Stories Worth Pondering on a Sunny Memorial Day

Today was a holiday here in the US. A friend in New York City and I commiserated over email about the fact that we were both inside plugging away - he in New York City and I here in San Diego. In both places the weather was about as perfect as one could ask. Well, my Boogie Board will come out another day and his...I'm not sure what the NYC equivalent of a Boogie Board is.

In today's virtual travels, which included a meeting with someone in Canada (he also was stuck indoors because it isn't a holiday in Canada), there was opportunity for roaming. In case you too were inside today (or even if not) I share some fun and thought provoking stories I stumbled upon.

First of all, in case you haven't heard enough about Facebook, the hot off the press rumor is that they are developing a smart phone. What a coincidence - just recently I pondered about the relationship between people's politics and their phones. What ilk of voter do you think would flock to a Facebook phone?

Next, in case you thought you had a breather from hearing about Apple Computer, somewhat less hot news, but noteworthy for its implications nonetheless, is that the company is going political. Steve Jobs might be rolling over in his grave, but Tim Cook headed for Congress recently. One can only wonder what Cook and John Boehner spoke about. Does Beohner use an iPhone? I haven't written much about politics in this blog, but that may change if things stay this interesting.

Apropos of today's indoor activities, I must ask: do you have "mouse finger"? That annoying pain in the middle joint of the right index finger experienced by heavy computer users (like moi). It comes from hitting the left mouse button all day long. Here is a nifty video about a new motion controlled technology that may eventually give us all happy fingers.

Now this financial technology idea has huge potential for someone with the right combination of skills. Harness supercomputers to monitor the stock market and trades in real time, in such as way as to provide opportunities to prevent financial crash and burn. With which we are all too familiar. What a great idea. I hope someone gets right on this.

Finally, a Memorial Day story. A cool technology (that is a pun, trust me) that will be very good for helping military personnel. I am at odds with myself to decide if civilian populations ought to be allowed to get their hands on this - or rather in this. These. In These. Special texting gloves. Unless you are a firefighter (do firefighters text?)

I hope you all had a great day, whether you were indoors or outdoors.