ChoicePoint won in the Big Brother contest. Now it turns out they might have some competition. Yesterday LexisNexis announced that the initial 30,000 identities that were stolen from their data base about a month ago was really something like 300,000. I guess that’s why U.C. Berkeley has just been designated the leader of the new cybersecurity Consortium. So the picture below won’t stop identity thieves from hacking into data-mining companies like ChoicePoint, but the moustache on the guy on this box was so great I had to use it as an image.
Author Archives: DigiDave
BuzzWorthy
Buzztracker follows the headlines from Google News and uses an algorithm to actually visualize the relationships between geographic locations and the buzz they are creating. I’m a big fan of sites likes these. We live in a digital era, so I say, ‘Why not have a little fun with how we get our news.’ I’ve come across many different sites like this. In fact, one site which I wrote a story for at Wired, Ten by Ten, is now up for a Webby award.
IPod Accesories
Ipod’s can do a lot. But as we know from when Superman and Batman teamed up, even the most able bodies need help sometimes. There are a whole plethora of add-ons and extras that can make your iPod shine, glimmer, or just attach nicely to your belt. Trusted Reviews had a decent round up of the add-on gang. But really they only scratch the surface. Speaking of scratching, with the protective case above your iPod will stay fresh like canned tuna.
Remeber the Segway?
This was supposed to revolutionize how people walked. It was going to be to the car what the car was to the horse. Several years down the line, people still have no love for the segway. As this BBC story points out, in Britain there are only a handful of the crazy contraptions on the whole island. The price doesn’t fit and riding one still looks dumber than being caught in neon rollerblades. Let’s give it a few more years.
Digital Photography
Nikon, the world’s second biggest digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera maker, just unleashed a new line of products to challenge Canon. SLR digital cameras produce high quality images. Yea, I know you already got a digi-camera on your phone. But for the true photographer, you won’t settle for those annoying pixilated images. If you want the real deal, rock an SLR digital. The picture below is of Nikon’s last release the D70, which sold like hot-cakes.
RFID Tags for your Luggage
Airlines spend 100-200 dollars on every bag they lose. While they only lose 5 out of every 1,000 bags, that can sure add up over a year. The New York Times had a good story today about future RFID tags for luggage (I hate linking to sites that require registration and try to avoid it normally). The technology is there and in the long term would save the airlines money and it would save passengers a lot of hair pulling. For right now, however, none of them want to make that initial investment. RFID technology is scary to some, and when the proposal is to put RFID tags on kids I can understand. But this is an application of RFID technology I think we can all get behind.
One Man Battles Apple
So this is a story Wired News covered in December. It’s about a guy who modified an iPod and tried to sell it on eBay, but Apple threw a fit and had eBay take the auction down. Technically that is an infringement of his consumer rights, free speech etc. So to stand up for his rights he is up and at it again, this time taking the auction to his own site. I did the follow up story on his fight and from talking to him I can say this guy isn’t vindictive, he just knows his rights and wants to show what Apple can and can’t do. Check out his modified iPod below.
Internet Radio To-Go
Remember in the 80’s when people would hoist big boom boxes on their shoulder listening to their favorite artist on tape? That look could come back with the InFusion portable Internet radio. The size of a mint box this little guy only needs to be close to a wireless hot spot and instantly you will have access to every radio program on the Internet. It might not look tough hanging on your shoulder, but maybe they will make a jacket with a cool patch to let it hang from in the near future.