Rix Bits

Iron Man was pretty kool. But not only was it a good movie, it also showcased yet another 'hypothetical' futuristic computer interface. From fancy HUD interfaces to 3-D prototyping to voice-commanded AI robotics. Sweet. Do they sell any of that at Microcenter???

Here's my short list, in no particular order, of classic movie interfaces:

1. Iron Man - the crazy part is that the only part of the technology that he used that I think is 'way off' in the future (other than the suit of course) is Jarvis - I think we're a long way from being able to tell a computer to "throw some hot rod red into my design...", and have the computer do so in an aestethically pleasing way. And even if it did, to be able to do it so reliably that I don't even have to review it? To be able to walk away from the screen the way Tony Stark did??? Can I trust Vista like that? :)
   
2. Minority Report - the famous hands-free "magic wall". Goodbye thumb drives, hello big sheet of glass with all my data on it? :)
   
3. Lost in Space - there was a very brief scene where one of the characters was typing on a small interface, and in doing so mentioned how fast the interface was. What I thought was kool was how small the interface was, and yet in theory he was able to program all these complex commands, as well as get any necessary feedback that he needed. I don't think the movie makers were going for realism here, but I still thought it was kool.
   
4. Swordfish - remember the 6-monitor setup that the main character uses to create his super hack? I really don't think 6-monitors would be helpful for what he was trying to do, but it still looked cool.
   
5. The Matrix - here's an interface that I always wish I had whenever I'm trying to learn some new technology. Why can't I just download all the Wrox and APress books in the world directly into my brain??? :) Also, the idea of feedback to the user in the form of green flowing characters - interesting.
   
6. Disclosure - a "virtual reality" interface for content management? Kool! Interestingly, he still had to flip virtual pages in his virtual reality environment to read one of the documents. Is that a step forward or a step back in speed and efficiency?
   
7. iRobot - imagine not having to walk into a certain room at home to use my computer. Why can't my computer be whereever I am? Why can't every wall be a monitor? Or have the computer to create a holographic display right in front of me whereever I am? That's what V.I.K.I. was in this movie. I gotta get me one of those - minus the going crazy and trying to destroy the human race, of course. :)

Okay that's all I've got for now.

I've always been pretty impressed with the out-of-the-box handwriting recognition capabilities that tablets provide. Even my sloppy handwriting gets recognized about 80-90% of the time.

I just realized, though, that there's actually a feature in Windows that helps the tablet to be even more accurate. Through a series of "write the following sentence" examples, I can train the tablet to be more familiar with my writing style.

I don't know why I didn't assume that this type of feature was there all along. Maybe with enough training I can get my tablet to recognize my infamous "-ing" - a squiggly line that looks like I'm falling asleep while writing any word that ends in "-ing". :-)

He was gracious enough to give me a shout-out, so I'm returning the favor: my friend and fellow Xbox player (Oblivion is the best, but he seems to favor Bioshock) Brian Prince has a blog. His is much more informative than mine, tho. :)

I've recently begun using HP's latest tablet pc, the 2710. My previous experience with tablets has been with my trusty (but old) Toshiba Satellite R15. To it's credit, it's definitely done it's job pretty well over the years, but as of now it's about 3 years old, and we know that in tech-years that means it's ancient and outdated. :)

But like many things in life, having the old stuff makes you really appreciate the new stuff. Here's what I appreciate so far about not just the HP tablet, but today's tablets in general:

• Screen size - most tablets these days are 12 inches, and although that's smaller than my Toshiba, I've come to appreciate that 12 inches is enough. Also, it's a good deal because of my next point
• Weight - because of the smaller screen size and other form factor decisions, even the heaviest of today's tablets seem to be lighter than my Toshiba. I'm pretty sure the HP is at least half the weight of my Toshiba, which means I'm now more comfortable with moving around, and to onlookers, I look less 'awkward'. :)
• Integrated Bluetooth - on my Toshiba I need an external bluetooth receiver, separate software, and favor from the heavens to get bluetooth to work. Now with integrated hardware and Vista's built-in support, it's a much more pleasant experience.
• Indoor/outdoor screen viewing - need I say more? Now I can work comfortably on a nice day in my sunroom! :)

Expect more info about my tablet experience in weeks to come...

Today I had a doctor's appointment. When I walked in, the standard ritual began. Fill this out, give me your insurance card, sign here, etc.

I started thinking about this process - in 2008, these doctor's offices are still doing the same things they did when I had doctor's visits in the 90's and even the 80's:

• new patients have to fill out forms of the same standard name/address/etc information - more paper
• they use a big photocopier to scan my little insurance card - more paper
• i assume someone later types all this into an antiquated medical document system

Is this a "crisis" of information management? The quantity and rate of data that we want to store and manage in the world is growing every day - why isn't everyone embracing new content management systems that maximize the use of that data??

This I must ponder....

Okay, anyone that knows me knows that it takes a lot to get a Mac compliment out of me. :) But I must admit, Mac made a small victory with me today with a little feature it has that apparently Windows doesn't.

Actually, the victory comes in using Mac's built-in email viewer vs. Microsoft Outlook. The other day my friend sent me about 10 emails. Each email had 1 photo attachment.

In both Mac and Outlook I had a way to preview the image w/o actually have to double click the file and open it in some other program. Outlook, however, required 1 click for the Preview, Mac didn't require any.

But that's not the victory yet. What I realized is that I wanted to save all 10 images into a folder on my hard drive. What's the easiest way to do this? What I would assume is that I can just highlight all the emails, and save "Save All Attachments".

In Mac, that's exactly what I was able to do.

Apparently Outlook couldn't fathom that such a scenario would ever occur. :) Outlook assumes I'd ever only want to Save All on a per-email basis - not across multiple emails.

So, for once I had a pleasing Mac experience while trying to do some practical work. Who would've thunk it... :)