gemini

An alleged road map for Microsoft's coming Gemini wave of Office updates, if accurate, indicates Microsoft's Office for iOS and Android -- as well as Outlook for Windows RT -- might not happen as soon as many had hoped for and expected.

A source of mine shared what appears to me to be a real road map for Gemini.

It kicks off with Gemini wave 1.0, which includes the Blue metro-style/Windows Store complements to the core set of Office products -- namely, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. From what I've heard previously, these four apps will be more touch-centric and will work on Windows 8 and Windows RT. … Read more

Windows Blue, Windows Server Blue, Windows Phone Blue, Windows Services Blue. The one thing missing from this list of next-generation Microsoft releases is a Blue version of Office. Is there one?

There is. But it's not code-named Blue. It's code-named Gemini.

Gemini is a wave of Office releases coming over the next two years, according to my sources. Wave No. 1, which will be aligned with Windows Blue, will be updated versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which should be out this fall, I am hearing.

Will these first-wave apps be the full Metro-Style/Windows Store versions … Read more

If you were an American astronaut heading into space anytime in the last 50 years or so, chances are your trip started in Florida.

More specifically, that flight -- into Earth's orbit or to the moon, in a shuttle or in a capsule -- would have started at the Kennedy Space Center on the Atlantic coastline. That now sprawling facility has been at the heart of NASA's operations since the fledgling space agency took over what had been a missile firing laboratory as the 1950s gave way to the 1960s.

The facility didn't carry John Kennedy's … Read more

The Android tablet wars gained two new combatants today when Skytex Technology announced a pair of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich devices for release later in July. Priced lower than most products in their class, the tablets might have been much more appealing if only they arrived a few months earlier.

On the lower end of the spectrum, the Skypad Gemini is a 7-inch tablet with a $179 price tag and your standard fare of Android features. Inside are a 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Like nearly every other … Read more

LIVINGSTON, Ill.--I see that you have a mint condition Rocket Firing Boba Fett action figure. That's pretty cool, but not as cool as my fully restored Gemini Giant with all accessories, astronaut helmet, and rocket ship intact.

I'm collecting Route 66 Muffler Men for the Geek's Guide to Route 66. These massive fiberglass statues dominate the parking lots and roadside attractions where they live. They all come from the common birthplace of the now defunct International Fiberglass in Venice, Calif., during the 1960s. As impressive as they look standing in place, imagine seeing one trucking down the highway on its way to a new home.

Roadside America has a handy spotter's guide to get you oriented when starting your own Muffler Man collection. I bagged three Muffler Men in one day of driving on Illinois's extensive chunk of the Mother Road. I was going to have them mounted on plaques for my living room but couldn't find a willing taxidermist.

Gemini Giant This bad boy is a reminder of the days when the Space Age was upon us and all things rocket-related were cool. The Gemini Giant holds down the fort at the Launching Pad Drive-In in Wilmington, Ill. He weighs 500 pounds and is a towering 28 feet tall. That's more than 27 feet taller than your average action figure.

Bunyon's Statue The Gemini Giant's twin brother hefts a honkin' huge hot dog just down the road in Atlanta, Ill. He once stood sentinel over a cafe in the town, but decided to stick around after the the diner closed. Really, who's going to tell a 500-pound man with a hot dog that he can't hang out?… Read more

Young and broke. That pretty much sums up the DJ chapter in my life. Aside from the handful of celebrity DJs out there, most of us start out with only a few bucks, a love of music, and the goal of someday playing an unforgettable party.

It is with these humble roots in mind that Gemini created the FirstMix. A combination of USB hardware and cross-platform software, the $99 FirstMix system gives newbies an inexpensive entry point into DJ stardom.

As DJ rigs go, there isn't much to it. The hardware is a plastic slab with a toy-like feel, a crossfader, some knobs, and two jog wheel controls dressed up like little virtual turntables. The overall feel is about what you'd expect for the price. The sensitivity and responsiveness of the controls is impressive, though. … Read more

MB Gemini Astrology is a simple bit of freeware that offers users a variety of reports related to people born under the astrological sign of Gemini. There's very little in the way of interaction, but the information is presented in clear, easy-to-understand fashion.

After passing a jumbled introductory screen, the user is presented with a single, bare-bones interface. Certain elements that seem changeable are actually fixed--the zodiac quality, the symbol, the element, and the birth dates for Gemini don't change--but you can select from a variety of reports about different aspects of this star sign's particular traits. … Read more

Gmail may not yet have the same footprint as Microsoft Exchange, but megadeals such as a recently announced 30,000-seat installation at Valeo prove that large enterprises are comfortable running applications in the cloud.

Valeo, an "independent industrial group fully focused on the design, production, and sale of components, integrated systems, and modules for cars and trucks," is deploying Google Apps, supported by Capgemini, in a phased approach throughout 2009 ultimately serving the 193 Valeo entities in 27 countries. The adoption of Google Apps among those units is part of a program to reduce administrative expenses.

As a … Read more

Executives at NBC Universal know they must walk a fine line in creating a Web series designed to showcase an advertiser's product or service. To some, it sounds like a recipe for disaster.

"If it's cheesy," said Vivi Zigler, NBC's executive vice president of digital entertainment and new media, "if it doesn't fit, if it's inappropriate, it won't work for us. It won't work for the brand. We're dead."

The network on Friday said it has directed writers, producers, and actors including Rosario Dawson to create stories … Read more