Amazing, I want one of those!

This has been out for a couple of months now, but it’s just so cool I wanted to put it up on my blog.This is not science fiction, it’s reality and Sixth Sense is one of the projects from MIT Media Lab.

Video of presentation comes courtesy of TED and forms part of their ongoing series of TEDTalks – watch and be amazed, but I don’t think they’re taking orders yet!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Amazing, I want one of those!“, posted with vodpod

Cloud Computing and secure online storage

On top of the usual online places I use for pics and other low level documents, I needed access to a relatively secure storage option online. Something that would allow me to upload various files, including video clips, and that I can retrieve as and when I need them from wherever I may be. It would also be useful to be able to allow access to certain designated files, via a password system for other people. It also needed too be simple and as easy as saving / retrieving files on my own computer, while still being available from other  PC’s.  I did a bit of online research and explored a few options before settling on Dropbox.

This is ideal for my needs, as it ticks all my requirements for simplicity, flexibility and mobility, and provides a decent level of security as all data is transferred over SSL and encrypted with AES-256 before storage.

Well worth a look!

Netbooks and living in the ‘cloud’

There’s so much hype around ‘cloud computing’ and netbooks that I thought I’d try living this way for a few weeks to see how practical it really is.

I was going to be overseas in Thailand for a week or so and I made the brave decision to get a netbook and leave my Macbook behind – I figured that the weight / space saving, combined with signing up for some online apps and productivity ‘cloudware’ would be a good way to test things out.

The netbook. I originally wanted to try to be a ‘netbook purist’, so spent a while looking for a small footprint (9″ screen), linux based machine with an atom processor chip and preferably an SSD, however, the first thing I realised is that we’re a little underwhelmed with choice in NZ, so ended up with an Acer Aspire One.

Weighing around a kilo, the Aspire One has the atom chip, an 8.9″ screen, but carries a 120GB spinning hard drive – also, it comes with Windows XP installed – hmmmm, so a few compromises had to be made. Sadly, although the netbook itself is compact and light, it’s spoilt by a bulky, cumbersome charging unit. The sales guy tried to sell me Microsoft Office as well, but that really would have been cheating, so I politely declined.