If ever there was a time where the Linux world is abuzz with no equal in the Mac and Windows worlds, it would be this week! Today we’ll talk about the USB-stick-sized computer, Cotton Candy, the Raspberry Pi development PC board that’s the size of a deck of cards, and Ubuntu for Android.
Saw this AWESOME laptop mod in the Ubuntu Forums and all I can say is joparox (owner of this laptop), you rock!
I’ve considered modding some of my old laptops before, maybe adding stickers or sport a new custom paint job. But this guy DRILLED through his laptop case with a sanding bit, installed a couple of LEDs, and then covered it up with the clear acrylic from a CD jewel case before gluing it all together with silicon glue!
Taking things further, here’s a steampunk laptop mod from Datamancer. Read the rest of this entry »
There are already several tutorials out there on the ‘net on how to make an IR LED pen. Some ranging from simple hacks to full-blown manufacturing. The problem with the simple hacks, though, is that they are clunky, unwieldy, or unsightly (like this one, really cheap to make, but uses tape to keep it together!!!). And anything more complex than that was just too much hard work. The closest thing I found was an IR flashlight tutorial, but it uses a MagLite, which is a bit more expensive than necessary, and a flashlight is unidirectional which will limit it’s use. Plus, you’ll also need to bring out your drill. Nope, not simple enough.
So I got my brains out of the drawer, dusted it off, and started using it a bit, and thought up of a cheap, simple, and really easy-to-do but very elegant solution! The philosophy behind it? Don’t reinvent the wheel. Read the rest of this entry »
Concept art by Andree Wallin
The third open movie, Sintel, is coming out really soon and is in its last few weeks of development. Like the first two open movies, it is being produced by the Blender Foundation, inviting the best talents to work on it for six months in Amsterdam and introduces several more improvements to the Blender software. As an open movie, the guys creating it are not restricted as with commercial movies and have all the creative freedom they could have to create it. This time around, the third open movie will be an epic, action-adventure short movie set in a fictional fantasy setting.
Video of their intro video at the Blender Conference after the jump Read the rest of this entry »
Got this video from GameTrailers Wii, one of my Miro subscriptions.
It’s still in development, but from the look of this early trailer, it looks to be like one of the more creative games we’ve seen in previous years. Will it be joining the ranks of Little Big Planet and World of Goo? It’s quite too early to tell, but just watch the trailer and post your opinion in the comments.
Learn more about Max and the Magic Marker from their official web site.
If you’d like to subscribe to GameTrailers Wii, click on the following button:
If you found this information useful, buy me a coffee.
Been quite busy lately, I was hired to do an audio video production for someone’s birthday, and also I’m setting up several model shoots to build up my portfolio. Plus, I just came back from Shanghai, so blogging time was close to nil.
So for now, I’ll just leave you with an excerpt from late breaking news that Apple is getting sued for iTunes
Internet rights champions have accused Apple of stifling free speech by bullying OdioWorks into ending online sharing of ways to get iPods to work with music websites other than iTunes…
…At the heart of the issue is the BluWiki website that details ways to get Apple’s popular iPhones and iPod MP3 players to synchronize music and video files with media at services such as Songbird, Banshee, Rockbox, and Winamp…
…Apple zealously guards iTunes’ status as an exclusive content delivery and management tool for iPod and iPhone hardware.
“Apple’s legal threats against BluWiki are about censorship, not about protecting their legitimate copyright interests,” said EFF senior staff attorney Fred von Lohmann.
All I can say is I’m not surprised and actually expecting it. These days, consumers can no longer be bullied into a monopoly the likes of how Microsoft dominated the 90′s. Personally, I’ve never used iTunes software with my 3rd-gen iPod Nano. As an Ubuntu user, I’ve initialized it in Linux and use Rhythmbox and GTKPod for managing my music and videos. I’ll teach you guys how to do that next time. Till then!
If you found this information useful, buy me a coffee.
The rest of the Philippines may finally have a taste of riding these eco-friendly vehicles, as E-Jeeps can now be registered and issued license plates with the LTO.
Last time, we introduced you to Miro, a media aggregator labeled as Internet TV. It allows you not only to search and save YouTube videos, but also subscribe to video podcasts, including those of the iTunes variety, and auto-download videos as they become available.
This time, we’ll be showing you some great video channels to deck out your Miro player, but before that, I would like to point out that, YES, MIRO HAS A VERSION FOR WINDOWS TOO! And this guide is applicable for either GNU/Linux, MS Windows or Mac OS X.
WebbAlert
WebbAlert
TechTV/G4 X-Play host Morgan Webb gives you news about technology, Internet and gaming squeezed into digestible 5-minute shows 5 days a week, Monday to Friday. Perfect for getting all those tech news quickly, especially when you don’t have much time during the weekdays or when you’re on the go.
In line with our celebration of our new wordpress server, here is the second post for the day. In this post, we discuss a video player I’ve been using for over a year, but seems that not enough people are using it. It’s not just any video player. It’s Miro.
Miro Video Player
I know a lot of people who love watching videos at YouTube. And among them, there are also plenty who like downloading their favorite videos. The problem though is that YouTube doesn’t freely provide this service. Instead they have to rely on Firefox extensions, download websites (which are either full of ads, possibly virus-laden, or just plain dubious), and other such hacks.
That was how I found Miro. I’ve been using Miro for about a year now, and it has improved over the past year in terms of both usability and stability. But Miro is more than just another YouTube downloader. Advertised as an Internet TV player, it does what it says and does it well.
Downloading YouTube Videos
Downloading Videos
With Miro’s integrated video search feature, you can search videos from YouTube, Daily Motion, Veoh, and other video websites without starting your browser. You then just choose your search results and Miro will start downloading them into your library. I find this feature really nice, especially when downloading a long or large video, when I want to show something to some friends, or when I’m just too busy to watch them immediately. WIth the video in my library, I can load it up anytime at my convenience, whether I’m on the train or relaxing after cooking/eating dinner.
Internet TV with Miro
Viewing The Contents of a Channel
Miro comes with a few default channels and lets you add more channels. There are plenty of channels to choose from the integrated Miro Guide, which offers you some of its recommendations or you can search for a particular interest. Miro uses the open RSS standard for its channels, so it’s compatible with practically all feeds on the internet, including iTunes podcasts.
The beauty of using channels is that you can set it to auto-download New content or All content to download even old videos you haven’t seen yet. For example, I am subscribed to the WebbAlert channel, which offers an almost-daily 5-minute round-up of what’s new on the Internet and computing in general. When I get home and turn on my computer and Miro, it will automatically download new episode(s) if any, for my viewing pleasure, at my own leisure. It’s like turning on your TV to your favorite daily program, only you’re not bound by stiff schedules.
More Cool Features
Video Playback
Miro’s core functionalities are wonderfully complemented by the options that Miro’s intellgent engineers came up with.
Afraid you’ll run out of disk space? That shouldn’t be a problem when using Miro. You can easily set Miro to make sure to leave a gigabyte or two. And if space is a problem, the expire feature comes in very handy. Some people unfamiliar with this concept might be wary at first, but trust me, you’re not going to be watching last week’s podcast episodes anyway. YouTube videos also expire in the default 6 days, but you can choose to keep a video indefinitely by clicking on the “keep” button. Of course, there’s also a “delete” button, in case you downloaded a loser video or this week’s podcast episode just sucks.
Each channel also displays the number of unwatched videos you have, which conveniently turns into a play button when you move your mouse over it, giving you instant access to unwatched content. There’s also a “New” item in the sidebar. Just like the channels, it displays the number of unwatched videos across all your channels and clicking it plays it. By default Miro is set to play all videos consecutively in a section (be it a channel, New, or your library), but if you prefer watching one at a time (like me), you can turn it off in the options.
Miro is available for GNU/Linux, Mac, as well as Windows. Download it now from http://www.getmiro.com
While you’re downloading Miro, click on over here to read more about how Miro does what it does. And if you’re interested in making your own videos or channels for Miro, http://makeinternettv.org is a good resource for information.
For our 15th year company outing, we were headed off to beautiful Dos Palmas Beach Resort and Spa in Palawan. And my camera gear couldn’t have been more ready. The timing was excellent: the 18-135mm lenses that I bought used from a friend as well as the MB-D200 Battery Grip was hand-delivered from Japan just the day before our outing, as well as a DicaPac WP-S10 DSLR underwater pack I had ordered and delivered to my office.
Here is the official list of gear I brought with me:
