how to know if mail drop for your address has happened already for the day?

So simple - why can't USPS put the BMW logo on their vans and think about being more effective and innovative?

Ultimate IDE

How many times have you been working on a project and had to go to an online forum to get help on a certain issue?

How about your IDE ask you what forums you are subscribed to (suggest some good ones - will force forums to maintain some standards - no Dick Cheney allowed, etc).

Then, before you start a particular piece of work, you describe what you're trying to do and some intermediate milestones you expect to accomplish. Then, it checks out the forums and, you have your help ready and waiting..

Cadence++ : Using Touch to Improve Productivity

Have you heard Richard Restak, der neuroscientist, say that cognitive ability is higher when one is looking down? What gives?

Anyhow, I'm surprised that Cadence hasn't jumped on this - I can just see myself whacking out layout so much faster if I'm looking down at the desk, touching a component to select it (or more than one), doing a twist gesture to rotate, etc. Pinch zoom would also be cool.. Come on Cadence, are you begging for another SR from me?

man++

Go in a web browswer and type "man something" and you should usually get the unix man page for the command "something" as the first match.

man++ : be able to type something like "man mount -tjffs2" and you get

mount - mount a filesystem

-tjffs2 : inferred to mean vfstype is "jffs2"



You get the idea. User came looking to find out what an option means. You save him the pain of reading the whole man page to find out what a particular option, or options mean..

iPhone Killer App Revives Pittman Shorthand

Think about it - are there times in your life when you really can't be talking to Siri and are forced to type or Swype?

Enter Pittman Shorthand.

All you need is a line across the page and you drag your finger (and use pressure) to write. In cases of ambiguity, you get choices immediately, just like Swype.

This is an app that will actually make people smarter.

Finally an app that takes a whole team to do - you need a handwriting recognition guy too..

Illegal Bot : Why Not a Hexpod That Does It - That's a Cooler Way

This French survivor of the 2005 Paris riots shows one way of getting free Coke (Why? You want to die early drinking that crap?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLXXLY7zewo

Why not design a hexpod that you can carry in your pocket that maneuvers autonomously - you just tell it the coordinates and it gets the item from that row? Something like what Boris the animal used in MI6.

Dear Apple, Please Think Differently

Finally, Apple succumbs to its own tunnel vision. Having pioneered pinch and zoom for small form factor displays, they think that's the only way to do touch-based zoom. So stupid, they ask the question, how do you do pinch and zoom on a watch? It's just not going to work. So, what's the answer? The digital crown.

Duh! If it's a watch, it has to have that thing on the side you use to adjust it. Yuck!

Why not get rid of the damn thing? You need zoom, why not think of a better way? How about this?

To zoom in, you drag your fingers along the edge in a motion that suggest yours turning a tap or a screw or a lid clockwise. Opposite for zooming out. You can get much finer control than with the stupid digital crown thing. Sure, you might not be able to move both fingers, but you only have to sense the intention - if you detect touch on 2 sides, you're in business..

Unlock : Apple Unveils New Touch Gesture

This one's great for reading audio-books that are website based - you know, click the "Next" link to load the next page..

So, you touch and turn instead of just clicking - the thumb works best - and, you guessed it, Safari fetches the next page, but doesn't display it - it's readily available. Then, when you do click, it displays it immediately, no need to wait.

You're welcome Apple. Don't mention it Jony.

iTunes for Android

Would it be legal for Apple to block this?

Wonder why Yahoo hasn't made this a reality yet - that could be their entree into the mobile arena.

Here's the deal :

Apple (scum) hate android users. But, Android users, being savvy, know there's decent content on iTunes, even if managed by a scumbag company. So, how about installing iTunes on a virtual mac on the cloud that the OS then communicates with to serve the smartphone client iTunes4Add app?

On-Demand, Low-Data-Rate Internet Access

How can we solve this problem? How does one go about building infrastructure to solve this problem?

A co-worker reported the other day that (in the house he is renting) he had to mess with the kitchen sink plumbing and found a plastic straw, a plastic knife and a stainless steel knife - sharp, not cutlery.

So, if you're a landlord and want to be alerted to such transgressions as they happen, what can you do?

Can one install a sensor in the kitchen sink that can detect something like this? Maybe? How?

And, when you detect, how do you scream? One way is to ask your tenant if your devices can connect to his wi-fi.. please?

Maybe not.. then... how? Can you buy a module from Cox or Boost or T-Mobile that will do 10 bps (yes, 10 bits per second, or less, heck even 1 bps is good enough here, you just need low power-consumption, 1 year battery life - so you can change the battery when you change tenants, but you need access when you want it)

A Mobile Smartphone

How about a phone that's capable of movement? And a camera so good, it can read and play CD's and DVD's - not immediately of course, but, give it 5 minutes and you're good to go..

Gives a new meaning to "mobile" doesn't it?