Recently in Technology Category
Fellow Twitter shared with me an invitation to the beta of the new application called Dropbox yesterday. What is Dropbox? Dropbox is a desktop application (for both Windows and Mac OS X) and storage service that just works. It's the easiest way to share and store files online and keep files in sync across your computers. They have aput together a simple video explaining the concept (video demo here). It is very fast to install across all your computers no matter which OS you are using and it works like charm. I have been looking for something like that for a while, I used my home network to transfer files before as well as USB key, but this process took time and effort. With Dropbox you simply drop the file you want to share between your computers and it is automatically synchronized so you can access it on another machine. Changes to your files are instantly synced across your computers as well, all of your stuff is available via the web, so you can get it no matter where you are. Plus you may also upload a file remotely through a web browser anywhere in the world and the file will show up on your computers. You can undelete files or restore old versions in a snap, so you never lose anything. You may also share folders and its content with your friends or family. The service is in beta right now so it is free at the moment. I don't know what the plans for the future, but I hope they will offer some kind free accounts once they roll it out to the public. I have got 10 invites in the mean time, so if anyone is interested in this product, please leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will be happy to share them with those who want to check it out.
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First of all Facebook is so last year by now, but many - including myself still keeps an active profile on it. And there are problems like with many other social networking sites, which can truly have a negative effect on your life. BBC exposes Facebook security flaw today, which could compromise privacy and lead to identify theft. Worth watching this short video explanation about this new flaw - click here.
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Apple today updated its all-in-one iMac® line with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and the most powerful graphics ever available in an iMac. With prices starting at just $1,199, iMac includes faster processors with 6MB L2 cache and a faster 1066 MHz front-side bus across the entire line , and 2GB of memory standard in most models. The 24-inch iMac now offers a 3.06 GHz Intel processor and the high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics as options, extending iMac’s lead as the ultimate all-in-one desktop computer for both consumers and professionals. Packing dual-core performance into the convenience of a striking all-in-one design, the new iMac includes faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors across the line; a 1066 MHz front-side bus; up to 4GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory; and a widescreen flat-panel display supporting millions of colors. For the first time, the 24-inch iMac features an optional NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB of video memory, to deliver up to two times standard performance for graphic intensive applications*. Providing the latest in high-performance connectivity options to quickly and conveniently transfer digital photos, music and video, iMac includes built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n Wi-Fi networking for up to five times the performance of 802.11g**; Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; Gigabit Ethernet; built-in iSight® video camera; a total of five USB 2.0 ports (including two on the Apple Keyboard); and one FireWire® 400 and one FireWire 800 port.
You can read the full content of the press release here. I have had my iMac for nearly 6 months now, so I am not all that upset about it, I am glad actually that they have finally bumped the specs. I think some time later on this year, possible in the summer, MacBooks should get a little make over as well since they are overdue for one already. In the meantime I am sure you will see a lot of "older" iMac models available at a big discount on their web site.
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Looking at the new trend, it is possible as more and more network TV stations are starting to offer their programming online. It looks like in Canada you can watch most of the newscasts online already and now more and more TV shows are joining them online. CTV.ca is doing just that - they're offering full episodes of Lost, Desperate Housewives, Studio 60, and Grey's Anatomy online for free. Currently I have a PVR (DVR) which allows me to schedule and record shows which I watch regularly, so I do not have to follow the actual TV guide schedule. This allows me to watch my shows whenever I have got the time to do so. It is very convenient option for me, especially when I am overseas and not able to watch TV back home. When I return, all of the episodes are there for me waiting on my DVR to catch up on.
But now with shows being offered online I can be anywhere to watch them and do it anytime I feel I want to watch them. This is a real boon for those without a DVR to record programs when they are not home. The online shows are divided into six sections (each started with a short commercial) and they've got a nice full-screen option so you don't feel like you're watching a moving postage stamp. Will internet replace traditional TV cable? I think the trend is pointing in that direction, frankly I feel like I am spending way to much money for my cable bill already so cutting it down to Basic while watching many shows online is a very attractive option for me personally.
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New web-based image editor from Adobe called Photoshop Express has been released in Beta form this week. I have always believed that the online based applications are the future of computing, Google was a pioneering this concept with their Google Docs and recently more and more large companies introduce slimdown, more basic versions of their software packages as free online tools for the community.
Adobe Photoshop Express allows you to do photo editing without having the pricey Photoshop CS3 Suite install on your computer. You will get 2GB of free storage for your photos so you can keep them online and ability to create galleries at the same time. These feature alone would allow many amateur, even semi-pro and pro photographers to have web gallery of their work online, a great way to showcase your portfolio! The application is well designed with nice colours, which resemble those of Adobe products while all flash driven for fast access and use. This is a new online photo editing experience and community, which will be a huge hit for many of us! If you are interested in watching a great video tour of the brand new public beta of “Adobe Photoshop Express,” Kelby Training just released a free online learning center which takes you through the whole process, from uploading your photos, to editing, to creating online albums, and sharing your work. These guys are fast, I am glad they jump on the opportunity to show us all how easy it is to use the new Photoshop Express from Adobe. Watch the video here. When you are done with it, go check out Photoshop Express today, you just never know when you will need to do some quick on the fly editing. It is worth a bookmark for sure.
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Pretty neat idea from MIT. I can see this useful tool in school where small children can interact and learn with them in the future.
Imagine overturning a container of nuts and bolts, then looking through the resulting pile for a particular item. Or spreading photographs out on a tabletop and then beginning to sort them into piles. During these activities we interact with large numbers of small objects at the same time, and they utilize all of our fingers and both hands together. We humans are skilled at using our hands in these ways, and can effortlessly sift and sort - focusing on our higher level goals rather than the items themselves.
Siftables aims to enable people to interact with information and media in physical, natural ways that approach interactions with physical objects in our everyday lives. As an interaction platform, Siftables applies technology and methodology from wireless sensor networks to tangible user interfaces. Siftables are independent, compact devices with sensing, graphical display, and wireless communication capabilities. They can be physically manipulated as a group to interact with digital information and media. Siftables can be used to implement any number of gestural interaction languages and HCI applications. More info
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It's official as this morning:
Now featuring support for the faster 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, the new AirPort Express Base Station delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous model. The world’s smallest 802.11n-based mobile base station, the new AirPort Express offers a great option for anyone who wants to set up a high-speed wireless network, share a printer wirelessly, or stream iTunes music wirelessly from a Mac or PC with AirTunes. And because its so compact, you can take AirPort Express with you and set up an ad hoc wireless network in your hotel room. Available immediately for Mac and Windows, AirPort Express sells for just $99.00. To buy it, simply visit your local Apple store or go online.
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In today's world full of suspicion just about anything you do, crossing a border may mean also that you may have surrender any electronic equipment you carry with you, especially laptops for boarder patrol examination. There is a great article on CNET about it and how protect your privacy when you are facing this type of situation.
Customs officials stepping up electronic searches of laptops at the border where travelers have no privacy or legal grounds to object. Laptops and other electronic devices can be seized without reason, copied, and returned hours or even weeks later. Executives have been told that they must hand over their laptop to be analyzed by border police.
Read the full story - here.
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It's not a secret I am a big fan of Twitter, I try to use it daily as a form of moblogging onto my web site and Facebook profile all at the same time. Evan Williams the founder and creator of Twitter (as well as Blogger.com) posted on his blog a great video explanation about what Twitter is and how it works. So if you have not got to use it yet, it may help you to get a better understanding of the concept and why it has been such a huge success. There are close a million users of Twitter already and the popularity of it grows really fast. This video was created by the Common Craft.
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The long awaited MacBook update is here: 
Apple today introduced new models of the MacBook and MacBook Pro. MacBook Pro models feature the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors (running at up to 2.6GHz with 6MB of shared L2 cache), larger hard drives (up to 300GB), and 2GB of memory standard in most models. They also include the latest NVIDIA graphics processors — with up to 512MB of video memory — and an innovative Multi-Touch trackpad, first introduced in MacBook Air. The three new models of the MacBook feature faster processors and hard drives: sleek white 2.1 GHz and 2.4 GHz models with 120GB or 160GB 5400 rpm hard drives and a stunning black 2.4 GHz model with a massive 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive. The 2.4 GHz MacBook ships with 2GB of memory standard, expandable up to 4GB across the line. Available immediately, the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models start at just $1,099 and $1,999, respectively.
Frankly I am disappointed again by the hard drive space, the most basic models should start from 250GB... it's 2008 people!
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It looks like Apple is playing catch up to a very popular already Adobe Lightroom, which I have started using while back. I am glad to see they are finally upgrading their product to reflect many "must have" features. It will not make me switch to it now simply because I am used to Lightroom (and I really love it), but for those who have been using Aperture already, it is a great news today. Upgrade is only $99.00 and if you would want get a full version, it is $199.00
As per Apple's press release this morning, here is what you will see in the new Aperture 2:
Featuring a new, easier user interface designed to be more intuitive and accessible, Aperture 2 now lets users navigate between Viewer and Browser modes with a single key command. Screen real estate is maximized for images with an all-in-one heads up display that allows users to toggle between library, metadata and adjustment controls in a single tabbed inspector. The All Projects view, modeled after iPhoto’s Events view, provides a poster photo for every project and the ability to quickly skim through the photos inside, and the integrated iPhoto® Browser offers direct access to all the events and images in the iPhoto library.
Performance has been enhanced in Aperture 2 so it’s faster to import, browse and search large volumes of images. Embedded previews let photographers caption, keyword and rate images as they are being imported, and with the ability to export images in the background, photographers can continue working while images are processed to JPEG, TIFF, PNG and PSD file formats. Quick Preview allows users to browse RAW images in rapid succession without having to wait for files to load, and the Aperture library database has been re-architected to provide fast project switching and near instantaneous search results, even when working with extremely large libraries of 500,000 images or more.
Aperture 2 delivers powerful new imaging tools for getting the most out of each photograph. Apple’s next-generation RAW image processing is at the core of Aperture 2 offering uncompromising image quality and precision controls that let users fine-tune the image profile for each of their cameras. New tools for improving and enhancing images include Recovery for pulling back “blown” highlights, Vibrancy for selectively boosting saturation without adversely affecting skin tones, Definition, which offers local contrast for adding clarity to images, Vignette & Devignette filters for providing professional visual effects and a true soft-edged Repair and Retouch brush for quickly and easily removing blemishes, cleaning up sensor dust and cloning away problem areas.Summary of the new key features:
- Image adjustment controls such as Highlight Recovery, Definition, Vibrancy, and Vignette
- Retouch tool with soft-edged brush to remove unwanted elements from photos.
- Next-generation RAW image processing for highest-quality images
- Quick Preview mode for rapid-fire photo browsing
- Simplified user interface that maximizes screen space and provides direct access to your
- iPhoto library from within Aperture Integration with .Mac Web Gallery to instantly publish your photos, allowing visitors to view and download images.
More information on Aperture 2 can be found at www.apple.com/aperture
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"We've built a system that helps creators get feedback, and uses a proprietary algorithm and ranking system to identify which content people are responding too. We then use this to match content to people based on a system that uses tags, social networks, and our ranking system."
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Apple has recently launched a subsection of its web site that offers dozens of how-to videos to help new Mac users get started with their shiny new computers. For someone like me who has recently switched to the Mac platform, I find it extremely helpful to have those type video tutorials available online. There are many separate sections on how to create and manage photos, movies, Web content, music and documents and even videos on how to move data from a Windows PC to a Mac. The videos are short which is a great bonus for me as I hate long and complicated (read: boring) videos, each one of them lasting on average only about 2-3 minutes. If you really need run Windows on the Mac using Apple Boot Camp, there are video explaining how-to do it as well. They even suggest buying virtualization software from Parallels or VMware, if the Mac user wants to be able to run simultaneously separate windows for each OS. Boot Camp requires the Mac to be restarted when switching from Windows back to OS X. So if you are new to the Mac or simply is thinking about getting one in the future, this part of Apple web site will help you if most information you may want to have handy before you make the move. All of the videos are well done and simple to understand. Click here to check it out and bookmark it for future.
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Internet services have been disrupted in parts of the Middle East following damage to an undersea cable in the Mediterranean, according to reports from major news networks. It appears that there is a disruption to 70% of the nationwide network in Egypt due to a faulty undersea cable which links Palermo, Italy and Alexandria in Egypt. Due to this failure there is huge impact on many other countries in the region like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Even India has lost about 60% of their internet access today. The repairs may take a while so for now they are trying to fix the issues by re-routing the Internet tracking using other routes and satellites. Impact could be huge not only on communications but also on economy if this issue is not resolve as soon as possible.
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To continue the Story of Stuff as seen yesterday - here is part two called: Extraction
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The Story of Stuff will take you on a provocative tour of our consumer-driven culture - from resource extraction to iPod incineration - exposing the real costs of our use-it and lose-it approach to stuff.
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One of my decisions at the beginning of the year was to travel light from now. Taking absolutely the minimum with with when I am off somewhere overseas. One small carry-on, plus a camera bag is the new goal when hitting the airport from now on, no more heavy laptop computer! Frankly I can live with it for a week or so at the time, if I do need to access e-mail and any other stuff online, in most cases there are internet kiosks / cafes offering it. The real reason I used to take a laptop with me so I can empty memory cards when I am shooting. Luckily there are many alternative options on the market now, one of them is called Digital Foci Photo Safe 80GB Digital Picture Storage.
This device is very small, 4.6 x 3 x 0.8 inches and weights only 1.3 pounds. It offers you a one touch photo backup directly from your digital camera memory card without a computer. Built-in memory card slots directly support CF I/II, MD, SD (including SDHC), MMC, MS, and xD (RS-MMC, miniSD, MS Duo, and MS PRO Duo with adapter) and it has a pretty decent copy speeds - can copy a full 1GB card in approximately 5 minutes. With copy status indicator it displays percentage completed, copy confirmation, and number of files copied to the device. With its user-replaceable Li-Ion battery that is rechargeable via computer USB port or external AC power, Photo Safe provides the ultimate convenience both at home and on the go. It is compatible with both Windows and Mac and you can pick one up online for about $120.00USD. It is small, practical and easy to use. You can store 1000's of RAW image files on 80GB. Plus not having a whole computer with you when you are away has it own advantages, we all need a break from information overload and when you are away it is nice to take a break from Internet itself.
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It's official: I am not buying due to luck decent specs and high price. Sure it is a nice toy, but not for me... I wonder how many will they sell? I doubted it be as much of hit as the current MacBook on the market for which I may go later on this year. I do need a new notebook but first they really need to up the basic specs on it. I am patient - I can wait until it makes more sense to me. Mind you I do love my iMac!
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