techNOcool

How many of you suffer from the burden of pockets chock-full-o'-gadgets? (iPhone users need not apply, I suppose...) But even for those iPhone users: Wouldn't you like all the functionality and diversity of services but in a style reminiscent of the Early 90's Zack Morris Cell Phone?

Then, boy, does Korea have the answer for you! Introducing the Miu Hybrid Dual PC! (HDPC)

First, to dissect the name: Hybrid describes the wide array of functions it combines. It's a cell phone, internet phone, game machine, digital camera, IPTV, and MORE! The Mia Hybrid Dual PC also has two 1W speakers, BlueTooth 2.0, multiple input devices, (ranging from a QWERTY keyboard to gaming controllers to touch screens), and your choice of a 500 MHz or 1 GHz processor. Each HDPC can accommodate up to 60 gigs of storage space.

Impressively, the 'Dual' portion of the product's name originates from its dual OS configuration. Each Miu is loaded with XP and linux Qplus. Users simply choose their OS upon booting the device.

The only drawback is the unit's size. 6.4" x 2.6" x 1" portable devices will only fit in the pockets of most NBA centers. In addition, the HDPC weighs a few pounds, so you'll also have to invest in a new belt to hold those pants up.

Basically, the name of Miu's game is flexibility. The HDPC is the Swiss Army Knife of mobile technology. Don't start drooling yet: It's only available in Korea, and plans have not yet been announced for a US release. But, if you have $400-$500 US burning a hole in your pocket, and you're fluent in Korea, have at it!

Posted by Matt Gullatta at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Educause published their 7 Things You Should Know About Google Apps recently. A few years ago a few in computing looked at it coming away with the concerns listed in the document.

Has time changed our reaction and/or position?

Posted by James Fadden at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since learning of Twitter, I've wondered the practical application of it. I have intentionally used it for a while to publish personal stuff like "sipping on coffee as I blow through some emails" or "listening to jack johnson" and for following what my friends and colleagues are doing. But have yet to find practical ways to integrate naturally into a work flow.

Recently, several of the blogs I read linked to the articles outlining a its practical applications, here is one such article. And I found a good description of what twitter actually does thanks to the CommonCraft Show on youtube

But I am still working on how to integrate it naturally into work flow. My best guess is this - create twitter accounts for a couple of the web logs we use to keep the campus informed of computing news and workshop information and see how many "twits" start to follow. (Thanks to Richwalsky I found a tool that will take and rss feed and create twitter tweets.)

Do we want the same for technocool?

Posted by James Fadden at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently, one of our technocool contributers moved on to greener pastures (or so we hope) and we have added a new technocool geek from a outside computing. Please welcome Matt Gullatta to the college and technocool. I think he will provide insights and valuable whit, but we will call his addition the "Gullatta Pilot" just in case this does not go as planned.

Posted by James Fadden at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As I mentioned a while back I moved techNOcool: Back to Firefox for my web browsing needs. I have found that I miss some of the nice built in social networking features of Flock so I went looking for Firefox plugins to meet those needs.

I found a few of them and added them. What I found is that while there are plugins available using them is not as nice using the built in features of Flock. That being said I am sticking with Firefox mostly because it loads faster and the delicious plugin works better than the flock/delicious integration.

Posted by James Fadden at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's another really cool thing: Johnny Lee from Carnegie Mellon has created software - which we can download from his website - that allows you to use a Wii remote to create a cheap Smartboard. He demonstrates a couple of different ways to use it in this YouTube video, including one way that turns your computer screen into a multi touch screen. If anyone has a Wii remote and wants to play, give me a shout!

Posted by Susan Fenton at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)