Say hello to the new ‘Fox

July 29th, 2008 • Internet, Technology • No comments

Ooh, look; it’s Firefox 3.1.

UPDATE: Couldn’t see anything wildly different, until I chanced on ‘ctrl-tab’ as a key combo. If you’re a Mac user, give it a go (just don’t expect your 3.0 extensions to work).

Best iPhone 3G Review Ever

July 29th, 2008 • Mobile, Technology • No comments

Cuil proving no so cuil

July 29th, 2008 • Google, Search • No comments

Cuil.com (pronounced ‘cool’ with an Irish twang) has been hyped as the new Google. It launched a few days back, and almost instantly suffered the downside of enlarged expectations.

For one, it didn’t work that often; you were greeted with a message explaining that the server was going through a mid-life crisis. And the results were less than enthralling (try a search for ‘cuil’ on Cuilcom - the search engine doesn’t know that it exists).

Still, early days. The evidence of the last 24 hours is that the ’server sweating’ warnings have faded away, which gets over the largest hurdle.

That said, I’m not sure I can see any magic in the way Cuil does its stuff: the results are shown over two or three columns, which presents its own problems. And there are few options within the Preferences pane to customise your experience. One to watch, maybe, but Google can sleep safely for now.

Autism: is TV the culprit?

July 28th, 2008 • Life, Television • No comments

New report points to television being a cause behind the growth of autism in the US (it has gone, apparently, from one in 2500 children in the late ’70s to one in 166 today).

What if you own the search and the results?

July 28th, 2008 • Google, Internet, Search • No comments

The speculation is now rife: is Google showering favours on its own sites? The search beomoth’s answer to Wikipedia launched last week, and now Jason Calacanis has launched an attack on the Knol strategy:

For Google’s own good they should not try to take over their own search results. If Google results start showing 20-30% Knol pages and YouTube videos then that is going to drive users away from Google in search of more diversity.

I’ll guarantee that thousands of companies around the globe are microwaving a strategy of their own to deal with Knol. If indeed Google is favouring its own site in search results (so breaking one of their promises never to become a content provider), then any self-respecting website publisher will be forced to play the Knol game.

It’s worth saying here that Calacanis has an interest in Knol falling at the first hurdle (his Mahalo ‘human-powered search’ aims to turn Google’s weapons on itself). But regardless, he has a point: will I stop using Google when the first page of every return is a Google-owned link (and hey, let’s remember - until Friday, Google was showing strong interest in buying Digg)?

No, I said Drive… put it in Drive…

July 27th, 2008 • Life • No comments

Fry declares Apps the real revolution

July 27th, 2008 • Technology • No comments

Stephen Fry today in Guardian’s Technology channel:

But that is to take nothing away from what July 11 heralded: not
evolution but revolution. Now that the Applications store is up and
running, you will soon find it a very common sight indeed to see people
crowded around each other’s iPhones showing off the latest impossible,
breathtaking and groundbreaking application. “Ah, but mine can do
this!” will be heard in every cafe and bar.

Beautifully written piece, too.

The film that that doesn’t see black

July 27th, 2008 • Life • No comments

Watched Collateral again this morning. Probably the sixth or seventh time I’ve watched the film right through. I begun to wonder why I find it so habit-forming - I’m certainly no major fan of either Cruise or Foxx, and the plot itself is hardly life-changing (in fact, Vincent’s attempts to intellectualise his killing is just annoying).

Then I realised: it’s the cinematography, Mann’s digitised vision of nightime LA. A little Googling unearthed what was so special about it:

The difference between film and HD, says Cameron, is that film’s sensitivity falls off sharply at the bottom of the curve, transforming subtle shadows into deep rich blacks. But what if, he asks, you went into those shadows? “How do I record what the eye sees at the toe of the curve?” Where everyone is trying to make black, Mann decided he would go into those shadows and pull out information to create intense emotions.

But I reckon there’s more to it than technology. The most memorable scenes are set in the most miserable locations; shit-cheap motels and nameless side-streets, usually with the skyscrapers of downtown LA as a distant backdrop. If you’ve ever strayed from the path inn any major American city, Collateral works on a whole new level.

Muppets on social media

July 25th, 2008 • Life, Social • No comments

Google Knol: squint and it shines

July 23rd, 2008 • Google • No comments

So Knol has gone live, centuries after it was first announced. Hardly sock-scorching yet, but you know how it goes with all things Google - they’ll add a feature here, a widget there, and before you know it…

And ask yourself this - what cheaper way is there of building a vast social network using free material? You couldn’t make this stuff up.