Thursday, March 29, 2007

YouTube & VIDEOS on a Cell Phone soon?

So I was talkin to my buddy Billy during my drive home today - and he was talking about releasing his latest version of a web-based video viewing app. I saw the previous version - and thought it was well on its way. What we came up with during the conversation was that with WiMax coming to many cities by 2008, this could enable wifi enabled devices to view more and more videos - on smaller devices. Is there a website that is easily viewable and easy to navigate - to watch videos? With personalized channels like technology, sports, funny clips, etc?

Monday, March 26, 2007

E85 - not much of a change


This chart shows an estimate. A possible 9 stations in the state of Georgia?!? I dont think thats a real solution. Biodiesel is a much better solution than E85. Rob, can you speed it up!?! But I think moving towards electricity is an even better idea. DAVID FREEDMAN: If at the end of the day all we do is switch from guzzling gasoline to guzzling ethanol we certainly aren't going to make the progress that we need.

My movie ratings...

Shooter3.5/5
3003/5
Unkown 2/5
Casino Royal 4/5
music&lyrics 3/5
the oh in ohio 2/5
the illusionist 3.5/5
the prestige 3/5
the guardian 3/5
pans labyrinth 3/5
kiss kiss bang bang
3.5/5
Rocky Balboa
4.5/5

IE7 - ads run rampant - until now

Yep, the first thing I noticed about IE7, besides the new interface, was all the ads that we just free flowing on all the websites. I had forgotten about ads since I use Firefox 90% of the time (along with a couple of adblock addons). Well after doing a little research, sure enuff, there is help for IE7.

iPhone - who cares...

Back in January of 2007 - my buddy Kris Sheets of itaki.net helped me out with this idea, found some interesting hardware thats out there, but now we just gotta get all the parts to test it, and see if it works. If so, it would be a fantastic $60mo unlimited Voip phone/internet access. Geographic restrictions apply - just not clear on that yet. We are working with Sprint (the best card) to make this happen.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Alcohol more harmful than pot, LSD, Ecstasy - UK Study

Maybe it's time we reconsider drug policy and $20 billion spent on incarcerating pot smokers. And why is alcohol and tobacco so legal? Regulated money for the government? http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=65988

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Enjoy it while it lasts...

NASA Confirms Solar Storm Near 2012 - 032107
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/21/1229247&from=rss
Mayan’s Predict World’s End
http://www.aventurasclub.com/mayandoomsday.en.html
http://www.crawford2000.co.uk/nibiru2012.htm

Nice news service

Really interesting how it flows, and the options it has. http://labs.digg.com/bigspy/

New favorite addons


turns your account into flexible and feature-loaded ToDo-management service (GTD = Getting Things Done) - http://gtdgmail.com/

DragDropUpload - this handy extension lets you quickly attach one or more files to your emails by dragging them over the “Attach a file” link - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2190/

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

JungleCrazy Shopping

My homey -Alex Jartos of CircleAtSeven studios sent me this link - sayin that we shoulda thought of it first. Sign up for an affiliate account and it proly searches for products that are a certain percentage off and lists em... http://www.junglecrazy.com - this is also a cool shopping site: http://www.mpire.com

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Specific media tracking app?

Say I was looking for 3 Flaming Lips tickets, on the floor, for April 11. I would like to configure Craigslist Athens, Atlanta, ebay to notify me of any updated info on this. Or what if I wanted to compare prices and also see when prices change on a specific media player ? Or follow news on a specific story? Is there such a way to do this - or is there such an app?
A great function for websites, webapp, rss add-on, (news/products/pricing/real estate)- to be able to commonly link to a topic/story/website(s) - and you get automatically notified for any updates on specific details. It would be something similar to an RSS - but it would be more detailed/specific, and only react when new content is available. what would make it even more powerful - if it could track/compile data from other websites. I wanna say that i have heard of various sites that kinda use this functionality - but in a limited way. Just one idea on my quest of ideas.

Open source media distribution server software?

Do you know of any good open source media distribution server software? (Now that it looks like we can broadcast anything on the cheap Neokast (see below)). Maybe we should think about hosting/posting video content? My friend Kris Sheets of Itaki.net asked me this - and also sent me links. Open-source developers to extend the Helix DNA™, the first open multi-format digital media platform. https://helixcommunity.org/ - http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases/2003/helixdna.html

BAPS Hindu Temple (Lilburn, GA)

They are building a large temple just around the corner from my house Address/Map. Supposedly a highly touted architectural structure. Photo Gallery, Clarkston GA - http://nripulse.com/CityNews_BAPS_Janmasthami.html

Neokast

Neokast (windows only, Xvid, networking technology/not video codec) multicast video, similar to Joost, no video-on-demand or TIVO capabilities (yet).
Let's put that in a real-world context. Three megabits per second is almost precisely 1000 gigabytes per month, which is half the allotted monthly throughput for a $6.99-per-month web site at 1&1. So if Neokast's claim is valid, it would be possible to broadcast American Idol or the Super Bowl or friggin' CNN worldwide for $7 per month.
Here's what makes Neokast different from other peer-to-peer products, especially BitTorrent. Unlike BitTorrent where you are downloading a file, with Neokast you are intercepting a video stream. Under normal circumstances the client does not end up with a local copy of the complete video, the P2P caching aspect of the product being limited to a few seconds or at most minutes of content. This makes video rights management much easier and ought to appeal to TV networks and movie studios.http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070315_001831.html
http://www.neokastblog.com - http://www.technologyevangelist.com/
Ideas: create own network? sell ads? post wedding videos? (social network channels - show/share family videos) but whats the difference between cease and decist, and suing for showing copyrighted content?

Nissan Frontier - Check Engine light flaw

Replaced the EGR valve -didnt work. What does work for me tho -is to disconnect battery, it clears the computer, reconnect -light will be off, light will come back on if there is something wrong. The rumor also is -get the shop to reset the chip, put 50 miles on the car -after 50 miles -if the light isnt on -you should be ok to pass emissions.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1g/bl972g.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Nissan-Repair-825/98-nissan-frontier.htm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/650-1
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/nissan_frontier.html

Friday, March 16, 2007

YOUR Elevator Pitch

I heard an interesting segment on Marketplace (NPR/AMP/MPR) yesterday - and it got me thinkin...
Is there a 30sec exciting elevator pitch for our company? So I can tell my friends briefly - all that we are capable of?
Or an elevator pitch for myself - personally?
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/03/15/PM200703155.html

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Monday, March 12, 2007

Comin back from Cali

Venice Beach, whale watching, meeting Cams friend Greg. Saw a humming bird, a baby deer(doe), and a dove nesting in a small shrub - all in the same day. It was great hanging with my friend Randy in Hollywood at Bird. We had some drinks and nice chat with the locals. Thanx to Rachel for the ride from/to the airport. Dinner at Prizzis where my bro works.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

The best way to teach character is by example.

Burke Allen, the CEO of Novologic (where I now work) sent me an email this morning, and I too - thought it was important enough to pass along...
I've spent lots of time with some of the world's most successful coaches. I discovered that many of them think about character a lot, especially traits that are important to winning—like self-discipline, perseverance, resiliency and courage. They pay less attention to virtues like honesty, integrity, responsibility, compassion, respect and fairness—aspects of character that make a good person, citizen, spouse or parent.
The problem is that even at the amateur level, many coaches are hired and paid to win, not to build character. Unless it interferes with performance, to worry about the kind of person an athlete is off the field is a waste of time.
Coaches who seek to hone the mental and physical skills of winning while ignoring moral virtues of honor and decency too often produce magnificent competitors who are menaces to society.
Perhaps coaches of elite athletes not connected with educational or youth-serving institutions can operate in this moral vacuum, but all others have a responsibility to teach, enforce, advocate and model all aspects of good character including trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Whether it's sports, business or politics, whenever we divorce issues of competence from issues of character, we create a class of amoral professionals who think they're exempt from common standards of honor and decency. This discredits and demeans the moral standing of everyone involved. … Michael Josephson
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer said, "Your reputation is in the hands of others. That's what a reputation is. You can't control that. The only thing you can control is your character." Helen Gahagan Douglas said, "Character isn't inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts, thought by thought, action by action." I really think this quote is right on the money - Baron Thomas Babington Macauley (1800-1859) said, “The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.” And no one said it better than Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – von Goethe said, "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
The best way to teach character is by example, I’ve always maintained. Remember, our character is our fate - we can build it over our entire lifetime and lose it in a split second. Our character isn’t what others may say or think it is – our character isn’t what we may say or think it is – our character is what it is.

Summertime Vepsa dreams...

I have a 1980 Vespa p200e, but its in parts. I actually asked this place to fix it for me: Vespa Atlanta, 3175 Pleasant Hill Rd, Duluth, GA 30096, vespaatlanta.com - They have and independent shop, and never did complete the job. So I was wondering if anyone could recommend someone to put this this back together. Or convince me to do it myself, with the help of someone else (like you). The parts are: a rebuilt engine, 2 frames (1 good/1 bad), and other misc parts. I am missing 1 wheel and the light (maybe more). Thanks in advance!

http://www.scooterpartsdirect.com/
Scooter World, 990 Grayson Hwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30045, (770) 962-5221
Scooter/Vespa Related Tutorials
vespa - http://members.aol.com/vespavamp/links.htm

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Responsibility = Sustainability

Why are companies that produce products, not responsible for sustainability? Why are they not responsible for the replenishment or protection of the environment? Why don't they have a program to recoup the waste product, or at least the cost of that, or fines that are bigger than that cost - if they do not comply? Or jail terms for their executives - in real prisons, not prisons for the rich. If a corporation takes from the environment, it should replenish equally. I actually feel that if they turn a profit on the product, they should give back even more to the environment than they took from it. The environment should profit as well. Why should the consumer be responsible for recycling of waste product? At the time of sale, the product should be completely sustainable. When a corporation pays a fine for wrongdoing, where does that money go, and what is done with it? Why aren't corporations regulated by an environmental organization? To educate, and keep them in check? Why are profits more important than overall responsibility? The more and more that I learn about our world, and the problems with it, the more it looks like the system we have in place, is a bad one. I really don't think that it is fixable. Because the good in the system, may not really be good. What if someone created a company to regulate products. To provide a sustainability ranking for every product. Each product created would have to pay to have their product ranked, and for it to printed on the package. Would there be 2 rankings, one for the product and one for packaging? What about manufacturing or production of the product? The workplace, etc? Thx to George Israel for getting me to watch The Corporation.

Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. It relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in a very long term. Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local neighborhood to the entire planet.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Adobe FLEX 2 - $750 (ouch)

Adobe® Flex Builder™ is an Eclipse™ based IDE for developing RIAs that combine the richness of desktop applications with the cross-platform reach of the Adobe Engagement Platform. Flex Builder enables developers to quickly build rich client-side logic that integrates with XML, web services, or Flex Data Services. With sophisticated design and layout tools, user interface designers can also create richer, more usable application interfaces with a customized look and feel. - - As my friend James put it, A truly amazing Object/Data/Content management piece of software. [The Next Generation of the Flash Platform]

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Today+Politics+Politicians = WASTE


I have been troubled over the years by 9/11, the war, Bush and his adminstration, and the various issues related to our somehow elected officials (federal and state). What I have feeling is powerlessness - for change. And no matter how much information I try to obtain - to help clarify things, it all doesnt seem to be of much value. I have made a decision, to not follow politics as closely as I have. I am still concerned about issues, but since it seems that there is no real value to the time spent educating myself - of the issues, I will discontinue giving them that much time. And now more than ever, time seems short for all of us - so enjoy it, and use it wisely. I await the day where we dont need overpaid politicians holding office vaguely representing us, but a real vote of and by the people, directly on each issue. And with the technology available, those days are soon to come.