Tech
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
by Jeff
So much for my thought to edit Ryan Seacrest’s Wikipedia page to say he was once spotted drunk in Los Angeles wearing a sombrero screaming lines from ¡Three Amigos!
Wikipedia is thinking about having edits approved by registered, trusted editors. Not a bad idea, but that does take a lot of the fun away from Wikipedia when you try to find the funny edits on pages before they get removed.
Being anonymous makes people confident that they can trash a Wikipedia page, but sometimes you’re not as anonymous as you might think. When the WJBQ Wikipedia page was vandalized, it was a pretty simple matter for me to trace the IP address of the edit and find out who did it. That was fun!
Actually, I think the real reason that Wikipedia is limiting edits is because of what Frank did on 30 Rock:
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
by Jeff
Ever since I saw Back To The Future at the age of 14, I’ve always wanted to time travel. Just being able to go anywhere in time and observe the world just fascinates me.
However I don’t know how to make a flux capacitor, have no access to plutonium, and can’t afford a 25 year old Delorean, so all I can do is predict the future. When I say predict the future I don’t mean boring stuff like if we’ll solve the issue of global warming or if President Obama will be elected to a second term. I mean stuff that won’t be used anymore in 10 years. For instance, when was the last time you actually rented a VHS movie? Yeah about 10 years ago.
So here’s a list of the things that we use everyday that I think will be dinosaurs in 2018:
The Phone Company
Ma Bell ain’t what she used to be. In 10 years will anyone have a land line, copper wire phone? Most people I know are much easier to reach on their wireless phones than a home based phone, and a lot of people I know don’t even have a land line. Then there are people like me that use Voice over IP for just $15 a month. Suck it Ma Bell.
The Compact Disc
I don’t even know why we are still using this in 2008. Back in 1986 it was the best thing since vinyl, but in 2008 isn’t most music bought on the Internet (or downloaded illegally off the Internet)? These days if you win a CD from a radio station, it costs you more money in gas to drive to the station to pick it up then it would to buy it on iTunes and have it in five minutes.
As for computer software on CD, that’s going away too. Online distribution of software is already taking over, and it feeds that instant gratification need that I have way too much of. In 2018 kids will be asking "Dad, what was it like only being able to have 12 songs to play at a time?"
Newspapers
Well newspapers won’t be totally gone in 2018, but they already have one foot in the grave as it is. How many people under the age of 30 do you know who read the local newspaper every single day? Some newspapers already know they are a dying breed and are desperately trying to cater to the young tech-savy crowd. Some pull it off, others fail miserably.
Anytime you pick up a newspaper you’re reading old news. The information age demands news now. In depth coverage of stories can be found on many other free alternatives. Let’s face the reality people. The only real reason to get the paper these days is for Peanuts re-runs, death notices, and coupons, two of which can be found from other sources.
Newspapers in 2018 won’t be nearly as news focused and will be available online or delivered via a feed to some portable device that is actually worth reading a paper on. Of course they won’t be on paper anymore, but we’ll still call them newspapers, for the same reason every time we record something on the DVR we say we’re "taping" it.
Video Stores
Remember in the early 80’s when you would go to the video store and pick out a movie on VHS from their wide selection of twenty films, and also rent the VCR? It was a different time my friends, and in 2018, the word Blockbuster will once again mean a hugely successful movie rather than a chain of video rental stores.
Ever since someone realized you can easily mail a DVD and invented Netflix, video rental stores have been closing one after another. In 2018, you won’t even have to wait a day to get that red envelope in the mail. I’m not even waiting now for some things. I bought the Roku Netflix player and am watching movies and tv shows in my "Watch Now" queue on Netflix, um, now. On my TV. That’s freakin’ awesome! Sure it’s VHS quality right now, so I’m a little early 80’s all over again, but with increased bandwidth by 2018, HD streaming quality is a given and you’ll no longer be waiting at the mailbox like a crack addict for that next red envelope to show up.
So this is just the half of what I predict you won’t find in 2018. If you read this far, you might actually be interested to hear what else I think will go away in the future with part 2 of this intriguing tale. If you aren’t interested, then you’ll know to avoid it when you see the headline, hopefully posted here before 2018.
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
by Jeff
I never managed to get invited to the private beta of Hulu, but I don’t have to wait anymore. Hulu went live this morning, and it’s pretty freaking sweet. Finally the television and movie studios are getting the idea. Sure, you have to watch it on your computer with a few short commercials, but there’s a ton of content available from full length movies to current and old television shows. You can even embed clips into your own site! I’m testing out the embedding feature myself, so please enjoy The Hoff in his return as Michael Knight in the new Knight Rider TV movie.
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
by Jeff
A NASA Mars rover got this shot of a man sitting on a rock on Mars. This just a month after it photographed Elvis on a grilled cheese sandwich.
Images: Is that a rock or a man on Mars? | CNET News.com
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
by Jeff
You really know you’re a geek when you are excited like it’s Christmas expecting Apple CEO Steve Jobs to announce at MacWorld Expo a new software update for the iPhone. I’d never owned a single piece of hardware from Apple until I got my iPhone, so this was the first time I actually cared about Steve Jobs keynote at MacWorld. I cared so much that I was glued to my web browser at noon sharp clicking refresh until my finger was sore to get all the juicy updates from Engadget as they reported live from the keynote.
It didn’t take long to find out Jobs has announced what I was hoping for. The speculation was true. Apple was releasing a long overdue update to the iPhone software. I love most everything about my iPhone, but like every good piece of hardware, it has it’s little annoyances. Hopefully this update would fix those.
Here’s what the new software adds straight from Engadget:
- Maps: New hybrid view, same as Google Maps. Satellite imagery and street mapping available on a single view.
- Maps: Location triangulation. Uses nearby WiFi access points and GSM towers to roughly guesstimate your current location.
- Web Clips: Web bookmarks can now be saved as home screen icons, including zoom and location information.
- Home screen: Icons on the home screen can now be rearranged.
- Home screen: Up to 9 home screens can now be created and “flicked” between.
- SMS: A single text message can now be sent to multiple recipients; groups can be recalled for future use.
- iTunes: Movie rentals are now supported.
- iTunes: Support for lyrics.
- iTunes: Option to “manually manage” music and videos instead of synchronizing.
Ok, they added some nice features. Being able to add “Web Clips” to the home screen is huge, but even more huge is the location triangulation via cell towers. I thought this would be great, if it actually worked.
It took a while to get the update since the servers were busy chugging along sending the update out to the 4 million iPhone users, but finally it connected and installed. I immediately went to Google Maps, and crossed my fingers. My money was on the iPhone not being able to find me very well in good old rural Lisbon, Maine. I would have lost that bet. Sure enough, it managed to show the satellite map of right where my house should be. I say “should be”, because up until two years ago there were just woods where my house stands now. GPS? Bah!
Impressive. Most impressive. Here’s what’s not so impressive about this update. Apple needs to add several more things to make me completely happy:
MMS
Why I can’t send a picture via text message to a friend on the most expensive, tricked out cell phone on the planet is beyond me. Come on Apple! It’s no fun when I can’t play “Guess what this is a close up of” with my friends when I should be working.
Wireless Sync
I’m lazy. I don’t want to walk downstairs to the basement where my computer sits each night to dock my iPhone. It would be much easier to have the dock upstairs near the door, so at night I drop it in the dock while it charges and wirelessly syncs up with the latest podcasts and newest pictures of my son. If the Zune can do it, so can the iPhone.
Landscape Virtual Keyboard
This is the most annoying feature that hasn’t been added, especially since the iPhone can already do it! Why you can only hold the iPhone length wise and get the keyboard in the web browser is beyond me. It’s a hundred times easier to type when there’s more real estate for those virtual keys. Make it work everywhere.
Cut and Paste
A computer function that has existed since before I was using the TI-99/4A. Adding the ability to email the URL of a webpage solves half that problem, but let’s put this decades old technology to full use.
Third Party Apps
I’ll cut Apple some slack on this one. They’re coming this year as soon as Apple releases a software developers kit. Fair enough.
That’s a pretty short list of requests to make me happy. Paul Thurrott pointed out in a blog post on his gripes with the iPhone, that to own the iPhone for the two year contract that Apple/AT&T make you sign, costs anywhere from $2000 to $3000 depending on your plan. I think Apple owes me.
Saturday, December 29th, 2007
by Jeff
The only thing the RIAA is missing now is a guy in a black suit that breathes heavily. The RIAA once again proves it hates the very people who line their multi-billion dollar pockets. The RIAA has now gone so far as to sue a man for ripping CD’s he legally purchased into his computer. What?!? They contend it is illegal to copy music you own onto your computer. I had to read this twice to be sure, but the guy wasn’t even sharing these files on the Internet. He just made a copy to put on his computer, like I’ve done with all my music on CD. I did it because CD’s are inconvenient, outdated technology. Why should my CD collection become obsolete. Does the RIAA seriously think I should buy all my music all over again in digital DRM’d format?
The guy is fighting it though, and I sure as hell hope he wins. Nothing would make me happier then seeing the greedy RIAA be told where to stick it.
RIAA suing citizen for copying legally purchased CDs to PC – Engadget
Thursday, December 27th, 2007
by Jeff
It’s taken years, but it looks like the record labels are finally figuring it out. Warner has just added their entire digital music catalog to the Amazon mp3 store, and it’s all completely DRM free. In other words, no copy protection. Why did it take this long for them to figure out that they can’t stop piracy, and by trying they are only hurting people who actually are honest and pay for content? If I buy a song on iTunes, I want to be able to play it on not just my iPhone but also through Windows Media Center. If I want several copies of it on different computers, I should have the freedom to do that. After all, I bought the music, so I should be able to do what I want with it right? That’s why I buy my music from Amazon’s mp3 store whenever possible.
When it’s not possible is when it’s on the Sony/BMG label. They are the only label left that does not offer DRM free music, but I can’t imagine that will last very long. Until they give in as well, I’ll buy their music on iTunes, burn it to CD, then rip it back in DRM free. There’s always a way around copy protection, and it can never be stopped. I’m thrilled the record companies finally are getting it. Hey Motion Picture Association! You paying attention?
Warner’s Entire Digital Music Catalog For Sale on Amazon as MP3s | Listening Post from Wired.com
Saturday, December 22nd, 2007
by Jeff
Strap yourselves in people, I’m gonna get all geek on you on this one.
The radio station I work for just launched a brand new website with a new designer and host. It’s another one of those turnkey corporate type deals, where everyone has the same template for their site, but the colors and logo are different for each. There’s a lot of things I like about the new site. Website technology moves fast, and our old site wasn’t keeping up.
However there’s one thing about this new hosting service that leaves me scratching my head. We are allocated a grand total of 1GB of server space. That’s right, one. I’ve got a USB thumb drive that holds more then that. The hosting service I use for thejeffparsonsproject.com allows me 300GB, and it’s cheap. For less then $100 a year I get 300GB of storage and 3000GB of bandwidth a month. So let’s do the math on that one. Big corporation with 170+ radio stations each get 1GB of storage space a piece. Guy writing his own little personal blog gets twice the space of 170+ radio stations combined. See how that math doesn’t make much sense.
We get told that this should be plenty of space. Well I’ve been creating podcasts for the morning show for over two years now. In fact I was involved in a conference call with the head of Top 40 programming a few years ago to teach everyone how to do this. Once again, we were ahead of the curve. Each 90 minute podcast is the entire show minus commercials and music. Works out to about a file size of 35-40MB in 64k mono at 44.1mhz. Very reasonable size for 90 minutes of audio in this day of high speed internet access, but you don’t need a calculator to figure out that I’ll burn through our entire storage space in less then a month with podcasts alone.
So to deal with this insane shortage of space, I’ve begun hosting the podcasts here on thejeffparsonsproject.com. I shouldn’t have to, but I’ve got an obligation to our podcast listeners. It’s really cool to get emails from people listening to our show on their iPod while they ride to work on the T in Boston. That’s a reach never before attainable in radio. Sure, I could have a small archive of only the last few shows, but what podcaster does that?
I don’t know the reasoning behind the lack of space. I’m guessing corporate got a cheap deal with limited bandwidth. Regardless, it doesn’t seem very well thought through. That’s ok though. I’ll just shake my head in disbelief and make it work. It’s what we do in 21st century corporate America.
Monday, November 12th, 2007
by Jeff
Ok I haven’t really ruined Christmas, but that’s what my wife kind of thinks. Before she leaves a comment explaining her side of things, I’ll give you my side since this is after all thejeffparsonsproject.com.
For the past twenty plus years the act of giving me a gift for Christmas has lost the element of surprise. When you’re a kid you ask for all kinds of things for Christmas. For me as a child it was one of everything in the Sears Christmas Wish Catalog. Everything that is except for the stuff in the girls section. My parents were always good to me at Christmas too. I was very lucky.
By 1986 and the age of 15, I had changed up what I wanted for Christmas. Star Wars figures were out, and big ticket items were in, like a computer. It’s all I wanted in ‘86, and I got it. A Tandy 1000EX with a whopping 256K of RAM and dual 5 1/4 inch floppy drives. It was fantastic and back then cost more then computers cost today. It was also not much of a surprise. That part of Christmas, not having any idea what was in that package you were about to open, was gone forever for me.
Now in 2007, I want just one thing for Christmas. I want an iPhone. If everyone in my family has to pool their gift giving together that’s what I want. So no surprise, I’m getting one. My wife is wonderful for getting me one. Technically it’s from my one year old son, but we all know better. She wants a car starter and some pendant from the jewelry store. Fair trade.
So here’s how I’ve ruined Christmas. The iPhone will arrive this week, and I don’t want to wait until December 25th to use it. I mean seriously. I know I’m getting it, I know it will be here, so why let it sit in a closet for a month just to be wrapped up for me to open on the 25th already knowing what it is! Seems like a waste of time if you ask me. Let’s save the hassel and just give it to me when it arrives so I don’t have to deal with knowing it’s just out of my reach until Santa shows up.
I’m perfectly willing to let my wife have her gifts early too. She can use the car starter now. I can’t really wrap that up anyway. The pendant won’t be a surprise to her either. So let’s just do it. This year and for many many to follow, Christmas will be all about my son anyway. The joy will come when he is surprised by what he gets after he asks for everything he searched for on amazon.com. (Times have changed)
My wife doesn’t like this idea. For some silly reason she thinks we have to wrap this thing up and go through the motions. Women. It’s in their blood I guess.
Personally I think my son wants me to have the iPhone for Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
by Jeff
Google at the gas pumps. For a company that’s trading at over $700 a share, maybe they can do something about the price of gas too.
Google gas pumps: the savior of lost men – Engadget
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