At last, I have found something really useful in the world of web 2.0
Floorplanner.com makes designing floor and room layouts simple and free. Here is my first plan done purely to see how it works (yes I know how ugly it is - I won’t be taking up interior design any time soon)
There is a nice user interface that takes no time at all to learn. You can also design outdoor areas.
“You can’t coach that”
I read over at MacApper (which quoted the Wall Street Journal) that a neurovascular surgeon had credited his new iPhone with saving a patients life. It seems that the good doctor was able to check the patient’s up to date electronic medical records just prior to the operation and thus was able to change the procedure and subsequently saved the patient’s life. Apparently the records are accessed through the Safari web browser and as “everyone” knows the iPhone comes with this pre-installed. The Blackberry that the doctor previously used does not have this feature.
Now let’s back the truck up here for a moment. A neurovascular surgeon is about to perform potentially life saving/life threatening surgery and only checks the most recent medical records for the patient because his shiny new phone has internet access? Is it just me or does everyone else want their surgeon to have the latest information about their condition prior to the operation, regardless of said surgeon’s choice of mobile gadgets. How hard is it to say “Nurse, the patient’s most recent medical chart please”?
A quote from the WSJ article:
Dr. Singer, who says he performs about 450 surgeries a year, uses his iPhone to access his practice’s electronic medical-records system. Thanks to the iPhone’s browser, he is able to review patients’ X-Rays, angiograms and medical histories while in the operating room. (Click on the video to the left for a demonstration.) He was never able to do this with his BlackBerry, he says; instead, he would review a patient’s file in his office the night before a surgery.
I wonder if a patient dies over night (God forbid) would he still go ahead with the surgery - no of course not, he has his iPhone to tell him not to. *sarcastic sneer*
Let’s get a grip people - it’s a bloody phone!!!
“You can’t coach that”
Edit: This could of course be a piece of satire ala ”Man has thumbs surgically altered to use iPhone”
As a technology junkie I am sick of getting ripped off. The price of living in the best country on Earth appears to be over-priced technology. A case in point is the Sony Playstation 3. Engadget have recently reported on the release of the 80GB hard drive model which will sell in the US for $599. At current exchange rates that is approximately A$700. The 60GB model in Australia retails for A$1,000. A $300 price difference and we don’t even get the larger hard drive. I can understand a price difference based on the fact the Australian market is considerably smaller than the US but this is ridiculous. Apparently if a container has destination Australia on it more zeros get added to the end of the price. The rip off is not restricted to games consoles. Cameras are another product where the price difference seems hard to justify. And don’t get me started on the price of broadband internet access.
Profiteering? Import duties? Someone is making a fortune at my expense.
“You can’t coach that”
When time permits I like to dabble in a bit of 3D modeling and animation. When I saw what is possible with a program like Mudbox and some artistic talent it really blew me away. This video (not my work obviously) is 10 minutes long so you may not want to watch it all but if you can stick it out for 2 or 3 you will get the idea of what is possible. If you do watch until the end you will see the level of detail around the eye is quite amazing. In real time it was an hours work.
Now where did I put that artistic talent? *said while searching under assorted junk on and around desk*
“You can’t coach that”
While many people might consider this old news, I have only learned of Blackle.com today. I received a chain email from a well-meaning colleague about saving energy with the “Black Google”. This sounds good in theory - a black screen doesn’t use as much electricity as a white screen (I probably should link to the research that made this claim but I am feeling a little lazy tonight).
Based on my limited knowledge in this area it would seem that the claims would be true for CRT monitors but not for backlit LCD displays. The backlight is always on but the light is filtered to produce pixels of different colour. Therefore as more and more people use LCD monitors the savings from using a black background are also reduced. Again I am too lazy to link to the research showing that only 25% of people are now using CRTs (seems a little low to me any way).
Another thing that comes to mind regarding Blackle.com is that it is not a google page as was claimed in the email I received today. It is operated by Heap Media group in Australia. I would assume that they are earning revenue from the google searches performed from their blackle search page. Perhaps that is the real motive behind promoting a black background for searches.
“You can’t coach that”
Even though I am Apple’s newest fan, I am very much over reading about the iPhone. This made me laugh though when I saw it on Daring Fireball.
Apparently you need a paper clip to open the sim car slot - so they give you one.
“You can’t coach that”
If you are remotely interested in technology and enjoy watching high definition movies then you probably have at least a passing interest in the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD. Unfortunately for me it will probably be some time before I purchase a player capable of either of these but who would have thought that the Japanese porn industry would have a significant influence in which format comes out on top (no pun intended). Cnet via their Crave website are reporting that the indications are that the Japanese may be favouring Blu-ray as the media of choice for the rude stuff. One would hope that Mr Ochimura will remember to take the disc out of the Playstation 3 before giving it back to the kids.
I read over at Brown Thoughts about DVD Jon (the same guy who cracked CSS protection on DVDs) bypassing the registration/activation process of Apple’s iPhone. Personally I am getting sick of reading about the iPhone, so what is the logical thing to do - write about it myself.
No not really, I don’t know anything about the iPhone - it won’t be available in Australia for some time anyway.
What I do find interesting however is the protected status some products receive. Based on my limited reading it would appear that without this “hack” the iPhone would not operate as a stand alone music player. It seems that the phone has to be activated before the device can be used, even as an iPod (correct me if I am wrong). There will of course be some perfectly legal reason for this buried somewhere in the legislation that attempts to control our digital existence. My question is, should there be?
Within reason, when I buy a product I expect to be able to use that product in any way I see fit. Note that I said within reason. If I can modify a product to make it work better for me I should be able to. I don’t want to reverse engineer it and sell an improved version. I just want it to do the things I want it to. I own a car. If I want to modify that car so that I can take it to my local race track and enter a drifting competition I can. The car wasn’t designed as a race car. It wasn’t intended to be used as a race car but I am not prevented from modifying it to make it one. I can legally make modifications to it as long as I don’t do something illegal once it is modified. Why should modifying an iPhone so that it operates as an iPod prior to activation be frowned upon?
Video game consoles are another product that comes to mind in this debate. Ever since the original PlayStation people have been “modding” these consoles. Of course many have done so to allow for the playing of illegally copied games but there are other legitimate reasons for wanting to modify a console. For example, the original Xbox can be used as a media centre after the installation of a mod chip. There is also the issue of backing up legally purchased games and using the backups so that the original stays in perfect condition (have you seen the way children handle discs?).
This issue is part of a much wider one that encompasses things like DRM applied to music and I don’t propose to say any more - you have been kind to read this far and I don’t want to push the friendship. The anarchist in me smiled with delight when I read the news of the hacking of the most talked about product in the world. Feel free to tell me why I’m wrong.
“You can’t coach that”
As an occasional listener of net radio through Pandora I note with interest the recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington to increase the royalties paid by Internet radio stations. An email I received from the Pandora founder claims that this will force internet radio off the air. The story has been getting a lot of exposure so doesn’t need me to add to it. The story has been dugg and I headed over to read what people were saying about it. One particular comment caught my attention:
This is why I pirate all my music now, I will not give money to the industry.
If I could give money direct to the artist I would, but most don’t have that option.
What a load of bullshit! Don’t make me laugh, pirates pirate music because they don’t want to pay for it - end of story.
If you are in the US and want to have a say you can head on over to savenetradio.org to sign the petition.
I have intentionally not commented on the right or wrong of the increase in the royalties or whether signing the petition will make any difference. If you would like to educate me feel free in the comments.
“You can’t coach that”
There has been much swearing and gnashing of teeth in the locker room that’s serves as the Coach’s study over the last few days. The technology fairy paid a visit and she sprinkled her magic sh#t fairy dust bloody everywhere.
You see I decided that a brand new modem was just what the doctor ordered to take advantage of the full bandwidth my relatively new ADSL2+ connection provides. Since my wireless router is a Netgear WPN 824, which up to this point had been working flawlessly with my ancient D-Link modem (how old was it I hear you ask - well there is a sticker underneath it reading “made in The People’s Republic of Bedrock") I decided to get the Netgear DMP111P modem.
If you are thinking “oh no not Netgear” I don’t want to hear it. Where were you when I was asking everyone with ears what I should buy? If you are thinking that Netgear is a good choice and should work seamlessly with the aforementioned router then read on.
While the set up of the D-Link modem with the router was as simple as plugging it in and changing some IP addresses (not necessary but I like to exert a little control over the technology), the shiny new Netgear modem just didn’t want to play nice. I did everything by the book. I ran the set up program on both the router and the modem. I followed the instructions to the letter. I switched on, turned off, rebooted, sacrificed a virgin, all to appease the gods of modem/router installation. The result? - an internet connection that lasted about three minutes but sometimes a little longer. Just what I was hoping for, an intermittent computer issue, the best kind.
I sometimes think that I am a pretty smart guy. I know a fair bit about these fancy thinking boxes, at least enough enough to get myself into trouble. So I spent the next afternoon determined to solve this problem for myself. Was I successful? - not bloody likely.
So into the world of support forums we go. As it turns out the answer was quite a simple one. The modem should be in bridge mode! Thirty seconds later, modem in bridge mode, connections settings now in the router instead of the modem and we are surfing the wondrous world we call “The Internets”. If only that little gem was contained somewhere in the documentation. Hang on a minute, what documentation. All I got was the CD. Well if you dig down five directory layers on the cd there’s the documentation. Alas, no mention of bridge mode however.
Honest, I did look. I’m not game enough to look again though, just in case I find it.
“You can’t coach that”
Who is the Coach? - Self styled life coach to the masses; part time ballet critic; full time sports critic; nude twister umpire; unemployed still life model; "trust me, I'm on the internet"
A more serious look at who I am can be found on the About page.
