It’s kind of new, it’s totally for you. It’s the Parrot Quadricopter AR Drone 2.0.
I told you all about this contraption before, but at the time it was only available online. These days, you can head on down to the SoMA Costco (America’s First Urban Costco) and get one for less than $300.
Then, you train your new pet to listen to simple commands from your cell phone (yes, there’s an app for that) and then you’re on your way to a Pulitzer:
Click to expand
It’s new, it’s you. It’s the Parrot Quadricopter AR Drone 2.0.
Your Android or iOS device, which you already have, can run an app to tell this thing where to go.
Then you can get video like this.
Oh, and they throw in an extra battery for you.
And don’t worry too much about any legal hassles.
Get with the times, people.
(You know, someday I’ll have to explain why my aging Samsung smartphone is better than your brand-new iPhone 4S, you know the one that has that big “Apple” chip inside that’s made by, um, Samsung? My phone cost $40-something, the sales tax was $40-something, the monthly bill is $40-something (plus San Francisco’s rather high tax scheme, which means I’m paying $50-something per month), I talk as much as I want, I download as much as I want (but no texting, texting is not in my plan, oh well, someday I’ll tell you why that’s sometimes a good thing), I have a bigger, better screen, I have a lighter phone, and before the year is up, I’ll get another brand-new phone. And BTW, what’s the Apple “experience” about? Is it the experience of choosing between the unreliable network (AT&T) and the slow network (Verizon)? Why is it that my phone never drops calls and gets double-digit scores on the same test that you see in the previous link? It’s like 11 Mbps indoors in the Financh. That’s like an order of magnitude faster, right? Not that I care, really, but what am I missing but not paying extra for an iPhone? The phone I have is faster, better, harder, stronger than any iPhone. And, as a bonus, it’s way cheaper. Just saying.)
Sorry iPhone owners, the Only Bay Area Transit App Worth Having isn’t out yet for Appleland, but you Android users should step right up and type “511 transit” into your “Market” icon thingy.
MUNI sucks, of course, but 511 Transit works awesome with MUNI. Try it and you’ll see.
See?
All the deets:
“GPS-Based Trip Planning Available for more than 30 Bay Area Transit Agencies
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 22, 2012 – The Bay Area’s 511 traveler information system is now offering its first smartphone app for transit users. The free 511 Transit App is a multiple-agency public transit trip planner using GPS-based location tools for smartphones. Ideal for a daily commute, weekend errand or occasional trip, the app serves both residents and visitors who are planning transit trips within the nine-county region.
“We are pleased to offer this unique and powerful tool for transit riders in the Bay Area,” said Adrienne J. Tissier, chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). “Now you can use one app to plan trips on more than 30 public transit agencies, accessing the most complete coverage for the San Francisco Bay Area.”
The free 511 Transit App can be downloaded through the Android Market (search for: 511 Transit). A version for iPhone 4 will be released soon. The new app provides door-to-door transit trip planning and scheduled departure times for transit routes near your location or from a location you specify. It includes information for 720 routes and more than 23,700 transit stops throughout the region. An interactive, dynamic map shows routes and stops along the way, as well as your current position while on the move. Walking directions to and from stops and fares (including transfers) are also displayed.
“Smartphones and on-the-go trip planning are becoming increasingly common, and 511 is now extending its Bay Area transit planning tools to these faster, more compact platforms,” said Tom Spiekerman, 511 Transit project manager. “Currently, 511 customers plan more than one milliontransit trips per month using the popular website version of the 511 Trip Planner. The new app brings core features of this tool to customers on the go.”
Additional app features include:
– Recently viewed locations and trips are saved automatically, as well as
favorites.
– GPS positioning enables users to set their current location as a
starting point for a trip, or to find nearby stops and transit routes
with scheduled departure times.
– The app incorporates transit agency announcements that may affect a
trip’s itinerary.
511 Transit App customers are able to provide feedback on the new app by clicking on the “Help/Info” button to send an email to the 511 Team.
The new app complements numerous options people already have to access 511 traveler information. Smartphone and other mobile phone users may access many of 511′s most popular features through the mobile 511 site (m.511.org), by calling 511 from any Bay Area phone, or by receiving real-time transit Departure Times texts (SMS). Desktop users can access the information from 511.org.
The 511 Transit App includes data from SF Muni, BART, AC Transit, VTA, SamTrans, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, County Connection, Vallejo Transit, LAVTA, Sonoma County Transit, VINE (Napa County) and more than a dozen additional agencies. For a complete list of all transitagencies included in the 511 Transit app, please visit the trip planning page at 511.org.
For more information, please see the 511 Transit App for Android Fact Sheet.
About 511
511 is a one-stop phone and web source for up-to-the-minute Bay Area traffic, transit, rideshare and bicycling information. It’s free of charge and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in the nine-county Bay Area. Call 511 or visit 511.org. 511 is managed by a partnership of public agencies led by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the California Highway Patrol, Public Transit Agencies, and the California Department of Transportation.
SOURCE 511″
The next best thing to foot binding?*
I mean, how can you roundhouse the typical Union Square/Twitterloin mugger/iPhone** thief with these things on?
Click to expand
Clip clop clip clop…
Haven’t we been bound too long?
*”The ideal length for a bound foot was seven and a half centimetres” – that’s Wiki-talk for less than three inches, girlfriend.
**First the felonious MUNI riders came for the iPhone owners and I didn’t speak out, for I had the Android…
Let’s check in with HP and see what they have to say these days considering all the criticism they’ve gotten lately.
Wow, what a turkey:
(But keep your fingers crossed – you still might be able to find one of these for $99, which is kind of a bargain…)
Anyway:
“Hewlett-Packard Chairman Ray Lane Defends Strategy Shift at the 2011 InformationWeek 500 Conference
Lane acknowledges confusion in market following its announcement to consider spinning off PC business and spotlights HP’s focus on enterprise information technology
DANA POINT, Calif., Sept. 12, 2011 – Speaking at this year’s InformationWeek 500 Conference, Hewlett-Packard Chairman Ray Lane and Chief Technology Strategy Officer Shane Robison discussed HP’s change in strategy and the confusion that followed in the market. HP announced in August that it would buy the software company Autonomy, end production of the TouchPad tablet computer, and explore spinning off its PC business. The executives acknowledged the company didn’t communicate the changes well, and they explained how HP will become a strictly enterprise-focused IT vendor with particular depth in managing unstructured data–the 85% of information that isn’t managed within the columns and rows of conventional databases.
“Predictability is important, but technology companies that just keep doing what they are doing, die,” Lane said. “You have to keep changing, and that’s uniquely important in the technology business.”
In a candid conversation with InformationWeek SVP and Editorial Director Fritz Nelson, Lane said HP was not a leader in consumer devices, describing HP’s TouchPad tablet as “a generation behind” the iPad. HP will continue to support its webOS mobile operating system. By separating webOS from the hardware business, Lane said HP will be able to take advantage of what he described as “the best platform in the world” for commercial application development. “You cannot develop serious, portable applications on Android,” Lane said, noting that the Web app development platform behind webOS can port applications to Android, Apple iOS, and Windows, as well as webOS.
For complete coverage of the discussion with Lane and Robison at the InformationWeek 500 Conference, please visit http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/231601245.
The 2011 InformationWeek 500 Conference takes place at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Southern California from September 11 – 13. Attending are more than 325 influential CIOs and IT executives representing companies such as FedEx, JetBlue Airways, San Francisco Giants, Vail Resorts and Prudential Financial. The conference is sponsored by: Cognizant, Dell and Intel, HCL Technologies Infrastructure Services Division, IBM, Information Builders, Microsoft, MphasiS (an HP company), Rimini Street, Inc., Riverbed, SuccessFactors, Syniverse, VMware, Vidyo, Inc., and Workday.”
As seen in the West Bay, on Noriega:
Even the foggy Outer Sunset can look good when you shoot a 300mm lens totally wide open:
Click to expand
Isn’t this cell phone case delightful?
Let’s hope the Playboy Magazine people don’t want to sue…
Remember yesterday? I do, good times.
Anyway, this post from July 12th, 2011 foretold of LivingSocial’s “Instant Deals” Lunchtime Kickoff in the 415 and, well, now it’s here.
Something like this looks to be a fair bargain:
But act fast before the better deals in your area are gone. And this is for today, July 13th, only.
Just saying, Bro.
Ah, memories:
“Remember back in the day, back when those social deals were good deals? I do. It was the Golden Age of Groupon – it lasted for about three months last year.
Remember Visa Day, when you could get a second 50% off deal paid for by Visa and then you referred a couple friends to get yet another 50% off deal at a decent place? Good times.
Anyway, LivingSocial wants you to download their smartphone app (and I guess you can get in on this via a PC as well) so that you can get in on the big $1 lunch special on July 13th, 2011 all over San Francisco. I cautiously endorse this offer and beseech you to seal the deal tomorrow AM just after your manservant wakes you from your slumber by gently rapping on your bedroom door.
And then, come lunchtime, you’ll be as happy as a Golden Gate Park squirrel with its own peanut butter samwich:
All the deets:
LivingSocial Instant Deals to Enter San Francisco and Entice Eaters With $1 Lunch
Instant Deals Expanding to Third Major U.S. Market in Three Months
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2011 – LivingSocial today announced plans to tempt diners with $1 San Francisco treats from more than 100 local merchants on July 13 to celebrate the city’s launch of LivingSocial Instant Deals. Earlier this year, LivingSocial was the first to market with this breakthrough in local commerce, enabling consumers to find immediate deals at nearby restaurants and attractions. Once the fun of $1 lunch day is done,LivingSocial Instant Deals will continue serving up scrumptious Instant Deals offers to help those who live or visit The Golden Gate City find the best local values.
On Wednesday, July 13, eager eaters in San Francisco will need only a free LivingSocial account and a smartphone with the LivingSocial app or a computer to partake in Dollar Lunch Day. Starting just after sunrise, members can log into the app or go online to www.livingsocial.com/instant, select Instant Deals and marvel at a mass of $1 lunch offers within walking distance.
LivingSocial $1 lunch vouchers will be available for purchase beginning at 6:00 a.m. PT and will be available for redemption from 11:00 a.m. PT to 2:00 p.m. PT(1) on Wednesday, July 13, only.
How to nab the best bargains by the Bay:
– Step One: Download the latest version of the LivingSocial mobile application(2) to your iPhone, iPad or Android device. When the app opens, click on Instant Deals. Or, visit the LivingSocial Instant Deals website and select “San Francisco” as your city.
– Step Two: Take your pick from the list of available Instant Deals near your current coordinates, and pay one dollar per voucher.
– Step Three: Hoof it to the merchant location and display your Instant Deals voucher on your mobile device (or print a hard copy from your computer) at check-out.
Drum roll, please. Take a gander at just a few of the fine establishments who are signed on for San Francisco’s $1 lunch day:
– Bistro Burger
– San Francisco Soup Company (Multiple Locations)
– Kyoto Sushi
– Kennedy’s Irish Pub & Curry House
– And many more!
More deets after the jump.
San Francisco is the third LivingSocial Instant Deals rollout this year. In March, LivingSocial Instant Deals was introduced in Washington, D.C. and a month later more than 27,000 $1 lunch vouchers were sold within a 14-mile area. In June, LivingSocial members purchased more than 15,000 $1 lunch vouchers within approximately four square miles in Midtown Manhattan celebrating the arrival of Instant Deals in New York City.
“We are excited to launch LivingSocial Instant Deals in a city known for both cutting-edge technology and fantastic food,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial. “Dollar Lunch Day is a perfect way to bring foodies, early adopters and LivingSocial members together to scour old stomping grounds and discover new favorites throughout San Francisco.”
As the source for handpicked deals at a great value, LivingSocial invests in members and merchants in every market in which the company operates. Merchants are aligned with a local, knowledgeable contact who lives, works and plays in their city. Sales and marketing personnel work closely with merchants to craft deals and determine the most profitable and marketable offer structure.
LivingSocial Instant Deals revolutionizes the way merchants market their businesses and consumers discover the best experiences in their neighborhood. Local merchants work with LivingSocial’s team of on-the-ground local commerce experts to craft deals and optimize traffic through their doors. Unlike LivingSocial daily deals, which are live for 24 hours, Instant Deals are live for a short period of time, providing increased opportunity for businesses to enhance their customer base.
LivingSocial plans to roll-out Instant Deals in more U.S. locations soon. For a full list of LivingSocial cities or to subscribe, go to livingsocial.com. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/livingsocial, or join us on Facebook atfacebook.com/livingsocial.
About LivingSocial
LivingSocial adds surprise to every calendar with handpicked daily deals you can share with friends. Members enjoy at least 50 percent off on the coolest, local experiences. Local business owners get an easy and cost effective marketing tool to attract new, loyal customers. In 2010, one of the fastest growing companies in the space expanded withLivingSocial Escapes offering a “vacation in a box” for easy weekend trips at great value. Based in Washington, D.C., the international company has saved nearly 39 million subscribers more than half a billion dollars in more than 20 countries on 6 continents.
(1) Offerings and hours of operation may vary by location and the price tag includes sales tax (gratuities not included.)
(2) Members must download the latest version of the mobile application
Remember back in the day, back when those social deals were good deals? I do. It was the Golden Age of Groupon – it lasted for about three months last year.
Remember Visa Day, when you could get a second 50% off deal paid for by Visa and then you referred a couple friends to get yet another 50% off deal at a decent place? Good times.
Anyway, LivingSocial wants you to download their smartphone app (and I guess you can get in on this via a PC as well) so that you can get in on the big $1 lunch special on July 13th, 2011 all over San Francisco. I cautiously endorse this offer and beseech you to seal the deal tomorrow AM just after your manservant wakes you from your slumber by gently rapping on your bedroom door.
And then, come lunchtime, you’ll be as happy as a Golden Gate Park squirrel with its own peanut butter samwich:
All the deets:
LivingSocial Instant Deals to Enter San Francisco and Entice Eaters With $1 Lunch
Instant Deals Expanding to Third Major U.S. Market in Three Months
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2011 – LivingSocial today announced plans to tempt diners with $1 San Francisco treats from more than 100 local merchants on July 13 to celebrate the city’s launch of LivingSocial Instant Deals. Earlier this year, LivingSocial was the first to market with this breakthrough in local commerce, enabling consumers to find immediate deals at nearby restaurants and attractions. Once the fun of $1 lunch day is done,LivingSocial Instant Deals will continue serving up scrumptious Instant Deals offers to help those who live or visit The Golden Gate City find the best local values.
On Wednesday, July 13, eager eaters in San Francisco will need only a free LivingSocial account and a smartphone with the LivingSocial app or a computer to partake in Dollar Lunch Day. Starting just after sunrise, members can log into the app or go online to www.livingsocial.com/instant, select Instant Deals and marvel at a mass of $1 lunch offers within walking distance.
LivingSocial $1 lunch vouchers will be available for purchase beginning at 6:00 a.m. PT and will be available for redemption from 11:00 a.m. PT to 2:00 p.m. PT(1) on Wednesday, July 13, only.
How to nab the best bargains by the Bay:
– Step One: Download the latest version of the LivingSocial mobile application(2) to your iPhone, iPad or Android device. When the app opens, click on Instant Deals. Or, visit the LivingSocial Instant Deals website and select “San Francisco” as your city.
– Step Two: Take your pick from the list of available Instant Deals near your current coordinates, and pay one dollar per voucher.
– Step Three: Hoof it to the merchant location and display your Instant Deals voucher on your mobile device (or print a hard copy from your computer) at check-out.
Drum roll, please. Take a gander at just a few of the fine establishments who are signed on for San Francisco’s $1 lunch day:
– Bistro Burger
– San Francisco Soup Company (Multiple Locations)
– Kyoto Sushi
– Kennedy’s Irish Pub & Curry House
– And many more!
More deets after the jump.
