Monday, December 18, 2006

Your own domain through Google

Google is now partnering with eNom and GoDaddy.com to begin offering domain registration. "When you register a new domain as part of the sign-up process for Google Apps for Your Domain, we'll work with our partners behind the scenes and automatically configure everything so it works with all of the services available through Google Apps for Your Domain right out of the gate" (Google press release). Google is offering domains for $10 per year, supporting .com, .org, .net, .biz and .info domains. Click here to find out more.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Every dog will have his (Holi)day

What says 'the holidays' more than a new pet puppy? And what better puppy for a geek than a ROBOT PUPPY! Yes, those clever Koreans at Dasatech have been at it again. They have introduced "Genibo," a Spuds MacKenzie look alike named "Dato" capable of understanding over 100 words and commands. It responds appropriately to commands such as 'come here,' 'sit,' 'wag your tail,' and 'do a headstand.' It feels petting, via sensors in its back, can self navigate an obstacle field, and has built-in Bluetooth technology to receive commands via your computer. According to English.chosun.com, "Petting the machine’s head, back or flank, or giving it a ball will distort its features into a happy expression." It took a 40-member team three years to complete the robot, that contains 17 small motors and a CPU (Via engadget).

Friday, December 8, 2006

Can I have a green Apple?

"Greenpeace has published its latest Guide to Greener Electronics. The survey found an overall improvement in manufacturing processes, but Apple lags at the bottom" (Podcasting news). Here are the Greenpeace rankings:
1. Nokia (7.3/10)
2. Dell (7/10)
3. Fujitsu-Siemens (6/10)
4. Motorola (6/10)
5. Sony Ericsson (5.7/10)
6. HP (5.7/10)
7. Acer (5.3/10)
8. Lenovo (5.3/10)
9. Sony (5/10)
10. Panasonic (4.3/10)
11. LGE (4/10)
12. Samsung (4/10)
13. Toshiba (3.7/10)
14. Apple (2.7/10)

Thursday, December 7, 2006

Voice Operated Christmas Tree

What do techies hate more than anything about Christmas trees? Yes, groveling under them on hands and knees to turn on the lights. Problem solved with the Intela Voice-Operated Christmas Tree Control. Plug your lights into the Intela plug the Intela into the wall socket and train (you heard me, train) the Intela to respond to any short command that will activate the lights on the tree. "A simple voice command like "lights" or "Merry Christmas" turns the tree or other holiday lights on and off." It would even be possible to train it to respond to an audio-animatronics parrot or other artificial voice, say a dismembered R2D2 head. Just speculating. You would have to train it to respond to a reasonably rare word, however, with no common homonyms or else grow accustomed to a very blinky Christmas. The Intela goes for $14.99, reduced from $19.95 from Solutions. Operates in any language.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Blinteresting, isn't it?

This is the first post at my new blog, blinteresting. I begin by citing Segal's Law:

"A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure."

Who was this sage Segal? My candidates are:

George Segal, 70's actor whose apogee was a movie titled The Owl and the Pussycat, co-starring Barbara Streisand.

Steven Segal, erstwhile opposable action hero.

or

Erich Segal, author of Love Story, Oliver's Story, classical scholar and--though this is little known--author of the screenplay for the Beatles Yellow Submarine.

If anyone can propose another Segal, I would be very blinterested.