Here’s a little Easter Egg embedded in Mac OS X. If you have a Mac, try it out.
Category Archives: Technology
iPhone OS running on a 24-inch monitor?
Most likely fake, but very cool nonetheless. Just imagine.
Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X "Snow Leopard"
Which operating system are you?
[polldaddy poll=1703049]
*Isn’t that a great picture? Best upgrade [from PC World] —>Mac OS X. Ha!
[Image via Nep Smith]
Danny "Phenom" Johnson sets new Guitar Hero records
At the 2009 Book Expo America tradeshow, 14-year-old Danny “Phenom” Johnson set three new Guitar Hero world records that will be published in the latest Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2009. He holds the Longest Note Streak with 3,722 notes (and 100% notes hit) on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’s “Through the Fire and Flames.” With that performance, he beat his previously held record for the Highest Score For a Single Track with a score of 985,206. Most recently, he set the record for the Highest Score For a Single Track in Guitar Hero: Metallica. On “Mercyful Fate,” an 11 minute song (!), he scored 1,017,326, hit 100% of the notes, and had a 3,178 note streak. These numbers are INSANE. He is truly a Guitar Hero “phenom.” Check out his latest performance of Mercyful Fate at IGN. —–>WATCH THIS IN ITS ENTIRETY. Watch and learn.
If you’re interested in seeing his other records being set and for some tutorials by Danny himself, check out his YouTube channel. Right now, his front page video (the video embedded above) is his 100% completion performance of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Dayyum.
[Via ElectronicTheatre]
Project Natal on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Microsoft’s Project Natal is SO COOL. I cannot wait to get this thing. For the time being, though, the best we can all experience is watching others play with it as we sit back, jaw-dropped in envy. Watch Jimmy Fallon and his three guests play two demos on Natal, the Richocet game and Burnout Paradise. Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda was there to give instruction. [According to Engadget, the red jumpsuits were worn just for fun.]
Apple WWDC Round-Up
Apple. WWDC. San Fransisco. June 8, 2009. Keeping it simple.
Apple announced an updated line of its laptop products, gave an updated preview of its new OS Snow Leopard, and unveiled the next version of the iPhone.
All sizes of Apple’s laptop line (13” (!), 15″, and 17″) are now called MacBook Pro, thus blurring if not entirely removing the distinguishing features between the cheapest and most expensive MacBook. They all have updated screens (better color gaumet) and longer battery lives (up to seven hours, non-removable (eight hours for the 17”)). The 13” and 15” now have SD card slots which replace the ExpressCard slot, which is only found in the 17″ model now. Also, Firewire returns to all the MacBook Pros. The 13″ starts at $1199, 15″ at $1699, and 17” at$2499. The MacBook Air also took a price cut; it starts at $1499. The white plastic MacBook stands at $999.
Snow Leopard looks to be a great upgrade to Apple’s successful Leopard OS. It has 64-bit architecture, among other updates. It will be available this September for only $20 for those who are upgrading from Leopard.
The new iPhone 3G S looks the same as the current 3G model on the outside; it is the inside where things are different. The 3G S has a faster processor (about 2x faster than 3G), a better camera (3 megapixels, can capture video), and even a compass. It also has voice control that can be used when calling someone or controlling your music playlists. The iPhone 3G S will be available in 2 flavors, 16GB ($199) and 32GB ($299), on June 19th. The current iPhone 3G is now available for the low price of $99 (8GB). The new iPhone 3.0 OS will ship on the 3G S and will be available for a free download to all current iPhone and iPhone 3G users for free on June 17th (iPod touch users must pay $9.99). *Side-note: AT&T sucks. It was announced that MMS and tethering are included features to the iPhone 3.0 software. Laughter filled the auditorium when it was said that the MMS feature on AT&T would not be enabled until “later this summer.” Also, AT&T was not among the carriers named that will allow the tethering feature. WTF, AT&T!
Check after the break for images of the new products.
[Image via Engadget]
SNL’s Jason Sudeikis goes to E3
Last week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy sent Saturday Night Live cast member Jason Sudeikis to the big gaming convention E3. Watch the video–it is hilarious!!
Microsoft Bing, the next Google?
No, the new search engine by Microsoft is not the next Google. But it is a positive force in the search engine arena. Bing allows you to search the categories phrases, images, videos, shopping, news, maps, and travel. What is interesting about Bing is that when you make a search, not only does it provide links about your search term, but it also gives you local information that relate to your searched item. For example, if you search “video games,” sites like GameSpot, GameTrailers, and others show up. At the bottom of the search, Bing also shows you video of the lastest games and locations where you might want to rent/buy a video game near you. Another nice touch: when hover over a related link, Bing provides a quick synopsis of what is contained in that site. Yes, the Bing user interface is clean, fresh, and easy…but this is not enough to overtake other search engine overlords like Google and Yahoo!. Many of the local features in Bing can be found in iGoogle and Yahoo!’s personalized websites. If Microsoft wants to truly make an impact in this sector of the Internet, it must use Bing in creative new ways and offer services that have not yet been tried again and again by Google and the others. Try it out for yourself; Bing is officially up and running today: www.bing.com. Also, check after the break for the first commercial for Bing; it’s interesting. Continue reading Microsoft Bing, the next Google?
The iPhone 3G '09 Rumor Mill Keeps Spinning [Updated]
Monday cannot come soon enough. On June 8th, Apple’s WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) will bring news on the iPhone and “Snow Leopard” (Apple’s next OS version) fronts. The lastest rumors for the new iPhone hardware include a change from a glossy back and metallic sides to a matte back with no silver lining; the second rumor is far more interesting, and oh-so-exciting–a front-facing camera, which would allow VIDEO CHAT functionality. Although this specific rumor has been around since last year, there are some leaked images that may prove this new addition is on the way. Photoshopping is rapant these days, but I will take what I can get. Check out the newest photos after the break that show off new screenshots of the front-facing camera in action. Monday, Monday Monday… [UPDATE: After further investigation, the video-chat images have been debunked as photoshopped fakes. If you look closely, the bottom bar is from the the Skype app. Here’s hoping we still get this funcionality, even though these specific images were false.]
[Images via Nouveau here and here] Continue reading The iPhone 3G '09 Rumor Mill Keeps Spinning [Updated]
Palm Pre is on sale now
In order to celebrate Palm Pre officially being sold in Sprint, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart stores around the country today, let’s celebrate by watching the Pre cut the cheese and its Touchstone counter-part act like a gecko. See the videos after the break. Continue reading Palm Pre is on sale now
Conan responds to Mushroom Kingdom backdrop!
Conan hilariously responds to the blogger from “Serious Lunch” about his monologue backdrop having an uncanny resemblance to the Super Mario Bros. Mushroom Kingdom. Although Conan does not formally say if it was intentional or not, I hold strongly to my opinion that Conan and crew are big Nintendo fans at heart.
P.S.–When announcer Andy Richter says “…my wife sent me a link to this from another site,” he is talking about this website! : )
[Image via Dlisted]
Project Natal is so good, even Johnny Chung Lee backs it
Johnny Chung Lee is a Microsoft researcher and a recent graduate at Carnegie Mellon University with a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction. He is an insanely smart individual who has influenced the creation, manipulation, and eventual final product of Microsoft’s Project Natal for Xbox 360. He recently said:
“The human tracking algorithms that the teams have developed are well ahead of the state of the art in computer vision in this domain. The sophistication and performance of the algorithms rival or exceed anything that I’ve seen in academic research, never mind a consumer product. At times, working on this project has felt like a miniature “Manhattan project” with developers and researchers from around the world coming together to make this happen.”
To quote Gizmodo‘s Mark Wilson, “That quote’s more than just hype—it’s educated hype.” Back in 2007, Lee created a headtracking simulation with the Wiimote, creating an stunning 3D realm into a different realm (in this case, for video games). The video above is Lee’s creation with a commentary that explains his genious work. The point of all this…Microsoft has managed to employ Lee to help the company create and complete Project Natal, a technology that may forever change the way developers and consumers create and play video games. Exciting stuff. Check after the break for two additional videos of Lee’s past creations, “tracking fingers with the Wii-remote,” and “low-cost multi-point interactive whiteboard using the Wii-remote.” Interesting how Microsoft and not some other company whose console relies on motion controls happened to employ such a marvel in innovation.
Continue reading Project Natal is so good, even Johnny Chung Lee backs it