Netbooks are small and cheap, but can you actually work on them? Three years ago I abandoned my desktop for a 15 inch laptop, and never looked back. But transitioning to a netbook involves more sacrifice. I chose the ASUS Eee PC Seashell (1005PE-PU17-BU). I bought it mainly on the reviews (one of the best-reviewed [...]
A few years ago I was planning to produce a DVD of a national martial art tournament. Naturally, I got a job at Future Shop so I could get a discount on all the video equipment I needed to buy (six video cameras, tripods, batteries, and boxes of miniDV tapes). My big problem as a [...]
Phone booths in Ashburn, Ontario. Photo by Rick Harris. Here’s how I slashed my cellphone bills by 70%. The goal: Make free calls without depleting your daytime minutes Make unlimited long distance calls within Canada and the US Receive calls anywhere within Canada without long distance charges Requires: Skype account ($3.25/mo) Cell phone on Rogers [...]
Google Maps Great new features as of version 4.0 (April 2010) make this even more essential: Search by voice Google Buzz layer – see who’s talking near you Starred items and maps synchronized with your Google account Google Labs enabled (finally, a map scale!) Download Gmail Gmail users need this app to get access to [...]
Is it possible to start a self-reinforcing loop of Facebook advertising resulting in exponential revenue growth? Sure! Make a facebook page Promote it with Facebook ads > get fans Use page status updates to drive traffic to your site > monetize the landing page Invest the earnings in more Facebook ads > goto step 3 [...]
Mechanical Turk is a system for crowdsourcing small tasks. And it rocks, if you don’t like doing small tasks. Amazon developed the system in 2005 to crowdsource the job of categorizing its own products, mostly CDs. It’s been open for public use (in Beta form) ever since. I’m writing about it because mTurk has remained [...]
How much traffic can a Facebook page bring your site? Is it worthwhile to build a fan base on Facebook? For sites serving a passionate niche market, fan pages are an excellent investment because: You can build you fanbase quickly using Facebook’s very targeted ads You can gather quality community feedback You can encourage fans [...]
Imagine a renewable energy source so dense, a cup full could vapourize all the oceans on Earth! While this idea sounds even too bold for Star Trek, it is one possible consequence of the zero-point radiation field (ZPF) [1]. The ZPF is a uniform photon flux which permeates the entire Universe, existing even in total vacuum. It is not casually detected because the ZPF exists everywhere uniformly; perceiving it would be like a fish perceiving the water it swims in. Although the existence of ZPF is widely known and accepted by most physicists, the implications of the field and its role in the universe remain a matter of speculation. Physicists have identified four technologies the ZPF may yield: tapping ZPF energy, manipulating inertia, altering gravitation, and generating forces (propulsion). All four technologies have theoretical merit, and with expanded research and scientific attention, all four will likely be achieved.
This map is courtesy of Google Insights for Search and Inside Facebook (original screenshots with commentary). The geographical diffusion of an innovation is difficult to predict in itself, but its aggregate effect is captured by growth models like the logistics equation. This specific type of growth is classified as contagious diffusion. The graph indicates relative [...]
There’s no doubt about it: Canada loves Facebook. Toronto was the first city to break the one million user mark, and in some cities non-Facebook users are in the minority. Members have made their influence felt on both provincial and national level politics, prompting government to treat Facebook as a serious political tool. This article [...]