Hacking Your Own Jumbotron

I'm thinking that I found myself a diy project! Junkyard Jumbotron is the brainchild of Rick Borovoy, Ph.D. and Brian Knep at MIT's Center for Future Civic Media. I do believe that I have all of the required parts and I'll post my own video if it all comes together. Check out the video below, all you need to know is there.

Junkyard Jumbotron from chris csik on Vimeo.

Warner Brothers Testing Movie Rental Market Via Facebook and App Store

Warner Brothers said on Tuesday that it would be making Heath Ledger's final film appearance, "The Dark Knight", available for rental via Facebook using Facebook Credits as the payment mechanism.

“This is definitely a test,” said Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Brothers Digital Distribution, in a telephone interview. 


Warner is also testing “App Editions” for “The Dark Knight” and “Inception.” Rather than gaining access through iTunes, consumers download a free app, which then allows them to buy the movies for unlimited streaming.  “This platform allows us to experiment with an early version of what you might call a ‘connected movie’ — the ability for us to offer new extras over time as updates,” Mr. Gewecke said. “We think that is a great way to add more value to the digital ownership experience,” he added.


Of note is the fact that 23 countries do not have access to the iTunes video store, so the App Editions provides Warner with a mechanism to sell it's films in those markets which include China and Russia.


Source: NYTimes

Gmail Bug A Good Lesson In Preparedness

Expect the unexpected... even if you are Google. Sometimes as software developers, regardless of how much you've done to mitigate risk, code goes out the door that has unexpected results. 

Over the weekend Google's Gmail team "...released a storage software update that introduced the unexpected bug, which caused 0.02% of Gmail users to temporarily lose access to their email." The trouble is that even with all of the redundancy built into their data centers, the bug deleted all online copies of the affected users data, which meant that the team was forced to restore from backup tapes. This is a time consuming process, especially when dealing with 0.02% of mail held by Gmail.

While those of us who have had to deal with these hair pulling ordeals can understand and sympathize with the development team, most users will not. Rest assured that the backup and recovery strategy has accomplished what it was intended to do. If anything, this is a valuable lesson in backing up data. What's your strategy? If your laptop took a tumble would you be able to recover?  

Canadian Cabinet Ministers Can Expense iPads

Even though Canadian Members of Parliament have taken a stance against the purchase of iPads, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day has allowed cabinet ministers and senior public servants to expense the cost of the devices. 

Day, an avid user of the iPad, says that a pilot project in his department has proven their cost effectiveness. “I just think they’re wrong on this one,” Mr. Day said in an interview. “MPs will account for the equipment that they buy.… They need to look at it again from the point of view of efficiency and cost saving.”

According to the Globe and Mail, Mr. Day's pilot project came at a cost of $20,530.69. 

NDP MP Pat Martin is quoted as: “Why are we forced to use a horse and buggy when everybody else has got state-of-the-art equipment?” he asked. “I kind of resent that. If it’s good enough for cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats, it’s good enough for MPs.”   

BTW: According to the article, Stockwell Day has admitted to playing the odd game of Angry Birds on his iPad. I wonder if the tax payers covered the download costs? Then again, I can't disagree with his logic as I have all but abandoned paper in favor of my iPad as well.

Demo Slam Finalists

Last fall Google asked it's users to use Google products in creative ways and to submit there projects in video format for a contest known as Demo Slam. Today Google has launched demoslam.com to allow you to view and vote on entries by comparing 2 at a time in pools of 16. It's a single elimination type event and there are some very creative people out there who have gone to great lengths to prove they're the best. How do you get Maria Sharapova to make an appearance in your slam anyway?

The Experiment That Has Never Ended

With IP addresses becoming more and more precious, as we reach the 4.3 billion network address limit, Vint Cerf the man in charge of making the decision 30 years ago says “We had no idea it would turn into the world’s global communications network.”

“It was 1977,” Mr. Cerf said, in an interview last week. “We thought we were doing an experiment.”

“The problem was, the experiment never ended,” 

At current estimates we will run out of IP addresses within the next 12 to 18 months  and the transition to the new system, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), is well under way. However, the current IPv4 and the new IPv6 are incompatible and there is some concern over how to transition from one to the next. In response Yahoo, Google and Facebook, whose combined traffic is more than a billion visits a day, have agreed to participate in a trial run on June 8, named World IPv6 Day. The participants are hoping that this experiment will shed some light on potential gotchas. 

“I almost wish we could train the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to come to people’s houses to help out with this,” said Mr. Cerf, now chief Internet evangelist at Google. “This is not just about adding extra numbers,” he said. “It’s a different system.”

Sounds like June 6th is a day to circle on your calendar, or perhaps June 7th...

Source: NYTimes.com

Building A Database For The Robots

European scientists have taken it upon themselves to create a network of databases that future robots will use to  to share information about the world... our world... their world? According to Fastcompany.com "They will, if all goes as planned, use the network to store and retrieve information about objects, locations (including maps), and instructions about completing activities. Robots will be both the contributors and the editors of the repository."

The EU-funded RoboEarth project will ensure that each robot's experiences are saved and made available to the others to search and expand upon in a communal learning experience similar to what we humans know as the internet. May I just say that I love robots!

Google, Facebook, and Others Rumored To Be Shopping For Twitter

According to the Globe and Mail, Google Inc., Facebook Inc., and other interested parties are conducting low level talks with Twitter regarding an acquisition. These talks are said to give Twitter a street value of about $10-billion, nearly 3 times the valuation placed on the company when it raised $200-million in investor capital in December.

Citing a Wall Street Journal report the Globe and Mail say: 

Despite the valuation, the report said Twitter’s executives and board were working on building a large, independent company.

“People familiar with the situation said the company believes it can grow into a $100-billion company,” the WSJ said.

Regardless of the valuation I'd rather see Twitter go solo, or at least not sell out to Facebook! Unfortunately I don't have any say in the matter, and the guys with the money will usually come out on top in these things.

US Military Capable Of Restoring Internet Access

If a government intent on thwarting a social uprising of it's populous choses to cut communications, such as Egypt's early response to the recent demonstrations, the U.S. military could conceivably restore services in order to maintain internet access an inviolable human right. 

John Arquilla, a leading military futurist tells Wired that while it might not be that difficult of a challenge technically for the U.S. military which "has a great deal of expertise on rebuilding communications network, but that's ... very different when the government is interested in resisting," Arquilla says. "This is far less an engineering problem and far more a political one." 

It makes total sense that a country facing internal strife might consider such an action as a hostile act, especially if perpetrated by a foreign power. I guess it really should not surprise anyone that the technology already exists, and as an average citizen I am finding some comfort in the fact that does. 

Joining The Livid Lobster Blog Team

I am very pleased to announce that I have been accepted to be a blogger for Livid Lobster. Specifically I am  writing for webbeat.tv but may also appear in geekbeat.tv or onemansblog.com. If you are unfamiliar with these sites, I encourage you to check them out now. The mere fact that you've found my blog indicates that you have an interest in the type of content that you'll find at these sites. WebBeat and GeekBeat also, and more importantly, have video shows associated with them and hosted by the wonderful duo of Cali Lewis (GeekBeat) and Pelpina Trip (WebBeat). Here is Pelpina's most recent show for your viewing pleasure:

Be sure to follow my posts there and please keep coming back to greatbiggeek! If you've got a story idea please email me greatbiggeek@gmail.com or reach me via twitter @greatbiggeek.