All posts by Scott Meisner

iTunes 9 rumors, Blu-Ray support on the way?

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Boy Genius Report has received information from “a pretty reliable source” spilling the beans on some of the upcoming iTunes 9 capabilities.  First up is Blu-Ray support.  Rumors spreading from Apple Insider are pointing to the next lineup of iMacs packing Blu-Ray disc drives, making this lastest tidbit of news all the more convincing.  However, we cannot forget Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ “bag of hurt” comment from the notebook event in 2008: “Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It’s great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we’re waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace.”

According to the same source, there were mentions of some sort of Facebook/Twitter/Last.fm integration with iTunes.  No details about this were shared.  Perhaps “…broadcasting what song you’re playing to your friends” is in the pipes.  The last grain of news states that iTunes users will gain the ability to “visually orgainize and arrange” their purchased apps.  It is likely we won’t have to wait long to find out if all of this is fact or fiction; Apple’s September iPod+iTunes event is right around the corner.

[Via BGR; Engadget, here & here]

RIP John Hughes

Movies, News, ,

Writer/director John Hughes passed away on   the age of 59.  He directed many classic 80s films like Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Home Alone, and my personal favorite, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  He will always be remembered for bringing that special edge and coolness to geeks all around the world.  Also, he was not afraid of making an impact on society by stepping outside the status quo and covering social issues among teens (re: The Breakfast Club).  If you have not seen his movies, I highly recommend you create a “John Hughes weekend” and enjoy all of his hilarious, touching, and influential films.  Thank you John Hughes for making geeks, well, cool.

“Touchable Holography;” the future is coming

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Researchers from the Shinoda Lab at The University of Tokyo have transformed the way holograms will be defined for years to come.  Gizmodo explains what’s going on here best in layman’s terms: researchers have essentially combined motion tracking, like you see in the Wii, with holograms, like you see on CNN, with ultrasonic waves.”  Just watch the video above as it explains it all visually with the truly amazing technology itself.  People, the holodeck concept is moving from fiction to reality, slowly but surely.

[Via Gizmodo]

Tachyon XC brings 3D recording to the masses

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The 2010 Tachyon XC camera system by Tachyon packs a ton of tech.  It is a shock/waterproof system; it records onto SDHC cards (ranges 4GB-32GB of storage); it has a 90mm lens; and the battery lasts up to 12 hours.  The Tachyon camera is meant to be placed on your head (via a bulky mount) and record your surroundings.  Here’s the cool part: the user has the option of combining the power of two cameras and the head mount to record 3D video!  The entire package (including the two Tachyon cameras, a head mount, 3D glasses, and editing software will cost you $379.99.  The single camera package costs 179.99.  Not too shabby for an innovative camera package that enables creatives to shoot and edit 3D video, right?  Tachyon plans on shipping out the camera system no later than September 16.  With YouTube now experimenting with user-created 3D video and film-makers like James Camerson utilizing 3D effects in their movies, this 3D-recording technology might just catch on in the near future.

Check out the video above titled “New York in 3D.”  3D glasses are required for the intended effect, though a trippy, psychadelic adventure can be had as well without the glasses.  The creator: Here is a video I did in NY with the new 2010 Tachyon XC cam and its amazing 3D technology. I put it together with Final Cut, and had a blast with all the 3D footage. The camera is actually 2 2010 XC’s out together with the Tachyon XC 3D mounting system. Tachyon has also produced its own 3D editing software to align the files as well as its own 3D glasses. I was amazed with the footage from the Times Square night scenes, the clarity and color was amazing. The 2D footage as well is fantastic, thanks to the new light sensor in the cam.  Also, check after the break for a second video captured in 3D by the camera.

[Via Gizmodo, here & here; Businesswire] Continue reading Tachyon XC brings 3D recording to the masses →

Twitter, Facebook under attack

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The Twitter service went down today for several hours due to a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack.  What exactly is a DDOS attack, you ask?  Let CNET’s Elinor Mills explain:

In the distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack on the sites, computers that have been compromised by viruses or other malware are instructed by the attacker’s computer to visit the specific Web sites all at the same time and repeatedly. The barrage of connection requests overwhelms the target sites, making it so that legitimate Web traffic can’t get through.  Such coordinated attacks require the efforts of tens of thousands or more of hijacked computers, which together form a botnet. Spammers send e-mails with malicious attachments or URLs to millions of people to create botnets.

Basically, computer hackers are putting heavy pressure the servers that run websites and making them fall to their knees.  The end result is users not being able to access the service’s main portal to log in.  Why did this happen today to Twitter and other related social media sites, though?  According to the latest reports, a Georgian blogger who goes by the name “Cyxymu” was targeted by a group of hackers.  Cyxymu had accounts on the sites Twitter, Facebook, Live Journal, and Google’s Blogger and YouTube.  These sites were affected by a DDOS attack because the group of hackers did not want Cyxymu to voice his opinions on these social websites.  Immature, huh?  Max Kelly, chief security officer at Facebook: “You have to ask who would benefit the most from doing this and think about what those people are doing and the disregard for the rest of the users and the Internet.”

Kelly had this to say about the culprit(s): “We’re actively investigating the source of the attacks and we hope to be able to find out the individuals involved in the back end and to take action against them if we can.”  A Google spokesman: “We are aware that a handful of non-Google sites were impacted by a DOS attack this morning, and are in contact with some affected companies to help investigate this attack. Google systems prevented substantive impact to our services.”  Twitter and Live Journal have yet to comment on the matter.

[Via CNET]

Offical Windows 7 upgrade chart, are you kidding?

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This is unbelievable.  It’s actually quite obnoxious.  It is the official Windows 7 upgrade chart from Microsoft.  Moving or upgrading from one OS to another is supposed to be an easy task.  One company that gets this right is Apple.  When a new version of OS X comes out, a Mac customer simply goes to a store, picks up a single copy of the new OS, and downloads it to his or her computer, hastle-free.  One company that gets it completely wrong is Microsoft.  To start things off on a bad note, Microsoft stocks the shelves with more than one copy of a new OS (usually more than 4 versions).  To make things more confusing, they create a chart like the one posted above.  An upgrade chart is supposed to be helpful and aid a PC customer in the upgrade process.  What this chart does is make things so much more confusing and aggrevating; it presses the fact that there is more than 1 single version of Windows 7 and Windows Vista and it makes things less clear with terms like “custom install” and “in-place upgrade.”  This chart contains 66 different senarios to choose from; also, it “includes an entire row dedicated to a product that doesn’t exist: Windows Vista Starter 64-bit edition (Vista Starter is available in 32-bit only)”–that’s blasphemy!

So, what is there to do?  Leave it to ZDNet’s Ed Bott to clean up the chart and make it readable.  He completed a revised and more sensible chart in about an hour.  If you are thinking about upgrading from XP or Vista to Windows 7 this October, take a look after the break for Bott’s chart.  Microsoft, get your act together!  You attempted to “wow” us with Vista, and that was a disaster (initially).  Now you are trying to pick yourself back up with the positively reviewed Windows 7.  Releasing more than one version of an OS and creating an upgrade chart that makes matters worse is bad, very bad.  A confused customer is not the end goal.  Shake it off, and let’s look forward to Windows 7 releasing without a hitch this October.

[Via Engadget; ZDNet] Continue reading Offical Windows 7 upgrade chart, are you kidding? →

Joss Whedon on Dr. Horrible sequel: “We have a story…”

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This is great news, everyone!!  Creator, mastermind, and genius Joss Whedon has officially come out and stated that a Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog sequel is in the works and a story is bring penned right now!

Whedon: “We’re in there plugging. The writers are trying to put something together.  We haven’t even decided on a venue.  We have a story and we’re working that. We’re just starting with that.  Doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, [we’re just] just figuring out the story.  We’re really excited about what it is. More, I cannot say.”

Yes, he is tight-lipped on the details.  Still, the very fact that the Whedon family (papa Joss and sons Zack and Jed) are hard at work on the story is very exciting.  The revolutionary (and Emmy-nominated!) web series made a splash on the Internets with its low budget musical back in 2008.  A sequel is highly anticipated by all Dr. Horrible fans.  Cross your fingers for reprising roles from the extremely talented Neil Patrick Harris, Nathon Fillion, and Felicia Day.  Peace out, but not literally.

*In celebration of this good news, take a time out and watch all three acts of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog above.  You know you want to.

[Via MTV]

Seth Rogen + Megan Fox = major embarrassment

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Watch this clip from Jimmy Kimmel Live.  Seth Rogen reminisces about that last time he stopped by the show.  Old footage is shown revealing a major embarrassment for Rogen ignited by the one and only Megan Fox.  To speed up the process, start watching at the 2:43 timestamp.  Hilariously humiliating!