Category Archives: General

I’ve seen the future of internet mapping technology, and the word is WOW! We all started with Microsoft’s Streets & Maps on CD, and it was incredibly useful. The internet brought us Mapquest, and Yahoo Maps, and now it was always up to date with links to everything around a spot. I started playing with the Google Earth software a few weeks ago. The satellite images with street map overlays provide detail that make me feel like I work at the CIA with a satellite at my disposal.

Today, I found out about A9 which is in beta. Their database is limited to only a few cities currently. They combined MapQuest maps, with 360 degree pics down the street. Want to know what you’ll see at an intersection? Just scroll around. to get any more detail, you’ll need to actually go there.

Punk kids and their spray-paint. Graffiti started in New York in the 80’s as a way for kids to try and create a street persona. Since then it has become synonymous with street gangs claiming territory. But dorks have now redefined what graffiti is with Grafedia.

If you ever come by some blue graffiti it could be a hyperlink. The blue marks on a stop sign have within them instructions. Usually they are a name @ Grafedia dot net. So follow the instructions and go to Grafedia and find the name. Within that name you will find links to video or music content. Their graffiti becomes a means to communicate digital art with you via the real world. Crazy no?

I’ve spent the past few weeks enjoying a free trial of Netflix, building a sizeable rental queue, diligently watching my discs shortly after they arrive, shooting them (literally, I wish) into the mail and waiting for what’s next. I admit, Netflix has done a remarkable job of placing distribution centers near major urban areas across the country – they claim 90 percent of Americans live within 1-day mail service of a Netflix facility – but I still sit here at my desk, wanting more.

I just read a very interesting press release (from yesterday), in which GameFly, the Netflix-like online video game rental service, just announced a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service to improve the speed of delivery of rental games.

Dubbed “FastReturn,” the system notifies GameFly as soon as a returned game is scanned by a local post office, so the service can mail out the customer’s next rental right away. According to GameFly, FastReturn promises to improve delivery times by as much as three days.

Soo…Netflix…I smell an upcoming deal with the USPS, right? You’re not going to let GameFly be the innovator, are you? Since I started my Netflix trial, one of my rentals has been lost in transit, while discs mailed together seem to somewhat too frequently are reported as received several days apart. I realize the system is an inexact science at best, but come on! This seems like a great way to increase efficiency for a very small cost, with zero additional effort needed by the customer.

Snap snap! I’ve got movies to watch!

I stumbled on this just a few minutes ago and have kept it running in the background while I work – National Geographic’s WildCam Africa, a live video feed from a place called Pete’s pond, part of Botswana’s Mashatu Game Researve. For the past 30 minutes (starting at 9:45 EST) I’ve been watching an empty pond become a resting place for a herd of elephants, as a trickle of fleet-footed youngsters lead to a stream of adults.

As the site reads, it all came about as a result of some “technical ingenuity, tinkering with satellite coordinates, some switching and routing of video data, and no small share of critterproofing.” Great stuff. The site also has a small “video highlights” section with clips of Wildebeests, Warthogs, Baboons and more. Peak viewing hours are listed as 7 am – noon and 4-6 pm. (Botswana is 6 hours ahead of the east coast of the U.S.).

The camera has the ability to move, which surprised me when it first happened, so if you don’t see anything when it first loads, be patient. If no large animals show up, there’s always the pleasant sound of birds chirping. If you can’t commune with nature, it looks like the web can bring it to you. Finally! 😉

It looks like a slew of folks responded to San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom’s request for proposals on ways to provide city residents with inexpensive (or free) WiFi, the most prominent being everyone’s favorite search engine. As far as I’ve learned, they’ve released a VPN (virtual private network) client, though my attempts to download the damn thing haven’t met with much success…I’m betting they’ve taken the appropriate servers down due to load or somesuch concern, as these things tend to get large pretty fast.

If you’re curious, search for “google vpn client“, or visit http://wifi.google.com. At the time of this post, the second link merely redirects to google.com.

But back to the details of the WiFi: the G-boys hope to blanket SF with a FREE 300Kbps network. I’ve read a lot of complaints about the speed, but keep in mind that this comes from hyper-progressive tech geeks who all complain about the lack of expansion ports in things like Mac Minis and the 100-song capacity of the iTunes phone. For the millions of people out there with little to no ‘net access – the targets of a low cost, municipality-wide internet availability solution – 300Kbps will be sweet.

Man, I wish I was in SF now. Hopefully soon, self…hopefully soon.

The free shipping era at dell is coming to an end. Next month Dell is going to start charging to get a computer purchase shipped to your house. This penny pinching manuever is supposed to save the company money. There will be a new “pick up at the post office” option to debut soon. This will appeal to consumers who work during the day and don’t want their new purchases sitting on the stoop to get taken.

Dell Inc. will stop its practice of sending low-end computers to customers homes without charge in order to cut costs, the company said on Thursday.

Starting on October 10, Dell’s free shipping offer on basic models will apply only to people willing to pick up their computers at the post office, said Jennifer Davis, spokeswoman for Dell’s U.S. consumer business. Customers will have to pay extra for home delivery.

I personally have not been a big fan of Dell. I’d rather purchase a computer “hands on,” eager to see how it looks up close, and try the keyboard out for comfort. Obviously, many folks buy from Dell, we’ll have to see if it hurts their sales or not.
See over here for more info.

Now, I don’t normally get too excited about bargain basement hardware, but it is nice to see innovation in this price range.

Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Labs, has been outlining designs for a sub-$100 PC.
The laptop will be tough and foldable in different ways, with a hand crank for when there is no power supply.

Professor Negroponte came up with the idea for a cheap computer for all after visiting a Cambodian village.

While the hand crank and rubberized case are unique, the notebook is planned to have a 500 MHz processor, WiFi, flash based storage, and USB ports x4. For $100, I might buy one! Actually, they will not be available for purchase by individuals, and you can read more details here.

I’m no math geek, but that doesn’t mean I utterly abhor the stuff; in fact, I have an amazing amount of respect for people who can enjoy manipulating numbers and do it well. Too bad our society continues to perpetuate stereotypes involving brainy, unwashed and socially inept kids hanging out at the other end of a room from the popular crowd, their minds on starting companies, world domination or dungeons & dragons (wait…MMORPGs).

In such a world, I have no trouble painting Stephen Wolfram as one of the last guys I’d expect to find dabbling in pop culture – he developed the 800-lb gorilla of technical computing applications, Mathematica, and built a company around it. But every now and again the stuff results in a mass-market product whose mathmatical underpinnings can hardly be denied. The guys at Wolfram Research recently released a pretty darn sweet web app for creating completely custom ring tones, dubbed Wolfram Tones.

Visitors to the site can create custom music based on a suite of variables and genres, from classical, dance and hip hop to the bit more arcane, such as ambient, latin and signalling (your guess is as good as mine). Monkey with variables in several composition control categories to get exactly what you’re looking for; those uninterested (or baffled) by the mechanics of the minutiae can simply click on genre buttons repeatedly, each click offering up a unique composition. Compositions can be saved via browser cookies, e-mailed to friends or downloaded to a cell phone (charges apply).

Yes, math can be cool. It can!

At least they might make it more expensive. That’s because Microsoft just got a new patent filed the other day directly related to time-shifting technology. Don’t see the connection gumshoe?

The patent is capable of creating a system where viewers are charged extra for skipping commercials or replaying sports highlights.

I hate commercials as much as the next guy, but I also hate throwing money away. If this thing goes big, all it means is that I’ll have to re-learn the ancient art of making snacks in the short period provided by commercial breaks.

I’ll be keeping my eye out for this one, hopefully I won’t miss a thing! …….. ohhahahaha…. damm I’m funny.

My first confession, I do not even own an iPod in the traditional sense. All I have been able to acquire in the several-odd years since the pod people landed, was a measly shuffle pod.

But man do I love that shuffle pod. I put it in my pocket and bike to work or take the subway, and I’m rocking out the whole time. So I don’t know what song is coming up next, that’s the thrill of life man! So you can imagine how bummed I was when my inadequately sized shuffle pod ceased to work.

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A robot that can scan 50 meters deep into the earth may have discovered the 18th-Century buried treasure on the Juan Fernadez island, home to Alexander Selkirk, who we all know as Robinson Crusoe. Selkirk, a Scottish adventurer inspired Daniel Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe in 1729.

This little robot, named Arturito, which bears an odd sounding resemblance to R2D2, may be responsible for finding up to 10 billion dollars worth of booty (if the legends of Selkirk are true).

But what I really like about this story is the fact that it was a little robot that found it. Step aside Indian Jones, the next blockbuster movie about an adventurer is going to be about little Arturito, the robot that scanned the ground for treasure. It sure is an advancement from the $20 metal detector I ordered on Ebay when I was a kid.