DigiPen

Month

January 2012

21 posts

Barnes & Noble, Taking On Amazon in the Fight of Its Life → nytimes.com
Jan 30, 2012
Ubuntu Wants to Replace Menus with a HUD → siliconfilter.com

Just a bad idea, why would I want to press a button/combo to get a box to appear so I can type ‘undo’ instead of just hit the undo button? Not to mention having to remember strange codes or names to perform specific actions.  Unity was bad, this might be worse.  

They’re going the wrong way, people want to use the keyboard less!

Jan 27, 2012
Too many gadget choices: product lines simplify as fatigue sets in → theverge.com

Got to agree with that, we don’t need a million different versions of things.  I’m surprised the computer industry hasn’t followed car manufacturers and set up platforms and classes, so each manufacturer has a super-mini, a family, an exec and a luxury model, largely on the same platform.  The huge amount of choice just confuses users.

Jan 23, 2012
Play
Jan 23, 2012
Joel Spolsky - Two things about SOPA/PIPA and then I'll shut up → plus.google.com

Some good points, not just for the US.  I’m still perplexed as to why copyright is so long, especially compared to patents, and why they continue after death.

Jan 22, 2012
Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class  → nytimes.com

An interesting piece about why manufacturing has moved to China and other Asian countries, and it’s largely not down to labour costs.  It equally applies to the UK.

It certainly indicates why the UK may never be able to compete in manufacturing again, at least until 3D printing encompasses a great many more materials.

Maybe we need to look to Germany and other developed nations who still produce things.  What are they doing?  Producing low-volume, high-profit or high-tech goods no one else can?

Jan 22, 2012
Play
Jan 22, 2012
Self-Published Authors Still Rarely Make the Jump to Publishing Houses → pbs.org
Jan 22, 2012
Play
Jan 21, 2012
The Unprecedented Audacity of the iBooks Author EULA → venomousporridge.com

dwineman:

Apple just released iBooks Author, a free Mac app for creating digital books for the new version of iBooks. I haven’t played with it much, but so far it looks like a very good tool. However, a curious thing happens when you go to export your work in iBooks format:

image

This restriction — that…

Jan 20, 2012229 notes
As demand for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves → washingtonpost.com

I’m not sure if we even have e-book rental in the UK yet, but the I love the fact there are limits on something that is, basically, infinite.  There must be a way to loan out as many copies at they want at any time and charge per rental?

Jan 18, 2012
Teenagers Sharing Passwords as Show of Affection → nytimes.com
Jan 18, 2012
Pub installs customer operated beer dispenser → bbc.co.uk
Jan 18, 2012
Ten 100-year predictions that came true → bbc.co.uk
Jan 18, 2012
Play
Jan 15, 2012
Windows Phone 7, Windows 8: How Microsoft can reclaim its throne in 2012 → slate.com

Microsoft hasn’t yet said whether it will let today’s Windows programs run on Windows 8 tablets. Jettisoning the old apps would be the right decision; no program developed for the desktop interface is going to work very well on a tablet, and trying to blend the two interfaces will turn Windows tablets into a neither-fish-nor-fowl mess

This is one thing that could help differentiate them, allow both, so you can use a mouse and keyboard with your tablet to use Excel (which sucks using a touchscreen but people still do), but then switch back to touch interface for touch-enabled apps.

The you have access to a ton of existing apps (so they suddenly leap to millions of apps, not just 50k).

Something else they forgot to mention: the legions of programmers who can develop Windows apps, way more than Object-C (probably more than Java I’d hazard too).

Jan 15, 2012
The authors who are going it alone online - and winning → bbc.co.uk

You could argue that those who are doing it as successfully as Locke and Hocking would probably have succeeded in traditional publishing, but if you’ve got a choice of endless rejections from agents and then publishers against allowing people to read your book now, which would you choose?  Publishers need to get faster going forward.

Jan 15, 2012
UK films urged to be more 'mainstream' in new report → bbc.co.uk

I tend to agree with need to fund some more mainstream movies, we need to make films that people actually watch!

Jan 14, 2012
Roku coming to UK and Ireland at end of January → theverge.com

Along with the announcement that Netflix is coming to the UK (at last) and Lovefilm have (re-)launched their streaming-only account, does that mean the UK may finally get some reasonably streaming movie services?  I hope so!

Jan 14, 2012
The Race to Nab Web Addresses → online.wsj.com

This week will bring the long-awaited opening up of a new realm of Web addresses in which just about any word—such as dot-furniture or dot-arcticvacations—can serve as a domain name. And to some, that spells opportunity.

And who will be the major benefactor of this change?  Google.  Now you won’t be able to guess a domain name (i.e. stick in a name and whack .com on the end) you’ll have to search for it!

Jan 14, 2012
Why Android tablets failed: A postmortem | TechRepublic → techrepublic.com

I agree, Android tablets have been a disappointment so far, they need to get a more coordinated plan and make them cheaper.

Jan 14, 2012
Next page →
2012 2013
  • January 22
  • February 10
  • March 20
  • April 14
  • May 22
  • June 9
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
2011 2012 2013
  • January 21
  • February 7
  • March 11
  • April 22
  • May 32
  • June 29
  • July 19
  • August 17
  • September 8
  • October 17
  • November 15
  • December 13
2010 2011 2012
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
2009 2010 2011
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
2008 2009 2010
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
2007 2008 2009
  • January 12
  • February 8
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
2007 2008
  • January
  • February
  • March 27
  • April 12
  • May 11
  • June 12
  • July 7
  • August 9
  • September 5
  • October 12
  • November 14
  • December