Rule Breaking Technology

With businesses and lawmakers already raising concern about Google Glass, one has to wonder about the future of Glass and similar products.

Video Of The Week: Epic Space Battle

An iconic villain returns in this commercial for the latest Star Trek video game.

Getting Fit With Technology? Not I.

It seems that there has been a trend lately of fitness devices and apps. Are they worth it to you?

Image Of The Week: Social Disruption

Has technology enhanced or disrupted your social interactions?

Why Blog?

Is there a reason to blog anymore?

Friday, April 12, 2013

Virtual Comeback?

When I was still in grade school, I remember wanting to try those fancy virtual reality helmets that looked so promising in the way of immersive virtual experiences. I never got to try them because they were virtually impossible to find unless you were lucky and virtually impossible for an 8 year old to afford. From the sound of things, I wasn't missing out. Those who have tried them reported that there was lag between what you did in the real world and what occurred in the virtual world. The headsets were also huge and bulky.

The Oculus Rift looks to change our perspective on virtual reality by improving on the old and pretty much dead technology. There seems to be virtually no lag, and the device looks much lighter than the VR helmets of the past. However, despite the fact that games are likely going to be made for this, there is no guarantee that your favorite games can or will be ported to accommodate this new technology. I have been told that the SDK makes it highly unlikely that the device will catch on. As of yet, there is no solid support for any games. This could possibly make this device a flop before it even gets a chance to gain some footing in the gaming market.

What do you think? Is the Oculus Rift the future of gaming? Sound off in the comments.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Image Of The Week: Taking Control

Are we controlling technology or is technology controlling us?



Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Damn you, Moffat!

Steven Moffat is known for completely derailing any sense of sanity you once had before watching anything that he produces. He is best known for his work on Doctor Who and Sherlock. His show plots tend to involve transpiring events that make the viewer wonder what just happened. Moffat is likely the master of holding this type of suspense, and just when you think that you know everything, he throws another wrench into the mix that makes you question an entirely new set of circumstances. By the time the reveal happens, it is so out there that you probably never saw it coming even though you’ve had months to think it over.

I, for one, am no longer surprised by this and simply enjoy the ride. I honestly don’t know if those who shake their fist at Moffat are doing so in jest, or are genuinely upset at his storytelling techniques. The fact is that this is what television networks want from producers. They want fans of their shows to be left in the dark so that they will tune in each week. With so much predictability in other shows and movies these days, I find it a welcome escape.

What do you think? Do you love or hate Moffat? Sound off in the comments.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Video Of The Week: Gmail Blue

This April 1st announcement by Google seemed to be overshadowed by the announcement that YouTube would be shutting down.


Monday, April 8, 2013

Is Television Dead?

When I was a kid, I probably watched too much television. It was just the only thing to do when I was growing up. I didn’t have Internet access until I was in Jr. High. It was either watch television, or ride my bike, and television was often more entertaining. However, during my college years, I found myself increasingly becoming disconnected from watching things on an actual television, and I was watching more and more content on my PC.

When I moved out of my parent’s home, I didn’t even bother ordering cable for my apartment. Not only was it not in my budget to do so, but I was plenty entertained by online entertainment offerings. My favorite channel was bought out and the hosts had moved to podcasting and online video. Every other cable channel that I enjoyed seemed to be turning into a rerun network. Not only that, but my college major was communications, and I was increasingly becoming aware of all the manipulation that the media was spewing out through the dated medium.

For myself, television is dead, but in the same way that radio is dead for many. Many still listen to FM and AM radio and the medium is obviously still profitable despite how ancient the technology is. I do not see television ever completely dieing out.

What do you think? Are you a cord cutter? Sound off in the comments?

Friday, April 5, 2013

Experimental Computer

Like many geeks, I own an older computer that I’m not afraid to experiment with. It’s an MSI Wind U100 netbook that originally came loaded with Windows XP. I have since run Ubuntu and now CrunchBang Linux on it. I originally bought the netbook so that I could do my college school work from anywhere without having to worry about carrying around a big clunker of a machine. The U100 had the fullest keyboard of any netbook at the time which appealed to me because I was mostly writing papers.

Over the years, I started to notice that I was not using the netbook as much as I thought that I would. Instead of trying to sell it (How much would I get out of a netbook anyway?), I decided to experiment with different use cases. I decided to upgrade the ram from 1GB to 2GB and loaded Ubuntu Netbook Edition on it. I quickly found out that I wanted a fuller operating system, and installed the regular version of Ubuntu. After the regular version of Ubuntu started to look and behave more and more like the Netbook Edition of Ubuntu, I eventually found myself sifting through different flavors of Linux. I decided to stick with Debian based flavors due to compatibility and familiarity. I even tried Debian itself.

However, I stopped at CrunchBang Linux and never looked back. This operating system is perfect for netbooks and older machines because it’s beautiful, lightweight, but still powerful. It can take some tweaking before you get everything working the way you want it but that’s every flavor of Linux that I’ve encountered.

Now I’m using my netbook as a portable option to write for this blog. Who knows what I’ll be using it for in the future.

It just goes to show that as long as a computer is still functioning, it is never dead. You just have to find the right use case for it.

Do you have an experimental computer laying around? Sound off in the comments.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Speak Now

I recently downloaded the Google app because I had heard about the Voice Search capability. I own a last generation iPod Touch and have not been able to use Siri on it because Apple prevented me from doing so from day one. I could speculate why all I want but it is obvious that the technology would have worked on my device because the Voice feature in the Google app works flawlessly.

I first tested the app by saying “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.” as fast as I could. The Voice Search feature picked up on every word. I then preceded to use it to look up local businesses. I said “restaurants nearby” and it happily displayed every restaurant within 50 miles of my location. What I did not know at the time was that the app talks back to you. I had the sound muted from being in an earlier situation where I didn’t want to be disturbed. After I realized that the app was talking back, I realized that this was the Google equivalent of Siri and that I was finally free to use this technology after Apple had prevented me from doing so for so long. Of course, my child like curiosity kicked in and I started asking questions geared more toward having fun with the app. I asked what my name was, and the responded by saying "Oh, no! Did you forget your name?" and displayed amnesia information. I thanked the app and it responded by saying "You're welcome." and displayed greeting card information.

The app does run into trouble when there are multiple people talking in a room. However, the app doesn’t seem to pick up on conversations in the background to be translated as search results. Instead, it just sort of hangs, listens, and waits for the background conversation to stop before it displays the search terms you provide to it which is a relief. This means that it is safe to use the app around potty mouthed individuals without fear that it will inadvertently search for porn.

The only other issue that I had was when I was trying to search for a word that the app kept mistaking for a number. Apparently, it can’t differentiate between '2' 'to' and 'too' as easily as a human can. Perhaps more context algorithms can be added to the app in the future.

Despite these minor issues, I am impressed. I believe that this is more than a gimmick way to interact with one’s device. We are living in a world of touch screens and voice activated computers that was imagined by Gene Roddenberry not too long ago. This technology can only get better over time.

What do you think? Do you use voice controls? If so, do you like using them? Sound off in the comments.