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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Fun with Vox, OpenID and Zooomr

Have you heard of OpenID yet? It's an "open, decentralized, free framework for user-centric digital identity." In a gist, it works like this: say you want to create accounts at 10 websites. Instead of creating and having to remember 10 pairs of usernames and passwords (well, you could theoretically use the same ones, but sometimes different websites have different requirements for ids and passwords, or perhaps your desired username is taken, or...) -- you only need an URI to identify yourself. This is provided, of course, that all 10 sites support OpenID authentication.

Assuming such, your username at all 10 website is the same URI that you've selected. You will also need an OpenID provider that can authenticate and prove your ownership of the URI (possibly through a password or other credentials). Once that's established, you can use the same URI (+ credentials) to log in and get access to any other OpenID-enabled sites.

This barely scratches the surface, and for more details you can go to the official OpenID site. But the main thing I want to get to is Vox. Vox is a fairly new blogging platform by Six Apart (which also brought us MovableType, TypePad and LiveJournal). I think it is really cool the way it integrates the handling of photos, videos and audios into and in addition to your blog. You don't need a separate Flickr or Youtube account to upload your files to and then link the objects in your blog entries, you do everything right there in Vox. But if you already have those accounts, you can add and link to them too. No problem.

There's also a greater degree of control on your content. From setting permissions on individual blog posts, to who can view the various details of your profile, etc. While it is not the most powerful platform out there, the main draw I think is that Vox is EASY to use. Plus.... it is an OpenID identity provider! That is not all... Vox has partnered with Nokia to make it extremely easy for you to update and upload stuff to Vox using Nokia Nseries devices. Prompted by the Nokia N95 that I'm currently using (it can be very persuasive), I've created yet another blog: cybette's VOX (for lack of a better title).

The focus of my new blog will probably be more geeky and techie in nature, to relief some of the burden on this main blog, so I can write more about .... my travels maybe? Gosh, I can barely find the time for one blog... now two? Who am I kidding? Ah well... let's see how it goes. Maybe with the N95 it'll be more convenient to blog on the go. E.g. when I'm driving to/from work.... JUST KIDDING! Maybe not...

Lastly, with the Vox account I'll have an identity provider, and so I can finally use OpenID login with Zooomr (which I wrote about almost a year ago). But try as I might, I could not merge my Zooomr account with my new OpenID (which is actually this URL delegated to the Vox one). I've emailed support so let's see what happens. In the meantime, perhaps an upgrade to latest version of MovableType is in order, so that I can accept OpenID comments? Actually, are any of my readers using OpenID even?? :)

cybette wrote this at 06:59 AM ... Comments (3)

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Steve Jobs Does It Again

With so much buzz and fuss around the iPhone, some other announcements by Apple actually went under the radar. For example the iTV, wait, scratch that, it was formerly known as iTV, but now it's Apple TV. The device has a 40GB HDD and ethernet/USB/WiFi connections, which allow you to sync and stream media content from Mac to TV, with 720p HD video.

Then there's another new product that, I can't quite figure out why, failed to make the headlines:

Apple Computer reported today that it has developed computer chips that can be implanted and play music inside women's breasts. The music is in stereo.

This is considered to be a major breakthrough because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Revolutionary! Don't you think? Hmm, I wonder where one puts the iPod which is hooked up to those iBoob speakers... perhaps the iBra? ;-)

cybette wrote this at 05:13 AM ... Comments (8)

Monday, January 15, 2007

Nokia phone in deep doo doo?

New York Farmer's Wife Touts Nokia Device as "Miracle Phone"

Recently a consumer sent this testimonial via Nokia's Internet site:

"Dear Nokia, My husband is a farmer and depends on his Nokia phone very much. We recently started to call his phone the miracle phone after all it's been through! First it dropped in the pond last summer. My dad showed him how to open it up and dry it out and it started up again. Next it fell in the manure pit and wasn't fished out until 48 hours later. The best happened a couple of weeks ago. My husband didn't realize that the phone slipped out of his holster and got run over by a bulldozer! Besides for a few scratches it works as good as new! How do you like that!?! Of course none of this was done on purpose! I've heard of test drives for cars; do they have similar ratings for cell phones? Yours would take the cake!"

cybette wrote this at 02:19 AM ... Comments (5)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

I wasn't going to blog about it, but...

...there's almost no way to avoid hearing about the new iPhone. Well at least if you're working in the mobile technology industry and keeping up with CES and other techie news.

It certainly has the "WOW factor". Even I had to take a moment and go... wow. It does have an impressive UI, which is what people see first. The all important first impression. But as you check out what's under the glossy exterior, you'll find that it's lacking in quite a few areas: 3G, OTA music downloads, expandable memory, removable battery, Exchange/Office support, 3rd party software support, WiFi, ... many of which are standard features on current Smartphones (e.g. Nokia N-Series phones. ahem.) Then again, majority of casual cell phone users won't care too much (or even know too much) about such features. So maybe it still has appeal to the masses, but I hope the general public won't fall for the claim by Steve Jobs that this phone is "5 years ahead" of the competition. If anything, it is so 5 years ago! And, it's $499 with a 2-year Cingular contract! No wonder places like Japan is yawning at the news.

Well ok, so it's not the latest technology. Still, it looks darn cool. When can we get our hands on one? Apple has a target release date of June 2007 for the iPhone. With only 5 months to go, that usually means the product is somewhat mature and their engineers are busy working on the final touches and ironing out the remaining nasty bugs. Lucky guys, eh?, working on a product that's generating so much buzz. But hey, you still have a chance to be one of them. Apparently, right after the announcement, 30+ jobs openings for the iPhone team appeared on Apple's career site. To quote Sandeep, how far behind are they, really? I'd be surprised if the phones are on the shelves before year end. Or..... maybe they are really targeting the Christmas market? Think Wiiiii...

To top things off, Cisco has formally filed a lawsuit against Apple for trademark infringement. For those unaware, the iPhone trademark is owned by Cisco since 2000, and before there were iMacs and iPods, they have already shipped the iPhone products for years. Wonder how this drama will unfold. Maybe it'll end up as the iPodPhone, or iPone, or iPhod, or iBod... yeah, it's kinda sexy after all. And in this society where appearances are, while not everything, pretty high up on many people's priority list, it is important to put out a product that looks good. Why do you think the RAZR with its sub-par software and features sold like hotcakes? Plus, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? So the Cisco fiasco might actually help instead of harm. Hey, I'm contributing to all these by blogging about it as well. Oops.

So as we await further news on iPhone/phone-by-Apple, let's hope that Apple will be more environmentally responsible with their products, perhaps improving on their last place finish in the Green Electronics Guide. And while I certainly want Nokia to maintain the lead in the "green" poll, I also wish we will come up with more head-turning designs. Let's move from being the Toyota of phones to the Lexus of phones! (The Vertu can remain the Lamborghini of phones :))

cybette wrote this at 10:22 AM ... Comments (0)

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

New Nokia N-Series devices @ CES 2007

Nokia N-Series

There's a wild party going on in Las Vegas right now: the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show! Sigh... wish I was there. I'll be like a kid in a candy store, wanting a taste of everything in sight. It's a BIG store though, something like 1.5 million square feet of exhibition space. Definitely wouldn't mind getting lost in there.

Nokia unveiled three new N-series devices at CES. I haven't even seen these in person before (well maybe a glimpse of a prototype of one of them...). They sure look yummy!

First up is the N76 "multimedia computer". Maybe it's inspired by the RAZR, but oh so much sexier both inside and out! Yes, I'm biased, but hear me out: brilliant 2.4" screen delivering web pages, pictures and videos at high resolution; 2MP camera with convenient capture key, as well as dedicated music keys on the cover, so you can take spur-of-the-moment pics and listen to music without opening the device. Quad band EGSM, plus WCDMA. With the usual functions of email, PIM, ... and before I forget: making voice calls! All bundled up in a pretty package made of premium materials.

Next, we are introduced to N93's slimmer sibling: the Nokia N93i. Like the N76, it also has a 2.4" display plus a whole plethora of features, but the main selling point is the camera/camcorder. Taking after the older brother, it has a 3.2 MP Camera with Carl Zeiss lens and 3x optical zoom that captures photos rivalling stand-alone digital cameras. The camcorder can record MPEG4 VGA videos at 30fps (DVD-like quality), and the media player can play H.264 (AVC) clips! Connectivity support on this baby include WLAN and TV-out, in addition to Bluetooth, infrared, USB etc.

To round up the trio, we have the N800 Internet Tablet. Is this Nokia's take on the UMPC? All I know is that it's making me drool. Linux based, it keeps the Internet at your fingertips, literally, with the touch qwerty on-screen keyboard. With automated connection features, you're always connected either via WiFi or Bluetooth (to phone). A nice widescreen 4.1" display renders webpages for your viewing pleasure in the Opera browser with Flash support. There's even a webcam for video calls! And, it's also a media player and image viewer supporting many different formats of audio/video/image ... plus, with two memory card slots, there's plenty of storage options as well.

Lastly, Nokia is also partnering with various companies to integrate popular applications and services into the N-series devices. We already have Flickr on N70/N72/N73/N80/N93.... and now we'll also have Vox on the N93i and Skype on N800. I believe they'll be available on many more N-series phones in the near future. So exciting! Now I need to go find a way to get my hands on a N800....

cybette wrote this at 04:25 AM ... Comments (0)

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Snow White Queen

Was listening to this song (of Evanescence's TOD album) and it conjured up images of snowy wintery places... but instead of white and bright, it was really more gloomy and dreary. Cold. Bleak. Maybe it's just the song?

It doesn't get too cold during winters in Dallas (although for me anything below 60F/15C can be considered cold. My body grew up in Singapore afterall.) And it almost never snows! So with the aforementioned imagery in my mind, I tried to find some photos I've taken that reflect the scene, but not much turned up from around here. (This is pretty close though.) Instinctively I gravitated to the pics I took on my two trips to Finland. First time was in a November, the start of winter, with the first snowfalls. Just below freezing and quite pleasant actually. The picture below left was from the second trip in a February. Full blast of cold and snow at 0F/-18C.

Winter WonderlandMy wedding dress - negativeMy wedding dress

It stopped snowing enough for us to take a walk (during lunch break) and snap some pictures. I was ironclad with a cashmere sweater and long wool coat plus snow boots and a really warm fuzzy hat that kept my ears covered (although they still felt like they were going to fall off).

Then I was reminded of another February trip taken four years back. That was to Las Vegas, and while it wasn't freezing, it was cool enough to warrant a medium jacket. But for a couple hours there I was completely unaffected by the temperature and was sans outerwear/sweater etc. Why? I was getting married, and didn't want anything to cover up my beautiful wedding dress! Look, my arm was blue from the cold, but I really don't remember feeling it. Perhaps it was adrenaline, or maybe just my memory failing me....

No? I didn't fool you with the blue arm? Darn, that would have given me the "something blue" that I think I lacked. Not to mention a kick-ass gown with black tulle. But it worked out well... I adore the lilac, and was actually kinda disappointed when the photographer's pictures came back depicting it as light blue instead! Dude, learn to adjust the white balance! He was still using film, so no instant feedback about the results, but still no excuse for a professional right? The above photo was taken after the event with my own (and my first) digital camera: the Oly UZi (2100). Till this day I miss it. It was faithful... especially in color reproduction. Sure, I've had 3 more digital cameras after that, including my current one with bigger zoom and more megapixels and all that jazz, but the first one will always have a special place in my heart. Along with my first cell phone, first laptop, first PDA, first computer, first car.... huh? What do you mean those are not the first loves people usually talk about? Oh ok now I remember, my true first love is the one I met back when I was a teenager. Before I had all the hi-tech stuff above...

... how excited I was when my dad (of all people) introduced him to me. On my 15th birthday. How hesitant and nervous I was during the initial getting-to-know-you period, but as time passed I grew bolder and took him everywhere with me, proudly showing him off. I fondled him whenever I had a chance, not caring if anyone was looking. In fact, he is living under the same roof with Bruce and me. He is.... ok ok ok IT is.... my Minolta 35mm SLR!!!! What a wave of nostalgia (and maybe a sigh of relief from my readers?) -- now I want to load it up with some film and play with it again. There's something magical in the anticipation of getting your film developed and having to wait to see the results.

Guess I have to thank my dad for turning me on to photography. And, well, thanks to our wedding photographer for giving me "something blue" after all. As for most of the "something new", hmmm maybe all of it, I got them on ebay. Seriously... from my dress to the veil/tiara/accessories. My husband-to-be on the other hand went into a brick-and-mortar store to get his suit! And he got it fitted and altered. Who's the bride here now? It's a long-running joke between us that "beauty and the geek" refers to him and me respectively. He wanted to get me an engagement ring with the antique mine cut (in case you didn't know, Bruce is kinda old..... fashioned), and I showed him how to research online, and we ended up getting one on, where else but, ebay! I did the research and booking for the rest of the stuff online too: chapel, photographer, air tickets + hotel, show tickets, Megan and Marc ;) We might as well have had the whole wedding online.

Haven't decided what we're going to do for our 4th anniversary, although I have something in mind to wear, and guess what, I got it on(dotted)line!

cybette wrote this at 06:20 AM ... Comments (0)