Friday, July 28, 2006

TiVo Series 3: coming soon, really

Could it be? TiVo HD in reality? I'll be ordering one as soon as they ship, as long as my cable company will let me use it with a CableCARD.

From Ars Technica:
7/19/2006 3:16:43 PM, by Ken Fisher
The much-anticipated TiVo Series 3 is one step closer towards making it out before the close of this year, as an FCC filing (PDF) reveals that the unit is already being tested in select markets, and that the CableCARD certification process is complete. The company is aiming for a release later this year, but pricing has not yet been announced. Based on the cost of the DirecTV HD TiVo, we estimate a launch price of at least US$600.
[...]
The Series3 marks the first truly significant hardware release from TiVo in years, as it combines the convenience of dual tuners (in practice) with the capability of recording HD (previously, only DirecTV customers could use a dual-tuner HD TiVo). To do this, the unit uses not one but two CableCARDs, although it can be configured to use only one card (with diminished capabilities as a result).

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Izzy's first YouTube

Click to play....


Thursday, July 13, 2006

Sorry, It Is America's Birthday

Late the other night, Zeb was still awake in his bedroom. He started singing a song to himself. We recorded it over the monitor.

(We won't be hurt if you don't listen to the whole 5 minutes of it.)

Go here to download it.

Friday, July 07, 2006

CT League of Women Voters advocates for Net Neutrality

Yay for CT LWV!

(And thanks to Bruce Schneier for the link.)

Monday, July 03, 2006

Mac OS X 10.4.7 feature: right-click with the trackpad


That last checkbox is a great new feature in OS X 10.4.7. Not sure what models get this feature; it certainly works (and pleases me) on my MacBook Pro. Having immediate access to right-click without needing to use a modifier key (eg, ctrl) is really, really nice.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Technological Freedom enables Political Freedom

Obvious, right?

Well, it's the key thing you have to keep in mind when you're thinking "Does this Net Neutrality or software patent nonsense really matter? Should I call my elected representatives about this?"

Yes, it does really matter. Yes, you really should pick up the phone.

And when you call, tell them it's not about access to free movies and free music. It's about access to free ideas. And free speech. It is literally about open access to a public forum where anyone who lives in technological freedom can speak freely, and the marketplace of ideas can flourish. You know, that whole democracy and liberty thing that is the real core of what is great about America. And it's that intellectual openness that has been the source of some of the best of the entire human experience.

So - go ahead. Call your elected representatives, and let them know that on Independence Day, we are counting on them to preserve our independence now. Starting with ensuing the freedom of the technology that's the plumbing that's created the greatest arena for freedom of ideas in the history of mankind.

You can do it, you just have to call.

Platform Wars: OpenLaszlo Project Blog

If this prediction comes true, that'll be good news for Ben!
Here's a prediction : the two most important GUI standards in the next two years will be the Flash virtual machine and DHTML + Javascript + SVG.
OpenLaszlo is probably set to become the first major tool to develop for them both.