New Florence. New Renaissance.

How would you like a 700 inch HD TV?

That's what the 30'x50' screen at the Republican Convention translates to. The podium in contrast is only 4' high - the lowest ever for a Republican convention so people in front do not need a rubber neck. (Photo credits FoxNews and Yahoo News)

Of course, it pales compared to the 70'x160' screen planned at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.

The "hyperconnected" hotel guest

"The world is made up of millions and millions of subcultures and as the diffusion of technology becomes more and prevalent across society, an emerging subculture is beginning to gain more and more power internationally: one that many people do not even realize they are a part of, and one that the hospitality industry needs to start catering to in order to increase profits. The subculture that I am referring to is the hyperconnected subculture.

The possibilities of using technology to cater to this group are endless.

"In hotels or restaurants [this technology can tell guests] that your room isn't ready or your table wasn't ready, but now it is. It [can be] sending special coupons or a location based service with concierge type functionality," says Connolly. "And especially now, you have people who are glued to these [gadgets] and are willing to ask questions of these devices to get answers."

Hospitality Technology

Tracking Hurricane Gustav and his friends

The National Hurricane Center page which shows a 3 day likely track "cone" of a hurricane has become one of the most visited sites in my family this summer. While slow government response to Katrina gets most of the attention, this agency does a really good job projecting weeks ahead tracks of hurricanes like Gustav using a mind-boggling range of technologies and techniques as I wrote here.

But while Gustav will get most of the attention the next few days, what is even scarier is the armada he is leading. The Center had the following graph and satellite image this morning which shows Hanna following Gustav and 2 more (which may end up being named Ike and Josephine as they develop over the next week) in the Atlantic


 

What CIOs do

McKinsey Quarterly (sub required) compiles a series of interviews (some are 2 years old) with executives of P&G, Volkswagen, Deutsche Post (which also owns DHL) and NetApp on technology direction, budgets and innovation.

Instant replay in Baseball

I have written before about technology in baseball - and how it lags that in many other sports. So, the limited instant replay starting today is a huge step forward - and in a game of purists, no guarantee it will be allowed to survive.

NBC Sports has a description of the NOC in New York.

"...video from the 30 major league ballparks is already being collected, and will be made available to umpires starting Thursday to help them with home-run calls. Technicians can zoom in on replays, run them at any speed.

"You can slow a picture down so much that you can see the grains of sand and the clay around the bag. You can see whether or not a person has shaved that day,"

See video at MLB.com here

Fashioning Technology

"A new book called Fashioning Technology: A DIY Intro to Smart Crafting will pull you out of your craft rut, as author Syuzi Pakhchyan shows step-by-step how to incorporate a tech flair to your projects. Armed with LEDs, phosphorescent ink, and polymorph plastic, among other "smart materials," you'll be making fun and funky accessories and toys in no time. Projects range from "Rock Star Headphones" to a "Luminescent Tea Table," combining the trendy handmade movement with a hip aesthetic."

Popular Science

A shining moment for LEDs

Think this Olympics was just about China Rising and Michael Phelps? I think the Opening Ceremony showed the ascendancy of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) as I cataloged here.

NY Times writes about the next generation of technology

Photo: Beijing's Giant LED wall courtesy of Gizmodo

"Carry Small, Live Large"

Intel introduces another 4 letter acronym to the world - CSLL - at its Developer Forum. Its vision of mobile applications includes the marriage of your PDA with various healthcare sensors.

Join me at 27.956508,-82.524175

Social Networking meets Location Services via Yahoo's Fire Eagle

"Fire Eagle is about helping you take your location to the Web and giving you control over how, when and with what your location is shared. You choose which applications can share and update your location. You choose how much information you want to share – from as broad as country or state, to as detailed as zip code or cross streets, and everything in between. You choose when and how to update your location."

Technology at the Conventions

From the text message announcing Joe Biden as his VP pick to his broader use of social networks,  Obama has transformed the way political campaigns will be conducted in the future.

In keeping with that trend, both the Democratic convention in Denver this week and the Republican convention in Minneapolis the week after will feature Silverlight, Twitter, streaming video and plenty of other new technology as this Daily Scoop post lists

Photo credit: GroundReport