Technology such as this can be implemented in just about any scenario I can think of, so I asked Monahan to think of some ideas for me.
I think the transmitters will continue to get smaller, so the number of uses
and applications can be expanded. I think there is a market for traffic
control, service businesses (such as automobile) so they can greet their
Customers, and track when and how long a car was in for service. I also
think the Hospital Market has huge potential for tracking assets.We already have interest from companies to track employees and have
integrated access control with RFID to protect laptops from being removed
from property unless it is with a properly tagged owner. Mustering is
another great application where in the event of an emergency, employees must
evacuate to a safe area and log in. RFID is perfect for performing a “head
count”.
I was curious, how fool proof is this system. If I were to damage a RFID transmitter, how would the system respond? “Each RFID tag has a Tamper Switch built in that when violated can be programmed to transmit alarm bursts and then render the tag inoperative.”
The units are accessible over the internet or a local network, if deactivation or reprogramming is needed remotely.
I personally don’t have kids, a garage, or a want for internetrestriction, but I have a huge need for a system like this integrated into my life. First thing I’d do is RFID my car and program an alarm sound so I don’t get caught parking in the way of the weekly street sweeper. The RFID system would have paid for itself on that single implementation!
If I were a bad blogger, I’d keep the Nanofactory Product Catalog a secret. I could probably milk another 5-10 posts from this baby. Although some of the “products” are speculative, like solar powered lawn grass, they are all the kinds of ideas that make you go hmmm.
Many of the product descriptions assume a post-nanofactory fictional history, but the site assures us that its technical consultant, Chris Phoenix of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, has put great effort into making all product descriptions fall within the plausible capabilities of theoretical molecular manufacturing. This includes a biomass food machine. Any kind of biomass goes in, and tasty food comes out.
Not all the ideas are pure speculation though. Some are labeled “in development” and make you smile about the bright future with bite sized gadgets that can do it all.
If you are looking for an eco friendly alternative to the Mini or Prius, here may lie your solution. The Smart Car, currently zipping through streets in Europe for the past seven years, is going to be imported into the US by a small Santa Clara Ca. Company, Zap. When I was in Switzerland a few years back, I remember seeing this zooming throught the narrow streets, delivering pizzas or transporting people around.
The Zap is 8 feet 2 inches long, or slightly more than half the length of the Prius, and at 1,588 pounds, it is nearly 40 percent lighter than the Mini Cooper. The three-cylinder car appeals to urban dwellers who need to squeeze into small parking spaces and like the stylish colors.
The customizable car will be sold with door panels in a variety of colors that can be switched “within the time it takes to drink a latte,” Campbell said.
In its current form, the Smart could be sold in 45 states, but not in California and four others that adhere to the nation’s toughest emissions standards.
“The European version of the car is rated to get 60 miles per gallon. However, to meet the tougher U.S. emissions standards, the car received an initial Environmental Protection Agency rating of just 37 mpg. He said the company’s internal tests indicate that the modified car should get at least 50 mpg, so it has asked the EPA for a retest.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if this small, reletively unsafe car, will be sucessfull in the states, for its been loosing money in Europe for a few years now.
In the Stone Age grocery shopping was an analog task. You wrote down your shopping list, perhaps with something as quaint as a pencil. Traveled to the store, hopefully everything was refrigerated and after getting all your items you would call it a day.
Now there is a new way to shop. IBM and Springboard Retail Networks are each working on their own version of a computerized shopping cart. The cart can guide you through the aisles using a GPS like map. It won’t count your calories, but it can ring you up, making the grocery store a one-stop hassle free encounter. You’ll never get lost looking for pickles again, the cart will take you to them, just like you were on a treasure hunt.
But, seeing as how it will cost a store 160,000 to get fully equipped with the smart shopping carts, I have a feeling we won’t be seeing them at Costco anytime soon.
Found City is one of a growing number of Folksonomies. But don’t tell them that, they like to say they are in the Folkmapping business. A Folksonomy can be thought of, more or less, as a new brand of site that focuses on tagging. Graffiti is back, except now it has nothing to do with spray paint and everything to do with how we organize (tag) our digital information. Flickr is one of the most popular Folksonomies.
With Found City (currently only available in Manhattan), you can take a picture of an interesting city object, like an abandoned building, and tag the photo registering it at Found City. The result is a Craiglist, Mapquest montage that lets you see where other people have come across, tagged and registered other abandoned buildings.
This site is super-beta, but it could be kinda cool once it takes off. I hope they start a version of it in SF. I would like to find out where the rest of the gnarly Civic Center trees are planted.
The Xbox, that little bundle of wires and joy, is at it again. First off, we should note that Showtime, the cable movie giant second only to HBO, is going to be giving away Xbox games as part of a promotion to new subscribers. But contest announcements aside, lets get down to the real news.
Bill Gates is a big talker lately. Just the other day he went on record saying cars should eventually get smart enough to prevent themselves from crashing. He said it standing next to Henry Ford Jr. no less. So today, it’s no surprise that the king of all dorks mentioned some big plans for the next Xbox design.
It will be an entertainmnet hub akin to a PC according to Gates. Microsoft really wants to focus on the multi role playing games that let you network up while you play. The new Xbox might have a very Windows like interface that lets you play games, listen to music and chat with other gamers in a manner that could only be called PC-like. Put some Microsoft Word document capability there and you might have the next big college campus computer.
I just washed my clothes and am waiting for the dryer to finish up. While doing so I came across an invention that makes single people like me feed dating sites like match.com and eharmony.com. A single bachelor like myself couldn’t even do his daily chores without a lovely young lady, no seriously.
Your Turn is a finger print recognition clothes washing machine. It does not let the same person wash two times in a row. Such a machine was marketed for ‘Father’s Day’ when I feel that this would be more of a ‘Mother’s Day’ present. I’m neither a father nor a mother so make sure not to get me one of these things or I’ll take my business to the local laundromat.
Every now and again a gadget comes along that makes me scratch my head. The Dog LED Tail Light is such a gadget.
This device attaches to the tip of a dog’s (A POOR ABUSED DOG’S) tail and can be programmed to read out a message when the dog wags his tail because he’s pleased to see his owner. Yes, because any animal would be downright thrilled to have a blinky tail. 
My only question is does this product come with drugs? I’m not sure how else the dog would climb out of the abyss of humiliation and despair he would find himself in once he understands what his owner has strapped to him THIS time.
Who decided this was a good idea? Was someone sitting around in an office just going, you know what, it’s really not embarrassing enough for the dog (and everyone else) to dress him up in people clothes. We need something more!
My favorite part of the article on the topic is the line that says “clearly some technophile dog owner noticed the gaping void that remains in the growing dog electronics market…” News Flash: SOMETIMES THERE ARE GAPING VOIDS FOR A REASON.
You don’t see people investigating the ‘how about if we make gum taste like dirt, nobody has done that before’ market. Technically, that’s a gaping void right there. Oh there are plenty of others. There’s the ‘how about leg warmers for snakes nobody’s done that before either’ market. Clearly that one’s ridiculous though, because as we all know, leg warmers went out of style after the 80s. My point is, some markets are better left untapped.
The only way it would ever be ok with me to place this device on a dog, would be if the dog got to program the message on it. I bet he wouldn’t pick “I missed you”. I picture more “You’ve got to sleep sometime” and then he’d wag his tail like crazy.
You’re on speaker phone! Years ago I was one of those annoying Nextel ‘beep beep’ users. Nextel had a great idea, speaker phone use with mobile phones. The craze didn’t really catch on, and I have since left Nextel for the T-Mobile. The ‘Get More’ campaign with super-hot Catherine Zeta persuading me to use my mobile more, dragged me away from speakerphone friendly Nextel.
It looks as though lately, more phone makers are answering my call of desperation. Here’s a few phones that now come with speakerphone. The biggest issue with speakerphone able phones is people knowing when to turn speakerphone off!
Snowboarding, the ancient art of gliding over the snow on a large piece of wood, has met the 21st century. Now you can equip your snowboarding jacket with bluetooth mp3 players, headphones, even cell phones.
Rebecca Anema has taken it one step further.
She has equipped several jackets with social GPS devices, so you can keep track of your friends the whole time you are on the mountain. Let’s face it, you always want to go to snowboarding with your friends, but it’s inevitable that you all end up separated. I know I get left behind because I straight suck at snowboarding. But this way my friends can ditch me guilt free, cause they will know where I am the whole time.
I have a story up today at Wired on what I can only call Blogger drama. Basically one guy, Nick Lewis, is accusing CNN of conducting a viral marketing attack on all spam posts about CNN, to make sure criticism of the network doesn’t get ranked high on Google searches. Quite a claim indeed.
It’s tough to report on blogger drama, because you can’t give too much credence to claims made my individuals with no real evidence, especially when the claim is against one of the oldest and trusted news networks in the nation.
But what I think this story goes to show is that everyone really does have a voice. You can blog your accusations and if there is enough speculation to raise an eyebrow, you’ll get instant notification.
