I missed this while it ran in the uk, but thanks to newsnight i found out about the ethical man expedition in America.
This is the first video blog posting (no embed link at the moment)
Next week involves testing the Chevy Volt, and why does GM think that their electric car will suffice against the likes of the tesla model s?
more
So this is a new advert for the palm pre...(found via appleinsider)
It looks like if you know how to use it, its very capable, i have to say i have some issues with the multitasking abilities of the iphone, i'm always doing several things at once and the switching could be a little more elegant, even if there was a special home screen of currently "running" applications on the first page...
While i'm pretty tied into the iphone with purchases, i'd be tempted if the pre starts making a strong presence..
Even if i stay with apple, having decent competition might start spuring them on with new technologies and opening up some ideas (A girl can dream... even if its probably in vain).
more
I found this from radiac.net
This may be one of the neatest pieces of technology developed in the past 10 years. If someone brings it to market, it'll be such a progression it'll be a new epoch in usability...
For the direct link go here
more
Its a simulator for showing the damage different Nuclear strikes would affect an area (and what the average affect would be at each distance).
Interestingly it does put a bit of a damper on the entire premise of Spooks Code 9 (a terrible spin off of a great show). It would take a Tsar class bomb in order to make the South of England uninhabitable.
more
I was in the process of grabbing the latest ubuntu iso this morning (thinking about a testbed for this server), when i noticed this.
For those of you asking, i do know how to go to ubuntu, i just sometimes google rather than type in the full web address cause i'm lazy :)
more
As some of you have been aware, my Skype account went walkabout (the password was changed, and the original e-mail address changed). I contacted Skype (given i'd only just bought some credit a few days ago, i imagined a response time within a week). Having heard no sign or sound or even a "we are checking into this" i decided i needed skype so i set up a second account and moved all my contacts over to the new account.
However then 2 months after my message, they finally got back to me and had recovered and reset my account for me. By this time it was a bit too late to move back again, so i continued using my current account. Then i found i needed to make a call on skype out, so i tried to buy some credit with paypal (as i have done more than a few times before). However big warning flashes up and tells me that because my old account has been topped up with this account, i cannot use it to top up the new account... (upon checking there is no association listed so i cannot remove it).
This would not be an insurmountable problem given surprisingly that my account still had the credit in, untouched from its period in nefarious hands (who apparently tried to buy 1.5 euro priced 5 euro worth skype gift certificates for some bizarre reason). However due to skype now locking my account, i cannot use that credit that i paid for (i've e-mailed them asking to unlock it, but i could be waiting another 2 months for a response...
Skype used to be fairly functional but since e-bay have taken it over its just got worse and worse.
more
Not even a few bad puns have been mentioned for months about Microsoft's "revolutionary" (read pinched from Nokia) new mobile browser. In spite of a huge positive response, Microsoft has yet to expand the beta program (i'm still waiting for my beta e-mail months later).
Its entirely possible Microsoft gave up on the project as unworkable (not like anyone else has managed something similar ... aside from Nokia and Apple). I have to say if i could work out how to sync it reliably with my mac (and for those of you say missing sync, i ask if you've ever used it).
So i wait till the iPhone gets up to spec (no task functionality at the moment) or i can get a cheap Nokia e90.
Microsoft should really get off its high horse and create a conduit for syncing with macs, because as much as it burns to say this, they do make good pocket pc devices and i'd rather use my Pocket PC than my Nokia N80.
But my original point stands, that there needs to be a larger public beta of DeepFish, this is one microsoft technology we actually want.
more
To all those who know of Stephen Fry, you probably also have heard him described as a man with a brain the size of Kent, and it probably is at least that size.
Courtesy of Simon i read a rather interesting piece on his newly started blog. Once i began reading i was convinced this was the blog of someone called Stephen Fry who was a professional geek, however coming upon certain choice phrases, and a photo of Stephen posing with the iPhone.
Stephen Fry on why he wants an iPhone Killer (and what he loves about the iPhone)
more
I was just thinking, looking at the iphone, as a piece of technology, aside from apple's attrocious implementation of AT&T, trying to violate the principle in europe of subsidised phones and other attendant problems.
(Currently not an apple fan, i'm eagerly awaiting the gPhone this week).
At what point can i start having copyrightable ideas about iphone like concepts... it all started with the apple patent application for the ability using an iphone interface to be able to rearrange buttons with fingers (aside from being a terrible exploit of the "process" patent), got me thinking.
If a person, say Tio Holtzman, discovers (probably in a drug induced stupor) the "Holtzman Effect" or rather a method of manipulating super strings to produce interesting spacio-temporal effects... and then someone, named Norma Cenva, comes along and takes the work (saves a couple of planets from bad math), and proceeds to produce a Foldspace engine, based on the initial equations and techniques of the first, in our system of patents, who owns the right to the foldspace engine? The kamakaize inventor who stumbled on the equations or the intuiative genius who took a badly implemented invention and built something truly amazing out of it?
more
Watching the video about the palm foleo (found via Apple Insider) i feel rather unwowed by what effectively is a big magnifying glass for your smartphone. It does feel a bit like its trying to create a niche, the way i see things, if my smartphone will suffice (either a nokia n80i or a htc tytn), i only take that, if need power of a laptop, i take a laptop, something this size but with laptop flexibility could be very nice, but i doubt it'll be well thought out as a development on the move platform sadly.
I think if people are trying to look for something that would revolutionise the tech industry, they should remeber the Psion 5, something of that style, with a touch of modern technology, but keeping the form factor and usability would present a serious threat to any other smartphone/pda on the market.
more
I've been thinking about where apple is going wrong, particually in light of the MacBook refresh. Admitedly i've got my eye on a MacBook pro but i've definatly been tempted by the small form factor of the Macbook.
However the Macbook is still too big to be small in my eyes. Looking at people who have the Powerbook 12", its a small, but beautiful form. It shouldn't be used as a desktop replacement, but i have no qualms using an external monitor and keyboard (although i do prefer my trackpad these days), when doing long stints at my desk.
There are other implications of the 12" form factor, beyond the size, a smaller screen does result in better battery life, as was established with the 12 " powerbook versus the 15" powerbook.
Sadly for whatever reason, the small and powerful seems to be lacking from apple, its an oversight because i know of many mac users who swear by their 12" powerbooks and ibooks, (if i had the money i'd buy a 12" ibook to have as a rough and ready machine if i wanted to travel).
Assuming its not Apple missing the mark, it must be some form of ulterior motive, either its a design issue (unlikely since there are smaller than 12" windows laptops", or more likely they have something in the wings they are preparing to bring out of the wings at the right time (after a few more tweaks).
Speculating i do wonder if they are looking at fuel cell based mini macs, although the tech is still a little bit infant stages, but an ultraportable with days of battery life with a decent OS would be a definate apple coup...
Anyway, I'm going to keep my eyes and ears and 4 noses peeled, and if i hear anything, this blog will be the 3rd place to hear about it from me...
more
Through a little bit of jiggery pokery (turning off the inbuilt ftp server on the mod chip, seems to let the media centre ftp server work).
Managed to upload at about 2.5Mbps which is okayish given ftp isn't the fastest method of transfer, but at least it is a viable method of upload...
Next thing i want to do is put some of my music collection on there so i can use it as a music player (probably going to have to get some extra speakers or use my bose computer speakers (rather nice :) ). But probably i'll have to look at replacing the internal fan so its a little quieter, which may not be easy, but i'm going to have a look into it.
more
After a little bit of tweaking, some of my expensive unpaid time (between contracts), and about 60-70 quid's worth of hardware I have a half decent media centre...
As far as the layout...
However there are some limitations i have yet to overcome as yet,
However I can now play all regions of dvds without limitation, which is rather useful (half region 1 and half region 2) and also my tv recordings backed up onto cds and dvds can be played despite being in divx formats :)
The main 2 things i want to be able to do fairly easily is setting up an automatic script to put my latest recordings onto the internal hard disk, and also having working samba access.
more