Blog
Free The Airwaves!
Posted by Paul Sturgess on August 22, 2008
As the U.S. TV broadcasters switch over to digital tranmissions a great debate is just starting out…
Who gets to use the fuzzy white noise that’s left behind?
Google are campaigning for the redundant spectrum to be put to good use.
Most notably for WiFi 2.0
A longer-range wireless technology that wouldn’t be owned by any one company. WiFi 2.0 offers the possibility of, to quote Google, “Affordable, ubiquitous, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans, anywhere, at any time.”
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will soon decide on the future of the spectrum and whether it will be opened up. Google have started a petition and are encouraging everyone to spread the word via their YouTube channel.
Garmin Forerunner 405
Posted by Paul Sturgess on July 18, 2008
The Garmin Forerunner 405 is a GPS running watch that actually looks like a normal watch.
But it’s not the looks that make this a runner’s best friend.
The GPS technology means it will track your run and tell you where to turn to stay on course.
Set a ‘virtual training partner’ to run against and it will tell you how far behind or infront you are.
Monitor your pace, your average pace and how many calories you’re burning.
When you’re back home it will wirelessly transmit your run data onto your pc (mac not supported yet unfortunately) allowing you to analyse to your heart’s content.
This is where Garmin have outdone themselves.
The watch can send and receive information just by by plugging in a small usb stick into your computer.
Most important though is that it’s all in a standard format and this allows for integration into various services and mashups gallore.
View where you ran on a Google map or import it into Google earth.
Create courses on websites like mapmyrun.com.
This means you can share your couses with friends and then run against the times they’ve set.
GPS is a very fashionable technology right now and Garmin are taking full advantage of it.