Thursday 14 April 2005

Wrist PDA - Watch this space

Watch this space
By Adam Turner
March 29, 2005
[ Next ]
www.smh.com.au/news/Upgrade/ Watch-this-space/ 2005/03/28/1111862289183.html
Often the coolest gadgets aren't the cheapest or most practical, they're the ones that make your tech-head friends green with envy, like Fossil's Wrist PDA ...The device lasts four days without a charge if you use it as a PDA for 30 minutes a day and don't use the backlight but you lose all data if the battery goes completely flat. We think it needs a separate watch battery ...
A Wrist PDA Software Development Kit is available and Australian Palm developer Gavin Maxwell ( pocketscience.com.au) has written several applications for it, including a version of the popular Wassup.
Wassup lets you quickly see how many appointments you have, how many to-do items you must attend to and your remaining memory and battery life. If you're sick of carrying around a handheld PC just to remind you what time Channel Nine have randomly chosen to screen Star Trek this week, the Wrist PDA will put you in Nerdvana.
Fossil's Wrist PDA, rrp about $315. Details: fossil.com

But does it have a camera? (There is a camera-watch available.) Yes, I kinda like it, but needs nicer looks and rather better functions. Different to technolust.)

Wednesday 13 April 2005

Searching for SF?

I like Science (aka Speculative) Fiction for its ideas.
If you want information on the authors, titles, series, dates, etc., of published works, try:
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database www.sfsite.com/isfdb
Contento's Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections www2.best.com/~contento/0start.html
The Locus Index to Science Fiction (1984-1997) www.sff.net/locus/notes.html
The Library of Congress Home Page lcweb.loc.gov
Ingram Book Group's The Book Kahoona www.ingrambook.com/surf

Friday 8 April 2005

Drop a Rock on Your Nearest Landmark!

Earth Impact Effects Program
Robert Marcus, H. Jay Melosh, and Gareth Collins

www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects

Welcome to the Earth Impact Effects Program: an easy-to-use, interactive web site for estimating the regional environmental consequences of an impact on Earth. This program will estimate the ejecta distribution, ground shaking, atmospheric blast wave, and thermal effects of an impact as well as the size of the crater produced.

Wednesday 6 April 2005

SMS campaign backfires -- car firm fined for sending spam

Slightly cheery news for the spam-haters, and those dreading its infestation of mobile (cell) phones. From the Sydney Morning Herald: SMS campaign backfires as car firm is fined for sending spam
By Kirsty Needham, Consumer Reporter
April 6, 2005

A car company that sent text messages to people after copying their mobile phone numbers from classified advertisements has been fined under the Spam Act.

It is the first time that text message advertising has been caught under the new law, which came into effect last year and is designed to cut the torrent of junk email.

Carsales.com.au was fined $6600 after members of the public complained to the Australian Communications Authority about the unwanted marketing messages.

The chief executive of the automotive website, Greg Roebuck, said his staff sent out several hundred of the text messages each week because he believed it was "less intrusive" than calling.

But the authority ruled that the recipients of the messages had no relationship with the car website and did not give their consent to receiving the text messages.