Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Black holes aren’t just for outer space anymore

When a friend sent me a link to this story, I thought it was an April Fool’s Day joke for nerds.  I was so certain it was a joke that I didn’t even bother stopping to check that the date on the story was April 1st.  When I finished reading the story, I was relieved it was a joke because I thought the subject matter was sort of spooky.  Imagine how I felt when I finally noticed that the article was real?

Not for the faint of heart or wild of imagination, here’s the tale of a science lab and their “black hole machine”:  a little particle accelerator which could create a pull stronger than gravity and suck us all into oblivion.  While it would make an exciting movie plot, I’m not too comfortable with the reality of the thing.  I suppose we have to take risks to make big gains, but I wish science didn’t have to risk me.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 04/16 at 07:24 AM
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Hulu.com takes on YouTube

Last October, NBC’s You Tube Channel suddenly disappeared.  There were no more (authorized) versions of NBC TV shows available at You Tube, no more promotional clips… not even video of the best SNL segment from the preceding Saturday night.  Soon, rumors began buzzing about a new video site still in beta, called Hulu.  The site could be accessed by invitation only, but it was eventually going to be the online face of NBC Universal and News Corp. programming.

If you’ve been begging since last year for an invitation to the private Hulu beta, today you can finally rest.  Hulu.com is live and open to the public, and reviews from beta testers and the first visitors from the general Internet public have been surprisingly good.  The site offers everything from complete episodes of television programs, to short clips, and TV addicts will be delighted to find that the library includes classic shows from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.  You can start with “Dragnet” or “Kojak”, work your way through “Hill Street Blues”, and watch a bunch of Digital Shorts from “Saturday Night Live” before you realize you’re not getting any work done.  The site isn’t limited to just NBC, either… FOX is represented here, as are the SciFi and USA networks.  Here’s a full list of all the TV shows available on Hulu.com.  Not content to just represent television, Hulu is the online face of MGM, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros., meaning full-length, free, streaming movies.  I noticed “Ice Age” and “The Usual Suspects” during my brief stop at Hulu, and it looks like there are about 75 additional titles.  More will be added all the time, I’m sure. 

Surprisingly absent from Hulu is “American Idol”.  Putting AI clips on Hulu would be a great way to attract new visitors, but for now, you’ll have to get your AI fix on the regular Fox website.  If you’re into reality television, you can still use Hulu.com to catch up on “The Moment of Truth”.

Hulu isn’t going to replace watching HD television, and it won’t replace watching DVD movies.  The video quality is the same quality as you’d see on any network website, which means that it’s fine to watch as a passing amusement and to kill some time.  The quality is also a heck of a lot better than most amateur YouTube videos, so you’ll be doing your eyes a favor.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/12 at 07:52 AM
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Monday, March 10, 2008

HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and now…HD VMD

Just when you thought it was safe to go shopping for a high-end DVD player and movies, a new company has emerged and wants to enter the battle of the high-definition DVD players.  We saw HD-DVD and Blu-Ray duke it out until Blu-Ray won a few large retail contracts, and naturally, that seemed to be the end of it.  Toshiba backed away, taking its technology with it, and Blu-Ray seemed to be the wave of the future.  Now, New Medium Enterprises of London wants to jump into the pool with their HD VMD format, which they claim will be 30% less expensive than Blu-Ray.

Sales of HD VMD are scheduled to begin on Amazon in the next five weeks.  The manufacturer isn’t too worried about who buys them because ultimately, he thinks the main market for HD VMD may be in Australia, China, India, Central Europe, Russia and Scandinavia.  With players designed to sell for $90 and still make a profit, they may be perfect for markets with lower incomes.

At this point in time, one can only speculate how this scenario may play itself out.  If nothing else, perhaps HD VMD could provide a way for churches and nonprofit groups to successfully produce high quality marketing videos, leaving Hollywood to deal with Blu-Ray.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/10 at 05:41 AM
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Monday, March 03, 2008

Spam is a felony

It almost sounds too severe to hear that sending spam can result in a felony conviction.  However, with unwanted email messages constantly clogging the byways of the Internet, it’s obvious that spamming can be a genuine threat to the free exchange of information.  With that in mind, Virginia’s Supreme Court held up the first felony spam conviction late last week.  For sending millions of email messages over a two month period, Jeremy Jaynes will spend nine years in prison.  It’s believed that Jaynes sent about ten millions spam emails per day, and he was charged in Virginia because he sent them via AOL’s servers.  His offence was committed in 2003, but it’s taken this long for the case to reach the state level.

The decision by the state Supreme Court wasn’t unanimous.  Some judges were bothered by contradictions in the CAN SPAM act (the act was the basis of the prosecution’s case).  The dissenting judges didn’t like the fact that the act doesn’t make exceptions for spam which is religious or political in nature, citing that that both those subjects are protected as free speech by the First Amendment.  I hope the dissenting judges aren’t losing any sleep over their positions, because I’m sure the majority of Americans think unwanted email is unwanted email, regardless of the topic.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/03 at 03:24 AM
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Bye, bye Polaroid

Perhaps you’ve heard the news that the Polaroid company is going to stop making film for its instant cameras next year.  They stopped manufacturing the cameras last year, but it’s actually a strong statement about the popularity of the instant picture concept when you think that the cameras and film survived so far into the digital camera era.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a really good quality photograph taken by a Polaroid, yet they had their place at so many festive occasions.  Perhaps the death of the Polaroid wasn’t the invention of the digital camera, as much as it was the invention of the small, portable, inkjet photo printer. 

Fujifilm holds a license for Polaroid film technology, and they’ll continue to manufacture film for personal and some corporate uses (like ID cards and passport photos). While the cameras are no longer officially being made, online auction sites guarantee that they’ll still be available for purchase for many years to come.  A word of advice:  buy your Polaroid camera now, while it’s a cheap $20 novelty, and don’t wait until it turns into a $200 “antique”. 

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 02/13 at 07:38 AM
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