Move Over Warcraft…
Jan3
It looks like World of Warcraft’s reign as the definitive MMO is on the way out. Just check out the trailer and you’ll see what I mean. I might even pay for a subscription to this one.
My inner child is screaming at me to get this the very moment that preordering is available – I just hope they have cross-platform compatibility (OS X version please).
In other news, I’m having all kinds of trouble repartitioning my hard disk to install Windows 7 as my Boot Camp OS. I’ve decided to migrate from Windows XP after many years of faithful service, simply because it needed formatting and Windows 7 is just as good (and infinitely better than Vista). I might be due a proper defragment and try again.
iPlayer Updates Bring Better Quality
Apr6
It would seem that the BBC iPlayer has just undergone a huge update, with many of the Labs features now making it into release.
The big headline feature is of course HD – some iPlayer programmes are now available in true 1280×720 HD quality (providing you have a beefy enough network, 3.2mbps to be exact). Apparently the BBC HD people were very exacting about what would and would not meet their standards, and iPlayer have finally managed to find the right combination as well as satisfied their own requirement of getting a cross-platform application working.
Secondly, but quite cool, is the variable bitrate feature. This means that the streaming player will start out with the highest bandwidth version of the video (replacing the old high/standard quality button) and will turn itself down should it encounter streaming problems until it can stream reliably. Also gone are the big/medium/small size buttons, replaced by a single ’switch size’ button which alternates between small and big video, and tweaks the bandwidth version accordingly.
The iPlayer Diagnostic has a look at PAVCON.
You can now also get iPlayer to run a connection diagnostic to see what you can and can’t get on your current connection, something you’re prompted to do if the streaming detects that you don’t have sufficient bandwidth. Running this from behind PAVCON provides the expected response – I can barely scrape streaming the lowest possible TV quality, providing I’m not doing anything else with the network. However, next year with a nice chunky connection I should be able to stream some HD goodness.
Finally, but by no means least importantly, the iPlayer Desktop is now out of beta and is the official application for getting iPlayer content on Windows, OS X or Linux. This conveniently cross-platform application is powered by Adobe Air and finally gets rid of P2P communications (which uses Evil Nasty Horrible Illegal Content-Stealing BitTorrent, and is subsequently blocked all over the place) as well as supporting the new HD content and fixing lots of bugs.
All in all, I like it and look forwards to the advances in iPlayer v3 this summer.
What the Eyebrows?
Feb0
I’ve just seen Cadbury’s latest Glass and a Half Full advert, and I have to say I’m feeling a bit perturbed.
However, as always the Glass and a Half Full people are marketing geniuses and no doubt sales of Cadbury’s finest will go through the roof. I do wonder though, is the glass and a half of milk per small bar or big bar?
Touch Interfaces – Stop Getting So Excited
Oct0
The BBC are reporting that one day we will control computers by gesture (video). To which I say: “Get a grip”. No pun intended.
The fact of the matter is simple – if you believe that one day every computer will be controlled by touch screens or gestures then I invite you to spend your normal working day without ever resting your wrists on the keyboard or resting your hand on the mouse whilst you’re using the PC. You can’t even rest your fingertips on the keyboard.
Now, interfacing with some devices by touchscreens or gestures is absolutely fantastic – I love the flexibility of my iPhone. I absolutely adore well-designed touchscreen interfaces for things like building control. Even Microsoft Surface (shown in the video) and multitouch whiteboards I can see a good use for. However, these are things you use intermittently and aren’t required to work with daily.
If you need to interface directly with it for more than a few minutes at a time, it needs to have your arms in the most comfortable energy state possible. Simple.
A little behind the times, but…
Jul0
Sorry for this being so dreadfully old, but I’ve only just seen it and thought I should share the laughs with other people who, like me, are perpetually two years behind the inane stupidity of the rest of the world.
I’d also like to point out the awesome bit in the url:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g