It seems that more and more we have to deal with an ever growing amount of digital information. It is increasingly difficult to manage things like pictures, bookmarks, notes, and other digital tidbits. Evernote provides a clever way to organize it all. The system is composed of a main application that runs on a computer and supporting plugins and apps that run on mobile devices. For example, lets say that you come to a website on your computer that you want to remember. Yes, it can be bookmarked, but often it is difficult to search through the default bookmark systems in most browsers. Continue reading “A novel tool to remember things”
Read about architecture and new design ideas
I often visit the Contemporist blog to discover new design products and stay updated with innovative construction projects around the world. The blog is tailored mainly for architects and interior designers, but also has interesting articles for anyone interested in good design. The site covers categories like furniture design, interiors, lighting, and mostly architecture related topics.
The next frontier, wireless electricity
Imagine sitting in a room and the mobile phone in your pocket is automatically charging. Furthermore, the TV, digital picture frame, and lamps around you have no electrical cable. This is the world WiTricity is trying to realize. They are conducting research to allow for the distribution of electricity using magnetic fields. The technology is thoroughly explained in their website. There is also a wide range of immediate uses for the technology. Aside for powering electric devices in a home, the technology can be used to replace single use batteries, power medical devices, automatically recharge electric cars, and even power robotic devices. In this day and age almost everything is without wires, wireless electricity seems to be the next frontier.
Stream from iTunes to your home audio system
BridgeCo is working to make AirPlay enabled devices by this holiday season. AirPlay allows users to stream music throughout compatible audio equipment in a wired or wireless network. Equipment like audio receivers, speakers, and others will have this built-in functionality. Users will be able to select from iTunes and AirPlay compatible devices where they wish to stream the music to. Audio equipment manufacturers like JBL, Denon, Marantz, B&W, and iHome have already signed up. For example, you will be able to stream the same song to an iHome device in the bedroom, a Denon receiver in the family room, and a JBL speaker system in the terrace. Denon might be one of the first to make the technology available on their AVR-4311CI home theater receiver. Furthermore, audio control is possible using the iPhone and iPod touch Remote application available on the Apple app store.
Build your own car
Have you ever wanted to build your own car? It can be a very expensive enterprise. A new venture called Local Motors is doing just that. They are an American car company that is using a method similar to open source to design and build cars locally. Customers form part of a design and build team. The design process is open to customers globally. Participants vote for the most desired features and car characteristics. The best designs are built in local micro-factories and only a limited amount of cars are produced. Customers can actually participate in the build process. They currently have about five models and many more to come.
Stream Netflix on the iPhone and iPad
The popular video rental website Neflix recently announced the availability of their application for the iPhone and iPod touch. The application was previously available for only the iPad. In the case of the iPad and iPhone, streaming is available through 3G as well as Wi-Fi. Netflix subscribers can now stream any title directly from their instant queue. It is also possible to add new titles to your movie queue. The application also keeps track of the titles watched and remembers where you left off. In other words, you could start watching an episode of 24, stop halfway, and continue watching it where you left off in your home TV or computer.
The application is the latest addition to the multiple ways to watch Neflix. Streaming is available from a Sony PS3, a Nintendo Wii, and Microsoft’s XBox 360. It is also available from Roku’s video player as well as from many of the latest TVs which use widgets. A Netflix subscription starts at $8.99 per month.
Filtering spam and viruses
The amount of e-mail spam traffic worldwide has been increasing exponentially every year. There are number of tools to filter some of this unwanted e-mail traffic. The tools are mainly split between protection at the actual mail server and protection at the computer level. Several companies like Symantec, TrendMicro, and others provide protection at the computer level. Other services like Postini and Brightmail filter mail before it even gets to the mail server. Postini was acquired by Google some time ago and Brightmail by Symantec. Protection is very affordable starting at about $1 per mailbox per month for basic protection on Postini.
The best protection is achieved by a dual approach. That is, using a service that filters mail before it gets to the server and a secondary level at the computer. I have seen mail traffic for a domain of which over 90% of it is unwanted spam and viruses. By using services like Postini and Brightmail, all of this mail is filtered before it even gets to the domain’s mail server. This saves a considerable amount of bandwidth and other system resources.
Best Selections from YouTube
Browsing through videos at YouTube can be overwhelming. There are millions of postings and you cannot always go by number of views or even by user recommendations. The “Top Rated” list is a good way to go by, but there are a series of other websites that actually compile lists of best picks. One of my favorites is the “Best of YouTube“. It can be viewed online or via podcast. If using an AppleTV or an alternate video player, it can be added to the podcast favorite list. The team at Best of YouTube frequently scours through the countless new submittals and selects notable videos.
An eclectic combination of product finds
Not too long ago I came across Werd.com through a friend’s Linkedin posting. The site continually compiles a list of, as they say, “Unique Finds for Men”. The products are organized by categories like Tech, Gear, Wear, Rides, and many others. They can also be sorted by price. This is a great place to have your friends ask you “where’d you get that?”. The authors are located in the design hub of southern California and call themselves “testosterone-fueled personal shoppers”. Of course, my favorite category is TECH.
Keep your bookmarks organized
I used to use a bookmark management site called Backflip since the late 90’s. After the Internet bubble burst some years ago, the offering was discontinued. Presently, there are several other great services that can store all your bookmarks and make them accessible form different devices and computers.
Google has a comparable service as part of their plethora of web applications. The bookmarks are easily accessible if using Firefox and the Google Toolbar.
Delicious happens to be one of the most popular “social” bookmarking sites. Delicious makes it easy to share your bookmarks and also lear what other people are bookmarking.
If you use a Mac and an iPhone, Apple’s .Me service keeps bookmarks synchronized between devices. These include any MacOS computer, iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad. Synchronizing is automatic. In other words, you will be able to access that great website your friend recommended in your home computer after bookmarking it on your iPhone.