So, corroborrating the rumors flying around, Apple released the new Video iPod. While, like most iPods (except the shuffle, I don't quite grok that one) it is very cool, the capability to watch video on a 2.5 inch screen doesn't excite me very much. I think the main issue is the shift to selling video on-demand over the Internet.
Right now I pay about $60 for sattellite, plus $20 for Globo TV (Brazilian media Overlords). I don't watch about 99% of the shows. What if I could pay for just the shows I actually want, then watch them anytime, from anywhere... That is very cool.
Now, what about ads? I am not gonna want ads on the content I paid for... My guess is you'll start to see a shift towards more product placement. They also might end up sneaking little adsnips (you saw the word here first, fellas!), or 2 to 5 second ads that are just too fast for you to hit the skip button (even if you do, you might skip too much and have to rewind, and end up seeing the ad again!)
On the other hand, I don't think technology is already at a point where High Definition TV can be downloaded all the time. The files would be too big. Maybe bittorrent would help, but it's just too much bandwidth. There's a big push for TV to migrate to HDTV, and when you have had a good HDTV experience it does make you think regular TV sucks. I'd rather watch 24 in High Def over the air, with ads, than download a low picture quality episode.
For more, there's a nice discussion going on at slashdot.
Got stuff to do now...
Ate a proxima
Friday, October 14, 2005
Friday, October 07, 2005
Fed up with Bookmarks
I use Firefox as my main browser. I also use IE and I'm trying Opera again. I'll leave the browser discussion for later... for now I'll just say that if you only use IE, and just because "it's already there", you should reconsider.
One thing I don't like in any of them is the bookmarks. In IE it's just ridiculous. In FF it's ok, but seems a bit slow to me. In Opera I haven't even tried. The main reason is, I want all my bookmarks to be shared between all of them. I want to be able to manage them easily. I also want to be able to back them without digging for locations or functions.
I must have 20 or more bookmark backups, somewhere. Pretty much useless. I don't know where they are, it's hard to find stuff in them, I'd have to import or look in the files...
Here's what I'm doing now. I have a folder called Bookmarks on my desktop. Instead of bookmarking stuff, I just drag-and-drop the URLs from the address bar of the browser to that folder. Then I file stuff in subfolders. To open URLs, I just drag them onto an open browser window.
This technique should pretty much work under any system, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux. It makes it easy to back up bookmarks, you can file multiple copies under multiple folders and most important it just uses built-in well-known systems to create and navigate. No learning curve or 3rd party software needed.
Vou nessa.
One thing I don't like in any of them is the bookmarks. In IE it's just ridiculous. In FF it's ok, but seems a bit slow to me. In Opera I haven't even tried. The main reason is, I want all my bookmarks to be shared between all of them. I want to be able to manage them easily. I also want to be able to back them without digging for locations or functions.
I must have 20 or more bookmark backups, somewhere. Pretty much useless. I don't know where they are, it's hard to find stuff in them, I'd have to import or look in the files...
Here's what I'm doing now. I have a folder called Bookmarks on my desktop. Instead of bookmarking stuff, I just drag-and-drop the URLs from the address bar of the browser to that folder. Then I file stuff in subfolders. To open URLs, I just drag them onto an open browser window.
This technique should pretty much work under any system, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux. It makes it easy to back up bookmarks, you can file multiple copies under multiple folders and most important it just uses built-in well-known systems to create and navigate. No learning curve or 3rd party software needed.
Vou nessa.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Naked Women
Yeah, I confess. I like looking at naked women. It's the animal in me. Whatever.
I came across this link to a daily topless joke video from Playboy (quicktime), and must confess I love it. Not because the jokes are funny (they aren't). Not because of the boobs (ok, maybe a little). But rather because I find it totally unglamorous.
When you look at a picture, there's the composition, the angle, the light, the props, the retouching (a lot of it these days, see some links below) and, probably most important, the viewer's imagination.
The videos here have unflattering lighting, the (fake) boobs move in funny ways, the models voices are... let's say not that pleasant. It leaves less for your imagination. Sure they are very pretty women but they just don't seem as beautiful as in their magazine photos.
Aesthetics are of course relative. I personally like more artistic nudes, some people prefer more raunchy or explicit. I just find it very interesting to see a different depiction of the same models.
Here are some interesting links. I found them when looking up comments on Playboy retouching photos.
Some very interesting digital retouching examples.
Perfect 10 only goes for the "natural" look. Natural seems to be relative though, from their FAQ: "Q: What if I have had a breast reduction or other cosmetic surgery? Can I still be in PERFECT 10 Magazine? A: If you have had a breast reduction, you can still be in PERFECT 10. As for other cosmetic surgery, if it is obvious that you have had your lips done etc., we would probably not shoot you. We tend to go for the natural look."
Enough for now...
Fui!
Ronnie
I came across this link to a daily topless joke video from Playboy (quicktime), and must confess I love it. Not because the jokes are funny (they aren't). Not because of the boobs (ok, maybe a little). But rather because I find it totally unglamorous.
When you look at a picture, there's the composition, the angle, the light, the props, the retouching (a lot of it these days, see some links below) and, probably most important, the viewer's imagination.
The videos here have unflattering lighting, the (fake) boobs move in funny ways, the models voices are... let's say not that pleasant. It leaves less for your imagination. Sure they are very pretty women but they just don't seem as beautiful as in their magazine photos.
Aesthetics are of course relative. I personally like more artistic nudes, some people prefer more raunchy or explicit. I just find it very interesting to see a different depiction of the same models.
Here are some interesting links. I found them when looking up comments on Playboy retouching photos.
Some very interesting digital retouching examples.
Perfect 10 only goes for the "natural" look. Natural seems to be relative though, from their FAQ: "Q: What if I have had a breast reduction or other cosmetic surgery? Can I still be in PERFECT 10 Magazine? A: If you have had a breast reduction, you can still be in PERFECT 10. As for other cosmetic surgery, if it is obvious that you have had your lips done etc., we would probably not shoot you. We tend to go for the natural look."
Enough for now...
Fui!
Ronnie
First Post - Intro - Podcasts
This is a little tough for me. On one hand I have lots to write about, on the other hand I don't have enough time. I don't even know what language to write in - English, Portuguese, both? Do I want to talk about just anything that comes to mind? Do I want to structure it at all? Will anyone read this, ever?
Oh well... We'll just see how it goes.
Just got an email from a good friend of mine, Marcelo Batalha -- a wonderful singer, poet, blogger and all-around great guy. See his blog "Cinzas de Batalha" here (in Portuguese). He said he doesn't know a thing about podcasts, which in my mind are very close to blogs. So why don't we talk a little about that?
I've gotten into podcasts fairly recently. Apple made it easier by adding it directly to iTunes. Basically a podcast is nothing but an mp3 file with an RSS or Atom feed associated to it. People "subscribe" to a podcast channel and their "podcatcher" software automatically downloads new mp3s when available. The podcasts are then either transferred to an mp3 player like the iPod (thus the name podcast) or can be just played locally with an mp3 player software.
You can go to one of my favorite sites, Wikipedia, for more details on podcasts. We should definitely talk about Wikipedia sometime.
Some people think podcasts are the new "radio". Currently there's that feeling of a newly formed, excited community, as in the early days of the Internet or Blogging. There is podsafe music, licensed under a Creative Commons license so it can be used free of charge. There are plenty of amateur and commercial podcasts now, pretty much about anything. Just as the Web allows anyone to publish a web page, podcasts allow anyone to broadcast radio - all one needs is time, a computer and a microphone. VOIP software like Skype also allows for easy collaboration, even if people are in different locations. So there's plenty of crap, and plenty of good stuff.
The single biggest difference from radio, in my opinion, apart from the possibility of anyone broadcasting is that since a podcast file is downloaded locally, you can "time-shift", or in other words, you can listen to it at any time, fast forward, rewind, replay, etc.
Here's a list of podcasts I like:
TWIT with Leo Laporte - tech news
Engadget - gadgets
Cinecast - movies
Inside the Magic - Disney World
The Secrets - for writers
I'm still trying to find good podcasts in Portuguese. I mean not boring, fairly informative, fairly good sound quality and no breathing on the mike or silly laughing with non-funny jokes all the time. Suggestions are welcome.
So grab the new iTunes, click on podcasts and browse or search. You may find gems, you may find turds, but it should be interesting.
Till next time,
um abraço,
Ronnie
Oh well... We'll just see how it goes.
Just got an email from a good friend of mine, Marcelo Batalha -- a wonderful singer, poet, blogger and all-around great guy. See his blog "Cinzas de Batalha" here (in Portuguese). He said he doesn't know a thing about podcasts, which in my mind are very close to blogs. So why don't we talk a little about that?
I've gotten into podcasts fairly recently. Apple made it easier by adding it directly to iTunes. Basically a podcast is nothing but an mp3 file with an RSS or Atom feed associated to it. People "subscribe" to a podcast channel and their "podcatcher" software automatically downloads new mp3s when available. The podcasts are then either transferred to an mp3 player like the iPod (thus the name podcast) or can be just played locally with an mp3 player software.
You can go to one of my favorite sites, Wikipedia, for more details on podcasts. We should definitely talk about Wikipedia sometime.
Some people think podcasts are the new "radio". Currently there's that feeling of a newly formed, excited community, as in the early days of the Internet or Blogging. There is podsafe music, licensed under a Creative Commons license so it can be used free of charge. There are plenty of amateur and commercial podcasts now, pretty much about anything. Just as the Web allows anyone to publish a web page, podcasts allow anyone to broadcast radio - all one needs is time, a computer and a microphone. VOIP software like Skype also allows for easy collaboration, even if people are in different locations. So there's plenty of crap, and plenty of good stuff.
The single biggest difference from radio, in my opinion, apart from the possibility of anyone broadcasting is that since a podcast file is downloaded locally, you can "time-shift", or in other words, you can listen to it at any time, fast forward, rewind, replay, etc.
Here's a list of podcasts I like:
TWIT with Leo Laporte - tech news
Engadget - gadgets
Cinecast - movies
Inside the Magic - Disney World
The Secrets - for writers
I'm still trying to find good podcasts in Portuguese. I mean not boring, fairly informative, fairly good sound quality and no breathing on the mike or silly laughing with non-funny jokes all the time. Suggestions are welcome.
So grab the new iTunes, click on podcasts and browse or search. You may find gems, you may find turds, but it should be interesting.
Till next time,
um abraço,
Ronnie
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