Nexus Rumor

Its Rumor Time!!!

For those of you who may not have heard of yet, Google is preparing to come out with their own phone. Now this is not to be confused with something like the MyTouch or the Droid which are powered by a Google based OS known as Android. This is going to be an entirely Google brand phone, they are controlling everything from the physical production to the operating system and release.

It is believed that Google is doing this because as a solution to the conflicts they have been having with Phone companies on their previous phones, by releasing it themselves Google will not be forced to compromise on content or product design, they can finally create the device they have always wanted too.

Gizmodo has recently gotten their hands on the phone which is currently being field tested by top executives at Google’s main office. They have an amazing write up about the phone and a comparison of its features to the iPhone 3GS and the Droid.

Engadget has also managed to release a technical break down of the specifications for the phone showing a 5 mega pixel camera.

The question still remains though, how will the phone be released and how will it work? Current rumors are trending towards it being a data based phone with VOIP, but if that is the case will it be on a network or will it be tied to some form of a Wi-Fi network. As it stands right now only time will tell.

Currently the phone is slated for an early 2010 lunch date. Move information will be posted as it is made available, so check back often.

-Fish

Mac Tablet? Jan 26 Maybe…now the 27th

*UPDATE*

New rumors are point towards the date of the press conference to moved to the 27th not the 26th of January. There has also been news of March being the suspected shipping date of the new tablet which at this point people are almost sure will be called an iSlate.

With a recent rising trend in smaller mobile computers like netbooks, and the huge success of Apples touch screen technology in the iPhone and iPod Touch; it has been only a matter of time until Apple attempted to get their feet wet in the tablet computer field. For a while now people have been looking forwards towards an Apple brand Tablet, and for the past year or so the only way to get one was to purchase one of the few custom made ones that were being sold online.

In the last month or two a cornucopia of rumors have been popping up about the fabled Apple Tablet being put into production. Current speculation is centered around the idea of either a 10in or 7in (or both) screen. These rumors have been made slightly stronger by news of Apple scheduling a Press Conference for January 26th with reports of there being a product announcement on that day. Also Apple has recently purchased a company owning the name iSlate, which could possible turn into the name of the hoped for Tablet device.

For more news and rumors on this and other Apple related products check back here and head over the Macrumors.com.

Macrumors also has a wonderful buyers guide for those interested in purchasing a new Apple device.

Astronomers Puzzled Really?!?

The notorious spiral lights in the sky image (above) has recently been making its way around the interwebs and blogosphere at a rather frightening pace. This photo at first glance appears to be a  rather elaborate and interesting Photoshop job. This is actually and image taken in the sky above Norway on December 9th, and according to Popsci Magazine

“The Norwegian Meteorological Institute remains unsure of the phenomenon's origins, but astronomers have said that it does not appear connected to the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.”

It has now become known that this light show was caused by a failed Russian missile test, that was scheduled and announced ahead of time. Thankfully not all of the reports came out the same way, playing on the eye catching idea of scientists being baffled. The Daily Mail, a UK based paper is one of many to report the truth about this case. Even without confirmation they were able to dig deep enough and discover that the display was most likely from a failed Russian test launch of their Bulava missile.

Unfortunately the truth about this story was not researched enough and many popular news sources like The Huffington Post published stories with more emphases on the unknown lights and the idea of Aliens, and less on what (logically) might have caused them. This led to an otherwise harmless and rather interesting story being used by members of the UFO supporters community twisting it around as proof of the existence of extra-terrestrials.

Once again another fine example of how sloppy or lazy journalism, and a desire for quantity over quality  has resulted in a harmless story being taken advantage of to propagate a rather laughable idea like UFOs.

Fish in Hong Kong Part. 4

As the sun rose and my Facebook wall was once again flooded with requests for gifts and other stuff from Hong Kong so I decided to spend my day walking around the markets looking for stuff to waste my money on.

To start off my day I got directions from the wonderful concierge staff at the Conrad Hotel and headed down to the subway to take it into Kowloon. After riding the trains down a few stops and getting off at the Mongkok station I made my way over to Nathan street and decided to walk south till I reached the ferry. The subway trains in Hong Kong are wonderful, they are easy to figure out and use and are much cheaper then taking a taxi. The whole ride cost me HK$6 which is less then $1 US, while the taxi will start you off at HK$18 and build from there.

As I walked down the street passing shops and stalls selling all sorts of goods, everything from jade stones to Rolex watches. I stopped in a few to look at some goods, but mainly to avoid the troublesome street peddlers trying to get you to go with them to get a tailor made suit or designer watch.  These people were so annoying they would continue to walk with you and pester you till another one would come up and try and sell you something. I did manage to pick up a nice gift for my girlfriend. Many of the smaller shops and stalls were hidden down a dark and dank ally which would open up to a catacomb of stalls selling mainly cell phones and food with a few clothing stores sprinkled here and there.

Eventually I made my way all the way down to the Star Ferry finishing my 2.2 mile long walk.  After riding the ferry back I hailed a cab and headed back to the mall beneath the hotel to grab some lunch from the Metropolitan Cafe before heading out to the bus terminal to catch a ride over to Stanley Market and continue my shopping day.

After taking a lovely and inexpensive (HK$8) bus ride I walked around the large outside  market and enjoyed the nice day out before heading back to the Bus and ending my day with dinner in the mall at an American restaurant. I fly half way around the world to eat...a blue cheese burger.

Fish in Hong Kong Part. 3

Today was convention day. Keep in mind this trip was not all fun there was some business in it as well.

During the morning I attended the Cosmoprof expo at the Convention Center. The show featured thousands of booths from retail companies to cosmetics and natural health suppliers.

After a few hours of walking around I headed back to the hotel and headed up to the Executive Lounge for Tea Time. Armed with an amazing book ("Hunger Games") and a fresh pot of tea I sat enjoying my book and the wonderful view of the Hong Kong skyline overlooking the Bay from 59 floors up.

Today was slightly uneventful but it was nice to get some relaxation because my next two days are going to be filled with travel and gift shopping.

Unfortunately my camera crapped out on me today and I was unable to take any photos :(

Fish in Hong Kong Part. 2

Full Day 1:

Wake in the amazing Hilton Conrad Hotel and go up to the Executive Business lounge for a warm breakfast or eggs, lox, fruit, and other interesting east/west foods. Oh yeah and lots of tea.

Met with representatives from OEC shipping firm for a short meeting in the morning and listen to proposals.

Headed off for Victoria Peak took a tram ride up at an almost 45 degree angle. The peak was amazing you could see right out to the bay and the mountains.

Went back to the hotel lounge for tea time, apparently during the British influence worked its was a lot farther into the culture then I realized. Almost all of the signs with English translations are written with the UK spelling/words (elevator=lifts and line=queue).

After enjoying a relaxing cup of tea and free Wi-Fi it was time for dinner at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. *Warning* This place is a massive tourist scam. They have a $10/per person cover charge plus will put town a small plate of something you did not order on the table and charge you $27 for it. They try to rope you into the expensive fancy level by not telling you that the food and style is more casual on the next deck up. The food was okay but it is defiantly a place to avoid.

That is it for today I will be posting tomorrows events sometime later on and will try to get these coming out at a regular daily time. If you would like to see photos of the places I have been feel free to check out my Picasa account which will have updated photos throughout the trip (as of right now there are no photos from the plane, still trying to get those up).

Fish in Hong Kong Part. 1

For those of you who don't know I am in Hong Kong for the rest of this week. Throughout my trip I will be taking a slight break from my usual topics to post whatever I feel like, hey its my blog and I can do that. One thing I have noticed while being here is that some of the sign translations are pretty funny. I will be posting up photos on my Picsa account.

First things first, getting here was long as hell but I have to give a lot of credit to the Delta/Northwest crew on the flight from Atlanta to Narita it was a lovely flight and they were very courteous. The plane was wonderful with the Egg Carton seats and a nice list of movies.

After arriving in Hong Kong and making it to the hotel it was nearly One in the morning and had been traveling for well over 24 hours, it was time to crash.

Riding the Wave

The great Google Overlords have decided to smile down on me and bestow upon my inbox a wonderful invitation to Google Wave.  So here is a quick run down on the new Wave. I Love It. This product has such a cool and unique concept to it that could only be brought to life by the creative geniuses at Google. Imagine taking all the amazing aspects of Email, Instant Messaging, online widgets, and file sharing, roll it into one and to quote Geico make it so easy to use a cave man could do it.

Earlier today I was having a conversation with a friend of mine on Google Wave and felt like going back and commenting on something asked earlier and thanks to the split feature of Wave I was able to make my comment without interrupting the flow of our talk. Later on I was in the middle of a posting something when all of a sudden my friend posted up a Suduko game right inside of our talk. I will continue to post little things about Wave as it travels through its Beta life and hopefully end up as an open product to revolutionize our way of communicating.

Bedstand Bible

This is a post from Professor Richard Wiseman's Blog. I Found this idea very interesting and feel like reposing it here.

"I have been traveling lots recently, and keep coming across Bibles in my hotel room.  I assume that they are there to help some people in times of need.  The idea of offering help is obviously sound, but I do worry that perhaps there is a more effective and inclusive way of doing it…..so, what book would you like to see in every hotel room in the world?  How do you react to the Bible in hotel rooms?  Would you keep the Bible or replace it with something else?"

Personally I feel that its time we changed things up a bit. Take them out of the hotel bed stand and put them behind the room service desk, if people want them they can still get them but instead of putting them in every room let guests ask for them if they want one. By placing them in the rooms it is in a way imposing a religion many don't agree with on the patrons paying for a room for the night. I say take the black book out, but leave the yellow pages in, now that is something people could have a real use for.

Chrome Back in Beta & A New Voice

Just downloaded the new Google Chrome update and sent my faithful browser back into the hands of beta. So far all is working well the only downside is that rollover text presents with a block on either side of it, as well as the themes not being available for beta. For more information about the new Beta mode and to download the browser check out the Google Chrome Blog.

Also in Google news I recently joined the Google Voice crowed and am pleased to say it is a very interesting tool with some unique applications. I recommend applying for an invitation for anyone with a Google account, and those without should get a Google account. Google voice features include:

• Accept a call
• Send call to voice mail w/Listen in (allows you to listen in to the voice mail and jump in at any time)
• Record Conversation (announces that the call is being recorded on both sides of the call)
• Send SMS
• Transcript of Voice mail and listen to voice mail from comp online

Update: The issue with blocks and themes has been fixed. 08/09

Importance of sex ed in school

Why teaching sex ed in schools saves lives.

"A group of teenagers misunderstood a woman's screams during sex and, thinking they were stopping an assault, beat a 25-year-old man in her bedroom, police said."

And now everyone in school will know that these kids have never had sex before.

Homeopathy stole my sense of smell

Many people have heard of and probably at one point used the well known cold remedy Zicam. Well aside from being all natural and homeopathic it is also apparently very dangerous to your health, who would have guessed.  Aside from not curing your cold, according to the Associated Press reports that:

     "Consumers should stop using Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel and related products because they can permanently damage the sense of smell, federal health regulators said Tuesday."

Zicam contains large amounts of Zinc which can cause nerve damage, and has resulted in at least 130 cases of loss of smell. While many think that the FDA is supposed to prevent things like this from happening but what they don't realize is that Zicam falls in to a special group of remedies called homeopathic products, which are, according to the FDA not required to undergo review.

Say wait to buying a new iPhone

Rumors have been cirtulating recently about the release of a next generation iPhone as well as a next generation iPod Touch and iPod nano. Apple is expected to release details at WWDC in June and a possible release of the new devices in July. According to HardMac the future iPhone will be similar in shape and size to the previous one and the new iPods may possible contain a camera. The addition of a camera would make the iPod much more like the iPhone and would be a really cool addition.

The war rages on

This sounds like how most battles between logic and superstitious people play out, though i am not a fan of the ending. http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/oh_no_its_making_well_reasoned