Technology Blog

Go big or go home! These days everyone wants a bigger screen TV, or some are considering projector in their home. If you’re in San Francisco area consider a San Francisco Projector Rental. My brother recently purchased a projector for his home as the only option for a TV. Unfortunately he made the foolish mistake of purchasing one without doing a lot of research on the amount of money a replacement bulb costs for a unit (upwards of $500 just for a bulb). He loved it although it was not cost effective for everyday use. Still, whether you need a projector for corporate or recreational use, renting is a great way to keep your costs low. If you have a big party at your house, $99 for the weekend is an attractive price to entertain your friends particularly during football season! Great for any party such as weddings, birthdays and graduations particularly when you can share digital photos of the event instantly for all to see. Just hook up an S-Video cord to your computer and you’re ready to use a projector with any digital medium

IPhone to have better battery life, upgraded surface

I’ll admit, I’m a little obsessed about IPhone developments. The latest article talks about improvements on the phone. But imagine my surprise when I learned that IPhone will not be released to the Canadian market anytime soon? That’s ok, we don’t mind. Let the US market be the guinea pigs on this one. I don’t have an IPod either and I’m still alive.

I’ve been observing changes in our educational system for the last 10 or so years as a step-parent and friends to many parents who are not completely happy with how their children are treated within the public school system. The whole concept of education is a debate I’ll leave for a another time. One thing is clear however. There’s value in providing as many different opportunities for your child to learn that go beyond the scope of the public school system. You may want to look at Math Tutors this summer as a way to help build your child’s confidence in a subject that could be confusing for them. I also believe that tutoring can be a way to introduce someone to thinking “outside the box”. There’s more than one way for someone to learn, something that is not enforced in the North American public school system. Private instruction can be a way of supplementing a way of learning what schools are not equipped to provide.

Ok, call me just a little disappointed as I browse through news articles across the net and learn of Apples ‘new’ and ‘innovative’ products. Unfortunately, I’m going to play the doubting thomas in this entry in the same way I did with this post about Apple’s iPhone. Why is Apple introducing a new browser for PC’s called the Safari? What’s the point? The fact that they have captured 5% of the market share of browser is merely because it’s something new that some geeks want to try out, and because of name brand recognition.

The battle of the browsers have existed since the commercial viability of the internet exploded in the mid-90’s. I’ll admit, I was dead-set against Internet Explorer as my browser of choice, given Netscape’s stability, or Mosaic. As a tech support analyst, supporting Netscape was an absolute breeze. It handled HTML language quite well. That is, until HTML evolved just like any other language and more site start appearing that required a dependable browser. Over the years I noticed the marketshare literally reversed over night, and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer dominanted what used to be mostly a Netscape landscape.

Sure, we now have Firefox. Aaaah, the guys at Mozilla have not let me down. And many of the geeks I know have come to appreciate Firefox. The fact that Apple is trying to show up to the party a little late with their Safari browser is a little amusing to me.

Say with the Mac people guys. For real. I don’t see Safari dominating the browser wars anytime soon.

I’ll be the first to say that I’m a 35 year old guy, who loves gadgets and the night sky, but never owned a telescope. The primary reason for that is, I never owned a house in an area that afford good night time viewing of stars. That however, has changed. I’m also aware that astronomy requires a lot of knowledge of the night sky, and serious astronomers get heavy into math, which has not been an strong area interest of mine.

I have a funny feeling that’s all going to change with meade telescopes. And check out the specs on this point and shoot meade telescope. Claiming you need no previous knowledge of the night sky, all you need to do with this gadget is point to a celestial object and it will identify it for you.

There’s no other way to describe this gadget as far as I’m concerned: it’s just plain cool.

Apple To Roll Out IPhone On June 29.

There’s been a lot of buzz around Apple’s iPhone set to be released June 29, but after reading the above article I can’t help but be a little disappointed. Internet access and storage for music and video are two great features that one can come to expect for *most* smart phones. As early as 2001, I recall telling my partner that I couldn’t wait until the day cell phones combine, storage, and highspeed cell internet access *as well as* 802.11b/g WIFI access in order to take advantage of highspots now commonplace all over the world. And you know what? I’m still waiting for an affordable option that includes internet, storage, digital camera, and wifi.

Apple’s iPhone if this article is correct is set to be launched with 4-8 gigabytes of storage. Not bad. But not too good given the $499-599 price tag. While it appears to be as top quality as most smartphones out there, with perhaps more emphasis on widescreen and other media enriched features, it’s not likely be revolutionary.

Where’s the wifi access? Is this a conspiracy amongst cell providers? It makes me wonder. Is the storage built in, or flash? If built in, 4-8 gigs will soon seem limiting to most people.

And with that, I must confess, the search for me continues: 6 years later.

I use digital cameras and laptops on a regular basis. I used my dell laptop as a GPS monitor which sat on top of a mini laptop desk on the passenger side of my car. I used the car lighter with an AC adapter to keep my laptop powered for the long journey across Canada. This was a great solution in terms of keeping connected and not getting lost, but overtime my laptop battery was worn out from a lot of power on/off situations.

Batteries of every kind can be found on this site for all your digital needs and beyond. I was pleasantly surprised to see they also sell adapter replacements for my particular model (a dell inspiron 1100). If you’re also a regular digital camera user, consider their line up of rechargeable batteries for your brand. Not only is it cheaper in the long run, you’re not generating more trash for the landfill.

It’s about time that cisco get into the game of “fusion” technology. By fusion I mean combining electronics in the home and making things more streamline.

Cisco’s CEO recently quoted in the article link below said it best: “What matters in the home is simplicity,” says the 57-year-old Californian whose receding blond hair gives the impression of an aging surfer. “People don’t want separate features and services running on different devices.”

And amen to that.

Click here to read more

As someone who travels frequently for extensive periods, I’ve been interested in owning a spy camera. I’m particularly interested in wireless cams packages that are easy to install and mobile. The closest I got to having a surveillance camera was about 4 years ago when I went to visit my wife in California for 3 months. While I was away, I was able to have my home cam connected to the computer and have a live feed uploaded to the internet. While it was cool (and kinda fun because I could watch what my pets and pet sitter were doing) is wasn’t a complete enough solution. Pakatak seems have many packages available that just might fit the bill in the new house I live in.

Of particular interest to me are wireless camera kits. Night visions cameras like the one I’ve linked here are becoming more popular, providing a broader range of visibility. The best part of this camera: “The software features motion detection and allows remote viewing over the internet. Over 24hrs of full motion video can be recorded onto a standard 20GB hard drive.” Given the amount of hard drive space a lot of us use these days, 20 GB is not a lot to ask for peace of mind when traveling.

A complete list of security and technical products including babe monitors, IP cameras, atennas, and other camera kits can be found here: http://www.pakatak.co.uk. I’m tempted to get a kit before I leave the country again for a 2 month trip.

I thought this was an interesting article in the Globe and Mail.

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but what struck me, quite honestly is that it’s “newsworthy”. But then, I’ve always been a geek. When available, I’ve been bringing laptops on car camping trips for at least 10 years now. And these days, it’s *almost* rare that you can’t find a WIFI connection to connect to the internet even when you’re on vacation.

Nevertheless it is an interesting trend noted in this article. I’m curious to know what “vacation” will look like, say 10 years from now… will we all be so attached to our computers that we won’t know the difference between work and a break on the beach? Thankfully, if I so choose, I can simply work on any beach within a wifi area.