• latest twitter: constantskeptic: #skeptical of spam. especially spam in sushi. stay away. i pop out the spam chunk and eat the rest of the sushi, but others are not so brave
  • 17th May 2008

    Rocket Man a Reality - Be Skeptical No More of Humans Flying

    I know it may sound like science fiction, but humans are flying, and once this comes to walmart, blue-collar types can strap on their jetpack and take off to the skies. They will probably be able to even exchange their rocket fuel tanks just like we all exchange our propane tanks for gas grills right now.

    So who and what is the harbinger of this brave new world?

    Yves ‘Fusionman’ Rossy.
    He flies with only a wing at jet propelled speeds over the backdrop of the Swiss alps.

    Here is a lengthy (9:00 minutes) video of him being dropped out of a plane and set free to cruise the skies over the alps:

    Details of rocket boots:

    I want one. Period. Look for it at a Walmart / Target / Shopping Center near you in five years time. Be prepared to sign a lengthy liability agreement as well as taking a lengthy training course to make you certified in rocket powered human flight. So on your drivers license you will have a little rocket sticker embedded to show you are certified.

    Ready to take flight?

    (see jet-man.com , it is in French, sorry)

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    posted in future science, techno-stuff, video footage, world view |

    22nd April 2008

    I am on friendfeed.com, why aren’t you yet?

    Hello readers, browsers, info-snackers, crawlers, and spies. I want to let you know there is a better way to follow what I am doing besides just following my latest posts. Do you want to see what I find interesting on the internet and bookmark? Do you want to see my micro-blogging on twitter? Do you want to read my reviews on yelp? Do you want to see my netflix queue? Do you even care?

    Well, the amazing thing is, is that this service is free and you and your cohorts can use it to follow and be followed and updated and joined in the conversation that is going on all around you that is, for the most part, external to the blogosphere. It can be a great tool for businesses to manage their brand as well, even though I think a simple google alert can do that just as well for a neophyte web 2.0 adopter.

    Friendfeed is what I am talking about. And it may very well be the harbinger of death to the blogosphere as we know it, at least comments wise.

    So, I hope I have convinced you to at least check it out. No, I am not getting paid to push friendfeed on the masses, I just think that the masses will find it extremely useful and engaging, if not downright addictive and distracting. Check out their FAQs page if you are still skeptical.

    BTW, barack is winning PA and winning the democratic nomination, for better or worse.

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    posted in brand management, social networking and visualizations, techno-stuff, tips and random info |

    16th April 2008

    Skeptical of the “superfast internet” that is allegedly coming

    Did you hear about this?

    Jonathan Leake, the Science Editor for the Times Online (a great online news source by the way) penned an article titled “coming soon, superfast internet“. The article can be summed up in the first stanza:

    THE internet could soon be made obsolete. The scientists who pioneered it have now built a lightning-fast replacement capable of downloading entire feature films within seconds.

    Hmm. Sounds delicious and enticing, much like a Whopper Meal at Burger King, or those damn Sonic ads that run here in Maryland, even though there are no Sonics in Maryland.

    Much like the lack of Sonics in Maryland, I doubt that this newfangled superfast internet will show up any time soon. Some users commenting on another syndicated source of this article (Neowin.net’s article) tend to agree with my skepticism as well.

    Either way, this new internet is going to be called THE GRID, and it has been developed at CERN, which makes total sense if you know the true history of the internet (as opposed to Al Gore’s statements about the internet). I say let’s just go ahead and call it THE MATRIX and get it over with. Now all we have to do is find Morpheus stationed within CERN to figure out how to break out of our alien human feeding bags and unplug the back of our skulls from this messy VR we call EARTH.

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    posted in future science, techno-stuff, world view |

    21st March 2008

    I want free wifi

    Marketers agree, the consumer will be king in the 21st century. Thus, the consumer should get what he/she/it wants.

    So, I want free wifi. So give it to me already. I have free wifi where I am at now. But that is not the point.

    According to OpenWifiSpot.com:

    “There are 24,647 free WiFi hotspots in the US (120 new hotspots added in the last 7 days)”

    takeMS Wifi Finder

    I wonder how long it will take for all the major fast food and drink chains to offer free wifi. Some of the heavy hitters that do offer wifi already are:

    McDonalds

    Caribou Coffee

    Panera Bread

    I am predicting that Chipotle will join the ranks soon, as well as Noodles & Company.

    I know you probably could care less, but it is important for me to be able to go out of my house and my wifi network and then proceed to eat, drink, and browse the internet on someone else’s wifi network. I guess I could always walk down the street with my little wifi finder in hand and hope for a signal.

    I read promising news from Intel today via ZDnet about their breakthrough in wifi technology to be able to extend the range between routers to up to sixty miles or one hundred kilomeWordPress database error Table 'constantskeptic.wp_wpv_display_option' doesn't exist for query SELECT post_id, column_count, display_text, display_thumbnail, display_align, display_vertical_align, target_thumbnail_size, target_image_size, display_table_border_color, display_table_border_style, display_table_border_width, cell_background_color, cell_background_color_hover, border_color, border_color_hover, border_width, name_font_size, name_font_bold, name_font_color, name_font_underline, comment_font_color, comment_font_size, image_display_background_color, image_display_border_color, image_display_font_color, image_display_name_font_size, display_table_width, display_table_width_unit, display_table_margin_top, display_table_margin_right, display_table_margin_bottom, display_table_margin_left, display_table_location, display_status FROM wp_wpv_display_option WHERE post_id = 1011 made by getdisplayoptionfromdb WordPress database error Table 'constantskeptic.wp_wpv_display_option' doesn't exist for query SELECT post_id, column_count, display_text, display_thumbnail, display_align, display_vertical_align, target_thumbnail_size, target_image_size, display_table_border_color, display_table_border_style, display_table_border_width, cell_background_color, cell_background_color_hover, border_color, border_color_hover, border_width, name_font_size, name_font_bold, name_font_color, name_font_underline, comment_font_color, comment_font_size, image_display_background_color, image_display_border_color, image_display_font_color, image_display_name_font_size, display_table_width, display_table_width_unit, display_table_margin_top, display_table_margin_right, display_table_margin_bottom, display_table_margin_left, display_table_location, display_status FROM wp_wpv_display_option WHERE post_id = 1001 made by getdisplayoptionfromdb WordPress database error Table 'constantskeptic.wp_wpv_display_option' doesn't exist for query SELECT post_id, column_count, display_text, display_thumbnail, display_align, display_vertical_align, target_thumbnail_size, target_image_size, display_table_border_color, display_table_border_style, display_table_border_width, cell_background_color, cell_background_color_hover, border_color, border_color_hover, border_width, name_font_size, name_font_bold, name_font_color, name_font_underline, comment_font_color, comment_font_size, image_display_background_color, image_display_border_color, image_display_font_color, image_display_name_font_size, display_table_width, display_table_width_unit, display_table_margin_top, display_table_margin_right, display_table_margin_bottom, display_table_margin_left, display_table_location, display_status FROM wp_wpv_display_option WHERE post_id = 997 made by getdisplayoptionfromdb WordPress database error Table 'constantskeptic.wp_wpv_display_option' doesn't exist for query SELECT post_id, column_count, display_text, display_thumbnail, display_align, display_vertical_align, target_thumbnail_size, target_image_size, display_table_border_color, display_table_border_style, display_table_border_width, cell_background_color, cell_background_color_hover, border_color, border_color_hover, border_width, name_font_size, name_font_bold, name_font_color, name_font_underline, comment_font_color, comment_font_size, image_display_background_color, image_display_border_color, image_display_font_color, image_display_name_font_size, display_table_width, display_table_width_unit, display_table_margin_top, display_table_margin_right, display_table_margin_bottom, display_table_margin_left, display_table_location, display_status FROM wp_wpv_display_option WHERE post_id = 965 made by getdisplayoptionfromdb WordPress database error Table 'constantskeptic.wp_wpv_display_option' doesn't exist for query SELECT post_id, column_count, display_text, display_thumbnail, display_align, display_vertical_align, target_thumbnail_size, target_image_size, display_table_border_color, display_table_border_style, display_table_border_width, cell_background_color, cell_background_color_hover, border_color, border_color_ters for you other than US types.

     

    BTW, Some great tools to find wifi spots near you:

    JiWire: http://www.jiwire.com/

    WifiFinder: http://www.wififinder.com/

     

    Someday in the near future, you will be able to connect to the internet anywhere via your brain augmentation device. For now, I guess we will have to settle with a 2.5g EDGE network IPHONE sans Adobe Flash.

     

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    posted in future science, techno-stuff, tips and random info |

    13th March 2008

    Video of the Day, First Voiceless Phone Call

    this is definitely filed under wtf!

    I am skeptical that it was his live transmission, all of it could have been pre-recorded as a canned demo to wow the crowd.

    Here is the company behind this emerging technology: Ambient

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    posted in future science, techno-stuff, video footage |

    26th February 2008

    Crazy Apple Band - Video of the Day

    try doing this with your motorola, moto….

    Tags: , , ,

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    posted in best of the web, techno-stuff, video footage |

    11th February 2008

    Why I write

    It seems like I have been losing faith lately concerning blogs. Maybe it is because I have sold out and finally started my google adsense account to try to make money off of this thing, which is now three years old.

    I realized that I need to provide more commentary and original content as opposed to just pointing my readers to other interesting content on the web. All I can say is that I will try. One hundred percent effort is all I can do. (I could never figure out the math of giving 120% like my football coach used to ask for)

    That being said, I am burnt out on technology and evangelizing about how great the new iphone is. I know I haven’t mentioned it much on this blog, but I am sort of a technophile and a gadgetoholic. All of my rss feeds that I follow everyday feed my cravings for more.

    I think I need to post more about the things I am skeptical of in this crazy world. Skeptical meaning, in this case, why things are the way they are, and why people say they are the way they are, when reality definitely displays something completely different to those who can really see the truth.

    How can you explain your point of view in such a way as to be entirely convincing? How do you cause sea changes and ripples in the fabric of group think?

    Stay tuned for some better posts hopefully, we can always hope. If you have any ideas for future posts please forward them on to me at my email provided. Thanks for reading.

    Oh yeah, btw:

    http://www.utterz.com is sort of a new 2.0 site that lets users post audio comments and replies to each other, as well as video and pictures. Here are the most popular discussion tags:

    Utterz Top Tags

    i think sites like utterz and twitter.com will ultimately change the way people view the world they interact with everyday.

    UPDATE: Man, I just read bad this post to myself after publishing and it is total crap… apologies all around, I will try to do better.

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    posted in techno-stuff, tips and random info |

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