Social Networks - not everyone is a fan

I think John Dvorak is on to something here:

Why Social Networks Stink - Columns by PC Magazine:
"There's something annoying about the emergence of the now-ubiquitous social network. My displeasure reached a peak over the weekend when I was recording an edition of the Twit podcast in which Robert Scoble was ranking on the new Amazon e-book reader, the Kindle. His main complaint was that the product did not incorporate any social-networking structure. This was the last straw for me.

I mean, exactly how plugged into the community do you actually have to be nowadays to be okay with yourself?

Scoble's displeasure was somewhat understandable once he explained his idea. He meant that if one of his friends also had a Kindle, it would be cool to find out what books they had loaded on the thing and what they were currently reading. Personally, I'm thinking that this is yet another invasion of privacy."

"... What has been overlooked in the entire social-networking scheme is that at its core, it's not social networking but marketing. In fact, the entire MySpace scene is devoted mostly to selling music and keeping people up-to-date with their fav indie band. Sometimes events, such as a rave or a house party, can be announced on MySpace, although the real winner is still the indie band."

I'm not sure everyone would agree about these MySpace conclusions, but I'm certain most people who peruse one of these sites has wondered about the honesty of what they were reading. People are either marketing themselves or their products on these sites - they should be taken with a grain of salt, and not every new product is required to include a social-networking component.

BTW - The Kindle looks like a very good e-book reader, perhaps worth the price increase over the Sony. My concern is whether I really want another expensive device that can easily be lost, stolen, broken, or drowned.

The electronics will eventually be small enough to place inside a wristwatch - at that point, perhaps the electronic paper could be unrolled from a scroll the size of a pen, or perhaps replaced with a projection screen, possibly built into a pair of glasses.

Cell Phone freedom

It will be interesting to see what this does for rates . . .

Verizon Announces Plans to Unlock Network - News and Analysis by PC Magazine:
" Verizon Wireless marked a big change in its game plan today, by announcing plans to open up its network to 'Any App, Any Device.'

While company representatives insisted during a conference this morning that Verizon has long been open to innovations and shifts in the industry, users have long recognized the nation's number-two network as being one of the most restrictive--crippling features on handsets and refusing to open itself up to unlocked devices and third-party applications, while competitors such as AT&T have proven much quicker to adapt to changes in the industry.

Between the unprecedented success of the Apple iPhone and the recent announcement of the Android Open Handset Alliance (led by Google and 33 other companies including Motorola and T-Mobile, but not, for the time being, Verizon), there's been a crucial shift in the industry. "

Other markets (especially Asia) have long had more cell phones & features than the US. I wonder if this indicates that the networks are pretty much fully built-out and/or they now feel confident that they have the bandwidth to handle whatever we throw at them?

I know when my current cell contract expires, I'll be looking for a new provider - Verizon offers good availability in my area, so they'll certainly be on the list to consider.

Pragmatic Endorsement of Giuliani

Six months ago I casually predicted that in 2008 we would be picking Rudy or Hillary for president. Frankly I'm surprised that this still seems to be true. At this point, there is no time left to introduce new candidates - in fact Fred Thompson may have jumped in too late. We have to "run with what we brung".

Newsmax.com - Pat Robertson Endorsement Sparks Backlash:
"When the Rev. Pat Robertson endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the presidency, he created a schism among evangelical Republicans – one that may cost the GOP the White House next year.
Since Robertson, the founder of the influential 700 Club, stood with Giuliani at a joint press conference on Nov. 7, a major backlash has been under way in the evangelical community over the endorsement. "

"... For purists, if you are not with them 100 percent of the time, you are their enemy,” he says. “It’s always been a problem"

For 2008, the Republicans need to win the election. Second place is losing - big time. As noted in the last paragraph of this article - "he'll do."

Lots of people have lots of issues with the Republican candidates - they need to remember that the alternative is "worse" than any of them.

Space elevator prize within reach

Space elevator prize eludes Saskatchewan team:
"A team of engineers from Saskatoon came within four seconds of winning a half-million-dollar prize in a NASA-sponsored competition to build a model of a space elevator.

For the third consecutive year, the University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team placed first in Elevator: 2010, also called the Spaceward Games.

But for the third straight year, it appears they came a breath shy of reaping the reward.

Competitors had to build a robotic climber capable of ascending a strand of carbon-fibre ribbon suspended from an overhead crane. The climber had to use a wireless power source on the way up but descend in a controlled fashion on its own.

The team reached the top of the 120-metre ribbon in 54 seconds. The allotted time was 50 seconds."

Search for articles about beanstalks and you'll find that this is a technology close to reality - a space delivery system that provides vastly reduced risks and costs. There is still some fundamental science to be completed, but the bigger challenges may be political. Hopefully progress will continue at it's present rapid rate because low cost access to space will improve life on earth for everyone.

We need new pioneers

NASA - Why Explore Space?:
" ... for the foreseeable future, space travel is going to be expensive, difficult and dangerous. But, for the United States, it is strategic. It is part of what makes us a great nation. And the report declared that if we are going to send humans into space, the goals ought to be worthy of the cost, the risk and the difficulty. A human spaceflight program with no plan to send people anywhere beyond the orbiting space station certainly did not meet that standard.

President Bush responded to the Columbia report. The administration looked at where we had been in space and concluded that we needed to do more, to go further. The result was the Vision for Space Exploration, announced nearly three years ago, which commits the United States to using the shuttle to complete the space station, then retiring the shuttle and building a new generation of spacecraft to venture out into the solar system. Congress has ratified that position with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, making the Vision for Space Exploration the law of the land. "

Permanent populations on the Moon, Mars, & in the asteroid belt will one day improve life on Earth. This can come in part by moving some industrial processes off planet, but it will come mostly from the application of new knowledge - lessons we'll never learn if we aren't out there trying things - being pioneers.

Space Station's Newest Module; Harmony

SPACE.com -- Spacewalkers Outfit Space Station's Newest Room:
"Spacewalking astronauts primed the International Space Station's (ISS) newest room for orbital flight Tuesday as they prepare to host a visiting NASA shuttle next month.

Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani spent more than seven hours wiring up about half of the power, heater and cooling lines needed to prepare the station's new Harmony connecting node for the planned Dec. 6 launch of a European-built lab. They will connect the other half during another spacewalk on Saturday. "

NASA isn't getting a great deal of news coverage for the great progress that has been made in assembling the ISS this year. Enthusiasts hear about it from sites such as at http://www.space.com/ & http://www.nasa.gov/, but I wonder if kids are hearing about it in school anymore. I hope so.

Jean Jennings' VileBlog - March 16 2007 - Bose Media System | Editors' Soapbox Blog & Discussions at Automobilemag.com Blogs

The intelligent use of technology - at last:

"We love the Bose people, and not just because they know math and we don't. It's because of what they can do with math in the name of making life more wonderful for the rest of us. This time, Bose has developed its first automotive infotainment system and it should set the industry back on its heels for some time to come.

It is a graphically pleasing and easy to grasp navigation system based on GPS and dead-reckoning technology, with all of the cues you need and want prominently displayed on a 6.5' screen. Adding a new destination or dialing up stored one is a snap. That's nice. But it's the music part of the system that will blow your mind.

...

It helps that the Scaglietti's sound system is acoustically customized for its cabin. Hearing Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" in there will make you weep. There's a built-in hard drive you can load through the player, or with a memory stick, and it'll store 30 gigabytes of tunes.

...

There is, of course, an iPod plugin, and a Bluetooth phone function that will download your contact list. And voice control that you just know works better than any voice control you've ever experienced, just because it's Bose."

This Bose system won't be available to most of us for a few years, but hopefully their principles will filter down to other manufacturers. A navigation system shouldn't be so hard to use that it puts you in danger if you try to use it. Good music can do wonders for a person's attitude, possibly improving driving and reducing road rage.