Category Archives: Technology
Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm (BRAD)
I saw this video on Facebook.
Sure hope Derek does not mind me reposting it here for all our readers. :-)
VERY COOL, VERY CREATIVE. Here is the web site for U.C. Berkeley.
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Drive Safe! Never Forget.
3D Imaging on a Building in Berlin
Chau sent me this a couple of weeks ago via email.
The 3D projection imaging technology that enables this is amazing. ENJOY.
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Drive Safe! Never Forget.
Disney Cars iPad App
Wandering the Internet today, I ran across this. On Oct 1, 2011 Disney will be releasing these cool apps and toys based on the Cars movies. Waddaya think?
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Drive Safe! Never Forget.
September 11 2001: How We Helped Columbia University
September 11, 2001
Lori’s mother’s birthday started out just like any other day. I was just getting up, Lori was already getting Kristen ready for school, Sunny (our currently 11 year old yellow lab who now has a tumor that is scaring us) was bouncing around as only he could do.
Lori had the TV on.
Suddenly, she yelled to me….”Mike…a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center”. Yikes! We were just there the month before and took the picture shown below from the Ferry from New Jersey.
I thought to myself all the things that might have gone wrong. I decided it was possible. But then, as I watched, a SECOND plane barreled into the other tower! OK, I read too many spy novels not to know what happened: terrorism.
In addition to having family in the New York City area, I also had ton of friends and colleagues.
Maybe I can help! I turned on my computer in the study and started working.
Internet-based video conferencing was in it’s infancy in 2001. We were still slightly less than 3 years away from announcing it as a service. But it works, now….maybe we CAN help.
An email came in from a colleague at Columbia University asking for help to connect to the outside world. I sprung into action. It was “easy” for us at that time to connect virtually anyone with a decent Internet connection to anyone else via video (and audio).
I shot an email back telling Columbia University that we can help. See this link and scroll down to 11:23 AM…I was the FIRST.
I can do this. ESnet can do this. I called the people at Accord (at the time they were our MCU-multipoint control unit) and spent time figuring out how exactly to get done what I knew could be done.
We did it! Yes! We were ready, and all Columbia needed to do was use ESnet video conferencing to make telephone calls if they needed it.
The days passed, our family members were all safe, and I experienced an immense sense of loss (and un-real-ness) that I had not felt again until Sept 18, 2010 when we lost Carol (that day the horrible feeling of loss came back….1000 times worse and remains to this day).
These are very tough days. I am not looking forward to the next week or so (Sept 9 (60 years), 11 (10 years), 18 (1 year)). Now Sunny. Our world can calm down…please…Update on Sunny (9/12/2011): His thing burst this weekend and he feels much better!
911 taught me that in an emergency: telecommuting works and so does video conferencing via the Internet.
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Drive Safe! Never Forget.
VUDU Now Streaming on the iPad
If you have read our Movie Reviews on this blog, you may have run across the fact that we sometimes watch movies on “VUDU”. As an engineer, and blogger, several years ago, I tested a new Internet-based streaming technology and LOVED IT! That was VUDU (see my original blog post raving about it).
We own a VUDU box and it is the BEST…
Well word now comes that Wal-Mart (they bought VUDU a year or so ago) has released the ability for VUDU to work on your iPAD! How cool is that? All together now: VERY COOL!!!
Here is the link to a Forbes article.
I’ll quote a bit of it below, if you are interested.
Walmart Launches Video Service for iPad
MarketNewsVideo.com , 08.10.11, 03:10 PM EDT
Walmart (WMT) said today it has launched its VUDU video-on-demand service for Apples (AAPL) iPad. The service will allow iPad users to rent or buy entertainment content and stream it over their iPad browser, without being obligated to sign up for a subscription, as they are with other services such as Netflix (NLFX).
Walmart said today it has launched its VUDU video-on-demand service for Apples iPad.
The service will allow iPad users to rent or buy entertainment content and stream it over their iPad browser, without being obligated to sign up for a subscription, as they are with other services such as Netflix ( NFLX - news -people ) .
VUDUs library includes more than 20,000 blockbusters, Hollywood classics, independent films and TV episodes.
VUDU movie purchases and rental can also be watched online at walmart.com or vudu.com, as well as on other consumer electronics devices like internet capable TVs, Blu-Ray players, and Sonys () PlayStation 3.
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Drive Safe! Never Forget.
iCloud
I was surfing the other day when I ran across an announcement of an upcoming feature from Apple called “iCloud”.
iWas interested in what that might be, so iTook a look at their web pages, and what iFound was that this is a pretty cool service, and that iWould probably like it.
OK, enuf of the iStuff (even though uHave to admit, iAm pretty clever for an old guy).
The Problem
Lori owns an iPod and an iPhone. She buys iTunes music, or a video, or a movie, on the iPod. Well, that stuff only shows up on her iPhone if she syncs BOTH the iPod and the iPhone to her Windows 7 Toshiba laptop. A real hassle. If she bought an iPad….the hassles just increased.
The same goes for pictures, email, contacts, and a host of other applications and utilities.
The Solution–iCloud
In Fall 2011, Lori may have a very cool solution to her syncing issues, via the cloud using iCloud.
I have written about the ongoing paradigm shift (I use those words when I write to impress!) to “the cloud”. Basically, the cloud is the Internet. More and more stuff is residing on the Internet, and all you have to do is grab it. You can grab it from anywhere at anytime with any (well, almost any) device. Pretty cool. Hmmm, scratch that…VERY COOL.
OK, so now Lori buys a new George Strait song on her iPod. But now, iCloud automatically uploads that new song to “the cloud”. And when Lori turns on her iPhone, iCloud automatically downloads
the new song to the iPhone (I assume they ask if she wants it, but, that remains to be seen). Ditto with her computer. So now, Lori has no more hassles! All her devices (except of course the Android devices) are automatically kept up to date with each other via “the cloud”. VERY COOL! (Did I say that already?)
Now backing up important stuff (emails, contacts, documents, music, pictures, etc) is a breeze, so if you lose your phone, you don’t lose your “life”.
It works via 3G (or 4G?) or WiFi. Just connect and iCloud takes care of you.
Issues / Limitations
One issue is that Lori is going to have to upgrade her mobile devices (iPod and iPhone and iPad if she got one) to iOS5 when it becomes available. I do not know how hard that might be, but, we did an update recently and it was ok, but, she lost some stuff in the process.
Another is that you only get 5GB of free storage in “the cloud”. More than that and you gotta pay. How much? Dunno yet…
Conclusion
Using “the cloud” is just beginning. New applications will start rolling out so fast your head will be spinning. I wish I was 20 again so I could participate for a longer time….arrrghhh.
This is an awesome time for technology, a terrible time for the economy, and a worse time for political idiots who all need to get booted (or be the recipient of swift boot in the ass….where is Toby when you need him).
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Drive Safe! Never Forget.
Wordle Word Cloud: An Introduction
Alex Hillman from the coworking location Indy Hall sent an email showing us his Wordle Word Cloud of Indy Hall member communcations over the past several years.
It was awesome!
Soooo, I asked him for the website of Wordle and then I played around for an hour or so.
VERY COOL! And you can play with the colors, fonts, and shape…so when you are done reading this blog…you can give it a try!
(Click to enlarge the pictures)
The top picture was generated when I gave Wordle the URL of this blog. It looks really cool, but, on further inspection, I see that it only looks at the first three or four blog entries (ie the latest three or four). The word “endomondo” was the giveaway that the whole blog was not evaluated. I don’t think there is the ability to ask it to go further…
But that is ok, because….
I scrolled to the next 10 blog entries, or so, and copied the words. Back on Wordle, I pasted the words in the appropriate place, hit go, and this is what came up.
Fish!
A word cloud that is a much better representation of this blog’s content and message. I just wonder why several words are repeated? Movie & Safe….being two.
No problem though…it is free and cool. Did I already say that?
OK, being the curious type, and a serial blogger, I went ahead and Wordle’d the rest of my blogs:
AltamontCowork
Guess the topics of that blog? :-)
TelBitConsulting
I then did another style, just for fun:
Video conferencing…apparently I have been giving Microsoft a lot of grief lately. :-)
TracyReaderDad
Book Reviews!
I ran out of blogs, so I decided to look at Caitlin’s essay and see how that Wordle’d out.
Pretty cool.
Summary
If you need a cool looking word cloud (I mean who doesn’t?), you can’t go wrong with Wordle. And you can’t beat the price.
Oh yeah….this is one instance where I NEEDED the Snipping Tool, because you have to take screen shots, and the Snipping Tool makes that a snap.
So what can I do with my word clouds? Ah…I can make a T-shirt! A mug! I can put it on my notebook, have a laptop skin made up, put it on my blogs / web sites, share it on Facebook or Google+, frame it and hang it in my study or office, email it to my closest friends….
Drive Safe! Never Forget.
QR Codes
Ever see one of those square barcode like looking thingys?
You can see them now in magazines and on office doors and even on T-shirts.
So what is it?
Well I did a bit of searching, and found that WikiPedia, has a nice, concise, explanation which I quote below:
A QR code (short for Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.
Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. QR is the abbreviation for Quick Response, as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.[1]
The technology has seen a large uptake in Japan and South Korea. However, in the west there has been a considerably slower adoption of QR Codes.[2]
I suspect that as SmartPhones become more prevalent, the use of the QR codes will increase, and more people will know what to do when they encounter one.
Give it a try!
If you have a SmartPhone, and the appropriate app on it (you can find free QR apps on either the iphone or android phones)…….scan the QR code I put at the top of this blog entry.
Where did you go?
Pretty cool, huh?
According to the “QR Droid” app (a great application by the way)I can make a QR code for:
- My Contact Information
- URL Address (as I did with ForCarol.com)
- Application (?)
- Phone Number
- Calendar Event
- Free Text (how is that as opposed to priced text?)
- Geolocation
- SMS
Pretty impressive list of uses….I plan to start integrating QR codes in my work life more and more.
For example, do you want to rent a room, or sign up for coworking? Scan the appropriate QR code to call me (and store my number easily on your phone), send me a text message, an email, or just go directly to Paypal.
VERY COOL. (Hmmmmm, I will make up a QR code with my contact information for the next Tracy Chamber Meeting….that would be interesting).
In addition to being useful…I think it is pretty geeky nerdy cool…..just like me! :-)
Speaking of nerds…I will be getting a t-shirt made up with the QR code I made on top.
I can just see the kids at the Mall with SmartPhones scanning my shirt and then learning that they need to….
Drive Safe! Never Forget.
Android Running Tracker
I have been running since 1978 (or was it 1977?). Some years I run more than others, some years (especially the last 10) I battle injuries that keep me on the sidelines.
Way back when I started (1977, or was it 1978?), running was not something people did, but, my hero, Jim Fixx did. One year he wrote a Running Log Book, which I bought.
30 plus years later, we still buy that log book (Tidbit: two of the authors passed away, the current author is the second authors son).
But something strange happened this year. I am not using the book like I used to. It sits on my bookshelf while I forget to write in it…arrrghh.
A friend on Facebook posts his running accomplishments, so I thought to myself “Hmmmm, is there an app for that?” Turns out….there is! A ton of them. I randomly picked the one at the top of the list: endomondo, and figured I would test it.
Testing endomondo
On day 1, I tested endomondo with a walk around my shortest (when I am most out of shape…like now)
running route around the neighborhood.
I turned on the GPS on my phone (the red arrow points to the area where the app tells you that your GPS is on, it was off when I snapped this picture), then fired up the endomondo app and hit the Start button. Then…..I started walking.
Truthfully, I did not expect it to work, so I decided just to walk and look at the app when I stopped. Fifteen or so minutes later, I “Stopped” the app and was surprised to see that the mileage was close to what I expected. Then I was even more surprised to see the map of my route, and even more surprised to see that it was stored in my history!
Wow!
Looking at the route map I noticed that the blue line ran around the inside of the course, exactly the way I walked it. Being an engineer, I wondered what would happen if I went on the outside part of my course for a little while? Is the GPS capability good enough to see that slight change?
The next day (as I write this…today) I changed the sport to “Running” and fired up the app. This time, when I rounded the first corner, I went across the street and stayed there until the next block, then crossed the road to the inside track.
When I finished, I stopped the app and looked at the route. Much to my surprise, I saw the outside track (red arrow) AND then the transistion back to the inside (yellow arrow).
Wow, Wow! Gotta love GPS!
This is terrific. I think to myself: “I can see the day very very soon when the book will be collecting dust and I will just use this app”.
But wait! I will leave the book alone when I know my history is backed up just in case my phone dies (or when I get a new one).
Web Site
Well….there is a web site where all my information is saved. Very cool.
Hint to the endomondo developers: I really want to be able to “Export” my information to a spreadsheet compatible file. At the current time it looks like I can only export a Garmin type file. Arrghh. I will keep looking, maybe I missed it.
Here is my workout web site…
Very cool. I now can see the days that I ran in any month, and, on any particular day I can see the route that I ran (with all sorts of additional info pertaining to that particular run). Gee….I always had to write in my book which route I took and over time I forgot exactly where any particular route took me.
If the above was not enough….the next picture shows more detail about my run like my pace (in yellow) and elevation (in gray). You can see when I slowed down before stopping the app, and that the course is flat.
Wow, Wow, Wow! Gotta love GPS (have I said that already?) !!!
But (I say to myself) I always track my running by the week, and at the end of the year, I add up all the weekly mileages to get a yearly total.
No problem…using the endomondo app and web site, all those calculations are done automatically! This page allows me to see how many miles I have run in a week, month, or year. Sweeeet! Not only that, if you tracked your walks, bike rides, rowing…they show up too! (Hmmm, I wonder if I can separate them?)
More Stuff
The app includes a bunch of other features, most of which I will not use.
You can log in via your Facebook account (I assume Google+ is on the horizon??) and share your run with your FB friends automatically (I think my running FB friend does this with his app).
While you are running there is a “Coach” who can talk to you, and your FB friends can give you a “Pep talk” as you run. OK, those are two features I will NEVER use. I run for the enjoyment and isolation from the real world. The last thing I need is Lori telling me to run faster! Yikes! I don’t need pep talks…geezz…
No matter what I think….I just wanted to let you know that those features are there if you want them.
Summary
OK….I am convinced.
From now on my phone comes with me when I run. I will use the endomondo app for the rest of this year and probably longer. BUT…I will still enter the info in my 2011 Running Log just in case, and for old times sake. Oh yeah….they (endomondo) have an app for the iPhone too.
The big question is…..will I buy a 2012 Running Log?????
Probably.
Hey….old habits are hard to break!
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Apple iPad2 and Vidyo
A friend shared this short video on Google+ today. Pretty amazing stuff.
Oh yeah…my friend lives in Italy and works for the New Jersey based company that developed the video chat software shown in this video. Vidyo (see my getting older review of Vidyo here).
Drive Safe! Never Forget.
