POI: Show #58

[Download Show #58 as MP3]

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2GB SD Card with a WiFi chip built in
Software on the card allows you to upload photos to 17 different websites including Flickr, Facebook, and Snapfish

Have you seen that iPhone commercial with the pilot who checked the weather to speed up the take off of a delayed flight? (If not here's a link)
So here's the basics of the story

A flight pushed back from the gate but is stopped and told to wait because there are storms at the destination, so the plane pulls back in
A flight passenger on a flight has an iPhone and looks up the weather at the destination, it comes back all good
Passenger informs flight crew of this discovery
Captain of the flight asks passenger with iPhone to "be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with IPhones"

This is interesting because with so much technology in the palm of our hands, some people are going to do things like this. I'd rather trust the airports on the weather conditions over my cell phone anyday

We all want to do our part to save the environment.
With this guide you can pick out environmentally conscious gifts for everyone on your gift list
For example:

We've all been there, surfing the internet and then we see it, that piece of writing that just sets our tempers flaring. We want to respond, we NEED to respond, and we have this urge to not be nice about it
Well, according to some scientists, this is psychological.
Due to a reduced sense of individuality, deindividuation that comes from online communications
We can have tendencies to be more aggressive when doing online correspondence and our words are often taken as such due to the abiguity of text message based communications

Software / Hardware / Power Web Picks

Windows Vista has been available for almost a solid year now and adoption is still a problem. Why is this still a problem for Microsoft? Could it be the speed/RAM issues? The lack of updates? Or are people just happy with their XP installations that they have had for almost 7 years now?
Vista SP1 no Faster Than Stock OS, Testers Say

One testing company is reporting that the beta version of the first Vista service pack does not help the OS in the speed department
Many people have complained about the overall speed of Vista, this issue is usually helped by adding more RAM and good graphics card
With a service pack that is currently not helping the speed issue, one must wonder where Microsoft's priority is when it comes to Vista. Is it on finishing features that were not ready in time for release or is it on improving the platform and making it better before adding new things

While still only in the testing phase, several companies are reporting that XP's latest service pack will give the OS a speed boost
While great from a customer standpoint, from Microsoft's standpoint this will only help ensure XP's dominance over Vista for the next couple of years

Several people still prefer their XP installations over Vista because of the software/hardware incompatibilities with Vista, for Apples take on this, see the Podeum Switch Ad
((Possibly play audio from the ad?))
Dell and HP began re-offering XP based computers when customers complained about being forced to purchase only Vista based computers.
People and Companies are in a "wait and see" mode with Vista, much like they were with Windows XP when it first came out

So where does OSX fit into this whole picture?
Well, people are switching from the PC to the Mac at rates higher than ever, but is it because of Vista?
Most people are drawn to the Macs these days to the "iPod Halo Effect" people like their iPods and it makes them want to try a Mac
Though one of the main complaints about Microsoft is Apple's biggest selling point. Apple runs a very closed shop, so to speak. The platform is hard to develop for and if the iPhone was any indication, the company has zero plans of opening their platforms to the average developer.

POI