Super Mario Crossover – Your Friday Afternoon Fun

First off, you’re going to need to look at this picture, and think about how awesome it is. If only for having one of the best old school Nintendo super teams ever formed, lined up there at the bottom.

Now consider this, you’re about to play through some good ol’ Super Mario Bros – which of those characters would you choose to play through with? Honestly, I need look no further than Mega Man (or Rockman for you purists) – but you might have a different opinion.

The final step here, is to find Super Mario Crossover (which I have helpfully provided a link to) and then go fulfil your nerdy dreams.

The developer has done a really fantastic job here, with Mushrooms and Fireflowers providing perfectly adapted powers for each character. Can’t recommend this enough as a nostalgic, Friday afternoon time waster.

@tali3sin

[Source: Buzzfeed]

Steve Jobs’ Thoughts on Flash. Boom.

Today, in an open letter published on Apple’s website, Steve Jobs shared his thought on Adobe Flash and its place (or lack thereof) on Apple devices such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Steve’s “Thoughts on Flash” can be found here. I break down his points after the jump.

More iPad alternatives

the iPad is out and it seems that it is very popular as it sold over 300000 units in its opening weekend. I have been talking about alternatives to the iPad already here, but every day I come across more and more of them.

So here are a few more.

It seems that the windows versions are getting more attractive. Not only that they are running windows 7 (which just sold more than 100 million licenses a couple of days ago), but they also support multitouch, flash and everything else that windows supports out of the box.

GBook tablet

1.2GHz Intel ULV SU2300 processor with integrated Intel graphics and 2GB of RAM – it looks like you can put a 2.5 inch HDD or SSD in it for storage. it will run win 7 and the multitouch panel supports up to 10 touchpoints – no word on price or release date yet, but definitely an option to keep your eye on

Online retailers handing out StarCraft 2 beta keys

Hey StarCraft fans… 12 years. Yep. Been waiting TWELVE YEARS for StarCraft 2 and it’s nearly here. Blizzard kicked off the closed beta for this in February and since then, access keys have been highly sought after.

This week a bunch of online retailers made things a whole lot easier and started offering beta keys for preorders. Sure, you need to put deposit down on a game that still has no official release date, but you get instant access to the multiplayer beta.

Aussies can get it locally at EB Games or GAME , but you’re looking at paying crazy Australian prices. You can always order it from Amazon, but you’re looking at about 40 bucks postage.

I’m tempted, but do I really want a beta key enough to pay that much when I can get it from CDWow for $50 delivered? I’ll be honest, I’m still considering it.

Tiny gadget studios

We all love gadgetry, maybe not as much as Stephan but quite a bit. I for one like making music slightly more so than acquiring gadgetry so I buy guitars at a similar rate to most gadget acquirers around here. Recently though, I’ve found that one of my gadgets in particular goes rather well with music making. That would be my iPhone.

Here’s something to listen to while you read on. It was recorded entirely on an iPhone: The Rules

Said iPhone has two pages of music apps. Some are complete gimicks (Smule’s Sonic Lighter for example which does not work under live music conditions since the noise blows the flame out – slight fail), some are only really useful on their own and don’t really work well for performance except under live conditions or using the iPhone as an instrument of sorts in an actual studio (such as FingerSound or the Thereminator) and some are amazing apps capable of being used to create a complete track (such as Beatmaker or the combo of Dopplerpad and FourTrack). In a slightly different vein are apps such as iTM MIDILab which you can easily sync with Logic to use your iPhone as a MIDI controller).

The Rules is probably over now so here’s the next one: Surely

Having grabbed these apps and had a play with them I decided that I was going to make a switch from rock/pop and industrial screecho punk metal to acoustic folk/pop and see what I could produce with the FourTrack (and later FourTrack/Dopplerpad combo). Step one, I needed an acoustic guitar since the one I already had was in rather ordinary shape – she’s over 50 now I think bless her, so I went with a Maton EML6 Mini. I’ve had a strange fascination with 3/4 size guitars recently starting with the purchase of a Gretsch Mini Diddley (which I actually bought because it looks like a cricket bat – in fact, I think there’s a photo in the Amnesiacs Flikr account showing Iain and I conclusively demonstrating that this guitar does work well as a cricket bat), took a strange turn with the purchase of two Disney guitars – one High School Musical and the other Camp Rock – they were $30 each: the defence rests, and now the mini acoustic/electric.

Another interlude I think is warranted. Note the children’s driving toy solo: 50 Miles of Blood

So, with my iPhone four track I began writing and recording. First thing I encountered was the difficulty of the FourTrack app not capable of providing monitoring the new track while recording. One can on and one can off, sorted with bonus quirkiness slash poor performance. There is a metronome but it’s nice to hear the current performance through the headphones while recording, shortcomings I suppose are to be expected with a studio the size of an iPhone. During this period, several updates were released providing audio sharing capabilities between a couple of other apps and the FourTack. One was Dopplerpad which basically is capable of creating beat and synth patterns that you can throw into FourTrack and then put down guitar and vocal tracks. Dopplerpad isn’t capable of storing any more than about one song so I won’t be doing much with that again until they get the concept of banking included.

Here’s the last song I’ll include in this post. I must also point out that the analog synths and piano in this song were added using logic after exporting from the iPhone. Once Dopplerpad supports patch banking I would most likely use that to keep the song 100% iPhone but these additions in logic were pretty minor. All of these tracks are to be re-recorded with my ‘real’ equipment BTW: Tiny Pieces

So where to now with the gadgets and the music? The iPad it seems. Korg have released a version of the Electribe for the iPad. Not surprisingly, it’s called the iElectribe. I wish it wasn’t but it is. Anyway, it looks awesome:

I think this is where I’m going next. The Korg stuff looks nice (and is on sale until the end of June therefore my prediction is that the iPad will hit Australia around July) and makes me think there could be some really good MIDI controllers built for this device and instruments would be far easier to use on the much bigger screen.

So, I’m excited. And if you were too you can hear more iPhone music of mine here: It’s Not Music and just general stuff I do here: Fat Kid Popular. Some of the iPhone stuff is really ordinary, consider yourself warned, and I chose to keep the incorrect spelling of Meme. Also, you need to visit this post once before every meal so that I win the iPad competition here at Amnesia and can update this post with the tracks I make with it.

So that I don’t instead win an award for the worst word to media ratio in a post, here is a picture of me and my new bass:

Vote for us to win a People’s Choice Award

Amnesia Razorfish has been nominated for an ‘Interactive Advertising’ Webby for our Lonely Planet application on the Microsoft Surface… and we need your vote for a People’s Choice Award!

There is not long to go before the People’s Choice voting closes, so please go to the Mobile & Experience Marketing category and VOTE FOR US.

Note: You do have to sign up with a valid email address before voting. But I signed up awhile ago have not received any spam thus far, so it can be assumed your email address is safe.

Thanks for your vote

Street Fighter IV iPhone Covers are Win

If you’re reading this blog you’re probably a tech, or design nerd of some kind, and if you’re a nerd there’s a pretty high chance you’ve wasted (read: appropriately utilised) a good portion of your time playing Street Fighter in its various incarnations. Regardless of whether or not that’s a broad generalisation, these Street Fight iPhone covers are totally rad.

Click to see that exact same picture, but larger.

Oh, and enjoy this video.

Personally, if I wielded an iPhone in my daily life, I’d have a hard time not purchasing anything that made it look like Ryu. Got a favourite?

~@tali3sin

[Source: Capsule Computers Australia]

Nike Grid: Digital/running competition in London

Cool idea and execution on this competition from Nike. Sign up to compete in a running race from one phone box to another in London. Compete with others to “own” post codes.

Interesting idea and slick execution. The teaser on YouTube gets mixed reactions…

“They are abusing urban subculture for their stupid exploiter brand!”

“Ooooh nike are so down with the kids”

The dark/urban slant to it could come across a bit forced, but the idea is exciting and well integrated. Hoping to see it do well.

Activity on Facebook seems more engaged and positive naturally than on YouTube.

Find it here: www.nikegrid.com 

By Wieden & Kennedy, AKQA and Mindshare.

@iclazie

The history of the internet

this has been around for a while, but in case you haven’t seen it here is a pretty cool animated history of the internet.

So if you have a few min (8 to be honest) check out the video.

 

@maniac13

Samsung TVs used to show us what is really going on in classic paintings

I think this is a really clever way of showing off your 3D TV – Samsung you are the future

just awesome – via businessinsider

@maniac13

The issue of the iPad not being able to print solved

Even though you can design and write things on your iPad, you can’t directly print. I have tried to find some alternatives for the iPad here.

In regards to the printing issue, the guys from engadget have found a solution.

US Library of Congress Archiving All Public Tweets – Even Yours

Due to an issue with the their official blog, the US Library of Congress posted the following note in Facebook earlier this morning, and gave followers of @librarycongress a heads up tweet. I’ve posted the note here, to prevent you from having to login to Facebook if you don’t want to/work does not allow. Speculative thoughts at the bottom.

Have you ever sent out a “tweet” on the popular Twitter social media service? Congratulations: Your 140 characters or less will now be housed in the Library of Congress.

That’s right. Every public tweet, ever, since Twitter’s inception in March 2006, will be archived digitally at the Library of Congress. That’s a LOT of tweets, by the way: Twitter processes more than 50 million tweets every day, with the total numbering in the billions.

We thought it fitting to give the initial heads-up to the Twitter community itself via our own feed @librarycongress. (By the way, out of sheer coincidence, the announcement comes on the same day our own number of feed-followers has surpassed 50,000. I love serendipity!)

We will also be putting out a press release later with even more details and quotes. Expect to see an emphasis on the scholarly and research implications of the acquisition. I’m no Ph.D., but it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data. And I’m certain we’ll learn things that none of us now can possibly conceive.

Just a few examples of important tweets in the past few years include the first-ever tweet from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey (http://twitter.com/jack/status/20), President Obama’s tweet about winning the 2008 election (http://twitter.com/barackobama/status/992176676), and a set of two tweets from a photojournalist who was arrested in Egypt and then freed because of a series of events set into motion by his use of Twitter (http://twitter.com/jamesbuck/status/786571964) and (http://twitter.com/jamesbuck/status/787167620).

Twitter plans to make its own announcement today on its blog from “Chirp,” the Official Twitter Developer Conference, in San Francisco.

So if you think the Library of Congress is “just books,” think of this: The Library has been collecting materials from the web since it began harvesting congressional and presidential campaign websites in 2000. Today we hold more than 167 terabytes of web-based information, including legal blogs, websites of candidates for national office, and websites of Members of Congress.

We also operate the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program www.digitalpreservation.gov, which is pursuing a national strategy to collect, preserve and make available significant digital content, especially information that is created in digital form only, for current and future generations.

In other words, if you want a place where important historical information in digital form should be preserved for the long haul, we’re it!

This raises a few questions, like… who has access to the data? Who will be using it, and to what end? Does it include all the location data? It’s the US Library of Congress, so is the data only available to US citizens? If so, then what about my tweets, can I at least see those from here in Australia? I can imagine market research organisations clawing their eyes out and selling whatever souls they have left in storage to gain access to this wealth of raw opinion and conversation.

So, who has been archiving all the data from 2006? I always assumed Twitter would be keeping it somewhere, but the fact that they only give us access to 3200 of our tweets at a time made it seem less likely. Does that mean the Library of Congress have been keeping track of them all this time? If so, then why just announce it now?

More importantly, as someone who prefers to keep a back-up of my own personal Twitter stream – so that I might look back on it in later years with fondness – will I, the individual have access to this? Do I even need to bother to keep an archive of my tweets any more? Give us your thoughts, people. Is this benevolent, or kind of scary? What’s the value of what’s essentially a snapshot of the thoughts, emotions, events and opinions of the last four years – as expressed by individuals?

@tali3sin

[Source: Original Facebook Note HT @barrysaunders]

The Courier: Microsoft wants to send you something nice.

We haven’t blogged about this here yet, and given all the tablet-like devices we’ve covered over the last couple of weeks (iPad mania? Maybe.) why not add Microsoft’s possible entry into the fray.

The Courier appears to sit somewhere between a smartphone, PDA, the current imaginings of a tablet and… a book. It may sound odd, but if you can see the picture below, you’ll notice just how enticing this might be to certain creative folk, myself included.

Courtesy of Engadget

Notice the menu on the left hand page, sketching. Sure, reading, playing, all of that is great – but for someone who loves to draw, and loves to draw on the go, this is some kind of dream come true. It hasn’t come true yet, but it looks to be on the way. This concept is intended for both touch and stylus, recognising (much like this) that touch is great for some things… but for others, it’s honestly best to have another tool in hand.

Not all fancy new devices have to come in iPad/Slate/Tablet form, and the idea of a digital note/sketchbook complete with camera and mobile web capabilities is a fantastic step into an innovative, digital future. Better yet, it should fit in your pocket.

@tali3sin

[video source: Gizmodo]

Such Tweet Sorrow

I am inspired by this brilliant use of Twitter to perform Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in real time on Twitter. Apparently the idea came from the Royal Shakespeare Company and a mobile phone company Mudlark. Take a look and join the fun at http://www.suchtweetsorrow.com/

Microsofts new touchscreen mobiles are all about being social with your friends

Microsoft today launched its new series of touchscreen mobile smartphones called Kin.

There is a 4GB and an 8GB version with 5 and 8 Megapixel cameras with flash, capable of HD video and both models focus heavily on all your social networks, e.g. Twitter and facebook.

It seems that these phones are targeted at 18 to 35 year olds.

check out the video here

 

not the phone I am going to go for, but impressive to see how MS is putting all its eggs into social networking.

@maniac13

The future of touch includes a stylus

Even though Apple’s Steve Jobs was very clear about not liking a stylus, it looks like Microsoft Research went back to it to combine it with touch input and give the user new tools that weren’t possible before.

Of course this comes from the research department and might never see the day of life, but it looks awesome and I can see this “addition of the past” bringing some useful things to the end user.

check out the video

@maniac13

iPhone OS 4.0: The 7 “Tentpole Features”

A few hours ago, Mr Jobs delivered a presentation introducing the next version of the iPhone operating system. Expected to be released  around the middle of the year for all existing iPhone models, its reported to bring 1500 new APIs to developers as well as more than 100 new user features, seven of which he discussed in detail.

These are the “tentpole” features highlighted briefly.

1) Multitasking

At last! Run multiple applications and swap between them on the fly. Previously only possible on jailbroken phones. This feature will only be available to the 3GS, iPod Touch 3rd Generation and later models.

2) An improved email application

The mail application is getting a major overhaul with a unified inbox, multiple exchange accounts, threaded conversations and the ability to open file attachments in applications.

3) iAds

Apple will be providing application developers access to in-app advertising to help generate revenue on cheap and even free applications. Ads are built using HTML5 and come up at the bottom of the screen like in-video YouTube ads. They can be closed by the user.

4) Game Center

Basically, it’s Xbox LIVE for iPhone games. Their are already a number of systems such as Plus+ and OpenFeint, but a single Apple-run system would likely attract a lot more users.

5) Folders

Another “about time”! With the capacity on idevices increasing yearly, users are installing more and more applications at a time. Now we will have a way to organise them into folders. Folders appear as icons with smaller icons inside.

6) iBooks

Basically, the iPhone/iPod version of the iPad ebook platform. Books can be purchased and read on the device as well as track bookmarks.

7) Enterprise features

Apple is working to make the iPhone more attractive to big companies with a number of new enterprise features such as email encryption, remote administration and application installs, Exchange 2010 compatibility and more.

Tested.com has a detailed breakdown here. Great site, too!

These all look great, but I can’t wait to see the other 93+. I’m sure some of them will give hints about the next iPhone hardware’s features. Going on previous years, we can probably expect a new phone in June and a new iPod in September.

@bradyohalloran

(via Tested.com)

Best arcrylic art I have seen

Alexa Meade, an installation artist based in the Washington, DC, uses real life models and implements them into her acrylic paintings

 

 

 

I think it is awesome and very innovative – here are some more if you haven’t got enough

@maniac13

Should I buy an iPad?

The hype about the iPad has been huge and Apple sold 300 000 devices on opening day and over 1 million applications have been downloaded already.

Even Amnesia jumped on the band wagon and we are having an internal competition and the first price is an iPad.

So let’s say I won’t be the lucky one winning the iPad, should I go out and buy one anyways?

if you read this blog on a regular basis you will know that I  like to look at some things from the funny angle, but at least you know now that the iPad is blendable and it is powered by an iPhone.

I found a few more options and posted them here

We all know that the iPad is not the first tablet on the market and there have been alternatives around for some time now.

take the Modbook for example

you provide the unibody macbook to this company and for US$900 they will turn your 2500 dollar macbook into a tablet that runs full OSX with flash and multi-tasking support.

 

and then there is the Viliv X70 which has been around for over a year now

 

it runs WindowsXP, has GPS, USB, SD card slot and 3G

 

but if those devices would be the only alternatives I wouldn’t think twice and go straight with the iPad

Fortunately new devices are basically introduced every day so there are more options.

 

so it looks like that all different Operating systems will have tablets coming out to I will show alternatives based on that.

Steve Balmer showed the HP Slate off and I was excited to see it and couldn’t wait to know more about it

so finally there are more details available and on paper it has some advantages over the iPad:

1.6Ghz CPU, 1080p playback, card reader, USB port, 2 cameras, supports flash and multi-tasking

another windows alternative would be the Archos 9 PC tablet

 

Next on the list is Linux and this time the tablet is coming out of Germany and is called WePad (how innovative)

coming out of Germany it should be a nice piece of equipment and it has again a few things to offer that the iPad can’t match

larger screen, 2 USB ports, supports all ebook formats, flash support, access to the Android market place

UPDATE: the makers of the WePad announced its availability in August this year with 2 different versions: 16GB version for Euro 450 and a 64GB version that is capable of full HD for Euro 569

Speaking of Android my next choice is probably my favourite – ICDs Gemini

as i said it is running Android OS, has a 11 inch screen which can be resistive or capacitive, a 5 axis accelerometer, card reader, voice calls, SMS, MMS, Wireless N, FM radio, IR, USB port, 2 cameras, GPS, dual speakers and microphones, HD video. email support and flash support

unfortunately there is no release date or price yet, but this little gem looks pretty awesome – there is a great comparison on engadget here

another Android alternative that has been talked about is the Notion Ink Adam

 

Then there is the browser based OS tablet that was born out of controvercy called JooJoo

it has a bigger screen, 1 GB of Ram, USB port, flash support and camera, but everything else I read about it didn’t convince me at all – it seems to have early release issues, but hopefully they will be solved with software updates

 

There are plenty of rumours about Chrome tablets that are coming out – supposedly Google and HTC are working on a tablet based on Chromium

all you can really find online are concepts by Google so there are no hardware specs or release dates or prizes

UPDATE: Google CEO Eric Schmidt has confirmed that his company is developing a tablet device based on the Android operating system. The New York Times reports that Google has “been working with several hardware manufacturers,” and “hopes to make its own apps marketplace available for new slate-like devices.” reported on mashable

So if I have to sum it up, there are plenty of alternatives to the iPad. For me the ICD Gemini is my favourite at the moment and I would love to get my hands on one to really give it a test drive (ICD if you are reading this, please send one my way)

 

But of course this is just my opinion and everybody should make up their own mind. I would love to read your opinions so please leave them in the comments below.

@maniac13

Adobe demos multi-platform app created using single code base

 

I believe the developer said everything that needed to be said about this:

"The app is called iReverse… Although iReverse is fun to play, the most amazing thing about the project is the fact that it runs in all these different environments completely unchanged. In other words, the exact same code base is used to build versions for five different environments. There’s no other platform in the world that can boast this level of flexibility – not even close."

Check out the video where he shows off his app running all different OS platforms and handheld devices including his brand new iPad

 

This is sweet and I can see a lot of people getting really excited about it already – I know I am

@maniac13