Beyond the Mouse

Here's a really fun video of people interacting with computers other than with a mouse. They use their eyes, their arms, their speech.



Right now, it's all just for fun and for art's sake. But what kinds of things could it lead to? For example, you know how with email and text messaging and facebook, it's so hard to articulate sarcasm or excitement or disappointment? Well what if the message could express your exact feelings and not just your words? Powerful!

New Vocabulary - Jailbreak

The word "Jailbreak" is now used to refer to hackers of the Apple iPhone. It means "to hack an iPhone to install unapproved software." I gather it took only weeks to break the new iPhone 3GS, which went on sale in mid-June. Now, a hacker known as 'geohot' has release the first jailbreaking software.

So what do you do with it? OK, so you can create your own apps, you can probably "get" other apps for free, but what else? Apps are generally only a few dollars and most people only use a dozen or so. It's not like it's a big expense. What am I missing?

The thrill of the challenge....

Text a Robot

Chalkbot, is a robot project from the Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation for cancer awareness. During the Tour de France, you can text the robot anything and it will write it in chalk on the road.



You simply text 'LIVESTRONG' followed by your chalk message to 36453. You will get some kind of confirmation when it's written. The idea is to honor someone who has/had cancer.

I'm sure some people will be rude, but I'm facinated with this totally open and trusting enterprise. You'll probably get some kind of advertisement about Lances charity, but we're all pretty immune to ads nowadays.

What would you have the Chalkbot write?