I have been using BabelFish for online translation, but I just found out about Google Translate. My small comparisons show up very similar results, so I wonder whether they actually use the same translation engine? And I am also testing out the Ultralingua dictionary. I am mostly interested in the English-French dictionary, but I see that they also have a Norwegian-English dictionary which might be useful.
Read on macosxhints: When running a Cocoa application, you can control-click on any word and select “Look up in Dictionary” from the pop-up menu. This will invoke the new Dictionary application, which will define the selected word. While this is handy, there’s an even quicker method (undocumented, as far as I can tell). Instead of selecting the word, hover the mouse over the word and press Command-Control-D. This will pop-up a a mini-dictionary at the mouse location, containing the word’s definition, as seen at right....
Stanford on iTunes provides access to a wide range of Stanford-related digital audio content via the iTunes Music Store, Apple’s popular music jukebox and online music store. The project includes two sites: a public site, targeted primarily at alumni, which includes Stanford faculty lectures, learning materials, music, sports, and more. an access-restricted site for students delivering course-based materials and advising content.
Apple has patented a new Integrated sensing display: On Jan. 12, the US Patent & Trademark Office revealed Apple’s new patent application titled “Integrated sensing display.” This is certainly the year of the integrated camera, as this patent presents. An integrated sensing display is disclosed. The sensing display includes display elements integrated with image sensing elements. As a result, the integrated sensing device can not only output images (e.g., as a display) but also input images (e....
I have been struggling with figuring out the easiest way of converting MPEG-2 .MOD files coming out of a JVC Everio HD camera to something else, and finally found a good solution in Squared 5 - MPEG Streamclip which allows for converting these files to more or less all codecs that are available on the system. It is also a good idea to rename the .MOD files to .M2V or ....
I came across the piece Notjustmoreidlechatter by composer Paul Lansky, showcasing a fascinating use of voice for creating musical rhythm and texture. And then I found the article Digital thoughts where he explains some of his compositional ideas throughout the years.
Looking for some references to nonlinear writing and hypertext, I ended up on the web page of Project Xanadu started by Ted Nelson in 1960. I read about it many years ago, when the web was still quite young, and it was fascinating to read more about the ideas of true nonlinear writing.
I have been struggling with creating video files that are easily playable on both OS X and Windows. Of course it is possible to make an avi with some “ancient” video codec, but that is not very tempting when the new H.264 codec is so nice. Of course, it would be nice if Windows users could use QuickTime, but for those who decline to do so, I found an easy way for converting MPEG-4 files to WMV....
I have been thinking about buying a new video camera. As I start to get very tired of working with dv-tapes, I was curious to check out some of the new hd cameras. Seems like it is still a bit early, as I guess the market will change next year, although this JVC GZ-MC500 camcorder looks very sweet. A 4GB microdrive seems too small, though, and it is unfortunately disqualified since it doesn’t sport a microphone input....
The MIT Media Lab: $100 Laptop aims at making an affordable laptop for poor countries: “The proposed $100 machine will be a Linux-based, full-color, full-screen laptop that will use innovative power (including wind-up) and will be able to do most everything except store huge amounts of data. This rugged laptop will be WiFi-enabled and have USB ports galore. Its current specifications are: 500MHz, 1GB, 1 Megapixel.”