Microsoft Zune search results

Tour of the Microsoft Mac labs

David Weiss has posted a great virtual tour of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit. Definitely worth a look if you ever wondered about MS's dedication to the Apple platform. The cluster of 150 Mac minis used for automated software testing (pictured to the left) is particularly cool

Giant iPod found on Google Maps

We've seen Jesus, now we have giant MP3 players. Is there no end to the things people find with Google Maps err Google Local?

OLED keys coming to the MacBook Pro?

Over the last couple of weeks I have pretty much decided that I am going to buy a MacBook Pro. All I've been waiting for were the first user reviews to start appearing on the web. The first have now started to appear, so it was only a matter of a few more days before I placed an order. But, as usual, it ain't that simple.

A new report from NewTechSpy suggests that Apple's next generation laptops will implement the OLED keys which we first saw on the Optimus mini keyboard. The idea is that Apple will replace all the function keys with OLED displays and also add three new OLED buttons on either side of the trackpad. This is supposed to happen as early as January 2007, which is blindingly cool, but remember this is still just a rumour. On the other hand it would certainly fit with Apple's reputation for adopting innovative new technologies.

Apple's MagSafe power connector - perhaps not such a bad idea after all

Isn't that bloody typical? Last month I wrote about the new MacBook and mentioned its highly touted MagSafe connector. The connector is designed to easily detach in the event of any sharp tugs on the power cord. At the time I said:

Apple are making a big deal of the new MagSafe power connector, which is a magnetized power connector which easily pops out if someone tugs (or trips over) the power cord. Whilst I've never had my PowerBook fly off my lap due to someone tripping over the power cable, it's a thoughtful design touch which embodies Apple's attention to the little details.

I should have just kept my mouth shut. My Powerbook's power cord had survived unscathed for over three years, yet within a week of writing the above passage I somehow managed to trip over it! The results? See for yourself: As is always the case when disaster strikes, this happened on a Friday evening, the worst possible time. I promptly ordered a new adapter (courtesy of these fine folks) but had to wait until Monday before the order was processed and Thursday for the adapter to actually arrive. Note to anyone else in the same boat: not all Powerbook adapters are the same wattage so make sure you buy the correct one for your model.

Should I upgrade my antique?

Kroll's blog has posted a fascinating entry featuring a photo taken at an Apple Store a couple of days ago (the image to the right is a thumbnail, visit the original page for a larger version). The man on the left is bringing in his 17-year old Mac SE for upgrading advice! Take a closer look at the resident Genius Bar staffer's face. That's what we Brits call 'gob-smacked'

Jesus found on Google Maps

I noticed an interesting headline in my RSS feed tonight - Face of Jesus Found in Sand Dune Using Google Maps - which featured this satellite image of Peru. This led me off on a walkabout via Google where I discovered that The Register had picked this up back in July 2005.

There seems to be a suggestion that this is a man-made image, but I can't find any reliable confirmation of that, other than a tourism page which says

"At about 11.00 am we visit " perfil de Jesucristo" (Cosos) Ubicated in the village of Cosos, north of Aplao. It is a rock formation that shows the face of Jesus Christ almost perfectly."

However given that the image appears to cover about 10 square miles (the face is 2 miles wide and 4 miles long), I don't see how it is possible for ground-based tourists to see a "rock formation that shows the face of Jesus Christ almost perfectly". Update: thanks to Luis' comment below with an actual photo of the real Perfil de Christo we now know this map is of something else.

After a bit more Googling it soon became apparent that people are seeing faces all over the place, including Lenin in a shower curtain and the Virgin mary on a freeway underpass. The most famous example is probably the cheese sandwich sold for $28,000 on eBay.

Here's Jesus in the Eagle Nebula (along with the original 1995 Hubble photo).


Apparently seeing faces in otherwise random natural images is a fairly common phenomenon and is known as Pareidolia. The Rorshach Inkblot Test relies on a similar perceptual illusion. Folklorist.net has a large collection of Pareidolia images.

Here is one of my favorite images so far - the Eye of Sauron as discovered around one of our stellar neighbours, the star Fomalhaut.

Plague (honestly!) on World of Warcraft

A report on Ars Technica today discusses a virtual plague spreading across World of Warcraft servers. Essentially a new high-level area was introduced in which a new in-game magic spell can infect players with a 'disease'. This disease can spread from infected players to nearby players. However when infected players returned to the population centers the disease started spreading like wildfire. Unfortunately since the disease was meant to do moderate damage to high-level players it started indiscriminately wiping out low-level players. Even computer-controlled characters in the cities have caught it - but they regenerate fast enough to not die from it, thereby perpetuating the disease.

Ars cite a discussion on ShackNews as the source:

Heres the skinny: Blizzard adds in a new instance, Zul'Gurub. Inside is the god of blood, Hakkar. Well, when you fight him he has a debuff called Corrputed Blood. It does like 250-350 damage to palyers and affects nearby players. The amazing thing is SOME PLAYERS have brought this disease (and it is a disease) back to the towns, outside of the instance. It starts spreading amongst the genral population including npcs, who can out generate the damage. Some servers have gotten so bad that you can't go into the major cities without getting the plague (and anyone less than like level 50 nearly immediately die).

Funnily enough most World of Warcraft players are fairly blasé about the whole epidemic, regarding it as not merely a programming foul up, but as a hazard of virtual life and something to celebrate! Rightly so, in my opinion! This is fantastic stuff, how can anyone not love it?

Update: Someone made a video.

Failures on Google

This has been getting some attention recently - do a search for 'failure' in Google. The results are surprising (or not, depending on your point of view):

Video on your old iPod

Using the magic of iPodLinux you can now play videos on your third-generation (or earlier) iPod! These are the greyscale iPods, and there is not (yet) support for sound, but amazing stuff nonetheless!

Shoulders of giants

Great quote from a Slashdot comment today:

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants."

- Isaac Newton

"If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders."

- Hal Abelson

"In computer science, we stand on each other's feet."

- Brian Reid

Every pub should have one

Via Gizmodo.

Intel hedging bets

Intel appear to be hedging their bets by investing an unspecified amount of money into ClickStar, a 'new' startup planning to distribute movies over the internet before they come out on DVD. The company was founded in 1996, but appears to have done little since then, and clickstar.com is nothing more than a link farm. Strangely enough, Morgan Freeman is one of ClickStar's founders.

No word on how ClickStar plans on getting cooperation from the movie studios so it looks like an effort by Intel to cover their bases. Any chance Apple's unexpected success with the iTunes Music Store is the prime motivation here? It seems likely.

How to beat the competition

Buy up your competitors' product suppliers, and then axe those products which your competitors relied on. Sounds unlikely you say? Not if you are Microsoft. Further discussion on Slashdot.

Unusual MP3 download site

TUAW mentioned this legal MP3 download site today. With top hits like Ice Cream Truck how can you go wrong?

Cory Doctorow free ebook

Boing Boing blogger Cory Doctorow's latest novel is, as usual, available as a free download. If like me you use MobiPocket reader on a P800, you want the PalmOS PRC version.

Not digital at all

Growing up in Hong Kong I was lucky enough to spend a few minutes every day walking past a massive bronze sculpture on the promenade of Exchange Square. The sculpture is a massive blocklike representation of a man practicing Tai Chi. A few years later while watching a TV documentary on Chris Patten - the last governor of Hong Kong - I saw the very same sculpture, in miniature, on Patten's desk. I've always admired the sculpture, but knew nothing about it.

Today I decided to find out more about it in the hope of obtaining a mini replica. I would absolutely love one of these, but searches on the net aren't helping. Where are the online miniature sculpture shops when you need them?

What I have found out is that the sculpture in Exchange Square is one of Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming's "Tai Chi series". Amidst a rash of useless tourism pages which only mentioned the sculpture in passing, I found these two pages: a very interesting interview with Ju Ming, and an overview of Ju Ming's style.

Still no luck on the miniature replica - although I've found someone's homepage which mentions a Hong Kong Standard report of 3 of Ju Ming's sculptures selling for HK$240,000 - HK$780,000 each. That's a top figure of US$100,000 or about £60,000! Slightly out of my league ...

Half Life physics

Breaking Windows mentioned this incredible video of someone's experiment testing Half Life 2's vaunted "real world physics" environment. It's a 2.2MB WMV download, but most definitely worth a watch!

Headline of the week

For me, and I suspect a significant proportion of other RSS users, the language of the headline plays a major part in whether or not I read the article. I have tried to reflect that in the headlines I choose for this site. However every once in a while you see a headline that just has to be shared (the granddaddy of them all surely must be 'Keegan fills Schmeichel's gap with Seaman'). So, without further ado, here is this week's Headline of the Week:

In Pod We Trust

G4 Tower Media Center

xlr8yourmac have posted a great guide to setting up an old 'Sawtooth' G4 Tower as a fully fledged media center. The setup is designed to be a CD/DVD jukebox, internet radio station, TiVo-like personal video recorder, video conferencing center, web browser and (Mac) gaming console. Of course, it can still do all the other things you might want to do with a Mac, checking email for instance.

Spotlight refinements

The venerable TidBITS posted an interesting note on adding qualifying keywords to Spotlight searches. It seems they had just complained about the lack of information when Apple updated a Spotlight Tips page. The keyword tips are useful, if a bit cumbersome to type, but the highlight of the page is the reappearance of Apple's sense of humour:

That's Not a Picture, it's a work of art!

Utterly useless, but great fun! Even the webpage is amusing! Reading the comments on VersionTracker and MacUpdate is also entertaining.

Heinlein estate - evil moneygrubbers or benevolent patrons?

I read this Boing Boing article today with mixed feelings. On the one hand I have been a huge fan of late Robert Heinlein for over 20 years and have read and enjoyed every one of his books. On the other hand I think since his wife Virginia died there have been some questionable decisions motived by nothing more than a quick buck. Anyone who's seen Starship Troopers 2 will attest to that!

Back to the point - it appears that a relatively small publisher (their biggest names appear to be George R R Martin and Janny Wurts) is printing a 46 title collection of Heinlein's work entitled "The Virginia Collection". The price for this gem? A mere US$2,500. With a limited print run of 5000 we're looking at gross sales of US$12,500,000.

So ... is someone making money hand over fist here? Or is there something else going on? The obvious question is "where is the money going?" It appears to be (and I fervently hope it is) funding The Heinlein Prize - a trust fund that is dedicated to advancing "commercial space activity" (in light of Heinlein's sympathies this likely means 'non-governmental space activity' rather than 'for-profit space activity'). The trust has announced a US$500,000 prize to the first winner, but somewhat suspiciously there are as yet no nominees. Have the trustees not heard of SpaceShipOne's success in the X-Prize?

I will accordingly reserve judgment until they do actually hand out some money, although it does look authentic - there is even a Russian version of the site which makes sense if you have read any of Heinlein's non-fiction.

Mac Mini in a Lexus

How cool is this?

Unique Mac mini review

This is really worth a read. It seems clear that plenty of Mac fans will get their knickers in a twist about it, but c'mon - this has GOT to be a joke. It can't possibly be anything else. How likely is it that a single individual could make SO many uninformed statements?

Update: It's starting to look like the entire DivisionTwo site is a joke. This article discusses replacing an 89-year-old granny's Mac 7.5 System with an easy-to-use Linux system. For word processing the author was kind enough to recommend emacs. 'Nuff said.

Further update: It's definitely a joke. If you read all the articles it becomes apparent entire site is an attempt at satirical humour. Sadly most it isn't very funny.

That sounds better on my suitcase

This week's sign that the Apocalypse is nigh: Boom Bags.

I love this bit:

In addition, the bags include a microphone input with separate volume control. Anyone doing presentations can use their suitcase to provide speakers and amplification for a multimedia program, and for live narration at the same time.

I can see it now - we'll all be taking our empty suitcases to presentations .

Movies from the Minolta DiMage X50

I went to a Pop Will Eat Itself concert recently, and for the first time had a reason to test out the video-recording abilities of the new camera. Given the camera's minimal dimensions and tiny lens, I wasn't expecting great results. However, despite the gloominess of the venue, I was (mostly) pleasantly surprised by the results!

As you can see, the picture quality was fairly good. I had the camera set to record at the maximum settings (320x240 resolution, 30fps). Watching it on the camera was fairly uninspiring, but once I had copied it over to my Mac the apparent quality improved dramatically.

I was however surprised by the size of the video clip. A 2 minute 30 second clip recorded on the camera turned out to be 86.5MB in size. I was curious as to why it was so huge, so I set about doing some investigation. Opening the file in QuickTime Player revealed that the video component was recorded in the Photo-JPEG format! I can only presume that the limited CPU power of the camera limits it to recording in largely uncompressed video and totally uncompressed audio.

The actual settings were:

Photo JPEG video, 320x240, 4700 kbps (!!!!)

PCM audio, 8 bit, mono, 7875Hz, 60 kbps

4700kbps ! That's a higher bitrate than some DVDs for an image less than a quarter of the size! And then to top it all off the audio component is of a ridiculously low quality.

I wanted to save the clip, but in a more efficient way. I also wanted to contrast it to a more modern way of storing video, so I fired up ffmpegX and ran a few conversions:

Converting the clip to an xvid/mp3 of equal dimensions and very similar visual quality resulted in a 10.6MB file comprising an 8.1MB 320x240 30fps 450kbps xvid video stream and a 2.2MB 144kbps mp3 audio stream! Given that 160kbps mp3 is generally considered to be sufficient for virtually CD-quality, you can see how much the Minolta's capabilities could be improved.

Purely out of interest I also used ffmpegX to convert the clip to DVD specifications. My 320x240 86.5MB photo-JPEG clip turned into a 720x480 75.2MB mpeg2 clip. Definitely bloated!

Official: iMac G5s dangerous in California

Want more traffic to your website? Easy solution - publish a silly article criticising Apple! Rob Enderle (yes, that guy) has a piece in DesignTechnica last week which said, among other foolishness, that

"I live in California, earthquake country, and the old iMac was one of the most stable products in its class, the new one [iMac G5] places the weight too high and relies on a base that is too narrow making it likely that it would fall.  Falling glass can be a huge hazard in a home late at night when you are trying to get the kids and family to safety during an earthquake."

MacDailyNews heaps scorn on Mr Enderle here. MacMischief has it's own pop here.

DIY iTunes radio station

CodePoetry today posted an excellent guide on making your own 'radio station' via clever use of iTunes playlists.

Holy Macmobile!

Well, it was bound to happen. Given that the Mac mini's front dimensions are 2" x 6.5", and a car stereo port is 2" x 7", it was inevitable someone would want to put the former into the latter. I'm not quite sure I get it myself - yes it would be nice having iTunes as your car stereo, but the mini seems overkill for that and if you used an iPod instead it could leave the car with you. But then again I don't have kids - I guess parents would appreciate the DVD-playing ability of the mini. I suppose with an internet-capable mobile phone you could also do email in your car, although I can't think who would want to. The voice control aspects of having a full-fledged Mac in the car are interesting, but to be frank my own experiences with voice recognition don't fill me with eager anticipation. I also wonder about the power supply. Will the mini get turned off when you aren't using the car? If it does I wonder if they've taken the Mac's relatively slow startup into account, presumably you'll just have to wait a minute or two after turning on your engine in order to play some music.

Security Cameras on Google

BoingBoing today mentioned a fascinating Google hack which locates unsecured webcams. Just plug the following term into the Google search box. Note that Safari does not support JPEG streaming - use FireFox instead. Note that you can pan and zoom the camera by clicking the controls on the left!

inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode="

This discussion also produced a couple of variations on the theme:

inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode="

inurl:/view/view.shtml?videos=

More Limited Edition iPods

CultOfMac today mentioned a funny take on the recent U2 Limited Edition iPods.

Max Headroom

Anyone who grew up in the 80s and was interested in science fiction might remember a visionary TV show called Max Headroom. However, if you do remember it, don't bother trying to order it on DVD - it doesn't exist. Warner Brothers, who own the copyright, have decided in their infinite wisdom that it's not worth the effort. There is an online submission form here where you can petition for a DVD release (Warner Brothers titles only). Don't wait - do it now!

Cheaper-than-normal iPod

Gizmodo are reporting on a David Hasslehoff-signed 20GB iPod on eBay (click through for a little movie from the man himself). The current eBay price after 6 bids is £102.01. A brand new 20GB iPod from Apple costs £212. Go figure - evidently the Hoff's signature immediately strips £100 off the iPod's value. I wonder if the signature can be buffed off?

iSilo for UIQ goes beta

The popular Palm and PocketPC ebook reader iSilo has been released as a beta for UIQ! This is noteworthy since they already have an OS X converter.

Free eBooks for your P800

I was recently directed to ManyBooks.net as a good site for free books. There are a lot of the Project Gutenberg books here, but the layout and organisation is much better, and books are available in many popular eBook formats, including my preferred PalmReader (pdb) format. I'm a long time fan of the late Robert Heinlein, and given his many references to Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter of Mars series, I've always wanted to read them. So it was a nice surprise when I found book one of the series, Princess of Mars. Books two to five are also available.

iPod vs The Cassette

I recently stumbled across this guy's crazy mac.com page. My favorite part was the photo album entitled iPod vs. The Cassette. Defintely worth a look!

Archos' video iPod

Having had the chance to play with a relative's Archos Video Recorder early last year, I've kept an eye out for Archos news. The Video Recorder I played with was impressive despite the large size - the current 40GB model appears to be slightly smaller but still weighs in at 350g (12.5oz).

However, Archos' new product is in a different league. The €400 Gmini 400 weighs in at a mere 160g (5.6oz) and features a 20GB hard disk and 2.2" 220x176 pixel 262,000 colour screen. Interfaces include USB2.0 and a CompactFlash slot and it can play MP3, WMA and WAV audio and Mpeg4, Xvid and Divx video. It can also play Mophun games, either on the onboard screen or on a TV.

Be Ready, the US Govt is coming

I received this via email. I wouldn't normally post this sort of thing, but the captions really did make me laugh!

The US government has a new website, titled Be Ready. The thing is that the pictures from the site are so ambiguous they could mean anything! Here are a few interpretations.

If you have set yourself on fire, do not run.

If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.

If you spot a terrorist arrow, pin it against the wall with your shoulder.

If you are sprayed with an unknown substance, stand and think about a cool design for a new tattoo.

Use your flashlight to lift the walls right off of you!.

The proper way to eliminate smallpox is to wash with soap, water and at least one(1) armless hand.

Michael Jackson is a terrorist. If you spot this smooth criminal with dead, dead eyes, run the hell away.

Hurricanes, animal corpses and your potential new tattoo have a lot in common. Think about it.

Be on the lookout for terrorists with pinkeye and leprosy. Also, they tend to rub their hands together manically.

If a door is closed, karate chop it open.

Try to absorb as much of the radiation as possible with your groin region. After 5 minutes and 12 seconds, however, you may become sterile.

After exposure to radiation it is important to consider that you may have mutated to gigantic dimensions: watch your head.

If you've become a radiation mutant with a deformed hand, remember to close the window. No one wants to see that shit.

If you hear the Backstreet Boys, Michael Bolton or Yanni on the radio, cower in the corner or run like hell.

If your lungs and stomach start talking, stand with your arms akimbo until they stop.

If you are trapped under falling debris, conserve oxygen by not farting.

If you lose a contact lens during a chemical attack, do not stop to look for it.

Do not drive a station wagon if a power pole is protruding from the hood.

A one-inch thick piece of plywood should be sufficient protection against radiation.

Always remember to carry food with you during a terrorist attack. At least you'll be able to enjoy a nice coke and apple before you die.

Lens your P800

There is a great looking gadget on MobileWhack today! Some outfit called Brando Workshop (based in Hong Kong no less!) are selling a Camera Lens Kit for cellphones. The lenses, including a weak telephoto and a macro, just stick over your phone's camera lens.

iPod speakers

BoingBoing reported on a MacGyver challenge involving tins of Altoids. There are some pretty inventive folks out there