Sony Pocket Vaio – CES 2009

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Sony_logo Do not be fooled by it’s size the Sony Pocket Vaio is a powerhouse and is absolutely not a netbook but a powerful PC with design considerations for the user with the device built around the keyboard.Sony-vaio

Take a closer look and that’s all it takes to realize what makes a VAIO notebook special. With unrivaled attention to detail and style that always makes a statement. Each series features a unique blend of textures and colors that can’t be ignored. It comes in four colors green, black, red and white. Easy to use, comfortable to use and it has this full type in keyboard that’s very easy and functional to type on. Weights 1.4 lbs with 8 inches ultra wide screen with 1600×768 resolution that can easily display two web pages side-by-side. Connectivity: with built-in Verizon 3G mobile broadband technology, embedded GPS and Microsoft Streets 2009 software. It uses lithium polymer removable battery. The standard battery gives you two to four hours of use and the extended battery is double the capacity and available for $129. It has Bluetooth built-in and a connections on the side called display LAN adapter for VGA-out and hardwire LAN out. The Pocket Vaio is available now starting at $900. Find this unit at www.sonystyle.com.

What?!? Google is Tracking Me?!?

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[tongue-in-cheek]Oh my gosh! How could this happen! Google is tracking where I search, and what kinds of things end up in my gmail inbox, and puts a cookie in IE (and presumably any other browser) to track my interests so they can target their advertising to me? [/tongue-in-cheek]

This is news. I saw it in three different places this morning, so it must be important. Like any techie with half a brain cell didn’t know this was already going on. When I still saw ads as I surfed (I use adblocker most of the time in Firefox so don’t generally see many ads these days), I easily recognized that some advertising seemed to point directly to my interests. Of course I knew they were watching me. That’s why I don’t search for “how to build a nuclear bomb” on my own computer. (JUST KIDDING…that was a joke.)

If people think their surfing habits, search habits, and web-based email is not being watched, they have not been paying attention. This has been going on for a very long time. I, personally, don’t see the threat in it. This is how Google and others are making their money, and if they don’t make money, I don’t have access to their freebies like searching and email and groups/email lists.

Furthermore, there is no anonymity online. If I want to be anonymous, I need to stay off the computer, and in this day and age, that is not going to happen. You have to take the good with the bad. We are being tracked, we are being watched, and yes, maybe at some point, nefarious purposes will be applied to that data. But as this is nothing I really have any control over, I’m going to keep doing what I do, searching for what I need to search for, sending and getting email that holds a lot of information, and using group mail (Google Groups and Yahoo Groups) as I always have.

Anyway, if they are looking at my surfing, they are likely getting a laugh. Things I’ve surfed for lately: Italian social mores, social attitudes 1840 Italy, Women’s Suffrage, homeschool math, is Captivate 4.0 accessible with JAWS, Paul Cardall, Jason Mraz, THe Writer’s Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters, marriage laws in the Catholic Church… I could go on and on. I wonder what Google thinks of me?

Sony Webbie HD Camera – CES 2009

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Sony_logoThe Sony Webbie is a game changer for Sony. A camera designed for the YouTube generation with default file format in H.264, MP4 which is simply amazing if you think about it. A great camera with a great recording capability.Sony-hd

Webbie HD Camera is Sony’s new stylish cameras that make it easy to capture and upload MP4 video and still photos directly to the Web. The MHS-CM1 and MHS-PM1 Webbie HD™ cameras capture daily events in high definition video (1440×1080/30p) and 5-megapixel still photos. Embedded software makes it possible to quickly upload content online in a few simple clicks. By connecting the camera to your computer via the supplied USB cable, the embedded PMB Portable software quickly transfers content to video and photo sharing websites. It includes direct upload to Shutterfly™ and Picasa™ Web Albums photo sharing sites, YouTube™ and Dailymotion™ video sharing sites and Photobucket™ video and photo sharing site. You can also simply drag and drop video files from the camera to your personal computer folders. Unlike other cameras you can put up to 16GB card on it. The CM1 is available now for $199 and PM1 is available for $169 price point. The Webbie HD cameras will be sold at Sony Style® retail stores, online at www.sonystyle.com/webbiehd and through authorized dealers nationwide.

Chumby – CES 2009

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Chumby_logo_text90Check out what the folks at Chumby have planned for 2009. They are focusing on community and hope to see some changes in the hardware department.Chmbyblue_290x270 The unit they show in the video is a “proof of concept” device and they are looking for manufacturers who want to take over the product.

Chumby is a personalized internet content on connected screen. Last year they present a personal internet media player that you can configure the play of your favorite parts of the internet that is encapsulated in widgets.  Today they are showing a prototype hardware and software, a chumby enabled photo frame. Full featured photo frame with has gigabit internal memory. You can attach USB devices and SD Cards with a touch screen interface. When you buy the frame it comes up with set of widgets. You can widgetize all photo contents. On chumby enabled device you can look at photos from all different sources in a multimedia stream and it has also internet radio. With the social networking aspect of the device you can send photos to other people. They have also the concept of Grandma mode where the frame is very easy to configure. The original chumby (shown in the product picture above) cost $199.95 at www.chumby.com

Dumb and Dumber

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Dumb: ATM owners who use the default password for administering their ATM’s, allowing hackers to get into the machines easily by locating the default password online from vendor sites.

Dumber: ATM owners who don’t change the default password after the machine is hacked and used to give out more money than it was supposed to.

A pair of crooks got caught using the default password on an ATM for the fourth time. They weren’t caught the first three times, but by the fourth time, the police had information from surveillance cameras and had alerted the store manager (where the ATM was located) to the identity of the thieves. So when they tried it for the fourth time, they got caught.

I’m wondering why the ATM owner didn’t just change the default password on the administrative functions of the ATM so it couldn’t be hacked a second time. That would have been the smarter thing to do, wouldn’t you think?

Who’s dumber, the criminal or the ATM owner? I’m thinking it’s the latter.

Making Money on Your Photos

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I have been selling photos taken with my digital camera for several years. I use Fotolio.com and have made a few bucks. I do not in any way feel like I am a professional, but my little Kodak digital camera can take some amazing pictures sometimes, and besides sharing them on my personal blog, I like to see them go to good use. Pictures I’ve sold include shots of trees, mountains, kids playing a park, and lakes. Nothing remarkable, but someone liked them enough to buy them. Selling photos you’ve taken on stock photo sites is a good way to make a bit of extra income, although for me “lucrative” is not a word I’d use to describe it.

But there are some that are making quite a living at it, including college students, stay-at-home moms, and retired people. One college student featured in a USAToday article is making a six-figure income from selling photos on iStockphoto.com. I’d say that’s a bit more than “supplemental income.”

Word comes today that flckr.com, the home of amateur and professional photographers alike, is teaming up with Getty Images, the world’s leading stock photography repository. Initially, the offering to flickr users to upload photos to Getty will be by invitation only, but eventually, there should be a more open arrangement.

Maybe it’s time to dig through your folders full of digital photos and see if you have anything worthy of selling through a stock-photo website? It’s certainly a low-overhead way to pick up a few extra bucks.

Japan Mobile Broadband

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Over the past 60 days I have spent nearly 30 days in Japan with a large amount of that time being mobile. In order to stay connected at all times I rented a wireless card on each trip.

The first Wireless card  a FOMA A2502 by DoCoMo failed to work on my PC. I spent nearly 3 hours one day in a main DoCoMo store having them trying to get it to work. Essentially Epic Fail had something to do with American Version of Windows Vista attempting to run some Japanese drivers.

The second wireless card I tried was from EMOBILE and it worked great when I was in a coverage area. I found that so long as I was in a MAJOR city that it would work but anytime I was in smaller communities there was no coverage.

The highest speed I got out of the service was 756k down and 256k up. This is considerably slower than service in the United States. For a country where everyone has a cell phone with an amazing number of services and features the mobile broadband service here was very disappointing.

In the near future I will not rent a mobile broadband card as it was simply not worth it.