Let's Talk Tech
Chances are pretty good that your car is dumb. Not that I don’t like your car, but it’s probably not “smart” like a “smartphone”.
What if you could add a heads up display, with cameras, and connect your car to an app on your phone over LTE? The Raven claims to do just that, without breaking the bank.
Let’s take it for a test drive!
Continue reading “Raven Dash Camera Review: Make Your Car Smarter! LTE Connected Car Computer!”
Daddy and Mommy tech I’m actually looking into for my family, the crew on Good Day LA had me on to discuss ways to keep track of your kids while trick or treating. Of course these gadgets can also be used throughout the year for the safety conscious.
Cellphone style GPS locators or Bluetooth leashes, there should be a solution here for your family.
Get the full scoop on each gadget on Good Day LA’s Halloween safety page.
An interesting story has been developing in the use of WiFi hotpots in hotels.
The FCC fined Marriott hotels for blocking their customers from using their own WiFi, powered by phones and MiFi’s using 3G/4G data connections. The fine amounted to $600,000, and Marriott petitioned the commission, asserting that blocking customers was a way for them to better protect the security of the networking solutions they were offering.
The FCC responded with a public advisory yesterday reaffirming their previous stance:
Personal Wi-Fi networks, or “hot spots,” are an important way that consumers connect to the Internet. Willful or malicious interference with Wi-Fi hot spots is illegal. Wi-Fi blocking violates Section 333 of the Communications Act, as amended.1 The Enforcement Bureau has seen a disturbing trend in which hotels and other commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using their own personal Wi-Fi hot spots on the commercial establishment’s premises. As a result, the Bureau is protecting consumers by aggressively investigating and acting against such unlawful intentional interference.
Continue reading “FCC Public Advisory: Blocking Personal WiFi Hotspots is Prohibited”
It’s happening!
The same day the FAA announced it no longer was bothered by devices being used in airplane mode during all stages of flight, we have two companies vying for our mobile electronics affections.
Delta and Jet Blue rushed out to let us know they’ll be allowing us to use all of our mobile glowing rectangles from the moment our butt is in a seat to the moment we’re throwing elbows to get off the flight. We can be sure the rest of the airlines are looking to make the same play soon. Most of my credit card points are tied up with United, so they better make the jump PDQ…
Bloomberg has a great write up detailing all the business concerns, and I’d just like to take this moment to remind all of my readers that just because this rule has opened up, it doesn’t mean you get to be a douche bag about your tech. Listen to the flight attendants, follow instructions from the pilots, fly safe.
Be a good tech citizen.
Distracted driving is becoming one of my primary technology “cause” issues. As tech becomes more fashionable, as we integrate data into more and more of our waking day, we’ve still yet to completely crack the user experience of interacting with technology while operating a motor vehicle. Some day we’ll have better solutions like heads up displays and eye pieces, probably used in conjunction with driver-less cars, but that day has not yet arrived.
Over 100,000 crashes a year involve distracted drivers. We can do better. We need to do better.
Backed by all four major carriers, the It Can Wait campaign will be sponsoring events all around the country on September 19th. During the Drive 4 Pledges Day, communities will be hosting pledges drives, encouraging their neighbors to sign the pledge to not text (or use your phone) while driving. I’ll be attending the Los Angeles pledge event to show my support.
For those of you who want to participate, but wont be able to attend community events, check out ItCanWait.com for other ways to support the cause. it only takes a moment’s indiscretion for someone’s life to be irrevocably changed.
If you haven’t yet, I would also recommend watching the documentary From One Second to the Next, directed by Werner Herzog. It’s available for free on Youtube, and I have it embedded after the break.
It’s like listening to the future.
Bone conduction is a fascinating tech which is starting to work its way into the consumer space. The ability to interact with audio without blocking or covering your natural sense of hearing is like having a super power. Plus this tech should encourage safer behavior from people who use headphones while jogging or (cringe) operating a motor vehicle.
Plus they’re even cheaper on Amazon than when I originally shot this video: http://goo.gl/6PgjVU