Optoma teams with Apple to launch DLP Pico projector in Japan (Thomas Ricker/Engadget)
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Optoma teams with Apple to launch DLP Pico projector in Japan — At long last, an official release date for Texas Instruments' DLP Pico projector. Mark it down, December 1st is the launch (delivered by December 19th) of the “world's smallest / lightest” (51 × 105 × 17-mm / 120g) projector under the Optoma PK-101 branding.
iPhone with External Keyboard (Video)
One of the striking examples of extraordinary photo journalism…
Search High Resolution Videos on YouTube
If you are looking to download some high-res video clips from YouTube for your next presentation, try this easy trick that will only display high quality videos in the search results.
Go to Google.com, type your search phrase and append the following paramters your search query.
site:youtube.com "watch in normal quality watch in high quality"
To illustrate this with a real example, a search for "cnn hologram" related videos on YouTube would look something like this on Google:
cnn hologram "watch in normal quality watch in high quality" site:youtube.com
This works because YouTube adds a small "watch in high quality" link beneath their video player if the video you are watching is available as high resolution.
When you click that "high quality" link, it is replaced by "watch in normal quality" so the two strings are really close in the HTML source and that helps us filter low quality videos from search.
Related posts:
Search High Resolution Videos on YouTube - Digital Inspiration
Songbird 1.0 Poised to Rule the Jukebox Roost
The first release candidate for Songbird 1.0 is now available and contains all the features slated for the final release. Songbird, which is a free, open source media player built on the same technologies underlying Firefox, is just about ready to take on iTunes.
Unfortunately “just about” and “actually ready” are two different things. Songbird still has some lingering bugs to overcome, particularly for those looking to smoothly transition from iTunes to something much better.
Given that many of Songbird’s potential converts have large iTunes libraries already, ensuring that users are able to easily switch over to Songbird is key. After all, Firefox would have far fewer converts if you couldn’t import you Internet Explorer bookmarks, which is essentially what Songbird struggles with.
That said, the first release candidate has much to offer and is an improvement over the betas we looked at earlier.
The big news in this version of Songbird is that GStreamer is now the main media playback system on all platforms (not just Linux, where it originated). GStreamer allows Songbird to have a cross platform code-base and, according the developers, offers better performance, better reliability, and more plugin options than alternative like QuickTime. You can read more about the reasoning behind Songbird’s decision to use GStreamer on the Songbird blog.
While the underlying support of GStreamer isn’t necessarily a flashy or even noticeable part of the app, it means that Songbird has a strong foundation on which to build.
Indeed, as with nearly every release, Songbird RC1 is much faster. The lags and stutters when scrolling large libraries that have dogged Songbird since the very early releases are gone. Startup times are still a bit slow, though, as with iTunes, startup times are largely dependent on the size of your music library.
However, while Songbird is definitely getting close to a final release it still isn’t perfect. The speed gains and unified playback engine are great, but as with virtually all the releases I’ve tested, Songbird still chokes when importing iTunes libraries and playlists.
When I tested the latest release candidate, Songbird dutifully detected and offered to import my iTunes library. The process appeared as though it would take around twenty minutes (I have somewhere are 120,000 tracks in iTunes), which isn’t too bad since it’s a one time import.
Unfortunately the app hung up with only a fraction left to go in the progress bar and was unable to recover.
Worse, after I force quit Songbird, relaunching the app caused it to hang and required yet another force quit. In fact, the only way I was able to get Songbird to successfully restart again was by trashing the preferences and Application Support files, which had apparently been corrupted somehow.
I then tried a different tactic, telling Songbird to simply import my music from a folder to start with. That worked without a hitch and took a mere minute or two. Then I went into the preferences and started an iTunes import again. That was two hours ago, it’s still hung up.
The short story — there are some bugs still lingering in the Songbird release candidate. However, outside of the iTunes import issues, I found this release to be remarkably stable and bug free. Browsing MP3 blogs, downloading files, installing add-ons and a myriad of other things worked just fine.
If you’d like to give this version a try, head over to the Songbird Nightly Builds page and download a copy for your platform. Just be sure to use the bug reporting features if you have any issues.
For the rest of us, hopefully it won’t be too much longer before Songbird reaches a stable, fully function 1.0 release. We’ll be sure to keep you posted.
See Also:
How the Net Generation Rocked the Vote
Last nights election was historic as we saw the United States elect it’s first African American President. We also saw a shift in the demographics of the electorate, becoming more multicultural and younger. Early on Obama made it clear that Net Generation voters were going to be key to his victory. He used new mediums to reach out to voters across America. Whether is was text message campaign announcements, videos on YouTube or supporters self organizing on Facebook or his campaigns own social tools, it was clear that he was not just including, but depending on the youth of America to help propel him to victory.
However, up until this point the ‘youth vote’ has been seen as something that has over promised and under delivered. Last night however the message could not have been more different and their decision more clear. As you can see from the chart below, CNN exit polls show that Obama won a whopping 66% or the Net Generation vote. “(The youth vote) is turning states that (Obama) would’ve lost or barely won into more comfortable margins,” says John Della Volpe, the director of polling for the Harvard University Institute of Politics. “Not only are they voting in higher numbers, they’re voting more Democratic.”
True, this vote was more diverse, building upon the advantage that Obama had with both African American and Latino voters, but that is also indicative of the demographic breakdown of the Net Generation. Obama also went to the mediums and channels that are the stomping ground of Net Generation voters. Obama asked and this Generation stepped up to the plate and took responsibility for the future direction of their country.
As a Net Generation member, albeit one from Canada, I think that we are a generation that was looking for change. Older voters may not realize this, but voters 18-29yrs old don’t know an America that wasn’t governed by a Bush or a Clinton (1989-2009), that is unless they where a very politically aware 9 year old. As youngsters they remember the night vision video of the war in Iraq and as young adults they experienced deja vu.
Obama offered them hope, he offered them change and most importantly he offered to include them and listen to their opinion. This generation has already been a force in the consumer world for almost a decade, forcing companies to rethink how they market to teens and even tweens. Now they have excerted their demographic muscle on one of the most globally watched elections, at least in my time. Corporations and Employers, you are now officially on notice. This generation is coming to the workforce, they have experienced change and it’s your turn next.
mariakonstantinov: Child dressed up as Obama for Halloween meets…
Shared by Robert Scoble
What a picture for THAT kid's album!
Child dressed up as Obama for Halloween meets the real Obama.
Coffee Joint Markets with Wi-Fi Network Name
Fireworks to Pinpoint Your Car
Maybe just a joke 
