Archive for the 'Misc' Category
If you are ever wondering what this tech-gadget loving guy may be doing through the day, then check out my Twitter account. I’ll be using the site to also post some sites of interest and it will be a great place for you to get some “behind the scenes” stuff I may not get onto SvenOnTech. There are a lot of sites I go to in research for posts here but due to the time it takes to actually type the stuff out, a lot gets lost to the ether so to speak.
Beyond that, you’ll also get some of my witty commentary on just life. 
I promise, I’ll try to abstain from the gross, though I am a guy so sometimes I may stumble. So please accept my pre-emtive apology.
Oh, try to figure out what my account name, 7mary4, is about, too. I’d love to see if you can figure that out. (It’s not that hard to figure out with Google, folks. )
See you on Twitter…
Friends of the Proporta Facebook page (we believe you can never have enough) can enjoy access to a special promotions area, the latest product reviews and sneak announcements of products not yet launched. Those joining the Proporta Facebook page will also be able to communicate with each other and Proporta directly.
To celebrate the launch of the page, Proporta are offering all their friends a 10% discount off all Proporta branded hardware. Simply enter the promotion code FRIENDSFOREVER at the cart page.
Here’s the details:
Everyone at Proporta HQ is in a party mood this week – not only because they’re generally just happy to be part of the great Proporta circle of life, but especially because this Wednesday 23rd April sees Proporta celebrate it’s 12 birthday. Yippeeee :o)
And as a way of saying a great big thank you for coming to see them over the years, Proporta have decided to offer their lovely customers a 15% discount on all Proporta branded hardware products for just one day only.
They love having visitors so simply drop in and visit www.proporta.com on the 23rd April 2008, enter the promotion code PASSTHEPARCEL at the cart page and you’ll receive a 15% discount off your order.
As no birthday is worth celebrating without at least a few good minutes of reminiscing and looking back over your life (ok they may only be 12, but that’s got to be at least 84 in cyber years), click here to read the Proporta story from when they were just a twinkle in the eyes of Coombes and Monson to now… all grown up.
Verizon Wireless, the builder and operator of the nation’s most reliable wireless network, and VOCEL, publisher of premium branded mobile phone applications, today announced the availability of The Pill Phone, a new Get It Now® application that provides Verizon Wireless customers with detailed drug information and automatic dosing reminders – right on their phones.
The mobile version of the best-selling medication reference guide, The Pill Book, The Pill Phone application is available exclusively through Verizon Wireless. With The Pill Phone’s Pill Lookup feature, Verizon Wireless customers have access to critical information on more than 1,800 medications and prescription drugs that are commonly prescribed by physicians, including indications, dosing, side effects, drug interactions, photos of medications, and more.
The Pill Phone also offers a Medication Reminder feature, which allows customers to schedule automatic reminders to take their doses at the appropriate times. With the Medication Reminder feature, customers can stay on their familiar medication schedule at home and even when they are traveling. The Pill Phone has received FDA 510 (k) clearance and is protected under U.S. Patent No. 7,340,503.
“The Pill Phone helps our customers leverage technology to manage their health by providing educational information and dosage reminders,” said Mark Bartolomeo, vice president of enterprise data sales for Verizon Wireless. “Our health and wellness conscious customers want to be able to access important health information and The Pill Phone can serve as a valuable resource to help them access this information while on-the-go.”
Verizon Wireless customers can purchase and download The Pill Phone from the Get Going or Tools on the Go virtual shopping aisle of the Get It Now virtual store by clicking on “Get New App” and then “Mind, Body & Soul.” The Pill Phone is currently available for a $3.99 monthly subscription on a number of popular Get It Now-capable phones, including the Chocolate and the enV by LG, the LG VX9400, the MOTORAZR™ maxx Ve, and the Alias™ by Samsung. Airtime or megabyte charges apply for sending and receiving data using Get It Now, depending on the plan. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled phone and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.
For more information on The Pill Phone, or to see an interactive demo, visit www.pillphone.com. For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
Remember when we were kids and our school projects involved paper, glue, and scissors and that was about it? If you had plastics and metals, or wood shop, you got to make some cooler stuff, but for the most part, nothing more than trinkets to give mom and dad for their birthdays that wound up in some landfill within a year. Well, young Ralph has got something mom or dad surely won’t be tossing any time soon…if they’re lucky enough to get this cool project!
Ralph has created a car from an “iPod”. Really, mom helped out on Adobe Illustrator and printed out the iPod mockup but Ralph put it all together and entered his car into the Pinewood Derby. Speed isn’t the only thing this bad boy has. Nope, the iCar is sure to be the talk of the derby for years to come with its cool looks that really look like the real thing. I kept finding myself looking at the LCD screen for something to appear. It’s just that sweet.
Ralph’s mom was nice enough to even leave directions and examples on her web site for other iCar wannabes. Excuse me while I go grab my print job off the network printer…
[Thanks Fletch!]
The poor little iPhone brother. No one seems to want the little guy. Seems everyone saw the “deal” in just paying an extra $100 for twice the storage. Since that’s what everyone ended up doing, Apple has decided to say good-bye to the 4 GB version of the iPhone. While supplies last, party people, you can grab a 4 GB iPhone for $299 from Apple. The promotion is on the bottom right of the Apple Store web site and all you have to do is click and pony up the Visa.
Now the big question is when can we expect the 16 GB iPhone?
Otter Products, LLC. is wild about otters and proud to support the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s latest exhibit. Wild About Otters is a dynamic and interactive display featuring 10 freshwater otters and species that share their habitats. The exhibit illustrates the importance of clean water and conservation of lakes, rivers and oceans.
“We are thrilled to take part in such a great cause,” said Curt Richardson, CEO of Otter Products, LLC. “The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides a great resource for educating people about this incredible species.”
This $3.6 million exhibition, scheduled to continue through 2010, shows how otters need clean water to thrive. High-definition video clips, interactive graphic panels, touchable models and other displays tell each otter’s story and share conservation messages about the global importance of clean water.
“As the symbol for our company, the otter serves as an inspiration with its fun, active personality. We look forward to playing an active role in the exhibit to help protect otters around the world,” explains Richardson.
OtterBox will be giving away 200 complimentary tickets to Wild About Otters as well as donating sale proceeds to the aquarium during the year. The company plans to give away cases to visitors on “World Ocean Day,” June 9, as well as attend and donate cases during “Otter Days,” September 22 and 23.
By teaching about the history, native habitat, favorite foods and otter behaviors, visitors will make a connection with these special creatures at the aquarium.
SvenOnTech receives tons and tons of press releases daily. After a while, your eyes glaze reading the subject lines, but once in awhile, something breaks it up for you. Sometimes it’s a great new product being released, or it’s some interesting invention, or maybe just some industry news. But once in a great while, you get a fun one. Like the one that came over our Inbox today with the subject line that read:
PC Tools Leap-Frogs the Competition by Acquiring World-Class Behavioral Malware Technology
Leap-frogs the competition you say? Was it from some awesome R&D? Or from a boy-wonder you hired from Berkley? No? Oooh, it was the Microsoft way, you BOUGHT the competition!
“This acquisition is a part of our long term plan and underwent a rigorous evaluation process of best in class products; considerable attention was given to how the Novatix team and products would build synergy with PC Tools’ offerings,” said Michael Greene, Vice President of Product Strategy. “This is a major deal for us.”
Ya, I bet it is a major deal for you, Michael.
PC Tools is known for it’s anti-virus software and today, known for making one really funny - yet honest - press release headline.
It seems technology is about to prove that technology is not the reason for the global warming Earth is experiencing. Automobiles, coal burning factories, and aerosol cans are not the reason for our half degree celsius temperature increase in the last twenty-five years. Nope, now with Mars heating upand Neptune warming up, too, it seems a bit hard for many well known scientists to agree with what they once did. In other words, many respected people of science no longer believe that people are the reason for Earth’s global warming.
Botanist Dr. David Bellamy, a famed UK environmental campaigner, former lecturer at Durham University, said “global warming is largely a natural phenomenon. The world is wasting stupendous amounts of money on trying to fix something that can’t be fixed.”
Climate scientist Dr. Chris de Freitas of The University of Auckland, N.Z wrote, “At first I accepted that increases in human caused additions of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere would trigger changes in water vapor etc. and lead to dangerous ‘global warming,’ But with time and with the results of research, I formed the view that, although it makes for a good story, it is unlikely that the man-made changes are drivers of significant climate variation.”
With more examples of others now changing their mind about global warming, the U.S. Senate has made available its findings that steered it toward not passing a heavy-handed business punishing bill this week. It’s an interesting read and may add more credence to article such as this about Gore’s movie that may be soon labeled fiction.
Every once in a while, you look at something and at first glance surrender it do absurdity. Then on closer inspection, you realize that in fact, a jewel indeed lay beneath the murky mud of silliness. Well, I have such as a one for you all and it has to do with our favorite search engine, Google.
Everyone knows that Google is a simple all white page. That white seems to be burning more fuel than black backgrounded screens. In other words, the white Google uses about 74 watts of energy on your display versus the 59 for the black version Google. Now, Mark Ontkush has gone and figured out that with all of us hitting the Google site as much as we do, that if we were to have a black version, we’d save — ready? — 3000 Megawatt-hours a year. Don’t mean much to you? Didn’t to me, either. In terms of greenbacks, we’re talking $75,000 in energy conservation. Wow!
No Fletch, this doesn’t mean I want all black web pages. 75k is small price to pay for a good looking web site.