Ocean Sands, Bahamas

In 2002, the Library of Congress unveiled an exhibit of photos taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Culled from over 400,000 pictures, this small set of 41 pictures (more added in 2003) represented the most beautiful of the satellite’s images. The physical exhibit is long gone, but NASA maintains an online version of the full gallery, and high-resolution prints can be obtained at the USGS image gallery.

Yesterday was the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2008, basically a gigantic geekfest for Mac OS X and iPhone OS. The over 150 technical presentations and hands-on labs were great for the thousands of Mac engineers, but what everyone really cared about was Steve Jobs’ keynote address.

Biggest reveals (although no surprises): iPhone 3G, App Store, and MobileMe.

The iPhone 3G is the new version of the iPhone, twice as fast and half as expensive (but more on that in a bit). It operates on 3G (duh), making its internet connection about twice as fast as old iPhones running on EDGE. Other hardware updates are a slimmer body, flush headphone jack, longer battery life, and….drum roll please…GPS. (Run and hide, lil GPS manufacturers.)

Much more significant, however, is the new software: App Store and MobileMe. From The New York Times “Why the Boring iPhone Software Stuff Matters”:

The most important battle here isn’t between the iPhone and the latest from Samsung or Nokia. The fighting now is over what will become the dominant platform for mobile computing. In that fight, Apple is competing with Microsoft, Symbian, Google’s Android, Palm and R.I.M.

If Apple can rise above its formidable competition, we will remember the impact of the SDK long after the 2008 iPhone looks as ancient as the 2002 10-gigabyte iPod.

As cool as the iPhone 3G seems, it is inevitably going to become obsolete. How Apple will remain competitive, and really gain market share, is through the iPhone platform. This platform includes the AppStore and related iPhone SDK (basically, the programming language and software store for the iPhone), but also the MobileMe service. By enabling users to EASILY, SEAMLESSLY, and SILENTLY track emails, contacts, and files across all of their internet devices, Apple is making the use of any other services just dumb.

Moreover, it is important to note that the MobileMe service comes free for anyone purchasing an iPhone 3G. This really softens the blow from the fact that while the iPhone itself is dropping to $199, the phone plan will cost an extra $120 a year (the data plan is rising from $20/month to $30/month). I am not convinced MobileMe is really worth $120 a year*, but it at least is not a terrible value.

* MobileMe is, for the most part, a pay version of Gmail and its ilk. The difference is that you can use the iPhone’s built-in Mail and Calendar applications, rather than having to open Safari and log into Gmail. And mozy.com will get you 2 GB of backup for free, or unlimited backup for $60 a year.

PS – The next OS X will be called Snow Leopard. How original.

Biggest drawing in the world

With the help of a GPS device and DHL, I have drawn a self portrait on our planet. My pen was a briefcase containing the GPS device, being sent around the world. The paths the briefcase took around the globe became the strokes of the drawing.

UPDATE: Sometimes I hate art. Yes, it’s a fake. (via cliff)

In 1890, Alexander Stanhope St George undertook one of the most ambitious excavation projects in all of history: an immense tunnel connecting New York City to London through the earth. But it would not allow physical travel from one end to the other. Dubbed the “telectroscope”, the tunnel would be a “device for the suppression of absence”, enabling viewers to visit the distant city without ever having to leave the island. Unfortunately, the project met a tragic end before completion, and was lost to the winds of history.

Until great-grandson Paul St George came along.

Now, with the help of UK art organization Artichoke (see: The Little Girl Giant), the grand idea has come to fruition. From May 22 to June 15 at Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn or Tower Bridge in London, you can experience the majesty of these sister cities without ever leaving the safety of solid ground.

Oh, yes, it’s free and open 24 hours a day.

SPOILER ALERT: Yes, it is fake. It’s an art project, get it?

Inspired by Helder Luis’s perfect iPhone ringtone, Eric Meyer gives us the really perfect ringtone. Lovely people may recognize it from a certain children’s show:

After Microsoft withdrew its Yahoo bid on Sunday, Yahoo’s stock price “plunged” 15 percent. But I doubt anyone at Yahoo is complaining about the current $24 stock price; that’s a $5 increase from the stock price before Microsoft’s bidding.

A BMW forum has a great set of photos of the space shuttle processing, from shipment of the external fuel tank to liftoff. (Why it’s the car forums that always have these cool stories, I do not know.) Reminds me of a more localized version of the trip a 200-ton piece of a particle detector took from Deggendorf, Germany, to a laboratory in Karlsruhe, only 400 kilometers away.

Last week, Warner Bros proclaimed its support of Blu-ray over HD DVD. Some still see hope for HD DVD, but CNET is doubtful. Their Blu-ray vs HD DVD guide now has an editor’s note, saying, “Because of the recent news that Warner Bros. Entertainment will be exclusively supporting Blu-ray, CNET recommends refraining from purchasing an HD DVD player in the near future.”

Of course, who cares about the mainstream movie studios?. What really drives the wonderful format industry is pornography. The porn industry’s support of HD DVD last year seemed to spell doom for Blu-ray, but with major porn companies now producing DVDs in both formats, the end of the war is still up in the air.

Still, I don’t think anyone watching porn in high definition on their 50″ LCD TV will have much to complain about for long.