Make next available legal U-turn...

Google at the gas pump translates to happy motorists, retailers

Everyone has problems going places. Mapping has evolved through the days of needing to actually go inside the gas station to ask for directions or get a map. Today people can log onto Mapquest (usually what everyone considers the only mapping site) and get directions before they leave. Even more, the GPS has become a staple in many cars across the country, some even coming built right into the dashboard.

With a Global Positioning System (really just a bunch of satellites in strategic positions), you can get directions to any address on the fly, and even if you make a wrong turn it can recalculate, something you can't do with those printed out directions, unless for some reason you brought your laptop and have a mobile internet card. That would be cheating the system though.

As seen in this article, arch-ruler of the Internet, Google, is beginning to install some screens at gas pumps that connect directly with Google Maps, this blog writer's mapping website of choice. With this, lost motorists without GPS and maybe with wrong directions can figure out where they're going, all while pumping their gas. Although not the greatest advancement this century, its a pretty good idea and hopefully Google products will appear in other random places around the world.

Well, its been a great three weeks, but I think its time to put an end to my blogging experience. It's been fun getting my thoughts out, and you can get more of my opinions in last week's retrospective piece, or the questionnaire that I'm sure you'll be reading along with this. Thanks for reading.

Google, phone home

It's official: Google announces open-source mobile phone OS, Android

After days, weeks, months, almost a year, the rumors about a "Google phone" or "gPhone" can be put to rest. Beginning in December 2006, the Internet (and the "revered" blogosphere) went absolutely crazy buzzing about a possible Google endeavor to permeate the every day, away from computer market, and challenge the (then still rumored) iPhone. A true gPhone would've been great, and concept images showed just a portable screen that could do anything, be anything, look like anything, and most importantly, can search Google.

Sadly to some of us who dissed the iPhone and were anxiously awaiting a totally open source phone supported by the high and mighty Google (like...me), Google did not announce their own brand of phone. Instead, Google announced their own mobile operating system, the open-source platform called Android. It runs on Linux and will be available for free under the Apache software license.

This is significant because Google has set up the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of over 30 technology and mobile companies who will be supporting the new platform. With several carriers being part of the Alliance, it is likely that the consumers will benefit, receiving the new software on their own phones, as well as driving the carriers not taking part to either get on board or create their own software that can compete. One of the best features of Android is that it will be open for developers to create their own applications for via an SDK (software development kit) from Google.

Google may not have created the god of all cellphones, but this might even be better. Instead of creating one phone, Google has built a platform on which every phone can be built upon, along with the accessibility for any developer to create any applications they want for it. The possibilities for this are endless, as its possible that within the next five years, every mobile user could be on a unified platform which can open up a fantastic future for mobile systems, and possibly the first step towards what some writers have tagged as "Web 3.0," a truly mobile Internet.

Forgot my password

Graffiti as password: secure and memorable

Many people have problems remembering passwords. For this reason, people make horrible choices in the word or phrase they use to secure their data. Although more important sites are making it impossible to do, some people are still struggling to remember that their password is the name of their dog, allowing it to be easily hacked into by bad, bad people.

As more people are putting their valuables online, such as banking, shopping, chatting, and e-mail (well that was always online), the sites that house these services begin to force people to make sure their passwords have something like 8 characters, alternating case, a number, a symbol, and a Chinese character. The problem with this is that people still can't remember it, so in this case you're forcing them to write it down on a sticky on their monitor, allowing that guy in accounting to steal all of their money the day before he quits his job and leaves the country

Thus there was a scramble to create something new, something better. After a brief foray into trying to come up with pictures as passwords, someone realized that recognition was probably less secure than recall. That being said, there are some good things already out there. Bank of America has you pick a picture and give it a title as your "SiteKey" and will show you this combination so you know you're actually on their site and not being phished.

Today (well a few days ago, I couldn't blog over the weekend and have it count for this week) there is a new frontier, as a computer security conference had a presentation about graffiti as a secure password. Sounds, dumb, but think about it. How many people would deface a picture the same way you would? I like it, and although it wont work at ATM machines, it seems perfect for both computers and mobile devices with styli. I look forward to the future of passwords when touchscreens will be able to encrypt thumbprints and send them via the Internet.