MUtech Blog

Ultimate shopper cell-phone apps

vaughaj2 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:50:22 +0000

I recently discovered two very interesting and seemingly helpful text-message based cell phone apps, one from google and one from nearbynow.com. For the person who loves impulse buying, by sending a text-message to nearbynow.com with the name of a product (sweatshirt) it will send you back a list of stores that sell that product that are near you, based on the gps location of your phone. Not only will it tell you what stores sell sweatshirts, it will also tell you the locations of those stores based on how close they are to you, and in some cases provide you a map of the mall it is in. How helpful this is depends on how many stores in your area allow the service to search the inventories though, so Oxford is pretty slim, but most major cities should be pretty good. You can also use this service online by searching the product you want then clicking the “find local” button. Once you click this button and choose a location it will put the item on hold in that stores inventory. Next someone at nearbynow will call that location to confirm inventory, size, and color of the item you want then reply to you with a message like “You’re Air Jordan’s are waiting for you on the second floor of Macy’s! Ask for Jeff.” Either way, with acceptance and integration into more people’s lives it could be helpful.

The second application is for penny-pinching bargain shoppers. Say you’re in best buy about to buy that flat screen but you really think it might be a lower price online….well send a text to google mobile and they’ll search the web for top suppliers for that topic and reply to you with the websites and prices it checked. Ensure the best decision every time! It doesn’t work with all phones yet..but with google I’m sure it’s a matter of time as long as people embrace this technology.

update on friend-stalking

vaughaj2 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:35:40 +0000

In one of my previous posts I talked about a phone application called loopt. With loopt you can find anyone who chooses to use the application by using their cell phone to pin point them on a map. To my knowledge this was only possible for iphones, blackberries, etc. but now there’s a choice for everyone else! Mologogo is a web application that after registering, you can find other registered users (hopefully people you know, creep) based on the gps location of their cell phone. Once located you can send you friends messages about where they are, if they want to meet up or anything. It also gives the option of marking key points on a map that you might want to visit later or direct a friend to. Seems more secure than loopt as long as you make your profile private, but still gives your friends/parents/stalker the chance to always find you…

IBM Brows-hare, Brow-share, Bro-share?

vaughaj2 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:44:50 +0000

So anyways IBM has developed an interface that works with your browser to allow 2 people to simultaneously look at and control a single browser window. The idea is for easy online collaboration between 2 people sitting with each other discussing some sort of web material (stocks, videos, reports, etc.). Both users will have a separate mouse pointer, and everytime either one clicks or changes a portion of the page, the program will have the browser update based on whatever was changed.

It seems weird to me….I guess I don’t see the application for this yet, but can’t 2 people sit at a computer and talk about what’s on the screen? How hard is it to tell someone to click a link if you want to check something you’re working on? Oh well, there’s still development and other steps to happen so maybe they’ll develop it into something worth using.

Moderation, rated.

vaughaj2 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:30:03 +0000

Google has yet another application called Google Moderator. This app allows anyone with a google account to submit questions tovarious threads like “ask a world leader” “ask the president” or “ask a google engineer”. Once questions are submitted, users can vote on whether or not the question is a good one, tallying votes and listing questions in order of most popular. I’m not sure though that the questions ever get answered, so maybe it’s more of a suggestion towards journalists as to what questions they should ask next time they see President Obama, or ideas for google engineers to improve software. Some really good questions, though.

Obama delays digital changeover, nobody listens

vaughaj2 — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:23:57 +0000

Initially the digital transfer was supposed to take place on February 17th, but President Obama decided to delay the changeover until June 12th citing that many Americans would not be ready. Even with the delay, by the end of next week 40% (681 stations) are expected to make the changeover. Obama may be in charge of our country, but apparently not our television!

The Kindle 2 offers creepy, illegal bedtime story

vaughaj2 — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:14:41 +0000

The Kindle 2 is a new text-to-speech device offered for Amazon.com e-books. You can buy the e-books through amazon and read them on your kindle, or use the fancy text-to-speech option and have the book read to you.

The problem is similar to that which CD’s are facing. With CD’s people are exclaiming that buying them then ripping them onto iTunes is illegal because you’re getting 2 copies but only paying for one. Similarly, the kindle 2 is said to be an e-book as well as an audiotape, again for one price. This seems like another argument that will bounce around the courts for years to come.

There is no technology bubble

vaughaj2 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:28:28 +0000

Here’s a funny video originally posted (and sinced threatened and removed) by dailymotion but luckily Techcrunch saved it. The video begins with Peter Thiel (venture capitalist, co-founder of paypal, and early supporter of facebook) claims there is no technology bubble. A technology bubble is in reference to the early 2000′s “dotcom bubble.” The idea is that like the dotcom era, technology will rapidly expand then burst, dropping stocks rapidly. Following his Thiel’s statement a video rolls with excellent lyrics explaining that web 2.0 companies and applications are raking in the cash and here to stay.

Why call your friends when you can stalk them?

vaughaj2 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:16:20 +0000

So this program isn’t exactly brand new…but it’s interesting. Everyone at one time or another has found themselves “stalking” someone across facebook (hopefully a friend of a friend, otherwise you might be one of these people.

But loopt has taken it a step farther and allowed you to find the location of your friends by using the gps on their cell phone. Granted it is slightly delayed and sometimes inaccurately triangulated, but still. Maybe once it’s refined it could be a good program for overprotective moms but although it’s a cool idea…you won’t be triangulating me anytime soon.

Open Source Democracy

vaughaj2 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:10:11 +0000

Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States and the first to have his own RSS feed. Since the campaign trail Obama has been using technology and social networking sites like myspace, facebook, and twitter to reach the masses who don’t get their news from the newspapers anymore (lame). His strategy obviously worked since Obama has the largest following on twitter and over 4 million fans on facebook. The question is where he will take technology to next.

Creating a new cabinet position for expansion of technology, Obama plans to get the top technology out of the private sector and into the mainstream network for everyone to use, as well as providing internet access for every school. Technology is not going anywhere for Barack Obama now that he is president; he plans to continue posting weekly youtube videos (ChangeDotGov) as an updated version of “fireside chats.” More interesting than youtube, RSS feeds, and the white house blog is the “your seat at the table” section on Obama’s website. This section gives any user access to previously “private” chats that take place between Obama and his advisors. The final technology push from the Obama Administration is the Citizen’s Briefing Book. This gives anybody the ability to suggest a topic for Obama to consider in office, then other users can vote on suggestions and bump it up or down the list giving a truly democratic approach to issues BY the people.

Get rich off your web-team of avatars

vaughaj2 — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:09:02 +0000

I came across the website through a random google on crowdsourcing. The idea behind this website (listed in detail here http://www.cambrianhouse.com/how-it-works/ ) is basically that you submit your original idea along with other user submissions, users on the website vote on their favorites and the winner after a certain period of time receives “credits” and a cash to get it started. Next you choose some of the qualified and interested users to help you finalize your product into becoming a success! Cambrian House then backs your idea with online marketing and you’re on your way.

It’s a cool idea but I think this website may be shutting down to move to a new location http://vencorps.com/but I think the reason it did this is it now can receive more funding which means a bigger pay out to the users involved.

Some of the ideas used in the past include Author Honors where aspiring authors can pitch ideas to users online and gain feedback or get help when they’ve hit a mental block, and the Robin Hood Fund where “users essentially post their sob story and the community votes to see who is most deserving of a payout.”

Cool ideas coming from anonymous users.