular and acclaimed. Why not give the Oscar to Up, The Blind Side or Inglourious Basterds? These are also all movies that people actually watched.

The problem is that I keep reading about how the contest for best picture is going to come down to The Hurt Locker and, of course, Avatar. The former is a great war movie and, if still in the not-widely-seen genre, is complex and lingering enough to deserve a nomination. Avatar isn’t. I know that I’ve criticized the Academy before for being out of touch (here, for example), but I had hoped for some kind of balance between quality and popular appeal. An Avatar win, on the other hand, will say that it’s one or the other.

So this year keep throwing the fans a bone, but don’t blatantly pander. You proved me wrong about taking “business as usual,” but don’t completely jump ship on quality.

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After a too-long absence from writing for Rhombus, I find it fitting to come back with an article that was inspired via request by another Rhombus contributor, a one Mr. J. Petersen, who sent me a link to a company called Better Place.

Simply put, Better Place is a company trying to do for the auto industry what has long been a pipe-dream for every clean-energy, clean-car nut since the ’60s, by making electric cars/vehicles a viable mode of transportation. Not being a stranger to this idea, I already had a lot of objections that needed answering before I believed these guys were serious and not just some sloppy start up.

It should be noted that electric cars have already been shown to work — the engineering isn’t anything new. But there are several major hurdles this technology must overcome to make it into reality, and it seems Better Place has the answers. At least, that’s what they want you to think.

Instead of focusing on these hurdles, which would make this a very lengthy article, I will sum it up and leave a lot of the details out. Range, infrastructure, standardization, peak charging times and the power used to charge the vehicles have always provided a conglomerate of problems, but Better Place has addressed these issues, if in a simplistic manner.

To combat those long hauls of over 100-200 miles, Better Place envisions simple battery swapping stations. Creating the many charging stations that could be used seems to be as simple as running power lines into their prefabricated charge points. They’re also working with the ISO and IEC, both big names when it comes to standardizing. Utilizing smart networks and grids, much like what Google is trying to do with PowerMeter, will ease any fiascos during a peak charge time. Better Place is even pushing for the adoption of alternative power sources for all our electric needs.

Of course, no new venture is perfect — it will have flaws and foibles, but if the end result will be something greater than before, it should go to reason we (as progressive individuals that want a better life for ourselves and future generations) should do nothing but endorse and empower those seeking this end result. That’s why, despite the many technical and nit-picky problems I see, Better Place will have a consumer in me as soon as we come together.

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