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Looks like our favorite video sharing site is in the midst of a massive makeover and from the looks of it, things are looking good. While YourTube’s latest update brought a more minimal approach to the site, it’s still horribly convoluted and while the sharing aspect of it works well, the commenting system is a nightmare (racism,trolling,stupidity,etc). Vimeo, from our first look, seems to have adopted an ultra clean, very modern look (very Apple), with simplicity being the driving force behind the update.

Brand New Browsing Page: Vimeo has moved into a more cinematic look for it’s main browser page, adding a wider (full width) media player, universally known icons for controls and keyboard shortcuts.

Better Browsing: The new video browser will remain completely hidden and out of the way until the viewer wants to access it:

….To access it, click the “More Videos” flag in the upper right corner of any video page, or use the keyboard shortcut “M.” The video browser also provides more ways to discover things you like. Jump to your feed (see below), recently watched videos, watch later list, and more, all from one convenient spot…

Additional changes come to Vimeo’s Upload and Search features, which have needed an overhaul for some time.

Better Uploading: Uploading multiple files has become drop dead simple and Vimeo has added dynamic file detection to eliminate those pesky media format issue – also live thumbnail preview is available.

Advanced Search: Search is a driving force on the web, just ask Google, so Vimeo has added advanced search options:

…We’ve seen a huge increase in people using search to find interesting stuff on Vimeo, so we’ve added ways to get better results. Just click Show Advanced Filters on any search results page, and whether you’re hot on the trail of videos, people, Channels, or something in the forums, we can help you find what you’re looking for….

 

Vimeo is the midst of a massive update and not only is it a long time coming but it looks like they have some amazing designers working in house. Navigation, services, content and interaction often times isn’t as native as it should be on the web  - it’s good to see a company step up and make it’s already breakthrough services even better. Check out all the updates for yourself….

Source: Vimeo

Source: Igmur

Source: The Gestalten Gallery

Seems like someone at Virgin America Airlines was a big fan of the late Steve Jobs or at least admired him for his accomplishments because Virgin just named a new Airbus A320 “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”. That phrase was made famous in Steve’s remarkable Stanford commencement speech in 2005, where he ended by saying to the graduating class, “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”. Dara Kerr (Cnet), broke the story and in an interview with Virgin America spokesperson Abby Lunardini, revealed:

…The ‘Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish’ aircraft name was actually submitted as a tribute to Mr. Jobs by one of our employees in an internal plane naming competition…

It’s hard to say what Steve might have thought about the tribute but Richard Branson does run the whole Virgin empire on similar guidelines to Apple, “innovation” and “progressive thinking”.

Source: Cnet

 

RL7 is an eight-foot tall combat robot that goes on the run after malfunctioning with vivid memories of once being human. As its creators and the military close in, RL7 battles its way to uncovering the shocking truth behind its mysterious visions and past.

Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone! This has been a labor of love on a budget of $0 and it makes it all worth while when we see other people responding to it. Thank you! – Aaron Sims

Directed by Aaron Sims

Source: Cargo Collections

The axe has finally fallen on Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, with them not only resigning from their “Co-CEO” positions but also getting axed from their “Co-Chairmen of the Board” positions. Research In Motion has fallen on hard times, especially over the last two years and it seems the pressure of RIM’s almost imminent implosion was the last straw but isn’t it too late? People and shareholders were calling for this move years ago but the co-founders, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, would not move and as it looks now, their stubbornness will end up destroying the company. As if to make things worse, RIM has projected below street numbers for this quarter and the stock is being hammered even more.

Source: Apple Insider - Image Source: CDN3

Source: Unknown

The Chronic Dev Team has just released an officially working jailbreak for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, which up until now have been crack proof mostly due to their A5 processor architecture. So what does Green PoisOn get you? Well, besides voiding your warranty, it allows you to essentially load non-sanctioned apps onto your i-device. So, this can include apps you’ve made, downloaded from Cydia or gotten by other means… Jailbreaking also allows additional access to your i-device’s OS (SSH) and deep customization, something the boys in Cupertino aren’t to happy about. If you wanna join the fun, click here.

Source: Chronic Dev Team

While the US economy might not be recovering the way everyone would like, Americans still ended up buying record numbers of tablets and e-readers over the holidays season. A new study from Pew Internet claims that tablet/e-reader ownership nearly doubled from November 2011 (10%)  to December 2011 (19%). Additionally:

…The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18% in December to 29% in January….

While lower priced e-reader and tablets have pushed down Apple’s iPad dominance, it’ll be interesting to see how the iPad 3 will effect marketshare, especially if Apple continues to produce the ipad 2 and sell it as a lower price point ($399). Also, Apple’s continues to make inroads into the education sector, which has been completely abandoned by most of the other big time players – Amazon, Google, HTC, Motorola, etc.

Source: MacRumors – Pew Internet

Source: Lovely Package

Source: Imgur

While I wasn’t invited to Apple’s NYC educational event, both iBooks 2 & iBooks Author was made available yesterday – so I decided to take the latter for a spin.  First off, it might be the simplest app Apple or anyone has ever made for making any kind of interactive media. The stock templates are simple yet elegant, the built in tools are well organized and universally understood, media is easily accessed and for those that don’t what the cookie cutter approach, you can write your own java script and html5 code. Best of both worlds.

After picking your desired template layout (pictured above), you move directly into design – starting with the cover, intro media and table of contents. The great thing about iBooks Author is that it does most of the busy wok for you, like the table of contents, portrait layout adjustment and alignment – giving you plenty of time to play with media and content.

Since part of my family is from California and I had plenty of media from there, I decided to create a books about California and the museums I had visited. As you can see, I’ve started with a bold title: California : I’ve also placed a picture of some of the jellyfish at the San Francisco Museum of Natural History. So a colorful and striking intro for my book – so far, so good.

For the first chapter, I’ve placed a stunning image of the Golden Gate Bridge to the right, another bold title to introduce the first museum (San Francisco) and I’ve also placed an interactive gallery that can be manipulated (left to right) on the desktop app, as well as on the iPad. Again, this was done in a matter of minutes and since I already had the media, it was even easier.

Ok, so now we’re diving into the first section of the first chapter. I’ve name it “Animals” and placed a giant picture of a T-Rex, which is also a slide-show gallery containing a bunch of animals from the museum. Across from that, I’ve placed a picture of me standing in front of a giant redwood tree – sliced. Ok, I know all this isn’t that interesting but the fact remains that creating your own book is fun and extremely easy. So, stop looking at my book and go out and get the free app for yourself – click here.

 

Source: Apple

Apple’s NYC educational event just finished and while there was no new hardware in sight, the event was actually surprisingly interesting. When I had heard that Apple was going to re-invent the textbook, I didn’t exactly jump out of my seat but what I saw today, kind of made me wish I was back in high school. The event revolved around two main points: The release of iBooks 2 & iBooks Author – both available today.

iBooks 2: “…is an amazing way to download and read books. iBooks includes the iBookstore, where you can download the latest bestselling books or your favorite classics – day or night. Browse your library on a beautiful bookshelf, tap a book to open it, flip through pages with a swipe or a tap, and bookmark or add notes to your favorite passages….” Check it out….

• Experience gorgeous Multi-Touch textbooks designed for iPad
• iBooks textbooks are filled with interactive features, diagrams, photos, and videos
• Tap to dive into images with interactive captions, rotate 3D objects, swipe through image galleries, watch videos in full screen, and more
• Use a finger as a highlighter when swiping over text in a textbook
• Take advantage of Study Cards to help you memorize important highlights, notes, and glossary terms
• Tap glossary terms to see definitions of key topics and concepts without leaving the page

The iBookstore offers textbooks on Algebra, Biology, Chemistry, Geometry, and Physics from McGraw-Hill and Pearson. These textbooks are currently available to customers in the United States. Textbooks from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are coming soon.

iBooks Author: ”…Now anyone can create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books, and more for iPad. All you need is an idea and a Mac. Start with one of the Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. Add your own text and images with drag-and-drop ease. Use Multi-Touch widgets to include interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote presentations, 3D objects, and more. Preview your book on your iPad at any time. Then submit your finished work to the iBookstore with a few simple steps. And before you know it, you’re a published author….” Check it out….

 

So what does this mean for us? Essentially, iBooks 2 takes advantage of Apple interactive iBooks Author framework, allowing classic textbooks to be converted to amazing iPad based interactive books. Educational curriculums and teaching styles can be built around these new interactive books but the real question is: Will school districts adopt Apple’s new tools? Apple already gives educational discounts to schools, teachers and students but what will Apple have to do to get mass adoption?

How effective will Apple’s inroads into the educational system and how well iBooks 2 + iBooks Author will be depends on how well publishing houses get on track with converting/creating these interactive textbooks. It isn’t enough to have schools adopt iPads and it isn’t enough for publishing houses to create amazing textbooks that no one will use – there has to be inroads from both parties. Here is a walkthrough from Engadget:

Learn more about Apple’s iBooks 2 and iBooks Author by clicking here or visit iTunes. Now, let the iPad 3 rumors start!!!

Source: Apple

Source: LovelyPackage

Starting March 23rd, Virgin Mobile USA will start to throttle “Beyond Talk” plans for users that have downloaded more than 2.5GB worth of data. Once users cross that magical 2.5GB limit, they’ll see their download speed drop to 256Kpbs – so good luck with that. As this is a pay as you go plan, users can drop more cash on their account and they’ll see their speeds return to normal.

Source: The Verge

As we had covered earlier this month, Kodak today filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but vowed that it would still stay in business. While the company was quick to point out that the bankruptcy filing was a first step in restructuring and securing cash/investments - the stock market didn’t seem to share their enthusiasm for the future of Kodak.

So what’s next for Kodak? One option would be for it to sell its large imaging patent portfolio, which has been rumored to be worth more than $1 billion. Apple, Google, HTC and Amazon have been rumored to be interested in Kodak’s patents, especially imaging patents that would cover their smartphones. Regardless of the moves Kodak makes from here on, this is the death rattle of a once great/innovative company. From Kodak’s Blog:

On January 19, 2012, Eastman Kodak Company and its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 business reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The business reorganization will enable Kodak to bolster liquidity in the U.S. and abroad, monetize non-strategic intellectual property, fairly resolve legacy liabilities, and enable the Company to focus on its most valuable business lines…

Source: Kodak

Source: Igmur

Yahoo! is free of Jerry Yang or is Jerry Yang free of the albatros that has been Yahoo? Regardless, co-founder Jerry Yang has resigned his board position and all responsibilities he has with the company – this does not include stock owned by Yang.

My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future…

The move is effective immediately and mere days after Scott Thomson took over the C.E.O. position at Yahoo – so what is left for the former “web portal”? While the situation is still developing, talk has involved an overall sale of yahoo to the dumping of Yahoo’s Asian properties, like Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group. Whatever the future holds for Yahoo, it stands as an example of an internet pioneer that didn’t evolve with the overall course of the net and also didn’t have an understanding of what kind of company it had become.

Source: Yahoo

Source: TheVerge – Image Source: SFExaminer

The black dots represent less than one resident per square mile.

Source: DataPointed

DO YOUR PART! The internet is under attack – the open and free internet that we’ve all grown-up with, is now the target of powerful lobbyists and ignorant/bought government officials. This is no conspiracy theory – this isn’t fiction: This is a very real : very serious problem facing everyone. There are two bills of Legislation in Washington right now: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). Both bills were written by lobbyists and sold to congressmen/senators, whom know very little about the ramifications of these bills.

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act):

The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.[4] - Read More…..

PIPA (Protect IP Act):

The bill defines infringement as distribution of illegal copies, counterfeit goods, or anti-digital rights management technology. Infringement exists if “facts or circumstances suggest [the site] is used, primarily as a means for engaging in, enabling, or facilitating the activities described.”^[8] The bill says that it does not alter existing substantive trademark or copyright law.^[9]

The bill provides for “enhancing enforcement against rogue websites operated and registered overseas” and authorizes the United States Department of Justice to seek a court order in rem against websites dedicated to infringing activities, if through due diligence, an individual owner or operator cannot be located.^[10] The bill requires the Attorney General to serve notice to the defendant.^[11] Once the court issues an order, it could be served on financial transaction providers, Internet advertising services, Internet service providers, and information location tools to require them to stop financial transactions with the rogue site and remove links to it.^[12] The term “information location tool” is borrowed from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and is understood to refer to search engines but could cover other sites that link to content…. - Read More…….

Hidden inside both pieces of legislation are powerful clauses, wording that will strip civil liberties, freedom of speech, safe harbor protections, business/online commerce and the physical back-bone of the internet – DNS. Action needs to be taken to stop these bills from become laws and everyone needs to participate, this will effect everyone. In a cohesive stance against SOPA & PIPA, hundreds of major companies from all over the world have decided to strike: Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, Roblox, Reddit, the Wikimedia Foundation and human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU, and Human Rights Watch. For more information regarding the  issues, please visit the SopaStrike website here and please pass the word about this very important issue. January 18th, 2012 has been declared a global WEB STRIKE DAY – Join In.

Source: SopaStrike