Amazing.

One thing I’ve always loved about Microsoft, is their willingness to spend time and money (they have it…) in developing new technologies, and putting them out there for companies to make what they will. Microsoft’s multi-touch Surface platform is a great example.  Did they put it out there as a monopolizing product platform?  No.  It’s as if they created it, to help push software developers to think outside of conventional software interfaces and hardware form factors.  And while Windows as an OS can never just up and be rewritten – since a world of business relies on backwards compatibility - they at least have some channels where they can really do some nutty-fantastic innovation.

And wow… their Natal Project is something else.

It takes the motion-controlled gaming phenomenon that Nintendo pioneered, to a whole new level.  And while there is no release date yet for games and programs using the technology seen above, it’s well along in development.  Minority Report in 2010, please! :)

And yeah, while this is great for a whole new universe of gaming possibilities, my first thought took me to how this could change interfaces outside of xbox… DVRs and TVs, personal computers, and technology in public spaces.  Software that can be controlled from within the room, using recognized gestures.  It’s like we’re finally treading into the era of UI prioritization that makes technology seem comfortable, familiar, and simple (iPhone?)… rather than complicated and daunting.  In terms of potential, it’s pretty fantastic.

Many will be waiting with baited breath to hear more and see how accurate functional this technology truly turns out to be.  I certainly will be.

PS. – I make work on a star ship after all! :)

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I know, right. Mr. Not Afriad To Bash Apple For Crimes Against The World has another mac. Kind of.

After my shuttle (my old personal machine I had been using, when work made me travel) was euthanized by the Gadget Gods, work outfitted me with a proper machine for on-set (and en-route) image and video work.

On my crazy Chicago work trip, I walked into the Apple store. I had worked, and not slept, the entire night to finish a deadline. I approached the female greeter, reminding myself to be to not be too cranky with her. Not that I would really control it.

“I need to buy a macbook pro, and I have 5 minutes.”

And bless her soul, I’d be damned if she didn’t run (actually run) to the nearest mac, login on the request-a-salesperson tool they groove on, and have a fella pop down from out of nowhere (iGrapple), ready for me.

“15 inch macbook pro with a matte screen and the fast processor. Oh, and a backpack to cram it and some hard drives in, too.”

I walked out of there 5 minutes later with my new travel companion, pleasantly surprised at how they handled the red-eyed zombie that hissed at them upon entry.

In case you haven’t read entries past, I left mac in both 97 and again in 2002 (after a brief OS X affair) but lived and worked quite happily on Windows machines ever since. So why the switch back now?

First of all, work has increased the demands of the versatility I’ve needed to exercise in my projects. Having both OS X and Windows (dual-booting using Boot Camp) accessible on my work machine has proved really handy. And if I’m to continue workflow while I’m mobile… I need that same flexibility. If I had to leave Windows entirely… forget it.

So, out here in Carleton Place, before the moving truck arrives, I get to put this sucker through it’s paces.

So far, it’s holding up quite nicely. I heard these things heat up, and they’re right. I installed smcFanControl, a little app that lets you tweak the minimum fan speed, and it’s doing wonders for the temp.

And oh yeah. It plays Tabula Rasa pretty damn good at native res with the settings on high. Not a bad bonus.

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This is crazy.  Justin.tv is a site where a guy has a cam strapped to his hat, and it streams live to the internet… 24/7.  There’s even a chat room, and he posts his cell number, so you can text or call him - live - and see it on cam.  It’s both absurd and intriguing. 

I’m going to watch when I have more time.   Though I guess I can tune in anytime, though I don’t imagine the hours when he’s sleeping will be very exciting.  Anyhow, definitely check it out… people will be talking about this real soon.

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This is kind of funny, after my last post. :)

Work just got me a new Mac Pro quad-core (2 X dual-core Intel Xeons @ 3 GHz each). This sucker is rocking 3TB storage (3,000 Gigs to folks who don’t know/care what that is), and 8 GB RAM. Yeah… sweet Jesus, what’s all that for?

So work needed to hook me up with a computing powerhouse quickly - like within 48 hours - for a big project that needed immediate attention. When my work asked PC or Mac, I gave it a bit of thought, and decided PC. Then they came back and asked if I wanted to try a Mac that ran both OS X and Windows (via Bootcamp).

“..uh. Yeah, I guess that could work.”

It was kind of our only option at that point, as we needed a bitchin’ system so quickly… and this was ready to buy at the Apple Store. Any decent PC would have taken longer to have built and shipped. Or, I’d have to have enough time to overnight the parts and build my own machine (like I did with my Shuttle PC, which I still adore to no end).

So I’ve got Adobe Everything for both Mac and Windows, and even this little ol’ thing called Final Cut Studio.

There really isn’t anything more annoying than a mac fanboy. I used to by one myself, and eventually switched to Windows years ago. Doing graphic and UI work in the software world, I’d rather be involved in the PC platform. I’d use the *same* applications on either end.

To me, using a Mac is like sitting in an empty V.I.P. room. It’s great and nice and all, but the real party is out there on the messy dancefloor.

So for the most part, I’m using the Windows side of this machine. A bloody shame, because bootcamp currently only supports 32 bit windows (meaning the 64 bit processors and 6 of the 8 GB of ram sit idle). Hopefully the final version will support Vista 64.

But why?? Why would I boot up Vista on my G5 to edit video? Am I insane?

Currently, After Effects renders at the same speed on both sides, even with windows capping off far earlier on the hardware. I know - what the hell. And don’t this beat all - I get nagging RAM errors in After Effects and then it crashes…. on the Apple side! Don’t that just beat all.

I’m hoping I get to the root of this and other issues I’m having on the Mac side (who knew Macs were so difficult to deal with?). I’ll chalk a lot of my initial displeasure to OS X just being plain different. A sample of my initial reactions:

“Jesus Christ. Why can’t the back button on my mouse be mapped to back in Firefox / Safari?”

“Do I have to hover over everything to see the titles of what I have minimized?”

“But I WANT to remove preferences that aren’t in the application folder. Who do I have to sleep with to get a real uninstallation around here?”

“No wonder fanboys are so angry.”

I’ll give it some time, and I’ll try to split my work and personal life between the two and see if I adjust at all. Considering that nothing worked on OS X at all when it first came out, Apple has no room to talk about any Vista software challenges - all the important stuff works. I used OS X right when it first came out - not a single Adobe design application I needed, ran on it. That’s when I jumped back to Windows for a second time.

I’m hoping for a better relationship with OS X this time around. Unfortunately, we’re already off to a slightly rocky start.

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You can’t text message breakup.  You still owe me 1200 dollars, shetbag!

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Just in case everyone on your messenger list hasn’t shown you this yet… here you go.  It might just be… the bestest thing ever.

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