5 Thoughts for October 26, 2016

1. Aimless Google: Google has lost its way. Two years ago, it felt like the company was on the cusp of greatness, pushing the boundaries of everything with fearlessness and, most importantly, deep pockets. Today, it's still a growing company with deeper pockets but it has sold off its robotics, fiber has stalled, Nexus is dead, Glasses is gone, Project Ara is a fading memory, no one knows what Nest is doing anymore, their photo service has just gone through its nth iteration, and in my view they completely screwed up on their Google Wallet - Android Pay transition / redo. The only true bright spot is ChromeOS and its newly-gained Android app compatibility. There was no excitement from Google IO, and their recent device announcement left me confused about Google's goals -- was it to build an ecosystem or to move up the profit margin ladder into Apple territory?
2. Lexus UX: WTF? I think the folks at Toyota are confused. The C-HR that was meant to be a Scion, and its funky design thusly originated from its Scion-ness -- which is why it's so cool and awesome. Used as the underpinning of a compact crossover concept for the Lexus brand, it was bound to be their most daring concept, but WTF is the UX? Lexus is the luxury brand, not the ugly brand. UX is butt ugly; it's not even fugly, it's bugly. I was so horrified by it, I didn't bother passing it along to my friend who would have gone for an upscale version of the C-HR.
3. False Equivalence: You see it don't you? Everytime Hillary plows ahead in the polls and the race looks like a foregone conclusion, there are members in the press who push complete nonsense in order to create a false equivalence between Donald and Hillary. "Questions were raised" has become the bullshit meter of this election cycle.
4. Vox's Vote Compass: Vox has this adorable test that allows you to view how your opinion on a variety of topics places you on the matrix of progressive and conservative spectrum within economic and social issues. It's far too simplistic to be a proper judge of one's place in the matrix, but it's entertaining nonetheless. I placed in-between Jill Stein and Hillary, but slightly closer to Hillary.
5. The Death of The Walking Dead: The show is dead. I've already complained about season 6, and I haven't watched the season 7 opener (and I might never watch it) but the show's theory of mankind's turn towards sadism is preposterous. You might as well call it for what it is: The Walking Dead Gone Mad Max. Anyone who has watched the show long enough could tell you that the only true survivalists are Daryl, Glenn, and Michonne. Everyone else is too fucked up in the head, so much so that the show now centers on the question: Who's more fucked up in the head: the protagonists or the antagonists? So you think Negan's the most fucked up in the head? I guarantee you that Rick will challenge Negan for the title of most fucked up in the head.