Wearable computing on display in Boston

The Globe and Mail has an interesting story about a recent conference held in Boston that put a number of new "wearable computing" devices on display. Everything from shirts that nag you to straighten up, shoes and name tags that track your movements, and gloves that control your music player volume. The thing that I find incredible about these devices is that now, like never before, they are very close to having commercial applications and acceptance. Expect to see or hear more of this technology soon!

Cleaning your flash drive, don't try this at home!

I'm in the habit of removing things from my pockets when I get home at the end of the day. After Taekwondo class last evening I began the ritual, but something was missing.

Cash - check;
Change accumulated during the day - check;
Cell phone - check;
Keys - check;
Flash drive - Flash drive? No Flash drive!

Retrace steps... Check office, no Flash drive. Check night table, nope. Check work clothes... where's my work clothes? Check hamper, no work clothes. Check washing machine... Flash Drive!

I don't recommend that you throw your flash drive in the washer! But if you do, let it dry 24 hours or so before inserting into your usb port and if you're lucky, like I was, it will still be shiny, clean, and functioning! I have a feeling the cell phone might not have been so lucky.

Amazing YouTube video - wow!

While this is not that geeky, other than it's a YouTube video... I just had to pass it on. Now that's talent!

Viral marketing ploy, build audience and then create the tv show!

Hopeful producers of horror/sci-fi television series Alive chose to produce three short viral videos to promote their show rather than produce a costly pilot. The videos were put together in 2 days and, frankly, it shows! Then again, it's not necessarily my taste in television, but it will be interesting to see if the ploy works. According to this Wired article, the shorts have generated buzz amongst the whet genre fans, but will it be enough to convince the network execs?

More music related lawsuits

The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Hollywood insider/gossip website PerezHilton.com is being sued by Britney Spears Label Zomba for leaking 10 tracks from Spears' yet to be released new album. The law suit seeks real and punitive damages as well as court costs, this is a music related lawsuit that most would agree makes some sence, as opposed to the many file sharing suits brought on by the RIAA.

Google Earth embeds YouTube layer

Here's an interesting find from PCWorld blogs... according to this post, Google Earth now has a YouTube layer that ties videos that have been tagged with geographic information to Google Earth destinations. Not all YouTube videos will be displayed, just those with the geographic tags, but it adds up to a totally new way to explore the earth and waste a bunch of time. Another amazing mashup from our friends at Google!

Steve Wozniak joins SCOTTEVEST Board of Advisors

Here's an interesting quote from the recent SCOTTEVEST Newsletter... "I am proud to report that Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Inc. joined our Board of Advisors. Woz has been a customer for years, and he was the inspiration behind our iPod Spoof, available for viewing here at YouTube. Woz is in good company on our board, which also includes Hap Klopp, founder of The North Face." I'm sure this can only mean more great products from SCOTTEVEST!

Nissan's Pivo 2 concept car...cool!

Here's a little car that can get you out of, and / or into, tight spots! Nissan will be displaying the Pivo 2 concept car at the 2007 Tokyo auto show, an electronic 2 seater that's passenger compartment can revolve to face forward or back with 4 wheels that can turn 90 degrees allowing the car can parallel park by sliding sideways into a spot. The control console includes what Nissan calls a "Robotic Agent." You can talk to the agent about how the car is running and it can tell you where to locate the nearest parking spot. No specs on range or speed yet! Now that's a Smart Car! See c|net's news.com for more, link above.

eBay gets Social

c|net's news.com points us to eBay's new social networking feature "Neighborhoods". The Neighborhoods site says "Neighborhoods are places for people like you who want to connect via their shared passions for products and topics." It's only just been launched but I find the top Neighborhoods a bit intriguing... as I post this here are the top 5:
1. Coffee lovers (105);
2. Jewelry (41);
3. Star Wars (27);
4. Apple iPhone (25); and
5. Foodies (24)

Coffee lovers? I really didn't expect that one... perhaps there still is room in the social networking space!

Google acquiring Jaiku

A post on their blog says Google has bought Jaiku, the Twitter like social networking mini service. In a Q&A page on the site Jaiku says "Jaiku is joining Google. While it's too soon to comment on specific plans, we look forward to working with our new friends at Google over the coming months to expand in ways we hope you'll find interesting and useful. Our engineers are excited to be working together and enthusiastic developers lead to great innovation. We look forward to accomplishing great things together." I'm also greatbiggeek on Jaiku, if you are looking for an invite leave a comment to this post.