...more recent posts
Using handbrake (open source media encoder app which uses open source x264 encoder) to encode some HD. Turned the knobs up to 11 on the "advanced" settings page for max quality. It's been cranking on a two minute clip for 15 minutes, and it's about halfway through. My Core2 Duo laptop is going to burst into flames any moment now.
My favorite video player is 10 years old.
Music in the Cloud
Wifi-only Xoom = $600.
Chutzpah and hubris. Apple's new subscription policy. Rock on Android!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F02%2F15%2FBUUK1HNFR1.DTL
Starting today, there are more than 150 of our most important films online on the Hulu Plus* subscription service. Over the coming months, that number will swell to more than 800 films. For the true cinephile, this should be a dream come true. On Hulu Plus, you’ll find everything in our library, from Academy Award winners to many of the most famous films by art-house superstars like Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, and Federico Fellini to films so rare that they have never been seen in the U.S. in any medium. Some of these lost gems have been so hard to see that even most of the Criterion staff will see them for the first time only when they go live on Hulu Plus! Each month, we’ll be highlighting a mix of programs, centered on themes, directors, actors, and other creative artists, as well as celebrity picks, and mixing them with deep cuts from the catalog that will be unknown to all but the most prominent cinephiles in the world.
*$8 a month or 1 week free trial
Obama has a new wireless broadband initiative. I don't know enough about it to know what to think. So I'll delay linking until I sort out what it means. Mainstream press coverage of technology usually sucks anyway.
Escalation in Sony v. Apple?
Patent attack launched on Google's open video codec -- The article points out how Google is working both sides of the street. Flash (with h.264) allows certain "features" (e.g ad insertion in youtube videos). WebM allows them to be open-sourcey.
Nokia + Microsoft. This makes a lot of sense, because Nokia is very strong in Europe, and Europeans fucking loves them some Microsoft.
Got a Verizon Moto Droid 2 on a work account. It's got GSM so I can use it in Europe. I've got the "mobile hotspot", so I can use wifi tethering for other devices. I watched a couple of episodes of Futurama from Netflix on my wifi iPad using the mobile hotspot. I felt very geeky.
The slide out keyboard on the first Moto Droid sucks ass. The Droid 2 has a good one. For long-form email (with paragraphs 'n shit), I prefer a keyboard. The touch screen is great for short stuff.
Counting personal and work related mobile devices, my current inventory is:
iPad (2 each)
2nd gen iPod Touch
4th gen iPod Touch
Xoom (for just a few days more)
Moto Droid
Moto Droid 2
Moto Atrix (coming soon)
Intel Atom/Ubuntu netbook
Super mobile geeky.
panasonic 42" plasma tv $480.00
Does Apple get 30% when they start selling indulgences?
OMAP 5 - TI's 4 core processor for tablets
Oh, good, I was worried about Arianna's retirement fund.