Yearly Archives: 2010

As new technologies are invented and functions are combined and split between different types of devices it is getting hard to tell which new technology is replacing which old technology.

Phones today are replacing computers, while email is replacing traditional phones, while micro-blogging is replacing email – and the circle keeps going.

So when talking about the future of the phone, I am going to present several related technologies that I hope will work together to replace the phone as we know it.

Large Screens

I have already talked a bit about ubiquitous large screen devices. Some of these could be simple projectors but the most exciting new screens will use fiber-optics and low-intensity lasers to project different colors at different angles from the same pixel. This gives you a 3d image without glasses.

I will have to draw a diagram someday, but basically you will see a different set of pixels at different viewing angles. So you can look around a close object by moving your head to the left or right.

The most important aspect of these displays though, is that you control the objects on the screen completely with HTML. You do not send it an array of pixels like most computer monitors today, or even the graphic primitives the CPU sends to the video card.

Each screen is an independent web-browser that is capable of receiving data-input from any web-connected device that has the correct permissions.

Micro-screens

Micro-screens will be the closest equivalent to the current smart phone. They will combine an input component (touch screen) and an output component, but will still be controllable via the web, by any device with the correct permissions, and be able to control other devices too.

Data Gloves

Data gloves have been around a long time for use in games but will become more popular as a way to control the virtual 3d objects of the future. Gloves are great for input but also give programmable tactical feed-back. Thankfully computers are now getting to point were they can handle this.

Voice Remotes

The last device voice remotes come the closest to the original meaning of the word phone. These are essentially next-generation blue-tooth headsets, watches, lapel pins, ear inserts, etc. that have a built in audio web-server and client.

They communicate with any other device that is in range as a fully independent entity. By speaking to this device you can audio-browse the internet, as well as place VOIP calls via any available wireless internet connection.

Finally, using the built-in audio-browser you can control all the other internet connected device that you have permission to access in your home, office, or anywhere else in the world.

There are of course several other pieces that need to come together to make this work, but the project of the day was to describe the phone of the future.

What do you think? What devices do you see in the future? Which devices do you think will come first?

Fiddle faddle fuddle
My brain is in a muddle
I wish I had a drain
To get words from my brain
Or maybe just a spout
Where a thought can just come out
Seems I can’t express myself
Til all thoughts are on the shelf

They are simply going to ignore you.

In one of those really odd coincidences that freckle life with fun, I just discovered the Dave Matthews Band on the lid of a yogurt container today!

What is so coincidental about that?

Well, I have a friend who was apparently named after Dave Matthews, and today is his birthday. Odd isn’t it?

What makes this even more amazing is that I don’t even eat yogurt.

BTW: I don’t know for sure that he was named after Dave Matthews but his dad is a fan of Scotland and 80′s rock and this band sounds like 80′s rock on bagpipes. Oh and to “top” it off, the yogurt “lid” was telling about the band’s green campaign.

So anyway….

Happy Birthday Dave Matthews Junior

Most projects that fail in a big way don’t fail because the big idea, the essence of the project, is wrong. Most fail because of a few (or sometimes every) details gone wrong.

Conversely, many bad ideas and poorly thought out plans have turned out to be quite successful because of excellent execution.

In this video, Rory suggests a new focus, a new way of looking at problems, and even a new type of job that will increase success in any project.

And Rory if you read this, I suggest that we call those essential details that have a big impact “project neutrons”. Like neutrons they are small and server no obvious purpose, but without them things just don’t work.

Somebody is going to make a really interesting book out of this. Too bad I don’t have time to write it right now.

Nashville and Middle Tennessee took a beating last week. We are talking hundreds of miles underwater, three interstates closed, biggest flood in 80 years…. yeah big flood.

Sounds a little like a little Katrina. Only different.

Compare cost and you will find property values in Nashville are a lot lower than right on the coast. So the same amount of physical damage equals a lot lower cost. Only a billion in damage so far.

Lives lost is an interesting comparison. How much of the difference is due to the storm and how much is due to the response to the storm?

Compare the response of Bush and Obama. Contrast?

How about the response of the media? Big difference.

What about Twitter, and the rest of the Internet? Very different responses.

The response of the people who live in both cites are very different too.

Both are music cities famous for southern hospitality and an easy pace.

Cities so much alike and yet so different. Can’t wait to read the book.

Why the Media Ignored the Nashville Flood

Okay not me personally… but people… in general.

Think about it. Your sitting in heaven. Everything is perfect – complete. What are you going to do?

How about creating a few humans and giving them the ability to choose right or wrong, chocolate or strawberry, praise or rebellion?

Now scientists, engineers, etc. have tried to create machines that can make decisions, but they can never do anything they were not programed to do. Results may seem random, but there is always a cause and effect. We have tried so hard and failed so often that now many people think it is impossible to do anything without a strict cause and effect.

But, God can do the impossible! And He did!

He created people that can choose to do what he did not program them to do. It is logically impossible, but the very existence of objects or even thoughts is logically impossible. They cannot exist without “cause”, but that cause cannot exist without cause.

It is impossible for them to exist, but they do exist. Any words, thoughts, actions, objects, or logic you use to deny this will disprove your point by their very existence.

All that to say, you can choose!

You must choose!

Your choices are not the result of cause and effect. They are not the result of God putting thoughts in your head.

Your choices are the cause. Your actions and everything are the results.

Your choices will never control the actions of others, and their chooses do not control you. Someone can limit your options, but you always have the ability to choose how to respond.

You are able to choose!

Whether you choose to believe me on this or not, you do have the ability to choose. No matter how impossible the situation you got yourself into you still have choices to make.

Choose! Choose well!

Choosing not to choose or to ignore the situation is also a choice but it is rarely the right choice. Make a decision today. You will probably not make the “best” choice, but you will have at least made a good choice, and that is better than the default every time.

Wow! This has got to be the best advertisement I have ever seen!

Growing up in a family that despised advertisement, I never even noticed them until recently. Over the years my career has lead me deeper and deeper into sales and marketing. Now that I am designing my own ads, I look at advertising differently.

I realize now that if someone does not sell then nobody eats. It is just a matter of selling quality products that people actually need or can make good use of.

Most ads make their appeal based on gluttony, sex, pride, revenge, or other strong but unhealthy desires. Even if the root desire is for a legitimate need like food, they offer things that won’t satisfy for long, if at all. They are offering pain-killers for a heart-attack.

I prefer selling life-saving electronics and high quality services for small businesses – things people really need. They are harder to sell because people rarely realize how bad they need them, but it is worth the effort.

The challenge then is to sell something that people need but don’t want without resorting to linking it to something they want but don’t need.

This ad is remarkable for featuring ideals such as compassion and endurance instead of cravings, and as a bonus, it does it without being cheesy.

This post shows two possible fixes for a common issue in the newest versions of WordPress and the BuddyPress plug-in.

Problem description:

• Comment section shows the blog author’s avatar next to every comment, instead of the one belonging to the commenter on all blogs except the main blog. All associated emails are correct in the database and being handed off correctly to the get_avatar function.
• Correct Gravatars show when BuddyPress is not active.

Test system description:

• WordPress MU version 2.9.x
• BuddyPress 1.2.2.1
• Main blog associated with Buddypress uses the default BuddyPress theme.
• Other blogs used an assortment of non-BuddyPress themes, but BuddyPress is designed and intended to work with any theme on blogs other than the main one.

What I found:

In the file /wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-core/bp-core-avatars.php, lines 344 and following contain the following code:

global $authordata;
if ( is_object( $user ) )
$id = $user->user_id;
else if ( is_numeric( $user ) )
$id = $user;
else
$id = $authordata->ID;


if ( empty( $id ) )
return $avatar;


I think that last “if statement” may be there to catch cases where the commenter does not have a BuddyPress account (which is the majority on my site at this point). However, if you look closely at the block just above the “if ( empty( $id))” you will notice $id is never going to be empty at this point.

That suggests two possible solutions.

Solution 1:

I have not tested this, but it makes sense that you could move the last “if statement” above the first “if statement.” That way you can check for “empty( $id )” before it gets set to”$authordata->ID”

Solution 2:

I found it works quite well to add these lines just under the last “if statement.”

if ( is_string( $user ) )
return $avatar;

This will catch any case where an email is sent as input, which is what all (most) non-buddypress themes send. Cases where numbers or objects are sent (the BuddyPress method) will be handled normally.

Maybe I can get this added into the next release of BuddyPress.