Some interesting things that I learned about at the Hacker’s Conference that either are or have Web sites:
- http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html and http://www.googleguide.com/help/calculator.html
- http://www.nw.com/nw/projects/cubatron/
- http://www.dataplace.org/
- http://www.ergodex.com/ (arbitrarily configurable keyboard; intended for gamers but lots of other creative uses; Windows-only)
- http://www.ageia.com/ (physics accelerator for video games; Windows/PC only)
- http://mappoint.msn.com/directionsfind.aspx (select the “LineDrive” format and watch in awe as Microsoft draws you a schematic map to your destination, with the uninteresting long freeway sections compressed and the complex local neighborhood sections in detail, all black and white for easy printing, proof that not everything interesting is happening at Google)
Enjoy!
Nor is everything interesting happening today. Linedrive is at least four years old.
Ergodex has a cool looking product but how (and why) do they break the “back” button in my Web browser? I know how to go back more than one page at once, but why should I have to? I really hate those sorts of tricks.
Linedrive was also not invented at Microsoft. It was part of MapBlast, which Microsoft bought. I sort of wish Google had bought it, but it was before their map product was online.
And before it was part of MapBlast, LineDrive was a research project spun out of Stanford. Kind of like Google. Hmm, maybe “everything interesting” is originating at the Stanford CS Department ?
I like LineDrive, but I wish it would always show the name of the freeway exit right before the one you’re supposed to take.
Also, I’ve always wanted mapping services to offer an option to exclude local street directions for either the origin or destination. About 75% of the time I request directions, one of the endpoints is my house or someplace else I know really well. I don’t need to waste paper with a picture of which way to turn out of my driveway to get to the freeway.