Technology Simplified™

I’ve pledged how about you? June 17, 2008 is the official release date for FF3 and you can sign up now to be a part of setting a world record for number of downloads in 1 day. From everything published on the web, FF3 will be THE browser for 2008 and beyond. I converted over 2 years ago and never looked back. At that time FF only had about 10% market share, now FF2 is over 25% and growing. Remember, IE comes pre-installed on all PC’s so that’s a HUGE advantage for MS and they are still losing the battle. I love my FF and I think you will too. Sign up and download on 6-17 and be part of the record.

Spread Firefox | Download Day 2008

What can I say. Just when they tell you that laser printers can be kicking out the same amount of crap in the air as second hand smoke, this article/video comes along and proves that ink jet technology can really mess you up.

Source: Million Rounds Per Minute: Ghastly Guns Putting the Hurt on You - Gizmodo

Who can pass up Tech advice from Martha. Wii still love you Martha!

Whether you’re a programmer or a seamstress, it’s all about new techniques, simplifying old techniques, and consolidating steps. Making things go faster — but not worse. Better.

Source: Martha Stewart Geeks Out for Wired’s Annual How To Guide

I checked out the website and it’s pretty cool. Is this the future of clothing…custom made over the web and delivered for free? I hope so.

BlueCotton Custom T-shirts has put together a sophisticated Photoshop-like web app to let you design your own shirt, resulting in a screen-printed or custom embroidered garment with a tremendous amount of control over the results.

Source: PhotoShirt: BlueCotton Custom T-Shirts, Exactly The Way You Want Them - Gizmodo

I’m noticing a theme here of medical/safety devices. Again, I couldn’t pass up informing my gentle readers about this. Simply amazing.

To start with, it doesn’t require any batteries, as it uses the force of the body’s own muscles. They are activated “by moving the residual finger when available, or the opposing finger when needed.

Source: Pull My Digit: Video of Artificial Finger Shows It’s Neither Digital Nor Made of Chicken - Gizmodo

 Again, not specifically computer technology, but this was too interesting to pass up. A more reliable and predictable way to prescribe specific drugs for specific patients. Of course, this presupposes we will all know our genetic profiles, but that’s in the works too.

A panel of 36 mice could finally deliver the long-unfulfilled promise of personalized medicine.
The mice were specially bred to match the genetic makeup of most human genetic profiles, and should help scientists determine which drugs are dangerous — or more effective — for individuals before they reach the market.

Source: Specially Bred Mice May Hold Keys to Personalized Medicine

OK, so this isn’t really computer technology, but it is pretty cool technology. It took us ’til the 21st century before we came up with a way to keep people from sawing their digits off. I love the USA!
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SawStop is a safety feature that immediately stops and retracts a spinning saw blade if it comes in contact with anything that even remotely resembles your finger.

Source: Finger Saver: Amazing SawStop Cuts Anything But Your Fingers - Gizmodo

You have to watch this video. The technology is fantastic! Order your meal and pay for it all at the table! You can even drag and drop items to your credit card to split the check. Amazing! Right now MS is selling these things for $10K each and only to restaurants, bars, etc. but this is the future baby!

Source: Sticker Shock: Video of Bill Gates Showing off his Expensive Table - Gizmodo

My wise readers have probably already come to this conclusion, but just in case here’s the skinny on the forever stamp.

Slate columnist Nathaniel Rich calls our previously-posted advice to save money buying U.S. “forever stamps” a bad idea, because postal rates have increased more slowly than the actual inflation rate in the last 30+ years.

Source: We Were Wrong: Forever stamp not a good investment - Lifehacker

It’s interesting to track this sort of development. The article later references the fact that NHK also developed HDTV back in 1969! It took almost 40 yrs. to make that technology commercial, so I guess we shouldn’t hold our breath for Super Hi-Vis HDTV. Still it’s good to know HD’s successor is already in the works.

You think your HDTV is impressive? Your HDTV sucks. Sorry, I don’t mean to be a jerk, but it’s no longer cutting edge. 1920×1080? Please. Japanese broadcaster NHK has come up with what they call Super Hi-Vision, and it puts HD to shame with an insane resolution of 7680×4320. Yeah, that’s the equivalent of 16 HDTVs crammed into one. Like I said, your HDTV sucks.

Source: Inadequacy: Super Hi-Vision Makes Your HDTV Obsolete Already - Gizmodo