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Macintosh, Apple, Technology, and Design Blog

Nikon Announces D40


Nikon’s new low cost DSLR is officially announced after being much rumoured. It seems like a replacement for the D50 and a worthy competitor for the Canon 400D although it only has a 6megapixel sensor and lacks the 400D’s anti dust systems. But then, $499 so, you cant really argue with that for a good SLR. It seems that DLSR’s are now beginning to reach the prices budget film SLR’s had reached prior to their untimely demises.

See full details of the new D40 at dpreview , imaging resource and Engadget

The Da Vinci Code Re-Visited


(Caution - contains spoilers if you haven’t read the book or watched the movie – don’t read this it will give away the ending)

Two of my favourite books of all time have to be “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Daemons” by Dan Brown.

There, I’ve said it. I liked the “Da Vinci Code”

“The Da Vinci Code” was one of those popular phenomenons that, because of it’s popularity, became trendy to criticize. There’s always been a certain section of society that believes that criticising something popular makes them more intelligent. It’s almost as if liking a popular movie or book demeans you some how. It’s an arrogant elitism that is based on a need for superiority rather than any degree of artistic appreciation. Dan Brown’s novels aren’t Shakespeare, they’re action thrillers. So why people expect them to be feats of linguistic magnificence is beyond me. It’s like all those people that feel watching action movies are beneath them. It is what it is. This was certainly true of “The Da Vinci Code. Claiming to like the book among certain circles, was committing social suicide.

(Not to say that there are people who genuinely didn’t like the movie or the book. After all, opinion is opinion – a concept that’s also sometimes lost on people)

Anyway I digress (or more appropriately – rant). When I went to see the movie in the cinema I enjoyed it, but was put off by some aspects. Basically I fell victim to the hype. I had built up in my head what my version of the movie would be and with all the furore around the time of its release, I was a little disappointed that the version in my head was not the version that ended up on screen. So, Like many I went away with a little disappointment, feeling that it was a solid movie, but could have been better. Several months later and I was in my local video rental store and here it was on the shelf. I had forgotten it was being released and it actually took me by surprise. As there was not much else out I rented the DVD and took it home to watch.

With all the hype long gone, my preconceptions dissipated, I got a chance to watch the movie for what it was. And it’s a damn good movie. Excellent even. More than just a sense of excitement and danger, the cast really conveyed the humanity of the story, and parts of it were quite moving. Even though it probably was complete fantasy (and the beauty of Dan Brown’s story is the slight possibility of truth in there somewhere) there is something very emotional about the human story of this woman who’s image was persecuted all throughout history and those that protected the secret, thanklessly throughout the ages, without grandeur or glory, but simply because of their love. This is brilliantly summed up by the last scene in the movie where Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) eventually figures out the location of the Grail and kneels at the tomb to, as Teebing had said earlier, pay respects to all those who died fighting injustice and oppression while protecting the grail. There are some superb visual metaphors in the movie too, such as the field of roses Sophie runs through as a child after fighting with her grandfather (The rose being the symbol of the Grail). The music is excellent too. Hanz Zimmer really out did himself, although the musical motifs did bear a striking resemblance to those from “Kingdom of Heaven”.

If you’re like me and enjoyed but weren’t overjoyed with the movie in the cinema, give it a second chance on DVD. It’s worth it. If you haven’t read the book read it, its far more detailed and the ultimate page turner.

And the best part… the short teaser trailer for “Angels and Daemons” at the start of the DVD. If you haven’t read Angels and Daemons, run, don’t walk to your nearest book store and pick it up. It’s even more thrilling and suspenseful than the “Da Vinci Code”

Xbox Live to Offer Full Length Movie Downloads - In HD


According to Engadget, Microsoft will soon start offering downloadable videos, of both TV shows and Movies in both standard definition, and Full 720p HD, giving them one up on Apple’s iTunes Downloads. The movies will be rental only though, but TV shows will be available for purchase. They have a pretty good walkthrough here.

It was only a matter of time really, since they pretty much had the infrastructure there already with xbox live. And before everyone starts sending hate mail because this can be remotely construed as anti Apple (seriously - I will get hate mail) Im guessing this is more a pre-emptive shot across sony’s bough than Apple’s.

Official Microsoft Xbox Announcement Here.

Silent Aircraft

This is pretty cool. BBC have a story about a radically new design for an aircraft from MIT that renders it virtually silent.

Zune Interface Walkthrough Video

Engadget have posted a comprehensive video of Microsoft’s Zune Player’s interface. My initial thoughts are that although it looks pretty slick with the transitions and animations between menus, it also seems somewhat confusing and complicated. Also, having to constantly rotate the player seems somewhat silly. Also too, I can’t see how a d-pad (yes that big control wheel on the front of the zune is not in fact a wheel, but a d-pad made to look look a wheel) can give as a tactile a representation of the interface like a wheel would have.

There are some typical Microsoft stupid things about this too, like wireless on by default and the ability for others to see what you’re doing, listening too etc unless you go in and turn it off - which is fine for geek users but the average joe won’t know it’s there. It’s interesting to read the comments too, to see how easily people are wowed by a flashy cluttered interface without giving any thought to the functionality, and unfortunately that flashiness will win over a lot of people. It does look terribly like a cell phone though. It has that “how many buttons do I have to push to do what I want to do” problem that many modern phones seem to have.

What ever your feelings on Zune it’s a good, thorough review by Engadget.

Daring Fireball on Soundbooth

My favorite mac writer, John Gruber has an excellent article on Adobe Soundbooth’s non PowerPC-ness and the furore surrounding it’s release.

John Nack addresses Soundbooth Critisims

Adobe has been critisised heavily by some for it’s new soundbooth beta been intel mac only. John Nack, Photoshop Product manager at Adobe explains the company’s thinking. Fair enough if you ask me.

halloween:pumpkinator



pumpkinator, originally uploaded by fxgeek.

Happy Halloween!

Zooomr


File under “Yet another photo sharing site”
I came across this site called Zooomr. At first I thought it was going to be another cool flickr plug-in type service. But no.

First of all, the name…really? Don’t you think it sounds just a little like some other well known brand?
Secondly the Logo….

Come on, are you kidding me…? “Ooo, lets colour the ‘r’ a different colour from the rest of the text..that’s like totally original”

And my personal favorite, the tag line…
“Universally the best way to share, search, store and sort your photos online.”

What they meant to say was…
“Like flickr, only less well designed and with in your face advertising”

(there’s nothing quite like a google banner ad for “sexy singles” alongside a picture of grandma and grandpa - and Im not joking - that’s what came up as I was browsing)

Move along, Nothing to see here.

Well, ok in fairness, they do offer geo-tagging and sound and a few other novelty features. But, seriously though?

Almost there….

Who’d have thought this process to move domains would take so bloody long.

It seems that it’s almost moved though, so you may be seeing this message!

Global Battery Shortage

This was pretty inevitable, but it seems that the Sony battery fiasco has led to a world wide shortage. From Daily Tech…

Over the last several months, a number of top tier companies have been asking customers to return batteries for replacement due to safety concerns. If you have been following the news on DailyTech, a total of roughly 8 million batteries have been recalled worldwide, all of which are manufactured by Sony.

I need to get a new battery for my Powerbook, which is dead, but unfortunately out of warranty, and not covered by the re-call, but there’s now a 3-4 week wait. Damn you Sony.

Read the rest of the article

Excellent list of Image Artifacts

While trying to diagnose a problem with my camera, and after some extensive google searching I came across this excellent list of image artefacts that can occur with digital images and cameras.

Photo Walking Video Podcast

Cool video podcast on taking photos while out walking. It’s all in the name really.

Equality Tribunal awards €15,000 to large-breasted woman

Seriously.

“The woman was dismissed shortly after getting the job in February 2000 after telling a training instructor that she had difficulty sitting up straight because she was heavy-chested and naturally slouches…..”

read the rest from breakingnews.ie

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