For those who keep asking for the link to the Android platform “augmented reality” app, here is the video and related article.
Apple is going to be hating the competition once everyone has these as an open platform… too bad they are 2 years ahead of everyone else 
Many people (including my family) are always asking whats the point of Twitter, Friend Feed, BrightKite, social media and all the other cool new stuff out there. As I have said before I have a grasp on these issues, but communicating to nonbelievers sometimes proves difficult. The good news today is that there is serious money behind web 2.0, blogging 2.0, mashups, etc. Some choice quotes via Twitter today:
Social media and web 2.0 is possibly recession proof (article 1)
Furthermore, James Cooper in his Business Week column points that the Services sector continues to add new jobs while the overall employment rate continue to recede.
All of this is a 4.6 billion market. That’s billion with a capital B. (article 2)
A new study by Forrester forecasts that Enterprise 2.0 solutions to capture an astonishing market share of 4.6 billion by 2013 and Social Networks related technologies are expected to take the lion share of these investments, accounting for approximately $2 billion.
In short, it’s a NEW field here. Enterprise 2.0 they are calling it but its really just another cross-discipline segment of the workforce. Looking around at all the big players in the consulting areas I see nobody, not IBM, Accenture, etc. doing anything specifically in this space. I postulate that the reason for this is a lack of talent in this space. It’s like the computer revolution, almost nobody knows how it works and has experience in this. This will eventually change of course, but in the meantime its time for us to make some loot. Your blogging hobby which you are starting to monetize, your deep interest in social media, your experience building and designing messaging tools are all worth a lot of money right now. This value will decrease over time so lets do something cool today!
@boblozano have another BBQ
Lets begin this exercise in hilarity by covering this little gem of a tagline:
Encryption Chip Will End Piracy, Says Atari Founder
The problem here is that another attempt at draconian DRM enforcement (at the hardware level) is totally worthless. While this might stop a casual pirate, the same people who are currently successfully pirating media will continue to do, regardless of security efforts. The time-rich and cash-poor will always find a way to bypass TPM, DRM and whatever is the current fad in copy-protection. I’m sure some Brazillan kids in a favella already have this particular hardware issue figured out. After all, people don’t need to break the encryption (hard), just find a weakness in the system to exploit (easy).
The DRM failure world tour – “uncrackable” systems that have been bypassed:
The thing about TPM chips is that you give up all rights and lose control of the hardware that you purchased. An example to drive this point home is that it’s exactly like buying a new BMW, only if you decide to get service at the local shop instead of the dealership the car will turn around and drive you home. Not only does this mean you don’t really own your technology but someone else is making your choices for you. Cory Doctorow’s fantastic new book Little Brother covers some of these issues (read it, it’s free).
This draconian type of security is really a problem since 95% of the general public does not understand the consequences of losing ownership in their technology. Unfortunely that means that same public will blindly go along with the DRM people and end up shocked when they can no longer use the data they purchased.
via ShackNews
Hate to see this thing pop out of a heating vent and have a laser sight aimed at your head.
I just watched a short clip from the one of the creative people behind the super low power XO laptop. The thing only uses 2 watts, has replaceable parts, and can be powered via solar panels or a hand crank. It also has no toxic components, costs $100, and has a color LCD screen you can read in full sunlight.
http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2FScribeMedia%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F688495&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf
What an amazing device, this is really the future of electronics.
People are trying to make a buck off of green. Green is actually cheaper. Green isn’t about (sigh) buying more stuff.
via Scribe Media
The URA / FILOART developed device promises to the citizens of a more reliable protection against security measures of the state (and other Überwachenden). IR.ASC bietet die Sicherheit vor der Sicherheit und weist somit auf die Asymmetrie der Kräfte zwischen dem Überwachenden und dem Individuum hin. IR.ASC offers the safety and security has therefore to the asymmetry of power between the individual and Überwachenden.
Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications — all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities.
This Slashdot article really got me thinking. 1.4 Terabytes for $2,000. Then you can start adding drives at will to increase your storage without incurring any penalties.
Get a CoolerMaster Stacker enclosure like this one (just the hardware not the software) that can hold up to 12 SATA drives. Install OpenSolaris and create ZFS pools with RAID-Z for redundancy. Export some pools with Samba for use as a NAS. Export some pools with iSCSI for use as a SAN. Run it over Gigabit Ethernet. Fast, secure, reliable, easy to administer, and cheap. Usable from Windows, Mac, and Linux. As a bonus ZFS let’s me create daily or hourly snapshots at almost no cost in disk space or time.
From Wikipedia
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is an HD-DVD decryption key that was leaked on April 30, 2007. The source of the leak is unclear. It is of interest to cryptographic researchers, as it can be used to play a protected HD-DVD movie in Linux, bypassing the normal DRM. The key will also allow for programs analagous to DeCSS for DVDs.
In a cease and desist order from the Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator addressed to Google Inc, the letter humorously included the code in question. [1]
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