Fun in San Francisco

September 15, 2008 Reluctant iPhone, Personal, Random, Work

Last night 3 co-workers and I left the Salt Lake City airport and landed in San Jose to attend a technology conference. Soon after checking into our hotel, we sat down to figure out the sessions we would attend the next day.

We quickly realized that we had come a day early. The first day was tutorials for somewhat beginners and we had not signed up (or paid) for these sessions. We found ourselves with a free day close to one of the coolest cities in the world, San Fransisco.

So we took the rental car up highway 101 into downtown and toured the city. A few shots (taken with the iPhone) documented the fun.

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A doorbell for the geek in me

September 8, 2008 Reluctant Computers, Random

I’m not sure how my wife would feel about this doorbell, but I think it’s rather elegant.  A must have for any true geek.  The problem… it’s not even close to available.  It’s just a design concept from renown designer, Li Jianye.

Come on ThinkGeek, hope on the stick with this product.

It’s so cool, er, geeky.  Heck, I’ll take two (one for the dog house I will be in after installing this on the house).

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For the last time – it was blocked!

September 7, 2008 Reluctant Football, Rant
Does it matter that it was 15 yards further?

Does it matter that it was 15 yards further?

So what’s all the controversy?  I’m so tired of hearing the reports of the BYU vs Washington game on Saturday.  All the ESPN analysts kept talking about the “controversial” call by the refs.  In reality, the call made no difference in the outcome of the game.

The call came after Jake Locker scored what seemed to be the overtime-forcing touchdown with mere seconds left in the game.  As he stood up, he flipped the ball over his head, sending it a considerable distance into the air.  According to the rule (which is not a judgment call, but a hard and fast rule) that action is considered celebrating and is illegal.  The referees were forced to throw a flag and access a 15 yard penalty on the PAT.

On the PAT, BYU broke through the line and smothered the ball.  Take a peek at that image.  If Jorgensen hadn’t blocked it, it looks very likely someone else would have.  Does it really matter that it was 15 yards further than normal?  So it was more like a 35 yard field goal rather than a PAT kick.  That’s still a routine kick for a PAC-10 (or any NCAA) kicker.  If the kick had been missed, it would be a different story.  But it was blocked easily.  You can’t even claim that the kicker had to alter the tragectory. It really didn’t matter.

Not once did the national media mention anything about the amazing block by BYU?  The entire focus of the game was on that one call by the referees that really had no bearing on the game.

Congratulations BYU!  Well executed block.

PS.  Jorgensen was even being held on the block.  You can see it in the picture.

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Update on iPhone voice-dialing

August 31, 2008 Reluctant Gadgets, iPhone, New Technology

I recently posted about an iPhone App from Fonix for handling voice-dialing with the iPhone.  The app still isn’t out, but Fonix recently released a demo video of the application.

Check it out:

It looks great.  My only remaining issue is initiating a voice command.  It appears I will still need to be looking at my iPhone and tap the application in order to start the voice commands. I’d like to be able to tap the button on my bluetooth headset or a physical button on the iPhone.  Ideally, Apple would open up the iPhone home button to be assigned to third-party applications (currently it will only open your Contact Favorites or the iPod interface).

All in all, I’m excited for this app to finally hit the App Store.

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Guns and fun

August 29, 2008 Reluctant Personal, Work

There comes a time in ones life when you get the opportunity to do something that you will most likely never do again.  Today, that opportunity came for me to shoot one of the largest guns legally possess-able to a non-military (or police) citizen.  My work is trying to have a bit of a party or reward each time we meet our goals for the month.  Because my boss is very into guns, she decided it would be good to go out west of Utah Lake and shoot. I shot lots of guns; rifles (one from 1903), old style revolvers, other hand guns and even a potato gun. However, the highlight of the day was that I shot a 50 caliber big gun.  I don’t know the official name of it. According to this image (and caption), it’s the Barrett “Light Fifty” Model 82A1 sniping rifle.  But I’m not sure if that’s the exact same gun.  The ammunition for this thing is $10 a pop.

Was it fun?  Yes.  Did it make me feel manly? Yes.  Would I like to own one?  Heck no.  Do I think they should be legal for non-military?  Heck No. This gun is way to powerful.  The average citizen has absolutely no need for something like this.  It would blow away anything you would want to kill to eat.  It’s only applicable for show and tell.

When this gun is fired you can feel the concussion from a good 20 or 30 feet away.  Each time it was fired, everything that wasn’t secured would fall off the table from which we shot it.  It’s just one of those things that you gotta do once in your life.

Would I do this again?  Yeah… if the opportunity presents itself.  However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to make sure it happens again.

Oh, and by the way, my left ear is still ringing and my sholder is really sore.  All in good fun, right?

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Bionic Eye Anyone?

August 22, 2008 Reluctant Gadgets, New Technology, Technology
The electronic eye takes photos in a 3D space rather than flatted in 2D

The electronic eye takes photos in a 3D space rather than flatted in 2D

You know you’ve dreamed about it.  You want a bionic eye.  Everyone does.  Since you were a kid watching The Six Mission Dollar Man, you’ve dreamed of the day when bionics could become a reality.  Most of the bionic parts of Steve Austin already exist in some form (although not usually exceptionally powerful).  But the bionic left eye has been rather elusive.

Your dream may soon be coming true.  Researchers from the University of Illinois and Northwestern University are working on a camera that could some day replace a human eye.  With a similar form factor as the eye, it could easily fit within a human eye socket.

It’s the curve of the camera that makes it most like an eye.  Unlike most cameras that often blur or minimize the focus of parts of the image on the outer edges, this new curved technology allows an image to be in focus in all parts of the image.

Check out the additional photos on CNET.

Lee Majors has nothing on us now.

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A 3D/virtual world for the masses

August 21, 2008 Reluctant Computers, Internet, New Technology, Technology

Second Life (an online virtual 3D world) has been around a while now.  It’s incredibly popular and even has its own economy.  You can enter Second Life and “live” a life completely different from who you really are.  It’s somewhat of a game, but it mimics real life as much as possible. Companies (mainly IBM) have been known to hold virtual meetings or conferences within the Second Life universe.  But the main problem with Second Life is you have to download a rather large installation program and have to have some decent hardware to run it.

Second Life is about to get it’s first real competitor, LifePlace.  Not only does does the virtual world look more amazing and real (and slightly unsettling), but all the visual imagery is rendered “in the cloud.”  There is no installation.  You will visit LifePlace through a web browser and all the rendering is done on the server side.  So even if you don’t have amazing hardware with the latest and greatest graphics card, you will still be able to partake in the amazing world to be. You will even be able to stream it to a mobile device (the video below was captured on a Palm Treo). The technology is developed by a company called OTOY.

Gizmodo and TechCruch both have articles about LivePlace, but it’s the video that really does the talking.

Remember, if you can’t see the embedded video. View the original posting.

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Invisibility cloak is real

August 11, 2008 Reluctant New Technology, Science

Another one of those, “Wow! Science is cool,” moments just happened in California.  In Berkley to be more precise.

Researchers as the University of California, Berkeley have for the first time demonstrated the ability to cloak three dimensional objects!  Cool!

I mentioned this before, but didn’t think it would become a reality so soon.

The science involved here is amazing.  This is just another example of science finally catching up with Science Fiction writers.

The findings of the research will soon be available in the journals, Nature and Science.

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Olympic Tracking – Google Style

August 8, 2008 Reluctant Sports, Technology

In celebration of the Olympic Games that start today in Bejing, China, Google has created a widget that contains a medal tracker as well as event and venue information. All built on their mapping technology.

And here it is:

[If you don't see the embedded map, view the web original post on the site]

Be sure to come back often to see how the medal tally plays out.

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The Dark Knight

July 22, 2008 Reluctant Entertainment

photoThere are those who might say I am jumping on the band wagon here, but I’m jumping.

Last night, I saw the latest installment in the Batman series of movies, The Dark Night. I went in expecting a lot because I hadn’t heard a single bad review. Usually there is plenty of criticism for super hero (comic book) type movies.

But this movie lived up to the hype.  The entire 152 minutes is packed with action or significant dialog. Not to mention one of the coolest stunts I’ve seen in a movie (the semi truck).  I came out of the IMAX theater with sore muscles.  Not from bad theater chairs, but because I was tensing my body the entire time.

Critics have applauded the work done by the late Heath Ledger for his role as the Joker.  At first, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about, but as the film progressed into the later half, it became apparent that he did an amazing job.  As he walked out of the hospital, I realized that he nailed the role.  Is the performance deserving of an Oscar as some have proposed?  It’s surely worth a nomination.

The one let down was the part of Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I didn’t feel anything for the character in this film.  The role was much better handled by Katie Holmes in the previous film, Batman Begins.  Maybe it was the script, but it just didn’t work for me.

All in all, a great film.  Definitely on my top 10 list.

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