THE LAB:GALLERY Presents INTERSECTION February 10-March 2, 2012
Tech Tuesday 12/29: Top Technologies of 2009: and Why
Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by Birdsong in Community, Hotel
This year there were no HUGE advancements in technology (on the consumer level), but it was the year WE really embraced technology. For example my entire family is on Facebook now. If I want to share something with them it’s ridiculously easy. Hi Mom! The point is, the longer this stuff is around, particularly the advancements in communication the more we begin to rely on them not as a novelty, but as a necessity. For example, when cell phones first came out they were very much a novelty. Now, when your plane lands the first thing you do is fire up the iPhone (if you have one) check your messages (voice and email), send a few texts, and probably update your FB status. Another example is GPS, and I’m completely lost without mine. What will we rely on in 2010, and furthermore what will be the next big thing in 2010? (Comments plz).
Without further adieu, here is my list of top tech in the year that was 2009
iPhone 3gs
This smart-phone will now shoot video (unhacked) and send it to YouTube, and if you get lost in the woods you have a nifty compass to guide you out! Price: Your f%*ing soul.
New Intel CPUs
Code named “Nehalem” i5 and i7 core chips with “turbo”. Put them in mac books already!!! I’m waiting ’till they do to upgrade. Price: Get one with a new computer (27″ iMac).
This micro blogging service exploded in 2009. Words like “Tweet-up” “Tweets-giving” and “Tw-izzlers” entered our vocab. I’m @johnbirdsong, holla. Price: Free (or ALL of your free time).
Tinychat.com/Skype
Skype, one of the most effective low/no cost communication tools has been around for a while. The new version allows screen sharing which is AWESOME. Tinychat.com takes it a step further and allows groups (up to 12 cameras) to communicate with a/v in a virtual room. Perfect for online meetings, and bizarre 3.0 interaction. Price: Free
This year my mom and dad both joined Facebook, and they use it (a lot). Price: All of you free time.
Flip ultra HD
Best flash memory video recorder. Reliable, tough, fantastic daylight video, not to bad indoor/low light video. A lesson in minimalism. Price: $170
Any of the LED back lit flat panel HD TVs
Energy sipping, high quality displays for Bluray, DVD, Hulu, Netflix, web browsing, Amazon on Demand, gaming, and oh yeah…cable. Price: $1,000+ (for Samsung, Panasonic, etc) less $$ for Vizio (which gets very high ratings).
Canon D7 Digital SLR
I havn’t gotten to use this pro-sumer still camera yet, but the picture quality and videos I’ve seen are beautiful. With the D7, Canon has embraced creative filmmaking. The cam features full 1080p HD video @24 fps, adjustable exposure control, and a large CMOS sensor to mimic the shallow depth of field look of motion picture film cameras. Price: $1,899 with a 28-135 lens.
17″ Mac book Pro
This behemoth of a laptop has an 8hr battery, two video cards, up to 8GB RAM, and a 3.06GHZ duo core Intel CPU. Price: starting around $3,000
Amazon Kindle 2
Paper books are so passe. JK, but the Kindle is a pretty amazing device. First of all: electronic ink is really cool. Kind of like a 21st century etch a sketch, but with Hemingway and J.K. Rowling instead of that dumb staircase you’d draw over and over. One of the coolest things about the Kindle 2 is that it comes with FREE wireless. The browser is not perfect, but it gets the job done (for the most part). Price: $259
Looking forward to 2010: What’s Next?
1. Wireless electricity…coming soon
2. A proper upgrade for the iPhone…better battery, HD video recording, front facing camera for video chat
3. Faster computers (plz)
4. 3D HDTV
5. Larger capacity more reliable SD cards
6. Flip camera with wireless, optical stabilization, mic jack, AND headphone jack
7. WiMax
8. A redesigned Facebook
9. A new more efficient, less processor intensive video codec. H.264 is great, but is really CPU intensive…takes 20min to transcode a 3 min video. S-L-O-W.
10. A video camera for every cop that records 24/7 and cannot be tampered with, and a less lethal taser. Police need WAY more oversight.
What did I miss? What tech trends do you see for 2010?
Do you disagree? Please let me know.
John Birdsong is a Producer Director Editor with Panman Productions and lives in Brooklyn, NY
Investing in Connections: Wiring RSH up on Skype
Posted on 23. Dec, 2009 by AdamWallace in Community, Hotel
James Knowles, president and CEO of the Roger Smith has started and initiative to get everyone and all of the Roger Smith spaces linked up on Skype. The ease of communication with this medium is fantastic and it is a great way to connect globally.
James is “ArchingBridgeJames” on Skype, please leave your Skype name in the comments and we will connect with you.
Looking forward to the ongoing conversations and the connections.
Bsimi’s Weekly BS part I
Posted on 23. Nov, 2009 by BrianSimpson in Community
The beginning of anything is the hardest – think about it…
The beginning of the day – blah to alarms!
The beginning of a relationship – do I go in for the kiss or wait, ugh… the stress.
The beginning of twitter – How does this thing work? Who is listening to me… I hate this !
Party Bacon !
Well this my friends is the beginning of “Bsimi’s Weekly BS” and for the first time evah the beginning will be easy.
I am going to cover topics from why Chris Brogan is obsessed with our Bacon to what all the cool kids were wearing at
the Wired Store Grand Opening Party.
This weeks post will be easy because I will cheat and focus on Roger Smith Hotel. There was so much going on here, I was lucky to be a part of it and it is all
worth sharing. Since I was not prepared to start this today I am going to list off as many of the awesome people and events that I can recall – in future posts I will be more diligent throughout the week when collecting material, pictures and insight.
Please enjoy the re-cap !
Gravity Summit and the awesomeness that made it happen:
Rodney Rumford – Beverly Macy – Y&R Brands – Mashable – Social Media Club – Operation Smile and an amazing party back at the hotel that thanks to Larry Chiang & Cathy Brooks turned into 3 – parties in – 1 !
The best part of the Gravity Summit party going until 1am was that Social Media Breakfast was the next morning – it was a true test of social media’s hardcore bacon lovers! SMB featured Rachel Rhappe, David Armano and Mike Lewis.
The Chinwag group joined us for breakfast and lunch – it was a pleasure having some of the UK’s most talented digital influencers in-house !
Thanks to a tweet by Julia Roy of Coach, we were alerted to the fact that we were #1 on the Social Great website – better known as Foursquare – (Stay tuned for upcoming, IRL old-school Four Square Tourney in our Lab Gallery)
Thanks to Janine Just for organizing the Skype Event here in our Starlight room with help from Oz Sultan & Brett Petersel
Highlight of the week was the impromptu tweet-up that came from @LvM wanting to get together with a few friends… next thing I know Lily’s is filled with:
@ajleon, @melissaleon, @iamkhayyam, @juliaroy, @emilyspearl, @beebow, @cheeky_geeky, @chrisbrogan, @cc_chapman, @GuruofSales, @Courtenaybird,@garysguide, @foodphilosophy… et al It was one of the greatest groups we have seen here and appreciate you all!
Stay Chaotic !
