August 12, 2006, 2:01 PM CT

Puzzle Fantastica

What's all this then?

P.F. #1 has become born and grown and lived and shown its charity and, to quote Whitman, it will forever "be curious, not judgmental." It has not been solved. Near 200 contributions have been made, and near 10,000 people have gandered.

Where do we go from here? We weren't being coy earlier when we said the puzzle was bigger than us. We'd like to say it was now bigger than Sudoku but, as Kerouac would have it (certainly quoting someone else anyhow), comparisons are odious. We've not offered a clue in these sentences, please understand. We dont' seek to be mysterious for mystery's sake. That is sincere.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

August 7, 2006, 2:55 PM CT

The Cost of Culture

Culture, as a weapon, has been at the forefront of most conflicts involving mass social change. Language, as one of the main proponents of culture, can cleave societies while reuniting them under a new constitution. The remixed culture of a freshly formed society bares both wounds and ideals forged in the smithy of change. Can this inheritance of combustible conscience be regarded as essentially free? If not, and I contest that it cannot, what is the cost of culture?

Creative authorship is an expression, in language, of culture. While language, being the tool of authorship, is subject to change, it remains paradoxically fixed within a moment of use and understanding. It is, as it exists and grows, a trace of conquest and reformation. At the point of impact, culture shows a map of destruction. Perhaps the flames of culture boil down to the core of human nature - restless, competitive, and parochial. On the other hand, however, humans are generous, communal, and optimistic. Therefore, following any occasion of devastation, reconstruction soon begins. Culture is an essential spark within the regenerative spirit. Its influence can be experienced through art, architecture and systems of new governance. Hence, culture and creativity have currency within the verdant economy of social evolution. The task before us is of how to value the currency of cultural purchase.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

August 6, 2006, 10:43 PM CT

Bariloche, Patagonia

We're all exhausted - the band more than I, as they stayed on at the club last night to greet friends and well-wishers. Bariloche is a 2 hour flight south - it is a ski town so the shops are all filled with ski outfits, souvenirs and chocolates (German/Swiss influence up here.....one of the famous Nazis was hiding out in this region.....as were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid and their molls.)

It's drizzling; we grab a bite to eat as the next world cup game plays on a massive TV. I get ½ hour sleep before the band begins a short one-hour set (8PM - early this time).....me joining at the end, as before. We suspect the crowd here will be less familiar with all of our stuff, both theirs and mine, which is true - they are mostly locals - but the reaction is good. A few mention that they never expected to see me live in their lifetime, so they are fairly thrilled.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

August 6, 2006, 9:33 PM CT

Circuit City Offers DVD Ripping Service

Well, well, well! Look who's violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act! For only a couple of fins, Circuit City will take your DVD and an iPod and flagrantly breach copyright at your behest.

How does this violate the DMCA? Well, as per the act, any attempts to work around an encryption scheme is prohibited. Every DVD comes encrypted. Ergo, Circuit City's breaking the law for customers, thousands of times per day.

Note the caveat: "Transfer must be from an original copy of your DVD collection." We'll swat aside the of/from confusion to point out how gleefully imprecise a criterion that is. Time to load up your trunk with a buddy's DVD collection and head on down to Circuit City. "Just what I needed!".........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

August 6, 2006, 0:35 AM CT

Sylvia McNair to join Jacobs School of Music Faculty

She's been at home on the grand stages of Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and in more intimate settings such as the Rainbow Room and Algonquin's legendary Oak Room. But Sylvia McNair has always held a special place in her heart for Indiana University.

In what amounts to a homecoming of sorts, the IU alumna, two-time Grammy Award-winner and internationally renowned soprano is returning to Bloomington to join the voice faculty at the IU Jacobs School of Music. She will begin teaching this fall.

"I left Bloomington almost a quarter of a century ago and for those 24-25 years, I've had my feet on the stage. I can tell you without hesitation that's a number of more years than I could ever have dreamed of," McNair said. "It just feels like it's time to share with the younger folks some of the things I've experienced.

"If I've learned anything in my years as a professional, I've learned that singing from your heart and singing with joy is so important. And too often that gets lost. I certainly hope to be a voice for joy," added McNair, a native of Mansfield, Ohio.

"Sylvia has long been believed to be Indiana's favorite daughter, and eventhough a Buckeye, this feels like a homecoming," said Jacobs School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards. "To have her creative efforts directed towards the students of the IU Jacobs School is a thrill. Future generations of artists and teachers will personally look back on this moment as a pivotal one in their professional lives and will give thanks to her for calling Bloomington home."........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

August 5, 2006, 6:23 PM CT

Eye-tracker Quake controls!

Hmm. The problem with this guy is he assumes everyone's seen eye-trackers before and that we won't think he's just controlling the game from under the table.

Where's his other hand? Ahahh!

OK: I jest. I am prepared to believe that eye-trackers exist, and I suppose now that this sort of computer voodoo will probably be mainstream by, like, tomorrow, and that I've just not been keeping up with the latest in awesome hardware developments. Sigh.

Question though: how the hell do you aim?........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

August 1, 2006, 10:13 PM CT

New Shuffle-lookalike UP3

Do you still remember LG's Shuffle-lookalike UP3? Well, the Korean giant has just another added two members into this series, which are UP3 Flat and UP3 Sharp accordingly.

LG UP3 Flat is a screen-less MP3 player but just LED indicators. It does playback MP3, WMA (DRM supported), OGG, and ASF audio. Its built-in battery allows up to 10 hours of playback continously. The dimension of UP3 Flat is 78 x 24 x 9.5mm.

Conversely, UP3 Sharp comes with a OLED display. Most of the features are same as Up3 Flat, except the UP3 Sharp has only 8 hours of battery life and a dimension of 85 x 25 x 10mm. Althought it is said to be used patented fingerprint-resistant material as its case, it seems doesn't work at all.

Both models are available 512MB and 1GB. They are expected to be released in the end of this July.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

August 1, 2006, 10:08 PM CT

Actions ATJ2098 and Delux iShow

China-based Actions Semiconductor will soon announce its new ATJ2098 chip, which is an upgrade version of ATJ2097. It will be mainly made to improve the stability and the size of the chip. The new ATJ2098 will packaged at LQFP 80 pins. Its dimension is about 10 x 10mm. There is no new feature is reported so far.

Meanwhile, Delux Technology is going to release a new iShow which is based on this new chip. Its features are most likely with other ATJ2097-based players, but with an 1.8? 260K colors TFT LCD. It does play video at resolution of 160 x 128.

Stay tuned. We will keep you updated on this new solution.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

July 26, 2006, 7:07 AM CT

Full-screen Video IPod Coronation in 2007?

Bad news for all devoted iPod geeks, who are desperately waiting to crown the new king of the 'gadget industry', the latest widescreen iPod would now be released next year. According to International Business Time, you will have to wait for another six months or so to bite the fresh apple.

According to Shaw Wu of American Technology Research:

Apple is aiming to increase both the screen size and improve the battery life - two conflicting attributes that are difficult to improve simultaneously and require significant engineering.

Certainly, we are fed up with the teasing mock-ups and need to see the beast now without fault, however, we are helpless and would have to wait and see what's Apple has to offer to melt down the much-hyped Zune. Apparently, Apple is feeling the pressure and wants to overcome technical hurdles before actually introducing the new iPod and that make sense too.........

Posted by: Kevin      Permalink         Source

July 26, 2006, 6:59 AM CT

S-VIEW SV510 portable video key

Piracy is rampant in the software and entertainment industries, and you can sometime find bootleg versions of the latest movies and games before they are even officially released. Cinea has introduced a new solution to this age-old problem with the S-VIEW SV510, a USB key that enables the playback of protected digital content.

Should the USB key be lost or stolen, this device can be disconnected remotely. Movie studios should look into this offering from Cinea in order to reduce the risk of piracy. The S-VIEW SV510 comes with a six to twelve digit access code for security purposes and can be deregistered should the situation call for it.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

Older Blog Entries   1   2   3   4   5   6   7