Monthly Archives: January 2008

Yahoo Implements OpenID

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OpenID

I was reading on TechCrunch today that Yahoo has implemented OpenID, effectively tripling the number of OpenID accounts. They’ll be going into Beta at the end of the month. This is a huge win for the project, but it got me to thinking.

Remember way back when Microsoft Passport (Microsoft calls it Live ID now I believe and its used mostly on just their sites) came out it was supposed to be the answer to all our password woes? Create a Passport account and log in with the same username and password on any site that implemented it. Well, how far did it get? Nowhere. At least nowhere fast. Reason being I think implementation wasn’t all that easy and there was no real need for it without the abundance of internet users that we have today.

So what will make OpenID different? Well, first, the amount of social networking and information sites, not to mention the sheer number of people online, will make the adoption of some single account interface more appealing at some point. Second, with huge names like Yahoo, Google, Verisign, and IBM getting into the mix, something cool like this will have a shot at gaining some traction. I know I’d love to have one log in for all the sites I use daily. Remembering usernames and passwords is a pain.

Take this one step further. I’m in the e-commerce industry. I started thinking that I’d love to use something like this in all of the e-commerce sites we run. I would basically have one central spot to store authentication and account information instead of separate databases. So what if major brands started getting in on this? Think about it. Amazon, Gap, Target, WalMart, Best Buy, etc. etc. etc. are all on OpenID. You can effectively shop with the same authentication everywhere. No more forgot password reminders because you use this ID every day. You’d never forget! How cool would that be?

Apple TV Take 2 – No DVR?

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Apple TV

Steve Jobs and Apple announced Apple TV Take 2 at the MacWorld Keynote this morning. Lots of cool features:

  • Movie Rentals
  • HD Movies with Dolby 5.1
  • Podcasts – Audio & Video
  • Photos from Flickr & .Mac
  • YouTube Integration
  • Buy TV Shows & Music
  • Play iTunes Content & Photos

And it sells for just $229.

Obviously Apple is positioning itself to sell content and a hardware device to potential non-mac users, much like they did with the iPod. Steve Jobs even said they got it wrong with Apple TV Take 1, as did all the other players in this market. But Steve, I think you guys are still missing one important feature. DVR! As far as I know (and I might be wrong here), you can’t DVR your shows from your TV to your Apple TV. Only take content from Apple TV and display it on my television. Integrating digital recording would make this a powerful device, one that I’d consider buying to replace the DVR from my cable company.

Anyone out there aware of why this limitation is in place? Is it a hardware issue with the footprint they put in place for the device? Are there licensing issues with the media moguls. Hopefully I can find some answers to these questions and post them here.

Why Don’t Cars Have Heated Locks?

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Honda Accord Sedan

I awoke this morning at 7am (I usually get up around 8:00 or 8:30 for work) to Shannan telling me she couldn’t get in her car (a 2005 Honda Accord). It wouldn’t unlock. I’m thinking, great, you left the lights on and the battery is dead. Time to call AAA. But, I decided to go out and take a look. Turns out, the lock was just frozen. We received about a foot of snow yesterday, so my guess is some of it got in there and shut her out.

The FOB wouldn’t unlock it. I couldn’t unlock it with the key either. I ended up gaining entry by opening the rear window and getting in that way.

This got me thinking. Why don’t cars have heated locks? We have heated seats. We have heated mirrors. I’m sure some car has some other “heated” feature I don’t know about. So why is it locks aren’t heated? I think this would be a great feature you could activate from the keychain FOB for your car. Can’t get in ’cause the lock is frozen? Heat ‘er up and you’re set!

Note to car manufacturers, if you do this, I want credit! You heard it here first!

By the way, something else I just noticed today. Newer cars seem to only have one key port and its on the drivers door? No more passenger door lock? That cut my chances of unlocking it the “traditional” way in half. Thanks guys.

ESPN’s Online Video Player

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ESPN Sports

I watch a ton of ESPN on T.V. Ask my fiancee, Shannan. I DVR Around the Horn and Pardon the Interuption. I watch SportsCenter all the time, especially during baseball season. I watch this stuff so much that Shannan can recognize and name the hosts and commentators on other T.V. shows.

One thing about ESPN that drives me insane is their web site. Specifically their built in video player on their index page. It plays the default video automatically. So even if I don’t care about that video, it’ll start playing and making noise as I’m reading something else. Talk about annoying. It even woke me up one night because I left my laptop on one night with ESPN loaded in the current page. It just started playing on its own!

So, this is a note to everyone working on ESPN’s web page. Cut the crap. Don’t play the video by default. You might find you save your company money every month in bandwidth in the process too.

No Cash Register No Sale?

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Exxon/Mobile Gasoline

I had to run some errands for work today and needed to stop for some gasoline. I pull up around the gas pump at a local Exxon/Mobile gas station and get ready to “fill ‘er up”. Typically I pay at the pump since I hardly ever need anything inside a convenience store, so I look at the screen on the pump and it says please pay inside. Arrgh, ok, no problem.

I walk up to the door to see a hand written sign that says “System is down. Registers too.”

Ok, I’ll go around the other side where I can see the attendant to see what’s up. He points at the sign.

I look back at him puzzled (the door is locked).

I pull my wallet out and flash some cash.

He shakes his head no.

No? No?!?! In this day and age of technology, we can no longer accept the almighty dollar bill in its original form? We’ve become so dependent on credit and computer driven register systems that we can’t accept a $20.00 bill? You’ve got to be kidding me. As I walked away, I felt bad for the guy as I heard some lady scream at him through the door. Lady, its not his fault. He’s probably under instructions from the proprietor to do what he did.

Anyway, my business went down the street to another, competing gas station station (where I did go in and buy a Coke, shame on me). I knew a lot of people can’t calculate change without a register, but actually take cash in hand? Come on now!

The Cost of Bottled Water

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Poland Spring Bottled Water

Scott Jangro wrote a nice piece today about how insanely wrong bottled water is. The most abundant resource on our lovely planet and we bottle it up to make a profit, burning fossil fuels along the way. Some of my friends would call me a Tree Hugger Scott, but I’m not that insane about it. I don’t even recycle much anymore (only because its too difficult in my condo and the building doesn’t have facilities for it. Yes I’m lazy too.).

But, what is the real cost of bottled water? Do a Google Search and you’ll find article after article about it. This article goes on to show how much impact bottled water has on the environment. I don’t know how accurate it is as I haven’t done my own research, but common sense tells me that bottled water does more harm than good, at least the way we Americans treat it. I’ll admit there are parts of the world where clean water is hard to come by, making bottled water a necessity. But we don’t (and shouldn’t) send them hundreds of cases of personal bottles. Five or ten gallon jugs please. You know, the reusable kind you send back to the company for reuse.

Bottom line. You pay $1.50 (sometimes more) for a bottle of something that you can find for free. Think about how much oil goes into the manufacturing of the bottle. Then how much to put the water in the bottle. Then to deliver it to you. Then to recycle it (if you recycle it). Starts to seem…insane?

Update: David Wilk from TurnToTap found this post and gave out some kudos for writing it (should thank Jangro since he got me thinking about it. I took a look at TurnToTap and there seems to be some good information there. Check it out!