Design: The Surf Chair WorkStation
Now this is want in my Office…
The Surf Chair Workstation brings some ingenious ideas to the table. First, the monitor is suspended smartly in front of the user’s eyes, at a perfect distance. This design also helps you maintain a healthy back and a comfy position while spending hours and hours in front of your computer.
This cool design is called the Surf Chair Workstation and is designed for ergonomic support for your back at the same time being very comfortable as well as suspending the screen at a suitable distance so you don’t get what Masseuse’s call “computer neck” or fry your eyes. So now you can spend hours and hours in front of the computer, comfortably :)
: Design, Ergonomics, Chair, Technology
Why the New iPhone is So Damn Great…
by Muhammad on June 11, 2008
in Social Media
Yes, you have standalone GPS devices; yes, you have phones that support GPS. But tell me, how many third-party applications have you used on either? Not many, I reckon, because the platforms weren’t very tempting for developers, and the screens and GUIs of most devices other than the iPhone simply aren’t good enough. Standalone GPS devices, on the other hand, were closed affairs; what the manufacturer put in, that’s what you got.
GPS can do so much more. In its most basic sense, adds another dimension to your life: it knows where you are. It knows where everyone is. Geotagging your photos? That’s just the surface being scratched. Think social networking; in fact, we already have that, and it’s called Loopt. It’s an application that alerts you when your friends are nearby and allows you to share your location and photos with them. Yes, we’ve had such applications before, but now the location is going to be very precise – you’ll be able to know which club, street, or coffee shop they’re in.
It’s not only about social networking. Everything: event recommendations and reviews, weather, traffic and flight info, gaming – all of it will have a “location” component from now on.
Whoever is listening… I want one! I want the new iPhone. I’m so excited about it I’m gonna go hysterical! wow.
: iPhone, GPS, Tehcnology, New, Cool, Location
New Era Citizen Journalism – The Instablog Video Initiative
by Muhammad on June 5, 2008
in Social Media
Instablogs.com has launched a new initiative taking advantage of their wide “citizen journalist” base which blog on its site on a daily/weekly basis. What the new initiative entails is a call to one of these “citizen journalists” who will answer the phone and immediately launch into a news report of whatever news happened to have occurred in their respective countries.
This call is recorded in MP3 and Instablogs.com edits it ad inputs it with relevant video clips they have of the situation in the country or even an image or slideshow. The end result is a video show of sorts aggregating news from all over the world for that day/week and instantly downloadable from their site.
This is an example of some real creativity and utilising all forms of media for the aim of spreading news. I think this formula is similar to that used by major news organisations, however, this is raw and its opinions are not from seasoned journalists who speak in that instantly-recognisable tone in which news reports are characterised. This is from the grass roots, people who have an opinion and all this is aggregated, not in text, but in audio and video. Absolutely amazing, I can never cease to be amazed by human creativity and the application of media in Web 2.0.
: Citizen Journalism, blogging, instablogs.com, Media, Video, Audio, News, reporting, journalism
Twitter vs. Plurk
by Muhammad on June 4, 2008
in Social Media
vs. 
With Twitter going down every so often, (reminding me of Eskom’s load-shedding), lots of people, including me, have been searching for an alternative. Well, we found it with Plurk. So after a few days of using it here’s my comparison of the two micro-blogging platforms.
Twitter, has amazing functionality and given that it’s API is freely available it’s very malleable and we can use it to do a million and one things. The only thing wrong with it is its periodic shut-downs and general irritability with some of its functions (like device updates via IM) working only on random occasions.
Plurk on the other hand looks very cool and puts all your “updates” on a time line so you can track who said what when (if you check the everyone list, this timeline is split by the second.) They have some other function a like a widget and gaining points called “karma”, which I’m not really sure how that works yet. I do like the reply function which is really easy and targeted towards various posts on plurk. The ease with putting up videos and photo’s is also a plus. You’ll find the little icons which you can represent yourself with are also a bit weird, cthulu-like thingies, with tentacles and spots and bones sticking out. Weird. Plurk’s downfall is it doesn’t share it’s API… so you get what they give you and that’s it. Their widget is only editable vertically which irritates me as it doesn’t fit on my blog sidebar and overall I just can’t seem to like it.
Twitter, however, could learn from Plurk’s visual standards, quirky nature and easier video and photo micro-blogging. It would also help if Twitter didn’t drop the ball so often.
Overall opinion… Plurk is very limiting compared to Twitter. If twitter sorts itself out, that’s where you’ll find me.
UPDATE: >Plurk is releasing their API! – Let the Micro-Blogging Wars begin! This will sway my opinion of which micro-blogging platform to use :)
Technorati Tags: Twitter, Plurk, Social Media, Micro-blogging, comparison
South Africa to Launch Battery-Powered Car
In some positive news from South Africa, a battery-powered car is being developed and will be unveiled next year (no, it’s not a toy). This announcement was made by the Deputy Science and Technology Minister, Derek Hanekom. Given the effect on the country with the recent oil price increases and lack of investor confidence with the xenophobia crisis, a new alternative which would help people save money and provide a viable alternative is very welcome.
Read the full story here.
: Battery-Powered Car, South Africa, Technology
Free GPS for Your Mobile Phone!
by Muhammad on June 2, 2008
in Uncategorized
Amaze GPS has launched their new Version 4.2 which includes a free download for Java enabled phones so you can get GPS Navigation without spending one heck of a load of cash on GPS specific phones!
It is free to download and use and it contains wide coverage of maps including aerial photo in Europe, North America, Australia and parts of Asia and Africa.
You can start downloading Here…
Thanks Riy!
Technorati Tags: Amaze GPS, Mobile, Technology, Free GPS, Java, Download
Unilever’s 10,000 Domain Name Portfolio
by Muhammad on May 22, 2008
in Uncategorized
Unilever, at current has more than 10,000 domain names attributed to it, when just 10 years ago they had less than a 100. 50% of the 10,000 were registered in the last 2 years and most of the sites are unused or direct traffic to out of date sites.
Unilever, recently crowned Digital Marketer of the Year, had registered so many domains so that it could promote it’s various brands and promotions. Obviously the registration of these domains had occurred via the brand teams within Unilever with no real thought as to the bigger picture or follow-up of what the domains would be doing after they had been used.
Unilever is now moving to cull at least 30-40% of its domain name portfolio after carrying out a trademark audit on each of the domains (that’ll take some time…)
For domain name squatters, those guys who register domain names in anticipation that some big corporate entity would want it later and dish out the dough to get it. Unilever actually has a policy around dealing with anyone who practices domain name front-running, cyber-squatting and domain name speculation and are not afraid to sue. In fact they are also involved in creating legislation around the very issue.
This is interesting stuff too keep in mind, especially when we look into the legalities of cyberspace and how these laws cross boundaries and get implemented.
Technorati Tags: Unilever, Marketing, Brands, Domain Names, cyber-squatting
Youtube Launches Citizen News Channel
by Muhammad on May 22, 2008
in Social Media
Youtube has launched a Citizen News Channel in order to highlight some of the best news content on the web.
Technorati Tags: Youtube, Citizen News Channel, Media, New
Mobile Update: iPhone 2.0 and Google’s Android
Android phones, using a Linux-based open source operating system, will allow users to tweak and customise their own user interface, differing from traditional Windows or Symbian based handsets.
2) Worldwide Launch of iPhone 2.0 on June 9th, including South Africa!
Technorati Tags: Mobile, HTC, Technology, iPhone, Android, Google
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) does Version 2
Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program Announced the next generation of the XO, the XO-2. The little PC, designed for children in developing countries is currently priced at $188.
The plan is to launch the new OLPC by 2010. The new version has gotten rid of the green rubbery keyboard and comes in the form of a single square display with a hinge in the middle. Both screens are multi-touch (like the iPhone & iPod Touch) which makes it able to serve the functions of a book or a dual display keyboard. The new version also has its energy requirements cut down to one-watt compared to the current two-watt OLPC (General Laptops run on about 40watts).
The new design is a great way to bridge the gap in understanding of kids in developing countries as to what computers are and how they are used as well as blow them away with the touch-screen interface. It looks like a book but is interactive and educational in so many ways.
Added to this, the price tag which was originally aimed at $100 and is currently sitting at a swelled $188 will get a huge reduction as well with Negroponte putting the new OLPC at an amazing $75.
You can read more details about the project here.
This is an amazing development, and a giant step forward in terms of really giving the developing world an education upgrade.
