Can't Stop Geeking

Some people have a lot of time on their hands. Case in point, this complete monster sized chess set is made with 100,000 lego pieces. I love playing chess and I find those commemorative chess sets to really be a collector’s item, so I’m really tickled to see that someone actually took the time to make this.

If you have a home office but don’t like the idea of it being in the house, here’s the office pod. A 7×7 square cube that accomodates one person is only available in the UK at this point, but who knows who soon it will appear over here. I think the benefit to this is the carbon footprint it leaves is very light.

With all these tablet computers coming out so close to each other, it makes it hard to decide which one is best. It seems like each one has some ideal functions that others don’t, but none of them seem to be the complete package. It makes me want to hold off until I can test each one out before buying.

According to a new study, social media is more a buzz about Apple, the new iPhone, and the privacy issues on Facebook more than the oil spill. I can understand why a little. After we voice our opinion on the efforts to clean it up, what more is there to say or do. On the other hand, I don’t want to see BP slack off because people are not talking about this. They need to clean this mess up and we need to keep the pressure on them.

I have some friends going to the internet retailers conference this week in Chicago. This is basically for anyone who has a selling business of any kind on the internet. There are going to be a lot of people representing every type of exhibit company you can think of. I like these events, I imagine that people who attend get some great inside information on what the new developments are.

If you look closely, you’ll find a gaggle of nerds fainting en masse over all the new tech toys that are on display. This is a view of the floor at the Computex computer fair in Taipei. This fair runs from June 1-5 and is one of the many tradeshows where companies introduce their newest tech toys. I’ve seen some of the other photos and there are e-readers galore, tablet computers and even a computer able to work underwater. If you have a chance to go (meaning your passport is in order and you have some money burning a whole in your pocket), it looks like it would be a very interesting, eye opening experience.

Be careful if you’re looking to get the latest iPhone when it comes out later this year, especially if you just renewed. AT&T is looking to almost double the termination fee for smart phones from $175 to $325. The reason they’re doing this is to try and recover the losses incurred when someone terminates a contract early and only pays the current fee. If you have what people are callng a “dumb” phone (one that basically just calls and texts), your early termination fee is set to drop by $25. But back to the smart phones, it costs at least $100 if not more to purchase initially, and the termination fee can be 3x what the phone costs you. So, tell me again what’s smart about these phones?

As someone who likes technology and sees the benefits of it, I have to say that there are sometimes when it’s ok to be away from the internet for a while. Take, for instance, the iLoo. This was designed by Microsoft’s UK branch for public access. It’s a public toilet with internet access. That’s right; you can download while you offload, or stream whichever you need to do. Why was this considered a bad idea? From a sanitation standpoint, public restrooms like this get notoriously abused. People do business in these things other than for its intended use. Second, even with a vacuum suction technology, there is still a chance for microscopic bacteria to get onto the console. I don’t know about you, but if my computer is going to get bacteria on it, its going to be from me only.

Here’s the bigger issue for me. As a global culture, it seems we spend more time on the internet than doing almost anything else. I’m not knocking the internet, I love all the information I have access to, but I don’t need it every waking minute of the day. When I’m in the restroom, I should really be able to survive without the internet for the time it takes me to do my business.

If you thought your personal life and your professional life could be separate, you may want to rethink that. There’s a waitress down in North Carolina who is looking for another job because of it. She waited on a couple who kept her past her clock out time and compensated her with a $5 tip. She went home and griped about it on Facebook, mentioning her job by name, and was summarily fired. There’s a couple of things to keep in mind when reading this. First, we’re assuming the $5 tip was less than the customary %10-%15 gratuity that we have adopted culturally. Second, businesses have taken to Facebook for advertising and promotional purposes, so brand protection on a social networking site is critical to success in today’s business. Third, you have to realize that you are a representative of where you work, and if you project yourself in an area that is a marketing hotbed for your job, people are going to notice, customers and employers. That being said, my question is how did this comment come to light? Was a manager or the business owner looking at their employees on Facebook to keep tabs on them? If that’s the case, then the real story is more about who is monitoring employees like this, which makes it slightly creepier.

A team from MIT has unjust unveiled a new design for aircraft that has increased fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and the ability to take off on shorter runways. NASA commissioned this MIT team and others to design the aircraft with the intent of implementing the changes. Now, we won’t see these planes for quite a few years, but the designs and their proposed benefit makes this an exciting opportunity for air travel. With the innovation of jet engines, I can’t really think of anything that has really improved air travel for either passenger or environment. The planes have gotten bigger, the tickets have gotten more expensive and baggage has become a real sticking point for a lot travelers and the airlines. I just hope there are going to be enough people who still wish to fly when these planes come into existence. Read more about this at inhabitat.com.