I was reading this one on the train the other day… some seriously amazing science mixed in with some good old fashioned wackos.
Human antifreeze could kick-start the cryonics game by making it easier to perform low-temperature surgery. [Wired News]
An interview a day
Keeps the job hunting blues away…
A good week. Interview Monday, Tuesday, phone interview/discovery Wednesday and an Interview on Friday. I also had a brief call with a recruiter today for a job that unfortunately did not match up. It was too technical, though I am not sure a person like they are describing truly exists. We’ll see if that one circles back.
Most weeks are far from this active. It gets hard, but it’s good to know there are always options. My plan is and has been to find the best fit for where I can spend some time, not just pass it.
Comcast to offer cable modem/802.11g wireless access point
This one-ups the current offer from Verizon DSL which includes an 802.11b wireless router. I think it would be wise for them both to also offer a deal on cards or usb adapters for homes since without a card or adapter, having a wireless router does not do much more than a wired router.
Comcast says they’re going to start offering their cable Internet subscribers the Wireless-G Cable Gateway, a cable
modem from Linksys that comes with a built-in router and 802.11g wireless access point.[Engadget]
Lewis Black on Advertising
Just heard on the Daily Show… on why Churchill Downs did not previously allow advertising for the Kentucky Derby:
They did not want advertising tainting the nobility of Gambling…
PlayStation Portable specs!
It’s going to rock…
Seems just a tad premature, but Expansys has the PlayStation Portable available pre-order on their website. They don’t list a price, but they do list specs, which we’re reproducing here in case Sony forces them to take down the page…[Engadget]
The latest from Digeo/Moxie
WHOA! The Digeo/Moxie platform now works on both Motorola and Scientific Atlanta cable boxes which hopefully means some amazing set-top boxes are coming soon…
Consistency across both Moxi PowerKEY and Motorola BMC versions gives operators national reach for new revenue-generating media center-services, including high-definition TV (HDTV) watch-and-record digital video recording (DVR with two tuners), and eventually Jukebox, Photos, Games and home networking. By creating versions of the Moxi Media Center that are compatible with conditional access systems of either Scientific-Atlanta or Motorola networks, Digeo has established a universal cable platform for advanced services.
“Providing PowerKEY compatibility for the Moxi Media Center software confirms the strength of our reference design architecture, and highlights the benefits of partnering with Digeo to provide advanced services,†said Jim Billmaier, Chief Executive Officer of Digeo. “The consistent Moxi platform provides cable operators with a mix of Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola deployments to unify and consolidate marketing, training, and support for advanced services across their national network.â€
[Moxi]
Tasks 2.0
Tasks 2.0 is out as of this afternoon and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to keep track of things in their lives. Sure you can use todos in your palm or iCal or some similar software, but the flexibility and strenghs of Tasks are too great to pass up.
With built-in RSS and phpiCalendar (also with RSS) you can subscribe to your tasks in an aggregator, receive email updates and even sync to your Palm device. Sync is still one way, but with a wireless connection you can connect to your server and review what’s on tap.
As I previously blogged, Tasks 2.0 is great and well worth the cost. The price is actually quite reasonable. There is a demo set-up which will give you a full feel for how things work. If you want to install it yourself, you can do so for a 21-day run.
Qwerty Keyboard Coming to the P900
Well maybe not the P900 exactly, but it seems Sony may be working on the next rev and will be including a keyboard as well as RIM messaging… Mobileburn has the scoop.
I wonder why the keyboard flips under rather than instead of the phone keys, where it would easier to hold and type. It’s just a CGI for now… have to wait to see if it’s real first and then figure out how it will really work.
Vigoto VigoBox
Seems like an interesting idea, but perhaps too far ahead of it’s time. You need to have a wired (literally) home, which is certainly far from a large number of people. Newer homes in the $1 Million range seem to offer cat 5 cabling so this box will fit nicely — assuming it supports the cable company in your area the other key piece here. Most (if any) US markets don’t support bring your own cable box.
If what Vigoto claims is possible, the VigoBox may be the next big thing in cable-based DVR (digital video recorder) entertainment. The VigoBox claims to be a one set-top box DVR and cable programming solution for up to five televisions in a coaxial wired home (no home networking equipment required)…. [eHomeUpgrade]
Nokia cutting prices up to 25%?
A rumor for now… could certainly drive some serious demand for the 6600 amongst others… Have to see if carriers pass it along or gobble up the profits for themselves.
In a move to help offset its falling market share, analysts now predict that Nokia will cut prices on its mobile phones by an average of 10 percent to 20 percent and up to 25 percent on some low-end models. The price cuts are expected to hit some handset makers hard, especially South Korean company LG. LG is the world’s fifth-largest mobile phone maker and primarily targets the low-end and mid-level phone segments. LG and other handset rivals have gained market share in recent months thanks to Nokia’s loss in share. Nokia last month shocked investors and financial analysts by issuing first-quarter profit warnings twice within 10 days. The company’s stock price plummeted 31 percent. Nokia is fighting to regain its lost handset market share and to regain its position as the industry design and trend leader. [The Korean Herald via FierceWireless]
GPRS connectivity…
I’ve got T-Mobile GPRS service which lets me obtain a data connection while on the go via Palm or laptop, like now as I head back to NYC on Amtrak. As I surf, blog and email on the train, I can also make calls which politely holds my data connection (or at least slows it down) and then picks right back up when you end your voice session. This is not only cool, but amazing… I guess I had noticed it while on the Palm previously, but had not really appreciated how slick that is.
I imagine a faster connection might not have to pause as there would be enough juice to let it all through…
Bill Gates fined $800,000
Just caught this one via Google News…
I’m sure he’s not happy, but there are few people who could even sustain a hit like this without it having any impact on their personal wealth.
The world’s richest man is out $800,000 (U.S.) for violating federal rules by making a large investment in a pharmaceutical company.
Bill Gates, the billionaire chairman of Microsoft Corp., agreed to the civil penalty for the violation arising from his 2002 acquisition of more than $50-million in Icos Corp. securities. [The Globe and Mail]
The Joy of Travel
Just enjoying the view from the train, while my iPod churns the tunes and allows my mind to wander…
Microsoft DRM
Get ready for a world of pain and high unexpected costs. I think it’s fair to say that only Microsoft could have developed such a flexible yet confusing pricing and control structure.
I’m not against DRM — in fact I think there should be protections and payment for enjoying commercial work. It just has to be accessible — easy to get and simple in how you pay for it. There have been quite a few articles lately talking about this and it seems MS is ahead in getting their solution out (though it’s only being announced today, released later) while Apple is still cooking theirs up. I hope they hurry.
…By making the rights so granular, Microsoft has created technology that would encourage its partners to implement a variety of rights mechanisms that could create consumer confusion. For example, purchased or rented music could come with rights for unlimited PC playback, 30-day portable device usage but metered (meaning pay as you play) usage when accessed elsewhere in the home from a digital media receiver. Another: say I rent music from an online store that I can play on a couple PCs and portable device as long as I pay 10 bucks a month, but another store charges by number of playbacks. One store might offer both mechanisms, for which there is precedent in stores offering content for sale or subscription. What happens if consumers want to buy music from more than one store, but the rights change or even they are different based on the publisher within one store?
Until there is wifi on Amtrak…
I know it exists, but not on my train… Headed to Philadelphia for an interview at the moment and blogging this from my laptop via the always reliable bluetooth to GPRS.
How John Doerr Struck Google
Good piece from the NYT on John Doerr and Kleiner Perkins…
In 1999, Mr. Doerr, on behalf of his firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, invested $12.5 million for a stake in Google that will probably be worth at least $3 billion – perhaps more – after Google sells stock to public investors this year. That is a gain of 240 times the original investment in five years and provides plenty of spare profit to offset the losses from other bets investors made in the same round of venture capital fund-raising.
“John Doerr throws big darts at distant targets,” said Jerry Kaplan, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur whose start-ups in the early 1990’s, Go Corporation and Onsale.com, were flops backed by Kleiner through Mr. Doerr. “Most miss, but when they hit, it’s spectacular.” [The New York Times]
Cybercafe Society
Howard Rheingold’s latest in The Feature… An interesting thought, though I think Kinkos has a long way to go to enable a more hospitable location. I could see Starbucks extending their larger locations with additional services though. It’s quite nice to sit down in the nicer ones, when there’s space to have for yourself. I guess a package dropbox would be a pretty easy addition — remember Kozmo and Urban Fetch…
Now that Fedex owns Kinko’s, I really think they ought to consider buying Starbucks to constitute the ultimate 21st century cybernomadic infrastructure: 24X7 coffee, wireless broadband, and handy global shipping for roving mobs of socio-knowledge workers.
Starbucks is trying to be a “third place” for untethered informationistas by furnishing couches, caffeine, and WiFi. Kinko’s pitches toward the independent operators who don’t have offices full of copiers, or for the traveling infoworkers who want the hardcopy ready for their meetings when they arrive. What if Starbucks starts providing printers, scanners, and copiers? Or Kinko’s starts serving good coffee and puts in a few couches? [TheFeature]
Notebook, Notetaker, and Tinderbox
Certainly one opinion… I’ve just found the learning curve too steep to deal with on Tinderbox. I’ve wanted to like it, but have been very happy with Notetaker.
Doug Miller: “Overall, Notetaker and Notebook appear to be solid applications for basic note taking, and were worth taking a look at in their latest versions. Neither, however, can yet measure up to the flexibility and power of Tinderbox.” [Mac Net Journal]
All Hail the Mighty Google Cache!
As I mentioned, last this week I had a database blow-out and lost about a month of posts. While certainly better than losing the several years that have accumulated, it still sucks. I knew Google had been generously running through my site for quite this whole time, so I’ve been actively looking through my logs to find urls of pages that have been cached. It’s a piece by piece rebuild, but is working great actually. I’ve reposted quitee a few and have luckily found my longer ones. Some of the link oriented ones may just fall off…
WordPress is great for this process as it lets me easily edit the date and time to match what was originally in place. I can’t rebuild the comments that were lost and over the past month there were actually some good ones…My issue now aside from not finding all of them at once is that some of the incoming links are based on the php to db code rather than the nicer cruft-free permalinks. Hopefully visitors will use the handy search box on the sidebar and find their original query.
Digital Colophon
Interesting compared to my own experiences… I’d have to recommend Notetaker and also mention that in the beta of WordPress 1.2 (out now) UTF-8 is supported. I had not messed with xPad… and it looks interesting, though I’ve got more than enough going on at the moment for notes.
I planned to talk about note taking software, but the scope expanded…[whump.com | More Like This WebLog]