Newsgland

Star Wars vs. Saul Bass

2010-02-10T08:00:00.001-08:00

Well this is just lovely. I want to watch the rest of the 1957 Star Wars right now.

Worst-Case Scenario

2009-01-28T15:15:00.000-08:00

The use of possessive apostrophes in place names in Birmingham on road signs:

Australia's reasoning for dropping the possessive apostrophe is very relevant, since they argued that with the emergency services using computer databases there was a need for nationwide consistency. It would be tragic if the ambulance couldn't find your street, if you forgot to include the possessive apostrophe when calling 999.

What kind of computer system wouldn't catch all possible variants of place names, whether you type the apostrophes or not? Ah, a Government-built one..

Dear Carriers

2009-01-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

This is why we don't believe you when you say that you didn't really want to take the iPhone:

iPhone 3G Sales Spur AT&T Wireless Growth in Q4 2008 - Mac Rumors

Of the four 'pluses' that Fortune lists for AT&T, this is the most interesting I think:

About 40% of the iPhone activations this quarter were new AT&T customers, either buying their first cellphone or switching from another carrier.

Those first-time customers are the key to this game. The phone business has been all about churn, but most of those whose first experience is on an iPhone are simply not going to switch easily to something else. Content providers take note too: Once they've learned to expect the kind of things they get on an iPhone, they're not going to accept the kind of crap you dish out elsewhere.

Apple TV is growing

2009-01-23T00:47:00.000-08:00

Funny this. I bought a new HD TV just after Christmas, and I popped into the Apple Store to check out the Apple TV specifications (it's likely that my new screen will eventually play host to more digital media than it does OTA stuff). Quite a few other people were doing the same. Richer Sounds informally told me they were blown away by the demand for bigger LCDs, and every other store I went into was boxing up display TVs for collection. The economy might slow this down, but if the last recession is anything to go by people will be saving money on expensive nights out and staying in with their home entertainment more.

AppleInsider on Apple TV:

Speaking in the company's financial results conference call, Cook said, "there was a tremendous tickup year over year [for Apple TV]. In fact unit sales were up over 3 times vs the year-ago quarter. However let me be clear, we still consider this a hobby."

Toy trains 'Star Wars' fans to use The Force - USATODAY.com

2009-01-17T04:06:00.000-08:00

Toy trains 'Star Wars' fans to use The Force - USATODAY.com

The Force Trainer (expected to be priced at $90 to $100) comes with a headset that uses brain waves to allow players to manipulate a sphere within a clear 10-inch-tall training tower, analogous to Yoda and Luke Skywalker's abilities in the Star Wars films.

Oh yes, I need this.

The Last Physical Movie Format

2009-01-06T07:40:00.000-08:00

Daring Fireball: Macworld Expo 2009 Predictions:

"I’m not going to say that Blu-ray is dead because it isn’t. But if DVD isn’t the last mainstream physical medium for home movie distribution, Blu-ray will be. The future, obviously and inevitably, is in downloads. I’m already there, and you, dear DF reader, probably are too, but for the mass market, downloadable movies for the living room remain in the future."

Let's pray Gruber is right on this one. Blu-ray will get big because HD-DVD got the knife. If that hadn't happened then we'd be looking at another year of fighting over a shrinking pie. Even so, I'm hanging back with 1080p-upscaled DVD for the next half year at least. I've no desire to start buying new disks yet, and I'm still hoping I'll never have to do that ever again.

Too Late for Palm

2008-12-15T06:57:00.000-08:00

Palm Pins Its Hopes on Nova - BusinessWeek:

"Rubinstein and others say the goal is to create products that bridge the gap between Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry devices, oriented to work and e-mail, and Apple's iPhone, oriented to fun. 'People's work and personal lives are melding,' Colligan says, adding that Palm is aiming for the 'fat middle of the market.'"

A worthy aim for sure, but in the meantime iPhone OS keeps moving towards that centre and there's not going to be any room left there. In hindsight the critical moment might have been when Palm refused to sell to Apple, and when Steve Jobs realised the future of the PDA would be in the evolution of a media player into a primary personal computing device.

Sony Ericsson get on Android

2008-12-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Good for Google I'm sure. Good for Sony Ericsson? Not so certain. Sony's history in terms of customising platforms and adding value is not so great, and they lose some of their differentiation. Bad for Microsoft? For sure.

Originally posted as a comment by sharl on mediabistro.com: MobileDevicesToday using Disqus.

I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

2008-11-30T03:18:00.000-08:00

Awesome, terrifying story of how we got into this mess:

And short Eisman did—then he tried to get his mind around what he’d just done so he could do it better. He’d call over to a big firm and ask for a list of mortgage bonds from all over the country. The juiciest shorts—the bonds ultimately backed by the mortgages most likely to default—had several characteristics. They’d be in what Wall Street people were now calling the sand states: Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada. The loans would have been made by one of the more dubious mortgage lenders; Long Beach Financial, wholly owned by Washington Mutual, was a great example. Long Beach Financial was moving money out the door as fast as it could, few questions asked, in loans built to self-destruct. It specialized in asking homeowners with bad credit and no proof of income to put no money down and defer interest payments for as long as possible. In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.

The End of Wall Street's Boom - National Business News - Portfolio.com

Technorati Tags: finance, screwed, crash

Technology as Leveler

2008-11-29T11:53:00.001-08:00

Ray Ozzie Wants to Push Microsoft Back Into Startup Mode :

One incident in particular introduced Ozzie to the magic that comes when people connect via computer. He had taken a part-time assignment helping a professor finish writing some courseware. The prof lived on the other side of town, so Ozzie collaborated with him remotely. Ozzie came to know and like his boss, save for one annoyance. "He was the worst typist ever," Ozzie says. "He was very eloquent on email, but on Term Talk it was just dit-dit-dit, sometimes an error, but agonizingly slow." At the end of the project, the man threw a party at his house, and Ozzie discovered the reason for the typing problem: The professor was a quadriplegic and had been entering text by holding a stick in his teeth and poking it at the keyboard. Ozzie was floored.

I remember an experience myself back in about '95 when someone I was swapping 2600 cart sources with on Usenet turned out to be similarly disadvantaged. One of Darian System's first consultancies for setting up a cybercafe was with a registered blind entrepreneur. Both personal wake-up calls to how technology could change things for the better, and key to understanding why I remain, at heart, an optimist when it comes to this business.

Breaking Radio Silence

2008-11-28T14:27:00.000-08:00

I won't even attempt to go into the myriad reasons for my extended absence here. I'll simply say sorry and move on. More soon.

Marketing as Disease

2008-05-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

I've had fights at work over this same thing: Viral Marketing is bullsh*t. Adoptive Marketing isn’t.

I hated the word “viral” the very first time I heard it in the mid 1990s, probably because it made Marketing sound like we were spreading a disease other people had no choice but to spread, too. At the time, the whole “viral marketing” thing got people excited because it used the Internet to cheaply spread crap like Burger King videos or Hotmail invitations. Dance monkeys, dance.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, branding, marketing, Web

Häxan (1922)

2008-05-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

Last night's Birmingham Town Hall screening of Häxan was remarkable, not least for the Julian Cope lecture that preceded it:

But there is much more to "Häxan" than a mere collection of grotesque images and vignettes. Towards the end, in particular, the commentary becomes quite pointed. It is quite easy for anyone - film-maker, writer, commentator - to criticize and condemn the beliefs and practices of the Middle Ages or of any other long past era. But it is far more of a challenge to, as Christensen has done here, point out the sometimes devastating parallels to one's own era. It is always such a comforting fiction to believe that we are so much more enlightened than past generations have been, and yet it is rarely if ever true.

Häxan isn't easy-going for a modern audience, partly because familiarity with some of the imagery has reduced it to the level of the ridiculous, partly because it takes its time in developing scenes that wouldn't get screen time now. It's still amazing though, and demonstrates the sheer wonder about the medium that must have been commonplace in 1922. Here's a clip, though lacking the electronic live soundtrack we were treated to last night.

Technorati Tags: Birmingham UK, Events, Film, movies, performance, reviews, Sweden

Force Feeding

2008-05-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Over-jealous waiters annoy me almost as much as they do Christopher Hitchens:

The vile practice of butting in and pouring wine without being asked is the very height of the second kind of bad manners. Not only is it a breathtaking act of rudeness in itself, but it conveys a none-too-subtle and mercenary message: Hurry up and order another bottle.

Technorati Tags: culture, Food, Service, Restaurants

Going deeper on Digital Photography

2008-05-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for proper information on this sort of thing, and I've found no better than Norman Koren's particle on Tonal quality and dynamic range in digital cameras:

If you choose to save images in RAW format, you should expose to capture maximum information: to maintain as much highlight and shadow detail as possible, even if the middle tones aren't what you want in the final print. You should strive to capture all highlights except for bright light sources and specular reflections. You should expose enough to capture detail in large shadow areas. I mostly agree with the Luminous-Landscape.com article, Expose (to the) Right, which recommends setting the exposure to the maximum value that doesn't burn out highlights. (This applies only to images saved in RAW format.) However I wouldn't go too far. A little margin doesn't hurt; there are plenty of levels in 12-bit A-to-D converters. In extreme situations, you may want to make two exposures and combine them.

Technorati Tags: digital, photography, technology

Best news of the week, in a week of horrible news

2008-05-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

Steven Moffat gets the Doctor Who lead job:

Moffat said: "I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven.
"Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television.

Pretty much all the best episodes have had Moffat's name on them.

Technorati Tags: BBC, Television, writing

XP is Vista light

2008-04-30T02:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to DF for the heads up on this wonderful bit of Redmond doublethink:

Dell will take advantage of a licensing option in Vista Business and Vista Ultimate that lets PC makers provide XP under the Vista license, which Microsoft calls a "downgrade" license. (Enterprises with site licenses have these same rights with any version of Vista.) In essence, the user is buying a Vista license that it can apply to XP, and Microsoft can still claim a Vista sale.

In other news, war is peace, and we have always been at war with Eurasia.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Vista, Windows

Software, seen via the history of popular music

2008-04-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

On First Installing Adobe’s Photoshop Elements 6 — Thought Palace:

If this is the “lite”, for-dummies, cheap-n-cheerful version of Photoshop, I can’t imagine how huge the real version must be. I mean, if MacPaint was “Rock Around The Clock”, and the first version of Photoshop was, say, “Please Please Me”, then this is Yes’s Tales From Topographic Oceans. If so, that makes Acorn and Pixelmator something like “The Clash” and “Pink Flag”, respectively; not really a threat to the hegemony yet, but if future versions can mature into “London Calling” and “154”, it’ll be time to kick out the jams.

Technorati Tags: broken, Adobe, Software, Usability

Microsoft to Yahoo: You will be mine.

2008-04-06T05:38:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Sends Letter to Yahoo! Board of Directors: Microsoft Sends Letter to Yahoo! Board of Directors:

If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo! board.

Technorati Tags: Business, Microsoft, Yahoo!

You only notice great UI when it's not there

2008-03-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Good article on the iPhone from The Times:

However, the shocking surprise is the web browser. The iPhone’s browser allows you magically to expand and shrink the pages you’re looking at with that funky iPhone touch interface. This is a really big deal. You can do this on photos of course, but no one, except Harrison Ford in Blade Runner, really needs to zoom in on photo details that often, although it’s a fun gimmick to demo to mates. You need to do it on web pages all the time when you’re peering at a small screen, and it’s brilliantly effective.

Actually, it's become a big deal for me in viewing photos too. My seven-year-old is always zooming in and out on the iPod touch to get a better view of people in pictures. A friend was showing me some photos on her Nokia N95 a couple of weeks ago, and I automatically tried to stretch the photo to get a better view before remembering that not all photo viewers work like that. It's remarkable that after about 6 months of owning the iPod touch this gesture has become hard-wired into my brain, and testament to how natural it is in the first place.

Technorati Tags: Design, gadgets, iPhone, iPod touch, Nokia, phones, technology, UI

Webomatica: I Deleted My FaceBook Account

2008-03-29T03:50:00.001-07:00

And so it begins:

I Deleted My FaceBook Account:

It’s also just too popular for its own good. I reached a point where I was overwhelmed, spending time fending off emails with super pokes and vampires, resulting in blocking app behavior and ultimately deleting them. I was spending more time ignoring and preventing communication which is the opposite of what the site is supposed to be about. I didn’t feel enabled. I didn’t feel like I had any control. And most importantly: it wasn’t productive. Pretty much everything I did on Facebook was a just a huge waste of time.

Technorati Tags: broken, Facebook, Identity, Social Networks

Sony: PR people on Crack.

2008-02-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

Anything I could say about this is just unnecessary.

Barcelona, Spain - 10th February 2008 -Today marked the launch of XPERIATM and a new era in mobile communications with the announcement of the XPERIA™ X1, a stand-out, arc slider phone from Sony Ericsson designed to address the growing need for a premium, converged mobile experience.
The XPERIATM X1 combines a 3-inch clear wide VGA display and a full QWERTY keyboard within a quality metal-finish body. With Windows Mobile® inside, the XPERIA™ X1 lets you choose from a dynamic range of activities at anytime and anywhere; from enjoying your favourite entertainment content to working efficiently on-the-move. Access a world of experiences simply by touching the XPERIA™ panel on the screen.
"XPERIA™ represents the first brand that is truly borne from within Sony Ericsson. It represents our vision for a premium, energised communication experience," said Dee Dutta, Head of Marketing, Sony Ericsson. "This launch, and the announcement of the X1, further strengthens the overall Sony Ericsson brand and places us at the forefront of mobile convergence."

(via Gizmodo)

Technorati Tags: branding, drugs, gadgets, Sony

My American Friends.

2008-02-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

Ok there's an amount of good old American Cheese contained herein, it's too long (as a video, not as a speech), and it still might not help defeat the hillaryzilla. The message is spot on though, and it makes me wish I could vote in the US election. If you can, you know what you have to do.

Technorati Tags: Ads, Advertising, Music, politics, Transformative, YouTube

I don't know whether to laugh or cry

2008-02-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

The HEMA - online winkelen is obviously a joke (though the folks at the Register don't seem to get it), but it's one of those jokes that might only be funny if you're Dutch. And a Web Designer. And on drugs. Or if you were a big fan of Mousetrap.

Technorati Tags: Design, Flash, humour, narcotics, Toys, Web

Portable Hotspot

2008-02-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

JoikuSpot:

Connect your laptop to internet easily using your mobile phone's internet connection.

FREE
INSTANT
EASY
-- JoikuSpot is free
-- JoikuSpot turns Nokia Smartphone to a Wi-Fi HotSpot
-- 1-click SMS download from Joiku.com

JoikuSpot is software based, no hardware or cables needed.
Recommended use with unlimited mobile data plans.

I'd almost buy a N95 to use this. Maybe I should investigate a second-hand N80. Is there a small, wifi-equipped S60 phone that doesn't suck? I'd be leaving it in my bag as a hotspot for my iPod touch whatever.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, iPod touch, Nokia, phones, Wi-Fi, Software

The platform just gets better.

2008-02-05T08:44:00.001-08:00

Apple Adds New iPhone & iPod touch Models:

“For some users, there’s never enough memory,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod and iPhone Product Marketing. “Now people can enjoy even more of their music, photos and videos on the most revolutionary mobile phone and best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world.”

No fuss, no song-and-dance, just a press release and more memory to hold your TV shows and all those third-party apps that be-a-comin'. Contrast this with Nokia putting 8GB in the N95, and practically relaunching the damn thing. I wouldn't mind so much if the black N95 had fixed the shitty buttons. And if we needed telling again, the iPod is now a Wi-Fi mobile device rather than an mp3 player. Oh, and the average price just went up. Weren't Apple supposed to be getting squeezed by low-cost commodity players by now?

Technorati Tags: Apple, gadgets, iPhone, iPod, iPod touch, mobile, technology

Sleep with dogs, wake up with fleas.

2008-02-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Colombian drugs lord found dead:

Colombia's most-wanted drugs baron has been found dead in a holiday cabin in the Venezuelan city of Merida.
Officials confirmed the body is that of Wilber Varela, alias "Soap", a man with a long and bloody history as leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel.

While Varela had a $5m bounty from the US on his head, the evidence suggests he was killed by his own men.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Technorati Tags: crime, drugs, narcotics, news

I can't see this working

2008-02-01T12:16:00.001-08:00

That's Noah as in "nooooo... arrggghh" then?

Technorati Tags: broken, Computing, Design, gadgets, technology, Usability, virtuality

The next-generation disk that wasn't.

2008-01-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

Byte of the Apple iTunes Movies Outsell HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc - BusinessWeek:

Interesting statistical aside from the Jobs keynote on Tuesday. Apple has sold 7 million movies since the, and yet that number has been more or less deemed a failure. But, thats a million more than the six million Blu-Ray Discs sold as of the end 2007 according to Home Media Research, besting HD-DVD by a near 2-to-1 margin. MacDailyNews points out that iTunes Movies hit the 7 million mark after 15 months, besting the 18 months it took Blu-Ray out hit the six million mark.

It's not just me that's said it before: No-one but the Industry wants a new disk format. The future might just be plain DVD plus HD digital-only.

Technorati Tags: Apple TV, digital, Future, iTunes, Media, movies, Sony, technology, Television, video

Sony screws up DRM-free downloads

2008-01-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Sony BMG Confirms DRM-free Music Downloads, But …:

The ideal situation would have been simple downloads from say, Amazon MP3. But no, Sony had to add brick-and-mortar into the process. You will have to buy a gift card at a retail outlet and then use it on Sony’s MusicPass site, and only that site. This new program, called Platinum MusicPass, will start on January 15th, according to a press release at the MusicPass site.

Seriously. Would someone pin a 'going out of business' sign on these guys?

Technorati Tags: broken, Business, copyright, digital, iTunes, Media, Music, Sony

Warner goes Blu-Ray, consumers keep wallets shut?

2008-01-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

Hollywood's DVD Problem: Not Going Away - Silicon Alley Insider:

Separately, consumers still need to 1) upgrade their old sets to HiDef ones, which is happening at the high end of the market but still isn't a mainstream behavior and 2) become convinced that they need new DVD players. The latter isn't a given, because for many folks, conventional DVDs viewed on nice HiDef screens looks pretty good already. And if that's the case, then they're not likely to be in a hurry for a new machine, format war or no.

Personally, I'm in no hurry to replace my DVDs, and I'm this close to digitising the whole lot and waiting for a proper digital-download solution that just works. What does that mean? It means a simple way of ripping my existing disks and cataloguing them, a proper connection to my EyeTV stuff, TV programs on demand, rental movies downloaded, and whatever physical format emerges handled too. Oh and it means it all working together properly and playing nicely with my iPod. I won't hold my breath, though I'm curious about whatever emerges from MacWorld shedding some light on Apple's role in making it happen.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Apple TV, digital, iPod, iTunes, Media, movies, Teaching, Television

Negroponte: "Waah! Not Fair!"

2008-01-04T23:31:00.000-08:00

Laptop-Project Founder Fa. ults Intel - WSJ.com:

Mr. Negroponte proposed creating a $100 laptop three years ago as a way to bridge the technology divide between rich and poor countries. But the current model sells for $188 and because of increasing competition, OLPC has had trouble attracting large orders from governments.

Of course, it couldn't possibly be because it's a POS could it? I've seen videos and Flickr sets of some of the poor saps who went for the 'give-one-get-one' ~~guilt trip~~ deal trying to get anything done on the damn thing and, well really, give me a break. Are we really saying that if a developing nation wanted to buy a million laptops they couldn't negotiate the price of the Asus eee pc down to $200 or less? I know which I'd choose.

And for my money this is still the best comment on the whole fiasco.

Technorati Tags: broken, Computing, Design, MIT, technology

Personal Use isn't Fair Use

2007-12-31T04:07:00.000-08:00

Almost as if on cue, to stress the point I made in response to Pete Ashton in this post's comments, the RIAA are now ready to take on even those of us who steer well clear of piracy:

In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings. (via DF)

It's tempting to laugh at this kind of action in a 'what can they do?' kind of way, but it's more serious than that. This is essentially direct action against iTunes and the iPod, as that's almost certainly where most legally purchased but format-shifted content resides. The industry will pretend (again) that they're happy with some kind of kick-back from iPod sales, but that's the thin end of the wedge for them to wring whatever kind of money they can out of the electronics industry in order to compensate for the failure of their business model. More hope perhaps lies in Apple's ability to convincingly put in place technology that lets owners of CDs legitimately and securely format-shift content in a way the industry can grudgingly accept. In the long term, Pete (and others) are right and DRM isn't the answer, and we need to press for the recommendations of the Gower Review to be implemented soon in this regard.

I'll say it again though: I'd sooner have a unintrusive (and Pete, while I've no desire to be some kind of DRM-apologist, it is largely unintrusive as long as you're staying within your usage rights) Fairplay-style lock to my devices than have the music industry propped up with cash from device sales.

Technorati Tags: Apple, copyright, digital, iPod, Media, Music, technology

CD better than Digital.

2007-12-29T05:21:00.001-08:00

When You Believe in iTunes not CDs - Telegraph:

"Where there is a good quality album, people will continue to buy the CD. This trend was evidenced by Leona Lewis [last year's X-Factor winner], who had the largest selling CD ever, selling 400,000 copies in week one," says Mr Fox. There remain many benefits to the CD, he adds: "The CD is still a higher quality format than digital, and is the only format that works across all players as it is Digital Rights Management-free - you can listen in the car or in the house."

In other news, Spaghetti better than pasta.

Technorati Tags: digital, Music

I'd crack an iPhone for a finished version of this

2007-12-14T05:12:00.000-08:00

Especially if it would post directly to YouTube. It can't be long before Apple provide this functionality directly though.

Slashdot | Hack Turns iPhone Camera Into HD Camcorder:

'While the iPhone's 2.0 megapixel camera resolution may be mediocre for a still camera, it is excellent resolution for a consumer video camera.' A standard definition Canon digital camcorder uses a 680K pixel sensor chip (because a standard definition TV's resolution is only 520 x 360), while one of Canon's HD camcorders uses a 2.9 megapixel sensor. The beta presently allows 5 second clips at 10 frames per second, but the finished version will soon allow infinite recording at 45 frames per second.

Technorati Tags: Apple, gadgets, iPhone, phones

Happy Saint Lucy's Day

2007-12-13T08:49:00.000-08:00

But watch out for the, much older, Lussi:

The old date for the Lussi Night is December 13th, regarded as the longest night of the year and associated with the solstice. That was carried over into the new era. Between lussi night and jól all kinds of trolls were out and about. It was particularly dangerous to be out during Lussi Night. Children who had done mischief had to take special care, because Lussi could come down through the chimney and take them.

Technorati Tags: culture, religion

Karlheinz Stockhausen RIP

2007-12-07T14:40:00.001-08:00

Ok, just one more. Karlheinz Stockhausen died today as you'll know. Stimmung Singcircle pierced my consciousness back in 1984 as a 15-year-old Drama student. My friend David and I accidentally tuned into Radio 3's Stockhausen extravaganza, and it was just as if we'd touched an extra-terrestrial intelligence. We taped what we could and used it as the backing for some pompous and pretentious play I'd written; I hope Karl would forgive us our ignorant youthful folly. As repentance, as I write Paul Hillier's 51-track performance of Stimmung is downloading in iTunes.

Technorati Tags: Art, Music, performance

Shoot Less

2007-12-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

Last post of the day I'm sure, and another attempt to make up for my cynical trashing of Woom's site by linking to a site I love. FILE Magazine is lovely, and the 36 Exposures Contest is just for you film-lovers:

But this ease of use and surfeit of images comes with a price. In the analog era, when we had to pay to see what we shot, we were more careful when we took photographs. This forced a discipline that is hard to imagine today. In the words of Stephen Shore, "[Today] there seems to be a greater freedom and lack of restraint...as one considers one's pictures less, one produces fewer truly considered pictures."

I have a Canon EOS 700 sitting on my shelf at work that might need dusting off..

Technorati Tags: Art, photography

You have eaten another glowing dot!

2007-12-07T14:18:00.001-08:00

Ever wonder what Pac Man would have been like before graphics? Somethinglike this I suspect:

You awaken in a large complex, slightly disoriented. Glowing dots hover mouth level near you in every direction. Off in the distance you hear the faint howling of what you can only imagine must be some sort of ghost or several ghosts.

> look
You are in a long corridor. You may go forward or backward and there are glowing dots in every direction. There is a glowing dot hovering near you.

> eat
You have eaten the glowing dot!

> look
You are in a long corridor. You may go forward or backward and there are glowing dots in every direction.

> forward
You have moved.

> eat
You have eaten another glowing dot!

Technorati Tags: Gaming, humour, retro

Untitled Document, honestly.

2007-12-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

Untitled Document is the perhaps intentional title of the home page of new Birmingham art gallery Woom, and it's a real blast from the past. No really, I remember making a site like this for artist Skip Rat, sometime back in 1995/6. All very creative guys, but really, this is 2007. No page titles, no text, no rss. On a positive note, the artists in the first show look great, and the site links out to them (including this lovely horizontal-scroller from Matt Burden).

Technorati Tags: Art, Birmingham UK, Exhibitions, Web

Awe. Some.

2007-12-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

I just fell in love with Flickr all over again. By how much would they have to raise the price in order to make me leave?

Picnik’s awesome photo editing tools are now only a click away. If you’ve ever wanted to deal with the dreaded red eye or crop a photo just so, click on the new “edit photo” icon located above one of your photos and get started.

Technorati Tags: Flickr

This made my day

2007-12-04T08:57:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Fake Steve Jobs.

Technorati Tags: Business, humour, Web

De-obfuscation

2007-11-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

High Definition Blog: Avid Announces Major Shift in 2008:

“We are always evaluating the most effective ways to build closer relationships with our customers and keep pace with the ever-changing media market. Over the past few months, we’ve been collecting data from all of our constituents, and the findings have been clear – we need to connect with users in new ways,” said Graham Sharp, vice president and general manager of Avid’s Video division.

For which read: "Our customers don't understand what we're doing, and they're moving to Final Cut Pro".

Technorati Tags: Apple, Film, Mac OS X, Software, Television, video

IM on iPod touch

2007-11-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

And on the iPhone too obviously. I finally got around to checking out meebo yesterday, and boy am I glad I did. Finally I have a single web-based interface that lets me log in on MSN, Yahoo, AIM/iChat and Google Talk all at once. It gets through the university firewall (it's just port 80 http), has a decent AJAX interface, and a lovelier mobile Safari optimised version. With the iPhone/iPod predictive text I can manage a decent chat speed too. Lovely, lovely, lovely. If only it handled Skype messaging too. Ah well, let's wait for the SDK and the real Skype client.

Technorati Tags: Apple, gadgets, iPhone, iPod touch, Software, Web

The Scourge of Arial

2007-11-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

This is old news, but it's worth revisiting. The Scourge of Arial:

Despite its pervasiveness, a professional designer would rarely—at least for the moment—specify Arial. To professional designers, Arial is looked down on as a not-very-faithful imitation of a typeface that is no longer fashionable. It has what you might call a "low-end stigma." The few cases that I have heard of where a designer has intentionally used Arial were because the client insisted on it.

Why am I quoting this now? That'll be because a recently rebranded local institution's marketing department has just specified Arial for all its output, on PC at least. Go figure.

Technorati Tags: Birmingham UK, branding, Design

A nice white wine and a fresh corpse

2007-11-14T05:43:00.000-08:00

This approach to finding a partner will never work down the pub on a Saturday night. Well, maybe in Scruffy Murphy's:

Carrion beetles need a tiny corpse, such as a dead mouse or vole, in order reproduce. When they find one, they use pheromones to attract a mate. After mating, the male and female stay together until their young are raised.

Technorati Tags: biology, insect romance

Post Brands

2007-11-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of talk about brand value, especially when you're surrounded by design educators, and I've always been suspicious of it. Never more in fact than this week, when I'm party to lots of discussions about the future branding of academic courses. This then from Dim Bulb is very timely and very welcome:

So who needs brands when you have ubiquitous information?

Branding was always shorthand that existed to fill the information gap inherent in a marketplace where customers were separated by time, space, and experience from sellers, and from one another.

In the PC-everywhere society, that gap no longer exists.

Technorati Tags: branding, Business, Design, Education, Future, Internet, Advertising

The Mobile Web is the Only Web

2007-11-12T23:57:00.000-08:00

Pete Ashton on Simon Winnall's new iPhone optimised portfolio site:

The photographer Simon Winnall came to my attention because he’s set up an iPhone specific version of his web gallery which I’m rather conflicted about (for nerdy reasons of cross-platform compatibility and the like - nothing for you normals to worry about) but saved himself from pretty much anything by having some serious concrete action on there.

Pete, I understand your inner conflict, after years of sites coded for IE. Yes, surely the advantage of mobile Safari is that it works with regular websites, not ones coded especially. However it’s hard to argue when a bit of optimisation results in a site as lovely as Simon’s: usable on any standard browser and perfect for the palm of your hand. None of the silly ‘next’ slideshow stuff his regular site has, just scrolling photographic deliciousness. He should dump the regular site and make his iPhone site his only site.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Birmingham UK, Design, iPhone, iPod touch, photography, Usability, Web

I love this stuff

2007-11-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

I'm always snapping pictures of tits-up public computer systems, but this one takes the biscuit. If only our beloved despised Birmingham Big Screen would take a leaf from this; at least we'd have a few day's peace and quiet.

At one of Toronto's locations of The Bay department store, four giant screens have suffered from the infamous Blue Screen of Death for days. You'd think that someone would, I dunno, turn off the freakin' screens.

Technorati Tags: broken, technology, Windows

iPod Touch gets Update

2007-11-09T03:17:00.001-08:00

As of this today, and coinciding with the UK/Germany iPhone release, the iPod Touch firmware jumped to 1.1.2. With it comes support for adding new events in Calendar, more language options, the inevitable security holes plugged, and the option to manually manage music by dragging it to the icon in iTunes. Can we have Mail app now please?

Post Resolution

2007-11-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

Not in exactly the way I've been thinking about, but amazingly significant in any case:

Naked light throws away antiquated concepts like pixels; layers; 8-bit color; and destructive, non-re-editable filters and operations. Instead, compositions in Naked light represent a sort of Platonic ideal—with infinite resolution, an astounding 590 quintillion colors, and perpetually re-editable nodes.

Technorati Tags: Graphic Design, Mac OS X, Macintosh, Software, technology

Google's Horse/Camel Phone OS

2007-11-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

Steven Frank has it squarely nailed:

What a travesty this Android announcement is. A 34-company committee that's going to oversee the development of a currently non-existent suite of open-source mobile applications to run on as-yet-unspecified hardware. I've never seen so much hot air, and honestly I'm kind of shocked that it came out of Google.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, gadgets, Google, iPhone, Microsoft, mobile, Open Source, phones, technology

Lisa Meyer & Jenny Moore: Bringing balance to the Force

2007-11-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Brummie of the Year 2007:

Lisa Meyer & Jenny Moore of Capsule. The Capsule girls, for it is they, have become mainstays of the Birmingham gig scene bringing some fantastic artists to the city. They also promote cake, and everyone loves cake.

If these two don't win there's no justice, and the balance of the Universe will have been upset for a generation. You have been warned.

Technorati Tags: Birmingham UK, blogs, Cities, Creativity, culture, Music

Bug or Feature?

2007-10-29T01:32:00.000-07:00

Leopard's "Back to My Mac" feature lets a .mac user control their computer remotely via their .mac account. It's a fantastically useful idea, but there's some controversy over the first release not requiring your computer password as well as your .mac one. This paragraph concerns me though:

Most of us will use a “weaker” password for our .Mac account than for our Mac itself. It’s certainly what we’ve done to date anyway, since .Mac services were nowhere near as critical.

My .mac password is, id anything, stronger than the one for my computer since I figure I'm sending it over the Internet routinely, and it provides access to my IMAP email. My Mac itself is protected by its firewall, by disabling remote control services, and by controlling physical access to the machine itself. This is, surely, just as it should be. What I expect to see from Apple is an update, requiring your login password or, better still, a separate remote password.

Technorati Tags: .mac, Apple, Mac OS X, security

Mac sales benefit from 10 year brand refit

2007-10-26T03:44:00.000-07:00

It's not the iPod halo, but a slow rebuilding of the Apple brand that's driving Mac sales growth:

Yet, Jobs knew the brand was suffering. “Even great brands need care and feeding,” Jobs said back then. “We have to nurture this brand.”

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, iPod, Mac OS X, Macintosh, Microsoft

Apple hears our Leopard Dock pain.

2007-10-23T15:25:00.001-07:00

Awesome:

Apple has updated the Dock so that it has a 2-Dimensional appearance when it resides on the side of the screen. When residing on the bottom of the screen, the Dock retains the 3d shelf appearance.

Technorati Tags: Apple, broken, Design, Leopard, Mac OS X, Rumors, UI

Obvious

2007-10-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

Cult of Mac » Blog Archive » Mac Design Holding Pattern Needs to End:

Worst of all, Apple has the best touch interface in the world on the iPhone and the iPod touch. Why on earth hasn’t it shown up in a computer yet(?)

That'll be because it's only been on the market for a few months in any usable form. But then this is from someone who thinks the fugly Compaq 2710 is "gorgeous".

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, Design, gadgets, iPhone, iPod touch, Product Design, technology

The price of creative freedom

2007-10-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

How Much Did Radiohead Make? It Doesn't Matter - Silicon Alley Insider:

Radiohead is likely to make a nice sum from "In Rainbows," but the real advantage that its giveaway stunt has conferred is freedom: Radiohead, not a music label, will own the songs it recorded (EMI owns all of Radiohead's earlier work, for instance). Radiohead, not a music label, can decide how to market, promote and distribute the songs -- if it wants to do any of the above. And Radiohead, not a music label, can decide when, where and how it wants to release its next album.

For the record, I paid £4.99.

Technorati Tags: Business, Creativity, Music

Kicking the ass of Cookies

2007-10-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

If you aren't excited about this then explaining it to you won't change a thing. Suffice to say, the web developers reading it will be licking their lips in anticipation. Think of Google Gears and built it into a web standard. Silverlight or Apollo, minus the Evil.

WebKit Does HTML5 Client-side Database Storage:

The client-side database storage API allows web applications to store structured data locally using a medium many web developers are already familiar with - SQL

Technorati Tags: Apple, futureofwebapps, Safari, Web, WebKit

Touching

2007-09-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm posting this from my iPod touch using blogger's web interface, and while it's going to take a little time to get used to typing on this keyboard, it's not too bad. More later.

No CBR on my iPod touch

2007-09-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

I guarantee, there'll never, ever, be a copy of "Put Your Record On" on this iPod touch, not while it's mine at least.

Technorati Tags: Apple, gadgets, iPod, iTunes, Music, iPod touch, technology

More Fry: On the Foleo

2007-09-19T03:27:00.000-07:00

I had to pull this one out, what with the recent items on Palm. Stephen Fry:

Since then, in one of the most astonishing public suicide attempts in the history of this industry, Palm have produced a item that EVEN I DO NOT WANT, the Foleo. If it’s got a chip in it, and a keyboard, and WiFi and a screen and I haven’t sent off for one, then by God you’d better believe it’s in trouble. Though mind you, knowing me, I probably would have bought one in the end.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, Palm, PDA, tools

The Wonderful Words of Stephen Fry

2007-09-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

Beloved national treasure on the iPhone and a plethora of other handhelds past, present, future, and notional. This is just one of many gems:

(I’m not even going to mention outside these parentheses the LG Prada phone, that’s an iPhone beater in the same way Tim Henman is a Federer beater).

Thanks to Asam on the wonderful Midlands Mac User Group list for the heads-up.

Technorati Tags: Apple, blogs, gadgets, iPhone, PDA, phones, retro, technology, Telephony, tools

Beautiful Type on the Web

2007-09-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

Great writing too.

hitotoki : Coming Soon to Gotham

Technorati Tags: Art, Cities, culture, Design, Graphic Design, Travel, writing

Another day, another format

2007-09-11T05:49:00.000-07:00

DVD Forum gives three-layer, 51GB HD DVD the thumbs up:

What's unclear at this stage is whether today's HD DVD drives and players will be able to read the new disc. However, with such a small number of HD DVD devices out there - relative to DVD players - only a limited number of early adopters are likely to be affected, and these are the kind of folk who are generally happy to upgrade in any case.

What's also unclear is whether anyone will still care by the time the whole mess is sorted out. Apple seems to be baking on being the company with the most workable infrastructure for actually selling video by the time the industry realises that a new kind of Polycarbonate disk isn't the answer. Rick McCallum can be found in this month's Star Wars Insider voicing pretty much the same opinion, though his suggestion of each studio having its own "web site" to deliver content sounds like a royal PITA. He's right though, HD-DVD and Blu-ray might well tire each other out fighting, while the real battle is somewhere else entirely.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Future, iTunes, Media, movies, technology, video

Ok, this is funny

2007-09-11T02:13:00.001-07:00

I drink in Starbucks, and I like the coffee, but I share Arc90's dismay when any music I like gets picked up by the Evil Bean Empire. Obviously then, this is a feature I'd like to see on the iPod touch tooBasement.org:

Since the iPhone's release, hackers have been tirelessly working to open up the iPhone. Custom ringtones. Homebrew applications. Even SIM activation. They've done a very impressive job. Well, we need their help again. We need a feature that would cleanse our souls and protect us from the rampant homogeneity of Starbucks.

Personally, one of the reasons I keep my iPod with me is so that I don't have to listen to the music in Starbucks..

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPod, iTunes, Music, Starbucks

Hunt for Steve Fossett with Mechanical Turk

2007-09-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm spending my evening doing this, and I suggest you do the same:

Greetings from Amazon Mechanical Turk On Monday, September 3, 2007, Steve Fossett, the first person to fly a plane around the world without refueling and the first person to fly around the world in a balloon went missing in Nevada. An airplane he was flying failed to return. No one has any idea where he is. Through the generous efforts of individuals at several organizations, detailed satellite imagery has been made available for his last known whereabouts. HITs have been created to ask volunteers to help review these images and flag potential areas of interest which will be instrumental in the search and rescue efforts. This is a race against time and any help you can provide will make a huge difference. Friends and family of Steve Fossett would like to thank you for helping them with this cause. Amazon Mechanical Turk Team http://www.mturk.com/

Technorati Tags: Amazon

Orlowski is spot on

2007-09-09T01:52:00.000-07:00

I don't often say that. Yes, with the iPod touch, Apple has reinvented the PDA market in a way almost no-one expected. Remember, Steve Jobs has never been a convergence guy. He's always argued been an advocate of elegant devices that do one or two things really well. I moved to a Palm Vx (from a Newton MessagePad 120) because it was so simple and elegant, but each successive Palm device (a 515, a T3, a LifeDrive) became more complex, unwieldy, and unstable. The iPod touch just sneaked up behind Palm and killed their TX, while they were stabbing the Foleo.

And as a bonus, the importance of which few pundits or bloggers have realised yet, Apple stealthily enters a new market altogether: the connected PDA. This 'Second Box' business is one that almost everyone has neglected, because they've followed the conventional wisdom that Everything Must Be Converged. But what if that isn't true?

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, gadgets, iPhone, iPod, Mac OS X, mobile, Palm, PDA, puppy, technology

Palm cancels Foleo, World yawns

2007-09-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

Ed Colligan, CEO of Palm Inc announces the cancellation of the least-useful thing Palm ever almost-shipped. There's a lot of praise for his 'bold decision' in the comments. Hello? He made the decision, 3 months ago, to tout the Foleo as the next big thing in mobile. He should be begging for another chance, but then I'm not a shareholder:

Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential. When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category. We're not going to speculate now on timing for a next Foleo, we just know we need to get our core platform and smartphones done first.

Technorati Tags: Business, gadgets, Palm, puppy, technology

Palm cancels Foleo, lunatics wail

2007-09-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

Good grief:

At first I was skeptical and joined in the chorus of naysayers on forums eager to decry the Foleo. But over time I began to understand just how truly valuable a light-weight, long-lasting, instant on and elegantly simple sub-laptop could be. I literally made myself my own cardboard mockup of the device and carried it around my office. The potential of the Foleo cannot be grounded in today's laptop uses. It truly is a shift in paradigm.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, Palm, mobile, technology

Explain to me again how this hurts the iPod

2007-09-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

Silicon Alley Insider: Estimating Financial Impact of iTunes/NBC: Small, For Now, But We Still Expect Reconciliation:

Apple's iTunes store exists primarily as a way to promote iPod sales (and, down the line, perhaps gizmos like the iPhone and Apple TV). The pitch is one-stop shopping: Come to us, and you'll find all the music, TV, etc. that you need, in one place, with one pricing scheme. It's simple and it works. Steve Jobs doesn't need the revenue that NBC generates. But he does need to make sure consumers can find whatever content they want at his store. If they have to go elsewhere for that content, that new video iPod may look less appealing.

So, if Apple agrees to make it hard to put non-DRM content on the iPod then NBC will let them sell shows one day after they air. If they don't then those shows turn up on BitTorrent about an hour after they go out on the networks. I don't think I'll sweat over my purchase of the next iPod with video, which might well come tomorrow..

Technorati Tags: Apple, Apple TV, gadgets, iPod, iPod nano, Media, iTunes, Television, video

Word: Just Say No

2007-09-04T00:28:00.001-07:00

Stephen Poole, author of the excellent computer games book Trigger Happy has found a new Zen in losing Word. Excellent, informed and enjoyable. Goodbye, cruel Word:

For the first time, I no longer have a copy of Microsoft Word installed on either of my computers. That’s some change. I wrote my first two books, and many hundreds of articles, in Word. But I’m writing my third book in an inexpensive yet wonderful piece of Mac-only software written by a single person instead of a “business unit” at Redmond. Scoured of Word, my computers feel clean, refreshed, relieved of a hideous and malign burden. How did it come to this?

Technorati Tags: Books, Macintosh, Microsoft, Office, puppy, Word, writing

Michael Jackson, R.I.P.

2007-09-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

That's the important Michael Jackson of course. Is there another?

Technorati Tags: Beer

Nailing the Leopard Dock

2007-08-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've my own thoughts on the Leopard Finder/Desktop/Dock changes too, but I'll save them for when I've played around with it longer. In the meantime, Paul at Rogue Amoeba has some very entertaining observations, and this response in the comments is a killer:

I've yet to see any other comments on the Dock being used on the side of the screen. This may be because those who've tried it have been stricken instantly with vertigo and had to go lie down for a bit. I'm powering through the nausea, however, in an effort to make you sick too.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Leopard, Mac OS X, Software, UI, Usability

Stefan Lewandowski on the UCE website redesign

2007-08-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

I probably shouldn't pass comment on this, but I will. Well said Stef. I wasn't as big a fan as you of the prior BIAD site, but the new one is a very poor joke:

My advice - whoever is in charge of the budget for this project should be asking some serious questions of their developer. Why are they using out-dated web development techniques? Why has the site gone out without being rigorously tested on users and staff? What price design and individuality of the various departments? What message is being sent out with such a poor visual layout? If you accept this level of design now, how long will you have to wait for the _next_ redesign? How out of date will the site look _then_? What do BIAD think of the site? Surely they’ve got a few talented people who know what they’re doing with a website hanging around? Ask them to lend a hand? Or is this a student project? Speak to HR? Hire a good designer to work on the site?

Technorati Tags: Art, Design, Education, UCE, Web

Good news from Flickr

2007-08-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

Those who've been paying attention will know that Yahoo! dropped PayPal as a payment option for Flickr, freezing out a lot of people who'd prefer not to use an evil credit card. Well, yahoo for Yahoo! because it's back as an option from November, and the nice Flickr people are even offering to extend memberships until then for those who are affected:

PayPal will be a payment option in Yahoo! Wallet. In addition we will have ELV support for payments by our German members and local currency support for payments made my PayPal.

In the meantime, we will be more than happy to extend out pro-ness past November 20, for those members who are waiting for the return of PayPal.

I'm going to start from the beginning of this topic (as time permits) and make my way through to add pro to those people who we gifted in the past few weeks to keep them covered and we'll also gift those free account members who are stuck in this inbetween time. Again, thanks for all your patience.

Technorati Tags: Communications, Flickr, photography, PayPal, Yahoo!

Designers: Get ready for iPhone

2007-08-29T03:51:00.000-07:00

Well we don't when exactly, but we know it's coming to Europe soon, and Craig Hockenberry has an excellent guide to readying your online content for Mobile Safari:

The iPhone developers did a really smart thing—they designed the iPhone so that you really don’t need to do anything with your site for it to display correctly. So why am I writing this article? Well, you don’t really need to bathe periodically, either. But dealing with a clean person is much more palatable than one who hasn’t touched a bar of soap for several months. So it is with the iPhone: clean up a few things and your visitors will love you for it.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Design, iPhone, Usability, Web

Web video: We all won

2007-08-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

The addition of H.264 to Flash is more important than it might sound. Adobe EngineerTinic Uro gives all the details, but this might convey just how big this is:

Will it be possible to place H.264 streams into the traditional FLV file structure? It will, but we strongly encourage everyone to embrace the new standard file format. There are functional limits with the FLV structure when streaming H.264 which we could not overcome without a redesign of the file format.

Say it again: .FLV is dead, and this might just be the knife in the heart for proprietary Windows Media formats too. Time will tell.

Technorati Tags: Apple TV, Flash, Google, iPhone, iPod, Mac OS X, Media, Microsoft, movies, podcasting, technology, Television, video, Windows, YouTube

Mind-reading machines

2007-08-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

This talk at the Royal Society on September 27th sounds fascinating:

In this talk Rana el Kaliouby will present technologies with people sense, an emerging area of research that can improve people's ability to "connect" to others; advance social-emotional intelligence in machines to improve people's experience with technology, and build technologies and models that facilitate real-world testing of the mechanisms underlying social cognition, their developmental trajectory and their possible derailed development in pervasive developmental disorders such as autism.

Technorati Tags: Computing, Future, Identity, lecture, MIT, technology, Transformative, virtuality

Everything changes from here

2007-08-21T13:26:00.001-07:00

If true, the mobile telecoms world just shifted on its axis:

Apple has succeeded in committing European mobile phone operators that want exclusively to sell its new iPhone to share parts of their revenues with the technology group.

The contract, which was signed by three European mobile operators in recent days, requires that the operators hand over to Apple 10 per cent of the revenues made from calls and data transfers by customers over iPhones.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Business, Future, iPhone, Networks, phones, technology, Telephony

Choosing a compact just got more difficult

2007-08-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I've been moving inexorably towards the Ricoh Caplio GX100 with its wide zoom and RAW shooting mode, but now Canon have announced the Powershot G9 and - hurrah! - RAW is back. Now I'm confused again.

Well, Canon seems to have heard us, because the new G9 replacement does indeed have raw mode. It also has a 12.1MP sensor and an improved screen. My guess is that the camera was originally supposed to have raw mode, but that without the Digic III chip wouldn't have been fast enough. We'll also have to see whether the increased pixel count is a blessing or a curse, and what the raw shooting speed actually is like. This could well end up being the point-and-shoot of choice for the serious photographer.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, photography, puppy, technology

Microsoft: Thinking outside the box

2007-08-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Even the brilliant Joel Spolsky can't get into Office 2007:

It's a hard plastic case, sealed in two different places by plastic stickies. It represents a complete failure of industrial design; an utter F in the school of Donald Norman's Design of Everyday Things. To be technical about it, it has no true affordances and actually has some false affordances: visual clues as to how to open it that turn out to be wrong.

Technorati Tags: Design, Microsoft, Office, Product Design, broken, Software, Usability, Vista, Windows

Useless software gets meaningless awards

2007-08-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

Hilarious and depressing in equal measures, this intentionally non-functioning Windows program nonetheless picked up all kinds of plaudits from unscrupulous download sites:

I put out a new product a couple of weeks ago. This new product has so far won 16 different awards and recommendations from software download sites. Some of them even emailed me messages of encouragement such as “Great job, we’re really impressed!”. I should be delighted at this recognition of the quality of my software, except that the ’software’ doesn’t even run.

Technorati Tags: humour, puppy, Software, Windows

Killer iMac?

2007-08-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

Tanner Godarzi reckons Apple's new iMac portends doom for the all-in-one. I wonder what he's smoking:

Apple recently updated iMac may look sleek and improved but they have killed it as far as I am concerned. I don’t have a mole within Apple or sources ready to break NDAs but the signs are all in front of our eyes.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iMac, Macintosh, Product Design, technology

Hand+Knife+Robot+Sweat =

2007-08-14T23:01:00.000-07:00

I don't fancy finding out the answer myself. I won't be volunteering my hand as a test subject for 5VOLTCORE's Mumblety-Peg Machine:

Essential to the set-up is the the feedback loop i.e. the circularity between computer, robot and User. It instantiates the notion of a self-fulfilling prophecy: The human is right by assuming that the Machine can fail. The Machine can fail because the human assumes.

Technorati Tags: Art, Gaming, robotics

For the geek who has everything

2007-08-12T01:36:00.000-07:00

It's no secret I love the Spork. I've been known to eat in SpudULike just to snaffle a supply of their green plastic sporks. This must be the ultimate though.

Technorati Tags: Product Design, Usability

Fighting Talk

2007-08-11T15:40:00.001-07:00

Lance Ulanoff is pretty upbeat on Apple's rising fortunes in PC Mag:

The word of mouth for any Macintosh is remarkably good, and with the negative press that Vista is getting, the shine on Apple only gets better and better. To put it simply, Apple's Macintosh is becoming the most logical choice for those looking to buy a new computer. I know I, like Dvorak, find myself hard-pressed not to recommend a Mac desktop or laptop among the PC systems I often tout.

Will there come a time when I recommend only Macs? No. But the day when Apple owns a much, much bigger slice of the computer-market pie is now within view. Let's mark our calendars, shall we? I say that by Q1 2012, Apple will own 12 percent of the market. Anyone want to guess where it'll be by 2025?

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, Mac OS X, Macintosh, Microsoft, Vista

Relief

2007-08-11T15:30:00.001-07:00

Something happier to end the day. This is hilarious: swissmiss: iPhone Shuffle

Technorati Tags: Apple, humour, iPhone, iPod shuffle, YouTube

Tony Wilson

2007-08-11T02:20:00.001-07:00

I only heard this week of Tony Wilson's illness so I'm especially saddened to wake this morning to the news of his death. I never met Tony, but his cultural and musical legacy altered my young life profoundly. Peter Saville's comment is just one of the tributes on the New Order site:

"Tony was an intellectual in popular culture and he brought greatness and importance to it and it was important," he told Newsnight. "He changed it and built it up."

Technorati Tags: Music

Does this surprise anyone?

2007-08-09T03:16:00.000-07:00

How Apple's small things influence their big things - (37signals):

Take a look at the back of the iPhone. It’s silver on top, black on the bottom. Then take a look at the new iMac. It’s is black on top, silver on the bottom.

When the iMac G5 launched the design reference was the widescreen iPod: With all of the effort around the iPhone it was inevitable that the new iMac would reflect the industrial design aesthetic of Apple's latest showcase handheld to some extent. What's more surprising, but smart as hell, is how the new iMac bridges the consumer/pro divide in a completely natural way via its aesthetics. Apple is saying to Mac Pro users "This is what computers are meant to be like. You know you want one." And they're right.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, Design, iMac, iPhone, iPod, Macintosh, Product Design, technology

Cracking open the new aluminum iMac

2007-08-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

This detail is lovely, but begs a question: How do you get inside?

With iMac, details make all the difference. For example, because it’s made from a single sheet of aluminum, you won’t see any seams or screws except for a single compartment on the bottom that provides easy access to the memory slots.

Well wonder no longer, design lovers. The lovely glass panel which sits over the screen (which BTW is a non-glossy panel under shiny glass, AFAIK) is secured by sixteen small magnets. Apple service engineers use a glazier-style suction pad to pull it away from aluminum frame. It's this kind of detail which makes Apple so special.

The one place you won't find a magnet however, is in the side of the case, where the Apple Remote used to hang. You'll need to find some other way of remembering where you put the old-fashioned glossy white plastic remote, which is begging for a shiny metal replacement now, natch.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, Design, iMac, Macintosh, Product Design, magnets, technology, Usability

Moving Office

2007-08-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

With yesterday's announcement of Apple's extended iWork application, this is even more apposite a question. Macworld: Editors' Notes: Reassessing Office's space:

So is Thursday’s announcement of a delayed Office release bad news? Not for Mac users, that I can tell. Whether it’s bad news for Microsoft is another matter altogether.

All I know is that I stopped using Powerpoint on the very same day Keynote landed on my desk, and I was in a 2-presentations-a-day position. I'll be trying Numbers as soon as I can.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, Macintosh, Microsoft, Software, tools

Duly blogged.

2007-08-08T00:25:00.001-07:00

Get your people to blog my people.

Done.

UPDATE: Stef's organising this design as an actual, non-virtual, shirt right now. Follow the link and leave a comment if you want to order one.

Technorati Tags: Birmingham UK, blogs, Design

The future in a tube.

2007-08-06T23:06:00.001-07:00

I always knew AA batteries were the future, but I didn't realise how quickly they'd get us there:

Reportedly, the newly revamped Oxyride managed to maintain an average speed of just over 65mph and hit a top speed of 75.8mph, all while being powered by 192 AA batteries. Unsurprisingly, the promotional stunt rocketed Panasonic into the Guinness Book of World Records for speed attained with a vehicle solely driven by dry-cell AA batteries, but we still wouldn't look at purchasing 192 batteries (each way) as an efficient method of powering your commuter car.

Technorati Tags: Future, puppy, Science, technology

My Avatar appears to be drunk too

2007-08-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to WG. Very funny, and true: YouTube - second life

Technorati Tags: humour, second life, virtuality, virtualworlds

Apple Paperclip

2007-08-06T15:26:00.001-07:00

I wish they'd ship one of these with the Apple remote too:

The best part of this whole thing was that after I spent 5 minutes scouring the apartment for a paperclip to open the sim card slot with, I realized Apple was way ahead of me.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Design, iPhone

While we're waiting for the iPhone

2007-08-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

I think this is already available in the UK:

The iPoor is the most gorgeous and simple phone ever created. Its beautiful, colourful outer casing is bound to turn heads. The huge pink antenna is not only attractive but functional, providing an astonishing 25 foot range.

Technorati Tags: Apple, humour, iPhone, Toys

Good news for .mac users coming

2007-08-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

As part of Tuesday's announcements it would seem. Apple .Mac Welcome:

Due to scheduled maintenance, .Mac members might be intermittently unable to access some .Mac services from 10 AM to 12 PM PDT on 08/07/2007. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Whatever it is, it can't come soon enough.

Technorati Tags: .mac, Apple, Internet, Macintosh

Thai Police about to start a new fashion trend

2007-08-06T04:50:00.001-07:00

I want to wear a Hello Kitty armband too. Let people guess what I've done wrong.

"This is to help build discipline. We should not let small offences go unnoticed," Police Colonel Pongpat Chayapan told Reuters news agency.

"Guilty officers will be made to wear the armbands in the office for a few days, with instructions not to disclose their offences. Let people guess what they have done," he said.

Technorati Tags: fashion

Newsgland

Star Wars vs. Saul Bass

Worst-Case Scenario

Dear Carriers

Apple TV is growing

Toy trains 'Star Wars' fans to use The Force - USATODAY.com

The Last Physical Movie Format

Too Late for Palm

Sony Ericsson get on Android

I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

Technology as Leveler

Breaking Radio Silence

Marketing as Disease

Häxan (1922)

Force Feeding

Going deeper on Digital Photography

Best news of the week, in a week of horrible news

XP is Vista light

Software, seen via the history of popular music

Microsoft to Yahoo: You will be mine.

You only notice great UI when it's not there

Webomatica: I Deleted My FaceBook Account

Sony: PR people on Crack.

My American Friends.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry

Portable Hotspot

The platform just gets better.

Sleep with dogs, wake up with fleas.

I can't see this working

The next-generation disk that wasn't.

Sony screws up DRM-free downloads

Warner goes Blu-Ray, consumers keep wallets shut?

Negroponte: "Waah! Not Fair!"

Personal Use isn't Fair Use

CD better than Digital.

More Video coming to iTunes, Apple TV may have future, Dead walk the Earth.

I'd crack an iPhone for a finished version of this

Happy Saint Lucy's Day

Karlheinz Stockhausen RIP

Shoot Less

You have eaten another glowing dot!

Untitled Document, honestly.

Awe. Some.

This made my day

De-obfuscation

IM on iPod touch

The Scourge of Arial

A nice white wine and a fresh corpse

Post Brands

The Mobile Web is the Only Web

I love this stuff

iPod Touch gets Update

Post Resolution

Google's Horse/Camel Phone OS

Lisa Meyer & Jenny Moore: Bringing balance to the Force

Bug or Feature?

Mac sales benefit from 10 year brand refit

Apple hears our Leopard Dock pain.

Obvious

The price of creative freedom

Kicking the ass of Cookies

Touching

No CBR on my iPod touch

More Fry: On the Foleo

The Wonderful Words of Stephen Fry

Beautiful Type on the Web

Another day, another format

Ok, this is funny

Hunt for Steve Fossett with Mechanical Turk

Orlowski is spot on

Palm cancels Foleo, World yawns

Palm cancels Foleo, lunatics wail

Explain to me again how this hurts the iPod

Word: Just Say No

Michael Jackson, R.I.P.

Nailing the Leopard Dock

Stefan Lewandowski on the UCE website redesign

Good news from Flickr

Designers: Get ready for iPhone

Web video: We all won