Cool Phone Tricks

Source: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_pogue_on_cool_phone_tricks.html

Rating: GOOD

Explanation:
David Pogue gave a very energetic talk at TED this year. His topic of choice was cool cell phones tricks. As a side note, if you get the chance you must watch the end of this video, especially if you have an iPhone. It’s hilarious.

In this talk, one of the many “tricks” mentioned is a new cell phone program by Google called Grand Central. This program allows you to hook one number up to multiple phones. So your house phone, your cell phone, and your work phone could all ring under one phone number. This would allow you to never miss a call. Also you can customize the voice mail depending who is calling. It allows you to have a professional voice mail for your work, and a causal voice mail for your wife and kids.

Google never fails to amaze me. A service like this for many business men and women could be extremely profitable. A doctor could always be on call with one number. His babysitter can get a hold of him in an emergency just as easily as the emergency room, with only one phone number. For keeping the world connected, Google receives another GOOD rating.

Hands Free Email

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/technology/personaltech/19pogue.html

Rating: GOOD

Explanation:
Cell phones started an age of hands free communication. Email has completed it. A new hands free device called the iLane has been released for your car which will read your emails to you as you drive. This device links wireless to a Blackberry phone using Bluetooth. The iLane also comes with an ear piece, which also utilizes Bluetooth to connect back to the iLane unit. Ilane uses the Blackberry to monitor and retrieve your email and dictating it aloud to the ear piece. It even allows you to respond to emails using speech to text.

Certain states, such as New Jersey have banned talking on the phone while driving. The iLane is another tool to help people pay more attention to driving than to their smart-phones. Distractions that cause your hands to leave the wheel, can be the cause of fatal accidents. For business men and women who need to stay in contact via email 24/7, this allows them to do so in a safer manner. Unfortunately I think the drivers who could benefit from this device the most are teenagers. With the iLane costing well over $600, you are not going to find many 16-21 years riding around with this slick new design. Any devices that attempts to make our roadways a safer place I am more than happy to endorse; therefore iLane receives a GOOD rating.

Looks are Not Everything

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/hp-touchsmart-iq506/4505-3118_7-33074466.html

Rating: BAD

Explanation:
In an attempt to stay current with the times, my place of employment decided to upgrade their touchscreen computer. Their choice of touchscreen computers was the HP I504. At first glance the computer looks very sleek and well equipped. It comes with an Intel core 2 duo, 4 gigs of ram, and a 22 inch glossy touchscreen monitor. The design looks like a LCD TV and takes up little desk space.

So what’s the problem? As with most "all in one" computer units, repairs are always a problem. These units take special parts, which makes them costly and inconvenient to fix. Let’s face it, all computers crash. Although on paper, this model is well equipped; out of the box it runs sluggish and buggy. It would appear the touchscreen software is affecting the performance.

As with any piece of technology it does have its place. Although I would not recommend this machine for any home desktop computer, in the business world it can have it' place. It would work well as a walk up Internet station/kiosk. It may also work well to display demos of software since it is easy to transport and has a beautiful screen. However the major downside is even with these advantages, it is not worth the price. Even the most basic models price at about $1200. That makes an expensive Internet booth. With the disadvantages outweighing the advantages, and an A for effort, HP 1504 gets a BAD rating.

George Jetson's Car

Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2238758/flying-car-takes-skies

Rating: GOOD

Explanation:
The future has arrived, cars have been spotted airborne in New York. Before you claim that I am crazy, click on the link and see for yourself. A successfully test flight of a flying car happened at Plattsburgh International Airport in Plattsburgh. The car is called the Terrafugia Transition and is a road legal two seat vehicle. It has electronically foldable wings which can be deployed in 30 seconds and ready for take off.

“ Once airborne the vehicle is capable of flying at 115 miles an hour and uses around five gallons of fuel per hour to drive the rearward facing propeller. As a car it gives around 30 miles to the gallon for normal use”

On the hunt for more energy and gas efficient cars I never expected to see a car that actually flies. This car is expected to produce average gas mileage on the ground, but it only uses 5 gallons an hour in the air. I think the combination of road and air cars is the future of travel. I am sure the airlines and traffic control would not appreciate this since it decreases the need for commercial air travel, and creates the new need to police and monitor the new airways. We need to stop being afraid of putting major companies out of business, and allow science and technology to advance society, and in this case improve travel. For flying in the right direction, the Terrafugia Transition receives a GOOD rating.

Magnetic Computers

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/technology/personaltech/12touchb.html?ref=personaltech

Rating: GOOD

Explanation:
Always Innovating, has designed a brand new laptop focused on ultra portability. The laptop is designed for basic use such as Internet browsing and word processing. The design comes in two parts, a full touch screen and a detachable keyboard. One of the most impressive features is its battery life. The laptop houses two batteries allowing between 10 and 15 hours of workability. The most innovative feature is when the keyboard is detached from the screen, the back of the screen is equipped with a magnet and allows the screen to be attached to any surface including a refrigerator. In the race to produce new laptop features, I never thought the ability to attach a screen onto the front of your refrigerator to be a top priority. I initially found this worthless and a design for a marketing ploy, however the more I consider the idea the more I like it. Being able to attach the screen to a metal surface could provide useful to watching movies or in working with a group of people. As a kitchen computer, you could have a recipe displayed on the screen as you cook. In an automobile repair garage, the monitor could be attached to a tool box and used to run diagnostics on cars. Just the portability it provides by creating a wide variety of potential uses prompts me to give this new feature a GOOD rating.

The Insignificance of Security

Source : http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/transfer-jet-ready-for-its-close-up/

Rating: UGLY

Explanation:
As I was reading David Pogue 's blog today, I came across a new wireless technology that concerns me. It is called transfer-jet. It’s a wireless data transfer technology that works only when the devices are within an inch of each other. Sounds cool. David Pogue also thought so:

“You bring a camera over to your computer and touch them together—and a whole memory card’s worth of photos are transferred in a few seconds. No wires, software, password, pairing, none of that. Just touch ‘em.”

No password or pairing. Its ok, security is vastly overrated, right?

David Pogue makes a valid point about how the physical security is implemented because of the range of the device. “It’s the short range, in fact, that lets you get rid of all that red tape; it’s not very likely that a bad guy could intercept your file transfer without your knowledge. He’d have to be the size of an atom.”

However he is missing part of the puzzle. Any wireless transmission can be captured with the right antenna. An attack does not need to be physically in between the two physical medians. An attacker for example, could produce the same signal on a device, amplify it so the computer thinks the devices are physically an inch apart, attach a virus, and sit in a coffee house scanning for these connections. Without a password or a form of encryption, the attacker can freely upload his virus to which ever machine he feels fit. Let’s hope it’s not a rootkit.

With a society that focuses on convenience, it is imperative that the security of our information is kept as a priority. I love the concept of the technology, but before this could ever receive a good rating it would need to incorporate encryption or passwords. Until then, my rating will stand at UGLY.

"Space Telescope Launches Friday to Find New Earths"

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504747,00.html

Rating: GOOD

Explanation:

“If Friday's launch goes according to plan and successfully lobs NASA's new Kepler space telescope into orbit, the mission stands to potentially change the way we look at the universe.”

NASA is trying to answer the everlasting question, is there life on planets other than earth? The 600 million dollar telescope is equipped with a 95 mega pixel lens and is programmed to study 100,000 different stars while in space. For those who do not understand the significance of a 95 mega pixel lens, your standard camera at your local electronic store is around ten mega pixels, if you are willing to spend your months pay check, then maybe 12 mega pixels. The discovery of new planets which can support life I believe will lead to new advancements in technology. If nothing else, the possibility of needing a new place to inhabit is increasing as the population grows. This telescope could be the first step to finding a new home. Meeting a new race of beings, although potentially dangerous, could also lead to learning parts of science which currently cannot even be conceived or maybe a cure for disease such as cancer. Just as a newborn moves around the outdoors and proceeds to learn new life altering facts, we need to move around the universe and hope to make a few life altering discoveries. With the potential for new discoveries, NASA gets a GOOD rating.

Customizable TV

Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE52377V20090304

Rating: GOOD

Explanation:
Watching television on the Internet is convenient and allows a user to select which shows interest them. Hollywood is trying to cash in on this growing interest by teaming up with a new service called ZillionTV. ZillionTV uses your home internet connection but does not connect to your computer it connects to your TV via a special device built by ZillionTV. This service streams TV from the internet directly to your TV screen. ZillionTV offers different viewing options. The service is free with advertisements; you can rent a show, or buy a show. If you choose to rent or buy shows they are commercial free. The interesting aspect regarding the advertisements is that you may choose which vendor's commercials to view. I previously posted about Yahoo sending customized ads to your computer, producing a BAD rating. This however, allows the user to pick the advertisement, they are not being chosen by a computer without the user knowledge or consent. This method I find productive and acceptable. The ability to sit down in front of a TV and choose what to watch instead of being to force to watch whatever might be running at that given time, is a great advancement for TV. I dislike watching commercials, however I could find them more tolerable if they were on technology, for example. Due to the customizable commercials and the free on demand television, ZillionTV gets a GOOD rating.