Hospital wifi and child birth

Tonight my wife and I went on a hospital tour to prepare for our second child. I was glad to hear the woman leading the tour highlight the fact that the hospital does have wifi. I bring this up because a lot seems to have changed as far as peoples' views regarding technology involved with momentous events in life. Three years ago I was on a hospital tour before the birth of my son. On this tour I asked if the hospital had wifi. I was instantly scorned by everyone else on the tour, except for my wonderful wife. The other people on the tour thought,"How dare you think of even touching a computer at any point during the three to four day hospital stay for child birth!" For some reason this backward thinking group didn't see how technology can help them instantly share this moment with friends and family. So I was relieved that the tour guide highlighted the wifi access and was amazed that this time no one batted an eye. As for me I brought my iPod to test the access at the hospital. This time around I have even more tools like Twitter and Facebook to share this incredible event.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

To twit or not to twit

After taking a week off to celebrate my wife's birthday, I'm pondering the relevance of Twitter. About a month ago I decided to join twitter out of curiosity. Initially I did not see the point or understand the premise of Twitter. After all I reluctantly joined the Facebook cult and have since indoctrinated others to join. Twitter is just one of those things you have to try to understand. My best definition is a social networking, micro-blogging site, that allows you to follow anyone else who is on Twitter including actors, sports figures, musicians, politicians, and companies. At first it feels a little strange having a window into the daily lives of famous people. You find yourself thinking, "Should I really know what this actor had for lunch or that they just used the bathroom?" For the most part the people I follow have pretty witty post and that makes them seem a little more normal. Some tech savvy people I know have even figured out how to link their post to go to all of the social networking sites that they are a part of. In the city where I live, Twitter recently saved the life of a woman contemplating suicide. She posted a tweet to actress Demi Moore about what she was considering. Luckily people were able to intervene and she got the help she needed. So go on give Twitter a try.

As a side note, last week I made a phone call using my iPod through Skype. I just think that is so cool. Geeky, but still cool.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Flying Cars and Wireless Power

Since I was young I always thought it would be cool to have a flying car like on the Jetsons. When I became a long distance commuter, I realized it should be a necessity. Sometimes when I'm stopped in traffic, I imagine pushing a button to take off and fly over the other commuters. So far I've had to settle for the next best thing: driving my Civic hybrid with carpool stickers in the carpool lane as a solo driver. Well it now looks like the dawn of the flying car is finally upon us. Here's a link showing a prototype of a flying car. Check it out.

Flying car now a reality?

The other futuristic invention I'm excited about is wireless power (even though the concept has been around since 1820). I work with a lot of various wireless products in my field. My colleagues and I often joke about having wireless power. This joke stems from clients requesting us to put electronic devices in areas where there is no power and no easy way to have it installed. There are now a number of companies working on real wireless power. The process they use is called induction. Which basically is using magnetic fields. Here's the wiki if you want the scientific explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_induction
Our society is ever increasing the amount of electronic gizmo's that either need to be plugged in to work or plugged in to be recharged. On a daily basis I need to recharge my ipod, blue tooth headset, and two cell phones. Imagine not having to ever plug these devices in. Just set them near the electromagnetic field and they recharge. Or imagine having a blender in the kitchen without a power cord. You just set the blender in the field and it works. Check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwkKkLDhAJ0
Now I just need to figure out how to install conveyor belts into my house and find a place to purchase a robot maid named Rosie.

Control your house from anywhere.

One of the manufacturers (www.crestron.com) that I regulary work with makes equipment that allows you to automate your house. With their equipment you can control all sorts of devices such as your entertainment system, lights, security system, thermostat, and even your hot tub. Their equipment also has the ability to be accessed remotely through the Internet. But the really exciting news is that they recently released an app for the iPhone and iPod touch. So if you have their equipment integrated into your house, you can now monitor and control it from anywhere. Now if you forget to turn off the heater when you go out of town, you can just pull out your phone and turn it off. Or if your kids are at home watching TV instead of doing their homework, you can turn it off while you're at work. I think their equipment is quickly going from a want to a need for me. I don't care who you are, but having something like this is very cool.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Video connector nightmare

Yesterday I sat through a manufacturer training. The bulk of the class dealt with the latest technology and how it will impact the way I design systems. What use to be fairly straight forward for me has now become complex. So I thought I'd take a minute to describe the nightmare of various video connectors we have to now deal with in plain speak. I'll stick to consumer connections and fore go the pro ones for now.
Analog:
F-connector: the connector on the end of the cable coming out of the wall for your cable.
Yellow RCA- composite video: the connector you use to use for your VCR.
S-video aka 4 pin mini din: this is a step up in quality from composite, but the connector always falls out of the device.
Red, green, & blue 3 RCA - component video: this is the connection you should use for older DVD players. The standards and resolutions are too vast to list in this post.
VGA: This is the multi-pin connector on most laptops, computers, and displays.

Digital:
DVI: This is on newer computers and displays. Unfortunately there are 3 versions of this connector and they aren't all compatible.
HDMI: This is what my wife calls the "flat connector". It is found on all new HDTV's and DVD players. This has enough standards to fill a book.
Display Port: Thank you Apple and Dell for adapting yet another connector.

Has this gotten confusing yet? I hope this deciphers the video connector mess.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Plasma vs. LCD

In the line of work that I'm in, I always get asked the question: which is better Plasma or LCD? Both display technologies have their pluses and minuses. Plasma screens typically re-create motion better, cost less, and have a wider off axis viewing angle. The down side is burn in and power consumption. My friend Jon says that "Plasma" means that its alive and any technology that's alive must be worth buying. LCD screens are thinner, weigh less, use less power, and display static images in incredible detail. Some LCD's have trouble with fast motion but the latest models have made great strides in eliminating the problem. For my taste I bought a Sharp Aquos 46" LCD TV. I chose this make and model for a number of reasons and am very happy for my choice. Part of the decision is that I'm pretty confident that in the next year or two Plasma displays will no longer be manufactured. So the question is no longer: Plasma or LCD? it's LCD or OLED? OLED??? - Organic Light Emitting Diode is the latest in display technology. Sony just released their first 40" display using this technology. The display is as thick as three credit cards and only takes one to purchase. It's also organic, so it must be good for you. I've included a link for those interested: www.sonystyle.com/oled . More manufacturers will soon be releasing OLED displays soon and the price will eventually drop to a reasonable price.

Exponential Technology

I saw these videos (posted at left) recently and am amazed at how quickly technology changes. With the rapid change, I'm reminded of a tech joke: that in order to keep up with the latest computers, you must buy a new machine every day. These videos also make me think about the future and the control of information. I believe that whoever controls the information controls the world. So this makes me wonder if in the future wars will be fought without weapons but with computers, and instead of fighting over the various typical reasons, the fight will be over information and who controls it. My final thought is are we on the verge of building machines that are too smart? Good luck on keeping up with the latest technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8