Warning: squirrels.

New Google Maps feature: drag directions

Well, the evil scientists at Google are at it again.  They just added a new feature where you click and drag your driving route to create new, custom, turn-by-turn driving maps.  The following video demonstrates this new feature far better that I could:

Some concerns about the "Jesus" phone

With the Apple iPhone release just two days away, I still cannot decide if I will -- or even should -- buy one.  By now you have probably heard that David Pogue [NY Times] and Walt Mossberg [Wall Street Journal] gave the iPhone positive [albeit tenative] reviews.  In fact, here is Pogue's video review:

And here is Mossberg's:

As much as I want to buy an iPhone -- I think -- a few things are holding me back:

1. The iPhone's non-wi-fi internet connection will be frustratingly slow.  I know that for a fact because I am already an AT&T customer and use their EDGE network to browse the net on my Treo.  AT&T's EDGE network makes glaciers seem downright speedy.
2. The iPhone's lack of Flash support -- it doesn't even support Flash Lite -- means that while you may [eventually] be able to connect to the internet over the cellular network, you won't be able to view Flash-enabled websites or movies.
   
3. Because the iPhone doesn't offer voice dialing [where you press a button, speak a person's name, and the phone automatically dials that person], using an iPhone while driving could be downright dangerous.  Yeah, yeah ... I know.  I shouldn't use my cell phone -- even with my wireless Bluetooth headset -- while driving.  I do.  Get over it.  As Pogue mentions in his NY Times column, it takes up to six steps to wake the iPhone, locate an contact, and make a telephone call.  What Pogue fails to mention is that some of those six steps may require you to use both hands.  As an alert Slashdotter put it, "I want a 'jesus-phone', not a 'meet jesus phone'!"
4. With my wedding to Christine now only 10 days away, I should probably be saving my money for our honeymoon rather than splurging on [yet another] tech gadget ... especially considering that I just spent $130 to get my Xbox 360 repaired.

I'll keep you updated on what I decide.

My Xbox 360 died. :(

Well, I guess I will have some more time to spend on my blog: my Xbox 360 is displaying the infamous "ring of death" meaning the Xbox has left me and moved on to the console graveyard in the sky.

The worst part -- besides the fact my Xbox is now one of the countless Xbox doorstops out there -- is that my console is only a few days out of warranty ... which means I get the distinct honor of paying Microsoft another $130.90 to get my console repaired.

Sigh.  Rest in peace, Xbox 360.

Manufactured: April 6, 2006
Purchased: May 9, 2006
Died: June 26, 2007

Country music lyrics of the week

Heard on a country radio station last night:

Cause I'd like to see you out in the moonlight
I'd like to kiss you way back in the sticks
I'd like to walk you through a field of wildflowers
and I'd like to check you for ticks

 

Update Yahoo Messenger!

Part of keeping your computer healthy is ensuring that your computer has the latest updates.  Well, if you use Yahoo Messenger, you need to download and install a new version immediately.  If you don't, your computer may be easily compromised by some pretty nasty people.  That would be bad.

Bama bound!

Well, I am off to the deep south tomorrow to speak at the Alabama Educational Technology Conference, see my family, and chow down on some exceptional barbecue, chicken fingers, and mexican food.  If you are going to be in Birmingham any time this week, stop by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center and say hi.

One month and counting

Well, in one month I will be in Las Vegas getting married ... on apparently the most popular wedding day in years.  In hindsight, it looks like Christine and I were fortunate to be able to easily book a chapel and reception hall when we did, even though we made our reservations back in September.

Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to July 7th.

Fallout 3 teaser trailer now available

The rest of 2007 is pretty well planned out for me.  I am getting married next month, I start my doctorate at USC in August, and [I hope] GTA IV comes out in October.  But what about 2008?  Well, I think I may have found an XBox 360 game to occupy my time: Fallout 3.

Interplay's Black Isle Studios started working on Fallout 3 ages ago ... and then Interplay went bankrupt.  So Bethesda Game Studios -- makers of Oblivion -- picked up the license and started redeveloping the game.  Fallout 3 won't be released until Fall 2008 [at the earliest], but Bethesda released a teaser-trailer yesterday that you MUST see.  Twice.  Click on the image below to see the trailer.

Chicago by night

Here's a cool website worth a quick visit: http://www.docbert.org/ChicagoByNight/

This is a zoomable, one gigapixel image of Chicago by night from a boat just offshore of the Shedd Aquarium in October 2006.  The cool thing is that you can click the image to drag it left and right [think Google Maps] and double-click to zoom in to an absurd degree [for example, the people in the Congress Hotel need to close their curtains, and you can easily make out the (somewhat blurry) Signature Room if you zoom in enough.]

The CAPTCHA from HELL!

Spend any amount of time and you are bound to run into a CAPTCHA, a "completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart."  Designed to make sure that the data you enter onto a web form is actually entered by a human being and not by a spambot, CAPTCHA's are those squiqqly words you have to manually key in on some web sites.

Image source: Wikipedia

Well, someone has taken the CAPTCHA to its final, logical conclusion:

Image source: Imagespar