Online magnetic poetry. Hey, let's all write magnetic poetry, take screenshots, upload them, and post the URLs in the comments. Best screenshot posted by midnight tomorrow wins something. How about a copy of Joe Clark's Building Accessible Websites? I have 3. (103 words) [dive into mark]
7:41:25 PM
From Slashdot: This CRN article states that Microsoft is about to buy Connectix and enter the server consolidation market. Connectix makes virtual machines products that compete with those of VMware. Quote: 'The technology will be integrated into the Windows code, sources said.' Will Microsoft be able to pull this one off? Will their virtual machines run operating systems other than Microsoft's?"
Another great Mac company bites the dust. First Microsoft buys Bungie so that Halo comes out on XBox not the Mac, and now this. Apple can't afford to have all their best developers bought out. They're the true source of innovation on the platform.
7:23:07 PM
Sterling Hughes: "Google is not a horrible monster, but it is also not an entity to be worshipped. It is a for-profit company that develops a quality product, and it isn't yet evil. That's a big accomplishment." [via scripting news]
7:05:17 PM
Carnegie Mellon Receives $8 million from GM to Continue Developing New Smart Car Technologies
PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University will receive $8 million over the next five years from General Motors to continue smart car research that will revolutionize the way vehicles and drivers interact. This research aims to make the vehicle of the future more aware of driver needs and preferences, road and weather conditions, and other external information available over the Internet. The vehicle will then automatically modify its own behavior accordingly.
One of the many projects under way in the General Motors Collaboration Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon is a "gesture interface," the ability to point or wave to control a car's electronic system.
I want to send a personal message to 7 friends. I could include them all in the to: field but then they'd feel like it was a mass mailing (which it is, but it's still personal and important, so no need to cheapen the experience).
I could put everyone in the bcc: but then it wouldn't be addressed to them individually.
I want a way to say "send this email individually to each of these 7 people."
I've been wanting to use Radio's Outliner to do all my authoring for years, but until it has a built in spell checking I'm just left out in the cold. :(
1:14:38 PM
Wow. This is a personal record. I am now subscribed to 115 RSS newsfeeds. I remember studies in 1996 at Forrester that found that people on average routinely only visit 7 bookmarks -- George Colony parlayed that into his killer clicks theory. RSS subscriptions are much more than just automated bookmarks that take the pain and hassle out of browsing for relevant content. They also allow me to quickly repurpose the content as content on my weblog -- all I have to do is hit the post button next to any item I want to comment on. RSS can also be a fantastic delivery system for large content via enclosures. One important point to remember is that unlike bookmarks, RSS subscriptions don't atrophy -- they live until they are actively deleted. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
I think John Robb nails it. I'm only at 74 news feeds, but I agree having an RSS news aggregator has changed the way I use the web.
This is the first good photo I've seen of this phone, so I decided to post about it now as opposed to when I saw it yesterday. The keypad is odd as hell. Okay. So is the Nokia 3650. What's with these Symbian guys that they can't leave the freakin' keypad alone!?!? ;-) But other that that it's a GREAT phone!
It looked "clunky" in the first pics we saw yesterday according to Jim, but the fact is that it's a lot lighter than I thought at first - only 110g. That's 20g lighter than the 3650 and 50g lighter than the 7650/P800. And it's physically smaller with a lot of features. This thing could have some wings! Though I haven't been impressed so far with the Siemens phones I've seen, with the Series 60 UI, maybe they can't screw the menu up as bad as I've seen (like on the M50, ugh, what a horrible menu!).
Rafe has all the details and a great analysis, but here's what I like about it. Small, great battery, camera included, tri-band/GPRS, Bluetooth, built-in FM radio, MMC memory card support (YES!), 65k color screen (wow), USB (interesting).
I may be in love with this phone. Or maybe the better word is lust since even the name says "Sex One". My loyalties aren't so easily swayed from Nokia, but still, this is a kick-ass device. All the stuff I want in the 3650, but smaller, with stereo sound and a better screen and slightly better OS. Yeah baby! And I thought my wait was almost over with the 3650! The SX1 is supposed to launch sometime in the first half of the year, and you all know how these dates go, so it'll be out in late Summer probably.
Russel Beattie has a great analysis of the strategies and competitive tactics Microsoft and Intel are using to squeeze into the SmartPhone market against well established players like Nokia and Erickson.
There's a strong case to be made that Microsoft is doing an end-run around the manufacturers by going right to the gate-keepers themselves: The carriers. They and the handset makers have always had a sort of tense relationship. Along comes the devil and promises everything you can promise if you're Microsoft (marketing, Windows integration, maybe higher margins, etc.) and even if the telecoms are somewhat wary at first, they can't resist the $40 Billion Borg forever, can they?
ATTENTION ALL GROWNUPS "Your 'inner child' has long been waiting for a chance to usurp control of your body and force it to perform certain actions. The time is now at hand. Read and follow the instructions below." [MetaFilter via The Shifted Librarian]
