Microsoft Surface Computer. I.E. Coffee Table

Has anyone seen this before?
Microsoft has invented a new touch screen computer that acts as a coffee table. You can digitally view photos on this computer, and even edit or resize the images. It senses objects that are placed on to the table/computer, and it can recognize what it is. It's really cool. You can also see that there is a "digg it" above the article.

Watch the video and see what else it can do here:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid932579976/bclid932553050/bctid933742930


You can read the article and see the website I got this video from here:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html

Facebook? Nyet, Livejournal ...

So, remember Livejournal? Where you vented in high school about teachers who didn't know how to teach, friends who stabbed you in the back, parents who didn't understand you ... and such things that really just proved how much of a whiny punk you were? Well, it's apparently still going strong in ole Mother Russia according to a French graphic. My French is terrible (READ: nonexistent) so someone else will probably make more sense of it, but I'm led to believe by Journalistopia that it's a breakdown of popular social sites across the world.

Here's the graphic.

Au revoir, mes amis ... is that right? ...

Better than an 8x10

I was looking for potential hockey-puck-worthy photos, and came up with a few:

Our first choice was a plate of food, but...

I could see how if you just got a ticket, you may want to order a photo like this as a hockey puck...

Or maybe if you got arrested... a commemorative hockey puck...

I didn't find any hockey photos, just wrestling. And snow photos.

But seriously, it is good to note that the format has changed a little for photo-viewing, in that the purchase options are now by default, hidden, and you have to click on "Buy this photo" to be bombarded by them.

Ping Pong

As we begin to shoot video, I looked for some well put together videos. I found this one on the Washington Post's website. It's about adolescents committed to the sport of ping pong. The shots are very crisp and the transitions are nice. It's very basic, but presented in an effective manner.

Ruckus

Jared's post raised the question in my mind about how Ruckus works, as partnered with the University of Georgia. I have not signed up yet so I am clueless on what it has to offer. Does anyone know what types of music is free to download on Ruckus? Can you find any song you want or is it limited to a certain database of songs/artists?

Does anyone know if you can transport the songs on your ipod BACK onto your computer? I recently lost everything on my hard drive, including my music, but I still have my ipod in tact.

Music on my mind...

Here's yet another link I was recently introduced to that has proven quite helpful to me as of late. The site is called freeplaymusic, and what it provides is a database of over 2500 royalty-free songs that are free to download. All music from the site can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. Though one might be tempted to think that free music of this sort must come with some sort of catch, perhaps in terms of overall quality, I can personally attest that after having scoured the site for a few hours, sampling different offerings here and there across several different genres, I found myself continually impressed with the general consistency in quality I heard from song to song. Sure, this isn't the work of A-list artists by any means, but that's not to say this stuff wouldn't be perfectly suited for use as background ambience in a short video piece, audio interview, podcast, etc. We just recently used a few songs from the database for some of the graphics we put together for the Red Clay Chef competition this past weekend, and the music definitely worked to enhance the overall production value of the event. And hey, like I said before, IT'S FREE. No need to worry about copyright violations or anything of that sort...So, check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

regarding next week

Hi guys,

Can someone please tell me what we are doing and what we are supposed to do again for next week?

Priyom.