Back in December, I ran a 5K that pretty much sucked ass. That is a whole different post, but my point in bringing it up here is the fact that I overheard quite a few runners talking about the fact that the chip timing system for this race malfunctioned because it didn’t record their start time, finish time or both. Now, the race planning was questionable at best because it was a race slated for about 5000 runners but the organizers allowed over 20,000 to register (at $45-65 a pop) and show up. (Can we say greedy?)

Eeep…a start corral with 4x the allotted traffic passing under the chip sensors? (Same with the finish line) Holy schnikes, of course people’s chips aren’t going to be read properly!!! I consider myself fortunate because both my start and finish *were* recorded properly. I will admit it was because I didn’t cross either in a sardine can-style…sometimes it pays to be slower that molasses LOL
So what does that say about RFID technology today? Have we made progress or are we just rehashing the same ideas and processes? I had pitched an idea to the department heads for using RFID coupled with barcode scanning to help streamline an inventory-tracking process that desperately needs to be updated, but was rebutted because of “prohibitive costs”. The research I had gathered said that RFID tags range anywhere from 80 cents a tag to $11. *ears flat* (we have over 10,000 units ranging from PCs, monitors, printers, PDAs, cellphones, external drives, etc.)

I volunteered to do a cost analysis for both ranges because I strongly feel our department could benefit from such a system, but then department budget cuts came down on my parade and that was the end of the discussion. Is it possible to have a cost-effective way to incorporate current, reliable technology in our everyday life and still be productive and accurate? Could we combine different genres of technology to enhance what we have now? (ie, GPS-style tracking for loaner laptops and equipment instead of having to install and pay for a separate program like Cyberangel)
Discuss.

The last thing we want is to cut off resources from our readers, but we feel that a day of protest is the right thing to do.  Without the sites, there is no World Wide Web.  The people are in charge, not the government and media companies!  #STOPSOPA

Android Design

In an attempt to reign in the variety of design styles within Android applications, Google unveiled Android Design.  It’s a site that was released specifically to give developers ideas on how to make their Android Apps look and feel more integrated into the Android operating system.  The site includes design principles, an overview of UI, and many other design related resources for Android developers to take advantage of.

As expected, the Android Design site itself is quite beautiful.  Their message about design and UI concepts would probably not carry much weight if they weren’t presented with great design in mind.  It seems that the search giant is starting to see that focusing on simplicity and keeping design tasteful will help them win in the long run.  My primary complaint about Android thus far has always been that it feels too cluttered.  Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), along with design help like this, will help to alleviate that complaint and push Android even further into the market share lead.

International CES 2012

Well, it’s that time of year again.  You know…that time of year when every other tech geek blogger is usually spouting off about the next best technologies being demo’d at CES.  For anyone that doesn’t know, CES is the world’s largest consumer electronics tradeshow.  In fact, it’s epic in size.  Some 3,000 companies show up to peddle their latest tech to the masses.  And every year, the “experts” predict the next top consumer technologies from the heap of contenders.  The issue that I take with CES is that inevitably, the most hyped technologies turn out to be total duds once they hit the market.

Remember 2009?  The hot tech buzz coming out of CES 2009 was Palm’s webOS.  How’d that work out?  Oh that’s right, Palm ended up near death and got purchased by HP only to see their precious webOS get turned into an even bigger failure in the tablet market.  Another hyped product from CES 2009 was the “Netbook”.  Remember these?  I know several people who actually got one.  Cheap, low spec laptops designed with couch web surfing in mind.  The result?  Enter the tablet, exit the netbook.

How about 2010?  Well, everyone was certain that 3D television would be the next smash hit.  Cut to a couple years later and 3D television isn’t really any further along than it was then.  I’ve seen 3D television in action before and it’s kinda cool.  It probably isn’t going anywhere as a technology, but it will probably never be a true selling point.

Well, what about last year?  CES 2011 was the year of the Android Tablets!  Something like 100 different Android based tablets were splashed around in front of the cheering ocean of consumer geeks.  They were ALL going to give the Apple iPad a run for its money.  I LOVE Android tablets.  I prefer a good Android tablet to the iPad.  However, MY opinion doesn’t translate into financial success for a technology.  The masses wanted iPads.  Most of the tablets exhibited at CES 2011 never made it to the marketplace at all.

So what’s my point?  When I see every tech blog out there spraying nonsense into the ether about this technology or that technology based on reports from CES, I get frustrated.  Ultra Definition Television?  Really?  They aren’t even trying anymore.  Flying cars, robot servants, holographic video phones…The utopian technolust world of The Jetsons sadly seems like a fallacy.  Perhaps, the best we can do is get The Jetsons boxset in 3D.

Funding Breakdown for SOPA

With SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA still looming, I have been coming across lots of ways to gain access to websites during a government shutdown of the internet.  Everything from dial-up modems to creating a mesh wireless network for communicating with others.  In the event of a DNS shutdown, all sites that have a dedicated IP address will still be reachable.  All you have to do is enter the IP.  Here’s an emergency list of IP’s for such a situation:

At least this register isn't empty...

As most PC users are aware, one of the first steps you take when connecting that spanking new gaming rig to the internet is make sure you have installed and configured a firewall to safeguard your system and connection from unwanted intruders.

Apparently, for approximately 200 small businesses, including at least 150 Subway franchises, whoever set up their Point-of-Sale (POS) systems was absent the day they taught Network Security Basics in school.  Over 80,000 customers had their credit card information stolen in a scam dating back to 2008, according to recently released court documents.

The culprit:

POS systems with open internet connections.  All the hackers had to do was run a simple port scan to find a way into the system, then they set up their trojan to collect and dump the data periodically.  Voila, free money.  Well at least until they got caught.

POS systems are actually supposed to be secured according to standards set forth by the individual card vendors, such as Visa and MasterCard, although there is a trade group, PCI, which has some basic standards in place, but no methods to ensure compliance.  PCI states that vendors should have two factor authentication in place if they accept swiped transactions, something that most likely would have prevented these attacks.

Think about this kind of stuff the next time you swipe your card to get that $5 footlong, and be vigilant in checking your account statements frequently to detect any fraudulent transactions.  Be safe out there kiddies!

For more info, check out:

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/index.php

and

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/12/how-hackers-gave-subway-a-30-million-lesson-in-point-of-sale-security.ars

Amazon's shipping manager ensures every box is correct before it ships.

With the holiday season in full swing, I really try to be a good consumer and do much of my shopping earlier in the month of December. And because the local malls and stores are filled to the brim with people who seem to lose their minds when presented with merchandise, I also try to do the bulk of the shopping online.

I’ve been an Amazon Prime subscriber for over 2 years now, and I really must say that it is an excellent service. For around $80 a year (less for students-YAY!) you get free 2-day shipping on all prime eligible purchases, as well as other perks like access to free online streaming movies and cloud storage. If you’re a busy professional or student, the service will pay for itself very quickly. I find myself ordering more and more items from Amazon, even things like peanut butter, because they are cheaper, and hey, the shipping is now free!

With all that being said, I recently received a coupon for the Home Shopping Network, and their website, hsn.com. I know what you are thinking. “What did Beef buy at 3am on TV to get this coupon?” Well the answer would be nothing, but the coupon was good for $20 off any $40 order, so I figured I would use it. I made my purchase online on December 13, well before any deadlines for shipping in time Christmas. And then, I waited.

I waited some more.

No updates. No emails. No tracking information. No shipping status. Nothing.

Finally, becoming a little concerned, I called HSN on December 21, and I was assured that the item would still arrive by the 23rd. I wake up the next morning on the 22nd, and what do I see waiting for me in my email box but a message from HSN.

My order was cancelled, 3 days before Christmas. No explanations, no apology, just cancelled.

Thankfully, Amazon came to the rescue, as they had the same item in stock, and I was able to upgrade my shipping to overnight through my prime account for only $4. Item is en route on a UPS truck as I type this. So I guess the moral of the story is Amazon rocks, and HSN can kick rocks. Thanks Amazon!

More info on Amazon Prime is available here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/prime/ref=footer_prime/192-1036267-6037003

Google Robot Car

A few days ago, Google landed a patent for a control method for a robotic vehicle.  The specifics are even cooler!  The vehicle’s ability to change from being human-controlled to autonomous was featured in the patent request.  Using visual indicators like barcodes or RFID tags, the car will be able to switch from one mode to another.

Imagine taking a road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles.  Now imagine that I-5 (the majority of the drive) was setup to support autonomous vehicles using RFID or roadside barcodes.  You would only need to drive your car to I-5 from which point the car would take over and you could kick back and enjoy the ride all the way down I-5!  Pretty cool huh?

A car could, for example, drive to a specific location and based on a visual indicator on a “landing strip,” such as a bar code or radio tag, the car would then transition to autonomous operation. One could imagine, for example, bringing a car to a roadway dedicated to autonomous vehicles where the transition would take place.

One of the obvious benefits to autonomous vehicles is a reduction in traffic accidents.  It will also help relieve the stress of long road trips and commutes.  We are, of course, a long way from having the infrastructure for such an undertaking.  However, the fact that this patent was awarded to a company with so many resources is very promising!

iPhone 5

After expecting the iPhone 5 earlier this year and instead being presented with the iPhone 4S, a lot of people have dismissed the iPhone 5 for now.  Not us though!  We are still digging through rumors and strangely worded press releases to get the truth for you!  We have come to the conclusion that the release date for the iPhone 5 will likely be in mid 2012.  We would bet on Summer 2012.  As soon as we get more information, we will post it here!   Below are some rumors about the coming iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 Specs

If you want to know what will be in it, just look at the licensed hardware manufacturers!  A glimpse at ARM’s roadmap shows a quad-core processor planned to launch around the same time as the iPhone 5.  It will likely be called the A6.  Quad-core will be the mobile trend of 2012.

iPhone 5 Mobile Network

The iPhone 5 will most definitely be 4g LTE.  It would be the death of the iPhone if it didn’t!

iPhone 5 Form Factor

When the iPhone 5 is released, we will be seeing a completely new form factor.  It will likely be a drastic change from the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.

We will continue to post updates here as we get them!

Eclipse

A while back, we published an article chock full of free apps.  There was a lot of stuff that we left out though.  One of the glaring holes was in the Programming/Development section.  We completely left out Eclipse.  One reason for this is that Eclipse isn’t really an app.  It is an entire development environment.  The project is completely open source and it is one of the most powerful resources available to developers…and it’s free!  So, what is Eclipse exactly?

About Eclipse

From their website: Eclipse is an open source community, whose projects are focused on building an open development platform comprised of extensible frameworks, tools and runtimes for building, deploying and managing software across the lifecycle. The Eclipse Foundation is a not-for-profit, member supported corporation that hosts the Eclipse projects and helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services.

Where to Download

You can find the Eclipse Project at http://www.eclipse.org.