I am not sure how long this functionality has been available from YouTube but I recently noticed a small tab underneath the video showing a link to download the music from the video via iTunes. Now while I would probably not buy the music from iTunes (although they have rethought their DRM policy) it does provide the opportunity to learn track details and provide similar.
Partnerships like this will are what makes the internet continue to evolve and change and I look forward to seeing more convergence like this.
New interaction between computer and instruments, for use with audio processing or synthesis.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/11/07/mcmillen.string.interfaces/
A quick Photoshop to demonstrate the point. Do you agree? I’m not sure yet, only time will tell.
I just downloaded and played around with the latest Wordpress beta release which has had a face lift. You are right in thinking this is a bit odd considering that normally the number before the dot changes when a major release is, well, released but not in this case. It may very well be that Wordpress will release the final incarnation with the ‘WORDPRESS 3′ title and if I’m honest it is very much deserved.
The interface has been reorganised but does seem a little crammed in on the admin page, other than that though I really like the way everything has been set out with the menu on the left. The other change is that all post contextual elements are on the right, so categories, date and time, security and save functions. As they are located in a different place, it took me a while to find them but this is probably just because I am used to the older version. All in all I think the next release will have a much more corporate feel to it and add some much better organisation. Only time will tell if the blogging community accept it. For no though, I am happy with the current version (even though I can’t get the flash uploader to work, but thats a different story).
I was just reading through my RSS feeds and playing around with my new phone when I read one about Gmail 2 for mobile being released. I watched the video (which is embedded below) and wondered if the application was only available for smart phones as it mentions the Nokia N95 in this blog post. To my surprise it works on J2ME-supported phones. So basically every new phone for the past 2 years, and seeing as how mine is brand spanking new I thought I would see what it was like.
To get the application go to m.google.com/mail on your mobile web browser and click the link to install, save it to your applications folder and then run it. Its about 65kb so shouldn’t cost you anything if you don’t have additional data bundles with your network operator as typically they offer 1MB/month free.
The application works fantastically with a smooth scrolling action no dounbt designed with touch screen devices in mind. It manages to pack in most of the Gmail features you find on their main website including the option to manage multiple accounts, just Gmail ones though.
It even allows you to view attachments, I tested it with a .pdf from a recent email and it showed me all the content, even though it was just in text form this is pretty useful. I don’t know what other filetypes are supported or how images will be displayed.
The other cool thing is that it allows you to compose messages offline and then send them all at once. So you don’t have to be constantly connected to the internet to use all of the application. It is self contained ofline and only connects when it is necessary.
Microsoft announced at E3 this year that the Xbox Dashboard would be getting revamped, more than that, it would be getting replaced by a newer supposedly better user interface. There are two parts of this that I am interested in, one being what the new interface will be, what new features it will have and how I will feel about the console I have come to know and love changing. The other is the fact that Microsoft is updating millions of Xboxes all over the world with nothing more than a download via the internet – something that I find staggering as the Xbox Live system will only be down for 24 hours.
Judging from the keynote speach at E3, the change will be a big one but not necessarily a good one. The new interface is drab – grey and black, not the colourful one that greets me currently. Lovely oranges, reds purples, greens and blues will be banished in favour of a more PS3 meets Wii style menu.
Next is the introduction of avatars. The most annoying creation of recent years in my opinion. You can spend half an hour creating a virtual character that is ridiculous and looks nothing like you. Designed so you can share more of your personality with the online community. No thanks. With the new interface when I sign in to Xbox Live and go to my ‘buddy list’ , god help me the American influence, I will now see stupid characters standing around on the screen instead of a list of friends. Is that better user experience? I think not.
This new interface is designed to make the Xbox more family friendly and in doing so will alienate many of its fans. I much prefer the existing Dashboard and even that of the PS3 which is clean, slick and easily navigated. In changing this, the most basic of functionality, Microsoft is trying to take some market share away from the family friendly Wii but will inevitabley dilute it’s niche market and will gamers struggle to identify with the console.
Best Feature: The ability to rip your games to your hard drive for faster loading times and reduced lag.
Worst Feature: Avatars. Trying to compete with second life, PS3’s HOME and the Wii means once again Microsoft have shown they have no imagination or creativity of their own and are simply copying the other guy.
In other words i think Microsoft have shot themselves in the foot with this one, but the technical skills involved with doing so are so mindboggling that I can;t wait to try it out.
A protective covering for the PS3 has been released and instead of having the usual crazy designs on the front, it actually has a mould of a scary skull as if trying to break free from the console. This represent a new concept for case mods not only for consoles but for PCs as well. Perhaps a Gears Of War one for the 360 would be appreciated with the upcoming launch of the sequel? Just a thought.
Many of you may be aware that this week the government in their ‘infinite wisdom’ have decided to trial a facial recognition system at Manchester & Stansted airports. Lets have a little look and see why this is a pointless endevour to “add another layer of security and not repace existing systems”.
A test on this scale is normally to work out any final bugs out and produce a final system that will then be rolled out across the rest of a network. There will be a few problems with this for our beloved UK gov.
To start with, facial recognition technology has NEVER been accurate, throwing up false-negatives and false-positives so this appears to be as much a test of the technology as it is of the security system and as far as I can tell it is based on existing technology. Concerns by the Biometrics Assurance Group (pdf) [show] that there is still work to do on both the facial recognition standards and the format in which facial images are stored.
This means the government is committing to a system upon which there are NO standards to adhere to, basically making this a very risky operation. Considering the biometric chip in passports may be incompatible with other systems, or at the very least when a standard is agreed UK residents with the chipped passports may end up having to get yet another passport. Normally standards are agreed before any large-scale testing goes ahead so this seems rather fool-hardy.
Now lets consider people who have gone before. There have been many tested applications of facial recognition and nearly all have been scrapped after only a few years in service as they proved impractical and inaccurate.
“Boston’s Logan Airport also ran two separate tests of facial recognition systems at its security checkpoints using volunteers. Over a three month period, the results were disappointing. According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the system only had a 61.4 percent accuracy rate, leading airport officials to pursue other security options.”
If this is supposed to be another layer of security, to augment the already ludacris systems that are in place, then passengers will see no benefit at all. Did I mention that the whole process will be overlooked by securities staff who can step in at any time and take you to a real person to match your picture.
If all goes well and the system works then it will be truely remarkable and may indeed speed up entry through immigration. However, I feel that given the problems many people have with technology the so-called speed may be just an illusion, a target, similar to the fiasco at Heathrow Terminal 5. Not to mention the fact the system may fall flat on it’s face irrispective of whether people can use it. I predict an amalgation of both which will troublingly create some of the longest queues, the opposite of the desired effect.
Nintendo has revealed a new accessory for it’s Wii console called ‘MotionPlus’ which adds a new level of tracking for the Wii remotes. This accessory “…lets the Wii register the exact position, angle, and movement of the controller and translate it to a game”.
Sound familiar? For those of you who are aware of Johnny Chung Lee from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, you may remember a year ago he posted a video on YouTube with spacial head-tracking for better 3D immersion into a virtual reality environment. Watch the video below and let Mr Chung Lee explain it for you.
So is this the kind of thing that Nintendo will be introducing? I imagine it will be some variation of it considering that the sensor is an attachment for the Wii remote itself and not directly in line with the user’s line of sight with the TV.
Just one more thing to set the Wii apart from the competitors who seem so intent on copying the motion detection technologies just for the sake of it and not with any real purpose.
I was just having a browse through Apple’s film trailers as I normally do and I was taken aback by a film titled ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’. Considering that the 1951 film of the same name is one of my all time favourites I was hoping that this would be a remake rather than a completely unrelated film. To my delight it turned out that it will be a remake but now the problem is whether they will do the original justice or make a hash of it instead.
The original film was based on a book by Harry Bates called “Farewell To Master” and the film obvioulsy uses some creative license and includes things not spcifically in the book and also leaves out something at the end (Gort reveals he is the master and not Klaatu). The 2008 remake is rumoured to follow more closely to the book but should be a pretty accurate representation of the original film set in the present.
As sci-fi films often reflect the current social / political climate showing the hopes and fears of that generation it is no surprise to find that the film is about escalation of violence and what the consequences of that hold considering the times at wich the original was made. The original film was made after WWII and the remake will be released with the war on Terror being at its most prevailent.
I am looking forward to this (released December 12th) but I feel that it won’t be quite as good as the original but should be visually stunning. Oh and Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu.
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