Results tagged “technology”

The notoriously Luddite NYPD—they still use typewriters for most paperwork—has a technological visionary in their midst. Though most people know the Internet is just a passing fad, crazy Capt. Kenneth Corey at the 76th Precinct in Brooklyn thinks it should be used to communicate with concerned citizens. So he frequently sends electronic mail, or "e-mail," to a growing subscriber list, informing them of local crime news. But is the NYPD brass going to stand for this? What do they pay spokesman Paul Browne for?

Earlier this summer, the city announced a contest—"NYC Big Apps"—to encourage developers to create applications that harness the city's data and can enrich the lives of New Yorkers. But earlier this week, when releasing some more materials to developers, the city, um, offered up some private data as well!

Guess what—we may be seeing more applications using MTA data, because the MTA is easing up on its previously strict stance where it would threaten lawsuits over copyright infringement and intellectual property theft. The NY Times reports, "pressure from politicians and technology advocates had been growing for the authority" to open up its data to developers to create applications with timetables, finding subway stops and more. "The authority said its core policy had not changed: it asks for fees only if developers use copyrighted material like the round symbols for subway routes." The MTA also admits, "We don’t have a staff that sits around thinking about apps."

It's been two years since lines wrapped around Apple stores as New Yorkers waited and waited to get their hands on a precious iPhone, but the masses are still unhappy with AT&T. That's right disgruntled iPhone owners: you are not iLone! CNET has gathered some of the complaints about AT&T's service and claims of coverage (one declares "My damn iPhone drops calls about 75 percent of the time inside my house"), and one New Yorker living near JFK airport aired his grievances on YouTube.

There may be a recession, but Apple products might be nearly recession-proof. According to Bloomberg News, the company's Fifth Avenue store at 59th Street is the highest grossing store along that ritzy part of the street, which includes Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, and Abercrombie & Fitch. While Apple doesn't disclose store specific data, given that Apple's overall store revenue has increased by 2.5% and other neighboring stores' company revenue has declined 22-30%, the guess is that the Fifth Avenue Apple store has $350 million in annual sales or $35,000 of sales per square foot (per square foot, Tiffany does less than half). Native New Yorkers and tourists alike flock there, and one analyst explained, "Even if [people] are not spending money elsewhere, people are still spending money on technology gadgets. It’s both a need and a want. It fulfills that retail-therapy component." Apple's retail chief Ron Johnson pointed out that the location is open 24/7: "The middle of the night is a really interesting time. It’s the waiters in the restaurants, it’s the actors on the stage. When they’re off work, they may not want to go off to a club or want to go home." He also confirmed that the Upper West Side location will open later this year.

Mayor Bloomberg had announced late last week that he would be personally Twittering on his mikebloomberg account (which mainly serves as a re-election tool) on Sunday, but those plans were postponed because of Saturday's tragic collision between a small plane and a helicopter over the Hudson River. Now he's jumped onto the Tweeting bandwagon, starting the day off with: "Good morning! Trying this out during my spanish lesson. Como se dice "first tweet"?"

If you think Windows Vista bugs are hurting your productivity, just be thankful you're not still struggling with typewriter ribbon and jammed keys. That's what the NY Post reports hundreds of city cops must do thanks to the NYPD's reliance on outdated technology, and it's slowing down policework. One cop tells the Post the typewriters are so archaic that, "We have to sneak around the rest of the precinct in search of a ribbon to steal." The Post also cites a retired NYPD officer and criminal justice professor who concludes the inefficient machines are hobbling the NYPD, discouraging officers from making arrests because filling out the necessary forms requires use of the dinosaurish typewriters and carbon-paper. So when will the city finally pull police office technology out of the 1970s? Well, since the city signed more than $1 million in new typewriter purchasing and servicing contracts last year, it's looking like robots could rule the subways before the NYPD ditches its last Selectric.

While it's not the level of iNsanity the initial iPhone release prompted two years ago, people did/are lining up for the new iPhone 3G. Engadget reports, "A few hundred people lined up outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store today for Apple's new iPhone, with the those The iLife guys up front descending into the store at 7AM to the sound of applause from the cheery horde of Apple Store employees. It was a far sight from the mayhem of previous launches -- the whole line was able to be contained in the elevated portion to the right of the store, no sidewalk necessary -- but it was still a fairly impressive turnout for a spec-bumped phone and a rainy night." And the line outside the Soho store doesn't look too bad either. But iPhone consumers, be careful: Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has previously attributed the rise in young muggers on the shiny device!

Artist Jorge Colombo has impressed many with his drawings created on his iPhone (by way of the Brushes application. Now, his drawing of a 42nd Street hot dog stand is this week's New Yorker cover. Colombo tells the New Yorker he "painted" the cover while standing outside Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum for an hour.

In case you can't get enough swine flu information, be sure to follow the Centers for Disease Control's Twitter accounts. CNET has the scoop: "@CDCemergency... is posting new recommendations, bulletins on confirmed cases, and information on antiviral drugs and other ways to deal with or prevent the disease" and "@CDC-eHealth, is updated less often but has some good advice including this link to a CDC site where you can send family and friends a 'handwashing eCard.'" And, naturally, outside of the CDC, there's the all-purpose #swineflu—example, "My grandpa says he did his part to combat #swineflu by having a pork sandwich today."

New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission is looking ahead to next year, when the three contracts for the current cab information screens expire, and has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gauge various enhancements to the relatively new taxi technology. The riding public, the taxicab industry and the technology community is being asked for input on how the computerized system can be improved for what the TLC is calling Taxi 2.0.

Technology meets lunch meats: Scanwiches features "center-cut" scans of sandwiches from cafes and delis in the Soho, Chinatown, and Lower East Side vicinity. Dare we hope for a scan of the an M&O Deli turkey sandwich, which is only offered on Tuesdays and Fridays? [Via reader Jeff]

Two Jewish entrepreneurs have developed software that can turn an average BlackBerry into a sacred prayer book. They've dubbed their upgrade "The JewBerry," and have sold it to over 10,000 customers for $30 a pop, according to the Post. Co-creator Jonathan Bennett explains the appeal: "Throughout the day, Jews gather in office-building stairwells and conference rooms to pray, and while sometimes you might not remember your prayer book, no one goes anywhere without their BlackBerry."

It's about time: The MTA will reportedly text and email customers about unexpected service problems starting this fall. Last August, wild weather brought the subway system--and the MTA's website--to a halt and left customers clueless, which prompted the MTA to look for text messaging and email alert providers. The MTA tells the Daily News riders will be able to choose which routes they want alerts for. Currently riders can subscribe to weekly service advisory notifications, but those are for scheduled service changes.

The day 1 frenzy over the new iPhone 3G has extended into this sunny Saturday: People were dutifully waiting outside an AT&T store near Astor Place at 7:45 a.m. There have been mixed results with people activating their new iPhones--while some have been successful, others are getting error messages, forcing them into iPocalyptic hysteria.

As reader djmac captured an iPhone 3G-related fight outside a Lexington Avenue AT&T store, the customers who managed to snag the new device were bereft when problems prevented their phones from activating both in the physical stores and on the iTunes store. (Gizmodo has tips for fixing some problems.) Many AT&T stores are reporting they don't have anymore iPhone 3Gs; some remain at the Apple stores.

This Friday, Apple is releasing the next generation of its extremely popular iPhone. Last week, the line for the new 3G iPhone started to form at the Fifth Avenue store.

A judge ruled Google must turn over the logins and IP address of everyone who has ever watched anything on Youtube to Viacom, which is suing Google over copyrighted clips appearing on YouTube. Privacy advocates are criticizing the decision, but Viacom claims it will only use the information for its case, "It will be handled subject to a court protective order and in a highly confidential manner." Google's lawyer said, "We are pleased the court put some limits on discovery, including refusing to allow Viacom to access users' private videos and our search technology...We will ask Viacom to respect users' privacy and allow us to anonymize the logs before producing them under the court's order." It is believed by some that "virtually every Internet user has visited YouTube."

Various city agencies are using a $500 million wireless network that makes information more accessible and immediate. Examples the NY Times gives are suspects' photos viewable from police cars, "live video of fires taken from traffic helicopters above" for firefighters," and "housing inspectors will be capable of looking up building plans while on location." While there are some concerns from unions that employees will be monitored, the city hopes the new technology will help save money in the long run. And already, it's enabling the Department of Sanitation to pick up detritus, like a dead opossum, more quickly.

New York is in the midst of graduation season, when freshly minted scholars don cap and gown to accept sheepskins and jobs they will probably remember as their most demeaning. But first they'll have the opportunity to ingest the wisdom of their commencement speakers. Also, it's an opportunity to get on TV and be tackled by security guards. David Letterman ran a top-ten list of signs that you have a bad commencement speaker. Shockingly, no mention of whether the speaker's name rhymed with Gov. Nelliot Schvitzer.

The Sun reports that a new Department of Education policy that "bans employees from linking to their Web logs in their work e-mail signature" is making at least one staffer with a blog unhappy.

Earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg announced a new plan to put health information of millions of New Yorkers online. He touted the initiative, "By bringing this health technology to New Yorkers, we are building a national model for a health care system that works... In Washington, they talk about how our health care system should be reformed; here in New York City, we are actually doing it."

Giving business analysts something to talk about besides the economy, Microsoft has made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo!. The offer is at $31/share, which is 62% more than Yahoo's closing price.

Of course, the continued high cost of fuel remains a brake on the economy. And if there's one thing that financial markets abhor, it is uncertainty. With the Presidential election eleven months off and a wide variety of candidates bandying about different economic proposals, it becomes difficult for investors to plan for or around what the future may hold. In short, hang on. As one analyst for Standard & Poor's wrote in a research note that was quoted in the Times, "The best investment may be in aspirins and a neck brace."

While Six Sigma's goal-oriented blather and obsession with measuring everything was jarring, it was also weirdly familiar, inasmuch as it was strikingly reminiscent of my college Maoism I class. Mao seemed to be a good model for Jack Welch and his Six Sigma foot soldiers; Six Sigma's "Champions" and "Black Belts" were Mao's "Cadres" and "Squad Leaders."

Continue reading "Television Watching: Dateline Exposed?"

Last week we learned that all New York taxis will soon be held to higher fuel efficiency standards; starting next October new cabs must get at least 25 miles per gallon. But the cab changes don’t stop there – in addition to upcoming GPS and touch-screen video technology, the Taxi and Limousine Commission is considering selling an unlimited card for cab riders, which may feature “fare integration” with buses and subways. Over half the city’s 13,000+ cabs are equipped with credit card readers; the TLC expects all of them to take your plastic by spring ’08 – and Metrocards are being proposed as a next step.

A plan is going to be submitted to the MTA's board for approval this week to spend $1.3 million to install a computerized monitoring system for the subway systems 300+ elevators and escalators. The purpose is to speed the response when elevators and escalators are out of service. Currently, the MTA operates a web page that is updated three times a day to inform riders when escalators and elevators are out of service, but it is reliant on NYC Transit employees or riders themselves to report malfunctions.

It seems like just yesterday that the Brooklyn Bridge was being blown up by Hollywood. How time flies. I Am Legend, the movie for which this post-apocalyptic craziness occurred, is opening today (get your promotional survivor kit ready!). In the 100 minutes of watching it, you'll meet three main characters: Manhattan, Sam the dog, and Will Smith ("Robert Neville"). The combination is apparently a winning one, as the reviews have been frighteningly positive...it will scare you, and it will especially scare New Yorkers (particularly if those future gas prices are accurate). You can watch the 3-minute opening scene, here.

Spanish ibérico ham used to be banned in the United States because of USDA restrictions. However, as part of a newish approval process, the first shipments of the stuff arrived last week at New York stores Despaña and Dean & DeLuca. The former is selling free range sliced ibérico at $90-$99 a pound, and the latter has some of the fancier bellota ham at $75 a pound. More ibérico ham is on the way- in fact it’s already at the airport. “It has to clear customs first,” said Angélica Intriago, Despaña’s co-owner. “We’re at the top of the waiting list.”