Mike's Daily Lockup

3 Words Can Say Alot - Gov2.0LA

When Gov20LA started we were asked to state three words about what we hope to accomplish, take a look at the Wordle above and guess what my three words were (if you follow me on Twitter, you already know...)

My compliments to @digiphile for creating this wordle.

Best Review I've seen of the NexusOne

I found the review of the NexusOne from Uncrate to be the best one so far. (A little bit of language in this so it may be slightly NSFW).

Full disclosure, I won a digital picture frame from them a while back.

Government 2.0 - Brought to you by SMCOC and OCTA

Currently attending the Gov 2.0 Tweetup, brought to you by the OCTA and Social Media Club OC.

The live stream can be found at www.Justin.tv/SMCOC

You can also follow the Twitter chatter by searching for the #ocgov hashtag.

Trying to Catch a Droid by the Dashboard Light

I know it has been a while since I have written a long post here on the MDLU, so here it goes. The beverage on my desk is a Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon.

Tonight's topic (or morning) is Tech and Suave:

1. Google Dashboard

For those of you who rely on Google for basically everything, the Dashboard will show you almost everything that Google has for your account. If you have a Google voice number, it'll show you the number of calls you've made, if you use Google Docs it show you the most recent document and what you are sharing, if you use Google Latitude (a location aware service) it'll show the most recent location. If you're a privacy nut the amount of information that is in Google's system will make you reach for your tin-foil hat. With all of the information that is out in the "cloud" you tend to forget how much is actually out there. While the Dashboard is a start, it still does not allow you to turn off any tracking that Google may do or how it uses all of the information that is collected through the daily use of their products.

2. Droid

"These are not the Droids you are looking for..." If you're a Verizon subscriber, welcome to the dawn of the App Phone (hat tip to David Pogue for that description). I'll give it some credit for having a real keyboard, a higher resolution camera, and a high resolution screen, but it does lack multitouch. If the rumors hold true, Verizon may also have an iPhone by 2010. In the mean time, I'm sticking with my iPhone (it's not perfect, mainly AT&T's fault).

3. Catch Me If You Can

It seems that there is a modern Frank Abagnale, Jr. out in Los Angeles. The LA Times is reporting that a suave con man has been working his way through Staples Center, the Greek Theater, and offices and hotels in Downtown LA. Using the term "Office Creeper," the man has apparently slipped in and out of offices with laptops, including one stolen from an LAPD Detective. The con man has been using the web and social networks to track the movement of celebrities and sports teams and then his charm to gain access to their rooms. 

ComicCon 2009

It's Saturday at ComicCon...more later.

More Astronauts in The OC

It's a bummer I have to miss this event after meeting Buzz Aldrin at the signing of his new book "Magnificent Desolation" (very good book, by the way). I'll be on a mission of a different sort this weekend.

For those of you who want to hear where we were to know where we are going, then this event is for you:

Astronaut Commander Scott Carpenter, Gemini and Apollo astronaut Lt. General Thomas Stafford, and Apollo astronaut and last man to walk on the moon Captain Gene Cernan.

The event will celebrate the accomplishments of these great American heroes while showcasing a lunar rover, Apollo 10 space suit and mars rover along with Speedmaster watches from Gemini and Apollo missions.
 

WHEN:          Exhibit
·        Wednesday, July 8th – Sunday, July 12th, 2009
 
                        Astronaut Panel Discussion
·        3pm-4pm on Saturday, July 11th, 2009
                      
WHERE:       South Coast Plaza – Jewel Court
                        3333 Bristol Street  
                        Costa Mesa, CA  92626
                        800-782-8888               

TED (well, from across the street)

The 2009 TED Conference (In Long Beach, CA)
(Updated on 2/6/09)

Diggnation Live!

Diggnation Live! The LA meetup. The DJ is rocking it!

Text Messaging is the equivlent to Buying an $8.50 Churro!

In an episode of the Simpson's, Homer is at a theme park similar to Disneyland. As he walks up to a food stand he orders a Churro. When the employee on the other side of the cart responds that it's $8.50, Homer throws a fit.

Text messaging today is the same as buying an $8.50 churro: the churro itself is maybe 25 cents to make, another .10 to .15 cents to ship, and there is very little cost to prepare it. The rest of the cost is pure profit to the seller. The New York Times did a great job getting to the bottom of the accurate cost of a text message, the four telecommunications companies will tell you that the cost is due to tower maintenance, support, overhead, cross-network traffic, etc...but in the end it costs them nothing. Just like the churro, it's pure profit.

So as we now pay anywhere between .15 to .20 cents per text message the TelCo's are simply making a profit off of something that costs them nothing. This is one of the reasons why I insist that people e-mail, IM, or even Tweet me. Why spend all of this extra money per month for outrageous rates on moving very small amounts through a cellular network.

Maybe congress under the new Obama Administration should investigate why the rates are so high?

You can read the original NY Times article here and Engadget's take on it here.

Cool iPhone Election Tools and News

With 23 days to go before election day, I've discovered some really cool iPhone web apps and programs that empower the voter with information at their fingertips:

1. Nailbite '08 - A iPhone formatted website which gathers information from the RCP National Average, Intrade Market Odds, RCP Electoral Count, and "No Toss Up States."

2. Obama for America - This application for the iPhone, which I previously blogged about, is a great source of policy papers for those who want more information on Obama's plans for America. It'll will also sort your phone book based on battleground states so you can call your friends and get them out to vote on Nov. 4th.

3. Election '08 (Also know as Slate Election '08) - I have an older version of this application which is not branded with the Slate logo, this is a great app that brakes down the state by state polling data. You can rank states by candidate, battlegrounds, or recent polls.

4. CNN Election Center - The mobile version of the CNN Election site has the "poll of polls," latest news, Political ticker, and CNN Politics Video.

5. Mike's Daily Lockup - The new mobile version of The MDLU will also format itself for blackberry devices and other mobile browsers (Hey, I'm partial to this pick).

6. WhereTraveler - Heading to a Battleground state, then get your airport information from this great travel iPhone formatted site.

7. NHL App - OK, so this one isn't political, but  sometimes I need to take a break from poll watching and check my Anaheim Ducks score.

8. Elections '08 - This iPhone formatted news site from the AP is a great source of news from the campaign trail.

That's it folks, my eight picks for '08. Vote early, vote often, and stay informed. Vote Nov. 4th!