Category: Technology

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Reddit Runs International Secret Santa

It’s no surprise the economy is shrinking and so is the number of presents under most people’s trees but thanks to one Web site, nearly 3,000 people will have one special surprise from someone they’ve never met before. The members of Reddit.com, a Web site where users share links to breaking news stories, photos and more, have gathered together in what they believe is the biggest secret Santas ever and I participated in the event along with a roommate of mine, both of us who have been members of the site for a couple of years now.

The idea started simply enough, with one member “kickme444” asking if anyone was interested in a gift exchange and, like most social media, the idea exploded in just days. I am really excited to see the idea take off and see some of the press coverage it has received over the past week or so including the ABC article and CBC clip I have attached at the bottom of the post.

Kickme444 and members of the site designed a site, wrote programming to match up givers to receivers and come December packages will arrive from around the country and possibly around the world. Unofficially 3,500 participants are from the United States, but the rest of the 1,000 members hail from 53 other countries varying from Canada to Australia to Japan and beyond.

The current Guinness Book record holder for the largest secret Santa is more than 1,500 people, held by the staff at UK’s pharmacy chain store Boots. This exchange is set to double the number and smash the record.

This Secret Santa is unique in its relative anonymity. When signing up, Redditors could volunteer information about themselves and participants can look at their recipient’s past comments to get an idea of their interests and personality.

Suggested value of gift and shipping is around $15 but so far the average gift has cost about $27 with another $10 spent on shipping. The organizers have stated, “Handmade awesomeness is suggested, thoughtfulness is required!” Some are opting for homemade gifts – original art, photos, mix CDs, pepper seeds or items unique to their area. Discussion of ideas and requests have been flying on the site for the past few weeks.

Initially I did not know what to get as a present for my Secret Santee as he had very limited participation on the community site but a submitted form allowed everyone to enter some items they are interested and it listed a couple of television shows they were interested in and they wanted a poster from those shows. That made my

Gifts were scheduled be shipped out by Dec. 10 and assuming plenty of redditors are procrastinators, a lot of gifts including mine were shipped out on the last date. Upon receiving the gift, community members have begun posting photos of their present on a thread for Reddit Gifts for the rest to see.

Another noteworthy piece from an ABC affiliate out in Seattle titled “Web Site Runs Elaborate Secret Santa Gift Exchange“.

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Google Maps + Live Video?

It was only a matter of time before someone combined the likes of Google Maps with live video to provide a greater perspective of what is going on in our communities. There was always a concern on what this might to do privacy in public areas as well as the privacy of the individuals just walking or driving around in those areas.

Well the video below shows how computer scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology combining all those aspects and concerns with cameras around the city and their augmented version of Google Earth animates all these. They include sports scenes, traffic flows, the march of pedestrians and weather in addition to masking identities of people and vehicles for statistical purposes.

For a better perspective and a more in-depth look at the new innovation, check out: Live Video Makes Google Earth Cities Bustle.

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How To Enable MMS Through iTunes

It took a ridiculously long time for MMS to be enabled on the iPhone but it is finally here. Here’s how to enable it on your phone if you haven’t done it yet.

1. Download iTunes 9.0.1 (if you don’t already have it).

2. Connect your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS to your computer and open iTunes.

MMS Carrier Settings

3. Once the iPhone MMS update is available, you will see the following message on iTunes: “An update to the carrier settings for your iPhone is available. Would you like to install it now?“. Click “Update Settings“.

MMS Carrier Settings Updated

4. After you click “Update Settings“, iTunes will show the following message: “Your iPhone carrier settings were updated successfully“. Click “Ok“.

5. Reboot your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS. Hold down your power button until the Slide to Power off button appears, slide to power off. When your iPhone is off, press the power button to turn it on again.

You should now have MMS on your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS!

Note: This won’t work on the iPhone 2G.

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Where Is This “Dark Matter”?

If you’re interested in Physics or more specifically on the topic of Dark Matter, take a look at the article from PhysOrg.com here. A good little piece on the issue on how do we know something is missing when we don’t see it and how do we account for such matter in this universe.

Physicists on the Prowl for Dark Matter

(PhysOrg.com) — 95%. That is the percentage of the known Universe that is missing. As in it is not there. Or at least if it is there, we can’t see it. We call this unseen stuff “dark matter”. That has been well known for sometime. What is trickier in answering is why? Why is it that 95% of the universe is made up of this so-named “dark matter?” An even trickier question is where? As in where is this dark matter? It is those two questions that have plagued physicists for decades. Dark matter, by its own definition cannot be seen, hence its name. So how do we “see” it, how do we know “where” to look?

Kudos to my cousin who wrote it, so make sure to read the entire article and feel free to leave comments here or there about what you think.

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Amazon Prime Is Worth It.

As many of you might have heard, my home was struck by lightning during the course of the major storm in the middle of last week. Although there was no significant damage to the structure of the building, there was a significant damage to the Central AC unit, several electronics such as two computers, a modem and a router. Throughout all the chaos, there was no damage to any major appliance such as a refrigerator, freezer or the television set – as well as any of the people present inside at the time of the strike.

Although I would suspect these things are probably covered by insurance, I doubt the damage is significant enough to warrant the near $500 deductible that usually comes with such claims. I went to my local Staples to pick up a power supply for a computer and a network adapter for another, a motherboard from NewEgg but throughout this past week I gained much needed appreciation for Amazon Prime and what it does.

Even though it comes with a $79 annual membership fee, that cost can be easily recouped if you are in need of items immediately. For those unfamiliar, Amazon Prime gives you an “all-you-can-eat” fast shipping for eligible purchases. Members will enjoy the following benefits:

Fast Delivery

  • Free Two-Day Shipping on more than one million in-stock items sold by Amazon.com.
  • Upgrades to One-Day (Overnight) Shipping for just $3.99 per item.
  • Free Standard Shipping for eligible items shipped to P.O. boxes in the continental United States and APO/FPO addresses with U.S. zip codes.

Simple Shopping

  • No minimum purchases required.
  • Members-only 1-Click buttons on product pages.

Convenient Sharing

  • Shared benefits with up to four family members living in the same household.
  • For your corporate account use, you can add up to 4 co-workers to your account.

Even though I don’t have Amazon Prime yet, a friend of mine does who ordered the items for me. I placed a D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router on Wednesday and Belkin 12-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector on Thursday – both of which arrived on Friday. It can be quite unsettling to live without access to wireless internet especially in an age where you are almost dependent on such access all the time.

There is nothing quite like the convenience of two-day shipping (and possibly 1 if you order gets lucky) especially with a competitive price that Amazon offers which is hardly beaten by competitors. So if you haven’t tried yet with your account, Amazon.com probably offers a free month of Amazon Prime – you can simply cancel before your month is over and not be charged. If you like it (and how can you not?), pay the fee and become a member. Although I must warn you, it can become quite a hazard to your monthly credit card statement if you order any- and every-thing you like on Amazon.