Microsoft’s Usability team is looking for smartphone or cell phone enthusiasts in the Seattle area to evaluate devices for them. Get the details on Andrew Nickels’ MSDN blog. Participating in usability tests is pretty cool because you get early access to some of the latest and greatest hardware and software sometimes a year or more before the public sees it. Plus you go home with a free piece of SW or HW as a gratuity.
Mobile ESPN cries uncle
Rumor has it that only 10,000 customers signed up for the ESPN Mobile service, obviously not enough to support the service. Well, today ESPN calls it quits and announced it’s getting out of the phone business at the end of the year.
ActiveSync 4.5 Beta 2
You can now download the public beta of ActiveSync 4.5.
Microsoft ActiveSync 4.5 is the latest sync software release for Windows Mobile-powered devices. It appears that most of the benefits will be for WM 5 powered devices and benfits for Enterprise scenarios using Exchange.
.mobi landrush and emulator
The landrush is on, get your .mobi domain address today while the gettin’ is good!
The .mobi domain is for sites that are optimized for mobile phones. You can check out what any .com/.net/.org web page would look like if it was viewed on the mobile using this .mobi emulator. It’s fun for about 30 seconds.
Slide rule heaven
OK, this isn’t news, we’ll get to that in a moment, but wow, check out this huge personal collection of slide rules, 143 rules in all. I guess you could call these an ‘old school gadget’.
If you’ve ever used a slide rule you’ll probably spend a minute or two browsing through this collection reminiscing. Ah, the good ole’ days. If you’re not familiar with how they operate, here’s a primer on the theory and operation of a rule.
You’re welcome.
What happened this day, Sept 26 1964?
What happened today 42 years ago? Here’s a hint:
Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
a tale of a fateful trip.
That started from this tropic port
aboard this tiny ship.
That’s right, we can’t let the day end without honoring the debut episode of one of the greatest shows ever: Gilligan’s Island. With the exception of Seasame Street, more kids in the 60’s/70’s/80’s were probably raised watching this drivel than just about anything else.
RIP Gilligan and Gang, we loved ya but don’t miss ya…As far as castaways are concerned, GI is old and busted, ‘Lost’ is the new hotness!
Vista Icons
Ran across a tutorial on creating Vista icons. Vista has a new GUI and the really cool shell theme ‘Aero’. Check out some of the examples on that page, but even better you can browse and click on samples at this page from rw-designer.com.
From there you can view the default Vista system icons in varying sizes/resolutions like the example below. Though if you look close enough, it appears that the smallest rendition of this icon appears to never wrap around the *front* of the device like all the others. File a bug!
Public download of latest Vista build!
Here’s the download page to build 5728 of the Release Candidate for Windows Vista. Previously you needed to be a Beta tester or part of the TAP program to get the builds. Go get the bits and party on this OS, there’s tons of new features and enhancements.
Coca Cola Vending Machine Hack
Get two drinks for the price of one! Of course, the question arises – how did he figure this out to begin with? If you have trouble viewing the video, download it and watch from the desktop.
A playable piece of art from Capcom
Capcom’s latest game for the PS2 is Okami. The big deal around town is that they’ve taken a decidedly different approach to making games more visually appealing. Instead of trying to make it more lifelike, they’ve delivered a fantasy game rendered as a traditional Japanese watercolor painting.
Gamespot has tons of screens to revel in the old and new art forms blended together, here’s their Okami site with gameplay videos and very favorable reviews. Enjoy.
Network Centerfold
Found this girl geek, probably pining for the day she could pose as the “Network Centerfold” girl of the month. Though I think she could just be holding up the network cabinet. Anyway, for the wiring job…I’d give her a 7 out of 10.
News for those that geek out on gadgets, computers, military, art, games and oh so much more.
I recently bought this domain name with the intent of posting here as a hobby, a labor of love I suppose. I hear time and again from co-workers that I need a hobby, this is the best I could do.
I’m sure there won’t be folks actually *wanting* to come here for geek news on a regular basis for probably the better part of 6-12 months. Which means I have lots of time to post random crap on everything from military geek stuff to literary and art geek news (assuming there is such a thing).
We’ll see.
-andy