Imagine you have a mobile device, like a PDA or a smartphone, that knows where you are and understands the context of the surroundings (e.g. “I’m at home” or “I’m at work” or “I’m at the mall”). Now, having such a device, what kind of things do you imagine the mobile device would do to make your life easier and/or better?
I’ll give you an example to get you started. For example, I would imagine that when I arrive at home or at work, the mobile device would wirelessly and automatically synchronize with my home or work computer without my intervention. It would also inform me if it had found a new Wi-Fi network (maybe the neighbour had just installed it). When I’m walking in the mall, for example, it would detect if there were any wireless network or other services that I could use during my visit at the mall, for example a mall shops directory, free internet access, movie schedules, ordering food from the food court, paying for parking, etc.
I would really appreciate it if you could write your ideas as comments to this post, and you could write in English (preferred) or Indonesian if you’d like. Thanks!
There is an audio recording and transcript of a very good recent interview with Bruce Schneier, the father of cryptography and a well-known security expert, mostly about recent security issues, biometrics, and his latest book, Beyond Fear.
Host Doug Kaye says, “This is the one interview I hope everyone will hear.”
In his lated book, Beyond Fear, security guru Bruce Schneier goes beyond cryptography and network security to challenge our post-9/11 national security practices. Here are some teasers:
- “We’re seeing so much nonsense after 9/11, and so many people are saying things about security, about terrorism that just makes no sense.”
- “Homeland security measures are an enormous waste of money.”
- “If the goal of security is to protect against yesterday’s attacks, we’re really good at it.”
- “The system didn’t fail in the way the designers expected.”
- “Attackers exploit the rarity of failures.”
- “More people are killed every year by pigs than by sharks, which shows you how good we are at evaluating risk.”
- “Did you ever wonder why tweezers were confiscated at security checkpoints, but matches and cigarette lighters–actual combustible materials–were not?…If the tweezers lobby had more power, I’m sure they would have been allowed on board as well.”
- “When the U.S. Government says that security against terrorism is worth curtailing individual civil liberties, it’s because the cost of that decision is not borne by those making it.”
- “…people make bad security trade-offs when they’re scared.”
Read or
listen to this terrific interview in which Bruce also says what he thinks of
the 9/11 hearings and answers questions from listeners regarding spam and biometrics. This is one of our best.
My close friends in Sydney treated me a nice birthday dinner at Hurricane’s Grill, Bondi Beach. My initial expectations were high due to various comments given by my friends regarding this restaurant. It turned out that the food and service was, overall, excellent. I had the “Ribs and Steak” which consists of a half-rack of grilled pork ribs and a 200gr steak. I also ordered creamy mushroom sauce, which was very rich and creamy, I think everyone liked it. I had been warned about the generous portions served at Hurricane’s, but I can usually eat a lot. I was given a choice of pork or lamb, but I was not in the mood for lamb. I was a little bit disappointed with the steak though, it was nice, but together with the ribs it’s like comparing driving a 1995 Toyota Corolla (which was a good car when I had it) and driving my friend Fernando’s Toyota MR2 Spyder. I wish I had ordered the Portuguese chicken instead of the steak, the chicken was full of flavour and tender. The ribs was the best ribs I’ve ever had, better than Tony Roma’s. We also ordered ceasar salad and onion rings which were not bad, but not really that special in my opinion. I had a Crown Lager to wash off the delicious pork ribs. The price tag is a little bit too expensive for a student like myself, but at a “mere” AU$35 for a huge and delicious portion of ribs and steak and a quality beer, it is a bargain for most working Australians. Plus, there’s a beautiful beach right across the road.
An interesting thing I found when I was looking for the restaurant’s website to put in this post is that Hurricane’s Grill is an EPSON Australia customer. One of the top results in Google led me to a PDF document in EPSON Australia’s website describing the system that the restaurant had commissioned from EPSON Australia to be used for POS, kitchen order and receipt printing. The restaurant waiters also use handheld devices to take orders from the patrons, which I presume are linked via a wireless network to the kitchen’s ordering system. The restaurant’s main objective for having the system was to minimise the time from taking orders to serving the orders to the tables. I have seen this kind of system being used in a Wagamama restaurant when I was in London around July 2003, so it’s not a new concept to me. But it’s still an intriguing idea for a business opportunity. :D
Hurricane's Grill
130 Roscoe Street, Bondi Beach
Sydney NSW 2026 Australia
Website: http://hurricanesgrill.com/
Reservations: +61 2 9130 7101
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