Nails or Nubs (that is Resistive or Capacitive)...

I’m always amazed by what I learn when I ask a simple question. Recently I was at my fiancé's annual holiday gala, and one of his friend’s mentioned he bought his wife an iPod Touch. So, I asked her, “How do you like your iPod Touch?” She said, “I can’t use it because of my nails.” She lifted her right hand above the table to reveal beautiful long artificial french manicured nails. And she added, “I prefer phones that have a stylus.” And I immediately thought that’s the difference for us between resistive touch (stylus or pressure sensitive) screens or capacitive sensing (finger or conductive) touch screens. Being a diva that prefers short nails and sometimes nubs, this limitation had never crossed my mind. Back at Cal when I first started taking my major requirements (my major was computer science). One of the first things I learned was long nails were going to prevent me from getting out of the computer lab early. I had a study partner that had long artificial nails and I watched her painstakingly (I think it was more painstaking for me to be watching, waiting on her) peck the keys very slowly so she wouldn’t press more than one key, which often happened, when she tried to use the soft part of her finger. She decided computer science wasn’t the right major for her.

Fast forward to now and women with nails have options. At the dinner table, I wondered out loud, mostly in a conversation with her husband since he’s the gadget geek (I think he probably really bought the iPod Touch for himself), is it possible to develop a screen that can switch between capacitive and resistive, finger or stylus. In doing some research, there isn’t an obvious solution, but I’m sure given a significant consumer demand it isn’t impossible to design or approximate. I also discovered you can buy a stylus for the iPhone or iPod Touch. It is called a conductive stylus. Like the human body which is conductive (i.e. we can hold an electric charge, think static electricity), this stylus is designed to hold a charge and act like a finger when used on the screen. Ah! Very cool.

I love learning something new every day. I’m going tell him to get her a conductive stylus for Christmas, she just might enjoy putting some cool apps on her iPod Touch.

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowlege the ultimate fashion accessory!"

GoGadgetGurl is Back!!!

Yes, I'm back! I was inspired when I saw the last page of the October O list 2009. Unfortunately, there isn’t an online version of the last page. So, what’s so great about it? It’s a whole page of cool gadgets! I love it! There is a a cool Sony VAIO netbook, the new Apple iPod Shuffle (that is now voice activated!), the new iHome Stereo speakers for the new iPod Nano, the Canon Selphy photo printer, the Flip MinoHD video camera, and a fully functional digital replica of a vintage Rolleiflex. Next O Magazine should hire me to review these cool products. Anyone know the editor?

Of all the gadgets, the one I’ll get is the Canon Selphy CP780 Silver Compact Photo Printer. I have a couple of pics in iPhoto that I want to print and haven’t because it’s isn’t quick and easy. A few years back, I bought my Mom a Kodak EasyShare printer for her digital camera and she took to it like a pro. She loved taking photos with her Kodak digital camera, coming home printing them, and immediately framing them. She printed copies for everyone else too -- neighbors, family, and friends, anyone that would come over. I was always being surprised by who had a picture of me. It was like she got the ultimate school picture package! Oh! Am I dating myself?! They probably offer school picture packages on CD now.

Seriously, seeing this page of tech gadgets in O Magazine is the reason why I started GoGagdgetGurl. I don’t see reviews and articles about the phones, digital cameras, and music players we are using daily in the womens’ magazines I read. They have changed our lives in amazing ways. I want to read about these stories and learn about the cool gadgets our girlfriends are using.

So stay tuned....I’ll tell you all about the my new little photo printer :)

Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory!

Are you ready to Blaze!

My friend Michelle was at the checkout line one day and thought to herself, "Wouldn't it be cool to use my mobile phone to pay for this transaction?" (I'm paraphrasing). There are probably many people with this thought besides Michelle, the only difference is she had the resources, experience, and cajones to pull it off! Today she is founder and CEO of BlazeMobile. My girl is badd! (NOTE: I realize I'm daiting myself with that slang). So, this weekend I'm blazin' to the movies, the museum, and whatever else I can do with BlazeWallet, my newest iPhone app. I'll let you know how it goes....

Stay tuned....

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowlege the ultimate fashion accessory!"

Breast feeding with your iPhone

Huh!? That's was my first thought. I was talking to a colleague telling him about this blog and why I started it and he immediately got it. He told me that he's looking at his wife with a kindle on one side of her lap and the the iphone on the other while she's breast feeding their son, and thinks to himself her fitness magazine isn't talking about this. Exactly! there aren't any womens' magazine or even technology magazine's that review, evaluate, technology from a personal, lifestyle perspective. And for me being a female I really want to see in our womens' media cover technology from a lifestyle perspective. So, that's the reason I started the blog; to start, contribute, and enhance the conversation on how technology informs our decisions, our experiences, and our collective mindset.

And before I go, yes, I looked up the iPhone breast feeding apps and I am simply amazed! Since I haven't been blessed to me a mother yet, I didn't know how much information a mom has to track when she chooses to breast feed! These apps help moms keep track of everything from the last breast her baby fed on to tracking bowels (sorry if that's TMI for some of you). If you're a mom or a mom to be with an iphone and want to know more check out these iPhone apps, search on breast feeding at the App Store, or learn about Baby Tracker Nursing by http://www.andesigned.net/ for $7.99 and Breastfeeding by Lars Bergelt for $0.99.
The price difference is in the amount of information each tracks. I have to agree with one customer's comment, "Apps like this are what separate the iPhone."

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowlege the ultimate fashion accessory!"

PS> and the Amazon kindle was reading material while breast feeding. Of course!

So What's This I'm Hearing about Windows 7?

So, I was speaking with a co-worker the other day and he says "I hear Windows 7 is getting some good hype?", and I say "Windows 7? They just released Vista! I guess they had to give up on Vista with a quickness". And then he said "Well, I think Windows Vista got alot of hype early on too, eh!"

Later I pondered, "7? Why 7 ?" Let's see there was Windows 3.0. That's the last time they used a number. Since then there have been Windows 2000™, Windows NT™, Windows XP™, and Windows Vista™. I never switched to Windows Vista. When I first heard about it, the reviews were all negative, so I thought why bother, especially since my employer at the time wasn't bothering either. I have used Vista on my honey's (he's my fiance, now...and he didn't propose via text!) HP laptop and experienced those annoying access control dialogs. Oops, I digressed! Back to the Windows lineage...let's say Windows 2000™ and Windows NT™ are Windows 4.0 (if my memory serves me correctly, they released very close together), Windows XP™ is 5.0, and Windows Vista™ is 6.0! And then Windows 7.0! Ta dah! But wait a minute what about Windows 95™?

Are you still wondering if their is any truth to the hype? I did a quick google and discovered there is?! Check out Don Reisinger's blog The Digital Home, specifically his posts, "What scares me about Windows 7" and "Why I can't get enough of Windows 7". And then there's Ina Fried's posts, "Securing the Windows 7 beta" and "Windows 7 on a Mac Mini". And finally, a petition to release it now!

What's makes me laugh is the comparison's to Mac OS X. I have this image of Microsoft engineers sitting in a conference room around an iMac running MacOS X with the question written on the whiteboard, "What can we bite off of Mac OS X and then improve on? " And didn't they do the same thing to develop Windows 3.0? All I can say is Microsoft may have the dominance in sheer numbers of users of their OS, but they have always followed Apple in innovation. And since Apple is on the eve of releasing their next version of Mac OS X this year before Windows 7, it's likely the Windows 7 beta hype will be short lived. Which just gives Apple more commercial material.

Disclaimer: I'm writing this blog on my iMac.



GoGadgetGurl!
“Knowledge, the ultimate fashion accessory!”

"<your name>@usps.com"

I heard a news story on NPR.org about the billions of dollars the United States Post Office lost this past year. And it struck me that at it's core the USPS is about delivery. So, what if at the birth of the expansion of the internet, when yahoo and hotmail began offering free email, what if the leaders of the USPS saw the explosion email would be globally and offered free email as usps.com. I bet 9 of 10 people who made the decision to pick a free email service would have chosen <your name>@usps.com over yahoo and hotmail. I know I would have. No doubt. It makes so much sense to have the same company that handles my home mail, handle my email. And today USPS would not be known as just snail mail. Not sure how the USPS could have capitalized on multimillions of people having free email serviced by the United States Post Office, but I'm sure lots of people would be thinking of lots of ideas :)