Bill Gates Shows Off Microsoft’s Touch Table

Billy Gates was on the Today Show this morning showing off his fancy new table. Want to see it in action rather than just in photos? Check the video for all sorts of goodness of it being used for all sorts of applications, such as playing with photos, wirelessly pulling photos off a camera, and ordering and paying for food using credit cards.

ok, so this thing is just bad-ass. even though i have a well-known bias against anything microsoft (everyone who works for them should go jump off a building– go on, do it right now. i’ll wait), THIS THING IS THE SHIZ. sure, it’s been seen in a few different forms over the years, namely at TED (sorrry i don’t have the link– go search youtube on your own), but nothing quite like this (link goes to m$’s site). It’s simply the shiz.

their initial proposed market is retail, such as hotels and restaurants. these things will go for $5k – $10k, and do everything you always wished wi-fi enable things would do. for a good summary of functionality, follow one of the link above, or go to the digg article (link below) and follow the link to the video on the today show.

apparently, there’s going to be a live demo at the new york sheridan hotel on 11th street on june 9th. although they haaven’t announced a time yet, it’ll eventually be posted on their site (linked above). yeah, i’ll be there. as soon as i swallow my pride. perhaps i should show up in an apple t-shirt…

read more | digg story

455FE10422CA29C4933F95052B792AB2 = AACS Processing Key

Seriously! It amazes me that, with all their money, time, and effort put into these copy-protection schemes, that they keep getting cracked so easily and quickly. Only last month the last one was cracked. I suppose that, if this continues to happen, they’ll eventually stop.

HA!

yeah, i was just kidding. they’re never going to stop trying to prevent people from copying hd-dvds. they’ll try harder and harder, blaming the rise in cost of the hd-dvds to the continual development of the “next best thing” in encryption. eventually everyone will stop buying them, and just download the content for free from some p2p service.

that’ll teach ‘em.

read more | digg story

breaking the apple cycle

When it comes to Apple and its prodcuts, people are in either one of two camps: love it or hate it. For those who hate Apple, the solution is simple: avoid Apple products and make fun of anyone who purchases them. But for those of us who love Apple and their wonderful products, we can’t get enough. We want more. We need more. Like any other Apple fanboy, I am addicted.

I don’t mean to say that i like their products and am a loyal customer. I mean exactly what I said: I am addicted Apple, and lust for nearly every product they produce. What’s more, I must have them (aside from, thank goodness, products like the iPod Shuffle, the Mac Mini, and a handful of other terrible ideas). Like many fanboys, I go to great lengths to afford them. When a new iPod comes out, I buy one. I’ve had a 3g, a 4g, and currently have a 5g. The only reason I haven’t pre-ordered an iPhone is because I can’t afford one yet.

Come to think of it, that’s also why I don’t have a Mighty Mouse, am still using my G4 PowerBook, and haven’t upgraded my Airport Extreme to the new Draft-N one (although my PowerBook wouldn’t be able to take advantage of it). I suppose that not being able to afford it may be the only way out of this quandary.

But I still want it all sooo baaaad. I want a MacBook AND a MacBook Pro. I want a Mc Pro, a Mac Mini, and XServe, a new 5.5g ipod (my 5g is scratched), the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, a 24″ iMac… I have no rational need for any of these (except an iMac and a MacBook Pro… maybe the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, too.

Why do I want all of these things from Apple s very badly? It can’t be the marketing: i never watch TV, so i don’t see the commercials (except a couple on youtube, and that’s not enough to create this level of desire). I don’t see ads in print because I don’t read print, and I don’t see ANY ads online because I have a good ad-bocker.

So what gives? Is it just because I have one and use it all day and want a faster one? Still that doesn’t make any sense. The only thing stopping me from buying any more Apple products is, seriously, I can no longer afford to buy anything right now (Apple or otherwise). And I suppose that may be the only cure…

letting the days go by…

well, eric was here this last weekend, from friday to sunday. oh, and did we have an awesome time. friday, of course, we went to the village to get some great indian food, then off to soho for drinks. madam x on houston st., funky and a little burlesque-y, fortunately has a smoking garden, allowing us to sit out back, drink, smoke, and be merry! we met up with an old orlando friend who, strangely enough, had known eric for even longer.

the next night, saturday, we started with some running around, then met up with eric’s chicago friend craig for dinner at this great restaurant in chelsea named cookshop. eric and i both enjoyed this lamb 3-way special they were having that night, along with an incredible bordeux– the ordering of which prompted the restaunt’s owner to run over to the table and serve it to us personally while recanting the story of how he came to posess this wine. apparently, while visiting a vinyard, he was brought out to a large tree in the middle of some huge field. at the foot of this tree were storm cellar doors that led down to a huge wine cellar underneath the tree, and that’s where he had gotten that wine. both the lamb and wine, thank goodness, were much better than the story.

after dinner, we went out to this season’s last Bank party at Element, courtesy of dj kevin graves. the upstairs party was sorta lame, so we hung out downstairs with all the hotties. awesome times and awesome photos were had by all (although the pics are still in my camera- will be posted soon)!

sunday we slept in. we did, fortunately, get to see a good bit of central park. and, although we didn’t get to go into the met (don’t ask), we did get to see it.

unfortunately, eric had to leave not too long after that. it was really too bad he couldn’t stay longer, but he promised that he’d be visiting again this summer. can’t wait!