Entertainment
Over the last few years HD video has been getting constantly cheaper, easier and better. I bought a used HD camera in 2001 (JVC HDGR1) for about $2,000 that was one of the first cameras under $10,000 that could do HD, and that it does at 720P, with some other deficiencies. For a while now cheap HD has been available, for instance last year I bought a $150 camera that could also do 720P, but the sensor was small and noisy, that and the audio quality made the footage unusable. However now the latest versions of digital...
So one of the random things I did at CES was watch a filming of the show Tekzilla, it’s pretty popular and use to be on “real” tv. Check it out at: http://revision3.com/tekzilla/ces2010
We’re even in a couple shots. Woo!
This past week I was at CES doing market research, and I'm sure everyone reading any of the tech/gadget blogs have had a overload of CES related coverage. I’m not going to talk about any of the things that got major coverage, but here’s some general thoughts, and a couple things you probably didn’t see anywhere else.
3D TV is coming at you like a 900lb gorilla
Pretty much every TV/Monitor manufacturer has a 3D version of a product coming out, and with Blue-ray updating it’s standards to...
Way back in 2002, I ran an experiment with a hard drive to see how durable the inside actually is, mostly curious to see how easy it is to ruin a drive. In the 2nd above photo you can see the drive arm moving, all of these photos were taken while the drive was being used in a live system. We removed the cover of a old IDE hard drive and proceeded to format and install windows. We didn’t make any attempt to protect the drive, and the office we worked in...
I saw Coraline today in 3D and got these spiffy glasses. I’m impressed with the new 3D technology, but I'm more impressed with the engrish warring message that reads: “Not sung lasses-No UV / Sun Protection”. Clearly it was phonetically spelled by someone that doesn't know what the words sun glasses mean. No sung lasses for you!
The new Jordan Clarke release is worth a watch, I'm always a fan of his music videos. This one like all of the ones in his Vimeo profile is great. The variable speed, colors, and mirroring is neat. Vanilla Strawberry from Jordan Clarke on Vimeo.
There are two kind of people in the world, the kind that divide everyone into two groups, and those who don't. Also there are the people that like flow chart jokes, and I am one of those. Perhaps it's the hours I've spent staring at them at work, but I do like them. XKCD's most recent is quite enjoyable in a dry humor kind of way.
This is a unique and very cool non-destructive form of street art. I am very impressed. From simonk on Flickr
The irony of the fire truck on fire is not lost on Mr Irony.
Jordan Clarke's "get up and go" is a wonderful piece of fanciful video that uses human motion and color to achieve a sublime video experience. I highly recommend watching this video and checkout out his other work. Broadcast 2000 "get up and go" Full from Jordan Clarke on Vimeo.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/12/8/crisis/
A Penny Arcade comic with the joke that Barack Obama's office is terrified that he uses a Zune instead of an iPod.
(1 part Microsoft is evil) + (Everyone you know has a iPod) = the Zune is still not cool.
I would love to see Apple's choke hold on the portable entertainment market broken, but the iTouch is leagues ahead of the competition, and I don't think Microsoft can do it.
I came across this flash based genetic algorithm on Hack A Day.
If you are unfamiliar with genetic programming, the concept is for a program to "evolve" a solution to a given problem. A random population of candidates is generated and each is scored against each other and the fittest survive to the next generation where they are again randomly modified. With enough time and a good scoring system you can evolve a solution, this little flash app perfectly illustrates the concept.
In this instance flash tries to evolve a car where the red dots (passengers) are protected from the bumpy road....