Season's Greetings

Enjoy this animated card from Jacquie Lawson.

Jet Lag Explained

See this Interesting study on Jet Lag. Now I know why I always feel like so bad after changing time zones.  However I have my own measurement - average MPH. You don't feel normal until your average MPH is below 4 (normal human speed) When you step of the plane after a 12 hour flight across 6 time zones your MPH is 600. It takes 2 days to get below 4 which is when you'll start to feel better.

Google Maps For Cycling

Google today introduced maps for cycling.  In my trial use some of the routes are lacking but it will only get better with time with crowd sourcing feedback.  I have been using a Google Maps mashup to store and share bicycle routes for years.  I've tagged my routes on delicious here.

Here's the video that shows how it works.

Broad-winged Hawks Nesting in San Jose

Today I discovered that we have a hawk family nesting in the tall palm tree on our street.  It was quite a sight.  I took these pictures this morning.  I tried to identify them and as best as I can tell they are Broad-winged Hawks.

Can anyone verify?

The Serendipitous Beauty of iPhone Use Cases

It seems not a day goes by that I don't discover a new use case for my iPhone.  My latest happened driving home from San Mateo.  It was 1:30PM,  Terry Gross was wrapping up her interview with James Cameron and I caught the last 5 minutes.  Having just watched the Avatar I really wanted to hear the whole interview.  Then it hit me. I could use the new NPR iPhone App to listen to it.  So I went to Programs - Fresh Air - James Cameron - Listen Now, connected my iPhone to the car stereo and VIOLA listened to the entire interview.

How cool is that?

When iPhone users meet, the conversation inevitable turns to "What cool applications have you discovered?".  That exploration is even more compelling as the apps can be downloaded and tried right there and then. It's hard to imagine how the iPhone challengers will ever catch up.  Efforts by Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics, Samsung and 21 others to create an App Store for all their divergent phones will be lost in complexity and fraught with political land mines.

As I noted in "Goodbye Laptop - Hello iPhone" the iPhone experience has changed the way I use computers in many profound ways. Now I can't wait for my next serendipitous iPhone-user meeting to learn another life changing use case.