A little earlier today, it seems that Microsoft Russia accidentally posted what appears to be an IE9 screen shot on its press site. The picture was quickly taken down, but fortunately, someone was fast enough to grab it in time. Check it out:
Looks a little like Chrome doesn’t it? In the meantime, we’ll have to wait until September 15th to learn if IE9′s interface will really look like what you see above.
[Via ZDNet]
Google has just announced that starting today, U.S. based Gmail users will now be able to place and receive phone calls directly from the Gmail interface. Calls placed to U.S. and Canadian-based numbers are free, and if you need to make international calls, the rates are extremely cheap. Check it out:
You may have heard Peter Molyneux’s “virtual boy” Milo. He’s the uncanny valley’s answer to the Tamagotchi, and the latest project to take advantage of the Xbox’s “Project Natal.”
You can see Milo in the video below:
Here’s what I find particularly interesting about Milo. Milo learns.
According to James Orry at VideoGamer.com, no two Milos will be the same, because they are customized to the environment and the players on each specific Xbox. But not only will they learn from their players, but also from each other, connected via the Internet to communicate with other Milos in the cloud.
This brings up broader questions about cloud computing and cloud based data. While there are many obvious advantages to cloud computing (being able to access your data from anywhere with an Internet connection), and obvious disadvantages to the technology (being unable to access your data if your Internet connection goes down), one aspect of cloud computing that is, quite frankly, breathtaking, is the ability to gather data on the performance of the applications as a whole, and to roll out updates to all users simultaneously.
In the case of “Milo and Kate,” this takes the form of taking the data from thousands of instances of Milo, processing it, and then re-uploading it from the central server back to Milo, to be improved on again. Iterative, automated improvement.
This is not only useful for video gaming. One client I had operates a cloud-computing based monitoring tool for their software, and, through being able to see the aggregate problems of the entire user base, they can make a much more informed decision on how to improve their products and offerings to help the most people at the same time – then seamlessly roll out the improvements to the customers in one step.
This is partially why Google is so dominant in technology at the current time. Search, of course, only works “in the cloud,” and they are able to take the data from billions of its users and sort through that information in order to figure out what people are searching for, when, where, and maybe even why. They’re able to then take that data and improve their algorithms serving ads alongside search results.
Amazon already has adopted a framework that allows people to do datamining on the already existing Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 cloud computing services. Some more technical views on data mining for the cloud (at least for SQL Server based clouds) can be found at DM(X).
A Belgian internet user downloaded 2.6TB of data in the space of a month according to his (or her) internet service provider. And amazingly the ISP is happy about it.
Telenet recently launched a service known as “Vrij Downloaden”. It translates as “free download”, but rather than referring to the price, it appears to be more about the lack of restrictions. The company doesn’t outright promise unlimited downloading for its fastest connections, but its fair use policy simply means you can’t use so much that it begins to affect the service for other users.
The company has now published a list of the 25 users with the most data downloaded in the first month of the service. Eight managed to clock up a full TB (1,024 GB), with the number one slot going to a user with 2,680GB.
What’s particularly impressive about that is that the user was only on the third fastest package, with a maximum download speed of 30MBps. One message board poster notes that this works out as the equivalent of eight and a half days of continuous downloading at full speed.
What the user actually downloaded isn’t known. Officially Telenet does not allow copyright-infringing content to be downloaded so we’ll be generous and assume the person tried out 570 different Linux distributions designed to each fill a DVD.
If you were to put it in a more cynical context, the data is enough that if it were entirely video content and burned to single layer discs at their two-hour capacity, it would have taken 47 full days to watch, which would certainly be an impressive achievement in the space of a month.
In case your wondering, the package used in this case to download the 2.6TB of data costs 61.32 euros a month: just over US$75.
I’ve not come across any confirmed reports of anyone topping the 2.6TB figure. However, a writer at Arstechnica says an unnamed US provider told him of a customer who managed 4TB in a month.
If you’ve been making videos for YouTube, you’re likely to have noticed that the background music is a thorny issue. Popular music from the RIAA labels and bigger indie labels is usually quickly identified and marked by YouTube.
The best case scenario, then, is that YouTube simply “lets you get away with it” and runs advertisements on the video, where the payments go straight to the record company. It’s a nice middle ground, but anyone hoping their video will “go viral” and make some money off of YouTube’s advertiser program are out of luck. It’s even more embarrassing if someone else is running advertisements on some sort of corporate video (a product tutorial, a game demo, a keynote address, etc.) hosted on YouTube.
The worst case scenario is that the entire audio of your video production is deleted or your video is taken down.
If you want to use popular music the legal way, there are a lot of hurdles to jump through. You need to purchase mechanical rights, public performance royalties, synchronization and transcription rights, publishing rights, neighboring rights, and master use rights. Just to get Blues Traveler’s “Crash & Burn” in your video of your four year old running into a wall.
The way that Hollywood has typically dealt with this problem is to pay “production music” libraries for their music. These libraries buy the copyrights to music on a work-to-hire basis and then license that music to the film and television companies for a fee that is typically cheaper than having music specifically commissioned for the video. The problem is that these fees can be cost-prohibitive for smaller production houses and the semi-pro/semi-amateur filmmakers that are likely to see YouTube as a primary distribution medium.
There are other options. Creative Commons-licensed music can often be available at no fee, and be reused in video projects without paying a dime. However, Creative Commons should not be confused with the public domain, and not every Creative Commons license is equal.
For example, some Creative Commons licenses prohibit use of the material in commercial works. In that case, if you’re planning on making any money off of the video – even in an advertising based model – you can’t use the song without coming to a separate license agreement with the author. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to contact the author, however, who can then choose to charge you for the song or choose not to license it at all.
Other creative commons works require “share-alike” provisions – that is, you can use the song in your project freely, but the work you use it in must be also shared under the same creative commons license. This will work well for some projects, not so well for others, like, for example, corporate videos.
Finally, some CC licenses prohibit derivative works – which precludes the use of that song as a background audio track.
So, with all the problems with music for video laid out, what can YouTube filmmakers use for their audio?
First is Incompetech, the brainchild of Kevin MacLeod. Incompetech has a large variety of royalty free music for use in film and video projects (like YouTube videos) that’s of a surprisingly good quality for the price. The only thing required is attribution, although there is a $5 suggested donation. For $0 budget videos, this is probably the best option.
Similarly, Dan-O at Danosongs.com has also released a number of songs, which are free for commercial or non-commercial projects with attribution. There is a pay-what-you-feel-is-fair donate button, however.
Another option, though more expensive, is the use of “crowdsourced” libraries for music. Though not free, music purchased through sites such as iStockPhoto.com or Envato libraries is relatively cheap. Primary Elements also offers production music at $3 per track for non-commercial projects and $9 per track for commercial ones.
One interesting option is Moby Gratis, a site set up by music composer and techno artist Moby, designed specifically to allow amateur filmmakers to use Moby’s music. Though limited to one sole author, and though there’s an application process, Moby Gratis still has a large array of very professional music from the composer of the Southland Tales soundtrack available for free to amateur and student filmmakers.
Finally, I’ve actually created some music with Apple GarageBand and Sony Acid that you can use, a GeeksAreSexy.net exclusive. Download them here.
All of these options should have you end up with copyright-legal audio for your YouTube videos that won’t get hit with ads or taken down by YouTube.
[Header Picture Source: Flickr (CC)]
Youtube user Disasteradio loved the original double rainbow video so much that he decided to make it even more intense by creating this awesome 2001: A Space Odyssey / Double Rainbow mashup. Enjoy!
[Via Neatogeek]
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Jensen Kimmitt recently won the 2010 World YoYo Championship, and in this clip you’ll see why. Enjoy!
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There are plenty of celebrities, public figures, intellectual giants and business gurus using Twitter these days. But there are also some posters who entertain in a slightly different manner: the fictional, fictionalized or anonymous accounts. Here’s our guide to some of the most notable:
@fakeapstylebook If you’ve any interest in language or journalism, this is for you. As with any good spoof, there’s some genuinely useful advice masquerading as comedy, along with some comments which might cut a little too close to the bone. Sample tweet: “Sprinkle the word ‘quantum’ throughout science articles, particularly if you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
@drsamueljohnson The famed diarist reports on current events in his 18th century style. While some of the topics covered are British-centric, others have a more global appeal. Sample tweet: “#18thcenturyinternet ‘All Your Base Are Belong To Us, for they were granted to us in the Treaty of Utrecht.’”
@killallclients An anonymous web developer shares his frustrations over clients who don’t quite seem to grasp how computers and software works. Sample tweet: “‘We said we wanted NO HTML on our site! Now our competitors can steal everything!!!!’ ‘Right you are, giant static image it is then.’”
@theinternet Sadly quiet for the past couple of months, the world’s favorite communications network updates followers on tech issues. Sample tweet: “Oops! Sorry everybody. Gmail going down is my fault. I was calculating Pi.”
@drunkhulk Pretty much the same deal as Dr. Johnson, except by the Incredible Hulk. Whilst intoxicated. Sample tweet: “WAVE! GOOGLE VERSION OF NEW COKE! FINALLY END! IS IT JUST DRUNK HULK! OR DO INTERNET FEEL FASTER NOW!”
@ukwarcabinet Posts derived from British cabinet records updating on war events exactly 60 years to the day, complete with links to the original documents. Sample tweet: “Colonial Secretary recommends secret UK support for anti Vichy coup attempt in French Cameroons http://ow.ly/2jv83″
@queen_uk The nation’s favorite grandmother provides a gin-fueled commentary on her reign. Particularly entertaining during the constitutional morass after the recent indecisive British election. Sample tweet: “A case, Mr Jobs? You’d like to give one a case? One is trying to rule 16 countries with no iPhone4 reception; you’d like to give one a case.”
@adalek Another sadly infrequent poster these days, this was admittedly something of a one-note joke. Sample tweet: “EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE.”
@s_sylvesterglee In Twitter, as in life, Sue Sylvester wants to win. Sample tweet: “Why so glum, Gulf Coast? Your pristine shorelines are being coated in millions of gallons of DINOSAUR! Where’s you sense of whimsy?!?!”
@iamkellyfierce Kelly from The Office shares her wit and wisdom. It’s everything you’d imagine and worse. Sample tweet: “#ToyStory3 That Andy kid should up & get an iPhone instead of playing w/toys. Just give Woody 2 some poor kid or something.”
@edgar_allen_poe The poet explores the darker side of Twitter. Sample tweet: “Shall we begin to call Web Cookies by their more accurate sobriquet: intestinal parasites?”
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The people behind a new challenge/response test say their video-based system is both more legible to humans and trickier for computers to defeat.
NuCaptcha is the latest incarnation of the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, a particularly convoluted way of producing an acronym that sounds like “capture”. The idea is to verify a form has been completed by a human rather than a computer that is likely trying to disseminate spam.
Traditionally users had to type in a word that is originally displayed as an image. The problem with that method is that the better computers get at scanning the image, the more unconventional the typography has to be, to the point that some CAPTCHAs are difficult if not impossible for people to read.
NuCaptcha uses a video with scrolling text, the idea being that this increases the complexity of the data (making it harder to automatically read) while boosting the contrast between text and background. According to Leap Marketing Technologies, the company behind NuCaptcha, 99% of users get the text correct first time, compared with just 80% on a “competitor” system.
Speaking of the CAPTCHA, if you’ve ever been confronted with one featuring two words, the chances are you’ve unwittingly aided Google with its Book Search process. Since last year, when it bought out a company named reCAPTCHA, its been using the challenges to get human input into the book scanning process.
Whenever Google comes across words in books which its optical character recognition can’t recognize, it transfers the images into its CAPTCHA database. In some cases when users are presented with two words, only one is a genuine test that decided if they are verified as a human. If they get this right, their answer for the other word goes onto Google’s database. If enough people give the same solution, that’s taken as the correct reading of the word in the original printed document.
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Just a quick post to let you guys know that Internet Explorer 9 Beta will be available for download starting September 15th. If you’re interested in testing the browser out, you can sign up for the beta right here (Windows 7 or Vista only.)
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