New Florence. New Renaissance.

High-Tech Haunted Houses

Spooky Halloween to readers!

"If you haven’t been inside a haunted house for awhile, you might be shocked to see how far they have come. The haunted houses of today have animatronics and Hollywood-quality sets and special effects designed to shock you and make you scream.Haunted houses around America keep trying to one-up each other with the latest technology and special effects."

Atypical Events then highlights several around the US including The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, LA

The "Kindness" Lab

"Kind Technology combines computer science with several other disciplines—everything from design to behavioral sciences—to build technology that better intuits our needs. Several institutions, including Stanford and the University of Maryland, offer advanced degree programs in the field. Major corporations including IBM and Microsoft have founded entire research arms devoted to human-computer interaction. In 1994, Carnegie Mellon became the first college to found a Human-Computer Interaction Institute and started the first Ph.D program in the concentration. Its students will go on to create the Kind Tech gadgets we’ll enjoy in the future."

Spririt Magazine

"The Paperless Paper"

"By deciding this week to end its daily print edition and publish only online, the distinguished but struggling—The Christian Science Monitor has simultaneously become the newspaper industry's worst fear and its model for salvation. Beginning next April, the Monitor will become the first national newspaper to switch from daily print to online—though, perhaps to hedge its bets, it will launch a weekly print edition."

Newsweek

Image of planned weekly paper edition

Facebook, SAP and college class scheduling

"Student's can add this application to their Facebook account and will then be able to access their universities schedule from within the Social Network. The student will be presented an overview of his weekly classes. By selecting any of these classes he will be directed to the detailed view of this class, where he or she can get detailed information, up- and download documents and images, and chat with other students by using a discussion board. The application makes use of Facebook's social graph, by bringing together the student's friend list, and SLcM's list of users that participate in the course. This way the student gets an overview of all his friends that are with him in the course, as well as those people he doesn't know yet, but might like to get in contact with."

SAP Network Blogs

"Entreprenuer Journeys"

She calls them a "book of short stories" - her series of interviews with 12 entrepreneurs.

 "All those dinners, lunches, coffees, teas, and glasses of wine from which so many stories have flowed – I invite you to experience them with me."It is clear Sramana Mitra, Valley consultant, Forbes columnist and fellow blogger lives, live and breathes high-tech.

While many entrepreneurial books focus on Jobs or Gates and their entrepreneurial roots a long time ago, I liked that Sramana focuses on more contemporary stuff - Steve Hafner of Kayak, Sridhar Vembu of Zoho, Hans Peter Michelet of Energy Recovery. And is global with a focus on MercadoLibre in Argentina, SELCO in India etc.

She says it is Book 1 - so look forward to a steady stream of more journeys.

The Economist on Cloud Computing

The Economist has a free survey on cloud computing, SaaS etc - the changing face of corporate IT.

Here's a summary

"This special report will chronicle the rise of the cloud and try to predict where it is heading. It will start by looking at the technology. Computing clouds are immensely complex, but can be roughly divided into three layers: infrastructure, applications and the periphery where they meet the real world. These will be discussed in turn. The report will go on to consider the impact the cloud will have on the IT industry and the economy as a whole. The conclusion will look at what might stop the cloud from growing ever thicker: regulation and worries about the safety of both personal and corporate data."

Google Earth on iPhone

"Google Earth lets people virtually fly around a 3D view of the world made from satellite and aerial imagery mapped onto the planet's mountains and valleys. The iPhone version reproduces this core experience, downloading imagery from Google's servers as the perspective shifts and dotting the map with landmarks, photos, and other information."

CNet

Diwali and Technology

Diwali - the Hindu Festival of Lights ...and firecrackers and gifts and celebrations.

I polled several folks in Indian outsourcing firms last week about how high-tech was changing the holiday. I had hoped someone would come back and say LED, and fireworks synchronization technology as was evident at the Olympics Ceremony in Beijing had arrived.

Not quite, but the gifts are increasingly electronic - no wonder Canon is rolling out 85 products in India and Apple the Indian version of the iPhone for the holidays and electronic cards are increasingly the rage.

Aah...The Refurbished Car Smell

Admit it - one of the reasons to shop for a new car is the technology they include - navigation, entertainment, communication. But it is shocking how much auto makers and dealers expect for them. In addition to the new car price.

So here's an innovation - innovate your used car.

For $ 500 or so you can upgrade your car to get many of those technologies. And many of the gadgets below are portable so you can take them with you on the road - or to another car.  Most categories have plenty of choices - my examples are representative. Also, many devices are converging so you may find some offering composite features.

To start with, pamper your neglected old car. Get it a detail and an auto vaccine.  While you could spend a lot more, you can get both for under $ 100.  

Then consider some of these:

• A power inverter - like this one from Digital Concepts which has 2 USB outlets and a AC and DC outlet for under $ 40.
• MP3 Cassette adapter - so you can play your MP3 or PDA based music through your car stereo. Like this Phillips Cassette Adapter for around $ 20 (or better - technology has been around since CD players came out a while ago). You may need an adapter if your music player only supports 2.5'' or USB outlets.
• If the car does not have a cassette player, hook your MP3 to a Kensington FM Transmitter for around $ 40.  If you travel a fair bit, you may have to keep switching frequencies to get away from static.
• Get your kids a portable DVD player like this one from Vextra (with a holster which fits on the back of a car seat) for under $ 100.
• Of course, if you drive quite a bit to unfamiliar places, get a GPS Unit  like the Garmin Nuvi 255 which Consumer Reports rates highly and costs around $ 225. You can also buy refurbished GPS units for under $ 100. There are others much higher with many more features. Also, many phones now come with GPS chips and using Google Maps or Microsoft Live on them you can get around fairly well.
•  If you like to talk while driving, get a Bluetooth Speakerphone like the MOTOROKR T505 for under $ 100. Use it for your phone calls or your music - it supports A2DP streaming - assuming your PDA or Mp3 player does. Or if you not mind Bluetooth headsets get a nice one with decent noise suppression like the Jawbone for around $ 100 - that way you can continue your conversation when you arrive at your destination.
• Get a portable XM Radio like the Samsung YP-X5X for under $ 100. You will need a monthly XM subscription with basic car plans starting at $ 9.99 a month.
• Backup camera with night vision that can be mounted on your car license plate for under $ 75, is triggered when you reverse and can project to a DVD screen inside the car. 
• Finally, don't forget a multi-outlet car charger for under $ 10. Don't overload your poor car's battery but think of gadgets you can use with the extra outlets - like a Koolatron cooler for around $ 65.

Goes without saying - but obey local laws around use of phones and GPS while driving. And keep these devices well "docked" and otherwise tied down. Also Bluetooth and GPS will drain your phone battery faster - and charging all these devices will likely reduce life of your car battery.

Update: More tech to spruce up your old car at New York Times

Jetblue's new JFK Terminal 5

I have written before about JetBlue's IT innovations.

Now it unveils a new state of the art terminal

"The design and amenities of T5 allow customers to control their own movement and experience through the terminal. Two mirror-image check-in areas with a high proportion of e-ticket kiosks flank a central security checkpoint -- the largest single checkpoint in the United States -- capable of accommodating 20 screening lanes. An automated "in-line" baggage system efficiently moves bags from the check-in lobby, where customers can place bags on the belts themselves, through screening and to the ramp for delivery to waiting aircraft. Electronic displays direct customers to their gates where they may access the terminal's free Wi-Fi network, relax in the large gate areas with ample seating, and enjoy the unparalleled runway views from the building's many windows."

See video "Architecture as Marketing"

See also interview with Joseph Eng of JetBlue at Gartner ITxpo

Photo credit: GlobalNewswire