What 3 Words

Here is an interesting way to identify a specific location.

If I wanted to give you directions to meet me at a specific location I could give you a street address or a GPS location.
The street address works if the location is in a city – it should get you close enough.

But what if we were going to meet someplace that does not have a street address. It could be a location in the wilderness, a spot in a park, connecting at a festival/concert, etc. The current solution would be to send you the GPS address – 37.4223918,-122.1376213,19.71. Something that is easy to remember and communicate – NOT.

Well now identifying a location is as simple as 3 words.
What3Words has broken the world down to 3 meter by 3 meter squares and assigned each of them a unique 3 word identifier. I would go to the app or website, find my location, and send you the 3 words.
If you go to their app or website and enter the 3 words you get a precise location of where to find me.

So telling you to meet me at wisdom.moons.tube is simpler than a long GPS coordinate pair.

Will this replace GPS – probably not. But it is an interesting way to identify a location.

WWDC 2018 Thoughts

This week is Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference and the keynote was on Monday.
The keynote is an opportunity for Apple to share what is coming from the Software teams this year. This year there were updates on iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS – no hardware was presented this year.

Here are the things that stood out to me and my thoughts after one viewing of the Keynote:

iOS
Siri Shortcuts – Now we know what the Workflow team that Apple bought awhile back has been working on. The current versions of Workflow or IFTTT give users the ability to string together a bunch of commands/actions do to automation – but is not simple and there is a steep learning curve. One that the average user probably does not try to tackle.
Shortcuts are Apple’s take on making automation simple for the masses. The challenge will be having simple samples that someone new to automation can use to see the power of the tool and then get started making their own.
Oh – and it needs to be reliable and predictable. I am excited to try it out.

News – Meh, starting to use the current version to become familiar with it and see how relevant it is to me, but it is not my primary method to get news – RSS feeds are.

Do Not Disturb – Liked the new features. Looking forward to having finer control over who can break through Do Not Disturb. The ability to deactivate Do Not Disturb after a set period of time or when leaving a location sounds great – but demos always sound great, I need to see how does it work in the real world.

Notifications – Liked the recommendation feature identifying notifications to deactivate – and then ability to modify the notification rules right from the notification. Also the grouping of Notifications and the ability dismiss multiple notifications at once is a time saver.

Memoji – Meh. Seems like something you do a couple of times because it is cool/fun, then never to use again. I have used animoji maybe 2-3 times. I don’t see myself using Meoji – not that vain 😀. Also feels like a copy of Samsung’s personal emoji that they introduced awhile back. Different style and maybe more granularity when creating your Memoji, but similar feature.
New animoji are meh.

Group FaceTime. I don’t ever see myself participating in a FaceTime call with 32 people 😉 , but could see using for calls with my parents, siblings, and/or kids. Not often but a possibility.

watchOS
New activities – Like the new hiking activity

Workouts – Like the idea of automatic workout detection and the ability for it to ‘remember’ what you had already done and apply it to the workout. And also the ability to auto end the workout. But when ‘automations’ meet the real world they don’t always perform as expected. I am hopeful this works as presented, but need to see how accurate and consistent it is.
Alerts to start and end workout give you the choice to start/stop based upon what it thinks it wants to do. They seem not as challenging to implement so they may be more accurate.

Walkie Talkie – Great demo and a feature that sounds great at first but I have some questions. Can anyone ‘walkie talkie’ you at any time? Do I have the option to accept the audio before it plays? I can see the audio going off in less than optimal times. Need more details on this one.

Siri – The ability to raise your wrist and just talk is pretty cool talk. I know not having to say two words – ‘Hey Siri’ – does not seem like much, but every syllable counts. 😏

Podcasts This one I am really excited about. I listen to lots of podcast using Overcast. Overcast had an appleWatch app but it was pretty much useless – so much so the developer removed the feature.
But if the new apis give the developer the ability to significantly improve the experience – adjust volume, sync podcasts, stream podcasts – this is a huge win.
Currently if I go walking and I want to listen to podcasts I have to take my phone – no more if this feature delivers. 🤞

tvOS
Zero sign on – Awesome if you provider is supported – which Comcast is not. So will not be able to take advantage of this feature.

Screen saver – They are now identifying the locations of where the screensaver was shot. It is a question I always have when I see a cool scene. There are websites that tell you where they were shot, but the ability to get the info while you are watching the scene is handy. And the new Space Aerial videos look really cool. Sometimes I just sit and watch the scenes unfold – now there are even more scenes to watch.

macOS
Dark Mode – Not sure why I like dark mode so much – maybe because it is easier on the eyes? But I really like the feature on a number of the iOS apps that I use. Having that functionality brought to macOS is great. But (you knew there was a but coming) how pervasive across the system and 3rd Party apps will it be. Having it work in some apps but not all of them can be jarring, especially if you are working in the dark and all of the sudden you get a bright white screen.

Screenshots – Taking screenshots is something I do almost daily. Any improvements to the flow are much appreciated. Like the ability to markup the screenshot without having to go to a separate app (Preview) to make the edits.

iOS apps on macOS – There were lots of rumors about this feature. We now have 4 apps ‘ported’ from iOS to the Mac – Stocks, Notes, Home, and News. I am not a bigger user of these apps so I might check them out. Interesting to see how the development tools handle the ‘merging’ of iOS and macOS.

Those are what caught my attention. What did you see that you liked?

Essential phone design

Great article with lead designer of the Phone from Essential.
She talks about some of the design decisions that went into the ceramic back and titanium sides. Turns out doing colors in ceramic is not easy.

In order to get the ocean depths color just right, the plant made almost 40 iterations of it until Jiang was satisfied — but they only made one chip of each color per day

The Ocean Depth Phone with the copper sides looks really sharp in person – and I should know, I have one.

RSS – I am not quite dead, I am feeling better

I started using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) years ago – I am guessing the early 2000s. It was my primary means of staying on top of what was happening on the websites I followed. Websites that ranged from tech to toys (big boy toys) and photos to funnies.

Really Simple Syndication is a type of web feed which enabled me to easily access updates to the websites I followed. I used a variety of “news aggregator” apps to automatically check the RSS feed(s) for my favorite sites – saving me from having to go to each of the sites every day to see if there was something new.

In the mid-2000s until it was shut done in 2013, Google Reader was THE aggregator. We poured one out when it rode off into the sunset.

I think the world of RSS took a hit when Google Reader was shut down, but RSS never went away. I found other solutions to feed my addiction – I mean interest – to too many websites.

I could see what I wanted to see, not what someone told me I should see.

And now RSS is making a comeback

… anyone weary of black-box algorithms controlling what you see online at least has a respite, one that’s been there all along but has often gone ignored. Tired of Twitter? Facebook fatigued? It’s time to head back to RSS.

Space crafts phone home

Great long read about the Deep Space Network (DSN), the system that talks (and listens) to all the space crafts. Started in late 1963, it has been supporting space craft 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for over 54 years.

The DSN has many vital roles, but one of its biggest is to serve as the communication link between Earth and its robotic emissaries in deep space — anything from the moon and beyond. Every image we’ve ever received from deep space, every relay of scientific data, even those famous words the Eagle has landed, was collected by the dishes of the Deep Space Network.

The DSN faces many challenges, but their biggest one might be the current funding crunch they are experiencing. It is hard to point to concrete benefits of the program, but the information we have learned about our solar systems and the amazing photos that have been sent back I think justify their budget of approximately $200 million a year.

It covers everything from maintaining the dishes to the ongoing upgrades to the antennas to paying the 300-plus people who work at the dishes around the world. For comparison, the total value of all the robotic missions currently in deep space is around $25 billion and growing.

For something really cool check out DSN Now to see the status of the satellite dishes at the 3 DSN locations (Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia) and see which ones are actively downlinking and uplinking data in real time and to which space craft. The squiggly lines are mesmerizing.

Pippen – Apple’s attempt at a gaming system

Good backstory on the game system Apple tried to build in the 90’s.

I was at Apple during this period – I was working in a large centralized Quality organization that tested most all of the hardware and software that came out of Apple. I knew of Pippen, but was not aware of the behind the scenes stuff.

I remember this coming to us for testing and we had to keep it in a secret lab (aka a conference room with the window covered). But I don’t recall the testing lasting very long or every reaching a shippable state.

WWDC 2011 Thoughts

My thoughts on Apple’s WWDC announcements

There 3 big areas that were focused on: Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud. Within the first two they focused on 10 ‘marquee’ features and 9 for iCloud. Below are my thoughts on each of the marquee features and any additional comments for that area.

LION

 • Multitouch gestures – I’m primarily a mouse use so not sure how much of these gestures I will use. I can see they would be handy when on the laptop, but if I am at home and I am doing anything significant I have a small BlueTooth mouse I use.

 • Fullscreen apps – I can see it coming in handy in specific situations – working LightRoom, do a large spreadsheet in Excel, but in general I am so used to having multiple windows open and have tools to manage my interaction with the windows.

 • Mission Control – I use Spaces and Expose pretty heavily so I am looking forward to trying this out this feature. But since I use a mouse primarily I am wondering how the experience will be. In the demos they highlighted the multi-gesture interaction.

 • Mac App store – I have not been a big user of the Mac App store to date. But the features that get my attention : ability to load purchased apps on multiple machines and auto updates.

 • Launchpad – Not really interested. I use function keys and Launchbar to open apps. Do not see myself taking my hands off the keyboard and use a mouse to go to Launchpad and then click on the app I want to use

 • Resume – The ability to have the app and/or system to open to the same state I left it in – woot

 • Autosave – Too many times I have had an app crash (or quit it by mistake) and lost my changes – looking forward to the apps I use most often getting updated.

 • Versions – The times I need to use Time Machine to go back and get a deleted file are not often, but when I need to it is really great to have that functionality. Same for versions – will not need often but when needed it will save my ass

•  Airdrop – meh. I could see using it at home once in awhile and maaaaaybe at work – but not a big motivator

 • Mail – The new features looked good but because work is still on Exchange 2003 for their backend I can’t use Mail for work. I am stuck on Entourage 2008 – which has ok Exchange support, but would much rather be on Mail or even MS Outlook 2011.

 • Other things I have read are in Lion
    • Full Disk Encryption – Stayed away from FileVault for a variety of reasons but looking forward to this feature. Gives peace of mind in case laptop is lost/stolen. But will not activate this on day one. Will let others try it and report issues.

    • Group as folder – I am a bit anal (no comments from the gallery) and like to organize my files and can see myself using this feature

   • Unified buddy list and status – I was using a 3rd Party App (Chax) to give this feature but Chax was causing some crashes. Looking forward to getting this feature built into the application

    • Built-in restore partition – Allows you to repair or reinstall OS X without the need for discs – WOOT! Great trouble shooting tool

    • Safari – improvements so one bad website in one tab will not hose the complete app means less force quits of Safari. Other key feature was Reading List. I use Instapaper very heavily and do not see myself moving off of it. The built-in solutions are a great intro to the feature but dedicated tools are better (I am talking to you RSS reading)

    • Resize from any edge – small but cool feature.

Bottom line – for $30 this is a no brainer. Hell at $100 this is a no brainer (but don’t tell Apple)

iOS 5

 • Notifications – WINNING. This is one of the two features that really got my attention. Having a video/game/whatever pause when a notification came in was less than optimal. I did get really spoiled using WebOS and their notification management scheme. I will need to spend sometime with it to determine if it is as great as it sounds – but any change was an improvement over the current method of notifications

 • Newsstand – I am interested to see how this is implemented. I am moving all my magazines to digital. Some of them have dedicated apps (Fortune and Wired) and the rest of the magazines I currently have are part of Zinio. Not sure if the mags in Zinio will be broken out individually. It would be great if they were.

 • Twitter – A very infrequent user of twitter – primarily as a consumer of info, not a creator. Not sure how big of an impact this will have on my daily interaction with the device.

 • Safari – Tabbed browsing and the fact it ‘remembers’ the web page when you go to another tab are big improvements and will definitely impact my daily usage – especially on the iPad. Reading List I am not as interested in since I currently use Instapaper.

 • Reminders – I like the geolocations features but from what I have seen/read the app is pretty simple. I currently use Remember the Milk and will stick with it to see how full featured Reminders really is

 • Camera – Biggest enhancement that will affect me directly is the quick-launch and adding a way to launch camera from the lock screen. Using the volume button to take a picture sounds cool but I usually work in portrait mode so the button is on the wrong side for me (I hold with my right hand)

 • Mail – Nothing that will have an immediate impact on how I use mail.

 • PC Free – Second big feature. My current behavior is to manage my interaction with the apps and music on my device via iTunes on my Mac. I am training myself to stop always having to connect to the Mac. First step is using Pocket Casts to manage all my podcasts. Next step is to update apps wirelessly. I am looking forward to this functionality.

 • Game Center – Meh. Not a big gamer.

 • iMessage – Potential is huge here. Lot of my friends are currently on iOS devices and I am planning to move Bev and the boys to iPhones this fall when their contracts are up for renewal.

 • Other
   • iTunes sync – by itself the ability to sync purchased songs is not that big a deal to me. The ability to sync my collection to the cloud is something I am interested in. My concern is how do I sync a subset of all my music to different devices. The fact I have all my music on my Mac does not mean I want all of it on my iPhone.

   • The other question is streaming. From what I have read you can not stream music, only sync. To date I am not a fan of streaming, but it is something I would be interested in investigating.

Bottom line – Really looking forward to iOS 5

iCLOUD

 • Contacts/Mail/Calendar – Currently I am committed to the Google ecosystem. I have a me.com address but rarely use it and and not really concerned about it syncing. I am looking forward to seeing what the functionality is of the 3 PIM apps, but they would need to be really great to get me to switch.

 • App Store – I like the idea of buy once/download many and the auto-upgrade functionality. I am just now starting to investigate purchasing apps via the App Store and I can see the family starting to buy more.

 • Books – Well, I work at Barnes & Noble. Not much else to say 😉

 • Backup – Currently using Time Machine for local backup and Mozy for cloud syncing. I also have the boys both on Mozy so would have to be pretty compelling to get me to switch.

 • Documents – Outside work (where we use the MS Office Suite) I don’t do a lot of document creation – and for the few that I do create I usually fall back to Office. I am starting to experiment with other apps for note taking and drafting blog entries – for this kind of tasks I look forward to the syncing. Do not really expect MS Office to support the syncing for quite awhile.

 • Photo Stream – I am trying to use my iPhone camera more and the autosyncing is pretty damn cool. The issue is that my digital image application of choice is Adobe’s Lightroom. I like the syncing between iOS devices and the Mac Apps – but not sure how I will need to modify my workflow to take advantage of the photo syncing.

 • iTunes in the Cloud
    • Stuff I bought on iTunes – Percentage wise I have a very small number of tracks that were bought from iTunes, so syncing purchased stuff is not a big win for me
    • Stuff I ripped – But the iTunes Match function is a big deal. Having all my tracks sync’d gives me a sense of security that my music is backed up (currently I do not sync music to the cloud). Question I have is if I sync my complete library to the cloud from my MacBook Pro, how much of it gets synced down to my iOS device? Can I specify a subset?

Bottom line – I think the potential for iCloud is huge – just not sure how I will benefit from it in the short-term.

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Well – that is my 2-bits on the WWDC announcement – would be interested to know what you thought was awesome and not so awesome.

Thoughts on Apple’s event

Just finished watching the event and wanted to share some thoughts.

First the streaming of the event. For the most part worked ok. But several times the feed got choppy and had hit refresh or open page. Still better to watch it live then following someones comments on website.

 – Shuffle

    • like that the buttons are back

    • would have liked to have seen it next to a current shuffle so could get sense of size

    • really like the $49 price point

 – Nano

    • Like the small size

    • would probably get this for Bev instead of shuffle. Think she would be more comfortable with the screen to enable interaction

 – iPod Touch

    • the addition of the rear camera was what I have been waiting for. The front camera is nice, but not as exciting as the rear one

    • but what is the megapixel count for the back camera. On the website it only says “still photos (960 x 720)” – does that mean it is a 0.7 megapixel camera? If that is the case that most likely kills my desire to get a Touch.

    • was expecting it would be the same design as the iPhone but ok with thinner version of current design

 – Ping

    • not sure if want another social network

    • why not leverage Facebook and/or Twitter? Definitely more full featured than if it had leveraged Facebook/Twitter

    • what happens to music social sites like LastFM

 – AppleTV

    • Like the smaller size and the $0.99 to rent TV shows

    • but only Fox and ABC – does not cover all the networks I want/need

    • Question about the “Computer” option – can I access media that is on a hard drive attached to my Airport Extreme?

    • Will Plex/Boxee run on it?

    • But the $99 price makes it an easy impulse buy.

 – Music Guest

    • WOW! Cold Play! Well – 25% of them

    • He played an unreleased song and said F@$k – woo hoo

Free is good

From Techcrunch – “Free WiFi Coming To All Starbucks Beginning July 1“
I don’t spend that much time in Starbucks – get in, get coffee, get out. But knowing that I can get free WiFi – FTW.

iPhone 4 Thoughts

I have been thinking about the iPhone 4 introduced earlier this week and trying to organize my thoughts on it. For the purpose of this post I want to focus on the hardware vs iOS 4 (I plan on “reviewing” iOS when it is released).

Pros:

 – better camera/video (HD video FTW)

 – thinner – antennas around the outside of the device – way cool way to make it thinner

 – more powerful

 – cameras on front and back

Cons:

 – glass on both sides (twice as much surface to crack)

Meh:

 – FaceTime – I know that this may fall into the software category, but since it only works on the new hardware I am including it here

   – Makes for a great demo but only works between iPhone 4 devices on wifi. I think that limits it in the near term. When it can 1) work with other devices and/or video services (Skype, iChat, etc); and 2) on the carrier network – it has the potential to be huge.

Based upon the pros/cons this would be a slam dunk to upgrade. But there are 2 other factors – iOS 3 and AT&T.

 – I am currently full vested on webOS – which makes sense since I work at Palm (aka HP) ;-). My current hardware is a Pre+

   – I don’t disagree with the argument that Palm has some opportunities to improve our hardware and software, but to me webOS is more intuitive and much easier to work with than iOS 3. iOS 4 may shift the balance but that decision will have to wait until I can get my hands on the OS.

 – I have cancelled my AT&T service and I don’t see me signing back up for AT&T in the near future. I got sick of dropped calls at my house – to make/take a call on my iPhone 3G I had to go outside). With Verizon I have had no issues. (Mobile Hotspot FTW)

Almost makes me want to move into a small apartment

Saw this article on Engadget about Resource Furniture.

From an engineer’s perspective this stuff is frackin’ amazing. They have stuff that maximizes functionality in minimum space. My two favs were the sofa bunk bed and the queen bed in the wall unit.

Check out their video on youtube

It pains me to see my baby this way

Here is the source article.

Great Roger interview regarding the Pre

A much more “restrained” interview this time with Roger. (scroll down to see the video)

the fine print

From Boing Boing Gadgets

(2) Requires new two-year AT&T wireless service contract, sold separately to qualified customers; credit check required; must be 18 or older. For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB).

Safari 4 first impressions

It seems faster
It works with the Palm internal websites
Do not get the fascination with the whole Cover Flow thing – seems like eye candy with minimal value added.
Got it working with 1Password – which by the way is the most awesomest app ever – via the latest beta build.

The tabs on top are disorienting as hell – makes me nauseous to use them. Thank god for this note describing how to get back to the “normal” tab view

Going to use if for a week or so and see how it goes. I have Firefox customized with probably way too many add-ons. Let see which ones I miss.

Maybe I won’t give up on DirecTV just yet

From Engadget – Hell freezes over, new DirecTV HD TiVo on the way

Poker meets technology

From Engadget – Bet JS thinks he has died and gone to heaven.

Words from an interaction of light and shadows

Using a complex array of perforations, light passing through the pavilion’s surface produces shifting patterns, which transform into the legible text of a poem.

Suring the web and the boss walks in?

This hint from macosxhints.com has a quick way to turn off all your screens – shift-control-eject.
This was a new shortcut for me and works on my MacBook Pro keyboard and with my wireless Apple Keyboard.

For the AR engineering types in the room

This is so cool. All the furniture you need to furnish a room in a small box. Pretty cool engineering effort

Macworld San Francisco Comments

Ok – this definitely falls in the category of better late than never.
During the keynote at MWSF I was making some notes about the new products and what I thought of them. And since I never got around to writing this entry back then, I can also add my comments after having had a chance to think/talk about the new products for a month.

– Time Capsule – Am not really excited about this. My concerns are that the backup over wireless connection will be too slow. I have a big hard drive connected to my iMac that I use as my backup destination.
A month later I have not changed my mind. Do not see the need for an Airport base station with a big hard drive. If I needed to get a new Airport Extreme, the cost differential for the Time Capsule is not worth it to me.

– iPhone updates – I am excited about the new features – will upgrade my iPhone as soon as I can.
After using the new features for a month I have come to really appreciate the ability to “find myself” on Google Maps. It works surprising well. Also using the “webclips” to put links directly to my Google page and others on the Home screen.

– iTunes updates – Not really into renting movies and downloading over the internet.
If I had the proper hardware (AppleTV or Mac mini to connect to my TV) I might feel more positive about these updates.

– AppleTV updates – I like price drop but would most likely get a Mac mini to interact with content on my TV.
A month later this has not changed.

– MacBook Air – I like thiness but I would not use as primary device. Too few connection options and not enough power. Like the remote disk SW to “replace” the optical drive.
A month later feel the same – this would be great to have a 2nd machine to use for travel or to take to meetings or the coffee shop. But when at my desk I like the extra USB ports and the greater horsepower my MacBook Pro has.

TED Talks – Jan 25th

TED talks I recommend.

J.J. Abrams: The mystery box
J.J. Abrams traces his love of the unseen mystery — the heart of Alias, Lost, and the upcoming Cloverfield — back to its own magical beginnings, which may or may not include an early obsession with magic, the love of a supportive grandfather, or his own unopened Mystery Box.

— He loves “Ordinary People” and Apple products and mystery.

Ze Frank: What’s so funny about the Web?
Performer, web-toymaker and philosopher-comic Ze Frank offers his signature blend of comedy, technology and social theory, with hilarious takes on Google, video games, and haiku, to name but a few. All the while, he makes brilliant use of the screen to twist the meaning of his spoken words.

— Loved the “Atheist” game.

Jeff Han: Unveiling the genius of multi-touch interface design
In this demo, Jeff Han shows off (for the first time publicly) a high-resolution multi-touch computer screen that may herald the end of the point-and-click mouse. The demo, which drew spontaneous applause and audible gasps from the audience, begins with a simple lava lamp, then turns into a virtual photo-editing tabletop, where Han flicks photos across the screen as if they were paper snapshots. (The Apple iPhone, to be released a year later, also does multi-touch — but only with two fingers.)

— One word – “WOW”.

Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo
Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from around the Web, Photosynth (based on Seadragon technology) creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation. Its architect, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, shows it off in this standing-ovation demo. Curious about that speck in corner? Dive into a freefall and watch as the speck becomes a gargoyle. With an unpleasant grimace. And an ant-sized chip in its lower left molar. “Perhaps the most amazing demo I’ve seen this year,” wrote Ethan Zuckerman, after TED2007. Indeed, Photosynth might utterly transform the way we manipulate and experience digital images.

— The next evolution of access to photos.

Great pair of talks by Hans Rosling giving a whole new perspective on the idea of Industrialized and Developing countries
Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen
You’ve never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called “developing world” using extraordinary animation software developed by his Gapminder Foundation. The Trendalyzer software (recently acquired by Google) turns complex global trends into lively animations, making decades of data pop. Asian countries, as colorful bubbles, float across the grid — toward better national health and wealth. Animated bell curves representing national income distribution squish and flatten. In Rosling’s hands, global trends — life expectancy, child mortality, poverty rates — become clear, intuitive and even playful.

Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty and life around the world
In a follow-up to his now-legendary TED2006 presentation, Hans Rosling demonstrates how developing countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He shows us the next generation of his Trendalyzer software — which analyzes and displays data in amazingly accessible ways, allowing people to see patterns previously hidden behind mountains of stats. (Ten days later, he announced a deal with Google to acquire the software.) He also demos Dollar Street, a program that lets you peer in the windows of typical families worldwide living at different income levels. Be sure to watch straight through to the (literally) jaw-dropping finale.

Is the Mouse quicker than the Keyboard

Good post by John Gruber of Daring Fireball.

We think it is quicker to use a keyboard shortcut versus taking your hand of the keys to use the mouse. Research by Bruce Tognazzini showed that this might not be the case. Is the mouse still quicker than the keyboard?

More TED talks

Dean Kamen: New prosthetic arm for veterans
Inventor Dean Kamen previews the extraordinary prosthetic arm he’s developing at the request of the Department of Defense, to help the 1,600 “kids” who’ve come back from Iraq without an arm (and the two dozen who’ve lost both arms). Kamen’s commitment to using technology to solve problems, and his respect for the human spirit, have never been more clear than in this deeply moving clip.

Philippe Starck: Why design?
Legendary designer Philippe Starck — with no pretty slides behind him — spends 18 minutes reaching for the very roots of the question “Why design?” Along the way he drops brilliant insights into the human condition; listen carefully for one perfectly crystallized mantra for all of us, genius or not. Yet all this deep thought, he cheerfully admits, is to aid in the design of a better toothbrush.

– “God is a trap . . . God is the answer when we don’t know the answer”

THE 411

Great new service from Google – GOOG-411.

Make the call, tell them what city and business, get a list of business. The system can connect you to the business or send you a text message with the phone number and the URL to show you where the business is via Google Maps.

Have used it a couple times so far and it rocks. Oh, and did I mention it is free.

iPhone therefore iAm

The lust, must satisfy the lust.

As stated in a previous entry I was not gaga over the iPhone when it was introduced. I appreciated it’s elegance, but had some reservations. As the launch date approached in late June the technolust started to build but I was able to ignore it. After the iPhone hit the streets, I was not going out of my way to hold/touch one, but if the opportunity presented itself I was going to take.

At a recent lunch Geoff was showing someone else the cool things the iPhone could do and I finally got my hands on one. At that point techolust went to 11 (damn you Geoff 😉 ). Now it was only a matter of when, not if. So last Thursday I finally got my fix satisfied – aaahhhhhh.

After a minor hiccup caused by having Parallels installed I was active and in iPhone heaven.

About my previous reservations:

– Screen – suprisingly the fingerprints on the screen are not bothering me that much. A quick wipe with my shirt and all is good. And after seeing this PC Magazine test regarding the durability of the screen, I was not as concerned as I had been in January.

– Keyboard – Still getting used to it. I am not as fast as I am on a Treo keyboard, but most of the online reviews have said that you have to give it some time to get used to it.

– Robustness – see the PC Mag test – enough said on that front.

– Radio – yeah EDGE is dog slow. Have not done any surfing using EDGE and not looking forward to it. But then as I said in the previous entry, I can always fall back on my Sprint device using their EVDO network.

– Battery – So far battery life seems good. My Treo has a swappable battery, but it is very rare that I swap the battery because it is out of power. Granted I am not as careful about the charging/discharging of the battery and how it affects the life of the battery because I have access to more batteries.

With the iPhone I am more aware of the charge/discharge issue and will be trying to charge it only once a day instead of always having it off and on a charger.

Pluses I have discovered since I got the iPhone:

– it is a great photo album. The brightness/clarity of the screen, the UI to move between photos – all WOW inducing.

– the ability to quickly check my personal email without waiting for my MacBook Pro to wakeup from sleep and connect to the internet.

Bottom line – no regrets and looking forward to my time spent with my iPhone (but don’t tell my wife).

Sleeping safely

Good article on the “Safe Sleep” on the latest portables from Apple.

I agree with the author and always make sure Safe Sleep is off – hate waiting for my MacBook Pro to go to sleep.

Introducing Foleo

Say hi to Foleo.

This is a project I have been working on for quite awhile and something I am pretty darn excited about this product.

It is a new direction for Palm but continues to drive our philosophy that the future is mobile computing.

iPod and Beer – hmmmm

This is my kind of iPod case.

InDigital

Ran across this video podcast that has Wil Wheaton as one of the hosts. What caught my attention is what they reviewed in this episode: the Tesla electric car and the AppleTV.

Also reviewed a linux based media system – interesting to compare/contrast the UI and experience for the Linux system versus the AppleTV. Good demonstration of why people pay extra for the Apple ease-of-use.

The video runs about 30 minutes.