Blogs and RSS

By now, most of you have figured out I really am addicted to reading news feeds for stuff I find interesting. Last year, this was cutting edge stuff. As of today, there are may ways to read news feeds in a consolidated manner, and probably more efficiently than a newspaper. Someone had once shown me a video where internet giants eventually killed print media. I don’t think it will come to that, but I will say that RSS and news readers do make a compelling case to get your interesting and customized interests fed to you.

To get started:

News Clients:

• http://Reader.google.com or http://mashable.com/2007/06/11/rss-toolbox/
• Go to http://jotd.wordpress.com/
• Click on the RSS feed.

The best business blogs list: http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/06/the_best_busine.html

Customize Search into RSS: http://lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/feed-your-ego-with-rss-260726.php

 

Bonus: GreaseMonkey

If you’re running Mozilla Firefox (let’s hope you are), there is a way to enhance the experience with GreaseMonkey scripts. Profanity filters, enhanced gmail, etc… – really neat stuff. Here are 10 really great extensions while you are opening up your digital life: http://lifehacker.com/software/greasemonkey/lh-top-10-greasemonkey-user-scripts-249957.php

The continuation of the Spectrum Wars

The ongoing struggle over the 700MHz spectrum continues with hearings. Frontline made a compelling case, which Sen. Ted Stevens blasted the proposal.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/14/2141257&from=rss

Advanced TCA

Usually hardware is not seen as cutting edge, but more and more it’s getting a second wind and there are signs of creativity.

From Wikipedia:

“Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture is the largest specification effort in the history of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), with more than 100 companies participating. Known as AdvancedTCA™, the official specification designation is PICMG 3.x (see below). AdvancedTCA is targeted to requirements for the next generation of “carrier grade” communications equipment. This series of specifications incorporates the latest trends in high speed interconnect technologies, next generation processors, and improved Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS).”

 

Basically everyone needs to fit into the same blade rack configuration, which will be really great at saving space and having all sorts of equipment living together in harmony. So one would think.

http://www.picmg.org/v2internal/newinitiative.htm

A

iPhone: Disruptors on Kill, not Stun

iPhone. A slow data network. The iFanboy/iFangrrrl does not care.

http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/969.html

 

The iPhone will do well after the peak of expectations is crossed with the trough of disillusionment. For right now, those Apple-Joosy adverts to do in the range of OK to Great. The lasting effect over the long term is probably greater usability and ease of access for everyone. If you are really desperate, you can take desperate measures: http://lifehacker.com/software/hack-attack/turn-your-windows-mobile-phone-into-an-iphone-269055.php

 

There are some advantages to the iPhone model that have not been highlighted: Flash on the Phone – Quicktime also plays flash so the iPhone is Flash enabled (other phones are not because Adobe makes the pricing too steep). The iPhone SDK is OS X and Safari. No more of the proprietary SDK hindrances. It’s real web, not WAP. And it’s pretty. Most of all, it’s easy to use with great design, and has two joosy things: touch and zoom. There’s already one web application for a Simple Shopping List: http://onetrip.org/

 

This is a nice perspective: http://gigaom.com/2007/06/12/5-ways-iphone-will-change-the-wireless-biz/

 

And what will follow is the “clone wars” from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Qualcomm (provided they can ship the chips to the US).

(…I managed to get Star Trek AND Star Wars references into one topic!…)

I love Transcoding

I luv Transcoding

Google does it. Telecoms do it. Everyone has to still get it right.

It’s transcoding, and it is the ability to convert “normal” web pages into something legible for the teeny screens on your handset. The iPhone tackles this with a zoom mentality right within the browser, but for the rest of us, how do we crush a large page into a small one? Enter another company into the fray:

http://mobilecrunch.com/2007/06/16/baresite-makes-every-site-mobile/

Mobile Joos – 6/18

Chase the 3^rd Screen

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/business/yourmoney/17mobile.html?ex=1339732800&en=5e00963ccd20816b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

 

Verizon goes after LBS Messaging

http://mobilecrunch.com/2007/06/15/location-enabled-messaging/

 

Faith West brings higher fidelity to mobile audio

http://mobilecrunch.com/2007/06/11/mobile-game-audio-needs-some-faith/

 

Motorola Mini H9 Bluetooth Headset

Nearly the size of a hearing aid, this little jewel may be the next Borg accessory to be assimilated.

http://www.popgadget.net/2007/06/motorola_mini_h.php

 

Good news for Clearwire: Signs contracts, stock back to the IPO price

http://gigaom.com/2007/06/16/for-clearwire-how-good-is-the-good-news/

 

More Bluetooth Watches

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9729795-1.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Crave

Tech Joos – 6/18

First unclassified Scramjet reaches Mach 10

Yeah. That’s fast. Apart from allusions to the high performance spy plane “Aurora” no one has demonstrated a practical scramjet. Leave it to the Aussies and US scientists to make a really expensive and fast model rocket.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/Scientists-launch-scramjet-in-Australian-Outback/2007/06/16/1181414574880.html

Juniper is rolling out a beast of a router.

There’s a claim of delivering 1.6Tbps of throughput per chassis. I don’t know what a Terrabit per second really equates to practically, but it sounds like a lot and may make Juniper more of a contender with Cisco.

http://gigaom.com/2007/06/12/junipers-rolls-out-t-rex-like-router-not-quite-iphone/

Colleges and Universities to get linked communications.

http://mobilecrunch.com/2007/06/14/ubiquitous-communication/

More of that 3D stuff I have been talking about.

I’ve already talked about Seadragon/ Photosynth. Here are some others:

Photosynth Demo: http://labs.live.com/photosynth/ in case you missed it.

Everyscape: http://everyscape.com/

Google Streetside: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/29/google-maps-now-with-360-streetside-views

Optics

Non-Reflective Surface using nanotechnology

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/18265/

Liquid Lens

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12038

House of Reps bring bill to force a la carte channel selection and family values on Cable

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070615-new-bill-would-create-family-tier-extend-indecency-standards-to-cable.html

The US is 24^th place for percentage of broadband penetration

Room to grow!

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2102304,00.html

Wheatgrass Joos – 6/18

GOOG backs green computing

I saw a show where Google was powering a data center via a hydroelectric dam. Now GOOG signs a green computing pact.

http://gigaom.com/2007/06/12/google-backs-green-computing-too/

Texas Makes Computer Recycling Mandatory

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070611-texas-legislature-passes-dell-backed-computer-recycling-bill.html

Skillz Joos – Web Cheatsheets and Ask a Ninja

Web Cheatsheats – if you ever wanted to program on the web.

http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/essential_html_.html

Ask a Ninja

Learn from the master. The MythBusters are joosy, but the combination of Ask a Ninja with the MythBusters is irresistible.

http://askaninja.com/

Humanitarian Joos

Global Perspective

Let’s take just a little time to think globally with two views. The first I call “Pwned by Sodertalje”. Here is a quote and the article: “Mr. Lago is the mayor of this scenic Swedish town of 60,000 people [Sodertalje], which last year took in twice as many Iraqi refugees as the entire United States…” http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/06/the_best_commen.html

The second is a view where each state in the US is renamed for a country with similar GDP: http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/131-us-states-renamed-for-countries-with-similar-gdps/

 

Now, I only have to ask myself when considering these two views – how can a country this productive and successful be so ineffective in aid to people in need? Are there other areas where the scale of capability is out of alignment with the amount of goodwill that could be performed? At work? At home?

 

Severe Warning

A while back, I had proposed enabling severe event alerts via phone. I was hoping that there was a mechanism or way to know if something cataclysmic was on the way. Fortunately, The Weather Channel is here for us. All you have to do is sign up. Proving again that the only standard in mobile technology is SMS, these alerts can be sent using texting or via e-mail.

http://mobilecrunch.com/2007/06/13/extreme-mobile-weather-alerts/