Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Google to Establish Operations in Arizona The Business Journal in Phoenix has the story. --- Top Google executive were recently in the Valley for high-level meetings, according to sources. It is unclear, however, where Google will be landing its Valley tech operations. Some sources indicate that it will likely be Tempe but others say the company may also be looking at locations in other cities, including Scottsdale. --- 4:23:52 PM

Socrates Maupin For Cinema Minima How the 3-perf 35mm technique can save money. BY SOCRATES MAUPIN. VENICE (CINEMA MINIMA) — A filmmaker can reduce the amount — and the cost — of 35mm film used by one quarter, by using a camera which advances the film by only three perforations, instead of the standard four perforations. This technique has been used to shoot widescreen television shows. It is now used to shoot Hollywood movies, because it works well with the digital-intermediate process, where the image is digitized, color-graded or otherwise manipulated, and then printed down to projector-ready 4-perforation 35mm film prints. However, using 3-perf does introduce some tricky bits, which can be disconcerting for those filmmakers who have hitherto enjoyed the luxury of editing 35mm film which had been shot in standard, 4-perf format. Filmmaker Sam Longoria discusses the “ghost frame” problem with 3-perf 35mm film: 3-perf seems a nice format, a big 16:9 aspect-ratio image on less 35mm “real estate,” but it is … secretly … a monster! Even though it looks great on the screen, it’s deformed. 3-perf has alternating “long” and “short” linear feet [1 foot = 30 centimeters]! Its ghost perf adds up, and creates one extra frame, every third foot. [Sam Longoria Filmmaking Blog] The only disadvantage of 3-perf is that, if it is to be projected theatrically, it needs to be transferred back to a 4-perf system, which means a film print with black cropping on the frame in order to fit the image onto a 4-perf frame — the same wastage problem as before. Even so, the amount of film shot on a production is much greater than the length of the final film, so 3-perf is still viable as a cost-saving option for production. [Wikipedia article describes 3-perf] • Aaton article about the benefits of 3-perf [Cinema Minima: Personal Digital Cinema. News service for movie makers] 3:10:57 PM

Chebeague Island (Maine) Who's Hot Today? Chebeague Island (Maine). The island of Chebeague in Casco Bay (near Portland) has Wi-Fi: Two nearby islands will also gain ubiquitous coverage through Ubiquitair. The fees are a little odd, as you pay $40 per month for unlimited access within their coverage area, but only $30 per month if you stick an antenna on your house if you're outside the 10 to 15 acres and some businesses they broadcast around. The folks behind the service aren't looking to make a fortune, but believe that summer usage from the population quintupling will be the equivalent of Christmas sales for the retail world. Over in Midcoast, an area defined by what it's between--Bath on the southeast to Searsport on the north--Midcoast Internet Solutions has been running long-range wireless since about 1997. They offer coverage to a few marine islands and many towns that are effectively inland islands with little connectivity. [Wi-Fi Networking News] 2:26:57 PM

At the Store 1:20:54 PM

Dial-up to Wi-Fi Device Everything Old Is New Again: Dial-Up + Wi-Fi. I've written about the Prodigy WiFlyer before, but now they're co-branding with SBC: The WiFlyer from Always On Wireless puts Wi-Fi, an Ethernet port, and a V.92 dial-up modem into a single box. They're now selling a version that will be branded as, deep breath, SBC Yahoo! Dial for $130 starting today. There are tens of millions of Internet-equipped households that use dial-up, and there are practically no simple dial-up-to-Wi-Fi devices. Apple's AirPort Extreme Base Station is $200, and while it offers a built-in modem, it's not functionally superior to the WiFlyer for this particular purpose. [Wi-Fi Networking News] 1:11:33 PM

Google's Mobile Plans Google's Mobile Plans. At Mobile Pipeline today, I write about Google's broad mobile plans into which Wi-Fi fits as a piece: Google's Wi-Fi bid for San Francisco has been billed as a one-off, and after speaking to their business-development guy responsible for it, I'm convinced it is. What he said quite openly--and that he said many reporters haven't been very interested in--is that Google would use SF as a place to assemble a platform of services for municipal networks that would have revenue on the back end. This set of services could be offered to companies like EarthLink--with which they have lines of communications--a way to generate revenue immediately beyond subscriber revenue. In the article, I also cover Google's phone strategy, which, while not unique and not as broad a portfolio as Yahoo and not as deep as some independent firms, is part and parcel of their overall approach. [Wi-Fi Networking News] 12:52:23 PM

Search Engine Marketing Blog How America Searches: Online Shopping. Yes, it is here...just in time for the holidays. So how exactly *do* consumers shop online? Clearly, many purchases start with search. In fact, 88% of online adults who purchase online conduct research at least sometimes prior to completing their purchase. 65% of respondants said that they often/always rely on the internet to research unfamiliar products. From here, it gets interesting. The real meat of the project is in the data behind gender, shopping frequency, preference for Paid/Natural results, and what people actually buy online (and don't buy offline anymore). Sure, I could provide a Cliff Notes version here, but I'd much rather you check out a copy of the report yourself ;) How America Searches: Online Shopping [Reverse Direct Marketing - Search Engine Marketing Blog] 11:11:23 AM

EchoStar Portable EchoStar debuts portable video player. Device can store and play video and audio content from various sources, including digital video recorders. [CNET News.com] 8:24:21 AM

Scooters in Seattle Scooters in Seattle. Soaring gas prices and notoriously bad traffic are helping boost interest in riding scooters as an alternative to four-wheeled transportation. But owners might have to pay a lot more in insurance if they want to save gas with a retro-cool look. [SeattlePI.com Buzzworthy] 8:10:06 AM

From Beatlesource.com John, Paul, George et al.. The Savage Young Beatles. Photos of the boys from the 1950s and early 1960s. An early color photo. The first photo as the Beatles. All from The Beatle Source, a collection of photos, music and acetates. via the Presurfer. [MetaFilter] 8:06:28 AM

Richard MacManus on the Web 2.0 Workgroup Web 2.0 Workgroup. During my time in Silicon Valley I've been staying in the TechCrunch house with Michael Arrington and Frederico Oliveira (Gabe Rivera of memeorandum fame is also here currently). Mike, Fred and I all blog on the topic of Web 2.0 - so we thought why not create a Web 2.0 network. As you do. It's called Web 2.0 Workgroup. Our blogs are all complimentary - Mike blogs on new products; Fred blogs on usability, design and dev; I blog about Web 2.0 trends and developments. It's likely that a subscriber to any one of our feeds would also be interested in reading the other 2 feeds. So we thought why not promote that. We'll probably expand this and invite other bloggers to join too, because there are many other quality Web 2.0 blogs out there. If you look on the right-hand side of my site, you'll see a Web 2.0 Workgroup logo. This links through to a landing page. On a personal note, I've become good friends with Mike, Fred and Gabe while I've been staying here. Mike has been very generous in giving us all a place to stay. I'll stop being sappy now. Check out the Web 2.0 Workgroup and let us know what you think. [Read/WriteWeb] 8:01:56 AM