I thought Google’s Flu Trends was an interesting approach. The Google Operating System Blog pointed out that Google has expanded to tracking Mexico with the Swine Flu. With Flu being in the news so much, I wonder if that impacts the accuracy.
May 8, 2009
April 3, 2009
Giving Presentations
Recently, I picked up several good links about giving presentations. So, in order to not forget them, here they are:
- The Pythian Group: How to Have a Good Presentation (Download slides, they have some good info)
- Talented Apps: “Made to Stick” will help you with Presentation Zen (I haven’t read the book, but the post has good info)
- How to Change the World: The 10/20/30 Rule of Power Point
January 16, 2009
Gadget Wishlist
I came across this on this gadget on Engadget, and it caught my interest. We have an old camcorder that has a battery problem. It works great if you keep it plugged into the wall, but you can’t capture the moments well like that. This might make a good replacement!
The price didn’t look too bad: $150 (from here). It says that it takes up to a 32G card. If it records at 20min per 1GB, the card would hold over 10 hours of video. That would be plenty of time for the things we would do: recording Christmas morning fun, kids programs/plays, ballgames, etc.
This comes out in April. So, it’s not like we could go out and get it now.
If anyone has any thoughts or knows of other camcorders like this, please let us know.
January 12, 2009
Accountant’s Tool
I like cool gadgets, and this one caught my eye. If I were an accountant or a number cruncher, this external keypad would be crucial for me. I have seen these gadgets before, but this one has more shortcut buttons on the side that would be handy. On the otherhand, I like my screen real estate, and I prefer to use a laptop with a 17″ screen. These laptops include a 10-key.
November 29, 2008
Pictures of Petra
We have been reading the Left Behind series and are currently in the book called Desecration. They have been talking about Petra, and we wanted to see pictures of it. At the same time, I came across some articles saying that Google has begun hosting the images from Life Magazine. You can view the images by adding “source:life” to your Google Image Query. I found a few pictures of Petra in the collection.
Here are some more links about Petra:
October 8, 2008
Fun Fact: Error Messages
I just came across an article with a list of the top 13 error messages:
The Thirteen Greatest Error Messages of All Time
My favorite was the Blue Screen of Death picture during the Olympics Ceremonies!
October 7, 2008
Fun Fact: Computers Applied to Disability
A co-worker pointed this article out to me about Ed Gallagher. In summary, he is blind and is using Skype to allow a person to remotely guide him. I was impressed — it is a great use for the technology.
I didn’t see it in the article, but my co-worker was talking about homebound people acting as the guide. It sounded like they were solving two weakness by getting the two together. The blind people can’t see, and the homebound people can’t get out. With the homebound people guiding the blind people, they can virtually do both.
Now, you can have a little fun with this, no offense meant to the people involved. There must be a lot of trust involved on the blind person’s part. Just don’t make the guide mad — you may get guided in front of a bus. The article talks about sky diving. I can imagine the Internet going out or the computer locking up at just the point when the person was to pull the cord to open the parachute!
Article: Blind adventurer uses Skype as his “eyes” in new documentary
October 4, 2008
Google Phone Finally
I have finally started to see the first Google phone released. I am a little disappointed at this point. I thought there was going to be more competition, but I am not seeing very much.
From Google Operating System, I learned a little about the phone:
- The price is around $200 – $400 (article cited). This doesn’t seem too bad, but the sad part is that they require a 2-year contract. That seems to be normal for cell phone contracts, but I thought the Google phone was supposed to be different — more open.
- The Google services looks great. I use most of the services listed, and it would be nice to have access to those anywhere. My biggest request of a smart phone, would be to help me keep organized, and these tools would do it.
- The GPS in conjunction with Google maps would be great.
It is locked into the T-Mobile network. Where are the options?
On another note, I saw some news about M2Z Networks trying to create a free cell phone network. This would be great if we could get the Google phone on that network! I thought was interesting that T-Mobile was cited as one of the main ones against it.
Laptop Tracking
April 2, 2008
Free Resources on the Internet
InfoWorld published a nice article with a great list of downloads and services that are free. Some I have tried, but many I want to try in the future. Check it out:
Some other places to looks for open source/free software:
Digital Eagle 