General Protection Fault

Apple Prepares Ad Patent

GPFault — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:23:37 +0000

Apple is getting ready to patent a method of delivering X many ads at X frequency in your online video feeds. Basically, no more skipping ads on your iPhone, TV.com feeds and the like; each ad unlocks the next block of content.

So Apple can now offer a cheaper show for you to buy (99 cents)… with the added bonus of commercials (priceless)!

AND they are thinking about a TV subscription package that puts the latest and greatest together for $30 or so a month.

Hooray.

Read more at Gizmodo

CES 2010 Photo Fun!

Jeremy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:22:32 +0000

I’ve been going through all of the pictures that we took at this year’s CES and ran across one which I think is my absolute favorite. I call it:
“Guy Taking Picture Of Lady Gaga’s Hat While Semi-Burly Security Looks On”

Yeah.

The Polaroid press conference where Lady Gaga was announced as a new Creative Director was totally awesome. Totally.

Only 10 Percent of Web Addresses (IPv4) Remain

Jeremy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:05:29 +0000

TechSpot reports that only 10% of the IPv4 addresses remain. IPv4 is the numerical nomenclature used to identify all of those great websites you grew up with like: pets.com, yahoo.com, geocities.com, etc. New kid on the block IPv6 will give us – potentially – trillions of addresses to Facebook about into the future, but the days of IPv4 being our go-to Internet communications protocol are now numbered.

“The replacement addressing system (IPv6) uses a 128-bit address space and can handle trillions of connected devices, whereas — surprising as it may seem — IPv4’s roughly 4 billion addresses are starting to dry out. “

Well crap. I guess it’s time to reserve NakedWheelbarrow.net

CES 2010 – Pre Day Digital Experience

Jeremy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:24:41 +0000

Theresa and I are currently cruising our way across Vegas as we get ready for the first day of the Consumer Electronics Show. We attended Digital Experience earlier tonight, which gathers a large group of technology companies together in a conference room for a smaller, more intimate setting for press and media interviews. They also provide free booze… LOTS of free booze.

We ran into some pretty slick companies there with some equally slick products, and we will be bringing you interviews, reviews and more in the coming weeks. Some of the products we’ll be looking at include a wireless receiver for your music collection (Sonos), 3D content on your computer screen (Corel), a device that lessens potential radiation from the iPhone (Pong) and even a massively multiplayer LEGO game (um… Lego).

In the meantime, here is the view from our window in the Excalibur Hotel:

The Entire Milky Way On Your Desktop

Jeremy — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:48:40 +0000

The All-Sky Milky Way Panorama (Version 2) is a collection of over 3,000 images that were stitched together to represent the entire galaxy as accurately as possible. This is some pretty slick stuff… especially slick when you consider all of the software used to make this work of interstellar art is open-source.

Axel Mellinger’s creation took over two years to complete, is 650 megapixels in resolution, 7.7 gigabytes in size, and is one of the snazziest space-scapes I have seen in quite a while. Even more impressive, it is possible to zoom in and out all over the high resolution version online. If you just really like the picture, you can even download a version to use as a background on your desktop.

From the All-Sky Milky Way Panorama page, the entire creative process and where the images, ideas and concepts all came from are explained. It makes for a fairly compelling read, especially when you consider this is the only contribution from an amateur astronomer on NASA’s Multiwavelength Milky Way poster. Nice job Axel!

Slow News Day, BusinessWeek?

Jeremy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:36:15 +0000

BusinessWeek, how is this news? Anyone, how is that news?

The Future is Facebox

Theresa — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Gaming is on pace to become a $68 billion dollar industry by 2012, but it needs you, middle-aged mothers, environmental activists and North Slope scientists, to get there. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 already offers streaming video on demand, providing movies, documentaries and BBC series to members. Now customers can update their status and tweet about it, too.

Microsoft is the first of the three big video game console makers going social by letting Xbox LIVE Gold members log onto their Twitter and Facebook pages right from their television screen. See which of your friends has a face for television. Visit Thailand and China along with the jet-setters from your community. Or follow the latest Sarah Palin smack-down in the comment section.

But that’s about all it’s good for.

Unless your friends are also Xbox LIVE Gold members, you can’t see anything on their pages except photos. And it’s notoriously difficult to post using the analog controller, which is your only option unless you plug in a USB keyboard or some other typing accessory. Someday, we’ll all be plugged into one machine for everything: communication, entertainment, work and social updating. But until that day, I’ll leave my Facebooking for the PC.

And yes Amy, you are.

Click to Unfriend?

Jeremy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:19:38 +0000

Unfriend. That is the word of 2009 according to the New Oxford American Dictionary. I have done my fair share of unfriending, along with a complete Facebook and MySpace de-tox about 6 months ago.

One of the words in the running was “funemployed,” which means people who are newly unemployed focusing on having fun.

I think the right word won.

Let Me Twitter That…

Jeremy — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:34:27 +0000

TechCrunch is reporting that for the first time in months (which is eons in Internet time), that Twitter is experiencing a DECREASE in visitors. I hope, hope, hope this continues because I hate, hate, hate twitter.

I’m sure its because I just don’t understand it and I hate technology and everything that is good in the world. That’s got to be it.

Apostrophe’s or Apostrophes’?

Jeremy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:13:15 +0000

I ran across this website a few weeks ago and forgot about it until I had to add some apostrophe action to a recent press release. Instead of asking around the office, I returned to this cartoon flowchart and found my answer.

Apostrophe.me has an illustrated guide that covers just about any question regarding placement and usage of the apostrophe. It’s very helpful and has some pretty funny examples too (Bob’s bacon hat is the best). The image links you to proper possessive and plural placement of apostrophes. Next up, Altruistic Alliterations: The Layman’s Log!