Read - GERMANY WIRED JACKET [APNews.Excite]
MP3Blue Music and Bluetooth Jacket [Gizmodo]

Nice idea, but "swing and a miss".  $700 jacket with 128MB of non-upgradeable memory.  The least they could do is *not* make it look completely dorky.  Ugh!  Far better to buy an iPOD (or iRiver, which would be my preference) and drop it into the pocket of a schwag leather jacket.

In my experience, almost every new-fangled invention to replace the endless miles of cubefarms ends up being an expensive red herring that sacrifices function for form or "lightness" or any number of aesthetically interesting but ultimately distracting features that end up just being annoying (and never as good as the real, honest-to-god closed-door office that trumps almost everything else).

That being said, the Volume MacroPod workstations already get to move to the front of the pack simply by being an actual shipping product; the latest models have been selling for almost a year. The idea is to provide moveable, flexible working spaces that still provide the relative privacy of cubicles while maintaining the ability to rearrange workspaces to fit the needs of the environment. They even sell a Macroscreen which can be rolled out to create temporary meeting areas.
[Gizmodo]

Cubicles are an evil, demeaning invention.  Workers are not widgets ... they don't belong in boxes stacked end-to-end on an open floor.  Think of what's wrong in corporate America today and it can probably be traced, in some way, back to cubicles (or the attitudes about workers they represent) and the middle managers who implement them.  Let's face it, some technologies just suck no matter how much you dress them up!

Call it Google panic: Users--and businesses--struggle when the search favorite becomes briefly unavailable.
[CNET News.com]

 

The company now gauges e-mail senders' past behavior to ferret out spam.
[eWEEK.com Messaging and Collaboration]

 

Iomega Corp. this week said it plans to wind down its DCT small-form-factor storage operation, failing to find enough customers to keep the operation afloat.
[eWEEK Technology News]

 

In its debut, the BlogOn 2004 conference explores how Web logs and other social software tools are reshaping the way corporations interact with the public. [eWEEK Technology News]

 

"Yuck, water!" exclaimed Spence, as he lapped at a fountain outside a conference room where Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, was conducting a teleconference to announce his company's big shareholder dividend.
[eWEEK Technology News]

 

 VS  

You've seen the warnings from analysts (heck, even I've chimed in on the subject). You've read about your peers inadvertently downloading Trojans, viruses, worms, and other malware. You've read about the numerous security vulnerabilities, many of which have set to be patched. You've heard about the competing products that offers better performance, more features, and better security. And you've heard how this product is a major part of the fixes in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), which will ship in a few weeks, but not help the hundreds of millions of Windows users that aren't yet using XP.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

 

CNET News.com's Washington watcher, Declan McCullagh, has the scoop on why IM and VoIP users may soon wind up paying the tax man--if certain politicians get their way. [CNET News.com]

 

CNN reports on the recently-announced invention of self-cleaning nano-coated fabric that's a leap beyond stain-resistant Dockers. The materials scientists at Hong Kong Polytechnic University coated cotton with nanoparticles of titanium dioxide. When subjected to ultraviolet light, the titanium dioxide produces an oxidizing agent that can break down dirt and other organic substances. According to researcher Walid A. Daoud, several companies have already come knocking.

"(The fabric will be useful for) military people, or travelers, people who go hiking, who don't have a lot of water and time to wash their clothes," he said. "This is a very good idea because then if the clothes get dirty, the dirt can be decomposed by the fabric itself. So after a few days in the sunshine, or even indoor light, the dirt will disappear."

As both BioED Onlineand CNN point out, the technology was prophesized in the 1951 film The Man in the White Suitstarring Alec Guinness. Link[Boing Boing]

 

Orrin Hatch's Draconian Induce Act -- which would criminalize iPodson the grounds that shipping a high-capacity personal stereo practically begs the public to use file-sharing services to fill it -- continues to draw fire from all quarters. Between EFF and SaveTheIpod.com, over 30,000 Congresscritter letters have been sent by voters in every state in the Union, asking government to save America from Orrin Hatch and the cartel that has put him up to this insanity. Click below to send your own letter: Link
[Boing Boing]

 

I just subscribed to the new blog by Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun.  Based on his initial entries, I expect it to be an interesting and insightful blog.

The Extreme Tech crazy casemod winners are online -- including this case with an integrated hamster cage that has hosted a live rodent for years now. Link(via Wonderland)
[Boing Boing]

 

Okaaaay.  Some things just SHOULDN'T be combined.

Yuri Kageyama writes a glowing review of Sony's new ebook reader, which uses a new kind of display technology that rivals paper. I agree with Kageyama's assessment about the display technology. I played with a Librie when I was in Tokyo last month. The screen is remarkable. The display uses little balls that are painted black and white, containing the same pigments found in laser printer toner cartridges for black, and used in sunblock and paint for white. Once you turn on the display and a page of text or graphics appear, it doesn't need refreshing. The only time the batteries get used is when you load a new page. (The technologywas developed by a U.S. company, E-Ink.) I did notice that sometimes you could see the ghost of the previous page, especially on model I tried that had a comic book loaded on it. I wonder if that's a general problem, or if the one I played with was a dud?

I didn't think Kageyama wasn't harsh enough about the hideous proprietary locked format the Librie uses for books. He wrote, "I'm not wild about buying books that self-destruct after 60 days." This self-destruct feature is sickening. Who would buy a Librie with this deadly defect built in? (Sony is making a similar mistake with its music players.) I hope somebody with a sensible DRM policy starts using these great display screens. Link

[Boing Boing]

 

Ever wonder where software bloat originates?  Here's a good peek at the source.  Quoted from a Rick Brewster's weblog regarding his spiffy new program, Paint.NET

Transparent toolforms. The name “toolform“ may or may not be standard GUI nomenclature, but it works pretty well and people 'grok' what we mean when we mention that. I will discuss why these are transparent in a future post. Note that they actually transition to opaque when the mouse is over them. It's very cool in action, although it does add a few MHz to the system requirements. Definitely something I'm fine with in an era when even my mom has a 2.8 GHz Pentium sitting on her desktop. It's actually one of those win-win things where not only does it look very cool, but it provides utility increasing functionality to the program (more on that later though, like I said).

No offense to Rick, as the program is lovely.  But this seems to be the pervasive attitude among developers.  My mom may have a 2.8Ghz pentium desktop, but my employer certainly hasn't sprung for a 2.8Ghz laptop yet.  Until companies move away from a 3-5 year asset lifecycle and start buying us new machines each year (yeah, right ... and monkeys might fly out of my butt), this disconnect will likely remain ... much to the detriment of business users ... especially road warriors. 

As it is, my employer-issued 700Mhz Thinkpad (about 3 yrs old) keeps my desk from blowing away while I travel with my 1Ghz TC1000 TabletPC (about 1 1/2 yrs old).  I'll try the "even Rick's mom has a 2.8Ghz Pentium" argument on my wife (to see if she'll let me buy a new Tablet), but I doubt it will work.

---

Addendum:  Nope, it didn't work.  She laughed in my face (as expected).

• Jack M. Balkin: The Election and the Constitution. In the past three years, the Bush Administration has reinterpreted the Presidency, and hence the constitutional system of checks and balances, in the image of an all-powerful Commander-in-Chief. In its most extreme form, it produces the logic of the OLC torture memo, which asserts that Congress may not interfere in any way with the President-as-Commander-in-Chief, and that all laws and international obligations that might interfere with his decisions as Commander-in-Chief must be construed not to apply to him. This view of Presidential Caesarism (for that is what it is), is accompanied by an obsessive concern for secrecy and avoiding all forms of transparency and accountability.

[Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

 

In Gizmodo's continuing quest to bring full equality to the sexes, let me direct your attention to the 'P-Mate,' a urination device for women that allows the ladies to experience the singular biological advantage that men have over women -- the ability to pee standing up. Essentially a disposable funnel that cups around the vagina, like a little genitalia shoe, the P-Mate directs the waste stream into anywhere you might fancy urine to go. Say, a men's urinal, a filthy gas station toilet, or onto one of your by-the-hour clients. Then simply toss the "fully recyclable" unit into the appropriate garbage bin and be on your way. But remember, as P-Company, the makers of P-Mate, recommend: practice makes perfect. I would add a bit of sage gadget advice that we men have adhered to for millennia, or at least since the 1980s: whatever you do, don't cross the streams. (Thanks, Chris!)
Read[P-Mate]
[Gizmodo]

 

All women secretly just want to be able to write their names in the snow! Well, now they can.

Companies like Apex Digital are some of my favorites to watch. Stuck for years as a huge retail producers but second-rate players in the electronics market, these companies start to do interesting things when they make their move toward legitimacy. Apex's first major move, the ApeXtreme home gaming console, is destined for failure -- with the possible exception of a healthy adoption by the PVR tweaking scene. But hold the Apex-branded phone! Here comes a Portable Media Player, the Apex MP-2000, a $400 device with a 20GB hard drive and 3.5-inch 320 by 260 screen that can play MPEG-4, DivX, Motion JPEG, and Windows Media 9 video. Plus it can encode video on the fly at VGA quality -- up to 40 hours in MPEG-4 and 80 hours in WMV9. Plus, for better or for worse, the unit can be upgraded to support future DRM schemes, meaning that any future media format should be playable. Apex might just pull something off after all.

As far as we know, these are the first pictures on the web of the Apex MP-2000, and since sharing is caring, we've provided a high-resolution version, as well (click the picture).
Read[eHomeUpgrade]
[Gizmodo]

I'm keeping my eye on this exciting space.  I think these personal media devices will supercede the now trendy disk-based music players (like iPod).  Since I received a portable DVD player for father's day (my wife and kids rock!), I may hold off on buying such a music player in hopes that the personal media device niche will advance just a bit more.

SPI News Alert: Sprint To Go EV-DO

In a bit of a surpriseturn of events, Sprint has chosed to implement a 1xEV-DO 3G data network. Similar to Verizon's network, it will run at speeds of 300-500 kilobits and a peak burst rate of 2.4 megabits.

Sprint expects to have inital service in select markets this quarter, with most major metropolitan markets getting service in 2005. Plans, pricing and applications have not been determined.

1xEV-DO is fully backwards compatible with Sprint's current 1xRTT (PCS Vision) data network, and can be used whenever EV-DO service is not available.

Sprint does indicate that their plans to implement 1xEV-DV, the faster more advanced cousin to EV-DO have not been cancelled, but rather delayed. Sprint says that they plan to invest more than $1,000,000,000 to complete both EV-DO and "a subsequent, more advanced release of CDMA technology that is expected to be available... in 2006".

 

I continue to be pleased with my decision to stick with Sprint. 

Cory points toFast Company's bizarre demand that anyone who wants to link to its site need to send a faxand ask permission. Oops...
[Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

This is, of course, completely absurd.  If I want to link to a public web site (be it Fast Company or anyone else), I believe I'll bloody well do that.  If they don't like it, they shouldn't be on the web.  Let the "cease and desist" letters fly.

• LA Times: Administration Tries to Rein In Scientists. The Bush administration has ordered that government scientists must be approved by a senior political appointee before they can participate in meetings convened by the World Health Organization, the leading international health and science agency.

Shabby stuff. But par for this crowd's course...
[Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

 

 

A student has invented a device for hand-free, no-attention "perfect pint" pouring that will empty a can of lager into a pint sleeve without your having to take your eyes off the football. Link    [Boing Boing]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From www.howtoons.net ...

Howtoons are one-page cartoons showing 5-to-15 year-old kids "How To" build things. Each illustrated episode is a stand-alone fun adventure accessible to all, including the pre-literate. Our Howtoons are designed to encourage children to be active participants in discovering the world through Play-that-Matters -- fun, creative, and inventive -- and to rely a lot less on mass-consumable entertainment.

Play-that-matters.  I love it!  This one definitely makes my bookmark list.

Brandon and I looked through the site today.  He was totally jazzed about it.  The only problem is deciding what to build first.

Ice cream tycoons Ben and Jerry gave Penn State $600,000 to develop a refrigerator that uses sound waves instead of freon to keep food cool. The mad-scientist outsider-art design is excellent.  Link

[Boing Boing]

 

www.witte-family.net is now on the new hosting provider (www.1and1.com).  The process of setting up the new provider and transferring the domain wasn't too bad.  Tranferring the content was a minor pain in the butt, but overall it was worth it.

The new provider gives me 1GB of space for the same $9.95 I was paying MyHosting for 50MB (1&1 had a $4.95 "Home" package with 500MB, but I went for the "Business" package for $9.95).  Control panel tools are pretty sweet, too.  I'm fighting the temptation to switch e-mail from POP3 to hosted Exchange.  If they had a better deal than $6.95/mailbox, I wouldn't be able to resist.

All-in-all, I'm happy with the service so far and the pricing can't be beat.