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Can't find the Tech Section of the messageboards, so...
I just stumbled across ClickToFlash, which is a pretty useful (and free; free is good) Safari plugin. It allows you to authorize flash for certain sites (a whitelist, if you will), and automatically blocks flash everywhere else; you have the option of loading flash individually with a simple mouse-click. Bye-bye annoying adverts!
The coolest feature: watching h.264 vids in the largest available format, and in embedded QT--bye-bye superannoying YouTube adverts that pop up on the bottom of the screen.
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My younger brother was telling me that Netflicks is going to start providing an "On Demand" type of service. Apparently, some Blu-Ray players have USB ports that would allow you to jack in a WiFi connnection and rent directly through that. No waiting for your movies in the mail.
Poor Blockbuster....
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My younger brother was telling me that Netflicks is going to start providing an "On Demand" type of service. Apparently, some Blu-Ray players have USB ports that would allow you to jack in a WiFi connnection and rent directly through that. No waiting for your movies in the mail.
Poor Blockbuster....
I sent Blockbuster a long, detailed proposal four years ago to this effect. They sent me a 'Thanks for writing, we'll get back to you' response and a $25 gift card.
In most BRPs, the USB port in the back (and many HD TVs also have a port) is for 'ware updates and maintenance, and the player itself doesn't have the CPU for processing digital signal input.
As an aside, how much would you pay for a subscription service that included:
-Your pick of five shows from five networks
-View-on-demand; all digital
-Limited commercials (as in one ~two minute commercial, or three to five 20 second commercials); an additional fee for commercial-free programs
-Unlimited viewing in up to 720p
-the ability to watch previous seasons at no extra cost
How much would be too much?
The unusual timepiece was one of a series of designs released last year to get the public's mental gears going about green technology and what people want and expect from it. A step up from the clock is a coffee table that catches mice and, like the clock, uses a microbial fuel cell to digest them and produce energy.
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Amazon extends a hand to authors...with caveats.
This deal will be good for some, not as good for others. Without reading the Amazon DRP conditions, I'm not sure I immediately understand how this will affect patronized writers who receive royalties from the publisher. For homegrown, free agent, houseless writers: this is awesome.
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Microsoft's Bing search engine receives awesome update
-This is from last week, but I've been using Bing today and I'm really happy with the results. MS has done a pretty good job.
That will go well with the ultrasonic advertisements... :-/
(Wired magazines article on the same thing.)
Surfacescapes, a student academic group, plays D&D on a Microsoft Surface (Silverlight requested)
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My younger brother was telling me that Netflicks is going to start providing an "On Demand" type of service. Apparently, some Blu-Ray players have USB ports that would allow you to jack in a WiFi connnection and rent directly through that. No waiting for your movies in the mail.
Poor Blockbuster....
My wife about s*** herself when she found out you can do this with the Wii. They send you a disk that you play in your wii and it allows you to stream movies to it through the wireless network. Pretty sweet setup cept i never get to watch TV anymore :(
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Surfacescapes, a student academic group, plays D&D on a Microsoft Surface (Silverlight requested)
At at only $12,500 for the commercial unit and $15,000 for the developer's unit it's really affordable.......or not.....
Surfacescapes, a student academic group, plays D&D on a Microsoft Surface (Silverlight requested)At at only $12,500 for the commercial unit and $15,000 for the developer's unit it's really affordable.......or not.....
But more portable, and potentially more useful, than The Sultan gaming table.
((I also can't find their pricing scheme anymore... If my memory serves, a Sultan for a "typical" group would be about the same cost as the Surface.))
Google reportedly opening VP8 codec. If this becomes open source, web sites can release video that isn't in (royalty required) mpeg-2 or h.264 codecs.
Blu Ray to release 128GB disc format. This format will not be compatible with current players, but isn't necessarily to become the new standard anytime soon.
For those that care, Ubuntu is about to release their latest version 10.04 near the end of the week (the 29th). It is a Long Term Support (LTS) version, so that means you know it will be updated and supported for five years.
You can download the release candidate and/or look at what features are being promoted (scroll down past the mirror links to get to the features).
Hard drive/data recovery tools and tips. Yes, they are using DOS applications. ;-)
Bumptop has been acquired by Google. (Wonder it Google has a plan for a tablet computer...)
It will only be available for free until Friday the 7th.
YouTube video of BumpTop with a mouse. (Novelty, some what interesting)
YouTube video of BumpTop with multi touch screen. (Now that is just really cool. That interface just might "beat" iPhone OS on a tablet.)
Recertified Archos 5 WiFi Media Tablet on sale for ~$160 with promo code EMCYSYR78.
Along with being a media player, it claims to be able to read PDFs. With only a 4.8" screen, it probably won't be a very good choice for that... But there it is for those who might be interested.
Cool things you can do with Dropbox. Dropbox also just announced apps for iPhone, iPad and Android phones. :)
AMD demos its' new Fusion design. This could be the moment that AMD again rises above Intel.
ARM specific Linux distribution company starting up.
This might change the OS surface of the tablet/netbook landscape.
iTunes like free application for other devices (including Android). (I can't easily find if it is Open Source or not.)
Adobe admits vulnerabilities
again...
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The comparison says that Android doesn't have syncing with your desktop, which is inherently correct, but you can get it with DoubleTwist.
Thanks for the many interesting threads, Disenchanter. I don't to keep up with tech as much as I'd like these days.
You're welcome. But do not feel obligated to send me thanks.
Safari 5 available for Mac and Windows. (Article discussing it.)
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[EDIT:: Forgot to add.]Poet exploitation tool released.
New Android phone appears to be doing well.
Not quite as well as previously reported, but still well - if we can trust the new numbers.
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Samsung enters the "App market". I'm not sure the app market will be able to sustain any more entrants...
BeagleBoard ups the ante in open hardware controller boards. I can't wait to see what people come up with this.
WebM is being rolled in to Firefox. I guess Google isn't too worried about the patent pool and litigation threats.
Microsoft reports a bug in earlier versions of Windows (XP and Vista).
Is it just me, or is there always a "serious vulnerability" reported in earlier versions of Windows a few months after the newest version has been out?