Category: techno

Google releases Street View Dallas

Google released Street View for Dallas today.
Awesome. I now have another way to completely waste my time.
For those of you outside the Dallas area (or even inside Dallas) here are some interesting sites for you.

Dealey Plaza
where President John F. Kennedy was shot (the school book depository is to the right)
view

DCCCD Admin building
my new office
view

Reunion Tower
the famous Dallas ball
view

I’ll post some more as I get a chance to search for them.

Tech Talk: Tracking your iPod

With the world becoming more and more digitized everyday, the chances that you or someone you know owns a USB flash drive, iPod or digital camera is growing tremendously.
But what happens when that electronic storage device turns up missing?
Losing a USB device can be a tremendous blow to many.
Continue reading Tech Talk: Tracking your iPod

Use AOL IM in Gmail

Google has now worked with AOL to provide AOL IM, within Gmail/Gtalk.
So now while you’re checking your e-mail you can also log in and chat with all your Google and IM buddies.
Very cool – no need to download and run another application on your computer now.

From the Google blog:
Millions of users chat on the Google Talk network every day, and chatting via Gmail chat is by far the most popular way. People tell us they love the convenience and simplicity of having access to their buddies right within the Gmail interface. In fact, for many users, Gmail chat was their first introduction to the world of instant messaging.

We’ve been working with AOL on ways to let our users talk to their buddies on the AIM network, and I’m delighted to announce that the fruits of that labor are live. Starting today, Gmail users can sign into their AIM accounts via Gmail chat and talk with AIM buddies just as they do with their Google Talk friends. Best of all, the features you love most about Gmail chat, such as chat history and automatic sorting of your buddies based on frequency of communication, work seamlessly across your Google and AIM buddies. This is rolling out in the newest English version of Gmail today and will be available in other languages soon.

Tracking Santa then and now

From the Google blog:
It was more than half a century ago, on Christmas Eve in 1955, that a Sears Roebuck & Co. store in Colorado Springs advertised a special hotline number for kids to call Santa. What the company didn’t know at the time was that they had inadvertently misprinted the telephone number. Instead of Santa’s workshop, the phone number put kids through to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the bi-national U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the aerospace defense of the U. S. and Canada. Worse, it wasn’t just any number at NORAD: it was the commander-in-chief’s operations hotline. In the spirit of the season, Colonel Harry Shoup, the director of operations at the time, had his staff check radar data for any indication of a sleigh making its way south from the North Pole. They found that indeed there were signs of Santa, and merrily gave the children who called an update on his location. Thus, a tradition was born, and NORAD has continued to help children track Santa on Christmas Eve ever since.

Google is joining the effort. This holiday season, NORAD has partnered with Google to use technology including Google Maps, Google Earth, iGoogle and YouTube to track Santa. I can remember tracking Santa with my grandfather as a child, and I’m so proud to see my company carry on his vision of doing something this special for kids around the world.

The countdown begins December 1st on NORAD’s website, where families can find a new kid-friendly game or activity every day until December 24th. And starting at 1:00 am PST on December 24th, you’ll be able to track Santa’s trip in real time. You can download Google Earth and add the NORAD Tracks Santa iGoogle gadget to your iGoogle page anytime, but make sure to come back to noradsanta.org on December 24th to download the special Santa Tracking file for an enhanced 3D Santa-tracking experience.