Animating A Blockbuster∞
Cool behind-the-scenes look at Pixar’s animation pipeline.
Apple and HTML5∞
Horrible and dishonest webpage by Apple pushing HTML5—whoops, pushing Safari, because Apple blocks any browser other than Safari from viewing the demos.
Those features are really cool, but they work on quite a few browsers. Firefox, for one. And Chrome, which is built on WebKit, the same rendering engine as Safari.
How ironic is it that they claim that only Safari can render these demos that are supposedly being used to showcase new web standards and interoperability?
Here’s a tip, guys: http://www.modernizr.com. If you’re going to prevent people from seeing the demos, do it based on which features of HTML5 and CSS3 their browser actually supports, not which browser they’re using.
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Great going, Android! Another reason why I’m totally disinterested in Android, despite all the cool hardware coming out that runs it.
(via adamsdayoff)
Are Cameras The New Guns?∞
Long story short: people are being prosecuted for recording police encounters, and the courts are ruling against them.
This is incredibly unjust. People should absolutely have the right to hold officers accountable for their conduct.
Google Chrome For Mac Disregards Accessibility∞
In the past, Google has provided fairly good support for accessibility with screen readers, but that reputation has begun to slip in recent years, as the Internet giant has expanded its offerings and let its accessibility efforts slip.
This might be a compelling argument if the writer cited any examples other than a lack of VoiceOver support.
Accessibility isn’t a feature you can mark off on a checklist. It’s not a technology; it’s not something you can “support.” Of course Google Chrome is accessible—people are able to use it. There may be things that Google can do to make it accessible to more people, but it’s bullshit to say that it doesn’t “support accessibility,” as if accessibility were some sort of standard.
I may be picking at semantics here. My point is, cite examples that show how Google Chrome is more inaccessible than other browsers such as Safari—don’t just say that Chrome doesn’t “support accessibility” and expect me to believe it.
IE8 Still Failing PNG Alpha∞
Come on, Microsoft. You are the only major browser-maker without good support for alpha channels in PNGs. It has been this way for years. What’s the holdup?
Sprint HTC Evo 4G Review∞
Walt Mossberg reviews the HTC Evo, a new 4G phone on Sprint, although it’s more of a review of Sprint’s 4G service than the phone itself.
In short: 4G is a pretty decent amount faster than 3G, but be prepared to pay with your battery life.
Texas Schools Board Rewrites US History∞
An extraordinarily scary article about how the Texas educational curriculum is being hijacked by conservative religious fundamentalists. This is important, because Texas buys enough textbooks that the vast majority of textbooks printed in the United States cater to their curriculum.
Some choice edits:
- The right to bear arms is now being heralded as an “important element of a democratic society.”
- The slave trade is now referred to as the “Atlantic triangular trade.”
- Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist witch-hunt is suggested to have been justified.
- “Minimal government intrusion and taxation” is a requirement for economic prosperity.
The problem with making all these changes to the curriculum is that then you’re teaching your kids things that are wrong.
One of the major proponents of the new curriculum, Cynthia Dunbar, had this to say:
I think it is important to present a historically accurate viewpoint to students
Clearly, you don’t.
This Is How Apple Rolls∞
Great piece by Jon Gruber.
What Bothers Me About The Apple vs. Adobe Issue#
First things first. It always amuses me when people publicly make blatantly false claims. Latest offender: Jonathan Fildes, writing about Adobe’s “We ♥ Apple” ad campaign. Let’s dig in.
But Flash is commonly used to build smartphone apps. As a result, developers commonly used automatic translation tools - some built by Adobe - to convert Flash code to run on Apple gadgets.
These allowed developers to make applications once and then distribute them for use on various phones and operating systems, including Apple’s iPhone.
Uh, which apps and “Apple gadgets” are these? Since 2001, Apple’s only two platforms have been Mac OS X and iPhone OS. Of these, only Mac OS X has ever supported Flash. So, if by “developers commonly used automatic translation tools… to convert Flash code to run on Apple gadgets”, you mean “developers commonly write Adobe AIR apps for Mac OS X”, then I guess you’d be right. But it’s not relevant, because it has nothing to do with the current smartphone/mobile market.
The thing that really gets me about this quote—and this whole situation, really—is that while Adobe constantly complains about Flash not being allowed on iPhone OS, they haven’t released a version of it for ANY major mobile OS. BlackBerry OS? Nope. Android? Nope. webOS? Nope. So the question is, if Flash is this great open cross-platform technology that Adobe is serious about pushing, then where is it?
The answer, of course, is that Adobe doesn’t care about Flash helping developers or being a cross-platform tool as much as they care about it being on iPhone OS. The only reason they’re even pushing it to other platforms now is to make Apple feel like they’re missing out on something—they’re doing it to force Apple’s hand. Adobe wants Apple to feel like they need to include Flash in iPhone OS.
Well, let me tell you a secret, Adobe: it won’t work. Maybe that time spent adding a Flash-to-iPhone-app compiler in CS5—something you knew Apple would have an issue with—would have been better spent adding Flash support for platforms that actually want it?
So I have no sympathy for Adobe. They’ve done a lot of complaining about Apple being anticompetitive and restricting developers’ choices, but they haven’t done anything to actually give developers the choice they preach about. If it’s really so important to let developers choose between platforms, then why can’t they choose Flash on any platform?
You’ve had two years. It’s still not ready.
If you don’t like the fact that Flash is rapidly becoming less relevant, this probably isn’t the best way to go about rectifying that.
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— Mike Taylor, Whatever Happened To Programming?I want to make things, not just glue things together.
Chilean Earthquake Likely Shifted Earth's Axis∞
NASA geophysicist Richard Gross has some alarming facts about the recent Chilean earthquake.
- The quake moved the Earth’s axis about 2.7 milliarcseconds (or 8 centimeters, or 3 inches)
- Due to the quake, each day from now on will be about 1.26 microseconds (millionths of a second) shorter
- Santa Maria Island (an island in Chile) may have been raised as much as 2 meters (6 feet) because of the quake
As I like to say, “snap crackle pop!”
The Guardian Decodes Palm's Memo∞
Reeeaaaal professional journalism. This is the kind of thing I do on Facebook.
Palm Pre Plus Named The Most Important Tech Product of the Year - So Far∞
I am glad to see Palm finally get some positive press. Although, I have higher expectations for the “Pre 2” which hopefully is released in the first half of 2010.
Click the article title to read the full post from CNN.
