Web 2.0 is steaming forward - you HAVE to check this out. Think about connecting all the pictures that are out there, think about adding CCTV and satellite images, road maps, google street view, topographical maps etc... check out the detail - amazing & scary indeed.
Here's the link for the online demo, but it's Windoze XPSP2 & Vista only :(
Remember the futurology of "The Enemy of the State", in which the FBI could view street level pictures and movies of everyday people? Try out the newest feature by Google, called Street View (only for some cities of the USA, for now). Keep in mind that this is the technology that's available for free, imagine what level of detail you can get with some coins in your (federal) pockets...
The images that make up Google's Street View feature are taken by a small army of drivers with expensive, multiple lens cameras mounted to the tops of their cars. Add to that the already mapped locations for TomToms etc, and we'll quickly have the continent accessible from home.
I thought I'd quickly see what's going on on the Golden Gate... check out the results below (I could have still zoomed in more! and you can follow people by clicking on the little arrows to move the camera/angle).
How about the foot-traffic on Lombard Street? Even if it is not real-time, this is insane! Once CCTV cameras are hooked up (and why not?), you can check out the special at your greasy spoon, or the company that your better half keeps for lunch..
How about that car parked in front of your house when you're not there? Enough already? I think so.
We are looking for participants for 'the blog revolution', an altogether new, flash-based blogging experience from BDirect, a design and development company in the UK.
All levels of experience are welcome, from those who've always wanted to create a blog but thought it would be too difficult or too time-consuming to IT savvy, experienced HTML bloggers.
MyFlashblog gives you a completely new type of online experience, which delivers everything you would expect from a blog, but in a richer, more dynamic way. This allows you to create your own unique space like never before - you have to see it to believe it.
To sign up for your own flashblog and for more details on the beta release, please go to http://www.myflashblog.com/.
Happy blogging!
The road to hell is paved with green intentions! (I. Angell)
Well, much like anyone else in BC, we're going through our household items in an effort to change to a healthier way of life. Out goes the bleach, no more plastic PET7 bottles, away with the white rice.
Many of the items that now disappear from your shelves do not surprise me - but what should we replace them with?
A trip to our Capers, Safeway and IGA introduces me to all sorts of things 'organic', 'locally grown' and 'eco-friendly'. Of course, the locally grown items are mostly from our neighbour to the south, the GM-friendly USA, and 'eco-friendly' in many cases means 'human-unfriendly'. Top that off with our newest discovery: 'ethically made in China' from MEC!
A good look at the lists of toxins and carcinogens online reveals what we had been suspecting all along. Selling 'green products' is easier than selling healthy products, and many items that are good for the environment are not really good for us. The flipside of this phenomenon: buying healthy is much more difficult than buying green. Doing both is almost impossible - or really , really expensive!
While I was trying to figure out what was going on with "we or the planet" on the supermarket shelves, Ian Angell sent me his newest piece on greening, called "Carbon Footprints on the Road to Tyranny". Have a read, it's a great take on our popular and questionable support for a greener, eco(nomy)-friendly world instead of healthier people.
Information Systems are all around us, all the time - but not all are High Tech. The next time you travel with BC Ferries, keep your eyes open for the unique signs on their vessels :-)
I find it amazing how much attention is spent on technology, and how often the human and social side is neglected. Does IT matter? Sure, but why do we always forget about the other elements that make a 'system' a success?
If you have any good examples, please send them to me and I will post them here!
For those who liked "RFID and the End of Cash" (links below, comments welcome!), keep your eyes peeled for "The Panopticon Revisited".
Working with Ian Angell is fantastic, and I am sure this paper will be fun to read, it's great fun to write.
RFID & the End of Cash: working copy and final copy (login required)
...something, somewhere, went terribly wrong...
