Category: general

Last week was Maker Week for us, and the culmination was the Maker Faire over the weekend. This was my first Maker Faire, and wow was it an absolute blast. I highly recommend taking in one of their events if there’s one in your town. Perhaps the best attribute of the Maker Faire is that… Read More

Love this so much, Tyler Vigen’s Spurious Correlations, randomly compares data sets and creates correlations. Frequently, hilarity ensues. Like The Onion, I’m sure its “findings” will be misrepresented as serious news soon. h/t Flowing Data  

Yesterday, our fearless leader, Jeremy Ashley (@jrwashley), gave a keynote at MakerCon. Unfortunately, I had to miss it, but the guys reported a positive reaction. Noel (@noelportugal) pointed me to tweets for rapid reaction. Here’s a sample: Yeah, I cherry-picked, but you can read the reactions yourself if you don’t believe me. The keynote was recorded,… Read More

Google Now recently added a Parking Location card to help you solve the classic dude-where’s-my-car problem. According to The Verge: The company’s Google Now assistant will now recognize when you’ve left a moving vehicle and automatically keep track of your car’s last location. There’s no magic happening here: Google does all of this using your… Read More

Even though I’m more than content with the Chromecast, the Amazon Fire TV caught my eye for a very simple reason: Amazon Prime content. I’ve been buying digital content from Amazon since they launched their MP3 Store, the first place to buy music without any DRM, back in 2007, and Amazon is the only place… Read More

Noel (@noelportugal) chatted with the Bionym guys at SXSW earlier this year, and I know I speak for all of us here in the ‘Lab when I say I’m very stoked to get my Nymi and start playing with it. Check out Techcrunch’s writeup and demo video. Since I can’t embed TC’s video for some… Read More

I’m finally harvesting my open browser tabs, sharing some of the cool stuff that has been patiently waiting to be shared with you, gentle reader. Chrome Remote Desktop for Android Chrome Remote Desktop has been quietly awesome for a few years, and Google recently extended it to Android. So now, I can troubleshoot my parents’ computer… Read More

On this team, we all carry Android devices, lots of them, including phones. Even Noel (@noelportugal) has finally been converted. Everyone on the team, minus me, is an Android developer, and as they build for new devices like Google Glass and the upcoming Android Wear watches, the ability to project screen images becomes more essential. Case… Read More

Maker Faire Bay Area (@makerfaire) is coming up quickly, May 17 and 18, and we’re excited to be participating. Here’s the backstory on why. Ultan (@ultan) and Justin (@kestelyn) spoke at Maker Faire 2012 (video), and the Java (@java) team is a major sponsor of the Maker Faire. Unfortunately for him, Ultan won’t be around to attend, so when… Read More

It’s been a busy month around these parts. Noel (@noelportugal) and I went to the Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam, Utrect, and Nieuwegein, to visit AMIS and show some of the cool stuff Applications UX has been doing. By all accounts the event was a massive success with something like 450 people visiting AMIS during the day to visit.… Read More

After years of hounding from me, Noel (@noelportugal) made the jump to Android usage and development about a year ago. He started with a Nexus 7, the first generation one, but it wasn’t until he got a phone, the Moto X, that the transformation was complete. So now, Noel is mixed ecosystem guy. We’ve had… Read More

Editor’s note: Another cross-post from VoX, this one from Julian Orr. User experience works best when you understand your users. So, help us understand you and your mobile strategy by completing this painless and fun questionnaire. What is your perspective on enterprise mobility? Tell us! By Julian Orr, Oracle Applications User Experience Is there a… Read More

About a month ago, I walked off a plane into the terminal at SJC. As I hiked that long walk to the exit, I heard a familiar and annoying sound, the Emergency Alert System sound. The sound was muffled, and it took me a few more steps to realize it was my own phone bleating… Read More

Editor’s note: Here’s a cross-post from VoX by Friend of the ‘Lab, Kathy Miedema, about a Raspberry Pi Hackday Noel (@noelportugal) organized and ran a couple weeks ago. The basic idea was to get developers up and running on the Pi quickly and have some fun. Enjoy. New Oracle developers get a taste of Raspberry… Read More

Last year in the Fall, Anthony (@anthonyslai) and Noel (@noelportugal) wanted to get some experience with their new Leap Motion gestural controllers. So, naturally, they decided to use the Leap to control the OWI 535 robot arm via its USB interface. Shortly after they finished that, they began to complain that the OWI 535 wasn’t good enough. They conspired… Read More

So, it’s all David (@dhaimes) all week, or something, because here comes another post about him. This time, it’s his walking meetings that caught my eye, quite literally. I was sitting in the lobby of the Oracle Convention Center in January during the IOUC Summit, looking out the window at the 70-degree day, and David… Read More

Sometimes, I get to share something awesome. A post about how Oracle Social Network can be used by Oracle ERP Cloud users happens to be something awesome. Let me explain. Despite assumptions to the contrary, accounting is a very collaborative exercise in many enterprises. Ultan (@ultan) does a great job explaining why in his post… Read More

Noel (@noelportugal) and I will be heading to the Netherlands in March for a special event at AMIS. On March 18, AMIS will be hosting an OAUX (or Oracle Applications User Experience if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) Expo. The purpose of an expo, the brainchild of Misha (@mishavaughan), is to provide a… Read More