Neat toy I saw this weekend, the easyBloom plant sensor, helps you pick the right plants for your specific growing area and helps diagnose plants that are in trouble.
The senor is first plugged into your computer's usb port and allows you to register for the service. The you plant the extended device into the ground where you want to plant or where you have already planted something.
Over a period of 24 hours the device records various details about the soil composition and the growing zone.
The company has a database of over 5,000 plants that it then compares results against and provides recommendations.
Its been a year since I last posted. It feels like even longer. Scanning for inspiration today I stumbled across a post by Chris Brogan that seemed timely. Here are the main points:
"Decide what matters most. Articulate it in the largest possible way. It’s easier to drill down when you have the larger goals in mind.
Put constraints around HOW you’ll accomplish the goals you’ve set out to accomplish. Include accountability in the constraints.
Figure out what you need to help you achieve those goals. In my case, I need two other people and some more education. You’ll need something else.
Make your goals public in some form or another. (This helps with accountability)."
He continues, "If you can put your giant plans into small boxes it will help you move towards your goals."
One goal I have is to get back to creating content, be it written or otherwise. My content creation experiments got pushed to the back seat along with the blog last year and I want to change that.
Looking back on those efforts they seem dated now. In the gap I missed out on the whole Twitter explosion and I don't really have any regrets about that.
I have been deeply involved with Flex and AIR desktop applications but some of those projects could have used some small boxes along the way too.
I finally got an iPhone. I have played the waiting game with Apple since I got my first SE in 1988 and I wanted to wait for the 3G network.
The iPhone is sharp. It looks good, feels good and provides a portable computing platform unlike anything else I have seen. Its ok as a phone but I knew that going in. I like the headphones and try to use them when I can but in regular use sometimes its hard to hear the other person and hard for them to hear me.
Call management and especially voice management is awesome. Being able to delete voice mail without having to listen to a menu system is great. I have used the speaker phone and it works fairly well too.
Like everyone says I only turn on 3G when I have to get data and am not on a wifi connection because it does drain the battery. Hitting the "find me" button on Maps is super cool.
The main thing the iPhone has done is freed me from a desk by putting a computer in my hand. You may say, "I've been getting email on my Blackberry for years."
I say, "whatever, fraking Blackberrys..."
Maps and mobile data are gradually finding their way to automobiles, the last human environment to be enabled. With the new XOHM WiMAX and the whitespace projects I expect one of the next big things to be a mobile broadband cloud. Fast access everywhere is going to change things, just like the iPhone has changed things for me.
So as I think about content creation in the year ahead I am going to focus on small projects that involve mobility and connectivity.
My last goal is to have fun. Its been a hard couple of years.
Neat toy I saw this weekend, the easyBloom plant sensor, helps you pick the right plants for your specific growing area and helps diagnose plants that are in trouble.
