It’s been more than a year since I last posted. Why am I posting now?

It’s got something to do with the photo of the Beatles circa 1969 on the big billboard some 100 feet from my loft. I see it every day, and it’s like an instant trip in a time machine. I did a Google search to find out more about the image and found a good writeup on the LA Times’ site (co-written by Patrick Goldstein, whom I remember from back in the day!).

But I didn’t need to know the who, what, where, when or why of the photo session to analyze the sense of poignant nostalgia I get every time I look at the billboard (which, given its location, is pretty much any time I go anywhere). The guys in that picture look so young and indestructible. And now, two of them are gone forever, and Ringo and Paul (I will never call him Sir Paul) have aged–maybe more gracefully than me, but they will never again be the idols of my teen years. Just one more reminder that I am getting old, too.

I have to admit that I did buy the Beatles boxed set on iTunes and have begun listening to the albums (I’m most partial to the Help/Rubber Soul/Revolver period). It’s actually comforting in a way the image isn’t: The music, unlike the people who created it, is eternal and for me, at least, sounds as fresh and exciting as it did all those years ago.

Overall, I’m really glad the Beatles are finally on iTunes. And I’m not unhappy that Apple is working hard to push them, even if the marketing campaign does remind me of my mortality. If we Baby Boomers are lucky, maybe it will also remind those that weren’t around in those days that we were once young and cool, too.

Announced late last year, CruiseCast delivers 22 channels of broadcast-like satellite TV and 20 more of music via an antenna “the size of a child’s bicycle helmet,” RaySat Broadcasting Corp. CEO Winston Guillory Jr. told a web conference this morning. RaySat, AT&T’s partner in the service, developed much of the technology involved.

Cruisecast antenna on top of a Blazer SUV.

You can buy the antenna and have it installed through a network of resellers, including the big Crutchfield audio-video chain. Guillory says it is either bolted on to a roof rack if your vehicle has one, or attached via a mechanical mount.

The channel lineup includes some names you’d expect for the type of passenger that typically sits in a back seat: Disney, Discovery and Cartoon Network for the kids, ESPN and a couple of other sports channels for the older kids. Also on board are CNN, MSNBC and Fox (for center, left and right-oriented news); Adult Swim, USA and Sci-Fi networks (which I actually would watch); and AccuWeather (I have no idea who watches weather programming on a regular basis, do you?).

You won’t necessarily be getting the same versions of these networks as you would from your regular TV carrier. Several are the mobile versions created for cell phones.

I’m curious as to how well this system will work — and how it will compare to the less expensive MediaFlo-based competition coming from Audiovox. Guillory said one big advantage of CruiseCast is buffering technology RaySat developed that is supposed to keep your programming going even when you’re out of satellite signal range (like in a tunnel or forest).

I’m thinking this means that the programming-even the news or sports-isn’t exactly live, or how could it be buffered?

I’m also thinking that this isn’t the best of times to be launching such a high-end service. I mean, who travels so much that they need a $28-a-month service to sedate, er, entertain the kiddies?

It’s telling that today’s web conference was originally set for Monday-and rescheduled because the organizers realized that most reporters who normally cover these things would be busy covering GM’s bankruptcy.

With Google CEO Eric Schmidt as emcee, several Google execs showed off a variety of cool technologies, based on the upcoming fifth version of HTML that will make browsers more powerful than ever as application platforms. These include new markup tags such as <canvas> and <video> that will provide native support for, respectively, 2D drawing and running videos in browser–tasks which today typically involve installing plug-ins such as Flash or Shockwave. As guest speaker Jay Sullivan, a vice president at Mozilla, put it, HTML 5 will get “things like video out of plug-in prison.”

Also coming: new APIs for other features such as offline storage of data (so that you can use Web apps even when you’re not online), 3D graphics (think first-person-shooter in a browser) and geolocation (Google demo’d a new “My Location” button on Google Maps that you can opt to share with others — hmm, will this supercede Zhiing?).

An Android guy (Romain Guy, to be precise) talked about how the next version (code named Donut) will include a neat open-source text-to-speech engine and multiple language packs. Used with a translation app, this could basically turn your phone into a neat portable translator for supported languages.

You can read Google’s official Google I/O keynote press release to see what they thought was important (but remember, it’s for developers).

As for news you can use right now, head on over to Google’s Web Elements page, which has an assortment of neat code snippets that make it super easy to instantly add modules for Google search, chat, YouTube video, maps and more to your Web site.

You can add this Google Custom Search web element by pasting a few lines of code onto your site.

The best part of the keynote, though, was the end, when Google Engineering VP Vic Gundotra announced that all attendees would be receiving free Android phones – and SIM cards for 30 free days of unlimited voice and data use. I’m looking forward to some quality time with Android.

Zhiing's main menu on my iPhone

If I need to figure out how to get somewhere, I can use Google Maps on my iPhone. But what if someone else needs to figure out how to get to me? Sure, I can spend a few minutes on the phone describing my whereabouts or giving directions. But unless I can easily pinpoint my location in a couple of words (e.g. Moscone West), Zos Communications makes it so much easier with a free application called Zhiing.

Available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile handsets, Zhiing lets you send your location info to another handset (or a Zhiing-enabled location based service) as easily as you would an SMS message. The recipient with a Zhiing client sees a message in their Zhiing Inbox; others simply get an SMS. Either way, you get a link to whatever map your handset supports (via a browser if need be) and the option of written directions from your location (Zos plans to offer a premium version that will add voice directions for hands-free navigation).

A Zhiing in your inbox shows who's sending their location and a thumbnail map.

A Zhiing map shows your location using coordinates--and a much more user-friendly pushpin.

What’s really impressive about Zhiing is that while it requires GPS, it doesn’t rely on it solely to establish your location. Zos has partnered with Skyhook Wireless, a company whose XPS technology uses GPS, Wi-Fi and cell-tower data to determine your whereabouts. That means you can run Zhiing indoors, even when there’s no GPS signal in range.

Being able to give friends and family members instant maps and directions can be useful, but Zhiing could become even more useful if the platform is taken up by companies whose services involve knowing your location.

I liked the example Zos CEO Jon Ziskind gave me of how Zhiing could make it much easier to get a cab to your home: You wouldn’t even have to call the cab company–you’d simply Zhiing ‘em with your request. Zos says emergency workers are already using Zhiing to locate people in need of help.

Given its platform-agnostic approach, Zhiing seems to have a lot going for it. Check it out when you have a chance.