mip's scan

Another Long Weekend

This has been another great long weekend here in Ontario.  It's Simcoe day and we've been enjoying some quiet time with lots of sun here at the cottage.  Enjoying a cup of coffee on the back deck and getting caught up on some much overdue tech news. 

One of the things I'm going to be watching closely today will be Apple's WWDC where there might be a "dizzying" amount of products announced (what does Scoble know that we don't?).   Of course I'm at the beach and not there, so I'll be getting my news from Engadget regarding what they announce.   The thing that will be most interesting to see is if Apple does indeed launch an iPhone-type device.   What would the key point of differentiation be against other smartphones like the Blackberry, Treo and other Microsoft-based smartphones.  I think that if it simply an iTunes-integration play it'll be a disappointment.  I'd like to see some tight integration to the OS, VoiP and video conferencing.

CNN Pipeline

I've had the opportunity to trial a great online video service from CNN called Pipeline.  It is a 14 day trial and then costs $2.95 month after that, or you can pay $24.95 for the year.  This gives you commercial free access to some great content, both live and archived, from CNN.  Here's what they say on their site about the service.

The CNN Pipeline Premium Player puts you in control of the news. CNN Pipeline empowers you to watch up to four live news streams at once, changing streams at any time with a single click. Our free video player only allows you to view one video at a time. Additionally, while our free video contains commercial advertisements, CNN Pipeline offers commercial free access to video content on demand, including free video, with multiple features for ease in searching and browsing. Our extensive archive, not available through the Free Video Player, gives you unlimited access to search and browse CNN.com's online video library.

I really like the applicaiton they've built and have you download.  It's a nice clean app, great user interface and easy to use.  You can of course use a thin client version as well but if you use the downloaded app you can then make the window small (mini-mode) and pin it to the desktop so you can hear & watch the news while you work.   The video archive give you access to 50,000 videos (that's 2000 hours!) that you can browse or search.  I've include a screen capture from my computer for you to check it out.  For more details you can click here.

Happy Canada Day AND Next Skypecast

Wanted to wish a Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers!  Hope you are all enjoying a great long weekend with friends, family and fireworks!

As well, with the start of a new month, I wanted to set up the next Skypecast opportunity for people who might want to drop in and say hello while I record the next mid-week update podcast.  I think I've over come the technical issue of the previous one we tried in June.  You can come with a technical question, technical news or just a greeting.

It will be July 5th at 5:00pm EST.

Today's Kids and the Importance of Highspeed

Here is an excerpt from a conversation I had with my 8 year old two nights ago.

"I'm going crazy dad!"
"Why is that love?"
"We have to get high speed internet here. Somhow."
"They don't offer it here love."
"I can't Google anything without having to dial the phone.  And my BrainPop site sucks using the phone."

-------------------

Sigh.  What's a dad to do?  Especially a tech-dad like me.  I share my daughter's despair.  You see, when we moved we got lots of space, having moved into a farmhouse.  Acres for the kids to run around, quiet in the evenings, perfect dark nights to see the millions of stars.....and no highspeed internet access.  Bell....sorry not yet.  Rogers...sorry not available in your area.  Look Communication...sorry no line of sight.  So it was back to dial-up.  For me it was like losing a limb.  What surprised me though was the impact it would have on my kids. I mean I use the internet constantly, it's a part of my job, but what I realized was that our children (and I'll speak more generally as well, meaning, this generation of kids) view the internet as part of the fabric of their everyday lives.  Internet to them is like telephone to my generation. 

I can see how for kids like my 8 year old, the web is part of their link into entertainment (e.g., buying music from iTunes), information (e.g., using Google to do school research), socialization (e.g, using instant messaging to keep in touch with distant family & her friends) and general way of doing things.  There is no seperation I noticed between kids and the Internet - it is like an extension of their minds.  I saw this when I was running the Youth Technology Camp that I started for kids.  They'd be working on some assignment I'd given them and be multi-tasking several other things, like searching for stuff, and carrying on a conversation or two online.  Quite often if I'm having a conversation with someone and my daughter hears me say "I'm not sure..." or "I don't know..." she'll say very naturally "Just Google it dad." 

Upon seeing this even more clearly, it now makes me realize how important it is to get good highspeed internet connectivity for kids.  I think the project One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is awesome. It recognizes the importance of not having large numbers of the next generation of kids disadvantaged because they never had access to a PC.  You can get more info on that project here.  As great as this project is, though, I think we need to go further.  There needs to be something like Broadband For All Children (BFAC - there I created my own acronym).  Otherwise it'd be like giving people a bunch of phones with no way to call beyond their street. 

As for me - my search for good (fair cost with acceptable levels of both upload and download speeds) highspeed access continues. 

Apple's Future

Everyone who knows me, knows I love Apple.  I've always loved the Mac.  I don't know what I want more this year - for Apple to continue to expand its marketshare via the iPod and the migration to Intel-based equipment or to have the current Canadian federal government tossed out on their....well, you get the point (and don't start me on politics...this is a family blog you know)...but I digress...

...so I love Apple, and I hold out hope that they will be able to make real headway in the PC market in 2006.  And I really do love what they've done with the iPod and think that it'll continue to dominate through 2006.

That's why it is this article from Business Week that really has me thinking this evening.  It's titled How Apple Could Mess Up, Again.  Ouch.  I was on the a design team that submitted concepts for the PDA that eventually became the Newton.  I still have my Newton, it sits here on my desk as a reminder of how Apple has always set trends and has been ahead of its time.  Like the Newton and the Mac OS.  But with the iPod it seems they've hit their stride, so why all the doom and gloom in the Business Week article?

mip Joining Eckler Partners

I think I have spoke with most people about this and now I wanted to share it with my broader reader group. As you know, for the past three years I have been consulting on my own.  In April I started a great project with a company called Eckler Partners and in the course of that project as life circumstances changed (as they often do) I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to join Eckler Partners full time as their Director of Information Technology.  I'm incredibly excited about the new role and the opportunities ahead.  I know one of the frequently asked questions when I've told people is who is Eckler. 

Eckler Partners Ltd. is a progressive Canadian-based firm offering excellence in actuarial and consulting services.

Anyway, I wanted to share this news with you all - now does that mean that there will be no mip's scan?  Not on your life!  I will continue to write about technology and its uses and emerging trends as I always have.

Happy continued reading!

Kids and Their Screens

I've been away in Toronto for the past week and while I've got lots to blog about from a tech perspective, there was one thing that's been nagging me since Wednesday so now at my first chance to sit and write, I thought I'd put it out here.

While away at client sites I often get the pleasure of exchanging emails with my seven year old - we also web cam in the evenings to bridge the distance.  This past week, my emails were going unresponded.  I'd check in on messenger and again, no sign of my little one.  When I spoke with her on the phone she told me that she couldn't use the computer because of a contest called Turn off the Screen Week.  What's that you might ask?  We'll here's the official description:

During     this week, students and their families are encouraged toTurn Off The     Screens (TV and computer) except for homework.

What bugged me about this?  Plenty.

Humbled by Nature

I've sat a few times at my PC wondering if I should write anything here about this terrible disaster that has occured, with such an unimaginable lose of life.  At the present time of writing, they are saying that 116,000 people have lost their lives due to the Tsunami that occured.  The event has nothing to do with technology and really doesn't belong here in mip's scan, but it dawned on me that nature often does remind us that no matter how advanced we become as a society, no matter how much technology we have at our disposal, unforseen acts of nature can easily overcome us.  It is a humbling feeling.

Additionally, out of this terrible occurance, another of natures amazing aspects reveals itself.  I read an interesting observation in Wired magazine

Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.

"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit," said H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department. "I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."

It would seem that our fellow earthly inhabitants have achieved something that our technology has not.  My thoughts and prayers go out to all who have suffered in this sad time.

Missed Point

So I've seen this theme pop up throughout the week and now I thought I'd comment. The theme I'm talking about is this flurry of articles that states that perhaps technology introduced to kids at too young an age in not beneficial. The most recent article I read that wrote about this says that one mother

soon realized Madeline, now 4, wasn't really learning anything. She just kept clicking, dragging and playing the same games over and over. Now, she's in no rush to get her 1-year-old son, Liam, on computers or the Internet.

My response to this is that technology is like anything else when it comes to children. If you just put your child in front of a computer and say "play a while" its like putting them in front of tv, popping in the latest Disney film and saying "watch tv awhile." Technology is a tool and a parents involvement with their kids as they leverage this tool is paramount. Computer use, like anything else, needs to be done in moderation. Kids need balance. Technology has that ability to totally absorb a child (adults as well) and so working with your kids and setting limits is important. Surfing onto some online game site and leaving your child to repeatedly play the games there is not my idea of good exposure to technology. There is a place for it - it teaches mouse skills, hand/eye coordination, etc. but it only goes so far. Parental involvement, similar to reading with your kids or watching TV with them, is a must.

Done properly, you're never too young (or old for that matter) to be exposed to technology and its benefits.