Computing – Page 37

Apple vs. Art, Part II: Apple vs. Fart

September 4, 2008December 23, 2008 Paul L 3 Comments

I have to say, when I wrote my first post on Apple’s attempts to soup-nazi new media spaces, I had no idea a sequel would be so soon in the offing. In this week’s episode, we have an actual App Store rejection letter from Apple, which is so galling in its casual application of censorship to a harmless fart joke app, that even in the unlikely event that it would be a good idea to let any one posse of techno-dudes carry the keys to the new media kingdom, it’s…

Google Chrome: The Zero Day Satire

September 3, 2008September 4, 2008 Paul L 2 Comments

You knew it had to happen. The patronising 38-page webcomic Google had Scott McCloud pen in order to explain, with excruciating deliberation, Google Chrome, has been wickedly lampooned. In this case, by The Register and its readers. This is probably just a small sample of the massive innoculations of irony we will all require if Google’s plans to lay claim to a platform on top of everybody else’s platforms, actually come to fruition. Buy more blue paint, indeed.

Video Enhancement Using Photographs

September 2, 2008July 25, 2009 Doug Groves video2 Comments

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo. Photographic manipulation seems to be all the rage these days, especially with the recent release of the initial version of Photosynth, the 3D environment building photo software from Microsoft. Some of the most useful techniques seem to come out of universities though. A few years back, the University of Manchester’s Advanced Interfaces Group released Icarus, which was an amazing piece of move matching software that allowed the user to remove objects from video, generate 3D camera positions…

DIGG to create Local News options and Forums?

August 28, 2008August 28, 2008 Danny X 4 Comments

RIPPED FROM CNET: Digg has always made its message clear: it’s not social news, it’s democracy. The company’s executive team–founder Kevin Rose, and CEO Jay Adelson–thumbed their noses at the DMCA complaint they received when users “dugg” a crack code for the now-defunct HD DVD technology. They also decided to connect with their users through “town hall” events Webcast live four times a year. So it’s perhaps fitting that for the company’s third quarterly town hall, Rose and Adelson set up shop in the “Big Tent” new-media hall at the…

Rumours of Steve Jobs’ Demise are Greatly Exaggerated

August 28, 2008August 28, 2008 Danny X 7 Comments

From the “oh, crap” files: The Bloomberg Financial Newswire is experiencing a little “send all” remorse today after mistakenly releasing Steve Jobs’ obituary into the wild. The 17-page obit was apparently being updated when the author mistook the “Save” button for the “Freak out shareholders” key and accidentally published the document across the entire newswire. A retraction was published almost immediately, but not before rgbFilter was able to get its hands on a copy of the obituary, which you can see below.

Internet Explorer allows you to surf safer; no more information gathering

August 28, 2008 Danny X 0 comment

From Marketing Magazine, August 28, 2008: The next version of Microsoft’s web browser makes it easier for people to surf the Internet without leaving a trace. Companies that sell advertisements online now—including Microsoft—can electronically gather tidbits about web surfers’ habits, and then use that information to help decide what kinds of ads to show. However, in the newest beta test version of Microsoft’s forthcoming Internet Explorer 8, which was made available Wednesday, a mode called InPrivateBrowsing lets users surf without having a list of sites they visit get stored on…

On Facebook Yoda Can Not Be – For Some

August 28, 2008April 17, 2009 Doug Groves 3 Comments

From the “Stupid Copyright Nonsense” Department: Japanese author and translator Hiroko Yoda has been having problems setting up a Facebook account, as her last name is the same as a director George Lucas met in Tokyo a long time ago (but in this galaxy), which inspired the name of the worlds favourite little green Jedi master. Yoda is a fairly common Japanese last name, and after contacting Facebook about the problem, they had this to say in reply: Facebook blocks the registration of a number of names that are frequently…

Apple vs. Art

August 27, 2008September 13, 2008 Paul L 6 Comments

It took the appalling spectacle of Apple trying to deny iPhone distribution to these artists at Murderdrome to draw my attention to Infurious Comics and their neat little enterprise. My willingness to try to distribute my own webcomic through the iPhone’s App Store will hinge on how Apple responds to criticisms like this one. I could be comfortable with an App Store-wide rating system that treats all media equally, but it would depend on whether it’s just a cloak for more censorship. (After all, nothing about having a rating system…

Fan Expo: Mega64 Interview

August 23, 2008July 25, 2009 Doug Groves Fan Expo, FXC 2008, interview, Mega 640 comment

Alex talks with Rocco and Shawn from Mega64.com, in what is the funniest interview of the show (so far?). Everything from outside projects and bodily mutilation via Blendtec blenders is discussed. NSFW, but only if you work someplace where they take NSFW seriously.

Microsoft’s Photosynth released. Photo Stitching On Steroids.

August 21, 2008April 17, 2009 Doug Groves 2 Comments

If you haven’t seen the demos of Microsoft’s Photosynth, it’s a software that takes photos of a location, and maps them into their 3D space, relative to each other. Think of it as the next step in the evolution of building panoramas. Instead of just building a bigger picture, each picture is scaled and rotated in 3D space, to recreate the environment. For example, if you snap some pics of yourself and friends on vacation at the Taj Mahal, and have also got some pics of closeup details, Photosynth will…

iTunes subscription maybe coming…to US. Canadians encouraged to keep stea….er, buying CDs.

August 21, 2008August 23, 2008 Danny X 2 Comments

Apple may be getting ready to introduce a subscription iTunes service in September.. Macrumors has posted an anonymous tip claiming that “iTunes Unlimited” may be launching in the fall. The services include: iTunes Unlimited -256 Kbps music; highest quality digital music subscription service ever -50% of U.S. store available for iTunes Unlimited at launch, U.S.-only launch -Available through iTunes or retail box a la MobileMe, funds applied through iTunes gift cards cannot be used towards subscription purchase -$129.99 stand-alone or $179.99 with MobileMe, current MobileMe subscribers can add iTunes Unlimited…

Coolest. Clock. Ever.

August 15, 2008August 23, 2008 Danny X 0 comment

Some dude named Simon Heys has taken all his free time and put it to good use, so you too can now count your free time. Presenting the Word Clock, a free screensaver that works for both PC and MAC. It’s a word based clock that comes in 2 flavours, Block Text (pictured above) and Rotating Dial. I’d say this goes in the running for coolest screensaver ever. The only thing it’s missing is a groovy jazzy tune and some girls going gymnastics in a library, but I can live…