Today @ PC World - What's Hot in Emerging Tech, Part 1

after listening to the o'reilly podcasts 'distributing the future' I'm hearing that this - O'Reilly's Emerging Technology Conference - is the ubergeek conference of the year (or at least way up there). It is ending today or tomorrow, but here's one part that caught my eye. Maybe the screen grabber will help our tendonitis and CT:

Today @ PC World - What's Hot in Emerging Tech, Part 1: "What's Hot in Emerging Tech, Part 1

Posted by Anne B. McDonald
Wednesday, March 08, 2006, 06:20 PM (PST)


A report from 24 hours at the most mind-bogglingest conference in computerdom.

Every year some of the most creative and innovative software and hardware developers on the planet gather at O'Reilly Media's Emerging Technology conference to describe what's new in the lab (or low-rent studio apartment, as the case may be).

Even if only a few of these programming marvels are ever used widely, those few have the potential to change the way everyday people work and play. And then you get a look at a multi-touch screen that lets you sculpt data and screen elements with your own fingers, and you start to think that you are indeed peering into the future.

A Real Screen Grabber Jeff Han of New York University was in the dark as he used both hands (and those of a volunteer) to demonstrate his research team’s 36-inch multi-touch display during the conference’s morning session yesterday.

Imagine using two fingers to resize an on-screen window, or drawing a shape with a fingertip, and then squeeze, pinch, and otherwise reshape the image with every finger you've got. You can even squeeze a virtual lava lamp, sending the multi-color liquid in various swirly patterns. Take one look at the demo, and you too will be itching to get your hands on this display.

Live Clipboard

You may see a new scissors icon popping up on your favorite Web sites in the not-too-distant future. Microsoft is developing the Live Clipboard that will give users much more control as they copy data from Web sites, or paste data into Web forms, or from the Web into their applications.

Ray Ozzie, creator of Lotus Notes and now Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, showed the technology that layers atop Windows' own clipboard but recognizes such data as RSS feeds, street addresses, and calendar entries, and pastes intelligently.

The company"