We are still three days off the arrival of the much-hyped iPhone but that hasn’t stopped the first queue from forming.
Meet Greg, one of two hardy fanatics, that took residence outside the Apple store in New York yesterday. Armed with sleeping bags, coolers of food, drinks and seats, these boys are determined to get their mitts on Apple’s ‘next big thing’. At least he looks happy but then, it’s only Day One in NY and he hasn’t been mugged or pee’d on yet.
First a better battery, then YouTube videos, its first promo video and now, the iPhone get its first acolytes.
Sheesh, anyone would think they were queuing for something really interesting, like a games console.-Martin Lynch
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Does the idea of leaping out of a spaceship with just a specially-adapted spacesuit and parachute thrill you? Thanks to a group of space scientists, the day you find yourself awaiting the order to jump 120,000 feet above earth could be closer than you think. And it's not just an idea for extreme sports fans, as the two men behind the idea reckon that Space Diving could be used as a safety function for astronauts whose ship has malfunctioned.
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About £200 is what you expect to pay for many decent GPS sat-nav devices nowadays which is why the new one from Asus, which just also happens to be a fully-fledged Pocket PC PDA, is worth a closer a look.
This is the £199 Asus A696, clad in stylish and shiny stainless steel and measuring just 1.57cm thick. Underneath the 3.5cm screen is the energy-efficient SiRF Star III chipset running alongside Destinator Technologies’ software. There’s a QuickNav button for getting to a pre-determined address or POI (Point of Interest) quickly.
On the PDA front, it’s Wi-Fi enabled, features Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and runs Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for all that work-related nonsense.
The whole thing is powered by an Intel XScale 416Mhz processor and there’s 256MB Flash ROM and 64MB SDRam. And, when you’re no longer lost, you can use the device for playing back music and videos. Due out at the end of next month, this does actually look like a bonafide bargain. -Martin Lynch
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I’m happy having neither a face nor a space online, but tens of millions have. Now it seems your choice of whether to opt for Facebook or MySpace is an indicator of your social standing. Of course, it could all be bollocks, but then that’s the risk taken when you swallow any research, so to speak.
A 6-month study of both services by Danah Boyd from the School of Information Sciences at UC Berkeley indicates that goodies opt for Facebook while geeks and freaks plug for MySpace.
She lays it out in what she admits is a ‘stereotypical’ way here, pulling few punches either.
“The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.”
“MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, "burnouts," "alternative kids," "art fags," punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm. These are kids whose parents didn't go to college, who are expected to get a job when they finish high school. These are the teens who plan to go into the military immediately after schools. Teens who are really into music or in a band are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.”
To be fair Danah says the study is observational, not strictly academic, and you can read the whole thing here. Your take appreciated.-Martin Lynch
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
