Archive for the ‘software’ Category

Jerry Seinfeld + Bill Gates = Not Very Funny Ad

Friday, September 5th, 2008

OK, we are not talking the Mac-PC ads here but you’d think that Jerry Seinfeld and the army of writers behind this new Microsoft ad campaign would be able to make something funnier than this first instalment. Even with Bill Gates in it, they should have been able to make something better. Entitled ‘Shoe Circus’, we meet an unemployed Bill Gates shopping for shoes, where Jerry Seinfeld spots him and pops in to give him some shoe-buying/life advice. After 90 seconds you’re still not sure what the hell is going on but things take a turn for the weirder with Bill G shaking his booty in the car park. Maybe it’s true, retirement does make you crazy. There was little to nothing that mentioned Vista or Microsoft so maybe they really are pushing shoes. Let’s hope Jerry & Co can make something better for the second instalment. And that Bill doesn’t get to twitch his butt again. First impressions [of the ad, not the butt]?-Martin Lynch microsoft comedy vista

Original post by nafiz

Autocollage – Réalisez une pele-mele de vos photos numeriques

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

 

Mariage Delph et Greg by you.

 

Oubliez vos ciseaux, Microsoft Research facilite la création de photo collages numériques

 

autocollage

 

AutoCollage peut être téléchargé et testé à partir du site de Microsoft Research http://research.microsoft.com/autocollage/Download.aspx. Il s’agit d’une application sophistiquée de traitement d’image et vision artificielle qui permet d’assembler automatiquement les images en utilisant des méthodes de reconnaissance d’objets et de détection de visages. Une fois identifiées automatiquement les parties intéressantes d’une photo, AutoCollage assemble les images séparées en une image composite en utilisant les éléments caractéristiques des photos pour réaliser les transitions entre les images.

“Le différenciateur le plus significatif d’AutoCollage est que cette application intègre une technologie de fusion d’image exceptionnellement sophistiquée, seulement permise par l’état de l’art des techniques de vision artificielle” commente Alisson Sol, responsable de développement à Microsoft Research Cambridge. « C’est fantastique que l’on puisse donner à tout le monde la possibilité de jouer avec cette formidable technologie, et nous sommes impatients de voir quels types de collage ils vont bien pouvoir réaliser”

AutoCollage, un bon outil pour vos retours de vacances. Un joli moyen de résumé toutes vos vacances, mariages, anniversaires, blogueur parties…. en un seul pêle-mêle.

AutoCollage prend en compte trois critères principaux pour s’assurer que les meilleures parties des images sont sélectionnées pour le collage final :

  • Choisir les parties d’images les plus représentatives du thème général (par exemple, éviter les duplications, choisir une personne ou un groupe de personnes)
  • Combiner les images d’une manière harmonieuse (par exemple, s’assurer que le collage final n’est pas dominé par une seule photo, s’assurer que les parties essentielles d’une photo restent visible)
  • Assembler les images de telle manière que les bords ne sont pas visibles

AutoCollage a commencé en 2005 comme projet de recherche à Microsoft Research Cambridge au Royaume Uni, puis a récemment été transféré au sein de l’unité d’incubation de Cambridge, dans le but de s’assurer que la technologie serait bien préparée à la fois à un usage grand public et à avoir le support technique nécessaire. AutoCollage contient également des fonctionnalités développées par des chercheurs de Microsoft en Chine et à Redmond aux Etats Unis.

Selon Andrew Herbert, Directeur de Microsoft Research Cambridge “AutoCollage est un magnifique exemple de quelques unes de nos recherches en informatique les plus innovantes, réalisées à Cambridge et dans nos laboratoires partenaires aux Etats Unis et en Chine”. “Nous répondons bien à nos ambitions de transfert d’innovations scientifiques, en permettant aux consommateurs d’avoir accès simplement à des technologies qui sont à la pointe de la recherche en informatique.”

AutoCollage fonctionne sur Windows Vista et Windows XP SP2 et versions suivantes. Une version de test gratuite limitée à 30 jours est disponible dans le monde entier. Une version non limitée peut être achetée aux Etats Unis, au Royaume Uni et dans l’Union Européenne depuis http://research.microsoft.com/autocollage/Download.aspx.

 

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Original post by bgauth

Canon posts up 1.0.9 firmware update for EOS Rebel XSi

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

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By and large, Canon’s EOS Rebel XSi was widely adored. Still, even the fanboys in attendance can’t deny that firmware updates that solve any number of quirks are loved just the same. Canon has just posted up firmware v1.0.9 for the aforesaid DSLR, which purportedly fixes three primary issues. The 7.81MB download addresses a “phenomenon in which AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) shooting does not operate normally under specific conditions,” another in which “the Live View exposure simulation warning indication does not properly display during Live View shooting, and yet another in which “images cannot be played back after continuous shooting when a printer is connected to the camera or a video output terminal is used.” Tap that read link to get your download on, and be sure to let us know if this update actually works as advertised.

[Via CNET]

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Original post by Darren Murph

ISO Relevance Questioned After OOXML Appeals Fail

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

Cowards Anonymous passes along a, Australian PCWorld piece that begins “Countries whose appeals were dismissed regarding the ISO/IEC’s approval of Microsoft’s OOXML as an international standard are questioning the judgment and relevance of the ISO/IEC and the standards they approve. In a statement made at the Congresso Internacional Sociedade e Governo Electronico (CONSEGI) 2008 conference, representatives from three of the four countries that appealed against an April 1 vote to approve OOXML as a standard said they are ‘no longer confident’ in the ability of both the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission to be vendor-neutral and open when it comes to setting technology standards.” Here is the statement signed by South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Cuba. The countries won’t pursue further opposition to OOXML.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by kdawson

Google Chrome Attacks Browser Market With Its Own Browser

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

The browser market is about to get a big shake up as Google preps their own release

Original post by Mike Slocombe

Google’s Chrome Browser Launches Today

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

Firefox and Internet Explorer are about to get some real competition today when Google releases the beta of its Chrome browser in 100 countries. The browser has been coming for some time but the company inadvertently leaked its impending arrival with a promo ‘comic book’ at the weekend and has since come out and confirmed its plans. Google claims Chrome is a ‘fresh take on the browser’ and that it has been built from the ground up to deal with today’s Web applications and multimedia-rich content better than its rivals. Chrome’s look is described as ’streamlined’ with all of the focus being on getting you to the content you want, fast. Google said on its blog: “Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today’s complex web applications much better. By keeping each tab in an isolated “sandbox”, we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of Web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers. This is just the beginning — Google Chrome is far from done. We’re releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We’re hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust.” The browser is open-source and has borrowed components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla’s Firefox ‘among others’, with Google hoping to involve the whole developer community in making Chrome the ‘next big thing’ in browsing.-Martin Lynch internet browser

Original post by nafiz

Behind the Doors of the Free Software Foundation

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Linux.com has an interesting look at the inner workings of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). “The purpose of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) is probably obvious from its name — but what does promoting free software mean in terms of everyday activity? Examining the roles of the organization shows how complex the FSF’s advocacy role has become. It also reveals the range of services available to the free software community, and helps to explain how such a small group has had such a major influence on computer technology. As a 501(c)3 charity in the United States, the FSF is run by a board of directors. The current board includes FSF founder and president Richard M. Stallman and long-term member Henry Poole, but, in the last few years, new faces have appeared on the board.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by ScuttleMonkey

Virus Makes It Into Space(station)

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

It’s probably not the first virus to make it into orbit but it seems like the International Space Station (ISS) has had an uninvited guest. NASA has confirmed reports that laptops carried onto the ISS in July were infected with the virus known as Gammima.AG. The virus lurks, as many do, in order to steal login names for popular online games. Hardly going to bring the station crashing back to Earth but it’s certainly an embarrassment considering you can get a virus into space and you can’t get a bottle of water onto a plane. The virus was discovered on astronaut laptops used to run nutritional programs and for checking emails but no critical systems or software were compromised, NASA claimed. Most worrying of all is that the laptops used by the astronauts do not run any anti-virus software.-Martin Lynch [SpaceRef] laptop space virus

Original post by nafiz

Pratique - Comptes Vacances pour gérer les dépenses de groupe

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

comptes vacances

Je viens de découvrir ce classeur Excel réalisé par un collègue à deux bureaux de moi: Anthony Page

Ce classeur Excel: Comptes Vacances permet de gérer vos dépenses de vacances entre amis. Terminé les calculs pour savoir qui doit quoi à qui! Rentrez tout simplement les dépenses de tout à chacun dans celui-ci et les calculs seront faits automatiquement pour vous. Cela peut-être également utile pour les collocations :)

Téléchargez le classeur Comptes Vacances ici! 

 

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Original post by bgauth

Adobe Launches Cloud Services, Updates to Elements And Premiere Elements

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Adobe heads off into the cloud to offer users web-based back up and storage services.

Original post by Mike Slocombe

Software Quality In a Non-Software Company?

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Nicros writes “I work for a publicly traded biotech company that happens to write software that is, in fact, kind of critical for the business — without it no data would ever be read from our instruments, and no analyses would be performed on that data. The problem is that as a ‘biotech’ company, we are not taking software quality seriously. We have no senior management with any history of commercial software development — our C level has really no clue whatsoever what software really is, much less what is going on in software development. All of our quality processes are related to manufacturing our system (not software), so we are constantly forced into ad-hoc development since there is no real process for our development. Repeated requests to hire someone with some real commercial software development experience have gone unanswered. I have been to the CEO directly one-on-one and although he agreed this was an issue, thanked me, and said he would look into it, that was the end of it. He has bigger things to worry about. So the question: Is this just a fact of life and I need to deal the best I can? What else can I do to get some attention on software quality in the company?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by kdawson

Apple’s Got a Few Blemishes of Late …

Monday, August 25th, 2008

So much good news and now so much bad news.

The Apple rumor mill is churning, but this week it’s about software fixes instead of new priphone_main_overview20080609.jpgoducts. News reports are raising expectations of yet another iPhone software fix next month.

Apparently software update 2.0.2 didn’t fix connection problems – in fact, it created new issues for some iPhone users even as others are wrestling with MobileMe foul-ups that make receiving e-mail on the handset sketchy.

The software fix Apple was reportedly related to a chip inside the iPhone. BusinessWeek reported last week that Apple was working on a remedy through a software upgrade. 

But applications are still crashing, crashing, crashing. 

Apple has set itself up for failure because it’s vetting all of the applications on its App Store to ensure the software doesn’t contain any bad code, according to Mike Disabato, a wireless analyst at the Burton Group.

“I’ve got three applications on my iPhone right now that don’t work. Apple killed the Netshare application. Why did that do that? Is Apple enforcing AT&T’s terms of service? I didn’t sign a contract with Apple that allows them to do that,” Disabato said. “Let me buy what I want and it’s my problem if I run afoul of AT&T!” 

Check out Wired for more dirt.

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Original post by nafiz

Is This The New iPod nano?

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

Back on Rumour St. this morning and we have what looks to be one of the more credible leaks on what the new iPod nano may look like. It comes from Kevin Rose [Digg founder], who has gotten things right and, really wrong, in the past, but who is sure - thanks to ’sources’ - that the squarer and chunkier nano is going to be replaced by the end of next month with a slimmer and longer nano, complete with cool tapered edges. That’s his pic above.The iPod touch is also due for some work, although mainly cosmetic on the outside but it will come with the 2.1 firmware software, that will then wing its way to the iPhone. Apple is also rumoured to be taking the knife to the price tags, with some ‘fairly large’ cuts on the way to offset any iPod sales hurt by the the [US] £100 iPhone. And, to top it all off, Kev says a new iTunes 8.0 with lots of new features is coming and that next Apple OS X 10.5.6 will come with Blu-ray support. Imagine, all of this is expected in the next few weeks so here’s hoping, but not holding our breath. For all the details, watch Kev’s video below.-Martin Lynch ipod apple music

Original post by nafiz

Grand Design 3D Software Announced

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

If you’re a company making software that lets people design their own houses, getting a tie up with a widely-watched TV programme that monitors the development of self-designed houses is pretty exciting.

Original post by Simon Perry

Directory Opus v9.1 File manager For Windows: Review (91%)

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Hugely powerful file manager offering batch renaming and searching, ZIP support, image browsing, FTP and more.

Original post by Mike Slocombe


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