New Florence. New Renaissance.

The iPhone App Store

As it prepares to launch the 3G phone. Apple showcases the applications its ecosystem has been developing.

Pretty impressive that 540+ applications and games have been developed so quickly

Hotel 1000: Seattle's High Tech Marvel

Hospitality Technology awards the 2008 Hotel Visionary Award for overall technology innovation to Hotel 1000.

Besides several communication innovations, I liked the digital sensors which aided by infra-red rays help in keeping temperatures comfortable and also tell room service if someone is in the room, the video phones so you can see the employees you are talking to, and the Vocera communication devices staff members use to stay in touch (as their counterparts in health care have done for a while)

The High-Tech Road Trip

Electronic House magazine in its July/August issue lays out 10 high tech items for a road trip.

They include

• XM or Sirius Radio
• an in-dash computer with GPS et al from Azentek
• a remote home monitoring solution from Portus Home
• portable media player (and GPS) from Archos
• navigational touchscreen from Pioneer
• for the kids, the Sirius backseat TV
• access all your home media content via this Singleclick product
• your own boom box with JVC 1500 watt sub-woofers!
• more home controls - remotely via HAI's Snap-Link
• a cooler which plugs into your car lighter from Koolatron

So get Ready to get your kicks on Route 66.

Picture credit of the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK - National Historical Route 66 Federation

"The Geeky Congresswoman"

Scoble interviews Zoe Lofgren, who represents California's 16th Congressional District which includes San Jose and Silicon Valley.

Good to see a wide range of topics from Net Neutrality to H1-B's to privacy are top of her mind.

What will next-gen mobile devices have?

So, if Apple brings out a third generation phone in 2009 what additional features will it likely have?

Popular Science offers some suggestions.

Better camera - not just more pixels, sharper photos even in dim light
Projector - TV quality pictures upto "15 inches wide in a well-lit room and 40 inches wide in the dark"
PC Grade Computing and Graphics
Touchpads for fingerprint security and navigation.

UK Government sponsored data mashup

BBC News

"The (UK) government is opening up gigabytes of information from a variety of sources (to the public). This includes mapping information from the Ordnance Survey, medical information from the NHS , neighbourhood statistics from the Office for National Statistics and a carbon calculator from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). "

"It is hoping to find new uses for public information in the areas of criminal justice, health and education. "

Innovations in Olympic Athletic Gear

FastCompany has a photo gallery of innovations in swimwear, cooling vests, baseball bats and more

Best IT Workplaces

As usual Computerworld's annual issue has the best places for IT professionals, things they value and features such as dealing with Gen Y workers, telecommuters and more.

Celestial Show for 4th of July

"The show gets going on Friday, July 4th. Red Mars and ringed Saturn converge just to the left of the bright star Regulus. The three lights make a pretty 1st-magnitude line in the heavens

But that is just the beginning. On Saturday, July 5th, with weekend fireworks at fever pitch, a lovely crescent Moon joins the show. Saturn, Mars, and the Moon trace an even brighter line than the night before"

see NASA post for coordinates for the show

Pyro Olympics

As we plan our "shock and awe" in fireworks all over the US today, it is useful to see how the art of pyrotechnics is evolving around the world

The 3rd annual Pyro Olympics were held in May in the Philippines and Italy won the competition. Here is a YouTube snippet on the display.