Segway going cheap
There’s something slightly sweet but highly demented about the Segway, which has become more of a punchline than a genuine mode of transportation. When uber-inventor Dean Kamen introduced the wheely-dealy back in 2001, he claimed it could revolutionize transportation and make cars obsolete in urban areas. Dean’s a smart man, but he was perhaps a bit deluded. At best, the Segway is a neat idea a tad ahead of its time. At worst, it’s a very expensive golf-cart that won’t actually help you transport your clubs.
A group of students from MIT have tackled one of those shortcomings (the expensive part) and produced a Segway clone for less than a grand. It looks a lot like the Segway, and is (almost) functionally identical. The only immediate problem I can see is that it’s still used primarily by joyriding dorks in empty parking lots.
Wi-Fi for dummies
A BBC report suggests that home networks haven’t really become as widespread as you might think because you need to be an engineer to actually put one together.
“Mention WPA or encryption or SSID or DHCP and you have lost the vast majority of consumers already,” said Van Baker, a Gartner analyst interviewed in the story. “Most of them are not going to deal with that level of complexity and knowledge.”
Now, many of you probably have your own home networks, and considering who this site is aimed at, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t. But perhaps you can help your inept neighbours to install their own Wi-Fi networks. It’s good for the community and good for business. The more people who invest in new technology, the better it is for those of us who work in this industry. Plus, if you install a network, you can also set the security parameters. Get my meaning here? Free Wi-Fi!!!!!!!! (How’s my war-driving?)
Monster jam
There’s networking and then there’s networking. And by that I mean, word of mouth, handshaking, working the room, lunch meetings and butt smooching. Those are tried and tested means of getting ahead in life. It may not be pretty, but it works. Those of us who know how to do these things well generally get the corner office and the highest salaries (for the record, Insider has neither of those things). They’re also looking really good compared to electronic networking sites.
One of the best known of these, Monster.com, was hacked recently, exposing untold millions of people. According to this article, 1.6 million entries were opened up containing names, phone numbers and home addresses. Yikes. If you’re looking for a new job, try calling a temp agency. Posting your resume just looks kinda dicey right now.
