Blue state or red state?  Sam’s or Costco?  iPhone or Android?  It should be no surprise we are a divided nation even when it comes to smartphones.  If you live in the north you prefer the trendy iPhone while southerners lean toward Android.  And if you use a Blckberry you are dying breed.

This graphic shows a good estimation of the popularity of smartphone operating systems across America on a state-by-state basis.  Are you surprised about which way your state leans?

If the economy has put a damper on your travel plans, this video may help.  It’s no substitute for a vacation, but it’s a great distraction and fun to watch.

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, and some cool video editing all in just 1 minute.

“Move” is the name of this film by Rick Mereki.  It celebrates traveling by compiling footage from around the world into this mesmerizing video.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Checkout other videos by independent filmmaker Rick Mereki.
http://vimeo.com/rickmereki

In October 2011 the human population will reach 7 billion.  But the Earth is big and space is not the problem; it’s balance.  If all 7 billion stood shoulder-to-shoulder we would only fill the city of Los Angeles.  Yet 5% consume 23% of the world’ energy and a whopping 38% lack adequate sanitation.

Here are some population facts.

• In 1800 there were 1 billion people on the planet.  It took us thousands of years to reach this milestone
• 130 years later in 1930 we doubled that to hit 2 billion.
• About every second 5 people are born and 2 people die.
• We speak over 7,000 languages.
• Yet 13% don’t have clean drinking water!

As we welcome the 7 billionth person in the world let’s hope we are reminded that there is plenty for everyone and no one should go hungry or thirsty.

This video from National Geographic points out that we are growing fast and 7 billion people need balance more than space.

A new study shows that online usage is increasingly becoming an addiction.  Is Facebook the new smoking?

Have you ever “gone to the bathroom” in order to check email or come up with a socially appropriate excuse to pull out your smartphone just so you can check your Facebook?  Then you could be an Internet junkie.  It almost makes your long for “the good old days” when groups of smokers used to leave the table to go indulge their habit.  At least they were honest about getting their nicotine fix.

Out of 1000 people surveyed after being cut off from the Internet for 24 hours, 53% reported feeling “upset” about being deprived of online access and 40% said that they felt lonely after not being able to connect to the Internet.  Participants described the digital detox akin to quitting drinking or smoking and one even said it was like having his hand chopped off.  One student said that she was “itching like a crackhead” after abstaining from any form of media for 24 hours.

The big difference is checking Twitter does not cause cancer and Googling will is hands down a lot healthier than lighting-up.  So while social networking make cause your privacy to take a hit, it will not scar your lungs.  That’s a big difference.

“In Time” is a movie set in the late 21st century where time has replaced money as the currency of the day.  In this future society aging stops at 25 and everyone is given one year to live.  You can buy and sell your time but unless you replenish your clock, you die.  This “time is money” capitalism enables the wealthy to live forever while the poor have to beg, borrow, and steal enough minutes to live another day.

In the opening scene the main character Will Salas (play by Justin Timberlake) wakes up and only 23 hours on his life clock.  Like most of the masses, he is faced with the problem of finding”more time or he won’t live to see tomorrow.

It looks similar to “Logan’s Run” and “Gattaca”, but darker.

Starting Justin Timerberlake in an action role, “In Time” has power-packed cast including Amanda Seyfried, Alex Pettyfer, Cillian Murphy, and Matthew Bomer that adds to the appeal.

Check out the trailer (spoiler alert – this trailer may give too much away):

A picture perfect landing for the Atlantis Space Shuttle ends the 30 year Space Shuttle program. But let’s hope this is not the end of the American Space program as it has enriched and enhanced our way of life.

Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida touching down at 5:56AM on July 21, 2011.  This was Atlantis’ 33rd mission and the shuttle program’s 135th. But what’s next for NASA is uncertain.

NASA officials contend the space station is its focus, but it no longer has space ships to take anyone there. Plans to replace the shuttle with new rockets that can carry astronauts to the moon, asteroids and Mars are beset by budget and design issues. The commercial rocket companies are making progress, but also face uncertain funding, and are unlikely to carry astronauts before 2015.

The benefits of the Space program are move than just national pride.  Technology innovation spawned from NASA has touched all our lives.  For example, smoke detector technology came from the Skylap, a 1970’s space station built using millions of American tax dollars.  NASA developed a smoke and fire detector technology for Skylab that some considered overkill.  But this $19 household gadget is credited with saving countless lives.

Biology-of-technology philosophy.
Start in the 1980’s our mentality shifted toward profit based. Everything, including human life, was seen in terms of cost. And success was measured by the bottom-line.  If a project produced profit it was good.  However, if profits could not be tabulated on a spreadsheet then it was deemed of little value.  But short-term profit thinking can have big costs in terms of long-tern vision.  And cutting costs is not the same is increasing efficiency.

It is important as citizens that we hold out government accountable for how they spend our money.  But it is just a critical that we keep those in check who try to squelch “big picture” progress to advance their short-sighted political agendas.

Let’s hope the American Space program and all its benefits do not become a causality of our own short sightedness.

The Daily Show’s John Hodgman takes a hack at hackers with some interesting (and of course, funny) advice.

Green Lantern finally got his own movie.  But not everyone’s happy about it, especially Hawkman.  He wants his own movie and can’t understand why no one agrees.

This exchange between Hawkman and Superman explains why Hawkman will never get a movie:

Superman (sarcastically) to Hawkman:  “What are your powers?”
Hawkman to Superman:  “I can fly.”
Superman to Hawkman:  “No, I can fly.  You have STRAP-ON wings!”
(Everyone Laughs!)

This video has some fun with the superhero movie craze (WARNING: some adult language).

When Joshua Kaufman’s MacBook was stolen, this web designer from Oakland used blogging to help police find the thief.  The moral of the story – Don’t Steal from a Geek!

Joshua set up a blog called “This Guy Has My MacBook”.  He posted photographs of the bandit using an application he had previously installed on his Mac that snaps pictures of users and tracks the computer’s location. Within hours the Oakland police contacted Kaufman and told him they were on their way to nab the thief.  Soon afterward he learned that the robber had been apprehended and the laptop had been recovered.

The app is called Hidden and can be downloaded at the following link:
http://hiddenapp.com/

Joshua tweeted the whole ordeal and as an added bonus his web business has greatly benefited from the publicity.  His story went viral and was featured on broadcast news including Good Morning America.

Check-out Joshua’s blog with some creepy pictures of the perpetrator.
http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/

The guy is in bed with the laptop.  YIKES!
Recommend using some serious disinfectant on this machine after it has been recovered!

A robot that folds laundry is the latest lightening rod for wasteful government spending.  But many science projects funded by tax dollars that seemed frivolous have led to life-saving technology. So before writing off a towel folding robot, consider these other scientific discovers that came from weird science backed by government money.

CAT Scans and MRI Digital Imaging
CAT Scans and MRIs are used to diagnose deadly diseases and cancer. The imaging technology that turns raw data into readable pictures was born from the Apollo moon program that was funded by NASA. The multi-million dollar space race spawned a lot of useful technology. Digital imaging is just one example, although at the time it seemed wasteful and not-necessary.

Smoke Detectors
Smoke detectors are credited with saving countless lives. This $19 device was born from Skylab, a 1970’s space station built using millions of American tax dollars. NASA developed a smoke and fire detector technology for Skylab that some considered overkill. But it became the heart of this life-saving household gadget.

Wright Brother were Right
The government often missed the boat and denied funding for projects that would become big technology with huge social impact. But in this case, they missed the flight.
We glamorize the discoveries of the Wright brothers and their flying machines. But the skies were not always friendly for the pioneers of flight. They were refused government funding and even the US military turned a deaf ear to the brothers.
After their Kitty Hawk success, the Wrights flew their machines in open fields for almost a year in Dayton, Ohio. But American authorities refused to come to the demos and Scientific American Magazine published stories about “The Lying Brothers.” Eventually the Wrights relocated to Europe where they became an overnight sensation and sold aircraft contracts to France, Germany, and Britain.

The video of this Rosie-the-robot doing the domestic chore of folding laundry is sped up by 50 times. The actually pace is almost glacial taking about 8 minutes to fold a single hand towel. But this technology could represent advances in artificial intelligence that could greatly benefit other areas such as medical diagnosis and security systems.

There has always been a strong temptation to laugh at science. We poke fun at the high school geek, but he (or she) is most likely the one who grows up and makes a technological breakthrough. The former class nerds could use government funding for science that might not get the attention of investors. But their discoveries could lead to techniques that save lives and improve our standard of living.

Biology-of-technology philosophy.
Start in the 1980’s our mentality shifted toward profit based. Everything, including human life, was seen in terms of cost. And success was measured by the bottom-line. If a project produced profit it was good. But if profits could not be tabulated on a spreadsheet then it was deemed of little value.  But short-term profit thinking can have big costs in terms of long-tern vision. And cutting costs is not the same is increasing efficiency.

It is important as citizens that we hold out government accountable for how they spend our money. But it is just a critical that we keep those in check who try to squelch “big picture” progress to advance their short-sighted political agendas.