One Canuck's Radio Weblog

  Friday, 20 August 2004

.< 9:48:43 PM >
Cooper Interaction Design: Well-designed products ....

Cooper Interaction Design: Well-designed products. A common affliction plaguing many of us interaction designers is the propensity to complain and kvetch about every piece of software on our computers, cell-phones and cars. And it's true--there is a lot of bad software out there. To offset this sometimes irritating tendency to critique and redesign everything we see, I'd like to offer a selection of software that I consider to be truly well-designed. [Tomalak's Realm]

< 9:43:09 PM >

An Independent News writer tells of his switch from Windows to a 15-inch PowerBook,: “Two months in, I have a prevailing sense of security and safety. There’s been not a sniff of system meltdown. The software and security updates are easy, convenient and (via broadband) fast. The sense of considerable computing power and massive processing going on is very evident, but it feels secure behind the OS X firewall and a router; and all with no need for antivirus software.” [Aug 20] [Apple Hot News]

< 9:32:31 PM >

AP - A 37-year-old prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, refused to attend a U.S. military review hearing Friday, becoming the 12th detainee to stay away from the proceedings, a military official said. [Yahoo! News - World] 'Human rights lawyers have criticized the hearings, saying they fail to satisfy a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) that prisoners may contest their detention in U.S. civilian courts.'

< 9:30:15 PM >

Reuters - Greece was rocked by the threat of being stripped of an Athens Games medal and the host nation's team manager offered to quit on Friday, as doping overshadowed Michael Phelps' drive to be Olympic swimming's top medal winner. [Yahoo! News - World] 'Phelps pulled out of the U.S. medley relay squad for Saturday's final to give Crocker the chance to swim but if the American team wins as expected, he would still pick up a sixth gold medal because he swam in the heats on Friday.

That would give him the eight medals that would outnumber the Olympic trophies of the likes of Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi in a single Games.'

Right on Mr. Phelps. Share the glory.

< 8:22:22 PM >

< 8:18:07 PM >

Canon has today revealed the EOS 20D, the eight megapixel successor to the EOS 10D. The new sensor is however only half the story the EOS 20D has a slightly smaller and lighter body, a brand new 9-point AF system, near instant power on time, 5 frames per second continuous shooting, support for EF-S digital lenses, true RAW+JPEG, a B&W mode and USB 2.0. In total we've counted approximately 30 noteworthy improvements on the EOS 20D. Naturally we have a detailed eleven page hands-on preview. Price on the street around US$1,500. [Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)]

Drool

< 8:16:24 PM >

The producer of ads featuring PC users who switched to Macs is applying the same tactic to political commercials. This time, he'll focus on former backers of President Bush, recruited online, who've changed their political allegiance. By Louise Witt. [Wired News] 'Morris didn't expect to work with MoveOn. In the spring, he pitched his idea to interview disgruntled Bush voters to the Democratic National Committee, Kerry's campaign and the Media Fund. No one took him up on his offer. Months went by.

Afraid he wouldn't get his project off the ground in time for the election, Morris e-mailed Wes Boyd, MoveOn's co-founder, in June. Boyd was intrigued with Morris' out-of-the-Beltway approach.'

< 8:09:52 PM >

Classroom blogs are becoming increasingly popular with teachers as a forum for expression for students. [New York Times: Technology]

< 8:05:16 PM >

Canon has today announced two new digital SLR lenses and a flash with digital features. The EF-S 17 - 85 mm F4 - F5.6 IS USM lens (US$600) provides an equivelant field of view of 27 - 136 mm (5x zoom), the EF-S 10 - 22 mm F3.5 - F4.5 USM lens (US$800) provides and equivelant field of view of 16 - 35 mm. Currently these new lenses can only be used on the Canon EOS 20D and EOS 300D digital SLR's (the only camera's to support EF-S lenses). Additionally Canon has also announced the Speedlite 580EX flash... [Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)]

< 6:32:35 PM >

The latest release in the "Take Control" series of ebooks from TidBITS publisher Adam Engst is now available. In the newest ebook, 'Take Control of Buying a Mac,' Adam helps people determine which Mac best meets their needs; which add-ons are useful (and which are a waste of money); and how to choose a Macintosh vendor, including details on which provide the best service and three little-known ways to buy below retail cost. The latest ebook is available from the TidBITS Web site for US$5. [MacCentral]

< 6:31:51 PM >

The ability to produce more eye candy with less work -- that just about sums up what's new in DVD Studio Pro 3.0. The latest version of Apple's high-end DVD-authoring program provides gorgeous new design options for DVD developers, and it adds features that reduce DVD development time. [MacCentral]

< 6:23:23 PM >

Satellite radio is becoming an increasing viable option for mobile radio listening, with its extensive offering of commercial free and niche programming. Comfortable with its steady growth in the mobile market, XM, the dominant satellite radio service, is now bringing the satellite radio option to the home theater. [About Home Theater]

< 6:19:01 PM >

News.Com: "Gates has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to have his best programmers build a free update to an operating system that many people still don't want." [Scripting News]

< 6:18:27 PM >

NY Times: "Among Google's 2300 employees there are now an estimated 1000 millionaires." [Scripting News]

< 6:17:08 PM >

< 6:09:08 PM >

US army medics collaborated with guards who abused Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail, it is claimed. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

< 6:08:19 PM >

Iraq's Olympic footballers attack President Bush, accusing him of exploiting their success. [BBC News | World | UK Edition] 'Mr Manajid, from Falluja - a hotbed of armed opposition to the US-led occupation in Iraq - said if he was not playing football "for sure" he would be fighting as part of the resistance.

"I want to defend my home. If a stranger invades America and the people resist, does that mean they are terrorists?" he asked.'