GeekSugar

Must Haves For October

GeekSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:51:21 -0700

Fall is in full swing, and if you're wondering what's new in the gadget world, or are just hoping to freshen up your geek gear collection with a few new items, you've come to the right place. I've rounded up some of the latest and greatest gadgets, games and gizmos. They range in price from $2 to $200 so there's certainly something for everyone!

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CNN's New iPhone App Allows Easy Customization, iReporting

GeekSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:32:33 -0700

CNN launched its new iPhone application this morning, featuring breaking news, video, personalization options, and, most notably, an interactive iReport feature.

The application allows you to search for and follow topics of interest to create a personalized "MyCNN" news feed - from breaking stories about your home state to gossip about your favorite celebrity. Tapping any news story from the main screen leads to two summary bullet points, the main story, and any relevant video. An additional tap on the share button allows you to email the story, choose to follow the topic, or save it to read later. The app also pinpoints your current location to provide weather, traffic, and breaking news near you.

Its most interesting and unique feature is the iReport function, based on CNN's popular citizen journalism feature. Users are encouraged to capture photos and video of breaking news and upload it to CNN directly from the application.

The app is available now at CNN.com, and the iTunes App Store for $2. And if you were to ask me, it's well worth the $2.

Last Night's CNN Hologram Technology: Freaky and Amazing

GeekSugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:35:09 -0800

During last night's election coverage, I found myself bouncing around from high-def channel to high-def channel, seeing what ABC, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC had to offer. I already knew that CNN correspondent John King would be showcasing election news from the high-tech Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall, but I had no idea CNN would take their techiness to the next level.

Were you as shocked as I was when they showed correspondent Jessica Yellin in "hollographic 3D form?" Turns out this impressive technology was made possible by Vizrt and SportVu with the help of 44 HD cameras and 20 computers. The A+ geekiness award definitely went to CNN last night!

Did you happen to see it in action? What would you think if they used "virtual" correspondents regularly?

CNN Goes High-Tech For Super Tuesday

GeekSugar — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:40:43 -0800

Last night when I was watching all of the election coverage on CNN, I couldn't help but notice national correspondent John King tapping a touch-sensitive monitor to show election results across various states.

Described as the "Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall" by its inventor, Jeff Han of Perceptive Pixel, the multitouch display can to showcase animated maps, videos, photos, live streams of websites, and charts.

"It's a stupendous way to explain a lot of complicated data," says David Bohrman, chief producer of CNN's political coverage. This highly interactive display is said to cost around $100,000.

Source

The Webby Awards Name Top Internet Moments of the Decade

GeekSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:10:28 -0800

The 2000s were an important decade for the Internet. It was a platform for endless amounts of innovation, a ton of new ideas and content, and it brought lots of change. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to whittle down all of the important things that have happened into a list of only 10. Thankfully popular awards organization the Webby Awards took the initiative to do it themselves and released a list of the Top 10 Most Influential Internet Moments of the Decade.

Among them: Craigslist's nationwide expansion in 2000, music-sharing site Napster's shutdown in 2001, Facebook opening to non-college students in 2006, and the Iranian election protests (a.k.a. "The Twitter Revolution") earlier this year. The list is pretty comprehensive, though I think they should add "the launch of GeekSugar" in 2006! The full list includes some major high-profile announcements as well as some that set the stage for further development and change.

David-Michel Davies, the executive director of the Webby Awards told CNN:

"Maybe in twenty years we'll look back and some of these might change. Something might become more important. I think history and time always gives you more insight into what moments or sites or companies shaped the landscape."

Indeed! It's fun to look back at the moments that shaped Internet history over the past decade, and exciting to think of what's to come in the next 10 years.

A WHO Report Says Cell Phone Use Leads to Brain Tumors

GeekSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:05:10 -0800

Cell phone use causing cancer - certainly not something we haven't heard before and not something that is going away anytime soon. First we learn that the electromagnetic radiation from cell phones doesn't cause cancer and when I asked you if you were worried about your cell phone increasing your risk of getting cancer, most of you said no.

The latest news? Well it doesn't get more legit than the World Health Organization, who have been working on a ten-year investigation called Interphone to see if there were any correlations between prolonged cell phone use and brain tumors. According to CNN the study will be published by the end of the year, and did reveal that those who had cell phones for 10 years or longer had the strongest risk of tumors.

And another recent study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology supports the link between cell phone use and tumors as well. The CNN article states:

Studies that looked at people who had used cell phones 10 years or longer tended to find the strongest risk of tumors. Researchers found that cell phone users had a 10 percent to 30 percent higher risk than people who barely, if ever, used this technology.

They also touch on Bluetooth devices, which aren't as harmful, but could cause tumors if worn on your ear all day. I don't know about you, but whenever I know I'm going to have a long cell phone conversation, I make sure to pop in my ear piece (not a Bluetooth) so that my phone isn't glued to my head for a couple of hours.

What do you think? Would you consider changing your cell phone habits after learning about these findings?

Which Kind of Facebook User Are You?

GeekSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:50:05 -0700

Need a lift? I suggest that click over to CNN to check out their definitive list of Facebook user types.

They've outlined 12 painfully true identities, which include people like The Lurker, who don't update much but mention to you in person how nice you look in your latest batch of photos, the mind-numbing Bores who outline every activity of their day, the Self-Promoters (self-explanatory), and the Sympathy-Baiter, whose updates are just fishing for you to ask why they're so bummed today.

As much as this list gives you a chuckle or makes you go 'ugh', come on; I know you see a bit of yourself in these definitions. I know I've shamelessly self-promoted, told the occasional lame uninteresting update about my day (I blame Twitter for that), and I'm sure I've been the Paparazzo.

Look hard, and tell me which one you are, or have occasionally been!

Should There Be an Age Minimum For Social Networks?

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:44:06 -0800

Social networking sites have long been popular with teens, and now researchers are saying they're becoming increasingly popular with younger kids, too. I don't think anyone's surprised by the findings; though both Facebook and MySpace require users to be at least 13 years old when signing up for accounts.

A researcher quoted in the CNN article says:

"Of course they are [using social networking sites]. They're using them because that's where their social world is. Because there's no effective way to age-verify . . . children very quickly realize, 'I just say I'm 14 years old, and they'll let me use this.' "

Researchers are split on the long-term effects of allowing younger children onto the sites. Some say that early exposure to the sites can lead to Internet addiction in adults; others say that most younger children use the sites in moderation, and in positive ways. The article also quotes parents who have allowed their kids to lie about their age to create profiles, though they also require their kids to surrender their passwords, and monitor the kids' activities and friends. What do you think about age restrictions on these sites?

Daily Tech: Sprint's Samsung Moment Lands in Stores Today

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:14:40 -0800

Sprint has just introduced another Android handset, the Samsung Moment, which goes on sale today for $170 after mail-in rebates - Engadget
Facebook spammer, Sanford Wallace, has been ordered to pay $711 million in damages to Facebook - CNN Money
Texting and driving has now been banned in New York state - MobileCrunch
This Greasemonkey script will help you remove the clutter from your Gmail - Lifehacker
Gizmodo gets their hands on the BlackBerry Storm2 - Gizmodo
It's giveaway time on GeekSugar! Log in for your chances to win one of these AT&T Smartphones - GeekSugar

Do Celebs Get Preferential Twitter Treatment?

GeekSugar — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:50:30 -0700

A much publicized post on Slate asserts that Twitter is intentionally removing unflattering tweets to celebrities from search results. The author claims that he posted a tweet "teasing" the president of CNN (which he also describes as "as nasty an item as I thought I could write" without sounding like a complete jerk). Later, he tried to search for this "hostile" tweet, but it was nowhere to be found within Twitter search results. A few unofficial experiments later, he deduced that only positive comments directed at celebs were showing in search results.

The author references another article, speculating on the connection between celebrity publicists and Twitter. That article describes detailed processes that publicists go through to create a good image of their famous clients on Twitter.

To see what I think about the whole ordeal, just read more.

If you ask me, Twitter is still a bit like the wild west. Some celebs, like Ashton Kutcher have happily adopted the 140-characters-only platform as a means to communicate with fans. Others, like Miley Cyrus, have made very public departures from Twitter, citing privacy reasons.

So, the initial question remains: does Twitter suspend negative comments about celebrities from search results? We'll probably never know for sure, given Twitter's tight-lipped nature when it comes to revealing insider details. My question: does the Internet really need another dose of negativity?