A very cool implementation of collecting various RSS and data feeds, from commercial and/or private web sites onto your mobile phone. This is truly an innovative approach to a problem of presenting and consolidating data feeds on a mobile phone.The concept reminds me of AvantGo that was popular on the PalmOS platform many years ago.
FogSHIELD Smokes Crooks Out
This idea is great and ingenious, but what if the occupants are in the home or business. They will not be able to see either, they will be trapped where they are not able to call for help or escape from the premise.
Blue Sky squeezes GPS onto a SIM
Blue Sky has developed a technology to allow one to add GPS capability to a mobile phone without buying a new phone. I had always believe in location based application. I even lead a team while employed by Arthur Andersen to come up with location based solutions for a client way back in 2000.I think if Blue Sky’s technology takes off we will have a whole new set of applications for the mobile phone in the coming years. I for one wish Blue Sky great success.
Sony’s LittleBigPlanet
Today (March 7th EST) Sony™ unveiled their new game, LittleBigPlanet.
You really have to see for yourself to understand why this is an incredible break through in digital game design.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI5JmcQv3n4]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOpc9Z6pKSg]
Dissolving dress
A dress made out of materials invented by a British designer and chemist, which slowly melts as the person wears it. It brings new meaning to the phase, “you must have here home by midnight”.
I think we should all be more aware of the environmental affects of the activities from our daily lives. Our society has grown to be a disposable one, especially for the non-develop nations.I can imagine great practical use for this new material, especially for the less environmentally aware consumers. But using it to make a dress is a bit too artsy.
Harry Potter Sequels Continues
Finally the highly anticipated last book of the Harry Potter series has a publishing date, July 21, 2007, 01:00 BST worldwide (English speaking countries). It also has a final name, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.
I guess I will have to begin Book #5: “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” again for the 5th time, then start and finish Book#6, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” in the next few months.
Especially when the motion picture “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” will be released July 13, 2007 worldwide.
Potential Lost
According the to an analysis by a reporter at Washington Post over 77.8% or 284 days in 2006 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) users on the Microsoft Windows OS platform was vulnerable to malware and exploits, which were designed to steal personal data off users’ computers.
In comparison FireFox browser was only vulnerable for 9 days in 2006 or 2.5% of the time.
Microsoft claims that IE7 is much more secure but when it released in November 2007, exploits and malwares were immediately available.
SANS Institute has a chart that list all currently unpatched Microsoft vulnerabilities.
So, if you want to be secure, move away from using Microsoft products. At least until Microsoft gets their act together.
BTW: this is not news as security vulnerabilities had existed in various Microsoft products for many years. The difference is that most technical people, who are not blindly sold by Microsoft marketing, had realized this for years.
A New Year a New Start
This is the first post of 2007. I will promise to be more regular with my entries to my blogs. Both here and my Vox.com site.
If you are someone who love to share their thoughts, photos, videos and books they’ve read then Vox.com, in my opinion, is the best site to do just that.
Today is also the start of the Hong Kong partial band on smoking on public places. Being a non-smoker, I had been waiting for this day for quite some time. Hard to believe that before this day, there are still offices in Hong Kong where smokers would freely light up without any considerations for their non-smoking colleagues.
Unfortunately, this “partial” band of the HK government leaves many loopholes for arguments. Like anything else they do since the Turnover, for some unknown reason the people in the government that make decisions frequently come up with ideas and implementations that even the average person would not find to be common sense.
As you may have notice, I say that is is a “partial” band imposed by the Hong Kong Tobacco Control Office, Department of Health. This latest law allows nightclubs, bars, mahjong parlors, bathhouses and massage establishments until July 1, 2009 to comply with the law. Plus, this law also have provisions for establishments and groups to apply for exemption areas.
Although this law comes with a maximum penalty of HKD5,000.00 (USD643.27) fine we all know that the ones who will be confronted with these violators are the average law biding citizens and the ones who will openly violate the law are not people that you and I should confront.
This is very similar to the existing “No Smoking” laws in elevators (lifts). Over past 7 years I had been stuck in elevators with chimney puffing smokers, and is always the Mong Kok Tirade types, with tattoos and dyed hair, which I would not confront.
So will this citywide “partial” band on smoking help the general health of the average HK residences? Only time will tell.
Apple orders 12 million iPhones!
Yet another report on the highly anticipated Apple iPhone. Should we be that excited? Yes, I do agree that when Apple does something, they always do it all the way and the right way. Especially when this the product will be Apple’s first convergence product.
Now Gates buys Four Seasons
Will this be another way for Billy to impose Microsoft technology on an industry that has yet to embrace technology with full open arms?
I sure hope not. As Four Seasons is one of the more prestigious hotel chains in the world, and gaining the status of the largest hotel (as of 2006) in Hong Kong when it opened its doors in 2006 with 1000 hotel rooms.
May be Gates is hoping to use the rooms of the Four Seasons chain as experimental grounds for Microsoft’s next attempt to enter the “future” homes.