Seems Ford sponsored a class at UMich to develop Cloud Computing apps… for the Commute.

The new Fiesta can Tweet while it’s driving. Not sure I like that idea… but it’s interesting, to say the least.

So my changes to the ssh daemon on the server to run on port !22 are useless if we want blogger to continue to publish there.

Looks like it’s time to change blogging tools on that domain.

I wonder what folks would think if car manufacturers put more-powerful computing components in their cars, and while the vehicles were driving around, they contributed to something like Folding@Home? When the vehicles were within range of either an open hotspot, or if they used some “catch-all” cell internet service like the Kindle does, they could be checking-in their work frequently.

Ignoring the obvious privacy invasions this will add-to (if your cell phone is on, it’s trackable already – so having your car on means squat), this could be an interesting revenue stream for auto manufacturers: sell the vehicles to consumers for less money, but then rent time on their computers to folks who need massive computing resources. Of course, the buyer would have to agree, and there needs to be a way to opt-in/-out. But it’s still an interesting idea, I think.

However, Barnes & Noble’s new Nook may change my mind. From the early reviews, it appears to have a better screen, longer battery life, and more natural navigation than either the Sony or Amazon offerings.

My previous experience with eBooks has not been overly positive, with proprietary software and awkward navigation on my PC. However, with the multi-format-capable Nook – I may be ready to give eBooks a try again.

Apparently some web sites choose to redirect their viewers to end6.org rather than render in IE6.

Yes – IE6 is old. Very old. But hundreds of thousands of us are stuck using it while at work due to bad IT policies, or upgrade paranoia.

Taking me to end6 instead of your content doesn’t make me ever want to go see it at another time … say when I get home and can use a modern browser.

I’m all for pushing folks to get rid of IE6 in favor of, well, pretty much anything else. But telling me to get rid of IE6 when I have no control over it doesn’t inspire confidence in the service or content that is being offered.

And as for the end6.org site? Why is not promoting Google’s Chrome along with Firefox, Opera, Safari, and IE8?

Apparently NASA is turning to the American public for new challenge/contest ideas.

I don’t know whether to be impressed that they’re trying to get new perspective.. or scared that they can’t come up with it on their own.

There’s lots and lots of smart people at NASA. I hope it works

It’d be nice if it wasn’t just the “skip” or “pause” protection, but it’s a start.

It turns out that each carrier offers a “bypass the instructions” keystroke that takes you directly to the beep. (It bypasses both the person’s own recorded greeting and the 15-second carrier nonsense.)

To be as evil as possible, the carriers do not promote or tell you about the existence of this keystroke. Furthermore, the key to press is different with each company:

* for Verizon

1 for Sprint

# for AT&T

# for T-Mobile

And I’m sure that questions like this one regarding VMware and VPNs is something “I should have known” – but not knowing where to look for appropriate data is what makes sites like these so helpful.

I do still wonder, though, how we remember what we know, and whether out-sourcing our collective minds is still a Good Idea™…

If you are like most designers, you probably don’t write all your markup by hand. But until the tools you use catch up to the new elements in (X)HTML 5, you will be doing some markup by hand while you learn. There’s been a bit of confusion (and controversy!) about the relationship between HTML 5, XHTML 1.0/1.1, and XHTML 5. Let’s clear that up right now.

HTML 4.0 (the markup language we all know and love) is based on a “rulebook” called SGML. In the SGML rulebook, element names are not case sensitive, you can have elements with optional closing tags (like <p>), and you can have attribute values without quotation marks. XHTML 1.0 and 1.1 are based on a rulebook called XML. In the XML rulebook, element and attribute names are case sensitive, every opening tag must have a closing tag, and attribute values must be quoted.

HTML 5 defines a markup language that isn’t based on either rulebook, but that can be written in either “HTML form” (or serialization, as the spec calls it) or “XHTML form”.

Excellent – so now we all have an easier standard to work with that is more flexible, less demanding, and .. oh yeah: is only supported in the absolute newest of browsers.