RickyCadden.com

Real Life And Gadgets

// September 25th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // cool, technology

I just read this awesome post from my friend Antoine about how he met our mutual online friend Trent in real life the other day. The two apparently had a great time discussing tech, and the conversation eventually moved to something that I firmly believe in: Technology should enrich and enable your real life, and not get in the way.

Trent had noticed that his new Nexus One made it so easy – simply type in his Google username and password and all his content was downloaded from the cloud to his phone, just like that. Somewhat magical, but the process of getting setup is so simple now that it leaves plenty of room for actually using our devices.

There was a time when I changed phones multiple times per day. Even now, I have no less than 10 phones laying around, but I only swap my SIM card between three, and they each have very specific purposes. My G2 is my powerhouse – it can do anything, at any time, and I’ve got it setup to work precisely how I want it to. My HD7 is my reliable phone. It never needs to be rebooted, doesn’t lock up or get sluggish, and while it doesn’t afford me the same abilities as my G2 (yet), it’s awesome for various specific needs. My N8 is my fun phone, since I can’t put my work email on it (because it’s too stupid to be able to sync 2 Exchange accounts simultaneously). The N8, though, has the best camera and pretty darn good battery life.

As phones get smarter, they get more useful, mainly because they begin to do things FOR us. The money quote from Antoine’s blog post is this:

Those two applications made it such that my device was able to simply sit on the side until I needed it. And when I did, there was no swiping between home screens, application lists, folders, or even navigating settings. Things just worked best for me and the mobile could go back into my pocket without much fuss. Simplicity because it adapted first.

Technology that enriches and enables our real life, instead of getting in the way. It’s beautiful.

Medicinal Technology Enriching And Enabling Real Life

// April 21st, 2011 // 1 Comment » // technology

When I hear the word ‘technology’, I normally thing about smartphones, video games, virtual reality, and location-based services. Very rarely do I think of any wearable devices or medicine, but that has changed recently. I’ve always said that technology should enrich and enable your real life, and I’ve just gotten one of the best examples of how that manifests itself.

My wife has been diagnosed with a weird heart rhythm called Long QT. You can read the Wikipedia page here, and that’s about as much as I understand about it. I know it’s an abnormal heart rhythm and it can be fatal. After a few cardiologist appointments, it’s been decided that she’s going to get a defibrillator implanted in her chest. Since she’s about 7 months pregnant, and that’s such a major surgery, she will be wearing a Zoll LifeVest for a few months, until after our little bundle of joy is born.

The Zoll LifeVest is a fantastic example of technology enriching and enabling real life. It is basically a wearable defibrillator. For those that are not medically inclined, a defibrillator is those paddles that they use in TV shows to shock someone who is knocked out. You know the ones, where they rub them together and then yell, ‘CLEAR!’ and then the person’s body jerks from the shock. Yeah, intense stuff.

The Zoll LifeVest basically straps three of those paddles to you (two in the back, one on the front) and uses a series of sensors attached to a belt to detect your heartbeat. Here’s where it gets cool. The sensors hook up to a little wearable computer, about the size of a thick hardcover book. This thing has a battery and a touchscreen, and it listens to your heartbeat all day long. If it detects an abnormal rhythm, it sounds a very loud alarm, and you have 40 seconds to push two buttons to tell the device that you’re not unconscious. If you don’t press the buttons, you get the shock treatment. If you do, it delays the alarm, and the device continues to listen to your heart. If it detects that your heartbeat is back to normal, that’s it. If it doesn’t, it sounds another alarm and the whole process repeats.

It’s a pretty simple concept, but it’s amazing that they’re able to put it in such a small package. The peace of mind that comes from knowing that my wife is wearing this thing is immeasurable. I told her it’s like having an ambulance strapped to your back – always with you, always there. They actually sent a lady to our house to deliver it, measure Mrs. Guru for her vest, and gave us an hour-and-a-half demo of how it works, what it does, etc. It came with 2 batteries, so you can wear one and charge one, and you just swap them out every morning. The charging station also has a display, and uses the cellular network to phone home every night, uploading your heart’s stats back to our cardiologist.

The next step is for my wife to get an implantable defibrillator in her heart. This thing is about the size of a deck of cards and has a few wires coming out, which they insert into various sections of her heart. Like the LifeVest, this thing will monitor her heartbeat and deliver an electric shock if anything is off. Whereas the LifeVest is a temporary solution, the implantable defibrillator will be there for the rest of her life. I’m amazed at the technology available in medicine – my wife is going to, eventually, have a computer inside of her, keeping her heart beating normally. A regular Bionic Woman of sorts. Whereas the drugs she was taking were merely a ‘hopefully this will help’ type solution, thanks to technology, the defibrillator is nearly 100% effective – if she does have a heart failure, this thing will snap her back, and much faster than if we had a defibrillator in the house or had to wait for the ambulance to arrive.

What other examples can you think of where technology is enriching and enabling real life?

Technology Enriching And Enabling Real Life

// December 5th, 2010 // 7 Comments » // technology

This past week, my wife and I announced that we’re pregnant. We had our first ultrasound (for this baby, and for us), and got to hear our child’s heartbeat for a few precious seconds. We got to see it, sort of (I still can’t see much in our sonogram, lol), at only 10 weeks into the pregnancy. The nurse gave us a printout of the sonogram to take home and show to friends and family. We took a picture of that printout with our cellphones, and used it to share with our friends and family.

While we were still in the lobby of the doctor’s office, we both uploaded our photos straight to the Internet. Within minutes, the congratulations and excitement came pouring in from Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr – we also sent the photo directly to a few people via MMS, and those responses came in quickly, as well. By the time we were home from the appointment, pretty much all of our friends and family knew about our pregnancy and had seen our ultrasound photo. It was amazing.

I had a similar experience when I married Christina. Using Clearwire’s 4G network, a WiFi router, and 4 Nokia N82s mounted in the DT-22 tripod, I livecasted my wedding on the Internet, for all to see. I believe it was the first time anyone had done so, and Flixwagon told me later that over 10,000 people viewed the webpage – which featured 2 simultaneous video feeds throughout the big day.

Last night we went to Christina’s work Christmas party, and of course everyone asked about our new little announcement. One couple was amazed when Christina pulled out her phone and showed them the ultrasound. They said when they had their first child, you didn’t get a printout or a photo – you simply got to see it on the screen. Only those who were in the room at the time of the ultrasound would ever get to see it.

I’ve always said that technology should enrich and enable our real lives. As I’m preparing for my first kid to arrive, I see technology in a whole new light. My cell phone’s camera is so good that I can now use it as a portable scanner – making a high-quality digital reproduction of printed materials. I can then, with a few taps on the screen, instantly share that reproduction with my 2,400 friends across Facebook and Twitter. Even 5 years ago, sharing that image with all of those people would have taken far more – either sending it as an MMS individually to 2,400 friends, or waiting until I got home to transfer the file to my computer, and upload it from there.

Another friend was remarking about making the birth announcement of his second child recently. With the first kid, he had a printed list of their closest friends and family’s phone numbers, and he had a few people at the hospital whose job it was to call those people, individually, to let them know the birth details. With the second child, he was able to send one text message – it only took him a few seconds to type it out on his phone and send it to someone. That recipient then forwarded that message to others, and before you know it, the announcement was out.

In some circles, this prevalence of technology and the ease of sharing is seen as a risk, or a liability. The ability to instantly share information with thousands of people (and no easy way to undo that) is definitely something to consider thoughtfully. In the past, Christina’s requested me to be careful with specific details of our life and how those are shared online. As we’re bringing a kid into this world, that’s going to be an even bigger factor to consider. I’ll most likely start by pruning my ‘friends’ lists on various services, such as Flickr and Facebook (Twitter doesn’t really give you much of an option).

Currently, I don’t really bother sorting my contacts – it’s a very black-and-white affair, you either have access to my online persona or you don’t. Also, the people who do not have access are typically those who have abused it somehow – with few exceptions, you’re innocent until proven guilty, so to speak.

With great technology comes great responsibility to use that technology appropriately. However, great technology can also enrich and enable our real lives – making it better without getting in the way.

Stuff I Choose Not To Live Without

// January 6th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // technology

Zach @ The Outsidr posted his list of products that he simply can’t live without earlier, and as any blogger with nothing to talk about is prone to do, I’m going to carry on his ‘meme’ with my own list. Yes, of course we *could* live without these things, if absolutely necessary, so I’ve renamed my list, ‘Stuff I Choose Not To Live Without.’

First up, frankly, is my phone. Specifically, the Nokia N95-3. Sure, I’ve also got the E71-2, N79 NAM, 5800 XpressMusic, N82, and LG KT610 on my desk right now, but none can really truly replace my tried-and-true pocket companion. The Nokia N95-3 gives me a great camera (both photos and videos), full email access, internet, Jaiku, and of course, phone calls/SMS. It’s like having my laptop in my pocket, and I *could* post to my various blogs from it. I refuse to go anywhere without it.

Next up, obviously, is my Dell XPS M1330. I’m an online journalist/blogger, so obviously my laptop is vital to my livlihood. The XPS M1330 is by no means a top-of-the-line machine, but it’s small(ish), light, and packs plenty of kick to write posts, edit photos and videos, and anything else I need to do.

Last.FM is the first service on this list. While I maintain a rather large collection of MP3s, Last.FM gives me a fresh set of tunes, instantly tailored specifically to ME. I can type in ‘Productivity’ and get great working music, or ‘Relaxing’ and get music to calm me down. I use Mobbler on my N95-3, too, so I can enjoy Last.FM on the go.

Partially to appease James Whatley, I have to add Spinvox to this list. Spinvox takes the voicemails that my family and others leave me, converts them to text, and delivers it as an SMS. I’m bad about screening phone calls, so this lets me instantly and visually determine if I need to call you back today or next week. It’s completely brilliant, and something that gets used nearly every day.

Firefox is another non-hardware item that I simply could not live without. 95% of my workload is done in Firefox, and the other 5% could be, probably, if I wanted. It’s my window to the world, and like my Dell XPS M1330, it’s crucial to my livlihood.

I’ve talked about them before, but my Bose earphones are another thing that I would go nuts without. Oftentimes, I have trouble concentrating on the task at hand, but if I toss these in with Last.FM set to ‘techno’, I can push the rest of the world out of my view and simply focus on writing. They’re wonderful.

That’s it. 6 things that I absolutely choose not to live without. Of course, I have a ton of other fun toys that I would *prefer* not to live without, such as my external monitor, Fujitsu P1610, Nokia N800, and others, but the fact is that they are not absolutely vital in my day-to-date live. What about you?