The Oatmeal comic on Nikola Tesla, here.
About Tesla
Posted in comics, Curious stuff, World Tagged bio, comic, comics, nikola tesla, oatmeal, tesla, the oatmeal Comments closed
The Tourist
Sometimes I come across an idea that fits a medium so well that they can’t be less than great. One of these is ‘The Tourist’ a short horror film two buddies of mine are working on. It is a simple short story about how the fate of a young librarian gets ‘contaminated’ by a mysterious device he finds in an ancient book.
I began this post by writting that some ideas can’t be less than great. I emphasize that by saying this film must be made. Truly great horror films are scarce today and this project drinks from the great legacy of the 80s’ cult horror movies — the crude realism. The crew is passionate about their craft, excellent professionals and… to top it off, they have good taste and ituition (not a common thing these days).
The project is now gathering crowd funding through the indieGoGO platform (similar to kickstarter but directly available to the whole world). Read the description at their indiegogo page to get a sense of the film.
The official tumblr page shows the filmmaking process with recent location scouting in the beautiful green mountains of Sintra. If you like the genre, help these guys out and you’ll play an important part in rewarding the short horror format with what will be an award-winning film. Only a few days left on indiegogo.
This project has to happen. I’ve read the script and I can tell you that this description of ‘horror’ by Robert McKee fits it perfectly:
Official links:
Posted in blog coverage, film, filmmaking, media Comments closed
Adobe Creative Cloud and Creative Suite 6 Launch
Today, Adobe launched its Creative Suite 6 software package and its cloud solution for creatives. Pre-order is available. Shipping next May 7.
I’ve posted a few videos about some interesting new features and the interface refresh — check them out: Photoshop CS6, illustrator CS6, CS6 Production Premium.
You can watch the launch video here. Official product page here.
Posted in Adobe, Creative Suite, event, Flash, media, press, software, Tech, video, Web tech Tagged adobe creative suite, after effects, Creative Suite, creative suite 6, cs6, illustrator, keynote, launch, master collection, photoshop, premiere, production premium Comments closed
Apple Hates Brunettes
You just have to read it.
App stores for mobile devices have been great for users. And for developers too, for most part. But once in a while there’s another story that sounds like developers are given the ‘talk to the hand’ treatment. Despite the blog post title, this case encompasses both Apple’s App Store as well as Google Play (Android apps market).
From the iKamasutra team blog post:
Apple has created a set of guidelines that the iKamasutra team is happy to adhere to. Our problem is not the guidelines, but the mistaken enforcement of them, and the lack of dialog toward resolving any concerns Apple might have. Some of you have asked how you can help, and I think the best way is to tell Apple in your own words why you love the app, and to ask that they reconsider their decision.
Read the whole article here (don’t worry, it’s safe for work).
Posted in Android, App Store, Apple, Apps, blog coverage, dev, Google, google play, iOS, iOS development, Microsoft, Mobile, software, windows phone Tagged Amazon, Android, Android Market, App Store, Apple, approval process, dev, developers, devs, google, google play, ikamasutra, iOS, windows phone, windows phone marketplace Comments closed
Pocket (formerly Read It Later)
Pocket is quite a departure from ‘Read it later’*. New visual identity, new website, new interface design, a promo video — it is more of a scrath-the-past-and-start-over kind of a thing. The dark interface gives way to a more fresh, bright, approach that understands core categories of online content viewing: articles, videos, images. That is a nice improvement as these new sections help sort out different bits of content. The ‘inline’ pictures in the articles view is also a nice touch.
Check the web app → and mobile client apps → (for iOS, Android).
I have used the Read It Later iOS app since it was released (first the free version and then the paid one). Last year, while I never deleted the RIL app, I started using Instapaper for its simplicity and careful design. One of the features I have always liked on Read It Later was the search feature (a paid feature on Instapaper). I still think Instapaper is more elegant, but ‘search’ and the new ‘item categories’ in Pocket seem an interesting way to get to saved content.
One question arises though — as Pocket is now a free app, what’s the scope of its (new) business model?
Folks at MacStories have a nice piece on the subject and an interview with ReadItLater/Pocket founder/creator Nate Weiner.
* For those of you who don’t know: Read It Later (now Pocket) is a service to ‘bookmark’ webpages for later viewing (offline also).
Posted in Android, Apps, blog coverage, Chrome, design, interface design, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, media, Mobile, Productivity, Safari, software, Tech, video, web app, Web tech, webdesign Tagged Android, app, bookmark, chrome, firefox, interface design, iOS, iPad, iphone, ipod, ipod touch, list, mobile, pocket, productivity, read it later, readitlater, Safari, serice, video, web, web service, webdesign Comments closed
Adobe CS6 Production Premium — Preview
Speaking of the devil, Adobe opened the gates today and put up a webpage to show what’s new in the new CS6 Production Premium package. Lots of new and tweaked stuff for Premiere, After Effects and more. I think professionals will have a field day playing with new features like shape/text 3D extrude or 2D layer bending that are built into the new After Effects CS6. Let’s all hope that one of the most important features in video and audio production — preformance — keeps up with all the rest. We’ll know for sure once Adobe releases the final build of the software.
If you’re curious about all the new things better check them in this set of videos. Meanwhile, watch the video below for a few After Effects CS6 highlights by Angie Taylor.
Update: video2brain has posted “After Effects CS6: New Features Workshop”, a free video to learn what’s new in the CS6 version.
Posted in Adobe, Apps, Creative Suite, design, interface design, motion design, software, Tech, video Tagged Adobe, after effects, after effects cs6, Creative Suite, creativesuite, cs 6, cs6, CS6 Production Premium, feature, features, pattern, pattern creation tool, premiere, premiere CS6, production premium, tool, tutorial, video, workshop Comments closed
Adobe Illustrator CS6 — Pattern Creator
Adobe is actively trying to build momentum around the release of the CS6 version of its iconic apps for creatives. And I think they’re succeeding. After the release of Photoshop CS6 beta and a preview of the CS6 Production Premium bundle scheduled to be presented at the NAB 2012, information about other apps is also being released.
This time it’s a video showing a bit of the new look of Illustrator CS6 and a very nice new pattern creation tool.
Posted in Adobe, Creative Suite, interface design, software Tagged Adobe, Creative Suite, creativesuite, cs 6, cs6, feature, illustrator, pattern, pattern creation tool, tool, video Comments closed