John's Technology Blog

Driverless cars still one more hurdle to clear: clueless cops

Police pull over and stop Google driverless car in Washington, D.C.

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/07/police-stop-google-driverless-car-in-washington-d-c.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+marginalrevolution%2Ffeed+%28Marginal+Revolution%29

 

Make your own Jumbotron from old PCs or cell phones

Thanks Media Lab.

 

Junkyard Jumbotron from chris csik on Vimeo.

Great infographic example - How to visualize creatively

Kudos to the folks at Nielsen for the refreshing lead infographic on their recent study "Who is Winning the U.S. Smartphone Battle?"

The width of each column indicates OS share, descending from left to right, the color of each block indicates the phone's maker in descending share order, top to bottom.  Sure beats having multiple pie charts.  Nicely done.

App Inventor - This could be huge

Today Google released App Inventor for Android a tool to facilitate the creation of apps for this growing platform.

While I can't vouch for the power or usability of the tool, strategically is makes sense and serves to help us consumers differentiate between the Apple's iOS and Android platforms.  Given Apple's direction of ridiculously tight command and control over any and every app, Google's approach of open-source tools and choice stands as a breadth of fresh air.

REAL ESTATE: which Real Estate apps would you like to see built?

The future of mapping - Bing Maps at TED 2010

Microsoft's Bing is poised to overtake Google Maps in creative uses of the mapping user interface.

The implications for real estate are endless. Imagine going from city map to street map, to bird's eye view to street view -- and then walking into a photosynth-powered virtual tour of the interior of a listing. 

Very Real Estate 2.0.

Watch Blaise Aguera y Arcas do his demo:

Following rules only take you so far...

Enjoy Barry Schwartz reminding us to go beyond rules and be wise. Thanks TED.com

How to run a social change campaign

Here is an example of how to organize a crowd around an issue.  The old sign-the-petition campaign comes to twitter and is helped by this simple yet very appealing site: Outlook’s broken—Let’s fix it.  The background is reminiscent of the display Apple used at this year's WWDC to show the success of the iPhone App Store.  (watch the video to get the full effect).   Sure makes visitors feel as though they are part of a larger movement.

Myst - makes it on to the iPhone

If the name Myst (or Riven) doesn't ring a bell, skip this note.  Otherwise you will be interested in knowing that the Myst, that great adventure game originally released in 1993 is now available for the iPhone.  Yes, the iPhone.  The game is a 700MB download from the App Store, but it works.  Sure, Myst is no longer cutting edge, but the thought that such a "world" fits on my palm still blows my mind.  The playing guide alone was 20X the volume and weight of the iPhone.
Myst - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

UltraCapacitors - first products arrive

Here is the first commercially available consumer product I see that uses ultra capacitor technology.  This electric screwdriver charges fully in 90 seconds.  Not 90 minutes - seconds.  500,000 power cycles, well beyond the life of the equipment.  This technology will change many things.  User reviews say it will run for 30 minutes.

Coleman Flashcell Cordless Screwdriver - 90 Second Recharge - Using a SuperCapacitor.

Can't wait for notebooks, PDAs and cell phones to be powered by these capacitors.

CNN's The Moment - Photosynth

First CNN brought us the virtual reporter at election night (cheesy), and now we get The Moment. The plan is to have users email pictures to a special email address (themoment@cnn.com) and they will create a Photosynth collage.  I am not sure how the cell network in DC will handle this, but the idea is a good one.

Has any other large public event been recorded with Photosynth?