One of the coolest features I’ve seen on a GPS yet — location based gaming. The new Garmin Gecko ($250) includes five different games that are played by moving around virtual obstacles. The user plays by moving around in real space while watching the GPS screen for information. The games include a version of Snake in which the user walks around picking up numbers while trying to avoid his or her virtual tail, and a virtual maze where the user must navigate invisible walls to get prizes (pictured, left). Up next — wireless networked location based gaming?
RoboSnail
A dark day for theater fans everywhere
This just in: Shoggoth on the Roof has been cancelled due to threats of a lawsuit.
Poor Man’s Portable Video Feed
road_tech.txt
So my wife is driving the kids 800 miles to see her family in Oregon. I have to work, and will meet up with her in a couple of weeks. I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep our kids, 6,3, and 2, respectively, from killing each other or going catatonic on the 13 hour trip. We’ve got the usual assortment of road games, coloring books, stickers, legos, snacks and music, but at the last minute it occured to me that maybe a portable dvd or a gameboy would make a big difference. If I can just neutralize the six year old, then he won’t torture his little brother when he gets bored. The problem is that I am cheap, and not totally excited about dropping almost $200 for the cheapest available W*lmart dvd player. So I’ve come up with a couple of other options and wanted to solicit your input:
1. get a $40/350 watt inverter, then take our existing small tv and vcr, duct tape them together, and make our own portable entertainment center
2. Get a Pixter (kiddy PDA) instead of a gameboy
3. Buy the $178 Initial dvd player from CrapMart, then sell it on Ebay when the trip is over. Or keep it and wire it into the car speakers and use it as a combo dvd/cd/mp3 player.
4. Travel back in time and install a $200 bookpc with a $100 overhead lcd. Figure out some way to justify the cost later. Put a wireless card in it, and get a wireless keyboard. Put a bunch of games on it too. While visiting the past, figure out a way to protect Sarah Connor from evil terminator.
5. Quit crying and remember that when you were a kid, you drove across the country with nothing more than colorforms and lived to tell about it.
Wus’on the Telly, Love?
Interact-TV of Colorado announced today that they’re beginning to ship their MC1000 Digital Entertainment Center a.k.a. the “Telly.” This Linux-based box is designed to function as an all-in-one digital media computer. It will record cable TV, record and rip CDs, play DVDs, and access (limited) Net content. The box even has a built-in Web server so you can access your Telly content from any browser.
The most exciting thing about the Telly is that it’s Linux-based and has been designed to be easily software and hardware upgragable. The makers claim that it’s no biggie to swap out for a bigger hard drive, add a DVD-RAM drive, etc.
The Telly sells for US$900 and comes with a free programming guide for the PVR function.
More info at: www.interact-tv.com.
Telemarketers to stop telemarketing?
The National Do Not Call Registry opened today, and was promptly Slashdotted. But once things settle down, you’ll be able to register your phone number to recieve no telemarketting phone calls (save for politicians and charities) for five years, starting October 1. And if you live west of the Mississippi, you don’t even have to wait for the web site to start working again — just dial the number on this page from the phone number you wish to protect, and unlike the web registration, you won’t have to provide an e-mail address. I just did it, and it’s fantastically easy.
The next pixelvision?
Garage Kubricks, take note: Walmart is selling the Simtech EZ1 vhs-c camcorder online for $158. It only has one button. Could this be the next Pixelvision?
RIAA plays hardball.
So the RIAA is going to sue individuals who upload copyrighted music to the net. Frankly, I think this is a great thing, despite its sheer boneheadedness. Why? Because it will spawn the creation and use of encrypted p2p apps. And maybe (help me out, Lazy Web), it will result in a p2p app that:
1. Allows you to flag a work as “copyrighted” or “non-copyrighted” in the metadata.
2. Has a good evaluation/recommendation engine.
If those two bits were in place, one could search for highly-rated, non-copyrighted music, and share with impunity. Plus, it would introduce thousands to the good, non-corporatized stuff, making it easier to find and distribute. The problem with Gnutella, Kazaa, etc. is that it’s based on the idea that we’re passive consumers of music, instead of encouraging production. Let a thousand flowers bloom.
Introducing the Public Domain Enhancement Act
Today U.S. representatives Zoe Lofgren and John Doolittle introduced the Public Domain Enhancement Act to Congress. The legislation would require copyright owners to pay a very small fee (say, $1) upon a copyright’s 50th “birthday” in order for the copyright to continue. Copyrighted works for which the fee isn’t paid will pass into the public domain, thus freeing works which have been abandoned by the owners of their copyrights. Sounds like a good idea to me. You can read the text of the bill itself here. Also relevant is the Reclaim the Public Domain petition, which outlines some very good reasons to support this bit of friendly legislation.
Finding Summer Reading
A nice little animated author recommendation engine culled from a Metafilter thread.
If you like Neal Stephenson, for example, you might also like these authors.