Note to readers: The deadline for online participant registration for Wikimania 2017 in Montreal is Monday July 31st. Participants can still attend after this date on site, but availability may be limited.
Wikimania is coming to Montreal August 9-13. The annual global conference celebrates the popular Wikipedia knowledge resource and its sister knowledge products. The advancement of free knowledge, privacy and digital rights and the role of technology to further those objectives are at the core of the keynote and community submitted talks at Wikimania. If all you experienced is getting the occasional online information on the free www.wikipedia.org you are missing out on what made the grassroots Wiki concept a success – the fifth largest visited site on the web.
Wikimedia founder Jimmy Wells, lower left, never dissapoints in his keynotes at the annual worldwide Wikimania events
The new Instax SQUARE SQ10 hybrid instant camera, $369.99, manages to combine the fun of popular instant Polaroid picture snapping and printing with cutting edge digital backups, stored in the camera. Re-prints anyone?
Smart? Yes. Win-win? Maybe. Practical? No.
Instant magic prints with digital backup. You’re the life of the party!
Amazon’s Black Friday is here today and gone tomorrow! Reminder today is Amazon Prime Day with 30% to 50% savings on electronics, movie gift sets, TV’s, Kindle, eReaders and more. Free regular Canadian Amazon members need to pay $79 annually for Prime membership to take in the deals and free two-day delivery all year round, preferred pricing every day and Amazon TV and Movie access…or try the free 30 day trial.
A smartphone cradle that runs like a desktop computer on any big screen with mouse and keyboard?
Say hello to Samsung’s DeX Station, $249.99 CDN, portable charging cradle on steroids, complete with wireless smarts, Ethernet, two USB, one power and HDMI ports making any monitor or TV a desktop-like experience. For now, it only works with Samsung’s newest S8 and S8 plus smartphones, with more compatibility in the works.
DeX Station with mounted Galaxy S8, lower left, works with corded or Bluetooth mice and keyboards and HDMI ports on TV’s and monitors, including All-in-One desktops like the HP Envy. It let’s you run productivity and entertainment apps on one big desktop screen
Netflix’s Interactive Storytelling lets you watch a TV story over and over, with different beginnings, happenings and endings you can choose from. It’s like being a director of your own show.
Kids can control the direction of a story on TV or iPad
Technology is changing everywhere, but the wheel will still be here…in a big way. That’s good news for France based tire maker Michelin who hosted the Movin’On international summit for sustainable mobility in Montreal. #MovinOnConf
Jean-Dominique Senard, CEO and Managing General Partner of the Michelin Group at Movin’On and a Michelin visionary concept of a tire that is airless, made with a 3D printer from recycled materials, does not need inflation, will last as long as the car and is recyclable. New tires can be 3D printed on demand to suit weather conditions.
Attention Mother’s Day procrastinators! If you have not chosen your gift on the eve of honouring mothers, check my list of smart tech gift suggestions, apps and most importantly, why I like all of them. All come from reputable makers and are proven technology. Some of these are only available online but I’m sure husbands and children can find clever ways of stalling Mom with a small delivery gift delay, right?
The new LG G6 smartphone has a feature no other phone maker can match:
Breathtaking super-wide 13 megapixel photos, part of its unique dual camera design using a standard 71 degree view f1.8 normal optical image stabilization (OIS) lens and a unique zoomable f2.4 software stabilized 125 degree view lens, also 13 MP. Its wide view coverage can be zoomed to where the standard lens takes over. The front 5MP f2.2 selfie also offers a 100 degree wide view.
National Palace of Pena in Portugal through a two meter-wide enclosure
Microsoft’s ground-breaking Surface Studio Windows 10 desktop arrives in Canada on April 20 and will change the way you think and create digital art on one gorgeous high resolution 28-inch zero gravity screen.
It also introduces a new optional, must have, mouse-like device called the Dial adding to the included pressure sensitive Pen, mouse and keyboard.
The innovative Dial takes on multi-tasking on the new Surface Studio
