The author, Pico Iyer, reveals some fascinating facts about modern society, and how we interact within our wired world…

The average office worker today, researchers have found, enjoys no more than three minutes at a time at his or her desk without interruption.

The average American spends at least eight and a half hours a day in front of a screen.

The average American teenager sends or receives 75 text messages a day, though one girl in Sacramento managed to handle an average of 10,000 every 24 hours for a month.

We have more and more ways to communicate, as Henry David Thoreau noted, but less and less to say. Partly because we’re so busy communicating.

Pico Iyer is the author, most recently of “The Man Within My Head.”

There’s four new E-reader products…

The all-new Kindle ($79)

Two new touch Kindles – Kindle Touch ($99) and Kindle Touch 3G ($149)

The Kindle Keyboard ($99) and Kindle Keyboard 3G ($139)

The new Kindle Fire has a full color screen and can play movies and TV shows and music, and also serves as an E-reader for books and magazines. The Kindle Fire also runs apps and games, and allows for browsing the web; for a retail price of $199.

amazon.com has all the details on their website:
Kindle and Kindle Touch have the most-advanced E Ink display technology available, and the 3G Kindle Touch adds free 3G wireless – no monthly fees and no annual contracts. Kindle Fire brings everything together into a single, fully-integrated experience for customers – instant access to Amazon’s massive selection of digital content, a vibrant color IPS touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle, a 14.6 ounce design that’s easy to hold with one hand, a state-of-the-art dual core processor, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, and an ultra-fast mobile browser – Amazon Silk – available exclusively on Kindle Fire.

Kindle Fire has a radical new web browser called Amazon Silk. When you use Silk – without thinking about it or doing anything explicit – you’re calling on the raw computational horsepower of Amazon EC2 to accelerate your web browsing.

The Apple website summed it up this way…”Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius…his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

Indeed, the world has lost an amazing human being. Steve Jobs has passed away at age 56, after years of suffering through pancreatic cancer, and a liver transplant in 2009. He had just resigned as Apple’s CEO in August, and turned the company’s leadership over to Tim Cook.

Some mainstream media are comparing the contributions of Steve Jobs to Thomas Edison or Leonardo da Vinci, whose inventions and innovations created a huge impact on modern culture.

Consider Steve Job’s lifetime of achievements, which brought form and function together in elegant consumer products. He made technology cool, and more importantly, he made it work.

1976: Apple Corp. founded with Stephen Wozniak
1977: Apple II personal computer
1980: Apple III
1984: Macintosh personal computer & Mac OS graphical operating system
1985: NeXT Computer Inc.
1986: Pixar Animation Studios
1998: iMac desktop computer
2001: iPod media player & iTunes software
2003: iTunes online digital media store & Safari web browser
2005: Mac mini, iPod Nano & iPod Shuffle
2006: MacBook & MacBook Pro notebooks
2007: iPhone & iPod Touch
2008: iPhone 3G & MacBook Air ultra-thin notebook
2009: iPhone 3GS
2010: iPhone 4 & iPad media tablet
2011: iPad 2 & iPhone 4S

ABC News has assembled a short video tribute to Steve Jobs’ life and legacy.

CNN has a well produced collection of video clips and MacWorld highlights
with Steve Jobs introducing some of Apple’s coolest products…

New features of the iPhone 4S include…

A dual core A5 processor that delivers up to seven times faster graphics and is more power efficient, extending battery life.  Talk time is up to eight hours, with nine hours of Wi-Fi browsing on a full charge.

Twin Antennas; iPhone 4S is the first phone that switches between two antennas to transmit and receive, so call quality is better. It also doubles the maximum HSDPA data speeds to 14.4 Mbps.

An eight-megapixel camera provides better resolution with flash, or what Apple is calling an improved backside illumination sensor. Apple also claims that the update will allow users to print out 8 x 10 photos.

All new optics allow for 1080p HD Video recording, and you can edit video right on the iPhone.

An updated operating system, iOS 5 features a number of important updates, including the messaging center and camera, which you can access right from the screen lock.

Retina Display makes for a sharper display, so the new iPhone 4S has the highest resolution screen ever.

Siri is an personal assistant that you talk to like another person, use it to make calls, send messages or set reminders. It will even read your messages back to you!

iCloud stores all your data in the internet cloud; that includes your music, photos, contacts, calendar events, mail, documents, and even apps.  iCloud syncs your data to all your wireless devices, which is pretty handy for backups.  You can also use the FindMyiPhone app on iCloud to locate your lost phone, remotely set a passcode lock, or initiate a remote wipe to delete your data.

FaceTime will make a video and voice calls between iPhones, iPad2, iPod touch or Mac over WiFi connections.

iPhone 4S will be available in both black and white versions, with a list price of $199 for 16GB, $299 for the 32GB, and a new version with 64GB of storage for $399.  You can pre-order the iPhone 4S starting Friday October 7th, and the device will start shipping on Friday October 14th in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan.

Starting October 14th, Sprint Nextel, the number three wireless provider in the U.S., will join AT&T and Verizon Wireless as the three major wireless carriers authorized to sell the iPhone.

Official Website Apple.com

His use of a fascinating technology called auto-tune led to experiments with remixing bits of scientific fact with his original musicial compositions, which resulted in Carl Sagan’s “A Glorious Dawn.”

Since that first composition and video in 2009, The Symphony of Science now has eleven videos, presenting scientific knowledge and philosophy in a musical context.

The latest Symphony of Science video, “The Quantum World”! examines the nature of the atoms and subatomic particles that comprise all matter.

Their website symphonyofscience.com acknowledges the following…

The project owes its existence in large measure to the classic PBS Series Cosmos, by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steve Soter, as well as all the other featured figures and visuals. Continuation of the videos relies on generous support from fans and followers.

To Teachers across America: as a Thank You for all you do, please watch this video I helped create with Astrophysicist Jeff Goldstein: “We’ve Got To Be That Light.”

Website symphonyofscience.com

Facebook on.fb.me/9VDoC4

YouTube youtube.com/user/melodysheep

Twitter twitter.com/#!/musicalscience

Now it’s time to get back to blogging.  DailyRover has gone through some changes in past years, with it’s current focus on sharing interesting information about the web, mobile technology, and other gee-whiz-high-tech-nerdy stuff.

It’s called DailyRover because it’s intended to be a regular blog about sharing information that I find by roving all over the internet.   Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some power-surfing to do!

Check this list out – you might find a useful app for your phone:

USA.gov – Federal, state, and local government in the palm of your hand.

America.gov Mobile – Information about the U.S. for international audiences.

USAJOBS – Information and services on USAJOBS from U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Product Recalls – Stay informed, stay safe, check for product recalls.

My TSA – Travel wisely with this mobile app from the TSA.

Alternative Fuel Locator – Find alternative fueling stations nearby.

The White House – Up-to-date news and information from the White House.

BMI Calculator – Check your percentage of body fat with the mobile BMI calculator.

EPA Mobile – Information and services from the Environmental Protection Agency.

FBI’s Most Wanted – View the Ten Most Wanted, Most Wanted Terrorists, Missing Children, and more.

FCC Mobile Broadband Test – Test the upload & download speed and latency of your mobile connection and share the results.

FEMA Mobile – Respond to and recover from emergency situations.

Find Your Embassy – Find and contact the nearest U.S. Embassy anywhere in the world.

Fuel Economy.gov – Make sure your car is environmentally friendly.

Library of Congress – Experience a virtual tour of the world’s largest library.

MedlinePlus Mobile – Health information from the government.

My Food-a-Pedia – Count calories and compare foods for healthier choices.

NASA App – Current mission information, images, videos, satellite tracking, and more.

State Department Mobile – Mobile version of the U.S. State Department website.

U.S. Army News & Information – Official news and information from the US Army now available on your iPhone.

U.S. Postal Service Tools – Everything you need to stay connected when you’re on the go.

Veterans Affairs Mobile – Services for veterans from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The next version of iPhone is coming out soon, in fact Best Buy is offering pre-sale orders starting June 15th.

Gizmodo and Engadget have the details (like below.)  The iPhone 4 arrives in Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores June 24th.

iPhone 4 ~ What’s New/Improved:

• 16GB & 32GB in both Black & White
• 9.3MM thick, 25% Thinner than existing iPhone
• 4X Better Screen Resolution than current iPhone (Retina Display)
• Scratch Proof Glass on front & back of phone
• Improved Processor (A4)
• Quad Band HSDPA 7.2
• 802.11n WiFi
• Dual Microphones
• 2 Cameras (one front facing) with 5MP, LED Flash & 5x Digital Zoom
• 720HD Video Recording at 30fps, Tap to Focus, Built-in Video Editing, One-Click Sharing
• Multitasking with New 4.0 Software
• Micro Sim
• 7 Hours of Talk Time
• Video Conference calling over WiFi

Sc’s Sci-Trek is currently broadcasting a series called “Breaking Time.”

The program talks about the elasticity of time and how it not only runs and flows, but also stretches and bends in space.

There’s time present, time past and future time. There’s also space time, with fantastic possibilities for time travel.

Both the Science and Discovery Channels have some great technology programs
to stretch your mind:

Download: The True Story of the Internet Hosted by technology journalist John Heileman, it’s a look behind the silicon curtain at the technological, cultural, commercial and social revolution of the internet.

It’s All Geek To Me Host David Pogue looks under the hood at the technology behind laptops, iPods, digital cameras, cell phones, and all the geeky gadgets that we use daily. He also addresses some techy problems like how to save past data.

Beyond Tomorrow A look into our future to see what is now within the realm of possibility. Hosted by a cast of reporters who travel the globe, informing viewers on a diverse range of subjects including medicine, aviation, computers, space, agriculture, transport, architecture, energy, environment, sport, leisure and adventure.

Source: science.discovery.com

I Love Old Magazines has ads, covers and graphics from old magazines, just like the title implies.

It’s from the same guys who came up with I Love Charts. They have a very creative way of looking at all types of charts.

They’re both on Tumblr a great Web 2.0 tool that allows you to share anything on the web. You can customize your own page too, just like Blogger and WordPress.

Tumblr also has a iPhone app and a Facebook app.