Incredibly cool tech demo of where we are headed with Bing Maps and photo matching

Watch the video to get an idea, if you don’t want to take the time to read the whole post.   I’m helping to get the Bing Maps Streetside imagery together that makes this all possible.   This is such a cool job, and I get to live in Colorado! 

http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/search/archive/2010/02/11/spatial-search-the-next-frontier.aspx

It looks like lots of people think this is pretty cool.  Here’s a quick view of what others are saying on twitter right now.

http://www.bing.com/twitter/search?q=TED+Bing&form=DTPTWI

Greg over at SearchEngineLand has a description of how we’ll start to show interiors and the impressive video matching done in the live demo today that isn’t in the video above yet.  http://searchengineland.com/bing-demos-streetside-with-flickr-photos-live-video-bing-sky-35994

iPhone apps to check out during long holiday drives this week

"Our Favorite Apps: Stuff that stayed on our phones in 2009" - TUAW.com

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/12/29/our-favorite-apps-stuff-that-stayed-on-our-phones-in-2009/?icid=px-iphone


As the year draws to a close, we thought we'd shine a spotlight on some of the favorite apps we used this year. These are the "sticky" apps, the ones that lingered on our iPhones after we gave them a preliminary spin. There's so much on the App Store, good, bad and indifferent; here are a few suggestions for items that deserve your attention.


  • iAssociate [$1.99] Hugely challenging and long-term fun, this Funny-Farm-style game makes you brainstorm out associations from a core word or phrase. (Original TUAW review) -- Erica Sadun

  • TrailGuru [Free] Not a perfect app but a very handy one to keep track of your neighborhood walks. I love the way that TrailGuru lets me post my maps after each walk, keeps track of my average and max speed, and how I can break the walk down into laps. That really helps since I tend to walk in mile-long circles. -- ES


  • Twittelator Pro [$4.99] I use Twitter a lot when I'm away from home, and Twittelator Pro from Stone Design just keeps getting better. When Twitter changes, Twittelator Pro is usually the first app to support the new features. -- Steve Sande

  • Dropbox [Free] In case you haven't already figured it out, I'm a Dropbox fanatic. The iPhone client is fast, free, and makes it easy for me to view, share, or delete files on all of my machines. (Original TUAW post) -- SS

  • Doodle Jump [$0.99] All work and no play makes Steve a dull boy, so I have my share of games on my iPhone. As the App Store ad warns, Doodle Jump is addictive. My top score isn't that great, but Doodle Jump keeps me coming back for more. -- SS

  • BeejiveIM [$5.99] When we're out on the go, we always want to stay connected to each other. Beejive offers many IM features that allow us to do this, including its recently-added group chat support. -- Joachim Bean

  • MoodAgent [Free for now] A great little app for creating playlists based on a variety of criteria like tempo, sensuality, mood, etc. Similar to Genius, but I find its playlists to be more apropos in most situations. (Original TUAW review) -- Brett Terpstra

  • Instapaper Pro [$4.99] My ultimate read-later collection. Save pages to it from any browser (including Mobile Safari), then read text-only or full versions of them when you're good and ready. It can also output .epub files for Stanza, but the built-in reader has some excellent functionality. (TUAW Friday Favorite) -- BT

  • Stanza [Free] My favorite e-book reader. It's free. 'Nuff said. -- BT

  • Bookmark [$2.99] An audiobook sub-system for iTunes. It lets you place bookmarks, always saves your place, stays on when the app is closed and lots more. I use it every day. (Original TUAW Review) -- David Winograd

  • Boxcar [Free] Given the choice between burning SMS messages to get updates from Twitter and other networks, or using Boxcar to control notifications and give me just what I need... well, it's a keeper, even with the additional costs to support more web services. -- Mike Rose

  • Evernote [Free] We talk about it all the time, but it's because we use it. Evernote gives you a PDF viewer, document management, notes with geolocation, and all without hassles or aggravation. (Recent TUAW coverage) --MR

  • Radio Paradise [Free] There are plenty of streaming audio apps on the store, many with more flexibility and more music discovery power (much love, Pandora), but none with the homemade goodness of the Radio Paradise app. You can instantly mark or buy tracks you like, and the sleep timer feature + the AirCurve acoustic base = bedside music nirvana. --MR

  • Roambi [Free] This data visualization app isn't going to entertain you on long trips or sing you to sleep, but give it your business spreadsheets or sales projections and watch the fireworks. Roambi's ability to drill down into large data sets should wow your colleagues at the next quarterly status meeting. With a $99 Roambi Pro account, you can pull data directly from a Google Spreadsheet for the ultimate in cloud charting. --MR

  • Fast Contacts [$1.99] earned a spot on my home screen with a couple of key features Apple forgot in the vanilla contact app. Two useful features: contact sorting in numerous ways (even location) and an event list that will alert you to birthdays (provided you input them). -- Victor Agreda, Jr.

  • Sally's Spa [$2.99] is one of a multitude of time management games, but it's been a keeper on my iPhone. I picked it up back when it was on sale for 99 cents, and it was worth the money. The graphics are very nice, and updates further tweak the game's responsiveness. The only downside is the battery drain. -- Megan Lavey

  • Currencies [$1.99] was indispensable when I visited my fianc

Sent from my phone

Setting up Windows Live Family Safety Center

I started using this to protect the kids web browsing so we can walk away from the continual over the shoulder moderation of their PC time.  It’s pretty cool, complete with activity reports in great detail. Very simple to setup.  The more advanced use is to manage communications in email and IM for the kids too.  I haven’t set this up yet as the kids are far from needed that but they of course do have email accounts. 

http://download.live.com/familysafety

 

I went to change the password for one of the kids Hotmail accounts today using Windows 7 Ultimate and received the following message.  What’s up with that? 

Browser not supported

To sign in to Windows Live Account, try upgrading your browser. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, please install the latest version.
If you are using another browser, try upgrading to the latest version of the browser.

Btw to change your Windows Live ID you have to use the Options drop down and then go to More Options at the bottom.

 

This is sent to posterious via email. I’m curious to see how the cross posting will work to Facebook, Twitter and Delicious.