"It's yet another in a long series of diversions in an attempt to avoid responsibility." - Chris Knight
Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
1 In 7 Have Been Dumped By A Text Message Or E-Mail
December 14th, 2007 by iDunzo
“I Dont Wanna Go Out W/U N E Mor.” If you haven’t seen a text message like this yet, you may soon.
According to a new survey, roughly one in seven say they’ve been dumped by a boyfriend or girlfriend via text message or e-mail. I guess Kevin Federline isn’t alone.
Here is a look at the survey:
“Most of us send emails and texts everyday, so it comes as no surprise they are now being used to ditch someone — however distasteful this is,” said Rob Barnes from moneysupermarket.com, which carried out the survey.
“The results show one per cent of the population would use a social networking site to dump a partner. It would be interesting to see how this changes as sites such as Facebook and MySpace become more apparent in our everyday lives.”
The survey included 2,194 people in the United Kingdom between the ages of 18-24.
A more surprising finding, though, was that almost 25% of those surveyed have used the traditional pen and paper “Dear John” or “Dear Jane” letter to call it quits.
This is just another sign of how pervasive text messaging is in the lives of younger people.
What do you think? Have you used a text message or e-mail to break up with someone? Or, worse, have you been dumped this way?
Posted in Instant Messaging + Technology + Wireless | 1 Comment »
Google Takes Mobile Fight To Microsoft’s Doorstep
December 13th, 2007 by iDunzo
Google’s latest mobile software offering takes aim at the heart of Microsoft Exchange.
Google has made it possible to sync your Gmail, applications, your own domains, and now your Google calendar with your BlackBerry’s on-board calendar application. No pricey Exchange servers and licenses required.
Recently I’ve started using Google’s calendar application to schedule meetings.
Even though Google made the calendar available to smartphones via mobile browsers, it was a little awkward to use and you couldn’t sync it with your mobile device.
Well, now you can. Google has added calender syncing to its list of mobile capabilities.
You can now sync appointments, meetings, and events from your Google calendar to the calendar application on your BlackBerry smartphone.
Excuse me for a second while I say, “Woo-hoo!”
All interested users need do is install a calendar update patch from BlackBerry and go to Google’s mobile services page.
Google will walk you through the steps and before long, Bingo! You’re all set to sync your calendar wirelessly to your BlackBerry.
Does Microsoft already offer this functionality to BlackBerrys? Yes, it sure does but at a price.
Not only do you have to buy the servers (which start at $700 and jump to $4,000 very quickly), but you have to license the software to each user, starting at $67 a pop.
Google offers all this for free, gratis, nada, zip, zilch, nothing.
Google has really stepped up the pace of innovations of late. Microsoft, are you paying attention?
Posted in Google + Software + Technology + Wireless | Comments Off on Google Takes Mobile Fight To Microsoft’s Doorstep
Wireless USB Displays to Debut in 2008
December 12th, 2007 by iDunzo
DisplayLink and Alereon have announced a wireless USB display adapter.
The dongle will packetize the video signal and transmit it through the ether, whereupon it will be reassembled into a picture which “looks to a user exactly like a wired display”.
The adapter supports 32-bit color and “real-time video playback” at resolutions up to 1680 x1050.
At first, the inevitable skepticism set in. Why bother with a cable free display when you have to plug it into a power source anyway? The press release shut me up.
Planned applications include “USB-connected monitors, video-capable USB laptop docking stations, Skype video phones, picture frames”.
The adapter will be on show at next year’s CES, and should be available soon, at $150-$250 for the transmitter/receiver set.
Posted in Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Wireless | Comments Off on Wireless USB Displays to Debut in 2008
Tips For Avoiding Air Travel Delays
December 11th, 2007 by iDunzo
Without questions, air travel delays are out of control. Because there is no denying the need for safety, we must explore other solutions for a problem that will only get worse during the holidays.
First and foremost, DO NOT BLAME THE MESSENGER FOR THE MESSAGE.
What this means is that the airport staff and airline attendants can not change the situation that you’re in.
Trust me, airline attendants, of all people, don’t want to have to be at work any longer than required.
Forget the stories you’ve heard of free upgrades, free flights, free stays in a four star hotel.
Sure it might happen but don’t expect that as soon as your flight is delayed or canceled, the airline will beg your ultimate forgiveness by showering you with consolation prizes.
So, please don’t berate, assault, castigate, rebuke, or otherwise attempt to belittle the gate attendant.
Instead, here are a few tips and resources from around the web that can help ease the pain of modern day air travel, often by preemptively avoiding the situation altogether.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Technology + Travel | 2 Comments »
Laughing Gas Dulls the Pain of a Savage Dentist
December 11th, 2007 by iDunzo
December 11, 1844: Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, is used as a dental anesthetic for the first time.
English chemist Joseph Priestley, discoverer of oxygen, first synthesized nitrous oxide in 1775. Priestley, however, was content with having “discovered an air five or six times as good as common air.”
He did not experiment with inhalation, however, so did nothing toward developing its practical and recreational uses.
Nitrous oxide, along with chloroform and ether, became popular anesthetics. While not sufficiently effective as general anesthetics for the modern operating theater, all were effective enough to become popular in dentistry. Of the three, nitrous oxide is still widely used.
Nitrous oxide is also used as an aerosol-spray propellant, especially in whipped-cream canisters and cooking sprays. Its solubility in fatty compounds allows for up to four times as much whipped cream to be produced as the liquid contained in the can.
Owing to its nontoxicity and relatively easy storage, nitrous oxide is also a popular oxidizer for rocket motors and is used in car racing to boost power.
Outside the commercial world, nitrous oxide is best known for its recreational use as an inhalant for getting high. The resulting euphoria is often accompanied by some pretty loopy behavior, which is where the “laughing gas” moniker comes from.
For every upside there’s a downside, though, and nitrous oxide’s is considerable. It’s a major greenhouse gas and therefore a major contributor to global warming.
Posted in Geekipedia + Technology + Trivia | Comments Off on Laughing Gas Dulls the Pain of a Savage Dentist
JetBlue, Yahoo and RIM Plan FREE In-Flight WiFi
December 7th, 2007 by iDunzo
It seems that JetBlue, Yahoo and Research in Motion plan to offer free, in-flight, WiFi web connections for laptop computers and advanced cell phones. RIM made the announcement yesterday.
The service will apparently allow passengers to access customized Yahoo mail and Yahoo instant messenger services on their laptops or to access corporate e-mails on WiFi enabled BlackBerrys.
According to a spokesperson for RIM the first JetBlue flight offering the service will be on December 11, on Flight 641 from New York to San Francisco.
I hope this proves to be an indicator that RIM is going to start putting WiFi in more and more BlackBerrys – right now the only modern generation Berrys to have it are the BlackBerry 8820, 8320 and 8120.
I think WiFi has now become a smartphone must-have… it should be included on every BlackBerry released from now on.
Too bad I never fly JetBlue. Airlines….are you reading this?
Source: Yahoo News
Posted in Geekery + Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Wireless | Comments Off on JetBlue, Yahoo and RIM Plan FREE In-Flight WiFi