Every year I forget about Wimbledon. I am hardly a tennis buff but I thoroughly enjoy watching these matches. There is something about Wimbledon that draws you into the sport.
The problem is by the time I turn on the TV and accidentally catch a game, half the matches are over. I guess I’m not the only one. YouTube has just announced a fabulous solution for everyone who is ultra busy in this digital age.
I never imagined having a choice like this, but now you can watch all of the matches online, live or at your convenience. They are showing it all, the games, the press conferences, interviews, and content from behind the scenes that was never available before.
Since I haven’t viewed YouTube’s new offering yet myself, I am not sure how the multiple live matches will be shown. I wanted to get the news to you as soon as possible. I have heard that YouTube is experimenting with their broadcasts to make sure you see the most exciting plays as they happen.
Since we are all experiencing this for the first time, be sure to share what you find out so we can equally enjoy this new development and not miss a thing.
I just took a peek. I wanted to see the replay where Steve Darcis beat Rafael Nadal. I am a big Nadal fan and all I could pick up was a Bosnia broadcast. I had to suffer watching the crushing moment without an English explanation.
Tom Twomey, an attorney with Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo, a well known East End law firm, and his 1926 Flint Motor Car in front of the American Hotel. Both photos by Eliot Hess.
I love days like yesterday because it took me back to the time when we all weren’t so connected. Oh yes, we were connected, but in a much different way. We actually went to the local candy store to hang out, spent hours talking on the phone to our friends, and wrote letters to our loved ones.
A trip to Sag Harbor, smack in the middle of the Hamptons, is not exactly yesteryear, but it is a small village that frowns on using wireless communications equipment during restaurant meals and doesn’t put TV sets in their hotel rooms.
Dawn, the manager at the front desk at The American Hotel (a favorite of Keith Hernandez and Billy Joel), told me, “We really encourage guests to wind down.” She admitted that they are wired for the Internet but keep it on the quiet side.
Not everyone realizes this, but more public places than not lack cell and Internet coverage. It has always been a problem in the Hamptons. The town folks don’t want any part of it because they like their peaceful existence. They are not interested in hearing some advertising manager screaming slogans on his cell in the vegetable section at King Kullen. They also refuse to expand the width of Montauk Highway, the main road that goes from west to east. It is their way of saying “Go back home you city slickers.”
Most of the weekend homes have their own wifi connections. The same thing is true in Silicon Valley. Clients and friends have complained for years that the corridor south of San Francisco, home to Internet billionaires, has spotty connections. The main thoroughfare, Route 101, where millions of folks travel hours to and from work, has no coverage.
The Hamptons and Silicon Valley are like time machines. One minute you have the world at your fingertips, the next you wish phone booths still existed.
For almost two years, I have been trying to see all of my Tweets, yes, from the first post. Twitter allows you to scroll down just so far. Facebook does the same thing. For some reason, social media sites don’t like you to live in the past.
I was still determined to check out my history. I wanted to see who I said what about. Lo and behold, after searching for my Twitter archives, I found a full explanation in Settings.
I thought I would share it with you. It’s not that easy find on your own.
Downloading your Twitter archive to allows you to browse a snapshot of your Twitter information, starting with your first Tweet.
To download and view your Twitter archive:
Go to your account settings by clicking on the gear icon at the top right of the page and selecting Settings from the drop-down menu.
Click Request your archive. When your download is ready, we’ll send an email with a download link to the confirmed email address associated with your Twitter account.
Once you receive the email, click the Go now button to download a .zip file of your Twitter archive Unzip the file and click index.html to view your archive in the browser of your choice.
Please note: It may take a few days for us to prepare the download of your Twitter archive.
If you work for a large corporation today, you are required to change the passwords on all of your business accounts once a month. When I first heard about that, I gasped. I have approximately 87 passwords. Changing each of them every four weeks would be a full time job. Thank goodness I own my business. I will take my chances.
Interestingly enough, David Pogue, the personal technology editor of The New York Times, recently made a plea to all of his readers to change their passwords in order to avoid having their identities stolen.
“This is not a suggestion,” said Pogue in a recent video he did on the subject. “This is an order. Don’t take chances. Life can be pretty ugly when others have access to your banking, housing, and insurance accounts.”
Experts recommends using long passwords that contain digits, punctuation, and unrecognizable words. He also said that we should use separate passwords for every website we frequently visit. And just like the demands of corporations, we should change all of our passwords once a month.
As far as I am concerned, this is an overwhelming task. Like me, David has 87 account names and passwords for 87 websites, including banks, games, airlines, blogs, shopping, email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Skype, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube.
Even if I wrote all the passwords on one long piece of paper or stored them digitally in a folder, there is a great chance that I would forget where I put the paper or where I filed the folder. David has recommended many different software solutions to help retrieve your passwords. Today he swears by Dashlane, the 2.0 version, because it has timesaving features and it’s available for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. What’s more, it’s free.
The big bonus is that you can import current existing passwords from previous programs. It also has some extraordinary features. It’s a password memorizer. Dashlane actually takes over every time you try to type your account name and password into a web page and press enter. It’s all done for you.
There are so many other magical features like the creation of passwords and a display of pictures of your credit cards.
Ever since Natasha Richardson suffered a severe head injury on my mother’s birthday, March 16, 2009, I think about her every time I hear about someone getting banged around. I can’t get her out of my mind. I just feel her death was so senseless. This world-renowned talent, and a beautiful mother, wife, and daughter, died at such an early age (45) because of two lousy decisions while taking a beginners ski lesson. She wasn’t wearing a helmet and refused medical attention when the paramedics were called in after her fall. Three hours later Natasha was in critical condition and she lasted only two days more. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was an epidural hematoma due to the blunt impact to her head.
I know of a new invention that “might” be a life saver in this type of circumstance. Before I tell you about it, I want to make a disclaimer that frees me of any legal obligation for my remarks. In no way do I mean that this new invention is going to be a cure all. I am merely suggesting that the new invention may be a good option to monitor any head injury.
Reebok and MC10, have joined forces to introduce a new impact-sensing cap that blinks yellow or red if you suffer a moderate or severe blow to the head. Blows to the head are pretty common to millions of girls and boys who play hockey, soccer, lacrosse and other contact sports.
The CheckLight is a washable beanie that has an electronics module tucked inside it. It can be worn under a helmet for football or hockey, or by itself for soccer and other helmet-free sports. It will sell for about $150.
Reebok makes the beanie and MC10 developed the flexible and stretchable electronics. Sensors in the cap — a tiny accelerometer and gyroscope — measure the head’s forward and twisting movements.
The sensor can be used for about 13 hours continuously and can be recharged with a USB cable. The total number of hits can be read when the battery is recharged.
Definitely look into this new product. Active people wear all kinds of protective gear. Start from the head down.
My good friend Ron Goldberg has been working on bringing a revolutionary, intelligent (that means it has digital capabilities) walking assistant (cane) to market for a few years. Ron is a veteran writer in the consumer electronics industry and is highly regarded as an authority both in products and in the marketing of new technologies. I am not exactly sure how and why he came up with this new concept for canes, but he did, and he has been following his dream of introducing it while continuing to do his day job.
Yesterday, the dream came true for Ron and his wife Brenda. They officially launched the Isowalk, a walking assistant that will definitely replace primitive canes with ergonomics, biomechanics, and digital intelligence. Isowalk debuted on the popular Indiegogo crowdfunding site. Many new products and concepts now launch this way if they are still interested in raising funds for marketing budgets. The Indiegogo campaign will be live until July 25th and will be featured at the FashionWare wearable technology expo during CE Week in New York, June 26-27.
The press release announcing the product is below and the video above gives you a fabulous demo. Remember, you read it here first.
Isowalk is the first modern update of what is perhaps the world oldest technology by introducing the first digital walking stick. Holder of two U.S. patents, Kineticane, LLC will unveil its revolutionary digital cane at the January 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, assuming a successful campaign to raise marketing funds via Indiegogo.
“We’re thrilled to unveil Isowalk through Indiegogo,” said company founder and CEO Ron Goldberg. “This human-facing technology fills a need that’s universal and very much in the spirit of the ‘crowd’ — we all know someone who has needed help with walking at one time or another. Our prototypes have electrified everyone that’s seen and used them, and, through this campaign, we will not only bring Isowalk to market, but also add the intelligence that will make it an important new smart object for digital health applications.”
Groundbreaking design distinguishes Isowalk on numerous levels. First, a unique semi-spherical handle aligns the hand, wrist, and arm into ideal orthopedic positions, eliminating strain and maximizing leverage. Next, Isowalk’s innovative center of gravity produces a pendulum action that advances automatically for each new step or stop, to or from any angle, with virtually no effort required.
Isowalk’s personalized technology uses a patented omnidirectional shock relief system that conforms to each user’s weight, force, and specific gait, providing customized cushioning for every step. Isowalk’s hand grip, modeled from fine bicycles and reversible for left- and right-handed users, intelligently distributes weight and eliminates both the direct and associated body strains inherent to cane use.
Isowalk’s novel tip offers triple the ground contact of a conventional cane tip for superior stability and safety. A series of thin carbon fiber shafts, stronger than steel but lighter than aluminum, replace conventional aluminum tubes and wooden rods, and make a distinctive visual statement.
In addition to raising marketing funds, Isowalk’s crowdfunded Indiegogo campaign will also propel the deployment of the wireless platform that can enable a host of related applications for this breakthrough device. “Smart” Isowalk models can transmit alerts, monitor and archive wellness and recovery data, provide short and long range location feedback, and more. Noted Goldberg, “Isowalk will be an important new carrier for connected applications. It’s wearable technology that the user doesn’t have to wear.”
Isowalk’s Indiegogo campaign runs through July 25. Indiegogo contributors will receive the first models; general availability via e-commerce will follow.
Musk has a greater chance of becoming the holy name in history books for his work on the Internet (founded PayPal), bringing electric automobiles to fruition (CEO of Tesla Motors), and furthering rocket technology so we can all eventually have multi-planet lives (founded SpaceX).
There must be something to this guy. At 42 years old, this South African native is worth $3 billion, has been married twice, is currently available (he denies he is in a relationship with Cameron Diaz), lives in Los Angeles, has five children, and plans to bring us innovation like we have never seen before.
During a milestone interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the recent AllThingsD conference, Musk revealed some startling hints about his energy efficient car company,Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and other inventions he is working on.
For example, Tesla cars, in the not-too-distant future, will be able to travel from coast to coast thanks to the recent addition of a network of super-charger stations. Musk also says the Tesla car, at a price of $70,000 now, will sell for $30,000 in three years.
Watch the news today or tomorrow, because some other kind of invention — a cross between a Concorde airplane, a railgun, and an air hockey table — is being unveiled as the fastest and cheapest vehicle to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
The interview also reveals what SpaceX is developing and why he feels we may all be leaving planet Earth someday. Thank you Walt and Kara (the two of them are geniuses in their own right, bringing cutting edge news to us around the clock throughout the year) for posting this video on YouTube. It is truly history in the making. And I didn’t miss the extraordinary appearance of Esther Dyson during the Q and A. All that brain power in one room makes me so happy to be able to watch this power conversation over and over.
I just may never leave my house again. There are objects flying all over the place. A few days ago, I wrote about flying automobiles, yesterday I covered flying bicycles, and today I have discovered that the aircraft industry has given birth to a Zipcar-style service for renting small airplanes.
OpenAirplane is an online company that makes renting an aircraft much easier. OpenAirplane has small airplanes for rent at airports in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Jose, Kissimmee, and Detroit. Many more are being added all over the United States.
This is how it works. You become a member of OpenAirplane and then take a standardized flight exam so you will be granted the ability to rent an airplane quickly.
It’s as simple as that. If you are granted to be an OpenAirplane pilot, you can then book an airplane online, even using a new mobile app. This is getting too easy. You don’t have to stop at the rental office. The keys are inside the craft.
A few years ago, we never would have believed that most of us would be reading electronic books. Ebooks have definitely gone mainstream. Now it’s time for bicycles and automobiles to go through major transformations. As difficult as it is to believe, both moving vehicles will be climbing to new heights.
The other day, I showed you a well-funded company from Woburn, MA, that is testing the potential of a flying automobile. If this company doesn’t make it, another will. That is just how technology evolves. The first person with an idea is not necessarily the one that brings it to market. Just be prepared; it’s going to happen.
Now we learn that there is a flying bicycle in the works. Three Czech companies have teamed up to make a prototype of an electric bicycle that can fly. One of the first trials took places in a Prague exhibition hall last week. The bike, which was controlled remotely, landed safely after a five-minute flight.
Looking like a heavy mountain bike, it weighs 95 kilograms (209 pounds). It has two battery-powered propellers in the front, two in the back, and one on each side.
Bike frame manufactures are excited about these trials. Some are even designing the proper housing. That means if and when the flying bikes are ready to go, the frames will be available. Looks like we all may be flying through the air on a personal vehicle, one way or another in our lifetime.
I feel like I’m writing a science fiction story. Some of the digital developments in the last decade have been beyond whatever I expected to see in my lifetime. This one is no exception.
The other day, Google announced its newest experiment, “Project Loon,” an endeavor to connect the entire world to the Internet. Google’s blog explains that it’s sending up countless giant balloons to beam down Internet access to remote regions around the globe.
“Balloons make sense for this purpose — they’re cheap to deploy and can provide wireless coverage in areas that would otherwise be difficult to serve due to geography.”
The pilot program has already started with 50 balloons in New Zealand. Google’s balloons fly 60,000 feet high and provide Internet speeds as fast as 3G networks. No surprise, Google is making all this happen with algorithms and a combination of wind and solar power. The balloons potentially float around the entire globe and communicate with specialized antennas. Internet providers on the ground transfer the signal to users for the last mile.
Google just started talking about this but the project has been in the works just under two years. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a joke. I felt the same way about Google glasses and their cars that drive themselves. This company never ceases to amaze. Oh, one last thing. Google calls this “Project Loon” because it is just that: crazy. However, they are determined to make it work.
Watch the video. It will blow you away. Excuse the pun.
DigiDame 