Saturday, May 15, 2010

How YouTube 3D Came to Be [Q&A]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5536385/how-youtube-3d-came-to-be

About a year ago, YouTube made a quiet upgrade—it began to support 3D content. But the even neater thing? The work was essentially that of one employee who worked on the project in his spare "20%" time.

It's just so Google, isn't it? Pete Bradshaw, YouTube software engineer, playing around in 3D in his allotted dabbling time, sparks an update in the world's most popular video sharing service.

You may not have even noticed the YouTube was supporting 3D—frankly, before this interview, I had no idea either. But from red and blue anaglyph to eyes-crossing Magic-Eye-style, the service now supports the uploading of stereoscopic footage (two video streams) that it will mix, in real time, right within your browser in a manner of the viewer's choosing.

(Note: To toggle the different ways you can view these embedded videos in 3D, you'll need to view them on YouTube, where they'll be equipped with a 3D pulldown menu.)
How YouTube 3D Came to Be
I chatted with Pete, along with spokesman Chris Dale, about how YouTube 3D came about and where YouTube will take 3D into the future.

Why did you begin the project?

Pete: The germ of the idea came about with the Superbowl a couple of years ago when there was a promotion with Monsters vs Aliens, and they were giving away red and blue glasses out in the supermarkets. And I got those glasses since they were supposed to work with YouTube.

So I went digging for 3D content on the site. And there was a lot, but the issue was that sometimes it was mixed with different colors (because you can get different colored glasses). There's red/green and yellow/blue and all these other things. So if you were uploading 3D video, you basically planned for one specific kind of glasses you wanted to support. If you didn't have just the right pair, you were out of luck.

We were just kind of sitting around talking about this, and we came up with the idea that, well, we could mix the left and right views inside the player and give an experience that works on any of the different-colored 3D glasses.

This just started as like a random lunch discussion, and afterward, I hacked up a simple little demo that worked on its own machine. I showed it to a few people and they were very surprised. They were like, "We should launch it! When does it launch?"

And so 3D was integrated into the player in a way users could actually use. The shooter uploads two videos side by side, and then we do the mix in the player. Then the viewer tells us the color of their glasses, or if they'd rather do some of the crazy, cross eyed things. (We actually added some support for a few more display systems after launch.)

How long was it between the germ of the idea and actually having something running and actually launching?

Pete: From the first demo, I probably spent 3 weeks of actual work—not all of it continuous because, given my background, I'm more on the backend server side of stuff here at YouTube than the player side. So there was a bit of a learning curve for me coming into that, meaning I grabbed people at lunch, asking them, "Hey, how did you guys build this stuff?"

It seems like Nvidia is making a huge push with all their shutter glasses. Do you guys think that shutter is the next big step?

Pete: Well I don't know if you saw the demo at CES where Nvidia had their big 3D press event—at the end of it, they worked with Adobe and us to actually get the shot of us working with YouTube to get a YouTube video to play with the shutter glasses, and it just works.

It's not actually launched yet, but most of the hard work is on their side, and getting Adobe to talk to the shutter people. But once that's done, it's definitely something we are interested in supporting.

Do you really see 3D glasses taking off?

Pete: I definitely think 3D is coming, and it's going to be a standard feature. But adoption rates and exact technologies, if I knew that stuff, I would be investing.

YouTube can be difficult enough to run in HD. It feel like by adding 3D, you're basically doubling the information were you to compete with, say, 60fps Blu-ray 3D.

Pete: I take the point that it is a heavier burden for the machine to show. We've got some player changes to come and plans that will help with that, but there's also a lot of interest from Adobe and also HTML5 guys in making this kind of stuff work.

Chris: Occasionally people say, "god, how do you guy support the infrastructure cost and this other kind of stuff?" I don't think it's really something we worry about too much, but as far as 3D, I think it really depends on the users computer to a great degree in like computing power catching up to where video is evolving to.

What's the endgame of where you're going with this in terms of this 3D adoption?

Pete: It's been used a lot from the start, but I'm not sure where it's going because users have done all sorts of crazy stuff—like there was the craze where people were getting a bunch of LEDs and doing long exposures. There were also a lot of videos with those Fuji FinePix REAL 3D W1 cameras, along with a lot of users just uploading random stuff with that.

It's kind of fun with because a lot of the current stuff is more YouTube-y. Instead of being this blockbuster or some guy working a CGI animation, it's just like, "hey, here is my garden," as some guy in Japan films his garden in 3D.

Another thing that happened that was just a complete surprise—these guys were using the stereo video technology for surgery—a kind of keyhole surgery. And until now, one surgeon would perform a procedure with a stereo microscope, and all the students just watched the back of this guy's head. Now, they've got all the cameras and the HD video. We just have one super short, 30 second clip of brain surgery, and it's kind of gross...but it's great.

Is it right to say you guys aren't really trying to know where this is going other just kind of saying that we're going to support 3D? Like we don't know where exactly this is going to go, how the camera and stuff are going to work out but YouTube is going to support it.

Pete: We do think about it and maintain an interest, but every time we do the users have started doing something crazy and different. I actually remember one interesting example at the launch was a guy whose doing his pHD in some kind of visualization and he started asking these great questions about how we are actually mixing them together. Even after the feature has launched now there is still a feed back loop by users, coming to us about it and shoot us some ideas we could improve.

Chris: We also have content partners with many of the major Hollywood studios, television networks and content creators around the world. A lot of them have seen thi,s and they want to tackle it and they want to think of ways of showcasing their movie trailers in 3D. We've even been asking, could we even live stream something in 3D?

However, I can't get into specifics about what movie studios or what trailers you could conceivably see.

What portion of YouTube uploaders are really doing stuff with 3D?

Chris: It could be probably be pretty small, I mean we're talking—we have thousands of 3D videos on the site, but we have 24 hours of video uploaded every minute.

So it's essentially thousands vs countless.

Chris: Exactly. I think, it is still very small but it's growing and it's growing fast. Like when we first did mobile uploads, they started to trickle in, but when the iPhone 3GS came out, it grew by, I think 500% in the weeks following the 3Gs release. Over the course of 2009 mobile uploads were up by 2000%.

Is there any interest taking this 3D tech beyond video at this point—like maybe Picasa?

Chris: One of the things we've both learned at YouTube is that never say never, and the truth is that the cross-pollination across different Google services and properties have accelerated significantly over the last year...We are really in the amazing stage of 3D right now and i think you can expect more cool things from a lot of different companies including Google when it comes to 3D.

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Intel promises to bring wireless display technology to other mobile devices

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/15/intel-promises-to-bring-wireless-display-technology-to-other-mob/

Details are unfortunately light on this one, but Intel has closed out the week with one interesting tidbit of news -- it's apparently planning to bring its wireless display technology (a.k.a. WiDi) to netbooks, tablets and other mobile devices. That word comes straight from Intel wireless display product manager Kerry Forrell, who says that "we fully expect to take the technology there," but that he can't yet provide a specific time frame. Those plans are further backed up by Intel CEO Paul Otellini himself, who told investors this week that "what we'll be doing over the next few years is take the Wi-Di capability that's in the laptop today and extend that into all the Intel platforms." Intel doesn't even seem to be stopping there, however, with Forrell further adding that the company even sees the technology being built into to TVs "over time."

Intel promises to bring wireless display technology to other mobile devices originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 02:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, May 14, 2010

Motorola Ruth / Flipout leaks again, due in June?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/motorola-ruth-flipout-leaks-again-due-in-june/

We're still not quite sure to make of this odd little square of a Motorola, but it certainly looks like it's coming our way soon: Italian site Zumo says the Ruth (or Flipout, as we've seen it called) is actually the Moto MB511, and it's due out sometime in June. We're also told that it'll have WiFi, GPS, and a memory card slot, but that's pretty par for the course -- what we're really curious about it how this thing actually works in person. We'll just have to wait and find out.

Motorola Ruth / Flipout leaks again, due in June? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Moment gets Android 2.1 update from Sprint, Hero users promised to be next

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/samsung-moment-gets-android-2-1-update-from-sprint-hero-users-p/

Hey, hey -- what do you know? If you're a Samsung Moment owner on Sprint, you know exactly how glorious it feels to have and hold Android 2.1, which Sprint has confirmed to be rolling out to handsets as we speak. Notably, a tweet on the matter has the carrier promising that Hero owners will be "next" to see the same update, but sadly a time line wasn't given. Enjoy and hang tight, respectively.

Samsung Moment gets Android 2.1 update from Sprint, Hero users promised to be next originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 May 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Twitter (Sprint)  |  sourceSprint  | Email this | ! Comments

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Was that a beer, bed, booze, car, cig, cell, drug, mayo, soda, shampoo, or insurance ad? (video) Hmmm.. couldn't tell - http://bit.ly/aVUtlE

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Sex sells ... well, sex. The sex is recalled, but not what the sexiness was trying to sell - http://bit.ly/aVUtlE

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Skype Beta Adds Group Video Chat [Downloads]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5538352/skype-beta-adds-group-video-chat

multi-video-skype.pngWindows: The latest Skype beta—released today—adds support for group video calling, allowing you to video conference with up to five people simultaneously.

Currently the group video chat feature is only available on the Windows version, and while it's currently free with the beta, there is a catch:

Group video calling is just one in a set of new premium features you'll see us roll out during 2010. We haven't set prices for these premium features yet, but rest assured that we're still absolutely committed to bringing you free voice and two-way video calling.

It's too bad that the group video chat probably won't be available for free in the long term, especially since, for example, iChat's had group video chat for a while now, and for free. Either way, it's good to see Skype move in this direction, and we're assuming that a lot of people will be excited to try it out.

If you give it a go, share how you like the new group video chat in the comments.

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Dell pumps out a pair of new UltraSharp 1080p IPS LCDs, asks a pittance

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/13/dell-pumps-out-a-pair-of-new-ultrasharp-1080p-ips-lcds-asks-a-p/

Dell rarely disappoints with its wallet-friendly LCDs, and the new 21.5-inch U2211H and 23-inch U2311H don't look to be changing any trends. The two UltraSharp screens go for $280 and $300, respectively, and they've got that viewing angle-friendly, color accurate IPS tech all the kids are rocking these days. DisplayPort, DVI, 1,000:1 contrast ratio... eh, who are we kidding, you stopped reading after we listed the price, didn't you?

Dell pumps out a pair of new UltraSharp 1080p IPS LCDs, asks a pittance originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceDell (U2211H), (U2311H)  | Email this | Comments

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Evoluce 47-inch HD multitouch display gets off-screen gesture control

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/13/evoluce-47-inch-hd-multitouch-display-gets-off-screen-gesture-co/

Evoluce, the manufacturers of that mammoth 47-inch full HD touchscreen, are out of control! Apparently, they've decided that unlimited simultaneous touch inputs (and thus unlimited simultaneous phalanges) was not enough, so they've gone an' added gesture support -- up to half a meter from the device. Apparently this bad boy supports Windows 7, although if you want your interface du jour to put the "unlimited" in "multitouch" you'll most likely have to roll your own. Interested? Wealthy? Check out some righteous video and PR after the break.

Continue reading Evoluce 47-inch HD multitouch display gets off-screen gesture control

Evoluce 47-inch HD multitouch display gets off-screen gesture control originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 13:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu's curved plasma displays make Roman columns look a little dated

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/13/fujitsus-curved-plasma-displays-make-roman-columns-look-a-littl/

Fujitsu's curved plasma displays make Roman columns look a little datedWhat, your plasma display is flat? How very quaint! Fujitsu would like to make you feel a little less adequate by showing you the wonder that is a curved PDP, seen here stretched around a column for the sake of providing digital signage. Yes, it's perhaps a somewhat boring duty, and not quite as awe-inspiring as the company's massively curvaceous installation at Kansai airport. But, if you're looking for a way to show off orange silhouettes on a field of light blue, baby it doesn't get much better than this.

Fujitsu's curved plasma displays make Roman columns look a little dated originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAkihabara News  | Email this | Comments

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Samsung CL80 will come with three months free Boingo WiFi, oh joy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/13/samsung-cl80-will-come-with-three-months-free-boingo-wifi-oh-jo/

While we're still waiting for Sammy's 14 megapixel, WiFi-enabled point-and-shoot to make its stateside appearance, it seems it won't be lacking for software when it crosses the pond -- this week, ubiquitous hotspot host Boingo announced that its service will be preinstalled on every new Samsung CL80 and ST5500, and the cameras will come with three free months of use. After that point, you'll still be able to upload your pictures from Starbucks, never fear -- you'll just have to pay $8 monthly for the privilege. PR after the break.

Continue reading Samsung CL80 will come with three months free Boingo WiFi, oh joy

Samsung CL80 will come with three months free Boingo WiFi, oh joy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba updates Satellite Pro line with Core i3 / i5, Athlon II-based models

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/13/toshiba-updates-satellite-pro-line-with-core-i3-i5-athlon-ii/

New laptop processors mean new laptops, and Toshiba has now joined the party with four new Satellite Pro models packing Intel's latest Core i3 and i5 processors and AMD's new dual-core Athlon II. Those include the 15.6-inch C650 / C650D, the 13.3-inch L630, the 15.6-inch L650 / L650D, and the 17.3-inch L670 / 670D, all of which are available with Intel Core i3 or Core i5 processors, while those with a "D" suffix pack an Athlon II. Otherwise, each boast either a 1,600 x 900 or 1,366 x 768 LED-backlit display, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5145 or integrated Intel GMA HD graphics, up to 8GB of RAM, an optional Blu-ray burner, and Toshiba's own Media Controller software to let you stream content to other networked devices, among other standard fare. Still no indication of pricing or availability over here, but the whole lot should at least be available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa sometime in the second quarter of this year. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look at the complete, nearly identical-looking lineup.

Continue reading Toshiba updates Satellite Pro line with Core i3 / i5, Athlon II-based models

Toshiba updates Satellite Pro line with Core i3 / i5, Athlon II-based models originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung preparing for 42-inch OLED TV trials in 2011?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/samsung-prepped-for-42-inch-oled-tv-trials-in-2011-if-3d-doesnt/

It's approaching mid 2010 and you know what's missing. Jetpacks. Jetpacks and those 30-inch and larger OLED TVs we were promised. Hell, the largest OLED TV available for retail currently is only 15-inches... if you can both find and afford it. Now OLEDNet claims that Samsung Mobile Display -- you know, the cellphone OLED guys -- is purchasing equipment in preparation for bringing its 5.5 generation facility on-line in the first half of 2011. That should give Samsung the ability make 42-inch AMOLED TVs on a trial basis by the end of the twenty-eleven. But with relatively cheap LCDs steadily closing the gap on AMOLEDs size, contrast, and power savings advantages, well, we'll believe it when we see the first big screen OLED TVs in our living rooms. And with 3D LCDs (and plasmas) all the rage amongst distracted and financially-vested television manufacturers, we don't see that happening anytime soon.

Samsung preparing for 42-inch OLED TV trials in 2011? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 May 2010 06:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OLED-Display  |  sourceOLEDNet  | Email this | Comments

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Doctor Finder Locates and Reviews Your New Doctor [Health]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5537206/doctor-finder-locates-and-reviews-your-new-doctor

Doctor Finder Locates and Reviews Your New DoctorFinding a new doctor (especially if you need a specific specialty) is pretty difficult, especially if you have no recommendations to guide you. Web service Doctor Finder's searchable database of detailed patient reviews can help you find the right one.

The search engine is pretty easy to use, and even has a few more detailed options to help you out, like filtering by specialty and insurance. You can search up to 20 miles away, specify a gender, and even how much experience they have. By default, Doctor Finder sorts your results by the best reviews first, and then by number of reviews, so you can be sure one of the first few on the list is a pretty good pick (though you can read all the reviews to be sure).

Doctor Finder Locates and Reviews Your New Doctor

The are a lot of reviews available on the site (most of which seem to be pulled from CitySearch), which is nice. They don't have reviews for all of the doctors in a given area, but it does have a pretty good number of them, and again—if you have no recommendations to go off of, this is way better than just picking one at random from your insurer's list.

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The Devolution of Facebook Privacy [Facebook]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5537408/the-devolution-of-facebook-privacy

The Devolution of Facebook PrivacyWhat you're looking at is a tidy visualization of what Facebook's default privacy settings looked like back in 2005. What follows is that same image, recalibrated for 2010. It's worse than you think.

The Devolution of Facebook PrivacyThe problems with Facebook's attitude towards privacy have been thoroughly documented. But there's still something about watching the gradual creep of intrusion that drives the point home in a way words can't. For the full effect, check out the full year-by-year progression from 2005 to 2010 here. [Matt McKeonMatt McKeon via BuzzFeed]

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Fujitsu's All-In-One 3D PC Has Dual Cameras For 3D MSN Video Chat [3D]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5537916/fujitsus-all+in+one-3d-pc-has-dual-cameras-for-3d-msn-video-chat

Fujitsu's All-In-One 3D PC Has Dual Cameras For 3D MSN Video ChatIt's destined to become Fujitsu's flagship PC this year (at least in Japan), and while full specs weren't available what we do know about this all-in-one is that it requires passive glasses, and has dual cameras for capturing 3D video.

While only a Japan release has been mentioned so far, we can probably expect a worldwide launch at some point—I can't see why Fujitsu would want to deprive us of a PC which comes with bundled software for 3D video chat with Windows Live Messenger, after all. [Akihabara News]

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Android 2.2 'Froyo' to include USB tethering, WiFi hotspot functionality

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/13/android-2-2-froyo-to-include-usb-tethering-wifi-hotspot-funct/

And the good Froyo news just keep flowing in. TechCrunch have flexed their exclusive muscle this morning in revealing their discovery that Android 2.2 will come with built-in tethering and WiFi hotspot support. That means you'll be able to use your phone's 3G internet connection to hook your laptop up to the worldwide webosphere, with a choice of wired or wireless methods. Of course, this dreamy scenario will be subject to the big bad network operators permitting -- or at least not forbidding -- you to do such awesome things with your hardware, but at least we know the goods are being baked into this forthcoming release from Google. Frozen yogurt for all!

Android 2.2 'Froyo' to include USB tethering, WiFi hotspot functionality originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 05:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTechCrunch  | Email this | Comments

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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

HTML5 and CSS3 Readiness Across All Browsers [Infographic]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5537228/html5-and-css3-readiness-across-all-browsers

HTML5 and CSS3 Readiness Across All BrowsersThis graphic isn't just beautiful; it charts out every major browser's compatibility with elements of HTML5 and CSS3. In a nutshell, things look pretty good. For the fully interactive version (the one that makes sense), look here: [html5readiness via infosthetics]

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Real Gaming for Macs Is Finally Here With Steam [Steam]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5537409/real-gaming-for-macs-is-finally-here-with-steam

Real Gaming for Macs Is Finally Here With SteamSteam for Mac is officially available, along with a sizeable trove of games—including Portal, which is now free for everybody.

Valve's plan is to release a new set of games for Mac every Wednesday for the next few weeks. This week, notably, every game has SteamPlay, which means you buy it once, and it'll run on all Steam-supported platforms (which implies that not every Steam game available on Mac and PC will necessarily be SteamPlay style). I know, games have existed on the Mac for a long time. But the promise of true multiplatform computer gaming on the largest scale in a long time is pretty thrilling. (As someone who does most of their FPSing on a desktop PC and owns a Mac laptop.)

I honestly can't tell you how hard it is not to pee my pants right now (and I just went to the bathroom).

Right now, there 63 games/gamepacks listed as being available for Mac—Torchlight, Civilization, the LucasArts action pack, among others—though no TF2 in sight, for now. (Though I'm still chaffing that it shoves your game files inside of the Documents folder.) As noted, Portal's only free until May 24, so get in there. Here's the full list on Steam's site:

TriJinx: A Kristine Kross Mystery
World of Goo
Zuma Deluxe
Sid Meier's Civilization IV
And Yet It Moves
Braid
Escape Rosecliff Island
Civilization IV: Warlords
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Sid Meier's Civilization: Colonization
Sid Meier's Civilization: The Complete Edition
BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity
Diaper Dash®
Machinarium
Football Manager 2010
Bob Came in Pieces
KrissX
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
Galcon Fusion
Quantz
Torchlight
Toki Tori
Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal
Parking Dash
The Nightshift Code
Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar's Eye
Mahjong Roadshow
Hotel Dash Suite Success
DinerTown Detective Agency
Fitness Dash
Gemini Lost
Atlantis Sky Patrol
Fairway Solitaire
Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery
Unwell Mel
My Tribe
Tales of Monkey Island Complete Pack
Osmos
Wandering Willows
Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World
Zenerchi
Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
Cooking Dash
Chocolatier: Decadence by Design
LUXOR: Mah Jong
The Dig
LOOM
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
City of Heroes: Architect Edition
Peggle Nights
Luxor
Luxor 3
Portal
Peggle Deluxe
Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
Bookworm Deluxe
Chuzzle Deluxe

[Steam]

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YouTube Now Lets You Mark Embarrassing Videos As "Unlisted" [YouTube]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5537469/youtube-now-lets-you-mark-embarrassing-videos-as-unlisted

YouTube Now Lets You Mark Embarrassing Videos As "Unlisted"In the past, the only way to make YouTube videos semi-private was to limit them to being viewed by 25 people. Now you can mark your clips as "unlisted" and have a "secret" link instead. Here's how it works:

Now, you can mark your videos as "unlisted." This means only people who have the link to the video will be able to watch it. It won't appear in any of YouTube's public pages, in search results, on your personal channel or on the browse page. It's a private video, except you don't need a YouTube account to watch it and there is no limit to the number of people who can view it. You'll get a link when you upload the video and then it's up to you to decide whom to share it with. Unlisted is the perfect option for that class project, video from last summer's family reunion or your secret Broadway audition tape.

Of course, it sounds like you're still out of luck if your friends decide to share the link, but this is still a neat—and rather logical—privacy option to offer users. [YouTube Blog]

Update: Whoops! Looks like the feature hasn't gone live yet, so don't rush to upload videos you want to keep semi-private already.

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Diaspora: The Student-Made, Privacy-Respecting Facebook Alternative [Socialmedia]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5537502/diaspora-the-student+made-privacy+respecting-facebook-alternative

Diaspora: The Student-Made, Privacy-Respecting Facebook AlternativeAs Facebook completes its Galactic Senate-to-Imperial Empire transformation, four enterprising NYU students thought the world could do with a social networking service that wouldn't treat your personal information like advertiser catnip. So they started building Diaspora.

They conceive of it as the "privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all distributed open source social network," one on which people share strictly on their own terms. Every user will have their own encrypted, customizable "node" on the Diaspora network, and personal data will reside on that user's computer, as opposed to a centralized hub.

The team members, who are profiled in today's New York Times*, posted a description of their idea on Kickstarter, a website that connects internet donors with underfunded projects, and they quickly met their goal of raising $10,000. As of now, the number's closer to $24,000.

The demand is clearly there; now what about the service? The team already has a skeletal version of the site running on their own machines, and now that school's wrapping up they're starting their "first sprint"—three months of intense coding with the aim of launching a working version of Diaspora by September, complete with:

* Full-fledged communications between Seeds (Diaspora instances)
* Complete PGP encryption
* External Service Scraping of most major services (reclaim your data)
* Version 1 of Diaspora's API with documentation
* Public GitHub repository of all Diaspora code

Of course, building a social network from the ground up is a tremendous task, and one that's much easier said than done. But Facebook's first lines of code were written in a dorm room, and it makes perfect sense that Diaspora—a project that looks to get back to social media's roots: sharing—would see its start there, too. Find out more about the project at JoinDiaspora.

Diaspora: The Student-Made, Privacy-Respecting Facebook Alternative*Bonus points to these mischievous fellows for sneaking some naughty bits of UNIX command line jokery into the New York Times, which the publication has cropped out of the online photo.

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Fourth generation iPhone teardown reveals A4 microprocessor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/fourth-generation-iphone-teardown-reveals-a4-microprocessor/

See the marking on that chip with the Apple logo. No, not the "N90" codename indicating that it's from Apple's next generation GSM iPhone, the other text. If we're not mistaken then we're seeing "339S0084" on that chip from today's fourth-generation iPhone teardown. Guess what? According to Chipworks, that's the Apple A4 microprocessor fabricated by Samsung and the presumed work of Apple's acquired PA Semi and Intrinsity engineers. The "APL0398" text is also the same as that found on the iPad's speedy and power sipping A4 system-on-chip. The other markings differ however. What that means isn't entirely clear yet but we're digging.

Fourth generation iPhone teardown reveals A4 microprocessor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 06:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel is down with tablets and razor thin netbooks, yo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/intel-is-down-with-tablets-and-razor-thin-netbooks-yo/

With Microsoft's Courier canned, and HP's Slate suffering a debilitating identity crisis, what's a WinTel fan to do? Easy, wait for Computex set to kickoff on June 1st in Taipei. According to Intel's Mooly Eden, Vice President of PC Client Group and all around hip dude, that's when Intel will respond to ARM and its Apple iPad lovechild. Speaking at the Intel Investor Meeting on Tuesday, Mooly rapped:
"People ask me, are you serious about trying to participate in the tablet market? The answer is yes, we are going to have tablets... stay tuned for Computex. We are going to design silicon for this category and we are going to actively participate in this category."
Gauntlet, thrown. Mooly also took the opportunity to show off a razor thin netbook reference design that he expects to see on the market "sooner or later" sporting a hard working dual-core Pineview-class Atom CPU to support heavy-duty multi-tasking OSes -- the same chips that are apparently at the heart of Intel's tablet ambitions. See the incredibly thin netbook prototype after the break along with a few choice grabs of Mooly raising the roof.

Continue reading Intel is down with tablets and razor thin netbooks, yo

Intel is down with tablets and razor thin netbooks, yo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 07:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opera Mobile 10 lands on Maemo thanks to pro hobbyists

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/opera-mobile-10-lands-on-maemo-thanks-to-pro-hobbyists/

What do you know, even professional coders like to develop things on the side. Opera's mobile dev team has been working on a "hobby project" to bring its browser to the Maemo-sporting Nokia N900 and N8x0 devices, and today sees the first fruit of that labor in the form of a "preview build" release. Fredrik Ohrn warns us that there might not ever be a final version, since this is being done just for fun -- and particularly in light of the MeeGo future that awaits the platform -- but for now it's yet another option for your versatile mini-computer. Click the source for the download.

[Thanks, Jesus]

Opera Mobile 10 lands on Maemo thanks to pro hobbyists originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye-Fi's 4GB Geo X2 WiFi SDHC card now shipping for $70

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/eye-fis-4gb-geo-x2-wifi-sdhc-card-now-shipping-for-70/

We heard that the Apple Store-exclusive Geo X2 would start shipping to Americans at some point in May, and it looks like the time is now for those who've been patiently waiting. Eye-Fi's latest Class 6, WiFi-enabled SDHC card packs 4GB of space, an 802.11n module and auto-geotagging for those who can't make heads or tails of their latest gallery of vacation shots. It can be headed your way any moment... so long as you're cool with handing over your name, address, credit card number, favorite TV drama from 1988 and $69.95 (plus tax, where applicable). Oh, life and its choices.

[Thanks, Christopher]

Eye-Fi's 4GB Geo X2 WiFi SDHC card now shipping for $70 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mushkin serves up its own SandForce SF-1200 controlled SSD: Callisto

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/mushkin-serves-up-its-own-sandforce-sf-1200-controlled-ssd-call/

That controversial SandForce SF-1200 controller sure has been poking its head out an awful lot lately, and yet again we're watching it steal the show in another new SSD. Mushkin, a mainstay in the high-end RAM industry, has just outed a new solid state drive meant to compete with those already splashing down from Intel, Corsair and OCZ Technology, and if the claims prove true, the Callisto could indeed be a serious contender. The outfit claims that users will see read speeds of up to 285MB/s and write speeds of up to 275MB/s, and the three-year warranty is definitely assuring. It's available to order today in 60GB, 120GB and 240GB capacities, with prices set at $219, $370 and $666 in order of mention. Go on -- you know that devil on your right shoulder was coaxing you into buying the biggest one, anyway.

Mushkin serves up its own SandForce SF-1200 controlled SSD: Callisto originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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