(via the rut.)

Since Routesy is a paid app, I can follow along with the “commercial” part of that argument. What I don’t understand is, how did the data in question become private to begin with?

As some background, NextBus tracks the position of each Muni transit vehicle and provides predictions to signs in bus shelters all over San Francisco, as well as NextBus’ own website. The data itself is collected by a device on each bus and train that monitors GPS position and speed. NextBus claims two patents on this technology, 6,006,159 and 6,374,176, and licenses numerous others from ArrivalStar.

So, sure, NextBus has invested some time, money, and energy in developing a predictive technology for municipal transit.

Here’s the catch: according to NextBus’ website, Muni pays for every facet of this service, from the tracking devices themselves to the shelter signs to the service itself. This then begs the question, who owns this data? NextBus would have you believe they do, since they’re using their patented technology to gather it and produce predictions.

That’s tantamount to paying a company to crunch a bunch of numbers using their patented method and having them assert they own the result. Simply ridiculous.

Edit: It turns out NextBus, the company that runs nextbus.com, is not the entity attempting to license data to Routesy. Instead, it’s a company called “NextBus Information Systems,” a two person shop that originally owned NextBus’ technology but sold it in 2004. Further detail is available in two great articles, one on SFAppeal, and the other on SFweekly.

Many experienced Apple fans will tell you to skip the first iteration of any hardware Apple produces and instead wait for “v2,” the theory being that any quirks and mistakes will have been discovered and worked through.

This seems to have held true for the iPhone as the 3G S, with its faster processor and additional memory, adds a number of features that were sorely lacking from the original iPhone: voice dialing and video recording. Coupled with the iPhone 3.0 OS update, users get a laundry list of features they’ve been demanding since day one, such as cut and paste, “push” notifications, global search, and MMS.

My 3G S arrives on or around June 19th. Keep an eye on my blog for first impressions as well as demonstrations of the new features and how they perform in real-world usage.

Edit: Mike pointed out that this is really “v3,” since v2 was the original iPhone 3G. While technically true, the original iPhone 3G was substantially the same as the 2G; the only differences were the enclosure and RF subsystem. The iPhone 3G S is a complete internal redesign with new mainboard, faster processor, magnetometer, new camera module, new RF module, double the RAM, and more.

We’re in the midst of a revolution the world has never seen before. I’m hesitant to characterize it as a “new media” revolution, since the media used in art have always been evolving to some extent. This revolution is instead one where the line between consumer and artist is blurred, almost to the point of being invisible.

Never before have we had so many affordable tools available to the masses to produce art and never before has such a convenient and inexpensive distribution channel — the Internet — been available to essentially everyone.

The result is fantastic, original content instantly available to the masses, such as the video above, titled “Last Day Dream.” Filmed with a Canon 5D Mark II camera and Lensbaby lenses, it is a wonderfully moving final look back at a man’s life. The content is only 45 seconds long but conveys a compelling story through brief flashes of the past.

It seems to be only a matter of time before we have independently produced, high-quality, feature-length content available for playback with a single click.

(via Laughing Squid)

Overall, I’d call the movie a great success, although some of the forced (and horribly cheesy) dialog threatened to derail the story at times. For example, Uhura coos the line, “I’ll be monitoring your frequency,” to her significant other as he prepares to transport on a risky mission.

There were also a few scenes that seemed out of place and superfluous, such as Kirk being chased by a Spore-esque array of animals on an ice planet.

Those minor nits aside, the movie was action packed, highly entertaining, and, above all else, a very successful restart to the franchise.

If Microsoft waves their proposed magic wand hard and fast enough, do you think it would make us forget our Windows problems? Maybe it would make the “I’m a Mac” dude disappear?