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Monday, June 24, 2002 |
"Open source" video-format to be released. Slashdot reports that Xiph (the Vorbis people) is creating a BSD-licensed version of On2's video codec. For those of you who aren't free software or AV geeks, that means that the people who make a patent-free, royalty free file-format for audio have adopted a killer video format under the same terms. If this acheives acceptance in the field, it will likely kill the brutal patent-royalties associated with MPEG4 and other proprietary formats. Link Discuss [Boing Boing Blog]
8:16:57 AM 
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With GPS, World Is Your Canvas.
" 'Let's drive down the elephant this evening....'
Jeremy Wood and Hugh Pryor are part of a new breed of artists crisscrossing the planet, creating artwork on a par with the ancient Nazca line drawings of Peru. With the help of GPS, these artists have discovered a fish in Wallingford, an elephant in Brighton, not to mention a huge spider lurking in Oxford.
Employing satellite technology for a colossal connect-the-dots puzzle, their virtual drawings are created by using the GPS receiver like a geodesic pencil to map out their journeys across roads, bridges and streets.
'GPS drawing is about recording lines using one's journey as a mark-making medium,' says Wood. 'Most GPS receivers record your whereabouts as a track, like a dot-to-dot or a digital 'breadcrumb trail.' This is often displayed on liquid crystal display on the device, and the track is updated as you move about. When the line is viewed on its own, you have a GPS drawing.'
With the help of software created by Pryor, the raw logistical data spanning miles of road is sized down into a smaller digital image that can be shown on a screen-size canvas. Most of their drawings can be seen online at their website where they also welcome contributions from GPS artists the world over....
The duo will soon be presenting the world's biggest 'If' -- a journey from Ifley in Oxford to Ifold in West Sussex. Approximately 460 kilometers long, the drawing is being completed in two stages. And their next drawing after 'If'? 'What do you think?' asks Pryor with a grin, but -- 'Only.' "[Wired News] [Jenny Levine: Tech Goddess]
8:12:26 AM
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CD-copying Kiosks.
CD Pirates in from the Cold
"Australia plans to endorse CD-copying kiosks in a controversial world-first plan that legalises music piracy.
The Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society will allow an Adelaide-based business to operate CD-pirating kiosks nationwide for a modest royalty payment.
The coin-operated kiosks could open in shopping malls, supermarkets or record stores from September and charge $5 for each CD 'burn'....
Experts told the Herald Sun the CD-pirating kiosks -- with superior sound quality to home burners and able to outwit anti-copying devices -- will be a winner with older users.
Music industry consultant and former copyright lawyer Owen Trembath said: 'The only ones whipping down to Woolies to make a burn will be parents. Mum has become the pirate....'
Mr Moore said the machine was intended for consumers who want to copy their own music CDs." [news.com.au, via Slashdot]
As the Slashdot post points out, this is hardly legitimized piracy since the owner has offered to pay a blanket royalty, and it's really no different than placing photocopiers in grocery stores, post offices, and libraries. What will be interesting to watch is if older users do start using these, or if they just ask their kids to copy discs for them. [Jenny Levine: Tech Goddess]
8:09:54 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Clarence Westberg.
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This is my blogchalk:
United States, Minnesota, Bloomington, West, English, Clarence, Male, 51-55.
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