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Oh, I am digging this. The boys across the river are developing a "6-D" projection system that would create super-realistic images that respond to light and shadow. Reminds me of the advertisements in The Diamond Age.
Check out the video:
Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology recently unveiled a flexible display. More information about the specs is available at Engadget. Does this mean we are closer to the Journeyman digital paper I talked about in earlier entries? I hope so.
Engadget also has had some great coverage about touch screen technology over the past few days. HP showed off their Touchsmart 2, Shuttle unveiled some new photos of the XP19 and Princeton officially announced the release of the PTB-TMW19B tablet display in Japan.
News like this makes me feel like I am living in the future with Tom Cruise and Will Smith.
Brian Solis at PR 2.0 released a free e-book: The Essential Guide to Social Media. It's worth a look, whether you're in the industry or just curious about who is taken advantage of social media and how the technology can be better utilized.
I haven't figured out how to turn my writing into text yet, but check this out.
Edit: That would be because they haven't released the OCR yet. Livescribe, I am disappointed in you. I am still in love with your pen, though.
When I turned 18, I wrote a letter to my future daughter or son on their 18th birthday. The idea came from a friend who had done the same thing, and the letter is filled with my thoughts, advice and ramblings to my future offspring when they turn 18. The letter is hand-written, sealed in an envelop and hidden somewhere in my old bedroom.
It's a neat concept--like the past is speaking to the future. I wonder if my potential kids will read the letter and think, Wow, Mom, you were such a dork! Or maybe they'll appreciate the efforts. I would think it was neat, at least.
The boys over at FutureMe.org have the same idea. They devised a program that allows you to write a letter to your future self, to be delivered days, months and even years in the future via email. The site has been around for a while, and creators Matt Sly and Jay Patrikios have even collected the best public but anonymous letters and put them into a book available through the site. It's a very cool concept.
What would you write to your future self?
Site found via James at The Ink.
Anyone who has been to my dorm knows how much I love Post-It sticky notes. They adorn my desk, walls and refrigerator in a rainbow of colors, bearing anything from notes to roommates and telephone numbers to recipes for that night's dinner. Without sticky-notes, my life would be chaos (or I would have to resort to college rule loose-leaf and scotch tape).
And now, I need not worry that technology will make sticky notes obsolete: Girton Labs, Ltd. is developing Ixp-Note, an intelligent sticky note that will not only remind me of my task, it will signal the event with a cacophony of flashing light and sound.
Actually, I am really interested in this--it's a very cool combination of a low-tech office supply with new ink and computer technology similar to what is used in musical greeting cards. You can actually set an alarm on this sticky note by pressing the ink spots that represent a certain time and date. Very cool.
Found via Engadget.
How did I miss Amazon.com's Kindle? I know it has been on the front page of Amazon for months, but I have completely ignored it until today.
Released in November, 2007, Kindle is almost everything I expected from eBook readers when they first came out almost a decade ago. I don't think it is quite there yet, but I am way excited about the technology. I'd love to get my hands on a demo, but I don't think I'll consider buying one until they incorporate a touch screen.
I love the electronic paper screen technology. One of the biggest flaws I find with eBook readers is the headache they give me from the back-glow. I can't look at my iPod Touch for too long because it gives me a headache from squinting and focusing on such a tiny, glowing screen. Amazon's Kindle promises to remedy that, and I think that is so neat.
Engadget has some great coverage here.
Almost as cool as Jouneyman's electronic paper.
I am sick today, so between sipping hot tea and taking swigs of decongestent, I've been checking my email. I received the strangest message only moments ago from the kind folks at Spokeo: "As a courtesy, we are notifying you that Spokeo users have found the following accounts for you..."
What followed was a list of my accounts attached to my google email address. I had no idea such a website existed, but I am completely amazed. I signed up for an account myself and watched as it pulled my email contacts and tracked thier activity over the web. I had no idea my little sister had a myspace account (Sorry, sis, now I know!).
Spokeo is invasive, but absolutely fascinating. The possibilities in communication and advertising are limitless--I can track a client and see what they are doing on the web, who they are posting about. Alternatively, they can track me, or together we could track key audience members.
This takes Facebook stalking to a completely new level.
The boys across the river don't cease to amaze me. Check out this new video of Big Dog from Boston Dynamic. Big Dog is a quadruped robot that can walk, run and leap. It's amazing technology with great utility for military and exploratory purposes, but all I can think about after watching the video is how adorable it is. It moves like a lanky dog, and it's almost scary how realistic the motion is at times. I am looking forward to future developments.
Check out the video, or visit the Boston Dynamics website here.
A giant emerald octahedron greets you on the splash page of the preview site for the Sims 3. The familiar diamond shape has become synonymous with the Sims, and I am excited to see the return of the series.
I am definitely looking forward to the greater free will the Sims have, as well. They can wander sophisticated Sim cities without you needing to prompt them to go to the bathroom. The screenshots are great--the environment is more realistic, and the creators promise even more interaction.
But the biggest feature of the third installment looks to be the ability to create Sims with limitless features. Finally, I can create a Sim-Holly that looks even more creepily like me. I can create realistic Sim clones of my friends and family and control every aspect of their lives. Wow, I think I just creeped myself out there.
This Sims 3 looks like it is going to be more fun than the previous installment, and delightfully creepier, too.
EA issued a release about the Sims 3, which will be available in 2009. I haven't played the Sims in a while, but I am a huge fan of the series, and a bigger fan of EA. Unfortunately, it looks like the website, http://thesims3.ea.com, has crashed. Once it is up, my entry of fannish gushing will go here.
These are so cool, they must be shared.
The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen was first announced months ago, but I am still tickled by the idea. Shipping in March, this is the pen I have been expecting since smart pens were first available to consumers from LeapFrog. The website notes, "The Livescribe platform turns plain paper into a computer screen and bridges the gap between the paper and digital worlds. The platform enables a broad range of new applications in personal productivity, learning, communication, and self expression."
Microsoft Surface is a behemoth of touch technology. It integrates cell phones, personal devices and more. I can imagine seeing these in hotel lobbies, business centers and tourist information buildings. Microsoft suggests home use, as well. Surface is so streamline and pretty, I wouldn't be surprised to see future models for the home, although I think the current design is most appropriate for business. In fact, would love to see a demo for a small-scale business meeting--perhaps an employee using Surface to enhance a proposal.
This final cool gadget I first spotted on You Say Too. The company Bruketa & Zinić used thermo-reactive ink for the annual report for food company Podravka. The report, a small booklet, must be baked in tin foil for the ink to appear. Appropriately, the title of the report is "Well Done." The idea is so playful, I love it.
Of course, none of this is nearly as cool as the imagined computer paper featured in NBC's Journeyman. 
I love commercials. I love advertising in general, and I really admire the brains behind the spots for Jeep, AT&T and a number of others. When TBS ran it's annual "Best Commercials of the Year" countdown last night, my eyes were glued to the TV.
But I was disappointed this year. Sure, the program gave Jeep and career-builder.com a nod--but the vast majority of "funny" commercials were about sex and bodily functions. I chuckled, but I was not really impressed. Although they played my favorite from this year (an ad for Jeep Liberty), ads from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon were completely disregarded. Even the Ad Council (love those guys) produced a series of smart ads, which were also completely overlooked.
I think what really appeals to me as a consumer are not the one-shot, shock value commercials, but the series that tie into an extended campaign. We learn about integrated marketing, repetition and reflecting the company's ideals in class, and a squirrel passing gas to save his forest just doesn't do it for me. On the other hand, Verizon has found a great theme and ran with it for the past five years. The original "Can you hear me now?" commercials evolved into "the network," and now Verizon doesn't even need to say the company name for viewers to recognize their brand. Their commercials tell stories about how great, even life-saving, the Verizon network is.
Jeep, on the other hand, took a completely new direction than other car commercials (yeah, a semi recent trend, but Jeep really pulled it off). No anonymous stunt drivers down mountain-side roads--we get an average Joe rocking out in his Jeep on a mountain-side road. But Joe and his Jeep get even better: Joe's car is so environmentally friendly and fun to drive that woodland creatures, natural enemies even, join Joe in his crooning. Joe and his Jeep are one with nature AND one with the road.
Speaking of "Joe," I love how commercials have started to use "quirkier" actors. T-Mobile's "Secret Lovers" is one example of two average looking guys who could be my neighbors. (Even better, the guys make a second appearance in "I'm like your Uncle." Consistency and storytelling FTW.) Dove's powerful "Real Beauty" campaign began this trend by using women of many body types, but I love how non-beauty-related spots have also caught on. Good commercials like these attach the brand or company to a story or idea and keep it in your head. Man, If all commercials were as good as these, I don't think I would mind sitting through them during my House, M.D. and Journeyman.
Included below are a few of the commercials mentioned above.
The "sequel" to this spot can be viewed here.
