An Incredible Flux for Cell Phones

I think today's post will, fortunately, be shorter than usual because there's not a whole lot to talk about and I have my two hardest final tests tomorrow along with two meetings to go to tonight. Anyway, cell phones have been advancing at an alarming rate. What's funny about it is that the market is still so undeveloped and it almost reminds me of how personal computers grew to become the integral part of society that they are today. Some analysts are worried that they're getting to be too complicated with many extraneous features that come with complex pricing plans and the growth just continues. What direction will the market take from here? What will be the next fad for cell phones? I think the last one was taking pictures and the incipient one is mp3s, but what will come next? It's my personal belief that the market may reach saturation before long. I think that phones should be more specialized rather than being monsters we carry around in our pocket. I mean Blackberries are nice if you're a businessman, but who needs to carry around a palm sized computer everywhere they go and pay for every little thing they have on it? I think they should really evolve phones to the point where things are cheaper and they start marketing the right things to the right people.

Just a few things today in technology. I think a lot of people are disgruntled at the requirement of editable documents being in Microsoft Office formats, but that may soon change. OASIS has passed for a new open document format, and it could be the next big thing if it diffuses enough. I've gotta show some love for the motherland by spreading the news that they've launched the first stereographic imaging satellite into space. This means that they can not only get images that would easily be translated into 3-D but also distinguish features down to 2.5 meters across, which is pretty nuts. Lastly, I read this article in my Popular Science last week about a hacking conference and it was such a good read that I had to share it. Those are the people you don't want to mess around with.

Just a bit of movie news today. The MTV Movie Awards have their nominations online and ready for you to vote on, and I liked many of their choices though I'm probably not qualified to say that given how few movies I saw last year. What was odd was how many nominations Anchorman got, but it was a great movie. It sounds like there's discord between the owners of the rights to the Bond series and MGM over casting as both a director and actor possibility almost confirm with their recounting of how they were approached. Not a good sign for that production. If you're a fantasy geek you may be interested in this map of Narnia, which proves that they're really trying to push for their own Lord of the Rings here. The reviews are already in for Revenge of the Sith and thankfully many of them are good. Though fans can be pretty hardcore I doubt they'd really lie about the third one being this good. And finally, there's a new trailer online for The Legend of Zorro and I was so excited to see Catherine Zeta-Jones in that hot outfit again that I feel compelled to put up a picture of her poster:



Just a couple of last things. It turns out that after the Fed made their statement yesterday they decided to amend their statement to reflect their higher concerns for core consumer prices. There are a lot of mixed signals right now, but they believe moderate increases in job growth don't necessitate a more accomodative policy than they currently have. The other thing I wanted to mention is that UT's tuition may deregulate by the time I graduate, which may meant that the state will be more willing to give more money. That would be great for future students, but I wish they'd do it sooner!

And now, you know you want some Wednesday Mind Hump:

01. Using the letters of your name or your blog nickname, list some items that are in your immediate blogging area. Or, tell us what sort of unusual things you have laying about your blogging area.
Unusual, eh? The letters in my name aren't enough, but I have a Ti-85 that my brother used to use when he was in high school in case I have to do some fast matrix row reduction. I have a pencil in my pen/pencil cup with a little rubber flag that carries the name of my elementary school. There's also an IBM drink koozie with a cross from Palm Sunday and a yo-yo. Unusual enough?

02. A Friday the 13th is coming soon. Are you superstitious? Are there any supertition rituals that you perform whether you believe or not?
Not really. I've had a couple of Friday the 13ths without any bad stuff happening. Readers of the Da Vinci Code should know that it was based on witch burning anyway, and I know that I'm not a witch.

03. A wonderful little fairy has just granted your wish for two magic potions -- one for you and another for the person of your choice. What does your magic potion do? Whom would you choose to give the second magic potion to and what would it do. If you were to receive your heart's desire by way of a magic potion would it still be gratifying? Why or why not.
It makes me tall, dark, and handsome so that I'm irresistable to ladies. More seriously though, I'd prefer a potion that would get rid of this cluttering problem I have. I would give my roommate a potion that would make him do more school work! I worry that he may not have enough job possibilities after college because he plays games so much, but I still love him irregardless. Living together for so long tends to do that.