GeekNUZ

Street Art Springs To Life

There's apparently a street artist in New York City who is making animals out of plastic bags.  But wait, there's more.  The plastic sculpture is then tied to subway ventilation grates so that when trains come by air rushes up and fills up the bags, and poof!  Inflatable polar bear!  Check out the pics.

Portrait In Junk Food

I guess today is the day of portraits. Fast on the heals of McBush comes junk food Rosie. Without digressing into any possible implications of the chosen medium on the subject, I'll just say it's brilliant and amazing.  I love it.  And I love Rosie.  Artist Jason Mecier has also created similar portrait of other celebrities which can be seen HERE.

McBush: The Republican Nominee

Via Towleroad

McSame As Bush

Epocrates iPhone Press Release

Epocrates extends a warm thank you to the medical community for helping drive Apple’s decision to support development of Epocrates products for the iPhone. Based on your high demand and Epocrates track record, it was announced today that Epocrates has been working with Apple to make its clinical content available on the iPhone operating system.

To learn more visit: http://www.epocrates.com/iphone/compatibility/

In the meantime, you can currently access Epocrates free online drug reference at m.epocrates.com with an Internet or WiFi connection.

**If you have already installed Apple’s iPhone or iTouch January update, you can now add an Epocrates Online shortcut to your home screen. To do this visit m.epocrates.com, click on the + sign at the bottom of the page. In the menu that appears, touch “Add to home screen”. Enter a name for the icon, then touch “Add” in the upper right corner.

Best wishes!

The Epocrates Team
http://www.epocrates.com

Breaking News: EPocrates Officially On iPhone!

If you haven't heard, this morning was the announcement of the Apple software developers kit for the iPhone, and on hand for a live demo was EPocrates!  Finally, it's been made official: Epocrates will begin creating a downloadable version of its software for the iPhone.

Epocrates, Inc. was one of only five companies, including Salesforce.com, AOL, EA and Sega, to be highlighted by Steve Jobs during the iPhone Software Roadmap media briefing. They demoed a searchable drug database, along with pictures of pills to aid in drug identification - the first for any mobile device. Does this mean that the GeeknNUZ petition helped to convince Apple of the importance of support from the medical community?  I hope so.  Again, a big shout out to everyone who supported the petition!

For the time being, Epocrates has just released an iPhone optimized version of it's web-based drug databse search. Try it out by navigating your iPhone browser to http://online.epocrates.com/public/mobile/iphone/

To watch the Apple iPhone SDK conference in its entirety click HERE.

Kadoink Me!

I was at the first ever Texting 4 Health conference at Stanford University last week and saw a presentation by a San Francisco startup called Kadoink.  The premise is if you can blog it, why not speak it instead?  After you create a Kadoink widget, you can post it to your favorite social networking site, or to your own blog, and people can access your rants, music clips, or anything you want them to hear via their cell phones.  You can even call up a buddy (or conference call a few of them) and record that conversation so the rest of your friends can hear it. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Fingers Crossed For ePocrates on iPhone

With the iPhone SDK looming, developers are waiting with bated breath for all the details on March 6, 2008.  I am particularly excited as it's almost a culmination of months of effort to help petition one of my favorite programs onto the iPhone.  Epocrates is a medical program that's used by thousands of health professionals on a daily basis.  It's an invaluable tool that provides instant drug information - and more - without having to be tied down to a computer.  I just want to thank everyone who has signed the petition!

As well, I just did a brief interview with ePocrates last week in regards to the iPhone SDK release and they seem to be very excited to port over ePocrates to the iPhone!  More news to follow as details about the SDK emerges.

Yamaha BODiBEAT Gets Your Jog On

The Yamaha BODiBEAT MP3 player uses an accelerometer and a heart rate monitor to determine your workout speed and accordingly matches songs to your pace.  For example, when you run faster, the music gets faster.  I'll hold judgment on this one until I can actually try it.  It may be interesting.

Macbook Air Gone Bad...Very Bad

It don't matter if you've got the money or not...bad taste is bad taste.  Feast your eyes on this gloriously hideous Macbook Air done up in gold-plated crystals.  Only eighteen of these "Golden Age" ugmo Airs will be made and sold at Selfridges.  Via Shiny Shiny.

Obama Writes Open Letter to LGBT Community - Still Treats Them Like Second-Class Citizens

The Obama campaign has stepped up their efforts to court the LGBT community by buying targeted ads in Texas and Ohio.  Today, they released an open letter written by Barack Obama addressed to the LGBT community.  In this letter he expresses his commitment to building an America based on the principle of "equality for all."  As well, he states that "It's wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation."

However, after reading the letter I see it as no more than what it's meant to be - a campaign stunt that promises little to truly advance the "second-class" status of many Americans for one major reason: that a person who identifies as LGBT cannot extend their full citizenship rights to their spouse if their spouse is of a nationality other than American.

Every year in this country hundreds of thousands of Americans marry non-American citizens, who are then eligible for US permanent residency status if their American spouses sponsor them.  Once they obtain permanent residency status they are able to legally live and work in the US without a visa.  However, LGBT couples do NOT have this right and will not under Obama ( or Hillary or McCain for that matter).  In fact, thousands of these couples live everyday knowing that at anytime their significant others may be forced to return to their country of origin once their visas expire and can no longer legally live in the states.  I personally know two couples who have moved to England and Canada to be with the one they love.

It is often said that you don't always choose who you love.  And furthermore, is it the government's business to tell you who you can and cannot fall in love with?  Shouldn't every citizen - straight and LGBT - in our country be able to love and live the rest of their lives with the one they choose? 

If Obama, or any of the major candidates for presidency, truly believe in equality for all they should really think about what they're saying because this is not fooling me, nor should you let it fool you. Passing the Matthew Shepard Act or the Employment Non-Discrimination Act may make discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal, it does not give LGBTs equal rights when it comes to citizenship.  If Obama truly believes that all Americans should be equal, then give all LGBTs the full citizenship rights that all straight citizens have.  If he truly believes that all citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation, should have equal rights, then have the guts to mandate it on a national level.  Leaving the issue for each individual state to decide is a cop out.

In the end, this debate is not about gay marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships, it is about the rights and benefits of EVERY American citizen.  Call it what you will, all US citizens will not be equal until each individual is guaranteed the same legal rights under our constitution.

Continue to Obama's Letter...

Ojo-Worldgate Defunct?

I first blogged about my Ojo video phone back in May of last year.  I was pretty excited about them since they work so darn well.  I use them on a regular basis to talk to people across the country and even on the other side of the world.  Sadly, one year later, it appears that the Ojo's time has come to a sudden and abrupt end.  As of a few days ago, my Ojo stopped working and any attempts to contact customer support resulted in a prerecorded message - my attempt today resulted in a disconnection message.  Of course, I then went online to see if the internet could somehow remedy the situation.  It was then that I was confronted with Sal Costello's blog, The Muckraker, which confirmed my sinking suspicion about the demise of the Ojo.

Sal does mention, however, that there may be a way to reprogram the machine to resurrect it back from the dead.  If anyone out there knows of such a miracle solution, please let me know!!!

Macworld Expo 2008

Well, I am finally back to blogging again, and what better way to start than with Macworld 2008!  While I knew going into it that Macworld '08 couldn't possibly live up to the iphone geek-frenzy that was Macworld '07, I did have a great time perusing the halls.  But, was it just me, or was every other kiosk someone peddling their iPhone cases?
    My main target this year was the Axiotron Modbook Macbook tablet.  Having seen the machine last year, I was excited to see that it generated enough interest to keep the company going, and here they were with production ready units!  (In case you're interested in getting your hands on one, the production time is four weeks).  However, they are still having a couple of unresolved glitches with the handwriting recognition software and a Leopard bug which is currently not allowing you to vertically orient the screen.  Apparently they recently met with Apple engineers, who don't seem too hard-pressed to work on the problem.  Another issue I had with the device was the obvious lack of a keyboard for keystroke shortcuts.  However, the buttons on the pen and the remote control can be programmed with shortcuts-problem solved!  Overall, the professional artists who were on hand for demos told me they were impressed with the unit, and got used to not having a keyboard relatively quickly.  Several have already purchased their own units.  Side note: if you are an artist in need of a side job and you want a Modbook, consider working for Axiotron because you get over 50% off on one of these things.
    Because every other blog is talking about the Macbook Air, I'll keep it short and just say that I was thoroughly impressed upon seeing the unit in person.  The computer feels solid, the LED back-lit screen is gorgeous, and the build quality is top notch.  Even the black-colored keys looked nice.
   Below you'll also see pictures of some blinged-out cases for the iPhone - with Swarovsky crystal and gold, of course.  I also found some soon-to-be-released "mushroom" portable speakers from Y.C. Cable. They are creatively designed to magnetically stick together and even expand when you open them (they don't have a name for the product yet, so feel free to email them with your brilliant suggestions).  Also, a picture of my favorite exhibitor booth from Crumpler bags, a company reminiscent of Timbuktu, based out of Melbourne, Australia.

The Gross-Out Viral Video of 2007

If you think you know everything that two girls can do with one cup, then you are only half the perv you think you are.  I finally got some friends together and recorded their reactions to the "2 Girls 1 Cup" viral video.  Believe me when I say that you cannot guess from the title of this video what the content is.  There are hundreds of reaction videos on YouTube which have entertained me for the past few days.  For those who dare, the video can be found online via any search engine.

ePocrates On iPhone Next Year!

I just received an advanced press release from Erica at ePocrates regarding ePocrates on the iPhone.  I think this is one exciting piece of news that many in the medical community have been waiting to hear.  The following is soon to be posted in their FAQ page, but here it is in advance for your reading pleasure (Thanks, Erica & ePocrates!) :

Epocrates message:

Thank you for your interest in using Epocrates mobile products on the
iPhone.  Currently it is not possible to download our PDA applications
onto your iPhone.  However, Apple recently announced that it will make
software available early next year so developers can begin to create
applications that can be downloaded onto to the iPhone and run without a
network connection.  We are excited about the opportunity to offer our
mobile products on the iPhone platform next year and look forward to
receiving the Software Developer's Kit when it is available.

In the meantime, if you are interested in accessing our drug content on
your iPhone, you can access our Online product via the iPhone browser.
Simply go to Online.Epocrates.com to login (current users) or register
(new users).

On Leave

Apologies for the paucity of posts as of late.  I am on leave from Geeknuz for the time being and will be back soon!

Rare White Koala Found In Rural Australia

CUTE. What else can I say?  Apparently the koala, Mick, was found by a police officer in rural Australia.  Mick had a chlamydial eye infection, which has since cleared up with antibiotics, and is now doing well.  Although he may appear to be an albino, he is not.  He is just a rare white koala.  However, like albino koalas, he is more prone to skin cancers due to his lack of pigmentation.  And, yes, human albinos have an increased risk of skin caners as well. Via Guardian Unlimited.

Forbidden City Starbucks Closes Its Doors

Update: A traditional Chinese cafe has now replaced the former Starbucks in the Forbidden City.  It will served traditional Chinese tea, in addition to coffee.  Via BBC.

Did you know that Starbucks has over 200 stores in China?  One of which, opened seven years ago, is located right inside the Forbidden City in Beijing.  Due to protests arguing that the Starbucks brand was trampling on Chinese culture by virtue of its location, Starbucks signage was removed from the store two years ago.  A recent online campaign, which gathered over 500,000 signatures, supported the idea that if Starbucks wanted to stay inside the Forbidden City, it would have to sell other brands as well.  I don't quite understand how this would ameliorate the issue of Chinese culture-trampling, but, oh well.  Per Starbucks's vice-president for Greater China Eden Woon: "We decided at the end that it is not our custom worldwide to have stores that have any other name, so therefore we decided the choice would be to leave."  Via BBC World.

Ride The S.L.U.T. In Seattle

Those darn city planners have done it again.  A new street car line in Seattle has been lovingly dubbed the "S.L.U.T." by locals after a branding snafu by city officials.  Previously called the South Lake Union Trolley, it has since been renamed the South Lake Union Streetcar.  But, not before Kapow! Coffee, a neighborhood coffee shop, mass-produced appropriate t-shirts to commemorate the new line.  Apparently they sell out of them as quickly as they put out ;)  I just placed an order for my very own S.L.U.T. shirt at their website: Ridetheslut.com.  Update: Just got my S.L.U.T. shirt in the mail!  Loving it and enjoying the ride.

Martin Klimas Give New Meaning to 'Action Figures'

German photographer Martin Klimas is showing off a fantastic series of photographs born out of the idea of using sound to trigger his camera.  The photos depict figurines that are dropped to the ground in a dark room.  The instant that the figuring shatters, and thereby producing sound, a microphone rigged to a camera picks up the sound and activates the camera to flash and take the pictures.  Beautiful!  Via 37signals.  See all the photos at Martin-Klimas.de.

Crazy Menu Dot.Com

Judging from the list of top ten restaurants on Crazy Menu's front page, it would seem that this is another start-up in my hometown of Mountain View, California!  I have yet to try the service, but I will certainly be showing it to the office manager.  Crazy Menu allows groups small and large to individually customize their food orders and offers friends a fun way to decide on which restaurant to go for dinner.  I will have more to say once I've used it.  Official site at Crazymenu.com.

Bevege Chair Looks At Home In Modern Art Museum Or Dilapidated Loft Space

Brandon Norsted’s Bevege Felt Chair is a combination of recycled industrial felt, fibreglass and resin. The felt is impregnated with epoxy and sandwiches several layers of fiberglass in order to keep its form, thereby avoiding the need for any armatures or framework underneath. Official site of Brandon Norsted HERE.

The (Very) Politically Incorrect Alphabet

Mark Jones was inspired by his wife's classroom to create the ultimate politically incorrect alphabet - fit for any modern school room.  Jones states, "Lacking any tact or decency, I therefore determined to create an alphabet using only subjects that, while they might have been unremarked a few decades ago, are now outside acceptable usage."  After seeing it, I happen to think that it's more politically aware than incorrect.  Click here to see it in its entirety. [Thanks to Philip Foeckler]