Archive

Archive for September, 2009

Everything is OK video. A must see.

September 30th, 2009 11:42pm mike s 1 comment

If this doesn’t cheer up your day and get you thinking, nothing will.

It’s a truly wonderful satire on our CCTV culture and the growth of private, corporate security forces.

Turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy.

Read more…

Categories: stuff, web Tags: ,

Google Wave beta – details emerge

September 30th, 2009 8:30pm Tony Fletcher 1 comment

Some lucky users have been able to get their clammy paws on Google’s  experimental and collaborative chat client and some initial impressions are being posted up on the web.

Google Wave beta - details emerge

Click on for a few useful links and video overview… Read more…

Categories: Google, web Tags:

Stephen Colbert: man arrested for taking pictures of trains

September 30th, 2009 5:41pm mike s No comments

Despite the law being clear on a citizen’s rights to freely take pictures in public places, UK photographers have often found themselves doing battle with clueless cops and power mad plastic PCs during the course of their business.

Now it seems that things are just as stupid in the States, as comedian Stephen Colbert explains in three steps in this video clip:

Read more…

Categories: photography, stuff Tags: ,

Google Earth comes alive! View real-time traffic and people onscreen.

September 30th, 2009 4:30pm mike s No comments

Cunningly clever researchers from Georgia Tech have come up with a way of taking real-time, real-world information from CCTV cameras and layering it onto a ‘live’ Google Earth, so you’ll be able to watch events happening live onscreen.

Augmented Google Earth comes alive with real-time traffic, cars...

Single and multiple live video feeds are analysed to calculate the position and motion of various objects, which is then combined with behavioural simulations to produce real-time animations for Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth.

Read more…

Categories: Google, software, video Tags: ,

Lambretta Bicicletta: the ‘Quadrophenia’ bike

September 30th, 2009 4:00pm mike s No comments

When we saw the title of the press release we thought we’d be in for the kind of  hairdryer powered, multi-mirrored scooter you’d see being frantically driven around by a Purple Hearts-quaffin’, pork pie hat-totin, parka wearin’ mod.

Lambretta Bicicletta : the 'Quadrophenia' bike

We certainly weren’t expecting to see a set of non-motorised wheels, with the Lambretta  Bicicletta turning out to be a humble push bike.

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Categories: transport Tags: ,

LG ‘Pop’ GD510 handset offers mid priced good looks

September 30th, 2009 2:45pm Tony Fletcher No comments

LG 'Pop' GD510 mid priced handsetAnother day, another LG handset…

The world’s most hyperactive handset dispenser has come up with another new  model, this timed aimed at the mid-priced market.

Their latest number shimmying down their well worn catwalk  is the GD510 handset, also known under the snappier name of ‘Pop’. Let’s hope it doesn’t crackle.

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Categories: mobiles Tags:

The Apple tablet will “redefine print”

September 30th, 2009 12:55pm mike s No comments

The rumours about Apple releasing a new tablet-style computer continue to trigger bloggers into hyperbolic overdrive, with endless torrents of speculation being posted online daily.

Nothing concrete has emerged yet from Apple’s famously tight-lipped PR department, although the company are said to be in talks with several print media companies, negotiating content for a “new device.”

But will we want it?

Read more…

Categories: Apple, gadgets, portable Tags:

Augmented reality apps for the iPhone

September 30th, 2009 9:45am mike s No comments

With onboard GPS, cameras and big screens making up most modern smartphones, there’s growing opportunities for you to walk the streets like a member of the Borg collective, with your iPhone feeding you a funky augmented vision.

The TechRadar team have slung together their top eight augmented reality apps for the iPhone, including the rather scary one above (TAT Augmented ID) which uses Flickr face recognition to identify a face and then surround it onscreen with their profiles from social networking sites.

Read more…

Can you tell Arial from Helvetica?

September 30th, 2009 8:30am admin 1 comment

So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica?

This is a great little challenge, especially if you want to take a know it all graphic designer down a peg or two.

The excellent Ironic Sans team have put together a twenty question quiz, presenting well known logos in both Arial and the original Helvetica to see if you can spot the difference.

Here’s how they describe the reasons for setting up the challenge:

Read more…

Categories: stuff, web Tags:

Brits! Get retuning your Freeview boxes!

September 30th, 2009 6:30am Pete Railton No comments

You’ve probably already been nagged to death by messages appearing onscreen whenever you turn on your DigiTV or Freeview box, but today is the day for you to hit the retune button on your digi-TVs.

Brits! Get retuning your Freeview boxes!

From around lunchtime onwards, you’ll need retune any digital freeview TVs or boxes otherwise you may risk losing channels.

Read more…

Categories: broadcasting Tags: ,

EditPlus Text/HTML Editor v3.11 review (Windows)

September 29th, 2009 4:30pm mike s 2 comments

EditPlus Text/HTML Editor v3.11 Review

If you’re getting mighty miffed by having to do battle with basic Notepad application that ships with Windows whenever you’re looking to do some serious text/code editing, then, EditPlus for Windows could be worth a look.

It’s been our numero uno choice for writing stories for this website for some years now, replacing the bloat of Windows Word while still offering enough tools and features to keep things moving along speedily.

The program offers a tabbed, multiple document interface with window splitting and spell checking, plus find and replace and case conversion.

Although it lacks some of the smartypants features seen in fully featured writing programs like Word (there’s no grammar checker to be seen, for example), we found the lack of distracting glitz and gizmos helped us concentrate on the writing.

Read more…

Categories: Windows, software Tags: ,

Microsoft Courier tablet: video leaked

September 29th, 2009 3:04pm mike s No comments

Gizmodo have released more info about Microsoft’s fascinating Courier tablet, with the site showing an internal video showing how the company thinks we’ll use Courier.

Microsoft Courier video leaked

The video looks less of a concept piece than the first, with the interface looking smoother, offering a more defined folder system, universal search and multi-page web browsing. Perhaps this is close to the finished thing?

Read more…

Categories: Microsoft, hardware Tags:

101 Great Blogs to check out

September 29th, 2009 2:33pm Tony Fletcher No comments

BloggingTips has posted an excellent listing of a 101 great blogs that truly are worthy of your time-strapped attention.

101 Great Blogs to click your way to

The collection only includes blogs that are regularly updated – so there’s no duff ‘uns in there.

We unearthed quite a few of our favourites in the list too, plus a whole load of new ones that we’ll be checking out soon. We can’t get enough of fab blogs!

Read more…

Categories: web Tags: ,

100 greatest hits of YouTube in 4 mins!

September 29th, 2009 11:19am mike s No comments

Grab yourself a slice of the best (and worst) of YouTube in a frantic four minute slab of video highlights.

Please note that the soundtrack is mighty loud so turn down your speakers if you’re busy (ahem) “researching the internet” at work. Read more…

Categories: stuff, web Tags:

Vodafone to get the iPhone in the UK

September 29th, 2009 11:11am mike s No comments

It looks like us Brits wont be able to move for iPhone-toting users soon, as Vodafone have also announced that they’ll be carrying the iconic handset.

Vodafone to get the iPhone in the UK

The news comes a day after Orange became the first UK operator to grab a slice of the iPhone action after O2’s exclusive deal ran out.

Read more…

Categories: Apple, iPhone Tags: , ,