Cingular's Ripoff

We all know that the cell phone companies make lots of money with text messaging. For a slight fraction of their total bandwidth to send a sms message, they are willing to charge up 15 cents per message. It is sometimes cheaper to just call the person instead of texting them.

So now if you are a Cingular executive, you will be thinking as to how to make people use more of the texting services. And indeed Cingular has found out how to do so: by making their free in-built messenger use text messages to send out the instant messages. That is right - the OZ instant messenger preinstalled on all Cingular cell phones use your pool of text messages to send out the instant messages without telling the user that that is the case. No warning, no disclaimer. For some, this could add up to overages.

Cingular hopes that its user will disregard the cost at first but truly, this is a hidden cost. We will just have to see if things change in the future. So Cingular users - be warned!

Happy Mother's Day

I would like to wish all mothers out there a Happy Mothers Day! Also, all T-Mobile users get to send text messages, video messages and picture messages for free today. So send mom a picture of yourself in appreciation of her.

Trial By Fire at Microsoft

According to Tom Evslin, Bill Gates's management style was colorful. In the middle of a presentation, he would say: "that’s the dumbest fucking idea I’ve heard since I’ve been at Microsoft." Of course, he said that to everyone who was new to Microsoft and presenting to Bill and whether Bill meant it or not, that was another question. It was mostly a trail by fire because then those who did not mean what they say would retreat while others who firmly believe in their presentation would stand firm. Read Tom's blog here.

Magic Tricks How-to Videos

The Pass:

The Pass - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

The Flick Switch:

The Flick Switch - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Card Force:

Card Force - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Man Of The Year and Diebold

I just watched the movie "Man of the Year" starring Robin Williams. In the movie, a voting system named Delacroy, which sounds similar to the real life Diebold voting machines, malfunctions and makes Robin William's character win the presidential election of the United States. Diebold has been recently in the news itself when it machines were feared by state officials to be unreliable and prone to hacking. To make matters worse, the key to open the voting machines was copied off Diebold's own website where a picture of the key was displayed.
With these uncertainties in electronic voting, are we to embrace voting on paper? Does "Man of the Year" make a good point?

Hamster Powered Shredder

How cute! This shredder concept is powered by a real life hamster. And after the shred, there is paper for the bottom of the hamster cage. How eco-friendly can one get.

Nokia Film Camera

Space-Time Exposed

Actually, it is just a cell phone but people seem to be filing with it. The 640x480 resolution means that it is close to DVD quality.

Google 411

Google Labs launched their Google 411 phone service today. The best part is that it is free. The calls are totally automated with voice-recognition software. The user would call 1-800-GOOG-411 and instructions would be heard over the phone. The service does not have ads as of yet. However the search is only for business listings and not residential. For free residential, use 1-800-FREE-411.

High Tech Bagel Holder

Need a new bagel holder or maybe even a bagel sandwich shape-keeper? Well, that 30 pack cd spindle is up for the job. See pic for more information. BTW - 50 pack spindles hold two bagels while 100 pack spindles can hold 4 bagels

American Dialect Society chooses Word Of the Year for 2006

The honor goes to the word 'plutoed' named after the ex-planet Pluto and its downgrading from planet status. "To pluto" is to demote or devalue someone or something, as happened to the former planet Pluto when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto no longer met its definition of a planet.

The next runner up is "climate canary" or an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon.

Other worth while mentions are:

Macaca Moment - treating an American citizen as an alien.
YouTube - a video placed on YouTube's Website for the ridicule of others.
SuriKat - referring to Katie Holme's child.
Cambodian Accessory - referring to Angelina Jolie's adoption of Cambodian children.
Waterboarding - an interrogation technique in which the subject is immobilized and doused with water to simulate drowning.

The ADS meets in Anaheim every year to elect the word of the year. They have been meeting every year since 1990.

Apple Announces IPhone

Apple announced the IPhone today. Take a look at the interface that they have set up. It uses OSX technology and uses the touchscreen as the input device. This is a whole new generation of Ipods and cell phones. Expect to see this phone in June 2007. Unfortunately, Cingular is the only carrier of this phone.

Happy New Year!

Well, 2007 is upon us so I would like to wish everybody a Happy New Year!

Free Astronomy EBook

For all you astronomy buffs out there, here is an Ebook that will interest you. Link.

LG Makes Touchscreen Cellphone

LG has come up with a cellphone that has a full touchscreen interface. This would mean that the screen would fit the entire face of the cellphone and there would be no need for a physical keypad. This is definitely the way of the future because there is more screen than buttons. Imagine viewing a movie in full screen on the phone! Sweet!

Wii Wifebeater

The Wii Remote make good wifebeaters. Check out the pic below. It seems that a man accidentally hit his wife in the eye while playing the Wii when he was highly intoxicated.

Asimo Faceplant x2

Honda's Asimo has some problem going up and down the stairs. Check these videos out:

Water From Thin Air?

Just when you thought it was crazy to produce fresh water from seawater, Aqua Science Corp has developed a way to make it out of THIN AIR! Apparently there is enough water in the air, even dry desert air, to produce substantial water. The machine's workings are a trade secret but the CEO of Aqua Science did give us a clue: "Think of rice used in saltshakers that acts as a magnet to extract water and keeps salt from clumping." That still seems like rocket science to me. Link.

I Would Not Step Into This Elevator!

And you might not, too. But alas, the elevator with no floor is just an eye illusion print on a solid floor that is so realistic that it just about fools everybody. This kind of reminds me of Indiana Jones when he had to make thate Leap of Faith over the canyon for the Holy Grail only to find that there was a passage way painted so real that it was camoflage against the background. In this case, the artist on the elevator even put up a sign to say "work in progress." I wonder what else it says. Maybe my Chinese-reading audience may translate for me.

Red One High Tech High Def Camera

This is the latest high definition digital camera called Red One from Red Digital Cinema. This company was founded by the same guy who founded Oakley sunglasses in Rancho Santa Margarita. This camera boast high resolution pictures in a camcorder the size of any other camcorder. There is no need to lug around an IMAX camera to get the eye-popping and neck straining picture. The camera seen here is just a prototype though. Full production is still unknown. There was a scare last week when thieves broke into the building and stole documents. However, the prototype is still safe in the hands of RDC. Link.

Asahi Bot Demonstration

Finally, a robot that can pour your favorite Japanese brew (as long as it is Asahi). Check out the way it does that glass tilting and letting the foam settle before pouring some more!