Solving mysteries at 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
January 28, 2014 Leave a comment
In this game, one player wears Oculus Rift, the others do not. The guy wearing OR can see the bomb and interact with it, with tools. The other players have bomb diffusing manuals. Without seeing the bomb, and relying only on the first player’s description they have to talk him through disarming the bomb before it explodes.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes:
September 12, 2012 2 Comments
Later today we will see the newest iPhone. We may see a new iPad Mini (although TechCrunch thinks we won’t). So why am I not more fired up? Following along with the liveblogs on Engadget or Gizmodo used to be one of my favorite ways to procrastinate at work. I used to tweet about everything they would say as it came out.
Maybe it’s because I know I won’t be getting the new phone (not up for an upgrade this round). Or maybe it’s because I know that no matter what they reveal tomorrow, it won’t be that much better than what I have right now. A slightly bigger screen? Cool, but not a game changer. LTE? faster would be nice, but not blowing my hair back. A better camera? A sharper screen? New dock connector? Please.
These are evolutions not revolutions.
A few years ago it felt like everything was getting awesomer every day. New apps were literally changing the way we live, new devices were radically blowing away their predecessor, and new websites were creating new forms of entertainment.
But now? Now everything feels very blah. Read TechCrunch and you see headline after headline about some new mobile CRM platform or yet another app to modify your photos. You see newer, sometimes better, versions of things we already have. Facebook is boring (although maybe that’s a reflection of my and my friends’ life stage).
Where is the awesomeness?
The digital toys and tech that used to get me so fired up has become a part of my everyday life and now I need more. It’s like a drug. I need another Uber. I need another Hulu. I need another first generation iPhone.
And yet, I don’t need “another” anything. I need a NEW. I need something I can’t even imagine.
Has the pace of innovation slowed? Have we mastered everything there is to master? Every so often someone comes out with a stupid prediction like that and quickly proved wrong. In the past, the technology itself was rapidly changing as we moved from analog to digital. But as digital technology evolved the revolutionary-ness of it slowed. Today’s computers aren’t that different from the first Macintosh. They’re faster, more powerful, have WAY more features. But if you brought someone from 1984 to 2012 and showed them a computer they could probably identify it. I doubt the same would hold true from the average person from 1964.
So what do we have to look forward to? What are you looking forward to most?
August 10, 2012 1 Comment
Last week, for my birthday, Wendy got me a Nike+ FuelBand. If you don’t know what that is, here is what the Nike+ site has to say about it:
Nike+ FuelBand tracks your activity through a sport-tested accelerometer. Then translates every move into NikeFuel. Nike+ FuelBand tracks running, walking, dancing, basketball – and dozens of everyday actions. It also syncs up with a motivational web and mobile experience. So put it on and get moving
And it looks like this:
Basically it’s a fancy pedometer. “NikeFuel points” are a proprietary system Nike created to allow you to compare your performance across activities and with other people. So if I’m a runner and you’re a rower, we can compete over who is more active. Woo hoo, right? But that’s not the important part.
What it really does is guilt and shame you into being more active. Every day you have a goal to reach, 2,000 or more NikeFuel points. You can check your progress throughout the day and see how close you are to achieving your goal. And that’s where the guilt/shame comes in.
Today was a low energy day for me. I sat in a 4 hour workshop, then drove to the airport, then sat at the airport, and then on a plane. I didn’t even hit my ridiculously low goal of 2000 NikeFuel points per day (I’ve only had it a week, I started with the lowest goal to get a baseline before upping it). Ordinarily after a day like this I’d hit the couch. And then I’d go to sleep.
But with the FuelBand, my glowing, flashing reminder that I was a lazy sack of crap today, I forced myself to go to the gym this evening and make sure I met my goal (I wasn’t that far off, from walking around today, etc). I even took the stairs to and from the gym, and the laundry room (several times), which I don’t normally do. This wasn’t even public shaming, it was just my own sense of guilt. My own sense that I would be upset with myself if I didn’t hit a totally arbitrary goal.
That’s some powerful shit.
People have been talking about feedback loops for a long time. It’s nothing new. But it sure is powerful. Simply by measuring something you can encourage people to change it. It’s how Weight Watchers works.
The act of measuring is much more powerful than the actual numbers. For instance, one of the first days I had the FuelBand I spent 5 hours in a car and earned 1200+ points. That was almost half my daily goal. There’s no way that riding in a car was half the activity I needed for the day. Additionally, I first started wearing the FuelBand on my right (dominant) hand. But after racking up some impressive amounts of points, I decided that eating, drinking, talking with my hands, and other movements really shouldn’t be counting towards my activity goals. So I switched it to my left hand and I’ve definitely been earning fewer points.
But again, it’s not about the number of points you get it. It’s about setting the appropriate goal and then forcing yourself to beat it.
Will I keep it up? I hope so. We’ll see how easy it is come winter. And how guilty I feel.
March 27, 2012 1 Comment
Switching agencies has forced me to change my business travel habits a little bit. Instead of frequent trips to NYC where I am chauffeured around in the finest taxis the city has to offer, I’ve been driving to more “local” clients. Local being Hartford, CT or Framingham, MA. And because these are not bustling metropolises (metropoli?) I’ve found myself spending a lot of time in Zipcars.
And because I have a terrible sense of direction, especially in places I have never been before, I have been relying on my GPS app on my phone. A Lot.
January 13, 2012 5 Comments
My third (and final) day at CES was definitely not as inspiring as the first two, as I had already been through most of the booths. But I still managed to get find a few new and exciting things.
The most interesting thing I saw yesterday was Microsoft Windows 8. I saw a little of it on day 2 but didn’t really linger too long. A colleague suggested that I go watch a demo and I was really impressed. The demo began with on a tablet, with their “metro” interface. It’s gorgeous, seamless, and seems to have a great UI. The demonstrator then moved to a laptop with keyboard and mouse and the experience continued just as seamlessly. Combined with the new Windows Mobile phones I saw here this week, I have to say that I’m very impressed. Very impressed.
If you know me, you know that I am a pretty diehard Apple loyalist. Until today I wouldn’t have even considered a non-Apple computer for my next laptop. But now, I’m open to the idea. I’m still not sold, the good people up in Redmond still have ways to go to sell me, but they’ve gotten through my initial defenses and I’d consider switching, even to their phone.
But the big issue I have with switching is how entrenched I am with Apple. All the apps I bought would be money down the drain if I leave. And that’s a big deal. Plus the “cost” of learning a new OS. It’s a lot to think about, but like I said, I’m open to the idea. I can’t wait until these devices and Windows 8 are out in the wild so I can play with them.
And as always, here are some pics from today:
SapientNitro's own Freddie Laker testing out a tricked out Smart Car
The Nokia Lumia 900 won "best phone" from CNET and runs new Windows Mobile OS. Really nice looking.
I was so excited to meet the team from Nest, unfortunately they weren't in their suite when I stopped by.
An awesome concept car from Mercedes.
Day 3. Brings the total to around 25K, or 12 miles. Not bad for three days of work (especially since I didn't count all the steps I took when I was out at night).
And once again, I shot some video. Bringing the total number of clips to over 300. My editor should have fun with that (Sorry Brittany!). As soon as the video’s done, you can be sure I’ll post it here.
Also, today was another banner day Hot Tub Crime Machine. At 1,566 views, today was my new best day ever! Thanks everyone!
Update: Here are my highlights from CES Day 1 and Day 2 (and if you prefer video format, click here)
January 12, 2012 5 Comments
On my first day at CES I saw these Recon Instruments MOD Live goggles and was instantly smitten. My buddy Ian thought so too and shot a quick video about them for the Weber Shandwick Social Studies blog. Check it out here:
And if you want some more of the MOD Live, here’s their official video:
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January 12, 2012 11 Comments
Another amazing day at CES. Although I have to say, the exhibits we saw yesterday weren’t quite as new/exciting/interesting as the first day, but still some great new tech.
The big hit of the day for me was LG. Having recently bought an LG LED TV I am a little biased. But they have so many great products coming out. From the world’s largest OLED TV, to amazing Cinema 3D displays, to innovative home appliances, like these vacuums and a cool fridge.
Similar to a Roomba, this robot vacuum keeps your house cleaning and doubles as a surveillance system you can monitor on the web or on your mobile device.
This LG canister vacuum has "follow along" technology that self-propels the base to keep up with you as you clean. No pulling the base with you, it drives itself!
The blast chiller cabinet in this LG fridge sucks cold area from the freezer into a small box to rapidly chill a bottle of beer to 41 degrees (f) in just 4 minutes.
The Emperor 200 chair/workstation has three screens that can raise and lower, creating a "cocoon" of productivity
Victorinox just released this thumb sized one terabyte solid-state drive today at CES. It has an e-ink display and biometric security. I have to disclose that they are a SapinetNitro client, but this is still awesome.
The all new electric DeLorean. So cool. Not loving the decals they stuck all over it, but it's still awesome.
Matt and I riding the double-decker bus home from the convention center
8876 steps today, not bad. But not as good as yesterday.
That’s it for day two (actually there is a lot more, but you’ll have to wait for the video and/or accompanying presentation).
Also, I have to give a huge shoutout to the WordPress.com team for featuring Hot Tub Crime Machine on their “Freshly Pressed” section. I received almost 1000 visits to yesterday’s review of CES, setting a new record for the site. If you want to see that post, it’s here.
Update: Here are my highlights from CES Day 3 (and if you prefer video format, click here)
January 11, 2012 59 Comments
Wow. All I can say is that CES is one of the coolest, most over-stimulating experiences I’ve ever had. Everywhere you look there are flashing screens, blinking lights, 3D displays, glossy, shiny, connected objects. I only made it through about 1.5 of the conference floors yesterday, so I have plenty more to explore today. I spent the first part of the day exploring the North Hall, which was mostly tech accessories, like iPhone cases, iPad screens, docks, speakers, etc. But they also had tons of gadgets like Zeo Sleep Manager and FitBit.
When I get back to Boston I’ll put together a real presentation about my experience here, but for now, I wanted to share a few pics. There will also be a movie, mostly starring me, and directed by the amazingly talented Matt Lindley.
Here’s what I loved yesterday (in no particular order):
While I don't believe that e-cigarettes are a good or safe alternative to smoking, the design of this device was pretty cool.
I wished to be big. I'll let you know if I turn into Tom Hanks tomorrow AM.
Sphero is a remote control ball. I'm not kidding. It's going to be bigger than Google.
Solowheel is like a uni-Segway. It's awesome.
The centerpiece of the Samsung area was gorgeous. This picture doesn't do it justice.
Recon Instrument MOD Live Goggles with heads-up display and bluetooth. The coolest thing I saw at CES today.
Not sure which model this is. And pretty sure I don't care. It was GORGEOUS.
The power of community at work. The first car to get hit with the laser reports to the cloud, cars behind get an update that a laser is active ahead. Genius. Assuming enough people have them.
Got to see Ian do his thing.
United Healthcare gave out pedometers. I didn't get mine until around 11am, but after that I walked about two miles today. Not too shabby.
More to come tomorrow…
Update: Here are my favorites from CES Day 2 and Day 3 (and if you prefer video format, click here)
I'm me?
Hot Tub Crime Machine 