February 28th, 2006
This is a pretty cool new feature, with possibly the worst name ever. Some folks at Microsoft recently launched the (bear with me) Windows Live Local Virtual Earth Technology Preview (the naming scheme immediately reminded me of this spoof). As I understand it, you can ‘drive’ around Seattle and San Francisco, passing through and panning around a series of photos. Is it spectacular? Not really. It’s it kinda cool? Yes.
A9 has had something similar for a while, but I think the Virtual Earth execution is better. This is only a technology preview, which tends to precede Beta, so I won’t even log feature requests at this time.
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February 21st, 2006
I know when I’m on the wind-swept dunes of the Sahara or the ice fields of the Antarctic, I have a hard time charging my Nokia. Happily, a brainy science graduate in India has come up with a wind-powered charger:
It is basically a small fan with blades of 10 cms diameter connected to a generator with an output wire which connects to your mobile phone. The average efficiency of windmills is found to be 35 per cent as compared with five to 15 per cent of solar units. The components are weather proof so you can use it any weather conditions and being lightweight it can be carried easily. Batteries of Laptops. Handhelds, MP3 players, Videogames can be charged using the Micro Windmill Charger.
This comes courtesy of New Launches, who has the most advertising-per-square-blog that I’ve ever seen. They even have shameful ’sponsored links’ within the text of each entry. You know, guys, you can take monetization too far.
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February 17th, 2006
One of my first entries on this site happened to be about the wifi access in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Coincidentally, Neville Hobson complains about the exhorbitant pricing at the same facility:
Sitting in departure lounge 3 at Schiphol airport, waiting for my flight to Manchester. As is natural at times and places like this when you have a spare sixty minutes or so, I connect to the net to pick up email and to see what’s going on.
I tell you, Schiphol’s wifi pricing is about the most ridiculous I’ve seen anywhere. Two payment choices - either 6 euro for 30 minutes or 10 euro for 24 hours. Wifi service at this airport is via Attingo, a Netherlands-based company I’ve not come across before.
You know, I’ve paid more, but that is highway robbery. The comments feature some other complaints about the high price of wifi around Europe.
Technorati Tags: airport, wifi, internet access, amsterdam, Schiphol
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February 13th, 2006
Let’s be honest, air travel sucks. It always has, and I suspect it always will. Yes, there were those glorious ten hours when I flew international first class from London to Vancouver, but they’re over-shadowed by hundreds of hours spent folded into a seat back with the pions in coach.
Jeremy has had a particularly lousy run of luck over the past couple of days:
Last night’s flight: Cancelled
This morning’s 7am flight: Delayed until 10am (missing my connecting flight in Philly)
Current departure state: Limbo (they have no idea when we’ll leave)
Thankfully, Frontier has a great free lounge here in Rochester Airport, so I’m pretty comfortable. But, I’m already 24 hours delayed, and if I don’t arrive in Bangor by 3:30pm, I’ll be another 24 hours delayed.
Ever just want to be home and screw all this travelling stuff?
He doesn’t mention his final destination (or I missed it), but I suspect it isn’t, you know, Ouagadougo.
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February 13th, 2006
When I lived in Ireland, I had difficulty explaining how insanely popular sushi was in Vancouver. Eventually, I hit upon this metaphor: there’s a sushi restaurant in Vancouver for every pub in Dublin. The Irish would just nod in quiet awe of our Asian fusion.
MapEire shows pricing and location information for petrol stations and parking lots around Ireland. More importantly, they offer vital information on the cost of a pint of lager or Guinness. Clearly their data set is pretty small, as they only display about 60 pubs, and there are apparently over 900 in Dublin.
Could some local design a similar mashup for Vancouver, featuring sushi joints, coffee joints and, I don’t know, joint joints?
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February 3rd, 2006
A good question, and an important one for any nerds driving around Europe and crossing borders willy-nilly. Here’s the answer.
I was living in Ireland when they banned their use there, and the fines were pretty steep. Here’s a sampling of countries and restrictions:
Australia - Banned in all states - fines vary though.
Austria - Fines vary - up to US$22 per incident
Belgium - Phones can be used without a hands-free unit when the car is stationary - but not while in traffic (such as at traffic lights)
Brazil - Ban imposed Jan. 2001
Clearly we’re idiots on this point in North America. From a quick look, 90% of the rest of the planet has banned this practice. Why haven’t we?
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