Category Archives: Science & Technology

Gnomedex: Day Two

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Heading out for Day Two of the annual geek-fest. Roger is on his way back to JC. Wish you could have been with us last night when he got his first explanation of Second Life (“They’re not talking about real islands, are they?”). If you’re remotely interested in following Gnomedex, there is no shortage of blog posts and this guy has a nice flickr set. And here’s a good piece on John Edwards’ keynote, which was mostly Q&A. I was skeptical about having a pol speaking but I kind of enjoyed the session.

Bill Gates hanging it up

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Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced today that he will transition from day-to-day responsibilities at the company he co-founded to concentrate on charitable work…but will continue as the company’s chairman after transferring his duties over a two-year period. That has a familiar ring to it.

Impossible not to wonder if Bill doesn’t see some writing on the wall for MS and wants to step down before the company looses it’s place in The Great Digital Scheme of Things. Or, maybe it’s just time to do something different. Why not?

While it’s difficult to imagine a world in which Microsoft isn’t a major player, I can remember watching nuke-laden B-52’s skimming over Kennett on their way to the SAC base at Blytheville, Arkansas. Couldn’t imagine a world without the USSR. Then, one day, it was just gone. Poof. What? You think comparing Microsoft and the fall of the Soviet Union is a stretch? Maybe it’s just the effect of resting my wrists on this Mac Book.

Personally, I’m grateful that Mr. Gates came along and gave us Windows. He made computing easier and more fun for smays. I wish him well.

Where are the transistor radios?

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I’ve come across Zing a couple of times this weekend. I gather this little gizmo is still in prototype but it sounds interesting. For lack of a better word, they’re little radios that have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios built in. The radios are used to download music and to upload data about what you are listening to. If you have one of these players, you can do cool things, like see what your friends are listening to, then play samples of those tracks, or buy songs and albums directly from the player. The first Zing-powered players should ship this year, carrying the Sirius brand.

radioAs I read about this I mentally pictured all the people I see listening to iPods. Which begs a question: Why don’t I see anyone walking around with a transistor (do they call them that?) radio? I mean, there are some really great radio programs…are we only listening to them in the car or at the office? Why? If I’m willing to stand in line at Subway with nano earbuds hanging down my face…why not listen to my local radio station?

After all, what could be easier? No iTunes to futz with and sync. Just drop your little transitor radio in your pocket and go. I’m missing something here, aren’t I?

Gnomedex 6.0

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I am tingly with anticipation of Gnomedex 6.0, a three-day geek-fest in Seattle at the end of June. I’m just a geek wannabe but my money’s good so they let me in. I won’t even try to describe Gnomedex except to say everyone will be talking about all of the things I find interesting/important. The format of this year’s event is a little different but the line-up of “discussion leaders” is A-List all the way. And this year’s trip will be even a little more fun with Learfield COO Roger Gardner along for the ride. I believe they stream the entire conference live and I’ll try to find/post a link as we get closer.

TiVo Guru Guide

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The guys at TiVo have rounded up a bunch of critics, editors and experts to pick as many as 10 of the best programs in their interest areas for each week and update their lists at least once a month. They’re calling it the TiVo Guru Guide. TiVo users who share their interests can elect to have the shows recorded and have a selection ready whenever they sit down. Program pickers will come from Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, H2O (Hip-Hop on Demand),CNet.com and Automobile Magazine. The Guru Guide will be available on the roughly 1.5 million TiVo units owned by direct subscribers to TiVo service. It won’t be available to the 2.9 million who get TiVo via DirecTV. So it’s a cool idea I can’t take advantage of.

I might actually use this (if I could) because I like/trust TiVo. I’d like it even more if I could rate the pickers. For example, they could offer movie picks from 5 different “experts.” Over time, based on their picks, I might narrow that down to just one or two whose opinions most closely match my own. [via Buzz Machine]

Computer Bed

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In January I replaced my 30 year old couch with a home-made window seat/day bed. This is the one I’m tyring to cover with bumper stickers to hide my shitty paint job. Boing Boing points to a much cooler solution. A “computer bed” that starts out as a hinged desk with room for a PC, printer, and so forth. When you’re ready to sleep, the whole desktop swings to the floor and a bed with matress swings down from the wall in its place, converting it to a bed.

Radio stations: Fix your websites

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Most radio station websites are nasty. Sorry, but it’s true. Regular readers already know my thoughts on this, but take time to read a more thoughtful commentary by Brian Maloney in Inside Radio. In a nutshell, Maloney urges radio stations to “fix their websites” before they do anything else. You’ll know radio station managers are getting a clue about new media when their websites are as good as those of their local advertisers.

Station Manager Clue-Check #1: Make a list of your 10 largest (annual billing) advertisers. Go to their websites and print the home page. Now, do the same for your station website. Spread them out on your desk and compare them.

Just like it’s spelled: Oconomowoc

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There are just some Wisconsin-related words that people butcher: Chequamegon forest, Lake Butte des Morts, Lac Courte Oreilles tribe and even Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. So our friend and co-worker, Jackie Johnson, decided she was tired of it and wanted to give newcomers, tourists and even natives a resource to find the correct pronunciation. She recently started the Web site MissPronouncer.com, which features recordings of her pronouncing Wisconsin’s 190 cities, 400 villages and 1,260 towns. She also pronounces names of judges, famous Wisconsin people, like Brett Favre, state officials and legislators. [JSOnline]

My first Mac

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Steve's First Mac

The deed is done. Henry drove us to the Apple store in his space car and we were in and out in 30 minutes with a brand new MacBook Pro. My first time off the PC reservation. It’s still in the box, seal unbroken. I don’t plan to post much about my Adventures in Mac Land. PC users don’t want to hear it… and Mac users have heard it all. How about this? I’ll tell you if I return it.

Hotmail starting to suck

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I moved the link to my email address. It was just under the masthead on the right. I moved it down to the My Stuff area on the sidebar. And I switched from my Hotmail account to my Gmail account. Hotmail just aint getting it any more. More and more sites won’t accept email from Hotmail users because it’s eat up with spam. This has always been my throw-away account and I’m about to throw it away. I’ll keep it for now, just because it’s difficult to get your name (SteveMays@anything.com) anymore. If you want to reach me you can use the Gmail accsount or just post a comment and mark it personal. But know that I won’t be checking the Hotmail account very often.