Forca Blog

I wasn’t able to find any information to back this image up but if it is accurate powering the whole world with solar panels will be quite the job.

This image shows that we would need 308,762 square miles littered across the world in deserts with almost 24/7 sun all year round. The little boxes on the map don’t seem like much, but to put this into perspective Texas is 268,601 square miles. We would need to have monstrous solar panel parks providing power to our world. Alternatively commercial and residential structures could have solar panels arranged on top of them to generate energy. Start-up costs of such a project would probably be so great that none of us will ever see it in our life times, but it is still cool to think about.

Have you ever sat and thought to yourself: “I wish there was a robot that could take control of my body and teach me to play the piano”? Yep, me neither, but one company has developed a device that will make this dream come true for some out there. Concert Hands is a robotic device that is attached to your piano or electric keyboard. There is a rod that goes the length of the piano that sits in between you and the keys. You sit down in front of the piano and the Concert Hands latch onto you like a leech you lock your wrists into the slides that move your hands to the spot on the piano where they need to be and then slide your fingers into the finger sleeves that make your fingers press the correct keys.

If you aren’t sold on this great idea press play on the video above and let the mind controlling hypnotist Concert Hands advertiser convince you. I–personally–am creeped out.

The idea is that repetition will force your body to memorize how to play a song–muscle memory–just like anything you have done so much that you can do it without looking, like changing chords on a guitar or typing on a keyboard.

I am not saying this won’t work; in theory it sounds like it very possibly could. All I want to know is who thought of this? And one way or another you aren’t really learning to play the piano. A robot is training another robot your brain to play one song at a time through grinding repetition.

For more information I would tell you to go visit the Concert Hands website but at the time of this post it is down due to them exceeding their monthly bandwidth limits…

Like technology from an outdated sci-fi movie the color picker concept pen designed by Jinsu Park can scan the color of an object in the real world and reproduce it using a mixture of Red, Green and Blue.

Why they thought to go with RGB instead of CMYK is beyond me. It could be that Jinsu is more used to digital design where RGB is better suited instead of printed design where CMYK is better. One way or another it is still impressive that the technology is there that can scan an object and automatically mix together the correct levels of ink in order to produce a match. All it needs now is a USB connector so you can scan the color of something and use it on your computer or push a color from your computer to the pen.

In the past, any time a book needed to be scanned it had to be done assembly line style–page by page. Researchers in the Ishikawa Komuro Lab at Tokyo University have developed a prototype scanner that may potentially change that. Their prototype can scan the pages of a book as you flip the pages.

The camera is able to adjust for light and movement distortion using a laser grid to assess the current page geometry and is able to create copies that are true to the original. Right now it is just a concept but with some funding this could be a huge time saver for large corporations, schools and print shops. [PlasticPals]

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have come up with an idea that would allow you to use scratching as an input method. The idea is that any surface can be turned into an input device allowing you to turn down the music at a party by scratching the wall anywhere in the room in a certain way or doing basic commands on your computer by scratching your desk. In theory it is a pretty good idea but probably one of those that we will never see make its way into our daily lives.

We knew this was coming and I have got to admit, now that they are on their way I am rather excited about going in to test out a Microsoft Surface PC or Xbox 360 with Natal device. Yes this picture doesn’t show us much but as plans are passed around and construction begins we will no doubt begin to see more images leaking to the net. The first two stores will be opening in Scottsdale, Arizona and Mission Viejo, California this fall.

The BedBunker Gun Safe is now available. If the name alone didn’t sell you then let their Billy Mays impersonator moderately enthused spokesman in the video above do the job.

With a BedBunker you can keep your money, guns and other important items right under the bed in a secure and incredibly convenient hidden location. The safe is rated to be able to withstand 2 hours of fire and can hold 30 rifles and 70 handguns but will that be enough?

You can pick one of these puppies up from BedBunker for $2k to $4k depending on the size of your bed.

This interesting survey performed by the American Time Use Survey shows how the majority of people in the US spend their day. Using the interactive graph you can change the demographic to show information based on age, employment status, etc. Check the NYTimes website to see the graph.

This morning we got our invites to the Google Wave Developer Preview so that we could begin to work on some apps for Joomla and WP. Nearly boiling over with excitement I got to my computer where I could get to my email and login. I pulled up firefox and boom. There I was in the Google Wave Developer Preview. After staring at it for a minute I moved my mouse and clicked on one of the open developer waves(threads). BAM. Error, Error, Error.

What can you expect right? It is the developer preview and this early in developement. This is more than acceptable right now. I spoke with some of the other developers and was told I would have better luck in Chrome. After pulling up Wave in Chrome the experience was much more enjoyable.

Currently Wave only supports the following browsers:

You have the option of using IE if you want but our experience with Wave and IE was terrible. Personally I wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way. I have never been a fan of IE and now that Microsoft is openly trying to make advances over google with Bing and now partnering with Yahoo to “create the future of search” I think it would be just fine if Google decided to say “hey, Wave works great in our browser! If you want our users to be able to use your browser then make it work with our program.”

Now on to Wave itself. The default layout when you open Wave has your Navigation menu on the left with Inbox, Trash, By Me, Spam, etc. Below that are your contacts. In the middle area you have a list of any Google waves that you have started or have been invited to by order of most recently commented on in real time. From here you can see which ones have been commented on since you left, how many responses there have been that you haven’t looked at yet, other people that are part of the wave and even see what text people are typing in as they type.

When you clikc on a wave it will open to the right and you can scroll through all of the text that has been entered. You can even see text from everyone else that is commenting at the moment in real time.

One cool part of the interface that makes it very intuitive is the ability to minimize any and all of the windows or move them around. You can even click on the minimize button on the navigation and contact menus. Everything that you minimize will appear at the top of the window. While they are there you can click on one to see a mini view of the wave to check on the updates or you can move it back down to the main window.

Here is something else that caught our attention when we first began using our Wave mail:

With standard gMail accounts you are currently given 7352 MB–and counting! With our Google Wave email account we had 25,600 MB. This could just be a perk to being in the developer preview so don’t get too excited just yet however there probably will be a need for more space when using Wave and so I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if all Wave accounts started with 25 GB of space.

We will update when we begin to develop apps.

The iPhone has been around for several years now but there are still many people who have not made the plunge. Some have been held back due to bad experiences with Cingular–which for the most part was a horrible carrier when the iPhone first came out. Some people have held off because of the high price tag on the phone or because they were afraid of making the move to 100% touch screen.

Whatever the reason the time has never been better to give the iPhone a try. The 3GS is out now which you can get for $199(8GB). You can pick up the 8Gb 3G iPhone for $99 or the refurb 3G for $79. These are the prices on the website. I am not sure if they are more expensive in the store but if they are it may be worth it to have the phone now now NOW!

As for the carrier. Since the switch to ATT and receiving exclusive rights to the iPhone the service has been much better. When speaking with friends pre-iPhone who were on the Cingular network it was a horrible experience. Constant dropped calls and poor quality. Today speaking with friends who have iPhones my Verizon cell phone is to blame more often than theirs for poor quality.

Many people are waiting for the iPhone to come to their provider. I say its not worth the wait. The CEO of ATT has admitted that the iPhone will not be exclusive forever but if a Verizon iPhone is in the works it is at least a year and a half out. At that point it will give Verizon 6 months to work out the kinks before your contract runs out and you can come running back should the service with ATT be less than to be desired.

Moving on. Here is the list of my Top 100 reasons to buy an iPhone today! Feel free to comment and let us know what you would add.

1. You can send emails with ‘Sent from my iPhone.’ in the footer.
2. Always have your ipod with you.
3. Is friendly with PCs and even more so with MACs.
4. The App Store–If you wish your iPhone could do something it doesn’t there is probably an application to do it already.
5. It is beautiful.
6. You will never have to worry about Apple blocking your ability to sync with iTunes
7. You can have it in any color you want as long as its white or black.
8. 3G browsing speed.
9. Stock application.
10. International support
11. They are very affordable now–less than some inferior smartphones with other providers.
12. The data plan has been reduced by $10.
13. Touch screen.
14. Unmatched fluid interface.
15. Enhanced conctact functions.
16. PUSH email.
17. PUSH calendar.
18. PUSH contacts.
19. Email management–mass move and delete.
20. Email attachments.
21. GPS.
22. Maps and directions.
23. Some third-party support without the need to jailbreak.
24. MobileMe support.
25. Track your iPhone online through MobileMe.
26. Push messages, alerts and lock down your iPhone from your MobileMe account if phone is lost or stolen.
27. Additional languages.
28. Scientific calculator.
29. Password protection.
30. YouTube channel.
31. WiFi (802.11b/g)
32. Cut, Copy and paste.
33. You will have more friends and be able to influence people.
34. iPhone instantly grants you +20 cool points.
35. …and +10 to your tech points.
36. Speaker phone.
37. Blue tooth 2.0 + EDR
38. 3.5-inch widescreen.
39. Multi-touch display.
40. Accelerometer.
41. 2 megapixel camera.
42. Photo geotagging.
43. 8,16 or 32GB Flash memory.
44. Proximity sensor.
45. AAC, Proteced AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible formats 2,3 and 4, Apple lossless, AIFF and WAV audio support.
46. Convenient volume controls on side of phone.
47. Ambient light sensor.
48. Sleep/wake hard button.
49. Ring/Silent side switch.
50. USB 2.0.
51. Speaker phone usable as a built in speaker for use without headphones.
52. 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack.
53. Quad-band GSM/EDGE.
54. 0.48 inches thick.
55. Weighs only 4.7 ounces.
56. It isn’t this
57. Lightsaber application.
58. Scare intruders with the gun cocking sound.
59. Fully sync’s with iTunes.
60. You can’t cut the cheese with it. (having the iPhone does not mean that you can’t cut the cheese)
61. You will have an iPhone.
62. Best/easiest to use touchscreen keyboard.
63. You can ask the question “will this work with my iPhone?” about any piece of technology.
64. Remotely monitor your webcam at home over 3G using third-party app.
65. It can be used to make phone calls.
66. Visual voicemail.
67. Motion sensing games.
68. Find new restaurants by shaking your iPhone using Urbanspoon.
69. Voice memos.
70. Spotlight search.
71. Tether your laptop and use your iPhones 3G internet.(coming soon)
72. Under $100 for the 3G 8GB iPhone.
73. Picture, video messages.(coming soon)
74. Stereo bluetooth–play music from your iPhone wirelessly to your bluetooth stereo speakers.
75. Parental controls.
76. Sync notes.
77. Login to your YouTube account to sync bookmarks and favorites.
78. Automatic Wi-Fi login.
79. Buy and download Movies.
80. Buy and download TV Shows.
81. Buy and download Audio Books.
82. Enhanced calendar.
83. Landscape keyboard.
84. Up to 30 hours of audio play back.
85. Up to 5 hours talk time on 3G.
86. Feature rich internet browsing.
87. Multi-touch screen resizing.
88. Made out of environmentally friendly materials.
89. Reliable.
90. Durable.
    iPhone 3GS specific:
91. 3 megapixel camera.
92. Auto focus.
93. Tap screen to change camera focus point.
94. Record video up to 30fps with audio.
95. Edit video right on your iPhone and upload to share with friends.
96. Voice controls.
97. Compass for improved navigation and applications.
98. Nike + iPod.
99. Accessibility options.
100. Up to 2X’s faster than iPhone 3G.

When the hype was building up before the release of the Pre one of the big things that people were excited about was the ability to sync the palm with iTunes.

iTunes threatened casually mentioned in a press conference that in future updates iTunes  “may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players” [Businessweek].

In the first half of this month iTunes 8.2.1 was released which broke syncing with the Pre. Since there were no exceptional features in 8.2.1–other than blocking Pre syncing–most users just dealt with it by not upgrading.

Now Palm has struck back with WebOS update 1.1 which once again allows you to sync the Pre. There are some other nice features like being able to set ‘person reminders’ for each individual person in your contacts but the iTunes syncing is the big news this update. From the Palm Blog:

“That’s right — you once again can have
seamless access to your music,
photos and videos from the current
version of iTunes (8.2.1).”

Watch the video. While awesome I see this potentially causing head aches at our favorite–greasy–fast food joint. Coca-Colas idea is awesome: one dispenser that is easy to refill, easy to monitor and remotely manage. The machine will send info to let Coca-Cola monitor different trends, see when a certain drink is selling well, see if they need to recall another or see if something needs to be repaired. This will also make it easier for the owner of the machine to see when something is about to run out, etc.

The bad? Two things. The first–most concerning–problem from this is Coca-Cola’s ability to remotely manage the machine and release some kind of widespread liquid based epidemic. Lets face it this is bound to happen sooner or later will probably never happen but still–scary.

Seriously though. Here is the real issue.

Making something more complex than it needs to be.

Renting a movie at RedBox could not be simpler–easier than going to another store, walking through to find the movie you want then standing in line to pay for it–however those who are technologically challenged still take 10 times longer than it should to rent a movie. During my time in retail I saw that the majority of people would rather stand in a line of 5 to 10 people than use self checkout.

Now Coca-Cola is hoping to have standard fountain machines in restaurants replaced with these “Freestyle” drink machines. What do most of us think? Awesome! With the ability to choose from over 100 drinks on a touch screen that all come out of the same place we all feel a little bit closer to the Jetsons. But techy people aren’t the only only people who go to Mcdonalds. So, when we begin to see the “Freestyle” in our fast food restaurants expect to stand in line behind a few tech illiterate people who are starring at the screen confused and slightly scared.

Help them figure it out. You may be their only hope.

Google has hopped on the bandwagon celebrating the Moon landing anniversary by adding the Moon to its list of planets.

You can now visit the Earth, Mars, Moon and view the sky using the now inaccurately titled Google Earth desktop application or browser plugin. With most of the Moon you can zoom in uneccessarily close allowing you to see a bunch of grey. You can, however, zoom in to places of importance and see information about the landmark, see a 360 degree view or see replicas of the equipment that was/is there.

Below is a screenshot of the Apollo 16 site that I took zoomed at 6 different levels. Google adding the Moon to Google Earth is–I am sure–them preparing for us to begin populating it in the next year or two. But are location based services up and running for the Moon?

USB 3.0 was announced around a year ago. We were told it would be late 2009 before we actually saw ‘SuperSpeed’ USB 3.0 on the market and it looks like that estimate was pretty accurate. The Asus P6X58 motherboard boasts 3 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports. What is the difference? USB 3.0 ports are blue.

Pretty earthshattering huh? Well there–fortunately–is much more to it than that. Current USB 2.0 is rated at speeds of as high as 480Mbps. Real world you will see speeds as high as about 320Mbps. USB 3.0 is rated at 4.8Gbps! We will have to see how much of that we are actually able to utilize. To put this in perspective right now the fastest consumer level hard drive is rated at 3.0Gbps but most you see in retail stores are still 1.5Gbps.

What does this mean to you? Currently to drag over a 27GB HD movie via USB 2.0 you are looking at 15-20 minutes at least. With USB 3.0 you are going to be able to do that in less than 70 seconds. Can’t beat that. This opens up a whole new world of opportunities. For instance Red Box could just give everyone a USB drive instead of a DVD. You go to the Red Box, make your selection, plug in your thumb drive and boom in 10 seconds you have the 4GB DVD on your thumb drive with a 24 hour self destruct.

Or instead of buying PCs with hard drives everyone will just have a portable hard drive that is on their key chain or is simply their smartphone. When you go to work you just dock your thumb drive or iPhone and boot up. You leave for the day and go home and dock again and you can pick up where you left off.

This would not only be convenient but safe. You wouldn’t have to worry about someone getting onto your computer when you weren’t around because you would have all of the data with you. If we see this manifest itself in the future I want my commission.

First let me say I am not encouraging ANYONE to go swimming with their iPhone or strapping it to any fast moving air borne device. That being said enjoy:

I am guessing these guys are just recording the video to the phone but I am sure–if there aren’t already–we will start to see video streaming apps for the 3GS. All you would need then is a 2nd 3G device or another iPhone 3GS that you can use to control your plane from home and your command center–or Emperor workstation–would be complete. From your internet connection in your moms basement you could control and see what the plane saw and fly around the world–granted we are able to solve our energy concerns and we could create a Iron Man-like power source. I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

Rumors have been bouncing all around for several months about Amazon potentially acquiring Netflix. While I am sure there are some good things that would come from this I think that good would also come from them remaining separate. Competition is good.

We will update when we hear word one way or another.

After a big upgrade to our 386 my Uncle–plainly–explained to my Dad that, “…you will never need more than 80MB”.  I remember several years later upgrading to 500MB on our 90MHz Pentium PC and thinking, “I will never run out of room for my games”. Of course 6 months later I was hurting for space again while I tried to install SimCity 2000 and didn’t have the 20MB of space required for the install.

It has continued like this even after upgrading to hundreds of Gigabytes. Pulling 30 minutes of HD home videos from your camera takes up almost 5GB. Installing the latest game can take well over 10GB. Every PC sold from your local electronics store comes with several hundred Gigabtyes. While it is true that alot of that space goes to waste soon even the standard home users will be in need of Terabytes not just Gigabytes.  The picture below from Mozy gives us a look into what we will need in the near future.