The Technical Initiative

Just too cool – Aaron’s Adding Machines – pseudo-Victorian

Hien — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:04:51 +0000

If calculators existed back then, I bet they’d look something like these… I don’t know how much they’d cost since each one looks unique and custom, but I think eventually, I’ve gotta have one… check out the site and I think my favorites are the ones with the knife-switches on them!

Aaron Adding Machine

Sharpie liquid pencil! huh? brilliant!

Hien — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:51:58 +0000

Sharpie, maker of all things permanent, has created a liquid pencil! WTF? Yes, you can write with it, erase it, and best of all, it can set permanently in 24-72 hours (it says 72 hours but also says 24 on the back of the package?). I used to LOVE to sketch and draw (actually still do, just don’t have time) and always wondered the best way to both sketch, edit, erase, etc. but keep my final drawing… If only they had invented it back then maybe my drawings of Wolverine fighting the Hulk would have stayed forever… sigh

Sharpie

Dell Streak – probably too little too late

Hien — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:19:39 +0000

I really wanted to like the Dell Streak – 5″ of Android/Wi-fi/HSDPA/HSUPA/Gorilla Glass, but WTF, Dell? So it’s still not out and when it does ship, it’ll ship with Android 1.6 (though they say a Froyo OTA will be out “later this year”) and for $299 on AT&T? So this is going for more than an iPhone4 or a Samsung Galaxy S (on contract)? Not to mention it has to sit on AT&T’s network… It’s a shame because I think this really could have been a slick little device, but with Evo 4Gs/iPhone4s/GalaxySs all out with ~4″ screens, is there room for a 5″ brother? I’m thinking that might be a bit too close and people will want something at least 7″ (Cisco Cius?) or 10″ (iPad) to fill the gap to their desktop/laptop. I definitely could still use one (as a gadget hoarder [whore?]), but wouldn’t go out of my way. The lack of T-mobile support ain’t helping either. Best of luck, though… I think they really could have had something a few months ago…

Chemically – what caffeine does to your body

Hien — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:31:55 +0000

Thought this was one of the better reads in awhile from Lifehacker – a brief synopsis of an older book called Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine (which might be picked up soon!). They actually discuss the chemical changes that occur causing the feelings of ups and downs related to caffeine ingestion and subsequent withdrawal. If you have the time, definitely check it out!

Lifehacker.com

Cisco goes Android/Tablets

Hien — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:16:30 +0000

Cisco Live (aka Networkers) is going on now in Vegas and among all the other technical training and insights going on, Cisco has announced the Cius and the Home Energy Controller, a pair of Android-based tablets.

The Cius is undeniably cool as a portable HD videoconferencing device with other abilities to access cloud-based apps, but I gotta wonder what niche this will fill especially when it does come out. I think I heard it was rumored to come out in 2011Q1 so we might have a ton more interesting things to look at when that rolls around. I think it is cool enough to make some CxO/execs want it just “because”.

The HEC looks a lot more practical than the Cius and uses Zigbee and presumably 802.11 wireless to control and report on your home and its energy utilization. Priced (or subsidized) correctly, this could be an interesting and arguably the “sexiest” way to monitor your utilities.

Sprint Overdrive – Houston coverage/review

Hien — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:59:45 +0000

By now, most of you know (or have heard of) the Sprint Overdrive. A small shiny black box about the size of a deck of cards is all you need to get up to 5 devices online via wifi backhauled to Sprint’s Wimax 4G network. So how good is the coverage in Houston?

Short answer: Pretty damn good.

I was pleasantly surprised that the 4G coverage in Houston covered the majority of the areas that I traveled to throughout my working week. Please see the approximate locations and speeds via speedtest.net below:

Downtown Houston – window, 4th floor, Travis @ Elgin – 4G 1.06meg down / 0.98 up

North Houston – Data Center ??? 2nd floor, 45/Rankin – 4G 3.12 down / 0.88 up

Galleria area – (W Alabama/Weslayan) – 2nd floor, by window – 4g 4.19 down / 0.30 up

North Houston – Training room 1st floor, 45/Rankin – 4G 4.35 down / 0.83 up

North Houston – Cubicles 1st floor 45/Rankin – 4G 5.68 down / 0.63 up

North Houston – 45/8 bad reception, still 4G, 1.1 down / 0.04 up? possibly mistake, all nodes showed this upload speed

West Houston – I-10/6 – 2nd floor near windows – 4G – 4.33 down / 0.71 up

Those are some pretty healthy speeds I’d say! Now, please note there was an unexplainable dead spot near Memorial and 610W that just absolutely killed 4G and 3G, but besides that, the Overdrive was extremely useful and literally saved my ass in some instances! It was sweet to be able to plop down a small unit to get open internet access (as opposed to some corporate guest access that was invariably filtered/webesensed, etc.). The only “glitch” I had was I had to do a “remove battery” to fix a lockup after changing the 4G/3G preferences from within the Overdrive’s config pages. Barring that, it was a great tool to get access wherever I happened to be.

So if it was that good, why am I returning it within Sprint’s 30 day window? Simply because the HTC Evo 4G is here, and it will do everything the Overdrive does, plus act as a phone, browser, etc, all on Sprint’s 4G network. There’s a review coming!

I’m no pro photog, but damn I wanna learn – and these will do…

Hien — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:31:03 +0000

Sony officially released info on its new compact dSLR-wannabe cameras (no, not micro four thirds, because Sony is Sony) but damn, they’re pretty damn hot…the thinnest body to date of a camera with dSLR speed. Yes, it’s missing an optical viewfinder, but the LCD on this is pretty impressive with multiple viewing angles/positions.

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at photography and I think I have a decent eye for shots but since I’m no pro, I’m using a nice (at least I think it is!) Fuji superzoom which does the job, but even a fast point-n-shoot is no match for the truly instant (and repeatable) snapshotting that an SLR or dSLR can do… I want!

Check out the better pictures on Engadget’s hands on, and of course the official Sony press release below.

Sony

F.lux – get your circadian rhythm on

Hien — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:03:22 +0000

Some recent and not so recent studies (maybe sparked by anti-iPad propaganda?) are recommending not staring at a laptop/iPad/PSP late at night saying the proximity of the light-emitting screen are throwing off your circadian rhythm and not allowing your body to produce the melatonin it needs for a restful sleep. These studies argue that TVs are somewhat better (since they’re typically further away from you) and that ebook readers like the Kindle/K2/Nook/etc. are even better. Of course, there’s the old-school paper book O_O. I’m not sure if i’m the best candidate for this (rarely get through an entire night uninterrupted anyway) but it sounds fairly reasonable to me.

If you must work (or “work”) on your computer late, it might be worth looking into F.lux – a brilliantly simple program that uses your location (it guesses, but you can give it exact coordinates) to adjust your LCD to appear “warmer” at night so it won’t burn out your eyes. It seems like a really good idea and if you’re just browsing/reading late on your lappy/netbook/etc. and not doing any color-sensitive work, it might just be the thing you’re looking for to allow your body to wind down.

F.Lux

Swype – pretty freakin’ sweet

Hien — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:34:52 +0000

Swype – the alternate input method to make touchscreen keyboards just THAT much better is getting more popular now and being bundled with some new phones. I’ve just recently had a chance to mess with it, and I tell ya, it’s pretty sweet!

For those that aren’t familiar with it, instead of hunting and pecking and trusting the predictive text, you basically just swipe your finger across the keyboard from letter to letter, and the Swype keyboard can predict pretty accurately what you’re trying to type based on the letters that you change direction on. Check out the site for more info. If you have a WinMo phone and want to try it out – don’t worry that it’s not included in your ROM! The fine folks at xda-developers might have a working cab for you. It’s working great on my HTC TouchPro2 and I’m starting to use the built-in keyboard less and less…. which means I could be happy with an HD2 =)

Swype

XDA-developers

Fixed!! Spread the word! Keep those PS3 “phats” OFF!

Hien — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:24:48 +0000

Jeez, get the word out please! Apparently there are some PSN issues that are causing the PS3 phats to lose data, etc. Again, this doesn’t affect the PS3 slim versions. If you’re like me, keep your launch Ps3 60gig (yeah that’s right, HW PS2 compatibility) off until further notice!

PSN Blog

Updated: Looks like it was a version of a Y2K10 bug! The PS3 phats were treating 2010 as a leap year and the date change pushed down from the network didn’t jive with its internal calendar or something…. regardless, it’s fixed!