I'll Take "E-book Craze" for a Couple Hundred Dollars, Alex.
I ran across this gizmodo article on e-book development. (And snazzy video too!)
Continue reading "I'll Take "E-book Craze" for a Couple Hundred Dollars, Alex." »
June 26, 2008
April 2, 2008
Amazon - not april fools!
This blew my mind. Thought it had to be April Fools on us, but Amazon has got quite an idea going here.
March 24, 2008
iPhone + PSP + GPS + IPTV + Korea = ?
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)
March 3, 2008
Anyone got a Wii Remote?
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!
February 5, 2008
The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?
If the new Pulse Smart Pen from Livescribe, a pen that records audio while you use it to take notes, really works as advertised, then all I can say is "Wow". It's not so much the recording of audio that gives it the wow factor - it also records video of what you are writing, so after class you can touch your pen to a spot on your notes and the pen will play back the part of the lecture that was happening when you took those notes.
But wait - there's more. You can also upload the audio and the video to your computer, so now you have your handwritten notes in electronic format.
The pen costs $200, which seems to me to be a pretty reasonable price if it really does what it claims to do. Plus, the ad for it is cute.
January 15, 2008
Brian, I Feel Your Pain
Apple announced a software update for the iPod Touch today. Five apps from the iPhone (which really should have been on the Touch all along) are now available: Mail, Maps, Weather, Stocks, and Notes. Good news, right? Well, there's a catch. They're charging $20 for them.
That would be somewhat reasonable except that all new iPod Touches are coming with these 5 apps installed. Only people who already own the Touch have to pay for the update.
Am I the only one who thinks this stinks?
They released an iPhone update today, too. It's free for all existing iPhones, as it should be.
December 11, 2007
Your Library In Your Pocket
I had a chance today to play with the new Amazon Kindle. Pete, over in the bookstore, has purchased one and he's happy to show it off to anyone who stops by.
If you haven't heard of Kindle, it's the new e-book reader from Amazon. It includes free wireless connectivity (through Sprint's EVDO network) for purchasing and downloading e-books. Books typically cost $9.99, often less than what you would pay on Amazon for the same book.
I was surprised by how quickly I got used to reading with Kindle. The font was set rather large, so I did find I had to "turn" the page more often than I'd like. But that's adjustable - 6 font levels, with the smallest fitting most of a typical page on the screen.
A neat feature of the Kindle is that you can download a sample - usually the first chapter or two - of any book that's for sale on the device. Not only does this give you a way to really check out a book before buying, but it also gives you plenty of free reading.
Once a book is downloaded - and it's very quick - you can read offline. So if you're in an area without EVDO or if you're on an airplane, you can still read what's been downloaded. (You are able to turn wireless off for situations like using on an airplane, or to save battery life. Battery life is about a week of reading, with wireless off.)
The big appeal of this, to me, is for travel. When I'm heading off on a trip, I usually pick my reading material according to how much space I have for carrying it and not necessarily according to what I feel like reading right now. The Kindle is smaller than most books, paperback or hardcover, and can hold over 200 titles so it's perfect for travel.
At $400, it's still too pricey for me. But if it catches on it will get cheaper and better. I'll be keeping a close eye on the situation. I wonder how long before textbooks start becoming available this way?
November 16, 2007
IPod Touch... A biased review
I'm trying something new, not writing a paper when I post. My Ipod battery lately has been good for about 15 seconds of power, so time for a new one, IPod that is, not the battery, where's the fun in that, plus I needed to buy myself a Christmas gift...
June 28, 2007
iPhone lives...
...or dies?
Well the iPhone comes out in about 2 hours, and I apologize for Susan's comments not being posted earlier, I have to admit I ignored the email(I was on the beach). I hate to say it, but I actually hope this thing does well, if for no other reason than it will drive others to see what they can incorporate to their devices. I wouldn't own one yet for a few reasons...
June 4, 2007
I'm not Dead, and maybe spelling isn't either
Ok, I haven't fallen off of the earth, just been too busy to post, and haven't had anything exciting to say anyhow. Today a thought finally popped into my head though, so we'll run with it and see where it goes.
Continue reading "I'm not Dead, and maybe spelling isn't either" »
May 16, 2007
Work and fitness mashup?
February 26, 2007
More Cell Phone Fun
I came across Cellblock today. This is sort of a combo Flickr and YouTube with a cell phone twist - you can submit your photos and videos via your cell phone, and they appear "instantly" on your Cellblock site. From what I can tell, you can't stream live video like you can with PocketCaster, though.
To use this with your cell phone you need one that can send photos and videos via email. I'm guessing that most, if not all, camera phones can do this but since I don't have one I'm not sure. What would be the cost involved? Are you charged a data fee (as opposed to using your plan minutes) when you do this?
You can also use your computer to add content to your Cellblock site. While this product doesn't really seem to do much that can't be done other ways, it might be appealling to have one site that will accept photos and video from both a cell phone and a computer. (The usual caveats- privacy, etc. - apply, of course.)
February 5, 2007
Pocketcaster
We've all been thinking and talking about mobile phones a lot lately, so I was excited to get the chance to attend a hands-on session at the ELI Annual Conference last week about using mobile phones to stream live video.
We were using a service called PocketCaster from ComVu.com. The service is free right now, while it's in beta, though it's expected to be about $5/month when it goes out of beta. In a nutshell, it works like this: You sign up for an account and then you download a small application to install on your phone. You also get personal web space to stream your video to. When you want to stream video you pull up the app on your phone, make a couple of selections and you're off and running. Anyone who knows the URL of your webspace can see your live video.
You can stream the video from your cell phone using either wifi or internet service from your cell provider. We used Nokia n80 cells phones (about $400 retail) that didn't have any cell service, so we were connecting using the wifi in the hotel.
In reality, there seemed to be about a 15 second delay, so "live" is a relative term. You can also archive video that you stream live, to be viewed later.
You can see some of this in action. This blog has a link to video that was taken during one of the ELI sessions and then archived. You can see two things here: that it doesn't do so well with lots of movement and that enlarging the video from a cell phone is not a great idea!
Here's a better example. This is live video streaming from a cell phone on a window ledge in Vancouver. Press the play button to start viewing the video. Note: for some reason, you need a PC to view this. There is apparently a mac hack available, but I don't know what it is.
It's not clear yet what the educational applications of this are, but it would be great to have one of these phones on hand here to help us figure out how this could be used in education. According to the presenter, by 2011 25% of cell phones sold will cost less than $20, and there will be a camera on the $20 phones. If we start researching this now, we may be ready by 2011 to help faculty put those $20 cell phones to good use!
January 10, 2007
iPhone, therefore I?
a) am.
b) just called you.
c) am an Apple fanboy.
Pick one. I'm kind of in the "b" camp. The recently announced Apple iPhone is a very slick but expensive phone for customers of Cingular Wireless that would also allow them to replace their Palm and iPod. I love the idea of having a real OS on the phone. (iPhone has OS X installed.) The end result of this sucker is a broader audience for true mobile computing, which I think means more, not less business for the Blackberries and Palm Treos of the world. (Oh, and Windows mobile probably too... posers.) I can't afford an iPhone. But, suddenly the new Palm Treo 680 at $199 looks like a real cheap mobile computing platform, instead of a really expensive phone. By adding the Apple stamp into this ongoing redefinition of the smartphone market, they've done the world a big service, even if the iPhone isn't a hot seller at first.
January 8, 2007
Thumb Drives
We've been using thumb drives for years in IT, but I saw the surest sign of them hitting the mainstream last weekend. Tax preparation software distributed on a thumb drive.
Just a reminder that what may seem like old hat to us is the latest and greatest for mainstream America. James hooked me up with a site devoted to portable apps on a thumb drive, which I might have mentioned on a post before. I love being able to take my programs and settings with me when traveling or even visiting another office. I wonder whether we could get away with having people here start officially storing their personal stuff on a thumb drive that they could take to any computer? (Or would that be a disaster waiting to happen? - Not so worried about backup, more theft...)
January 3, 2007
Space Navigator
Thanks to Time's Gadget of the week, the 3DConnexion SpaceNavigator. This 'mouse' might be the answer to the awkwardness of moving through virtual sites/games like Secondlife. Perhaps some of the hesitation about embracing Secondlife as a legitimate tool is because of how awkward it is for us to move through it?
December 7, 2006
Treo Followup
The other day Jason posted about the Palm Treo. Today, the reference librarians and instructional technologists talked about viewing websites on mobile devices. It was a pretty interesting conversation that prompted me to talk Jason into borrowing his Treo for the afternoon to take experiment with it. Susan and I spent a few minutes kicking around the Angel Learning Management System course site, google maps, and a few other things on it. Text based pages seem to work best but that seems obvious.
I am hooked and can see application of use in daily work life.
How nice would it be to have the ability to take notes in a format that I will actually reuse right in my pocket.
Or to be able to grab the resource from the web as I have an impromptu meeting on Brooks walk.
Or to be able to check my schedule and email without having to return to my office.
Or to be able attend a conference without having to lug my tablet.
December 1, 2006
Plam Treos
I call my Palm Treo 650 a Plam because of how often I misspell it at first.
I just set up my fourth Palm Treo, this one a 700p, up in Athletics. These little wonders can do everything a road warrior needs, and I love mine. I know the other folks on campus love theirs too. Moreover, the 650 and 700p are basically compatible with everything at Allegheny that can be compatible with a mobile device.
I check and send work email via Versamail.
I keep my calendar and contacts synched with work via MeetingMaker.
I check and send personal email through the Gmail for JVM client.
If I get lost, I can check Google Maps.
I check the local radar through the web browser, which is handy for downloading anything else I need.
I synchronize our inventory of computers that we keep in Excel format on a shared folder using Documents To Go.
I store meeting agendas and how-to documents from Word (Ditto - Documents To Go).
I store pdfs, using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
I used to lug a laptop along with me on trips, but you can do FTP on this baby, which means hello any work document I could possibly want. It plays my music on a 1GB flash card, takes movies, takes pictures.
Oh, yeah, it's also a bluetooth enabled telephone, although why I'd actually use my phone for talking is beyond me.
You can make a case for each of those tasks being easier to do on some other device (phone, computer, TV, iPod, digital camera, plus finding a wi-fi hotspot somewhere), but if I want to write a novel, I'll bring my laptop. If I want a professional photographer, I'll hire my wife. If I want to do all of the above pretty well from anywhere, at anytime, I'm set.
November 17, 2006
I better chime in too
While I'm not entirely convinced that users know how technology works now, or care how it works for that matter, I have a different view of it. I tend to look at the back end system side and how it all ties together in the end to make us productive, maybe I just don't give users enough credit for understanding front ends because I don't work with them as much.
Enough rant onto something about technology. James was telling me about Second Life the other day, and me being as anti-social as I am I figured this may be something I want to check out. Forgive me if I'm not impressed. From the limited time I spent with it before realizing it wasn't my thing, it basically reminded me of a 3d graphical chat room. I can already see the Dateline special on Second Life predators. Maybe if I had gotten off of "Orientation Island" things would have been different, but after a few minutes of wandering around under water it was pretty easy to say "what's the point" and log off. I did see the new MS Zune and thought it looked pretty cool, The ability to share from Zune to Zune via wireless has my interest, I wonder if you can steal some unsuspecting Zune patrons playlist?
Insights from BJ Novak
Not only do I dig gadgets I dig tv. I would watch it morning noon and night if it were not for work, my wife, my kid, and the need to stay fit. I watch good TV. I watch bad TV. My favorite show at this point is The Office as I think it is very real. I like it so much that I follow the blog and often search youtube for spoilers and mashups. In today's post on Officetally you could follow a link to PARADE Magazine's article on how the five main characters use technology in their personal lives.
Now comes my point -
B.J. Novak's explanation of how technology is integrated into his life is most likely the technology landscape that we will need to support and our campus community will come to expect. His account of hating a gadget until he knows how to use it combined with frustration at the technology and himself is insightful. No longer will technology users understand how or why the technology works in detail but will use it all the same. Much the same way as our current use and understanding of automobiles. His anecdotes of how physical time and space are distorted through personal gadgets is also a good point to remember. No longer will proximity be a condition of community. More so communities are developed and maintained through technology.