Swine Flu Up-To-The-Minute Map

Swine flu is within 140 miles (225km) of Seattle (my location), which means in all likelihood, somebody has it in Seattle but just hasn’t been diagnosed yet. F***. Check the constantly-updated Google Maps application to see when it gets close to you:

H1N1 Swine Flu on Google Maps:

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

It’s been identified in Israel, Australia, Colombia, and all over Spain! Holy s***!

Via The Big Picture.

Goldmines

Google is sitting on top of a goldmine.

People go to Google when they’re searching for something. Google gives it to them. And they can charge (advertisers) for the privilege (of appearing next to the results).

Likewise, Craigslist gives people what they want. Job seekers and potential room-renters flock to Craigslist. Human resources executives might starve without it. With it, they thrive.

Google and Craigslist are sitting atop of goldmines.

Facebook, on the other hand, doesn’t serve a direct need, and is not sitting atop a goldmine. It serves the consumer something they only peripherally desire. It does not serve a market necessity, but rather a compliment.

A good way to understand this is that, prior to Facebook, humans relied on direct human interaction and the Yearbook to catalogue their contacts and classmates. They paid little for the privelege. Now, they can keep track of their workmates and family in the same sphere as their classmates and friends (by using Facebook). So why pay? They’re not searching for anything specific (as with Google/Craigslist). Commerce is not implicit in Facebook usage.

That’s why Facebook will never see the same level of monetization as Google/Craigslist/Ebay. Commerce is not implicit. Once humans are used to paying for their Rolodexes, Facebook and LinkedIn will thrive. It’s human behavior that has to change.

I’m in love

Her name is Rebel T1i.

Germany’s Solar Penetration

Germany, something of a model citizen in solar-energy due to its long-standing subsidies, “has about five times as many photovoltaic panels installed as the United States,” which produce only 0.5 percent of Germany’s electricity.

Europe’s Way of Encouraging Solar Power Arrives in the U.S. – NYT

iPhone Electronic Symphony

Perhaps you’ve heard of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, but I’m guessing you’ve never seen a live performance generated entirely by iPhone software:

Via iJustine.

Twitter’s Power

If you haven’t yet embraced Twitter or felt its power, I strongly recommend you join.

The technology gives you an omniscient voice, a way in instantly and effortlessly broadcast your thoughts to people you know, and people you don’t. I’ll provide you with two examples of ways it can assist you.

Harness the varied knowledge of the collective

I found myself walking through an unfamiliar neighborhood and I wanted something warm to drink. Google wasn’t helpful — I could’ve used Yelp on my mobile phone, but wanted a more personal recommendation. I fired up the Twitter client on my Motorola Q9c and tweeted “Any ideas for a coffee shop on top of Queen Anne Hill?”. Within 3 minutes, I had 3 recommendations, including the place that I ended up going to, El Diablo, where I enjoyed a fantastic Mexican hot cocoa. By asking my Twitter contacts, I harnessed their individual knowledge and made it my own. Those who felt compelled to make a recommendation were those armed with the most suitable knowledge on the subject. Efficient and effective.

Make yourself heard and advance your cause

Whether your cause is saving the world, growing your business, or finding a last-minute lunch date in Manhattan, Twitter allows you to effectively find others who can turn your idea into reality. G. Martin Bingisser, a world-class athlete who dabbles in tax law, happened upon the idea to start a non-profit organization to support Olympic athletes in their training. Once the organization’s website was up and running, he Tweeted:

Our non-profit’s webpage is now online: http://www.evergreenathletic.org/…

Within 15 minutes, he’d already received a small donation, 100% prompted by his Tweet. He didn’t have to make a phonecall or schedule/attend a meeting. All he did was type a few characters.

What can Twitter do for you?

P.S.

You can follow me on Twitter here.

Our World in 2019

According to Microsoft:

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-GB&#038;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a517b260-bb6b-48b9-87ac-8e2743a28ec5&#038;showPlaylist=true&#038;from=shared" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://video.msn.com']);" target="_new" title="Future Vision Montage">Video: Future Vision Montage</a>

Epic.

New F1 Tech Explained

If you don’t pay attention to F1, here’s a quick update on what’s coming this upcoming season (it’s exciting):

Nick Negroponte off his rocker

Nick Negroponte, creator of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project, is officially nuts. His new reference design for the second generation OLPC is a dual-screen laptop, with one screen being touch-sensitive and sporting haptic feedback.

Has he not witnessed the weak reception that the BlackBerry Storm received (the only device with a comparable haptic touch-screen keyboard)?

From a usability standpoint, the standard hardware keyboard is where it’s at. A touchscreen keyboard is slower, more expensive, and a pain to use, period.

The first generation OLPC failed because it took too long to become available, and because a slew of competition (from netbooks like the ASUS EEE PC) came out of the woodwork. The fact that competition sprung up is arguably a win for OLPC, whose goal was to get more computers in kids’ hands. Still, the fact that more people chose other netbooks instead of the OLPC shows how unnecessary the OLPC program is. Now that there are an adequate number of cheap netbooks on the market, shouldn’t OLPC just shut down, having already accomplished their goal?

Burj Al Arab in a desktop tower

Via Engadget.

Inauguration from Space

Collected by the GeoEye-1 satellite on Jan. 20, 2009 to commemorate the Inauguration of President Barack Obama.

2009 Inaugural Celebration. Washington D.C. National Mall – GeoEye

Chanel ‘Choco’ Phone

Designed by Fred de Garilhe:

Via Kanye West.

Wave of the Future: 1986

Radical.

Via Microsiervos.

Why I’ll Never Run For President

They’ll take my BlackBerry away:

“… [Obama's] Blackberry is a concern, not just to the Secret Service, but also to lawyers,” who believe any emails sent/received could be subpoenaed by Congress/the courts, and may be subject to public records laws. Because of this fear, Clinton and George W. didn’t send a single email while in office.

Obama, security aides, still debating Blackberry – AP

iPhone’s Coup Over The Kindle

The Amazon Kindle is a beautiful, useful, and elegant handheld ebook reader. Its drawback? It’s not a cellphone (though it does have a cellular-data-capable radio).

The iPhone is a much more natural fit as an eBook reader because it’s owners carry it with them everywhere they go. It’s screen is smaller, yes. But small screens haven’t stopped the Japanese from reading and writing books on their phones. In Japan in 2007, 5 of the the top 10 bestselling books began as cellphone novels (i.e. written on a cellphone).

I believe the iPhone’s true abilities with regard to eBook reading have yet to be fully explored. There are many eBook readers for the iPhone, but none has become so dominant so as to make the iPhone a real contender in the eBook reader space.

What Amazon Needs To Do

If Amazon.com wants to survive as a bookseller, they need to compete with their own product (the Kindle) and make their electronic bookstore the standard on each and every popular electronic device. Amazon needs to build a Kindle app for the iPhone.

Think about it: what proportion of people carry their cellphone with them everywhere they go? And how many people carry around a dedicated eBook reader?

If Amazon doesn’t put out an iPhone eBook reader application in the next year, it’s possible Apple will — or one of the existing apps will become so ubiquitous that it might come installed standard on iPhones and be listed as a selling point for potential iPhone buyers (perhaps Stanza will become this heralded piece of software).

Either way, this market is Amazon’s to lose. They just have to be comfortable competing with themselves in order to provide the most utility and the best experience to the public. That’s not such a revolutionary idea, is it?

Is the iPhone the Ultimate eBook Reader? – ReadWriteWeb

Thumbs Race as Japan’s Best Sellers Go Cellular – NYT