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All the entries posted in December.
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Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2007 > December
December 2007
Ready to rumble? Try Hatebook, not Facebook
Bored with Facebook?
How ‘bout Hatebook. It’s where to go to be anti-social. It’s a place where you can join in social-networking with people who share a common dislike.
When you join, a box pops up, saying “welcome sucker.” Puts you right in the mood.
Ready to take some cheap shots? There’s a group that hates public toilets. Or the bunch that gets ticked at old people who drive. Or even, the grumbling groupies who hate improper grammar.
There are groups who hate “ignorant bigots,” neighbors who rummage through garbage and cliquey social scenes. Some of the group names are profane so those who hate curse words might stay away.
Several networking groups have political origins — those who hate liberals, Britian’s Tony Blair and the Labour Party, conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly and activist movie director Michael Moore.
Personally, I think I’d fit in with the groups that hate personalized license plates and get steamed when they see the text message “please call me now.”
Techtree.com said there are a couple of similar sites, Snubster and Enemybook. If anybody checks them out, post a comment.
Match.com and Facebook link to expand the choices of the lovelorn
Looks like Match.com has made a match of its own.
The popular online dating site is marrying its 15 million users to the social-networking site, Facebook, with its whopping 58 million members.
The two plan to offer an online feature called “Little Black Book,” which links Facebook profiles with Match.com daters, a blog on dailytech.com says.
Facebook won’t be alienating its members this time like it did with its strategy of installing adware on members’ computers and posting their online purchases. With Black Book, users must sign up for the service.
Match.com recently launched its “Match My Friends” program. The feature allows friends and family to create a profile of a person for prospective dates. Again, it’s done with the permission of the person being profiled.
Since many people with social-networking pages are looking for love, these new features would seem to expand their chances.
They may find some of the same people on both sites. I wonder if their profiles will change from site to site.
Jackass 2.5, the movie, in free streaming video but not for long
Jackass 2.5, as it’s called, was released exclusively this week on the web. And it’s free.
You can view it at the Blockbuster web site until the day after Christmas. It will stream for free until then with ads, of course.
On Dec. 26, it will be available on several sites, including Amazon and iTunes, but you’ll have to buy it. It also will be sold by retailers in DVD format, Variety says.
It’s Paramount’s first attempt at an Internet-only movie. It’s never too late to try something new, right?
It’s also a good chance to take a look at Johnny Knoxville and his bunch doing crazy stunts before plunking down real money for it.
I haven’t seen it. Let me know what you think.
Nokia has plans for triple-sliding phone
Nokia is looking for a leg up on rivals with slip-sliding plans for a next-generation phone.
Textually.org showed off plans by Nokia for a smartphone that slides three ways. Most phones slide one way, to access the number pad. A handful slide a second way to open to a Qwerty keyboard for easier text-messaging.
Nokia has patented a phone with a third sliding mechanism for music and gaming controls.
Sounds great if you can’t wait to get home to your game machines. Still, many cell users would love to have a quicker way to start and stop music files.
Here’s another wireless device tidbit: Gizmodo.com displayed a Google Android prototype handheld “in the wild.” It’s worth it at least to take a look.
IBM peeks over the tech horizon
IBM has released its “Next Five in Five” — a list of innovations it says have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years.
- A range of “smart energy” technologies will make it easier for you to manage your personal “carbon footprint”. Dishwashers, air conditioners, house lights, and more will be connected directly to a “smart” electric grid, making it possible to turn them on and off using your cell phone or any Web browser.
- A coming wave of connectivity between cars and the road is going to change the way you drive, help keep you safe, and even keep you out of traffic jams.
- Technology systems will enable you to know the exact source and make-up of the products you buy and consume, including foodstuffs.
- Your cell phone will be your wallet, your ticket broker, your concierge, your bank, your shopping buddy, and more.
- Doctors will gain “superpowers” as technologies allow them to gain X-ray-like vision to view medical images, get supersensitive hearing to find tiniest audio clue in your heartbeat, and view a 3-D “avatar” of your body to visualize your medical records and retrieve relevant information.
UF engineers designing a wireless-charging pad
Some semi-local news: Some engineers at the University of Florida have successfully tested a pad that can charge cell phones, PDAs, laptops and other devices wirelessly.
Users can begin charging by placing the devices on top of the flat, thin pad. A company formed around the technology will compete with others around the country to get the first wireless charging device to market.
It would get a lot of use in my house. When my kid’s home from college, he, my wife and I all have cell phone plugged into outlets. Not to mention my wife’s iPod, my second cell phone and my kid’s laptop.
Talk about reducing the hassle factor.
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Instant messaging cuts down on waiting at the bank
Who needs sitting in a bank waiting room to talk to a loan officer.
When I went online the other day to check on home-equity loans and the rates that various banks were asking, I happened onto the Chase Bank site.
While reading about the different types of loans and their advantages and disadvantages, a small screen popped up on my monitor.
It was an instant-messaging window, and an agent named Nadine asked me if she could answer any questions. We went back and forth for several minutes but when she asked if she could call, I said: maybe later.
After a few more questions, I finally asked her to call. My point is I got a lot more information that was specific to my house and mortgage without the hard sell (or at least before any hard sell) that you might get in a brick-and-mortar bank.
It’s a great idea. I’m surprised other banks and retailers don’t do it. If you see anybody else trying it, let me know.
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Taking shots at Microsoft’s Vista
It’s tough being the biggest, baddest software company in the world.
Even while Google is trying to take over the Internet single-handedly, PC World is taking shots at Microsoft, probably because it’s still considered the 800-pound gorilla of the high-tech world, or at least its chairman.
Leading PC World’s top 15 biggest tech disappointments for 2007 was Vista, the new PC operating system. It gives Vista props for its parental controls but it launched with software and hardware incompatibilities. So much so that some consumers switched back to XP.
Rounding out the top 5 were: the Hi-Def player format war, Facebook’s advertising blunder, Yahoo’s sorry state and, of course, the iPhone and Apple’s many celebrated mistakes despite a very cool device.
Did they leave anything off the list?
RIM chooses Dallas suburb for U.S. headquarters
Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, has chosen Irving, Texas, for its U.S. headquarters.
RIM will add as many as 1,000 jobs in the Dallas suburb, the Dallas Morning News is reporting.
CEO Jim Balsillie said today that “access to skilled people” was the top reason Irving won out over several other cities for the headquarters. Other factors included the proximity to Latin America.
He said Irving did not offer financial incentives and that the company expected to fill the jobs within a few years.
The company’s main headquarters is in Ontario, Canada.
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Google wants its own Wiki site
Google is looking to displace Wikipedia.
It’s started a site called Knol, for knowledge, and has invited a select group of users this week to test it..
I’m not surprised by the move. Google is trying to gobble up everything that’s popular on the Web.
I use Wikipedia when I need a quick reference for something although sometimes the entries aren’t helpful.
The question is: Would Wiki users stick with the popular site or jump to Google’s because it most certainly would show up higher in a search list?
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Apple’s iPhone may get GPS capability
It looks like Apple is joining the growing list of companies that are finding ways to use the global-positioning system in their own devices.
The Web site Engadget says it received a fuzzy-looking image of an Apple iPhone showing a GPS application under development by the Dutch company, TomTom.
If that’s true, Steve Jobs is using his head. It’s a different type of cell phone distraction, but a GPS capability would trump just about anything the iPhone doesn’t already have, except for maybe the clunky wireless network it uses.
I wonder if Apple can make it available by summer when everybody’s taking drive trip for vacation.
Apply for DTV converter-box coupons starting Jan. 1
Anytime you can get the government to help pay for a tech gadget, you should go for it.
So starting Jan. 1, get your application in for a digital-TV converter box coupon. That’s if you use rabbit ears or an antenna to watch network television.
Under the program, each U.S. household can apply for two $40 coupons for the purchase of digital-TV converter boxes. You can apply by phone at 1-888-DTV-2009 or by mail at P.O. Box 2000, Portland, Ore., 97208. Or you can go to www.dtv2009.gov.
The coupon covers a large chunk of the cost. Meredith Baker, the acting administrator for the government agency that hands them out, said she’s seen boxes priced from $59.95 to $69.95.
The feds will begin mailing out the coupons on Feb. 17, a full year before the drop-dead deadline for broadcast networks to switch from analog-TV transmission to digital. Once the coupons are issued, you’ll have 90 days to use them.
And you have a choice of Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, RadioShack, Sears, Target, Walmart and Sam’s Club where you can redeem the coupon to buy a box. There’s a local independent store also approved, Cerebral Cortex in Lake Worth. There are at least five boxes approved by the government.
Seniors who are looking for more information can watch for a story in the AARP newsletter next month about the conversion.
One last thing. Post reader Steve Shapiro of Lake Worth reminded me today in an email that those old rabbit ears are even more valuable after the digital conversion than they are now. You can pick up high-definition digital programming all the way down to Miami, something you probably couldn’t do with analog transmissions.
IBM advance with tiny light pulses has big implications
How many cores on a microchip is a lot? Dual Core? Quad Core? Nine cores? Big Blue sees your paltry handful of cores and raises you by hundreds or thousands (in maybe 10 or 15 years).
IBM researchers said today that they have taken a step toward putting the power of a supercomputer with thousands of processors on a single microchip. The trick is using light pulses instead of electrical wires to connect the cores, which means faster data speeds, less energy use and cooler operation.
IBM created what it said was by far the smallest optical modulator. The device converts digital information in the form of electric signals on a wire into light pulses and sends them down a wonderfully named “silicon nanophotonic waveguide.”
The new modulator is 200 micrometers across, about twice the width of a human hair.
Will Green, lead scientist for the IBM project, said commercial applications are likely more than a decade away, but they could include more efficient supercomputers, laptops running highly complex applications such as climate or protein modeling and game machines that create lifelike virtual worlds.
And you thought today’s console wars were something.
(Video: IBM)
Ford offering voice-activation of MP2 players, radio
Now you can talk to your ride.
Ford has an exclusive deal with Microsoft, at least until November 2008, for a technology that activates MP3 players such as Apple’s iPod and Microsoft’s Zune by voice.
You can start a song by title or ask for the artist. You can run a playlist or an entire genre of music.
The technology, called Sync, also gives the user the Bluetooth capability to talk hands-free on the phone without the earpiece that makes people look like cyborgs from Star Trek.
Also with the Bluetooth-enabled phone, the driver can also have text messages read to him by a silky-smooth female voice. The voice will interpret the Xs and Ox as hugs and kisses and LOL as lots of luck, and read other texting shortcuts..
There’s also a USB port in storage compartment between the passenger and driver’s seats.
Ford was showing off the technology for me at the Auto Show of the Palm Beaches. The show runs through Monday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
The technology has limitations. You can only respond to text messages with 15 uninspired canned messages. And, though you can hook up a USB drive to the car, it will only read audio files. No text. So you can’t fact-check that downloaded report you have to submit to the boss.
This is all meant to help the driver keep his hands on the wheel. Ford is introducing it as standard equipment on limited edition models and the Focus SES. Otherwise, it’s a $395 option.
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Continental losing the paper boarding pass
Continental Airlines is taking the next step in electronic ticketing.
A three-month test program launched at Bush Intercontinental Airport would allow passengers with personal digital assistants like Research in Motion’s Blackberry or Palm’s Treo and other mobile phones to check in without going to an airport kiosk to get a paper boarding pass.
The airline ticketing and security officials would scan a bar-code that has been transmitted to the customer’s phone. It’s already being used by Air Canada.
USA Today said the new system has its limitations. For one thing, it can only be used by passengers traveling alone.
Still, if they can get this to work, it would cut down on the stress of airport check-in.
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Willing to shell out more green for “green” electronics?
The majority of Americans say they care about the environment, but a relatively small percentage is willing to pay extra for “green” electronics that use less electricity or are made by companies they perceive to be environmentally friendly, according to a survey out today.
In a poll of 5,000 consumers, Forrester Research found that 12 percent of consumers fall into a category it calls “Bright Green” - consumers who are ecologically concerned enough to pay extra for environmentally friendly goods.
Another 41 percent are “Greens” that care about the environment but aren’t willing - at least not yet - to pay extra for environmentally friendly goods.
And about 44 percent are not green at all, according to Forrester. (About 3 percent gave no response).
Even though it’s often the target of environmental groups, Apple (surprise, surprise) had the “greenest” customer base, according to Forrester, followed respectively by Compaq, Gateway, eMachines and Dell, which has been making the environment a big selling point lately.
Bottom line, according to Forrester: Tech companies can make a lot more money by making and marketing their products as environmentally friendly. (As Steve Jobs and Michael Dell have already figured out).
Read Forrester’s press release here
Find your house on Google Earth
If you’re looking for something to lollygag with, try Google Earth.
Go to “Google Earth” in the search function. Then plug in your city and zoom in on your house. Then zoom out and look for buildings or areas you don’t recognize and then zoom back in. You’ll find topographical surprises about your area that you’d never catch by walking or driving by.
Or pull up New York City’s lower Manhattan to see the original city and then where city planners began a uniform block formation starting around Houston Street.
I spent a couple of hours on it over the weekend, and easily could have spent longer.
But as interesting and helpful as it is, Google Earth isn’t nearly as useful as the latest service that Google is working on.
It’s testing a technology to find the location of mobile-phone users. Google has dubbed it “My Location.” According to PC World, it isn’t as precise as Google Earth but will at least find what neighborhood you’re in.