After Ruining Amateur Photography, High Dynamic Range Seeks To Destroy Movies, Too
With great power comes great responsibility. With the release of affordable DSLRs (aka, the fancy cameras with the complex lenses) came an ocean of new “photography studios” (if I could air quote any harder, my fingers would snap right off). While most are rubbish, it makes sense, really: if you own a camera that makes it difficult to screw up a photo and have the skill to purchase and install Photoshop, you can come up with some decent-looking photos. It’s not surprising then that these amateurs can also use the tools of the trade and their complete lack of artistic ability to completely destroy those images. The latest tool in their chest of abomination? High Dynamic Range. And with a recent development in off-the-shelf tech, AMP is bringing us horrible-looking HDR photography (like the murky, blown out shot of Tokyo above) to us in 1080p at 24 frames per second. I fear for the future of our species.
Should I Change My Password? You Probably Need To
With all of these websites getting hacked and user database information getting published publicly you might be curious if your email address has been compromised. There is a site that will tell you if you need to called Should I Change My Password. Read the rest of this article…
Yep, Hulu is For Sale
We told you yesterday that Hulu had an offer to sell and today we found out that Yahoo is the one who made the offer though they haven’t made a formal bid yet. Hulu has retained investment banks Guggenheim Partners and Morgan Stanley to facilitate a sale. Potential buyers have been notified the sale will begin in two weeks. We are not sure who the other potential buyers may be but the best guesses are NBCUniversal, News Corp or Disney. Hulu and the investment banks have not yet commented on the matter.
Turntable.fm Excites Me, Crushes My Fragile Feelings
I don’t know about you, but everyone in my celebrity/important people circles has been jabbering on and on about Turntable.fm. Never heard of it? Neither had I, so I decided to investigate. It’s not quite open to the public yet, but if you have a Facebook friend who’s in, you have an invite by proxy. Unfortunately, what began with so much hope ended up with me in an empty room spinning tunes I already own… to myself. Then the room kicked me off the DJ tables. Read on about my sad adventures after the break…
Hulu up for Sale? They Have an Offer
Hulu is considering an offer to sell from a buyer that was not identified. The offer was unsolicited and the board of directors is said to be considering it because getting content rights for TV streaming are becoming harder. Hulu is owned by News Corp (Fox), NBCUniversal and Disney (I don’t understand why it’s hard for them to secure the rights to their own stuff, but whatever) and is on track for $500 million in revenue this year compared to last years $260 million. Read the rest of this article…
Why Branded Domains Won’t Be Popular, Yet
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) just voted and passed a plan to launch new gTLD’s (generic top level domain) for businesses costing $185,000. It’s really cool and all but I don’t think it will be popular for a while. Why? Let me tell you. Read the rest of this article…
Maxell Scented USB Flash Drives
Of course scented USB drives exist, why would they not? Maxell has made Aroma USB flash drives. Available in six colors and scents: apple, strawberry, chocolate, lemon, orange and mint. These are actual thumb drives and you can get it in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB. The description on their website says “funky, fashionable and with functionality in mind, these keys will appeal to the young and trendy.” Will you take the challenge and smell them for me? Read the rest of this article…
What Is All This “Cloud Music Service” Stuff, Anyway?
Earlier this month, I went over the merits of Apple’s new iTunes Match service and found it was a fine solution for backing up your non-iTunes purchases if you already had Apple products, but now that I’ve had a bit more time with the competition, I have to ask again: is all this hullabaloo about cloud services for music worth all the rabble? Let’s dive in…
Things You Shouldn’t be Doing on Facebook
This isn’t the typical don’t spam people with game posts or click on links like “OMG Miley is at it Again, CLICK HERE!” I’m sure she is but that link is just going to give you a link to download a virus. No, this is the stuff that gets you in trouble, fired or makes you lose money. Read the rest of this article…
Netflix, Let Me Help You Out
Let me preface this: I don’t have cable TV. I get all my content by paying for Netflix and Hulu Plus. Back when I had cable, I’d learn about new TV shows from commercials. Now it’s harder unless I scour the TV news or visit the networks’ websites. That said, I use Hulu a lot more than Netflix and the stats back me up: 1,427 videos watched since December 2008, and 95% of these are full shows, not clips! Hulu just makes it easier for me to find new TV shows to watch. Why? I’ll tell you what’s up. Read the rest of this article…
