29 May 2002

Word of the day: scotoma An area of diminished vision within the visual field. Google. 7:35:25 PM     comments

Ephemera: van man art The preservation of the designs can be problematic, but the artist claimed that unless they are washed off they can last for months. 'Some van drivers have even backed two vans together to try to preserve the works,' said Mr Long. 7:30:53 PM     comments

New software, form factors make handsets easier to use Eatoni Ergonomics' Letterwise and Wordwise software is predictive (looks at commonly used letter frequencies) and disambiguating (makes the letters CEHLNSTY unambiguous when typed with an auxiliary key rather than dictionary based (like the T9 system). The other good thing about a system that isn't dictionary based is that it's also good for typing internet addresses as well as words/sms messages. To reduce the ambiguity of the telephone code, some of the letters must be made unambiguous. To make the system easy to operate, it is best to choose one letter per key to make unambiguous. Which choice of letters maximally reduces ambiguity? The answer (for English) is: c,e,h,l,n,s,t,y. Homework: compare and contrast with other software (T9), and hardware (Digitwireless) solutions. 7:25:52 PM     comments

Paper phone in a greetings card The key ways others in the disposable phone market are doing this are: Make the "handset" cheaper by making it out of paper or by putting the smart stuff at the other end of the line (eg Telespree, which has a voice-controlled phonebook). Sell handsets that have a pre-paid amount of time, but can be "recharged" with more airtime, often in an airtime/battery pack (Telespree, New Horizons Technologies and Dieceland). Instead of putting the prepaid phonecard (or its data) in the handset, you put the phone in the phonecard. 7:22:45 PM     comments

Spielberg on digital film in Minority Report interview Now the thing I'm most saddened by is the constant talk about the photochemical process becoming a thing of Thomas Edison's past. There's a magic about chemistry and film. Sure, a digital shot is steady. It doesn't have to ride through the gate of a projector. And, sure, it's as clean as the OR in a major hospital. That's exactly what's wrong with it. Film has a molecular structure called grain; even a still of just a flower in a vase has life because of the grain, because of the molecules in the film. Especially if you sit in the first five rows of any movie theater, you know what I'm talking about. The screen is alive. The screen is always alive with chaos and excitement, and that will certainly be gone when we convert to a digital camera and a digital projector. I was one of the first people to use digital technology to enhance my films, but I'm going to be the last person to use digital technology to shoot my movies. 7:17:01 PM     comments

Funds sell mmO2 and buy Vodafone mmO2 shares take a hammering as funds sell in order to buy Vodafone which is seen as the safer, growth stock long-term. This despite mmO2 registering a mere £873m loss for the year, compared with Voda's £13.5bn yesterday. 3:09:39 PM     comments