InksEnd

Flying car implies it will replace anybodys car, said Carl Dietrich, chief executive officer of Terrafugia, which is developing the Transition, a personal aircraft designed to travel on skyways and highways. Flying car brings out a lot of connotations and The Jetsons.

A quick look at what it takes to control normal automobile traffic in our cities and states gives it away. We won’t be getting flying cars anytime soon, but I still just enjoy the fact that Paul Moller does what he does. I was a bit surprised to hear he’s 70 years old and I assume that means at some time in the next few decades we’ll lose updates on this story.

Fortunately for all of us, the X-prize and Google’s recent move to back the endeavor promise to bring us loads of fun for years.

• Google offers $30 million for the first commercial lunar rover
• Rover must safely land on the moon and beam back images and video to Earth
• Google partnered with the X Prize Foundation for the moon challenge
• Ansari X Prize contest led to the first manned private spaceflight in 2004

I’m happy to say, I finally upgraded my laptop this year. I’d be happier to say my employer realized the thinkpad I carried was fast becoming a paperweight, but that wasn’t the case. Regardless of funding, it was time for a new Thinkpad.

Primary benefits:

• Sprint PPC-6700 works as a tethered internet connection with Vista
• 15.1 inch wide screen matches the Samsung BW226 monitor I run in the office so I no longer live with resizing screen and changing layout every time I move
• I can play World of Warcraft anywhere I want (including across my Sprint connection)

Technically speaking, my cell phone isn’t tethered to the thinkpad. I can connect to it using the built-in Bluetooth connection, but the effect is the same. I get over 200Kbps download rate and that’s enough to work from most locations even without local wifi. The other night, my son and I even tried it with WoW and it ran reasonably well. The resolution issue is more of a pet peeve for me, but I have to admit having 1680×1050 resolution at home and then going on the road with everything crammed into 1024×768 was starting to get me down.

The real benefit of the upgrade is that I can get out and about again. With the work I do today, I was really feeling tied to my office for too many activities. For my own sanity, productivity and growth I need to be out in front of people more often.