Hearty congratulations go out to Friend of the Phisch™ Jon Gales, who is featured in the November issue of Business 2.0! (The issue in question is for November 2004, just getting to subscribers, and hitting news stands soon.)
My favorite n3rdling is all grown up. Kudos to Jon for putting his nose to the grindstone, making his mark on the ‘Net, and living his dream job!
Tag: tech
Dan rightly points out how wicked cool it would be to own a laptop bag made from parts of a parachute that has been in orbit around the Earth. Space junkies and NASA groupies will understand; all others need not apply.
Too bad I am so dirt poor right now due to unemployment. What are the odds of scoring one of these for a review, do you think?
Anyone out there with a black Brain Bag willing to trade for a sapphire (blue) Brain Bag? Mine is in like-new condition, was originally sent to me as a review item, and hasn’t been used in more than two years (mostly because I’ve been using other bags for review purposes).
I love the Brain Bag, but would like one in basic black, and cannot afford to buy a new one. If you’re interested in a trade, please e-mail me, and hopefully you’re savvy enough to know what to do with that e-mail address.
No, that’s not a typo. Richard “I-have-more-money-than-I-know-what-to-do-with” Branson is going to cater to his peers with the new Virgin Galactic, slated to rocket spaceward in 2007. As Dan says, the future is now. Well, almost now, at any rate.
I have some Gmail invitations to give away. All of my friends and online acquaintances already have accounts. It seems that Gmail4Troops has a surplus of invitations to give out.
So, here’s your chance to get in the club. These are the criteria, and you can leave them in the comments:
1. You must be a current Newton MessagePad or eMate owner. Not a former owner, not a wanna-be owner. It doesn’t matter which model Newton you own.
2. State your Newton’s model number, and provide a link to a picture of the device. A picture of your personal Newton, not a generic photo of your particular model. It can even be a crappy mobile phone shot.
3. Let us know if you still use your Newton every day, or is it more of a novelty you tinker with from time to time (like my 2100).
Obviously, there is a certain amount of trust involved on my end, and a lot of honesty involved on your end. Don’t be a lame faker. The first six (6) respondents get a Gmail account.
Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
(With a wave of the flipper to Lawson.)
Could this Berkeley project be coming to a future-soldier project near you? (Wouldn’t that just tick the lefties at Berkeley off…)
DataDots are reducing auto theft in Australia, but have yet to make it in to the U.S. other than on Nissan headlamps.
I have an Onkyo SE-U55 USB Digital Audio Processor hooked up to my Power Mac G4 Cube. This allows me to run all Cube audio through my Aiwa shelf stereo system (which happens to reside on my desk instead of a shelf).
My wife and I have been wanting to get some speakers for use on the patio and by the pool, preferably wireless. We picked up a pair at The Sharper Image, and the set includes a 900 MHz transmitter. The transmitter plugs in to the headphone jack on the front of the Onkyo. This allows us to hear the audio on the Aiwa’s speakers as well. So, for the pool party this Saturday, we will have iTunes playing the party mix on the Cube, and getting tunes out by the pool, without having to have the beloved iPod within drenching distance.
(Yes, I know this could have been accomplished via Airport Express, but I would still have to have the speakers for outside, and in this instance, the transmitter was included.)
But we’re not done yet…
Now we have Salling Clicker installed on the Cube, and synced with my Sony Ericsson T616 via Bluetooth. I can now control iTunes remotely with my phone, so long as I’m within thirty feet of the Bluetooth adapter hanging off the back of my Cube. The study, where said Cube is located, is in the back corner of the house, just outside of which is the patio and pool.
Now I’m thinking of other possibilities. My clock radio has a crappy cassette deck built in to it, but I could put one of the speakers next to my nightstand. A cron job could start playing iTunes in the morning at the appointd time. And before you can say, “No snooze bar,” don’t forget about the phone! Just hit the appropriate control key for “Pause.”
This is how technology is supposed to work: enriching our lives, making it easier to accomplish a goal or dream, no matter how simple–or simple-minded–those might be.
The bulk of Paul Graham’s essay Great Hackers is about dealing with and cultivating great hackers in the corporate environment. I found this very insightful as well:
I think what a lot of VCs are looking for, at least unconsciously, is the next Microsoft. And of course if Microsoft is your model, you shouldn’t be looking for companies that hope to win by writing great software. But VCs are mistaken to look for the next Microsoft, because no startup can be the next Microsoft unless some other company is prepared to bend over at just the right moment and be the next IBM.
It’s a mistake to use Microsoft as a model, because their whole culture derives from that one lucky break. Microsoft is a bad data point. If you throw them out, you find that good products do tend to win in the market. What VCs should be looking for is the next Apple, or the next Google.
I think Bill Gates knows this. What worries him about Google is not the power of their brand, but the fact that they have better hackers.
(With a wave of the flipper to Michael.)