May 13, 2013 | General
Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs are the supermen of computer technology. Gates and Jobs, heard it a thousand times. Their contributions have changed humanity and the world forever. Sometimes, it’s kind of hard to picture them as human. I didn’t, until I watched an episode of 60 Minutes Overtime.
There, I saw testimony of how these two rivals were really close.??They’ve always had?tremendous respect for each other.?According to Gates, they grew up in the same time and had child like ambitions to build major corporations. But when Gates reminisces on his visit?to?a dying Jobs, that’s when?it got really deep. Gates even?got emotional when he told the tale.?The?Microsoft founder mentioned Jobs looking forward to?this new?boat, even though he realized?he won’t be around to?use it.
Dare I say, this put these two?men in a different?light.?I can far better relate to this?Bill Gates than the one whose?worth is $66+ billion dollars. And this Jobs?is more human than the one I read about in his biography. ?There’s a lesson to be learned here. Yes, Jobs and Gates have been very successful. But let’s not put them on a God like pedestal. Let me take it closer to?home: Is there anybody, whether famous?or personal, who you’re putting on an?imaginary pedestal?
Apr 12, 2013 | Computer technology, General
The other day, I reported on the smartphone teen market. That got me reminiscing on top technological commercials.
10. Dude, You’re Getting a Dell:??In the early 2000s, nothing said?teen commercialism like a stoner like kid encouraging your?parent to get a Dell. The ads stopped when?Ben Curtis, the commercial star,?was arrested for marijuana possession.
9. Coleco Vision😕 In the early 1980s, the video arcade was the place to be. There were home video games before, but Coleco Vision commercials really made the arcade come home. I think this started the home?video game craze.
8. Boost Mobile: Think cell phones are for the kids? This commercial proves that theory wrong. Very wrong.
7. Apple Hal Commercial: Ah, only Apple Macintosh saved us from Y2K chaos! (wink wink)
6. Catherine Zeta-Jones’s T-Mobile Commercials: A gorgeous movie star?with a?sexy British accents?promotes?this cell phone?company, putting it on the map. Darn you, Michael Douglas!
5. America Online Commercials: Remember them? These ads taught us about a new medium, launching America into the Internet age. Looking back, they’re kind of cheesy. But in the mid ’90s, they fascinated us!
4. Go Daddy: I know they’re racy and push the envelop, but that’s exactly why they make this list. Remember their last Super Bowl ad?
3. I Pod-I Tunes Commercial:?While not that great in quantity, these dancing cartoons got us to get those I-Tune cards, didn’t they? It was no coincidence these cartoon figures were on the I-Tunes cards.
2. Macintosh 1984: No explanation needed.
1. First Cell Phone Commercial: Centel 1989’s commercial gets this spot for historic reasons. It was the first to show us people could connect anywhere with this radical technology. It’s not so radical now.
Apr 4, 2013 | Entertainment, General, networking
Surely you have written, said or recorded things as a teenager you later regretted. There was that diary or that yearbook?you dug up. There was that experiment where you tied rockets to yourself?trying to fly. Oh, then there was the gangsta rap song you recorded. Better not let your spouse/significant other hear that one. Now we may have?Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg’s adolescence playing out.
Word on the web is there’s an Angelfire page, created back in 1999, that belongs to Mark Zuckerburg.?Assuming this page?was really his:?Even at 15, he shows his online smarts. On one page, he created this Java app called ‘The Web’. Mark’s app drew people together and connected people all over the Internet. Sounds a lot like Facebook today, doesn’t it? Through a favorite list page, we learned of his teen personality. His favorite food was quesadillas. He must have been a pro wrestling fan. He says the best quote is ‘Suck It’, a popular saying by the great WWE?clique of that time, D-Generation X. I’m guessing he was an Eminem fan. On the about me page, he jokes his name is Slim Shady.
You know, it’s fun to see how big time celebrities and business people start out. One thing I love to see on You Tube is celebrities on commercials before they make it big. Here we get to see one of the greatest minds of our time?in development. I mean, he even draws on Angelfire?and writing?with different colors. So are these things embarrassing? Maybe so. Is this really young Zuckerburg’s page? I’ll let you decide.
Apr 3, 2013 | Computer technology, General
Class is in session, folks! Ever hear of a computer scientist named Allan Kay? If you own a laptop, tablet, notebook, Mac book, smartphone or iPad, you should thank this man. That’s because in 1972, Allan Kay came up with the Dynabook.
This was a?vision of a portable computer, one where hardware,?software, programs, monitor, keyboard, and all other services could be carried in one device.?The Dynabook was to be carried everywhere the consumer?went. The Dynabook?was to be an educational tool for children. This device was to be?used ?for maintenance and documentation and presentation. Any of this sound familiar?
Despite this revolutionary act, Kay is hardly impressed. He claims today’s gadgets, with all their technological advancements, have misunderstood, and even betrayed the Dynabook dream. While today’s smartphones, notebooks and tablets have the look Kay envisioned, it lacks the service. For example, his Dyanabook was to supposed to educate children. But how are today’s devices used in schools? They’re often shunned as undesirable. They’re seen as ‘too expensive for the school budget’. Even the ones who do use portable devices, they often?make the parent/student pay.?Kay believes these devices are more harmful?than helpful socially. He says these devices take away the need for reading and writing, which?lapses society into mediocrity.
Why am I?writing about?Allan Kay? First off, we?need to know?where we come from to know where we’ve been. Allan Kay paved the way for the Apple, Droid and the other household names of today. Secondly, Kay teaches us a valuable lesson. Though we’ve come so far, we still have a long way to go. Is the Dynabook dream worth keeping alive, or has it already been fulfilled? If not, then?what other ways can we fulfill Allan Kay’s dream?
Apr 1, 2013 | Entertainment, General
April 1st is April Fools Day. Geeks and social media nuts are getting their pranks in order. Even major companies, like Google, are getting in the fun.
In fact, no company does April Fools like Google. Did you fall for the Google Nose/smell o’ vision? I hear a celebrity chef long for this day, and I actually thought it came true! That was an April fool on me. Do you like blue mail? Google has it. Your menu is blue. The characters and buttons?are blue. You may even get a visit from the Blue Man Group; they put on a great show by the way. Do you ever wish your smartphone was an ATM, printing money at your every beckon call? Google has a prank for that too.
Google isn’t the only one getting into the April Fools spirit. Nokia has the yellow touch screen microwave. Samsung has the eco-tree. Share your smart trees with loved ones for free. It even comes with an evolution kit. Go to Ikea and get the flat lawnmower. Log onto Think Geek and get your kid some 3-D Play dough. While you’re at it, does anybody have a bacon stretcher I can use?
What’s your April Fools prank? Is it the laptop that will print out money? Is it the iPod that will?spray you cologne. Or, play a prank on someone and put it on You Tube. So, what’s your prank going to be?
Mar 22, 2013 | Entertainment, General
Yesterday, I reported on Google’s billionth monthly user. So it got me thinking: What are some of my most memorable You Tube Moments? I’m basing these on impact, coverage and my bias opinion.?Let the debate begin!
10. Ted Williams😕 This homeless man was discovered and his voice can melt butter! Since his discovery, he became an American sensation. His struggle with drugs/alcohol touched the hearts of millions.
9. Baby Talk: Check out the deep conversation between these two twin?babies. They make more sense than Congress these days.
8. Bullied Bus Monitor: For several years, the savagery of school bullying has made headlines. This video?brought the cruelty to our very conscious, and hopefully, brought shame?and repentance to the teasers.
7. Michael ‘Kramer’ Richard’s Meltdown: In Nov. 2006, this Seinfeld star was heckled wile performing?and went on a racist rant, using the n word several times and talked of lynching.?It one of the earliest episodes of celebrity bad behavior caught on You Tube.
6. Joplin, MO Tornado: These brave souls?survived an F-5?tornado while huddled in a?fridge at the back of a gas station. The audio is guaranteed to give anyone goose bumps.
5. Sweet Georgia Brown: This woman survived a house fire, and gave us the most popular phrase since ‘Dynamite’! We got time for that!
4. Justin Beiber Discovered😕 He was an obscure teenager singing and playing the drums, putting up his talents on this social medium. Producers, including Usher, saw these videos and?by 2010, he’s one of the greatest teen idols of this generation, if not all time.
3. 4 Year Old Cries Over Election: Out of the mouths of babes. By Oct. 2012, most Americans were sick of the fighting, the negative ads?the arguing, just the contempt this election brought out. This girl spoke for all of us!
2. Middle East Revolutions: In 2009, Iranian president Ahmadinejad won an election against moderate and?reformer Hossein Mousavi. Many Iranians protested what they considered?a crooked election. Their government tried to hush the protest, but You Tube made their voices be heard. Before long, You Tube and other social media exposed other revolutions in that region.
1. PSY Gangnam Style: This was the first video to get a billion hits. It created the biggest (and if you ask me, the most annoying) dance craze since Macarena. In 2012, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing it. And You Tube was the main medium to launch the sensation. What’s next?
