Spending this week at EMC World in Orlando. Learned a lot of great stuff about the V-Max, PowerPath, and SMC so far. Right now, I’m hanging out in the Blogger’s Lounge. What a nice place to hang out. Lots of well-known storage bloggers from EMC and elsewhere here. They have comfortable chairs to sit in, power strips to charge up, and we can get all types of espresso drinks…lattes, cappuccinos, etc. I’ll be sure to post some pics later…though here’s one from the official EMC flickr stream.
I just read that Google is finally going to release a much-needed update to GrandCentral, which they will call Google Voice. Here are a couple official Google blog entries about it: Official Google Blog NEW – Google Voice Blog
I’ve been using GrandCentral for a while, and I love it. I have a virtual phone number that will forward to my various real phones. I can filter out spam calls. I can listen to my voicemail online. The list goes on.
Here are some of the new Google Voice features:
SMS text message support: send and receive text messages via your Google Voice number. Messages are forwarded to the cell phones on your account. You can reply directly from any of your cell phones, or from your computer. This is the most important feature in my book!
Voicemail transcriptions: your voicemail messages can be automatically transcribed, which will allow you to search through your messages easily from your inbox.
Conference calling: up to 5 people can call your Google Voice number at the same time, and you can conference them all in together.
And now, the important info you need to know: Google Voice will only be available to existing GrandCentral users initially. HOWEVER, you can request an invitation when it becomes available by filling out a simple form!
Hi everyone – Lenovo and Microsoft are running a great new contest. They want people to submit unique photo shoot ideas, and the winner will get $50,000 and a Lenovo W700 laptop to make their dream a reality. I have a great idea that I submitted: “Cathedrals of Europe: A Panoramic Experience of Age and Architecture”
This idea expands upon my original panoramic photo of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, OH:
Trinity Cathedral - Cleveland, OH
I want to take that single photo to the next level, which includes traveling to Europe to create similar interior photos of various cathedrals. I will make large format prints available, and will also create a book with the pics that I take. To support the churches I visit, I will donate photos, books, or some sales proceeds to the churches.
But I need your help to make this dream happen. Please vote for my idea! The contest ends on 4/3/09 at 11:59:59 EST. Thanks in advance!
Jon
As a patient of the Cleveland Clinic, I have the option of linking my Cleveland Clinic health records with Google’s (relatively) new Google Health service. Sounds pretty interesting to me. Unfortunately, I won’t be trying it out anytime in the near future. You see, since Google is not a health care provider, they are exempt from HIPAA guidelines, which exist to protect your private medical history. Below is a quote from the Cleveland Clinic Supplemental Authorization for Release of Medical Information to Google:
“Please understand that once your medical information is released to Google through this authorization, re-disclosure or re-use of your medical information by Google is no longer protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (‘HIPAA’).”
Sure, Google will be happy to tell you about how secure their systems are. I’m sure they’d be happy to point out that they will not share this confidential info with others under most circumstances. However, if any organization were to subpoena Google for your records (insurance company, employer, etc.), Google may be required to hand it over. Your usual HIPAA-provided legal protection would be non-existant at Google.
Yesterday, Steve Jobs (Apple, Inc. CEO) posted a letter on apple.com about his recent weight loss. In his letter, Steve stated that there is “a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy.” He went on to say that “sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.”
Here are pics of Mr. Jobs after and before his weight loss:
Image courtesy Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
My guess: Steve Jobs has Celiac disease. The effects of Celiac disease are that villi in the intenstine are unable to absorb nutrients. This happens when a person with Celiac disease has gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye (some doctors may also recommend avoiding oats and other grains). There is no cure, though the effects can be reversed simply by avoiding foods with gluten in them.
If Mr. Jobs does have Celiac disease, he would be able to get back to a “normal” weight simply by avoiding bread, cereal, certain sauces, and other products that contain wheat, barley, and rye. My guess is that he would get back to his usual weight by late spring, just like the letter says.
Disclaimer: this is pure speculation on my part, and this is only my opinion based on my limited knowledge of celiac disease. I am not a doctor of any sort, and I am not disclosing any private information about Mr. Jobs’ health.
So I just picked up one of the Esquire 75th anniversary magazines that has an e-Ink display embedded in the cover. Here are some parts that make up this display:
“qes_x5″ circuit board (I’m guessing this is just the name they chose when designing the board)
(6) CR2016 3V batteries (which appear to be lightly soldered in)
QESA080713 display w/ 12-pin connector (this is the outside front cover display)
QESA080718 display w/ 4-pin connector (this is the inside front cover display…aka the Ford ad)
This seems to operate at a very basic level. Each display is separated into multiple sections (one display has 3 sections, the other has 11). Each section is sent an on or off signal from the circuit board. The display cannot show anything other than what it was designed to show. So that means you can’t customize these to say whatever you want. However, you could theoretically connect your own display to it, if you had one that would have either 4 or 12 inputs on it.
The power source also has potential to be modified. Anyone care to remove the batteries and hook up some solar cells?
Even with the potential hackability, I’m having a hard time coming up with something useful for someone to make out of this. Since the display screens currently operate in a serial manner (i.e. they have one wire per section that turns on/off), it’s not possible to make this into a real e-reader. But only time will tell how people will try to hack these. And…Esquire is encouraging people to hack them!
For those of you in the Cleveland area, the Apple Store at Crocker Park in Westlake will be having its grand opening on Saturday, 9/13 beginning at 10 AM:
http://www.apple.com/retail/crockerpark/
Here is the address/phone number:
267 Crocker Park Blvd.
Westlake, OH 44145
(440) 788-2800
They’ll be giving out free t-shirts to the first 1,000 people. I’ll try to go and will post some pics here tomorrow
Last week I went to check out the Cleveland National Air Show from a co-worker’s downtown loft. The weather was perfect, and we had a great view from the roof. I was able to get a bunch of pics. Here are a few good ones:
