Voting by mobile phone

An article titled "Estonia to vote by mobile phone in 2011" caught my attention. First off, I had never heard of a country called Estonia, and then I found out that it would be the first country to allow voting my mobile phone. Mobile phone voting would be allowed for the next parliamentary elections in 2011. Last year, they used internet voting, and they claim it was secure and there was no fraud. I am not currently aware of any other country who has done that.

For the mobile phone voting, voters would be required to obtain a free authorized chip for their phones, which would verify the voters identity. They say that system has already been tested and has been proven secure and reliable. I wonder what measures were taken for the internet voting they had previously done and which would be more secure?

From a little bit of research on Wikipedia, I found that Estonia has a population of 1.4 million which is about 1/200th the population of the United States. It is a very small country, which is probably why it is easier to implement these changes.

Recession proof

I was reading an article about the rise in sales of video game consoles especially the Wii, when sales of other items are dropping drastically. The Nintendo Wii got a rise in sales from last year and recorded their highest ever single month sales this November. Playstation and Xbox 360 also saw an increase in sales. I'm not a gamer, and I dont really know much about it. I am just curious as to how when people are loosing jobs, and teh economy is bad, a lot of people seem to find it necessary to purchase $300 gaming consoles, as well as the separate games they would also need to purchase.

Is gaming some sort of consolation gift people get for themselves, or is just a way for them to get their minds off all the problems in the world?

Border Security

I wasn't aware that border security at airports could search through your electronic information on your laptop or phone until I read an article today. Civil liberties groups are trying to impose restrictions on these searches as they claim it is a violation of privacy. I do agree, because there could be confidential information about business or patients as the case may be. I also have stuff on my laptop that is not meant for just anyone to see. Aparently, these devices can also be seized and held for an indefinite period, which is also very wrong, because a lot of people have their whole lives on their phone or on the laptop. I do agree that is important for national security because they have caught some terrorists and other criminals that way, but I still think they should respect other people's privacy. There is also some skeptisism that some of the border security saves that information and use them for private purposes. I think they should come up with a software that searches certain key words and can extract key information from pictures and videos. This software should then be run on the electronic devices. That is a better way and faster way to catch criminals while maintaining the privacy of law abiding citizens. Here is a link to the article:

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081208/ap_on_hi_te/tec_laptop_searches

Microsoft roundtable

Microsoft roundtable is a new and advanced conferencing/collaborating device which enhances the engagement in a remote meeting. It is a 360-degree camera and software that is able to track the active speaker in the meeting in real time and allows them to exeperience the meeting like as if they were physically in the same room. According to what they have on the website, it is very easy to use, but I cant really guarantee that, because that is the same thing Windows vista claims. The software also offers the same features that google.docs offers in the sense that several people can collaborate on the same documents, but it also includes chatting, audio and visual communication.


http://www.microsoft.com/uc/products/roundtable.mspx

Entrepreneuship on TV

I usually watch this show called "Brothers and Sisters" that comes on every Sunday at 10pm on ABC. Recently, there was an interesting story line about these two 20-something guys who wanted to start a new business in California. They had hired as their CFO, a lady who was a former CEO of a thriving small business in town, to help them put together their business plan, so they could get funding. Their business was about making an online site where patrons can find local areas to purchase "green" things.

They did not get a lot of positive feedback except for one VC firm, who wanted to fire the guys (but leave them as co - founders), but they would keep the CFO. They turned down this offer, because they wanted to remain on board. I found this pretty interesting because this was the only firm who had contacted them, and they were being given a million dollars for the business, and they were barely surviving as it was. I guess, maybe the idea was a deep passion within them that they would rather starve than get a million dollars, even though they would not be carrying out their idea themselves.

Another interesting fact is that they portrayed the guys as a "Mark Zuckerberg" type or the google and youtube guys. These young scruffy guys, who seemed not to care about anything or even own a suit. I just thought that was an interesting fact, because it seems like that is becoming the stereotype of what young successful entrepreneurs are.

NFL offers live broadcast in 3-D

The NFL is offering a live 3-D broadcast of the Raiders/Chargers game today, and Fox Sports is doing that for the BCS national championship game coming up in January. Viewers would have to use a poloarized lense to view the game. Currently there is talk of making this available on TV. However, with everything being digital and the emergence on the virtual world, I think it would be cooler if everyone that watched these would have to buy these lenses or some sort of device that also gave them the stadium experience, so they would almost be at the football game virtually. Another thing would be to actually have maybe a theater experience, where people would actually have to buy tickets (for a cheaper price), and go to a theater to watch the live 3-D games, but they would also get the experience of being in the stadium. It could be like those 3-D movies that come out, where you feel like you are actually in the movie. Those are just some cool ideas/things that can be done with this that could really make them some money.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081204/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/nfl3d

Solar Car completes first ever trip around the world

A teacher, with the help of Swiss Scientists, built a fully solar powered car, and spent the last 17 months driving trhough 38 countries around the world. It is a two seater car that travels up to 55mph and covers 185miles on a fully charged battery. It was the first time that a solar powered car travelled around the world without using a drop of gas.

He took this car to the most recent U.N climate conference and argued that emissions can be reduced 100% instead of the 10 to 20% reduction that was being discussed. This seems like a really interesting product because, unlike the electric cars, it doesnt have to be plugged in (and gain power provided by other means, such as coal or natural gas). It is completely renewable.

Although the maximum speed is pretty low, and it goes a small distance without charging, I think this would be a very useful thing to invest in, because it would be very useful in small towns like State college, where you are not traveling to fast for too long distances. It would also be very important in tropical countries especially in Africa where solar power would be more efficient. It would also be interesting to know how long it took to charge the car, and how that would change depending on where you live. Here is a link to the article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081204/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_poland_solar_car;_ylt=AkacspCQdTukLSzpPAFPsAJvaA8F