Infinity and Beyond

I don’t know how long this will be up on the NY Times home page, but they’ve got a cool Flash widget which shows how the map changed from 2004, with lots of interesting statistics.

How the Map Changed from 2004

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So Arik Hesseldahl may be a bit late to the party of how sweet gaming on the iPhone is.  But in his BusinessWeek article he talks about how the iPhone/iPod Touch is starting to impact the gaming industry.  He talks positively about his experiences playing a variety of games on Apple’s mobile platform, and how well they compare to the Nintendo’s DS.  Furthermore, Apple has a pre-built online distribution channel for new games in the form of the iTunes store.  Not only can I download a game as soon as it is released, I can download it directly to my device while on the go.  And that allows me to pick from more than 1500 games, with more being released daily.  Sure some of them are simple or crappy, but there’s still a vast catalog of games available.  Also in looking at the numbers, the combination of iPhones and iPod Touch devices being sold each year is starting to rival DS sales.  So while it’s not completely an apples to apples (no pun intended) comparison, Apple is able to reach nearly the same size audience as Nintendo. 

It’s unlikely that Apple would be able to unseat Nintendo or Sony purely on the gaming front.  But they’re definitely making an impact with their sales and distribution method, which should spurn the other two into continuing to release new innovative products.

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It’s election time.  And this year brings even greater numbers of electronic voting machines.  While hanging chads will slowly become a thing of the past, digital voting boxes aren’t without their own set of problems and critics.  

From the article:

• 55% of American voters will cast ballots via optical-scan systems
• 33% will use electronic touch screens

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Given that I made the post about mailing STD e-cards to those you’ve had fun with, Google is now displaying localized STD testing ad links in my right-column ad space.  I wonder if that will generate a higher click-through ratio.  I also wonder what their eCPM is and my earnings for clicks on those links.  Are the STD clinics rollin out the big bucks for online ad spend?  We’ll find out!

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Today Microsoft released an early test version of Windows 7 to developers and gave the most in-depth demonstration of the new operating system.  About 4.6 people around the world, who still use their Zune’s, actually cared.

OK, to be fair, on Wall Street quite a few people cared, sending Microsoft’s stock up about 4%, outpacing all the major indices.  But that was for, oh, about 45 minutes.  Now, the stock is back in trend with everyone else.  And it appears that Wall Street, much like those of you probably reading, have already stopped caring.  

Graph of MSFT on 10/28/2008

In case you’re one of those people who have eagerly been awaiting what wondrous possibilities could await you after Vista–or more likely are one of those folks who have decided to pass on Vista all together–you’ll be able to get your hands on a retail copy “by January 2010″.  That’s only a little more than a year away!  Of course, given Microsoft’s track record with releases, I’m saying November  2011 at the earliest.  Taking a historical look, Vista was birthed in May 2001, with an expected ship date of 2003.  In August 2004 the product still hadn’t shipped and the Windows XP code base was thrown out and Vista was rebuilt on top of Windows Server 2003.  Vista didn’t actually ship to retail shelves however until January 30th, 2007.  

So lets guess that MS started coding for Windows 7 as soon as Vista was released (Wikipedia says the first build was released in January 2008).  If they manage to cut the dev time in half for their new OS, we could in fact see a 2010 release.  If they go par for the course, we’re looking at late 2012 or 2013.  I’ll give them a little credit and stick with my November 2011 target.

But who cares when it comes out…just know that it’s on the way!  With such features as a new Microsoft Paint app, now featuring the familiar Office Ribbon!  Tripple w00t!  Now we’re cookin’ with gas–check out the hot new color pallet! (admittedly my favorite part of Excel 2007 is the much-improved default color pallet…)

Windows 7 Paint

And no more do you have to go into a menu to get to the zoom!  Just slide away in the lower-right and zoom to all the pixelated glory you can!  And Paint would be worthless without something to showcase your creation in, right?  Well step on up Windows 7 Wordpad!  Now with Ribbon!

Windows 7 Wordpad

I’m already saving up my $350 for the Super Premium Ultimate Edition–I wouldn’t want to miss out.  But I’ll be disappointed since Bill G. probably won’t sign the box.  But maybe I can get a cool Halo 5 Master Cheif Replica Helmet if I buy the right version.  

But that’s all fun and games.  What about the real meat and potatos of the OS.  Well to that we have plenty of screenshots over at Neowin.net.  Here’s my favorite:

Neowin: Windows 7 Desktop featuring Jump lists

Wowie Zowie!  No they didn’t!  Ohh yes they did!  You can right click an item in the task bar and…BAM! a contextual menu with your book marks.  OhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHH SNAP!  And is that a transparent frame I see around the window, letting me see my Internet TV widget through the min/max/close buttons?  OhhhhHHHHHH SNAP!!!  

And forget Expose or any of that crap that Apple offers.  Why press a single button and see all your open windows from all your open applications conveniently at one time, when you can meticulously hover over each taskbar representation of a program, wait a few seconds, and finally be presented thumbnails of the page? DUH!  Clearly a brilliant design feature!

WSJ: Hover over windows preview

Damn!  Hot shit!  Just like the woman featured in the screenshot above, this feature is sure to be a real maverick when it comes to changing the game in the OS battles.  Take THAT you fat cats at One Infinite Loop!

Man ohh man am I excited!  I just hope that Nvidia comes out with some new GPUs so when I build my next-next-next Windows box I’ll be able to enjoy all these hot eye candy features (I damn well hope so because their stock is a heaping pile of crap right now, and not fit to be recycled in the spiffy new Windows 7 translucent recycle bin of the future).  Niiiicccceeeeee!

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Short post ’cause it’s late and dinner is ready.  Jason D. is in Cali this week but if he wasn’t I know for sure he’d be posting about the fact that Google released Google Earth today for the iPhone.  I just downloaded it so I’ll give first impressions later.  Pull up the App Store and enjoy!

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FYI:

Analog transmissions of all TV stations in New York City will be turned off for two minutes beginning at 5:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, Ion Media, which organized the test, announced Tuesday. The test is aimed at educating the public about the planned switchover to digital TV on February 17. In a statement, Ion Chairman and CEO Brandon Burgess said, “By addressing viewers’ concerns early through these tests and our ongoing education campaign, we are ensuring that no viewer will be left behind.”

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Good time at a party last moth?  Perhaps it was a great time even?  And perhaps now you’ve got some…residual issues?  And perhaps you’re embarrassed and don’t want to call up and say, “Um, so hey!  I may have left you drunk on the couch that night, but my syphilis may still be with you!”  So what are you to do?

Thank you The Internets for coming to the rescue once again!  This is one of those great things like inmate greeting cards which really lets The Internets shine (or the Google news bar for all the zany articles!).  Instead of making that awkward phone call, just send them an anonymous STD email.  inSpot.org is a site dedicated to allowing you to do just that.  They’ve got rather plain to rather spicy versions of the messages.  I’m not really sure what the best approach is–sending the sterile doctor’s office version or the half-naked man in a towel…but hey you’ve got options!

Further empowering the receiver, if you’re in one of a number of cities supported by the site you can be linked directly to information on where and how to get tested.  Apparently some health clinics would do the calling for you, but this online method not only allows the sender to still remain anonymous, but frees up health workers to be doing other things.

Of course, if everyone outside of real America would just practice abstinence until marriage, which works, clearly, the world wouldn’t need a tool such as this.  But until that day, just know there are resources out there to help!

Here’s my great idea: the anonymous Twitter STD stream–make a new account, add all your hookups, then tweet about your infected meat.

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joost

Joost, the CBS-backed alternative to the hugely successful NBC/News Corp. backed Hulu has relaunched today. Joost is relaunching with 46,000 “professionally produced videos” which means it is already leaps and bounds beyond TheWB.com. The site even has some content that crosses the aisle, with ‘Friends’ and ‘The Daily Show’. The second coming of Joost comes a day after CBS and YouTubeannounced a deal which CBS and Showtime programs would be made available on the site. I’ve only been a member for a few short minutes but already I’ve noticed some clear differences. While it is more clearly organized than TheWb.com it clearly lacks the plain and simple categories and organization that makes Hulu so easy to navigate. I’ll have to take a closer look later but it looks promising. There is an interactive element that seems to be more prevalent than found on Hulu but bottom line for online video sites is content. Whose got the best shows to watch and the widest variety of movies? Right now, it’s still Hulu. Not that there isn’t competition from ABC.com, TheWB.com, joost.com and, IMDB.com which has the unique ability to take content from several sources to accumulate it’s library. Lastly, it looks like joost has a wide selection of music videos. I’ll report more later and get some screen shots up.

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