Wikipedia, Meet Knol
July 28, 2008
Seven months after Google began testing a service called Knol, a Wikipedia competitor, the company on Wednesday finally introduced it.
The search expert Danny Sullivan aptly describes Knol as “Like Wikipedia, With Moderation.” Articles on various topics are penned by individuals, and in many cases, experts — not collectively by the anonymous masses. Knol authors can choose to benefit from the “wisdom of the crowds” by letting others edit or supplement their articles. But those changes make it into Knol entries only with the author’s permission.
Knol, which, by the way, is short for knowledge, is making some people uneasy because it further transforms Google from a search engine that helps people find content into a site that helps people create and publish content.
Wikipedia, Meet Knol – Bits – Technology – New York Times Blog
Receive your boarding pass on your mobile device
July 25, 2008
NEW! As of July 10 you can now receive your Electronic Boarding Pass on your Apple iPhone or iPhone3G when you do a Web Check-In.
Now, when you use Web Check-in online at aircanada.com, you can choose to receive an electronic boarding pass on your cell phone or PDA (personal digital assistant such as Blackberrry or Treo) on select flights*.
It’s easy. The next time you check in online from any computer, you’ll be asked to enter the number of the mobile device where you’d like your boarding pass to be sent. Just enter your mobile number to receive two messages directly on your cell phone or PDA, enabling you to pass through security and board your flight…paper free!
Don’t have access to a computer? You can check-in directly from your mobile device using our mobile check-in service at mobile.aircanada.com. Remember to visit a baggage drop off point prior to security screening if you have any baggage to check.
Still prefer a printed boarding pass? Just select that option when you check in online, or visit an airport kiosk to print a back-up copy of your boarding pass if ever you need one.
Very cool! It looks something like this (censored):
I suppose they would just scan it like any normal barcode.
Telus, Bell to switch cellphone technology: report
July 23, 2008
An iPhone from Bell Canada Inc. or Telus Corp.?
It’s possible as the two cellphone companies are about to announce a shift to network technology that is compatible with Apple Inc.’s hot-selling mobile device, according to reports that have surfaced over the past few days.
The two cellphone companies — Canada’s second- and third-largest providers, respectively, after Rogers Communications Inc. — are poised to announce a conversion from their current wireless technology and toward the more popular kind used by their rival, according to a report Monday from UBS Investment Research.
Both companies have cellphone networks that run on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, which is used by fewer than 20 per cent of the providers in the world, while Rogers uses the near-ubiquitous Global System for Mobile communications (GSM).
Bell and Telus are looking to switch to either Wideband-CDMA (WCDMA) or High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology, both of which are similar to GSM in how they transmit data, UBS said. Over the past few years, Bell and Telus have seen Rogers run away with signing up new customers, who are attracted to flashy GSM phones — including the iPhone — that are not available to CDMA carriers.
Telus, Bell to switch cellphone technology: report.
Rumors about Telus’ shift to GSM has been circulating for a while now, but it got all the more real the other day, when Telus, along with Bell and Rogers, won a huge chunk of the wireless spectrum being auctioned off by the government. So I was talking to a “source” about this a couple months ago, and basically the one of the main reason for the switch is it would allow foreigners with GSM phones to roam on their network – and of course charge them their ridicolous rates. This is something Rogers has been doing for years and has generated a lot of revenue for the company. Telus wants a piece of that action as well, especially in time for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
There is one technical issue though, that most articles fail to mention. Current GSM phones, including the iPhone, won’t be able to run on their network (unlike what CBC would lead you to believe). That is because Telus will employ a different frequency on GSM. Quand-band phones are so last year, here’s to quint-, sex- and sept-band iPhones!
A mail server crash and unexpected fiber-optic line problems are the latest in a long string of hiccups that have soured the launch of Apple’s new MobileMe internet service and recently left some subscribers without email access for as many as five straight days.
Apple’s support forums are rife with complaints from affected users, many of which are just as frustrated with the company’s poor communication over the matter as they are with the service outage itself. Several also doubt an official assessment of the scope of the problem posted to the MobileMe support site, which states that only 1 percent of subscribers have lost access to their email.
“I know at least 10 people with MobileMe and all of them have not had access to MobileMe mail since last Thursday or Friday, including me,” one subscriber told AppleInsider. “Now either it’s just a coincidence that everyone I know is in the 1 percent, or Apple is flat out lying.”
AppleInsider | Server, connectivity problems add to Apple’s MobileMe woes.
Tsk tsk. I briefly mentioned a little problem Apple was having with MobileMe web apps when they launched it last week. That was fine because users, myself included, were able to access email, calendar and contacts through other means (desktop, iPhone, etc). However, this recent issue is something else. Fortunately, I am not included in the “1%” but I know at least one person who is. Five days without email access is unacceptable!! Some use this service for business purposes. At $100/year, you would think Apple would at least have a backup server.
Smaller PCs Cause Worry for Industry
July 20, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The personal computer industry is poised to sell tens of millions of small, energy-efficient Internet-centric devices. Curiously, some of the biggest companies in the business consider this bad news.
In a tale of sales success breeding resentment, computer companies are wary of the new breed of computers because their low price could threaten PC makers’ already thin profit margins.
The new computers, often called netbooks, have scant onboard memory. They use energy-sipping computer chips. They are intended largely for surfing Web sites and checking e-mail. The price is small too, with some selling for as little as $300.
Smaller PCs Cause Worry for Industry – NYTimes.com.
I don’t understand how this is at all bad for Intel (or Microsoft). Intel’s highly anticipated Atom processor, which just started shipping recently, is powering most of these netbooks. Either that, or it’s Celeron chip (a win-win either way). It isn’t surprising that Intel’s stock (INTC) has performed quite well recently. It was one of the few tech stocks not in the red during Friday’s tech selloff and up +7% for the week (hint, hint). Furthermore, most use these netbooks as a second laptop. If anything, it is adding to Intel’s revenue. In the same vain, it allows Microsoft to sell more Windows licenses.
Related: The Mini-Laptop Changing the Game (the more likely scenario).
For eight years, Arnold Kim has been trading gossip, rumor and facts about Apple, the notoriously secretive computer company, on his Web site, MacRumors.com.
Arnold Kim, founder and senior editor of MacRumors.com.
It had been a hobby — albeit a time-consuming one — while Dr. Kim earned his medical degree. He kept at it as he completed his medical training and began diagnosing patients’ kidney problems. Dr. Kim’s Web site now attracts more than 4.4 million people and 40 million page views a month, according to Quantcast, making it one of the most popular technology Web sites.
It is enough to make Dr. Kim hang up his stethoscope. This month he stopped practicing medicine and started blogging full time.
My Son, the Blogger – An M.D. Trades Medicine for Apple Rumors – NYTimes.com.
Hey, it’s arn from MacRumors! I had no idea he was an MD. I just assumed it was his full time job. How the heck did he manage med school and the blog at the same time?! It seems like he’s constantly updating the front page (and he’s always in the forums).
iPhone 3G, the day after (playing with 3G and GPS)
July 19, 2008
The biggest selling point of the new iPhone is its 3G capabilities so I thought I’d run it through its paces to see just how fast it really is. In short, it was well above my expectations!
The left is 3G and the right is my home Wifi connection (you can also tell by the icon next to the carrier’s name).
I had to run some errands in the morning and thought I’d test out the GPS! This is me in the parking lot.
More details after the jump.
Cool iPhone Apps
July 19, 2008
So naturally, I’ve been playing with my new toy throughout the day and have discovered some cool applications from the App Store. Just wanted to share a few:
Twinkle: Twitter + photos + location aware = awesome!
Shazam: You let this application listen to whatever music is playing in the background (in my case, a song in iTunes) and it will identify the song within 12 seconds. Its accuracy is amazing. This would be useful if you wanted to know the name of the song playing on the radio, in a cafe, etc.
iPhone 3G goodness
July 18, 2008
It’s here! It’s here! My iPhone 3G arrived today. I was told it would arrive during the first week of August (which would have been too late), so I was pleasantly surprised to have received this little package today. I chose the white version because it’s less prone to fingerprint smudges, and it’s a little more exclusive (only available in 16GB model). It looks great too!
Without further ado, the white iPhone 3G. Photos taken with the Nikon D80.
3G is much faster than EDGE and approaches Wifi speeds. My 6GB data plan will come in handy.
Black and white. My zebra phone.
Front.
Back.
More gratuitous shots on my Flickr (or after the jump).
Student ‘Twitters’ his way out of Egyptian jail
July 17, 2008
(CNN) — James Karl Buck helped free himself from an Egyptian jail with a one-word blog post from his cell phone.
James Karl Buck sent a message using Twitter which helped get him out of an Egyptian jail.
Buck, a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested April 10.
On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the micro-blogging site Twitter.
The message only had one word. “Arrested.”
Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt — the same ones who had taught him the tool only a week earlier — were alerted that he was being held.
Twitter is a social-networking blog site that allows users to send status updates, or “tweets,” from cell phones, instant messaging services and Facebook in less than 140 characters.
Student ‘Twitters’ his way out of Egyptian jail – CNN.com.
The story is from a couple months ago but I just stumbled onto it today.
Let me know if you use Twitter. I need more Twitter friends in case something like this happens to me in Europe!
Apple Admits MobileMe Snags, Gives Free 30-Day Extension
July 16, 2008
Apple’s MobileMe service hit so many snags during its launch period that Apple have just issued an email apology to members. Saying “The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was a lot rockier than we had hoped,” Apple’s apologizing with a 30-day membership extension for free to anyone who was a .Mac member with an active account as of July 9, 2008 and new MobileMe members who created accounts on or before July 15, 7:00 PM PDT. Details can be found on the Apple support page here. The email also apologizes for the controversy over the speediness of “push” services, and says that Apple’s not using the term until it really is “near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.”
MobileMe: Apple Admits MobileMe Snags, Gives Free 30-Day Extension
This is why Apple customers are so loyal. Apple has consistently shown outstanding customer service and goes out of their to show a little appreciation.
The MobileMe issue was really quite minor so this was a bit unexpected. As for push, it works between iPhone/iPod touch to MobileMe (and back) and MobileMe to Mac/PC (but not back, 15min delay), so proper push implementation would be nice. I didn’t get this email (yet) though!
Would you pay $1 a day to do this on your phone..
July 14, 2008
- Browse the internet anywhere, anytime
- Read the news, check Facebook, chat on MSN
- Send and receive emails instantly
- Check stocks and make trades on the go
- Check the weather report
- Get directions using Google Maps
- Lookup any phone number or address using Google
- Stream music and video
- Update your blog…
Apple Sells One Million iPhone 3Gs in First Weekend
July 14, 2008
Apple Sells One Million iPhone 3Gs in First Weekend
CUPERTINO, California—July 14, 2008—Apple® today announced it sold its one millionth iPhone™ 3G on Sunday, just three days after its launch on Friday, July 11. iPhone 3G is now available in 21 countries—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US—and will go on sale in France on July 17.
“iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”
I wonder how much Rogers sold this weekend.
Can’t Find a Parking Spot? Check Smartphone
July 12, 2008
Can’t Find a Parking Spot? Check Smartphone – NYTimes.com
SAN FRANCISCO — The secret to finding the perfect parking spot in congested cities is usually just a matter of luck. But drivers here will get some help from an innocuous tab of plastic that will soon be glued to the streets.
This fall, San Francisco will test 6,000 of its 24,000 metered parking spaces in the nation’s most ambitious trial of a wireless sensor network that will announce which of the spaces are free at any moment.
Drivers will be alerted to empty parking places either by displays on street signs, or by looking at maps on screens of their smartphones. They may even be able to pay for parking by cellphone, and add to the parking meter from their phones without returning to the car.
iPhone OS 2.0 Unlocked
July 10, 2008
IPhone 2.0 Unlock: iPhone OS 2.0 Unlocked
The new iPhone OS 2.0 software has been unlocked and jailbroken. It was released just hours ago and it has already been cracked by the iPhone Dev Team. The first one took a couple of months, but this one was actually unlocked before Apple released it to the public. And you have had the proof in front of you all morning.
Damn, that was fast. Can’t wait to play around with 2.0!
lyndon. 