Locator Beacons

In reading this NYT article about Mountain Locator Beacons making a difference on Mt. Hood, the question nags: Why aren't Personal Locator Beacons getting more mainstream press right now? For $500 retail, people like James Kim, Kelly James, and Jim Grey might have survived. (OK, so Jim's not necessarily dead... we all hope he's whooping it up in Mexico somewhere)

I don't own one myself yet, but since we're starting to do more adventurous travel, I'm thinking about buying one and keeping it in our SUV... just in case.

(As a side note, I am sure conspiracy theorists are trying to figure out why 3 prominent "James" variants have perished lately. I wonder if the popularity of the name as a baby name is crashing...)

Two Random Recommendations

Quite possibly one of the funniest videos to come out of SNL since the last "Falconer" episode: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1852107168

On a non-related note, I read a book called "Not A Box" the other day. It's advertised as a kids' book, but it should resonate with anyone who's had an insanely great vision for their business that goes beyond the surface view.

Google TV is a reality

Everyone knows about the Google TV hoax. But Google is, indeed, getting into television.

Software Engineer, Television Technology - Mountain View
Multiple positions available in Mountain View, CA.
Television remains the single most important source of information and entertainment for billions of people around the world. We are hiring Software Engineers to bring Google technology to this vital medium worldwide. Requirements include:

• Experience designing, developing, and deploying either applications for high-volume consumer devices (mobile, TV, or games) or distributed server systems that support millions of clients.
• Experience with emerging TV standards such as DVB, MHP, OCAP and DOCSIS would be an advantage, as would direct experience deploying applications with cable or telecommunications partners across the world.
• Knowledge of the end-to-end television broadcast, cable, satellite, or IPTV infrastructure would be useful, as would experience of TV set-top box operating systems and middleware solutions.
• Experience with user interface development for content-rich applications and digital video technology in embedded systems a plus.

This all makes sense when you realize Google already owns three of the major time-wasters in the world: Blogger, YouTube, and Google.com.

Be a Mind-Sticker

All advertising, even business-to-business advertising, preys on four basic principles:

1. Fear of losing (desire to win).
2. Fear of not being rich (desire to be rich)
3. Fear of not being attractive to your gender of choice (desire to be attractive).
4. Fear of the world falling apart (desire to make the world a better place).

On that note, the efffect of advertising on people's body images has been in the news a lot lately. But it's nothing new. Check out this Tab ad if you don't believe me.

More happy?

Although the execution of this Pepsi ad is a little menacing as opposed to "fun", it tries to give the same "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" warm fuzzies. The world would be a lot better if we'd launch beach balls instead of bombs.

As for the second ad in the series... I have to admit, I've had days like this in San Francisco. But I'm not sure "More happy" is how I'd describe the experience.

Four Days, No Internet

Just got back from four days up in a cabin in the Sierras. No TV, no internet - just me, my family, and lots of snow. I highly recommend such an experience for any "plugged in" person.

Oh, no! We broke the Earth! (snif)

You know that feeling you get when you break your favorite toy and you just know there's probably no way it will ever be the same again?

The world's leading climate scientists said today in a UN Report that global warming has begun, is over 90% likely caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, no matter how much humans control their pollution. Our global temperature could increase as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100....with more droughts, floods, and hurricanes on the way, and many popular sites completely covered by water.

Guilt, guilt, guilt. My Audi S4 will be a lot less fun to drive home today...

Waiting for Dino...

Pleo is being delayed again.

• Its eyes are being redone to look as realistic and life-like as possible.
• The skin is being refined. Features that are currently painted on will be replaced with sculpted details that will give the impression of muscle tissue under the skin.
• The number of sounds Pleo can make is being expanded.
• The speaker is upgraded to make Pleo's voice much more realistic.
• A chin sensor is being added so scratching Pleo under the chin gets a fun, playful reaction.

As a product manager, I have to wonder... Is he an insane perfectionist or just on a quest to create more buzz? There comes a time when you just have to let version 1.0 out the door.

Welcome Pleo!

Well, we're only two days away from the official Pleo pre-sale.

I've been following this one for quite some time, although originally I (like others) thought Pleo would be a bit less...demanding.

Pleo is a one-week old infant Camarasaurus from the Jurassic period. He has an amazing set of features and astounding mobility -- not quite Asimo, but he doesn't come with a huge price tag, either. Pleo eventually exhibits a unique personality. Or, as the Wired magazine article says:

Be nice to it and it will become mellow and friendly; mistreat it and you will evolve a bitter, annoyed robot.

I don't think it'll do that well in the United States. Americans generally don't want to have to take care of (what essentially is) an expensive toy and have it turn out all messed up if they don't. They should make 2 versions - one that learns (expensive memory card) and one that doesn't.

Still, as an original ERS-110 Aibo owner, I've gotta have one.

Now if only I could plug my iPod into it, and if it could answer my iPhone...

The End of File Folders?

I'm testing a new product from Koral -- "content management for the rest of us". Basically, it's a very simple (to use) system designed to compete with Sharepoint, Documentum, and other document management systems.

One of the most interesting things about it is that it doesn't support a file folder structure (although it will allow for the importation of a company controlled vocabulary in the paid version).

Instead, it operates on the principle of an assisted folksonomy -- it suggests tags and allows users to tag their documents manually, and also includes a search function. Their theory is that, although everyone has the best of intentions in setting up folders, it just makes things cumbersome. People always resort to just using the 'search' function.

I do always use Google desktop to find things and my desktop is a terrible mess, but I wonder if more organized people will rebel against this enforced chaos (you can't create folders, only separate workspaces)

Anyway, try it out. It's pretty nifty. It'd be niftier with Inxight's autotagging, though (shameless plug!)