Posts filed under 'Software'
Mealtime indecision = Yummly
Yummly is a mealtime search engine
Trying to decide what to make for dinner? Perhaps you’re craving a specific flavor or texture? I once worked with someone who would smack their lips in hopes that their taste buds would identify what they should eat for lunch. Now there is Yummly.
A search engine to solve mealtime indecision
It’s a new venture from two eBay vets and it’s super-advanced search engine connects you to the perfect meal via a slick interface with cool controls for everything from flavor profiles to nutrition specs. I’t perfect if you have no self control. The main aspect of their proprietary "FoodFinder" is the sliding scales which represent the amount of the five major tastes you want in your dish. You control results from over 500,000 recipes and can narrow the results by choosing dietary restrictions (vegan, wheat-free,…sulfite-free), preferred cuisine type (from Croatian to Maltese), max prep time, and by restricting/mandating certain ingredients. What’s for dinner tonight?
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1 comment June 22, 2010
Game Stimulation Blues
Video game makers are going to try to convince you that fancy motion controllers, facial and gesture recognition is what you need to have a good time. Top your game with an snazzy 3-D screen and life is as good as it gets, right? Next week is the E3 or Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Keep your eyes open for lots of hype.
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Add comment June 10, 2010
Why update to Office 2010?
I use Microsoft Office apps everyday. I am currently running Office 2007 and it’s been three years since it was released. So why will I upgrade? If you use Microsoft web apps it will integrate your work flow.
But the biggest improvement to me will be with Outlook and it’s new “conversation view” that ties all email conversations together. The idea of showing all related messages in a thread appeals to me because I struggle with making sense of my email workspace. In addition there are lots of other little things that will rock my email world.
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Add comment May 13, 2010
Be Like James Bond
Perhaps you always wanted to be like James Bond. I always loved the gadgets Q developed. Now you can obtain spy gadgets without being enrolled the secret service. These are not cheap and they can be used for evil purposes. Just knowing what is available makes me want to be more aware.
A Tracker
Recently some innovative Germans placed a GPS tracking device on the Google street view car http://bit.ly/d1Bvho. We have all seen Hollywood dramas where people are tracked with a GPS device. Thanks to Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) this is now easy to do. Just buy a small box, less than half the size of a cigarette box, then stick it on a anything using the built in magnets. Then you can monitor it’s position anywhere worldwide. Some GPS trackers can be found at this website.
Biometric Security
Now you can own a security device with voice recognition, palm, hand and fingerprint scanning, iris and retina reading, hand vein imagery, facial 3d modeling verification, and DNA testing. These security devices are harder to buy as they require you personal information, what you need it for, and a price quote these high end security devices were too cool not to be included on my list.
Virtual Secret Surveillance
This is very scary … now you can know every single thing somebody does on a computer? And all their passwords? Well, this is now possible. Using simply a small plug-in device, the size of a nickel, between a person’s keyboard (even a wireless one) and their computer, you can see hundreds of pages of text that they type no matter what it is. You can even monitor every single button they press on their keyboard. No software is involved in this process; you simply set a password on the device and plug it in.
Once the information has been recorded – just take it out and plug it into your own computer and enter the password. You can see everything they’ve typed. Also if you do not want to retrieve the device, it can send the collected info to a website, email, or FTP server.
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3 comments February 8, 2010
Super Bowl Tech
I hear that real-time GPS will be used track the arrival of the Lombardi Trophy and key people to the stadium. Isn’t that 
great PR.
CBS is broadcasting the game with six high-speed, high-definition cameras with the ability to shoot 300-400 frames per second. Normal cameras shoot around 30fps – so get ready for amazing slow motion effects.
Sprint and AT&T are adding cell towers to handle the stadium demands on cell traffic. Do you have a smartphone? Download some new Smartphone apps to designed help you follow the game.
Security has also gone hi-tech with special cameras to scan both people and packages entering the stadium. Law enforcement also has bomb-removal robots at the ready. But there are no reported threats.
The commercials are my favorite part of the event. Be sure to have your facebook and twitter open to discuss commercials and talk trash about the other team!
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1 comment February 6, 2010
Accept Credit Cards Everywhere
Square is a new innovative company that that will let the iPhone and iPod touch (and eventually other mobile devices) handle real-world remote credit card transactions. The square device works via a small application and divice that plugs into the headphone jack resulting in swipe-able credit card transactions. Square was founded by the man created by Twitter, Jack Dorsey.
It’s cool just how fast Square works for transactions. Simply amazing! One can also sign the card with a finger on the screen. Plus one can get receipts via email.
If you have been in an Apple store you have seen this type of credit card transaction. Square wants to being it to the masses.l
I think that this will revolutionize transactions and I want mine now.
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1 comment February 2, 2010
Can Google Change China?
Have you been to China? It’s an amazing country with smart very productive people. Many predict that China will be the leading economic nation soon … or are they now?
The Google machine (no that’s not a slam) thinks that they can muscle China. In our last Shanghai trip, we found that when you went to an blocked web site or said a word in your email that was against government policy … your computer screen would go black and display a warning for a period of time. I was told that if you get too many warnings then Chinese security would be on the way. We heeded the warnings and complied. The NSA thinks they monitor the net?
Now Google wants to offer an uncensored search engine in China? China is changing but not fast enough for Google. Read more ….
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2 comments January 29, 2010
Share Documents in the Clouds
Almost everyone I know uses Office or Office for Mac. Bur sharing documents can be a bother. Even email is not dependible because of Spamfiltering, mail policies and AntiVirus programs that block your attempts to share.
Have you seen what is going on with all of the servers and services available today?
Sharing is fundamental to cloud computing. This type of sharing uses your Web browser as the window to the cloud experience. With OfficeLive Workspaces, you can view and share Word documents, Excel –spreadsheets, PowerPoint, or many other documents – from anywhere to anywhere. Whether you are at home, at work, at the library, or in a hotel room with Internet. Forget sending e-mail attachments back and forth, or using a thumb-sized flash drive that too often gets misplaced.
Clouds are Everywhere
Computing in the clouds gets even more fun when you see your desktop computer in the clouds. No, nothing has been abducted from your home. Welcome to Mesh, your personal network of your own computers in the sky, viewed in your favorite Web browser. Once your computers are adding to Mesh, you can view any of your computers from all the other computers—and all for free. I use Mesh to connect to my desktop computer at work when I must have a file or need to run a program remotely.
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2 comments January 28, 2010
Unfollowing On Twitter
I have had a lot of questions about Twitter unfollowing … it’s really a much discussed topic. What is the proper Twitter etiquette?
Some believe that when someone follows you on Twitter, it’s proper for you to follow them back.
If you are just trying to build followers then go ahead and follow them back. But if you want to build a network of targeted followers of like mind DON’T FOLLOW just anybody.
To get value from Twitter follow their content. The Twitter search tool is now very powerful and you can find users to follow based their content or profile. The Twitter stream moves too fast to scan for content manually. There are also some great web based tools to find Tweeters of interest and some client based (installed on your computer) search and follow tools.
I tend to tweet about things I find of interest, and that I think my followers also find interesting. Most of my content is based on Marketing, Technology and Entertainment Follow me to see if my twitter stream appeals to you.
If my followers are not interested, then I have no problem with them unfollowing … I don’t want to waste their time.
Why do I unfollow? If you’re not interesting to me, if you spam me, if you show semi nude avatars, use foul language or try to sell a make money fast scheme, if you don’t tweet in 100 days, or if, after I search your tweet history, I find you’re mostly talking about things I’m not interested in. Nothing personal, I just don’t have the time or bandwidth to follow you in a meaningful way.
Frankly, I may also unfollow you if you do not follow me back, but I will look at your Twitter stream first to see if your content is interesting.
Some of my favorite tools are:
- Twitter Karma - a great interface to ‘batch’ manage who you’re following
- Social Too – helps you target people to follow based on their content
2 comments January 27, 2010
Endor.se your network!
Endor.se
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Add comment June 24, 2010