WiFi antenna have always been a bit of a home brew affair. First there was the cantenna, which was made from a Pringle’s can. This got one upped by the coffee can antenna. Over the summer, Popular Science published plans for a parabolic antenna.
Now the folks are getting serious. Engadget is showing the plans for an antenna made from a mini satellite dish. There are material lists, and photos of each step. This thing is quite strong. We’re talking 18 networks at once, from up to 8 miles away! Remind me to turn on the WEP on my router.
Yearly Archives: 2005
Just how hard is your drive?
Ahh, the age-old profession of man-whoring. It’s pleasantly surprising to find out that it’s made its way into IT, thanks to “Ray Digerati,” who had the cohones to place an ad on Craigslist that included the words “Will Fix Computers for Sexual Favors.” Sync Magazine has a very brief Q&A with this the IT playa (it seems like an oxymoron, I know), where we find out about his quickest, erm, “payment,” as well as some revealing details about his pay scale.
See people? Today’s news moves seamlessly from Google Base to Craigslist to man whoring. Am I good or what? I think it’s time to find out how I’m connected to Kevin Bacon…
Google Base goes live
Man, sometimes it seems like Google is releasing a new beta service each week – late last night they unveiled Google Base, a service allowing users to upload/post material from job listings and volunteer opportunities to recipes, items for sale and school course descriptions (Yes, I know…Craigslist). The material is then searchable via Google Base and potentially Google.com, Froogle and Google Local. The site does require a Google login and then presents users with the option to either post an item in one of the preset categories (at right), add one in a category you create, or search for an item using a field at the top.
CNET reports that Google execs deny that the service is a direct assault on Craigslist, but the similarities are too many to let such claims be swept under the rug. My initial reaction is that the single search field at the top of Google Base does a poor job of allowing you to narrow your search right out of the chute. In contrast to Craigslist’s preliminary filtering, Google Base makes you type in your search string and then subsequently click links on following pages to narrow the search. There are advantages, however – job searches lead to listings displayed next to their location on a Google map, and like meta job search site Indeed.com, includes listings from other sites (right now I see postings from CareerBuilder and Idealist.org).
Obviously the Google Base team believes that their interface is a great way to navigate through the site. Access to Google’s ginormous search index is a great feature, but I’m frustrated by the fact that, in the case of jobs, a lot of spam listings are showing up. Those interested in earning $6k/month by shopping and eating in their home cities should head on over.
Google Goes To Print
That’s right, yet another interesting Beta from the company that just won’t quit. We all know about their plan to scan libraries into their database. Some of us even watch the new T.V. show “Google Current” (even though it sucks). But Google just won’t stop stretching. Now it wants to take its adsense program and apply it to print magazines. Can the model that now defines Internet advertising be exported?
I love hearing crazy future Google talk. You know what I mean. People pontificate on the idea that Google will merge with Wal-Mart or buy-out Time Warner. Truth is, it’ll never happen. But it is interesting to see the ways that Google is stretching itself out. Perhaps like the Roman army it will go too far. I mean, it’s one thing to dominate Internet searches and advertising, but to now go to print?
Google print ads seems simple enough. Just find the magazine (or price) that fits what you are looking for, click in your design and poof…..you’re in the paper. Let’s wait and see if it takes off.
Just A Little Faster
Optical drive enthusiasts are definitely impatient people. Why else would they constantly remove a perfectly functional piece of computer hardware (namely their optical drive) to swap in one that is just a little faster? First it was CDR speeds, then DVDR speeds, and lately DVDR dual layer speeds. DVDR disc writing speeds maxed out at 16x a year ago. A full DVDR disc could be cooked in 6 minutes, and no one expected any faster as rotational speeds maxed out.
Well, counting on the fact that we always want things one notch faster, Plextor is planning on introducing a DVD writer that can write DVD+R discs at the breakneck speed of 18x! Personally, I think this is very fast, will probably put the hit on write quality, and can’t wait to try it.
Audible.com to quantify podcast popularity, help podcasters sell their souls
People! Let’s find a way to measure exactly how many people are listening to podcasts so that we can set up ways to mine this nascent market! Nobody puts out content and misses out on an opportunity to make money!
Audible.com, purveyor of fine audio content (listen to an NPR program and you’ll likely hear their ads at the end, in case you want a copy of the show) announced on Friday that they have developed a system for cashing in on all of those still-ad-free potential revenue streams. Dubbed Wordcast, the software can be installed on iPods and other digital audio players (or DAPs, for the geeks), in Audible’s .AA file format. Still in beta, it appears to be able to provide podcast producers with the ability to more accurately determine the size of their listening audience, as the embedded software will monitor the number of times files are e-mailed and how far into each podcast listeners progress.
As soon as we can get our act together we’ll get all y’all a podcast. I’m a fool for ignoring the market until now, I tell you!
[Via Red Herring]
Sometimes Free Can Be Rather Expensive
I’m constantly amazed by these offers that seem too good to be true. After all, what is better than free? Well, if it seems too good to be true, it ussually is. This latest offer from Visa is an example of this.
I received an offer from Visa this week for a free Dell Laptop that they say is valued at $850. Naturally I’m skeptical, but before I threw the ad in the trash I looked over it to see what you had to do to get the “free” computer.
To qualify for your “free” computer you must transfer a balance of $5000 to the new card and maintain a balance of $3,500 for 18 months. If you don’t have $5,000 on another card to transfer you can take out upto $2,500 in cash advances to make up the difference. This means you need to have at least $2,500 on another card in order to transfer it to the new card.
After some serious number crunching, they figure out that the “free” laptop ends up costing over $900! Now that’s an offer I can definitely pass on.
More Storage For iPod Predicted
Some users downloaded too much stuff from Napster have larger music collections that come close to the current capacity of current iPod offerings of 60 GB. If their collection is that large today, imagine what will happen now that the Video iPod can play back videos. And don’t forget about the thousands of 7 megapixel photos that you’d like to be able to share at all times. One analyst is hypothesizing that a terabyte iPod could be available in 5 years. While a capacity of 1 terabyte seems daunting (remember 1 terabyte=1000 gigabytes!), why do I think that some power users will be able to fill that up, with a few more tracks to spare?
“Apple could possibly create an iPod with 1 terabyte of storage, as well as a true “iPhone” says one analyst. “A terabyte iPod might sound crazy today, but we believe in five years a terabyte iPod will emerge as a portable home media center,” says Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster in an research report obtained by iLounge. “We continue to believe that Apple will enter the mobile phone market. We would not expect an ‘iPhone’ to be launched for at least 12-18 months.” “
Curses, Foiled Again!
What do you do when the president of your company says the department that pulls the best prank will win $100 each? Cover an entire office in aluminum foil. That’s right. All the walls, all the furniture, all his office equipment, every paper clip and even the sticky notes on his desk. We aim to never be outdone, and this was no exception.
XM satellite parking
It looks like the guys at XM are interested in helping you do more than hear news from ex-NPR icon Bob Edwards; earlier this week they announced their intention to provide drivers with real-time information about parking spot availability. Now, you might find yourself asking, “How could XM do this?”
Well, that’s the kicker – while this may be cool, it obviously requires the deployment of spot-detecting technology wherever parking spots might be available. Translation: if this gets off the ground we’ll likely see it at large parking structures first. XM is working with Nu-Metrics and InfoGation to develop a system that uses color-coding to notify drivers about the percentage of available spots (methinks this is done via a simple mechanism that counts the number of cars coming in and subtracts the number going out). Let the satellite radio wars continue.
WiFi Phones
First there was regular phone service. Then there was cellular phone service. The latest buzz has been about VOIP (voice over internet protocol). By routing phone calls through a broadband internet connection, there can be real cost savings. This has been gaining momentum, and starting to become prevalent with such bonuses as one monthly payment for unlimited phone calls including long distance. In short, this has been a revolution in telecommunications!
Never to rest on their laurels, the next act planned is for VOIP broadband phone calls across wireless internet connections. Now, anywhere there is an open wireless network, with a handheld wifi phone, you can sit all day and talk. I could see this type of device as really useful for folks that like to talk at Starbucks all day, and for travelers at airports and hotels where wifi networks are commonplace. Perhaps, for urban dwellers with city wide wifi networks (like those being assembled in San Francisco and Philadelphia), this may one day become the phone of choice for many users.
Cyberbullying
Growing up is sometimes a painful prospect. Getting hazed at school is a fact of life for generations, and probably generations to come. Unfortunately, the latest is cyberbullying, and this definitely goes too far. This involves criminal activity, including hacking into a school’s server, and posting “mean spirited images” and racial epithets.
San Francisco school officials are trying to figure out who hacked into a high school Web site, posted a student’s face over vulgar and mocking images, then added racist and gang-related captions using the student’s name.
Normally, the Washington High Web site features the usual school fare: club news, athletic schedules, student triumphs and information for parents.
But on Wednesday, school officials realized that someone had replaced all the school information with a set of photo montages apparently intended to humiliate a single student.