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Gadgettes 83: The Cool Concept Episode

Let us quit beating around the bush and accept that sometimes a cool concept is good enough. So expect these concepts to become reality sometime in the flying-car future. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 83

Good concept: Footlume runs lights up your steps http://dvice.com/archives/2008/03/footlume_run_li.php

Toilet-mounted washing machine for less water wastage http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/03/toiletmounted_w.html

ApriPoko: a robotic universal remote that has a question http://dvice.com/archives/2008/03/apripoko_a_robo.php

ASCII curtains let you get geeky with home decor http://www.popgadget.net/2008/03/get_geeky_with.php… Read more

Where we are all children of men

EPISODE 66

Other than getting accosted by former reality stars, it's pretty much a regular day at The 404 ranch. George Clooney gets 2girls1cupped, MissBimbo scares Meridith Viera, Paramount is creating an awful studio to make low-budget horrible video games, and we talk about movies opening this weekend with special guest Karina Longworth.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

The media center as a work of art?

We've gushed about the storied Italian sense of style many times in this space, especially when it comes to innovative and elegant ways of incorporating flat TVs into interior decor. But this proves that even the best designers can have a bad day.

Although there are many ways to showcase a plasma or LCD screen as a framed work of art, this example from Milan-based Vismara Design isn't one of the better examples. In fact, when we first saw these framed media centers on Dvice, we thought it was some kind of joke, maybe something one might find … Read more

Tip: Syncing BlackBerry with OS X applications

Mac users are often left standing with the short straw when it comes to the kinds of smartphones they can sync with OS X. If you believe the hype, it almost seems as if Apple's own iPhone is the only way to go. Well, it's not. Plenty of other phones can be synced properly with iCal, Entourage, and even Apple's own Address Book, with the help of third-party software. In this tip segment, I'll focus on the BlackBerry.

RIM does offer a syncing software solution for the Mac on its Web site, called PocketMac for BlackBerry. … Read more

Hits and misses 2.0(07)

As 2007 closes its doors, Webware writers Rafe Needleman, Josh Lowensohn, and Caroline McCarthy look back on the best and the worst to come out of it...

2007: Hits

The Facebook platform. Facebook's new open platform has proven to be a great way to give Facebook users more to do, while putting eyeballs on and dollars into developer's sites. While the usefulness of some of the apps is questionable (see the misses category below), Facebook has built a solid foundation for new social applications, something that did not exist previously.

Google Gears. This platform lets developers write Web apps that can work offline. It is in its infancy, but it's an important step in the right direction for road warriors and anyone who wants to use Web 2.0 apps while away from a live connection. So far, it's limited to just a handful of apps, including Google Reader, Zoho Writer, and Remember The Milk, but with a developing API and support from Google, we think you'll be seeing Gears as a standard part of new Web apps in 2008.

Adobe AIR. AIR lets Flash (and other) developers take their apps off the Web and put them onto people's desktops, and it's seen a lot of progress this year. From launching an alpha version in late March, AIR has been met with considerable interest from both developers and users. Many of the apps that have been created are slick and easy to install. AIR, like Google Gears, is a key technology in the development of "hybrid" apps--Web services that work for users whether they are connected or not. AIR's special power is that its apps work outside of a browser. AIR apps look and feel like real desktop programs.

Twitter. Twitter was one of the first microblogging platforms to get it right. In addition to its open API, which has encouraged the development of dozens of ways to read and post Twitter messages on a variety of platforms, Twitter got the social angle right. It's simple, but not too simple, and it's fun. Twitter's brief messages tend toward the forgettable, but that's the platform's blessing: it doesn't ask too much of its writers or its readers.

… Read more

Ten worst tech catastrophes of 2007

Over at CNET News.com sister site TechRepublic, Jason Hiner lists the "Top 10 biggest technology belly flops of 2007." From huge security breaches to questionable feature sets, Vista, the iPhone, and the Pentagon... Fans of tech snark will appreciate the way Hiner weds careful analysis and scathing critique.

Read the full story at TechRepublic.

Open source to boom 800% in US K-12 Education market

I first came across this eSchools report on Dana Blankenhorn's blog, and followed Dana's link to the findings from the 2006 report:

Open source is gaining importance for schools. The growth rate is a healthy 70% per year. Beyond Linux and the well-known Indiana open-source initiative, a number of other states and districts are considering open source. Moodle, a curriculum delivery platform, is an example of a popular open-source program. Widespread open-source usage will grow eight-fold from 2006 to 2011.

Wow. I'm hopeful that increased open source will spawn fewer Microsoft-bred atrocities like this:… Read more

Find the one that got away with Long Time Lost

Getting in touch with people from your past can be difficult, especially if they don't show up in a Google search or on popular social networks. The truth is, without a large Internet presence or a last name such as "Einstein," you're going to be tough to find for the casual searcher, which is where Long Time Lost attempts to fill in the gaps. Long Time Lost essentially lets you create a beacon to get the attention of the person for whom you're searching or others who know their whereabouts. This virtual beacon shows up … Read more