It will have an 8.5 x 11 inch touchscreen and is capable of reading Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files. Combined with the ability to synchronize with Outlook – the Que is primarily aimed at business users. Pricing is $650 for a 4 GB Wi-Fi enabled version or $800 for an 8 GB version with Wi-Fi and 3G capability. It will begin selling in April.
Many more details here.
P.S. -- Read more on what makes the Que such an interesting device technologically speaking.
[A] long time ago I told Yana to take calculus and statistics; even if she hates them she'll know what side of that divide she stands on. I am encouraging of learning languages, driving modest Japanese cars, and ordering the most unappealing-sounding dish on the menu of a good restaurant. On investing it's buy and hold all the way. Use TimeOut guides when you travel and when you are eating in third world countries avoid walls. I'm not a big fan of debt; debt is worth it only if you're earnings-obsessed and I don't recommend that for most people. Don't expect to be too happy, that is counterproductive. I've mentioned that future job descriptions may be quite fluid and unpredictable from today's vantage point. Being "good with people," combined with smarts and a focus on execution, will never wear out.
Good advice, although I tend to use Lonely Planet guides in my travels. I’d add that you should diversify your investments, plan for uncertainty, develop portable skills, read and travel as broadly as possible, and don’t hold too tightly to life’s plans. Be open to new friendships, be careful with your finances, and do what you can to cultivate a sense of gratitude and generosity. Pursue things that interest you as much as you can – both professionally and personally. Foster your religious beliefs and be humble when dealing with those who hold different perspectives from you. Take risks when the potential rewards are great. Learn to forgive. Smile. Travel light.
I graduated law school in 2003, owing Harvard University just under $150,000. At the time, I had no idea what starting my professional career $150K in the hole would do to my life. I figured I’d work hard, make money, and I’d pay my loans out of my general non-disposable income funds — kind of like my cable bill.
Seven years, two careers, numerous deferments and defaults, and one global economic meltdown later, I still owe a ton of money. Now, however, I pay it to various debt collection agencies and lawyers. When prospective landlords run a pro forma credit check on my application, they come back looking at me like I’ve been convicted of multiple war crimes. Every raise I’ll ever get will be eaten up by the collection agencies until sweet death allows me one everlasting and satisfying default. And, oh yeah, I don’t even want to practice law anymore — I quit my Biglaw job because, despite the debt, I really wanted to have a job that I enjoyed. So I essentially purchased a $150,000 disposable good. My time working in Biglaw was kind of like a very expensive vacation that I debt financed.
I mention all this because I am the cautionary tale prospective law students never want to think about. I mention all this because it is noble to crush false hope. I mention all this because there are way too many people poised to follow in my financially ruinous steps.
Unfortunately, Elie is not alone. According to the ABA Journal, nearly one-third of law students owe more than $120,00 in student loans by the time they graduate… and that number is continuing to climb. Not all of these students will be making a lifelong career in BigLaw which means many of them, like Elie, are most likely heading into financial disaster.
Massive debt isn’t fun. Law school isn’t fun. And from what I hear from many practicing attorneys, working at a large law firm isn’t much fun either.
As I’ve said numerous times before, pick a decent-paying undergraduate major if you want to maximize your chances for a good financial return on your education. Taking on a small amount of debt used to enable your education toward a well-paying job and career satisfaction may not be a bad financial decision. But taking on six-figure debt with uncertain income prospects afterward can quickly turn into financial suicide.
See my previous post: Debt Is Slavery
In the past year, researchers have developed new robots to tackle a variety of tasks: helping with medical rehabilitation, aiding military maneuvers, mimicking social skills, and grasping the unknown…
The socialization of robots was an important area of research this year. Many researchers believe that giving robots social skills will make them better at assisting people in homes, schools, offices, and hospitals… a virtual robot mimicked sneakiness, hiding in virtual shadows and darting between obstacles to remain undetected ("Modeling Sneaky Robots").
Other robots featured this year focused on the mental side of social interaction. One computer program showed that virtual robots that forgot select information created more accurate maps ("Absent-Minded Robots Remember What Matters"). And, in a fascinating experiment, generations of robots in Switzerland eventually evolved to deceive each other when their resources were limited ("Robots 'Evolve' the Ability to Deceive").
… [F]or soldiers in the field, researchers created a robotic snake to check for signs of breathing and to deliver oxygen, if needed ("A Robomedic for the Battlefield")…
A group at Harvard and Yale universities also found value in simplicity: its soft plastic hand--embedded with just a few sensors--could pick up unknown objects using a flexible grip ("A Simpler, Gentler Robotic Grip"). A new implant could also bring improvements by giving patients unprecedented control over fine movements of prosthetics ( "Seamlessly Melding Man and Machine")…
iRobot released a new video of another robot funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Chembot, a deceptively simple-looking blob, will be able to squeeze under doors or through tiny openings, most likely for military surveillance ("iRobot Adds to a Shape-Shifting Robot Menagerie")…
Read the whole thing. Many more links throughout.
(HT Kenneth Anderson)
What happens if you increase the benefits of traveling by bus while the hassles of airport security and the TSA make flying less pleasant and more time-consuming than ever before? That’s right. As relative prices change and you see people on the margin start substituting air travel with travel by bus:
The availability of free Wi-Fi and power outlets in inter-city buses and trains, coupled with increased security around air travel, is spurring more people to take the longer road home…
Schwieterman and his colleagues collected information from 7,000 passengers on intercity bus, train and airline trips in 14 states. They found that at randomly selected points during trips, nearly 40 percent of passengers on buses were using some form of portable technology such as a laptop or a phone. It is two percentage points more than on conventional Amtrak trains and more than twice that on commercial flights and Greyhound.
That’s translated into growth for bus and some train services. Intercity bus networks grew 5.1 percent in 2009, a rate of growth higher than all other major modes for the third straight year, says the study…
Buses have been quick to give in to the consumer desire to stay connected most of the time. The DC2NY Bus, a service that runs between Washington, D.C., and New York started offering free on-board Wi-Fi in 2007. Other services such as BoltBus and Megabus did the same. Even the “Chinatown buses”–lines that link the Chinatown districts of major cities–spent an estimated $5,000 per vehicle to equip their buses with Wi-Fi, says the report.
Airlines are trying to fight back. Wi-fi is now being offered on a number of most major long-distance flights in the U.S.
Still with ever-changing security restrictions including the recent temporary restrictions on the use of electronics in flight means the Accela looks like a better option than ever.
“The hassles of flying and limits on technology use has made people move away from flights for short distance trips like New York to Washington D.C. or Chicago to Detroit.
Photo: (Salon de Maria/Flickr)
I’ve been wanting to take a weekend trip by bus up to New York City sometime soon. There are round-trip tickets from DC for about $40 that includes free Wi-Fi the whole way up. (In contrast, you have to pay an additional fee to use Wi-Fi on flights.) Between gas and tolls (not to mention the hassles of parking and not being able to read along the way), I couldn’t drive up to NYC for less. With prices and perks like that, why would I want to fly?
I’ve had seven on the list over the years as highlighted in red. (Okay, I didn’t actually have TiVo, but did have a DVR when I lived in Orlando.) How about you?
I’m a little surprised the Amazon Kindle didn’t make the cut. Are there any gadgets you would add to the list?
This video shows what textbook publishers are imagining. Two things jump out at me:
1) This seems far less innovative than what magazine publishers are thinking of doing on a tablet platform. Print media seems to still be struggling with how to best embrace new digital platforms. I understand and appreciate the need to be able to reference and view pages like they would appear in a printed textbook. (Some students and faculty will likely use print versions in parallel with people using tablet editions of textbooks.) Still, it seems like there is a lot of room for interacting with equations, having animated graphics to show relationships between variables, better integration of multimedia, etc.
2) What’s up with textbooks expiring? If publishers want to get away with that, they better charge 50% or less the price of the print edition and give the option to permanently buy the book. Some of my textbooks never see the light of day after I’m done with a class, but the best are ones I refer back to frequently. And especially if I put a lot of time creating notes and highlights, I would not want to see all of my reference material and annotations suddenly “vaporize” or require constantly repurchasing the textbook. That’s a quick way to keep people in the paper-bound world.
Sorry for the light posting over the last week. I just returned from a much-needed week-long vacation in Orlando that turned into an unplanned break from posting. I should be back to normal blogging from here on out as law school starts again this afternoon.
A photo with friends at our second annual “Hollarific Hollarday” party on New Year’s Day.
Wishing everyone a belated Happy New Year!
