The debate between whether “jif” or “gif” has become a divisive argument that has spawned hundreds of YouTube comments and message board threads. Hopefully the internet beefs will come to an end as the creator of Graphics Interchange Format,Steve Wilhite, clears the air in an interview with New York Times.
“The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations,” Mr. Wilhite said. “They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story.”
Did everyone get that? Cool. Now here’s a GIF of a dancing Spider-Man from before we all started expressing our emotions in pop culture tidbits.
Have you ever wondered what it might be like if the internet was a big store? Well, even if you haven’t, prepare to have your mind blown by Neosignal’s music video for “Planet Online” that does all the imagining for you.
Picture Google game consoles, a Facebook race track, a robotic Firefox, a trojan horse, a Twitter toy set, and more games of the internet variety. Okay, so I imagined, and I admit it sounds pretty cool. It also sounds pretty cluttered, and in all honesty I worry for the children of the future if they all became actually things. The whole idea is kind of disconcerting. If it were up to me, kids would continue to grow up with Hot Wheels, Polly Pockets, and yes, Barbies because, well, they seem less creepy.
Komputer tutor Kim Kommando wants you to know that computers are amazing and it’s just like typing on your typewriters! Let Kim teach you the ins and out of technology to keep you from pushing the wrong button and blowing up everything. Your computer is like the head waiter of a restaurant, a TV, a VCR, an adding machine (was calculator too big of a word?), an elevator and a filing cabinet! You can now get rid of the hundreds of bottles of wite-out taking up precious space on your desk because using the computer is that easy!
This Japanese coat will make sure you never feel lonely again.
Designed by Japanese students, the Riajyuu Coat has answered the prayers of those singletons who love to cuddle but no one to cuddle with. For any lonely person wearing this coat, it’ll feel like they’re being hugged from behind thanks to the coat’s built-in belt. Headphones can be hooked up to the coat for the full “girlfriend” experience as it plays recordings of a female saying things that you would expect a girlfriend to say such as, “Sorry I’m late.”
“The concept of this coat is so that everyone can feel like they have a girlfriend,” says Hikaru Sugira, the hardware engineer behind the garment.
The coat is currently unavailable to consumers.
This is truly adorable, if not slightly weird. How many people out there just want someone to cuddle with? Sometimes, an Ryan Gosling body pillow just doesn’t cut it.
The university the students attend are also looking into a kissing stimulator – that is a whole other thing.These people may just change what it means to be intimate.
Have you ever wondered what your shoes would say if they talked? Now you don’t have to as Google and Adidas unveiled the Talking Shoe, their new joint project, at SxSW. Sure there are other tech shoes out there that can track how far you can run but can they tell you to get off your lazy butt? Well The Talking Shoe can since it has a speaker built into the shoe’s tongue and is capable of saying up to 250 phrases. Of course, it can also track your performance, give you feedback, and help share your info on social media.
While as amazing as that sounds, what’s even better is that the shoes are sassy! Not only does it come with the iconic three-striped Adidas design and Bluetooth technology, but it appears to possess some British snark via its computerized Brit accent. Personally I would have loved it if they got Michael Cain or Adele to do the voice-over of the shoes, but that would be too much of a good thing. This would be great for those of us who need some trash talking and insults to incite some motivation to hit the gym. May I suggest a surly Simon Cowell, an intimidating Naomi Campbell, or a terrifying Gordon Ramsay to shame us into shape? Just a suggestion.
Fashion wise, I like how they incorporated the Google colours into the sleek black shoes. Read more…
Little Riley was on the right track when she went on a little rant on how toys were being marketed to girls and boys back in 2011. ”Why does [sic] all the girls have to buy pink stuffs and all the boys have to buy coloured stuffs?” she asked.
Why indeed. Unfortunately for Riley, this this blatantly sexist marketing scheme doesn’t stop at kids toys. It also extends to how adults are being marketed to, even three years after one little girl’s rant.
Take for example, the ePad Femme, a tablet made especially for women.
Yes, that’s right—a tablet just for us, ladies.
Created by the Middle East-based Eurostar Group, this pink (surprise!) tablet comes with pre-loaded apps because apparently, we’re apparently really stupid when it comes to technology. Included among the pre-loaded apps are a grocery list app, a pregnancy app, recipe app and the Women’s Assistant app that provides you with weight-loss tips at a moment’s notice. The background is also a “pleasant” pink to satisfy every woman’s pink radar.
The blatantly stupid piece of technology has only sold 7,000 as of Mid-February. It’s actually kind of incredibly offensive on how stupid and superficial Eurostar thinks women are. If anyone had the balls to give this to their significant other as a Valentine’s Day gift (as it was previously marketed as), I hope the got a swift kick to their nether regions. According to Mashable, Saudi feminist blogger Eman Al Nafjan says ”this is just another way to give women information targeted at pleasing their husbands,” adding that many women are tech-savvy having spent a lot of time on the internet considering they are not allowed to travel without their husband or a male relative.
Too bad this wasn’t the only stupid product to be marketed towards women. Remember…
1. The Bic Pens for Her
2. F-Cup Cookies
A couple of weeks ago, we showed you a video about how one engineer built a machine to cleanly remove the cream from his oreo cookies. This week, we found a more entertaining, i.e. more badass, way of doing the same job.
Jörg Sprave built a wooden pump gun which uses elastic bands to shoot and separate the cookies. Sprave simply loads oreos into his toy gun and shoots them out.
While it lacks the finesse and precision of our dear engineer’s machine, it doesn’t mean it looks any less badass. He even shoots some oreos at ballistic gel, the same stuff the MythBusters use to mimic the human body.
Luckily for us, the worst the oreo will do is probably bruise a person. Just don’t be a dumbass and aim the toy gun at places you shouldn’t be aiming.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
A new batch of celebrities have fallen victim to yet another hacking scandal.
The site exposed.su has posted the personal financial information of 17 including Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Ashton Kutcher and Mel Gibson, according to the National Post. The site also went beyond the reach of Hollywood and has exposed politicians such as First Lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden. It most recently added entries on Britney Spears and Sarah Palin on Monday.
Most of the information in the “dox” can be found on public record but what’s worrying is that the site was also able to obtain social security numbers. They used that information to access credit reports, loan and mortgage information for nearly all celebrities they have exposed.
Included in the various reports, is a American Express bill issued to Jay Z which shows an outstanding balance of $227,115, a mortgage statement for Kim Kardashian who has a remaining $5.85 million, and a credit score on Paris Hilton (which, by the way, was very good).
Various policing agencies such as the LAPD (who have had their own chief of police exposed in the reports), FBI and credit agencies are all investigating, according to Gawker. There is no apparent motive as of yet.
Google Glass have got your back, boys! Picture this: you’re on a blind date, you settle in and start to engage in some awkward banter but then you get bored, what to do? Well in a YouTube video uploaded by DartanionLondon, we see what one dude can do to impress his date and keep himself occupied. Does the girl catch on? And check out the surprise ending!
Just for some context, these cool specs haven’t been released yet but according to ZDNet, Google promises to let users browse a map, check mail and record a video right from your headset without moving a finger. This device can also take pics without anyone knowing. Can you say invasion of privacy?
I mean no one wants to have that drunken conversation with their ex uploaded onto YouTube. Let’s keep some things private.
In an effort to raise awareness of tiger conservation efforts, the Zoological Society of London recently set up a cat map.
Cat owners from around the world can register their cat’s name, colour, age, description and a photo of their cat on the map. The project was initially created to help track the cat population in London, England, including the zoo’s brand new pair of Sumatran tigers.
“Our two new tigers are big cat news, bit we think little cats are important too,” said ZSL web lead Filip Hnizdo to Metro News in the U.K. “Tigers are the world’s favorite animal, and an iconic species in every culture — we want to see just how important their smaller counterparts are to London’s residents.”
According to the ZSL, only 300 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild today.
Too bad cats can’t use computers because this would be the perfect cat dating website (for both small and big cats). Unless, someone already created one?! We’re going to go and Google that one…
Japanese clothing store United Arrows has developed technology to get their display mannequins to mimic anyone standing in front of the display. Called “MarionetteBots,” the monkey-see-monkey-do mannequins uses X-Box Kinect technology to track a customer’s moves which is then relayed to a special motor which pulls the strings on the plastic dolls.
It seems that only in Japan that people don’t find this creepy at all. Have they not watched the episode with the killer mannequins? Trust me, it’s a lot scarier than it sounds.
United Arrows also just had to up the creep factor with an upbeat rendition of “I Wanna Be Loved By You.” Ugh, so much for sleeping tonight.
Facebook used to be THE place to connect with friends, share photos and invite people to events, however, with the hella-crazy rise of other mediums like Instagram (which, technically Facebook now owns), Twitter and Pinterest, a lot of people are all “Facebook pages are sooo old school.”
New technology dies out faster than Taylor Swift’s latest relationship — think back to when MySpace, MSN or ICQ was the sh*t (stumped you with the last one didn’t I?). Now we’re starting to wonder if Facebook is next…
Of course, Facebook is trying to keep up to date, announcing today that they’ll offer a new social search feature. Now you’ll be able to internally search for things like “friends from Japan” or “photos I took in NYC” in a graph search bar.
Buzzfeed found a bunch of teens who claim they don’t use Facebook anymore and while I’m skeptical, you gotta wonder if Facebook is going to stick around forever or if another site will conquer it in the next couple years.
Do you still use Facebook or do you think it’s dying out?
10 teens who aren’t using Facebook anymore:
In addition to taking excellent stills, today’s DSLR’s (Digital Single Lens Reflex) are being used by professional photographers/videographers to capture excellent quality video footage. Unfortunately, the audio quality by way of the DSLR’s built-in mics often don’t match up to the DSLRs spectacular video quality. Coming to the rescue is the FR-310 shotgun style mic by MXL which can record audio of much higher quality.
Quality Construction
Of solid metal construction, the FR-310 microphone is durable and light weight, typically mounting right above, on the DSLR’s hot shoe for positioning. The short tip/ring/sleeve mini cable running out of the rear of the FR-310 will connect to the audio input jack in the DSLR. Audio attenuation is controlled on the side of the FR-310 by sliding the Low/Medium/High switch to the desired position. The FR-310 mic has a custom fitted windscreen to help block out wind noise when capturing Audio/Video outside. A base roll off switch can be used to cut low frequency noise. The overall audio result is best described as ‘a more focused sound’.
Plenty of Power
A single AAA alkaline battery provides up to 500 hours of power to the FR-310 and a red LED light on the side of the FR-310 will notify the user when the battery power is low and needs to be replaced. Everything is good with the FR-310, the weight, the build quality, solid mono sound. The FR-310 is a welcomed and useful addition for DSLR video, (over riding the internal operations of the DSLR), is easy to set up and is a much better than the internal DSLR microphone.
Directional
A Shotgun mic is highly directional with significantly less sensitive to the side and rear in order to be able to pick up sounds from a fair distance in front of the direction in which the mic is pointed. The FR-310, which is a shotgun mic, does a very good job of reducing background noise. So if recording interviews and speeches where a mono signal is adequate then there is no need to look any further, add the FR-310 microphone to your production toolbox today.
Tech specs
Transducer: Electret Condenser
Polar Pattern: Supercardioid
Frequency Response: 40Hz to 20kHz
Output Impedance: 250?
Low Frequency Roll-Off
-6dB/octave @ 150Hz
Gain -5dB, 0dB, +5dB
Battery Type/Life: 1.5V AAA battery, up to 500 hours
Output Connectors: 1 x 1/8″ TRS (3.5mm) stereo mini
Dimensions (Diam. x L): 2.5 x 5.3″ (64 x 135mm)
Weight: 4.8 oz (136g)
Product Highlights
• Mono
• Supercardioid Electret Condenser
• Variable Gain
• High-Pass Filter
• AAA Battery Powered
• Aluminum Flight Case
Retail Price: $129.95
Microphones are available in many shapes, sizes, qualities and price points. When good quality meets reasonable price, a winner is found. The MXL LSM-7GN Dynamic Microphone is a solid microphone at a reasonable price which can be used for live performances by vocalists/musicians. The MXL LSM-7GN is a hi impedance, Dynamic Microphone with an ON/Off switch for complete convenience. The LSM-7GN has a frequency response from 40 – 14 kHz which covers the main spectrum of human ear. The LSM-7GN cardioid pattern of the LSM-7GN helps reduce the possibility of un wanted feedback which is the common hazard for any sound engineer.
Out of the box, the sound quality of the MXL LSM-7GN Dynamic Microphone is clear and pleasant and the tones can be easily EQ’d to suit personal tastes. The MXL LSM-7GN Dynamic Microphone is ideal for the budget conscious performer and will prove to be reliable and convenient in both design and build – perfect for the budding performer.
Specifications:
Type: Dynamic
Frequency Response: 40 Hz-14 kHz
Polar pattern: Cardioid
Sensitivity: -54 dB re 1 V/Pa
Impedance: 600 ohms
Size: 180mm x 49mm/7.09 in. x 1.93 in
Weight: 0.61 lbs/277g
MRSP: $50.00
Visit the MXL web site here.
It’s amazing how gullible people can be when it comes to their technology. Apple debuts a shiny, new, kickass phone and no matter WTH you’re handed you’re going to think it’s awesome. Hand said technology aficionado an old model, a completely different phone — a banana for all I care — and call it an iPhone 5, they’re going to say it’s cool.
As we all know, iPhone unveiled the new iPhone 5 in San Francisco last Wednesday. Jimmy Kimmel decided to present the new model to iPhone users on the street, with one catch — they showed off the old model and pretended it was the new one.
The phone doesn’t look too different from the soon-to-be archaic model so it’s understandable why people would get confused, but it’s still hilarious that people will go cray over any old thing, just because they’re expecting epic-ness.
The video game industry hit a four-year low in May, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Video game sales apparently hit its lowest monthly U.S. profit since October 2006, totalling $743.1 million. That number may seem high, but it’s nothing compared to the $866.8 million of last year.
“A light slate of new releases is at the heart of this month’s performance,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “As a result of a lighter release slate, promotional activity at retail and in circulars was reduced as well, which undoubtedly affected not only planned but impulse purchases.”
Frazier says it is unfair to base all results on figures, though, as an increasing amount of video game sales derive from online or downloadable exclusive content purchases.
This year’s top selling game was ‘L.A. Noire,’ a murder-mystery action game set in old L.A.
I agree with the analyst. Much of today’s market comes from the online world, so we have to factor in the sales from that. I don’t think video games are going anywhere anytime soon.
Sony has introduced the new ‘PlayStation Vita’ handheld, reports CTV.
The company’s newest portable gaming machine, the ‘PlayStation Vita,’ is a touch-screen and motion-sensitive handheld that allows gamers to connect with one another over cellphone networks and Wi-Fi hotspots. The device can also use GPS location-tracking technology.
Much like the iPad, the device is available as a Wi-Fi-only version for $249, or a cellphone version which will retail for $299 and buyers will have to subscribe to a cellular data plan.
The Vita also has front and back cameras, a touchscreen in front, a touch pad on the back and two joysticks. Gamers can play against each other all around the world.
“PlayStation Vita will revolutionize the portable entertainment experience,” Kazuo Hirai, group chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., told a crowd at the unveiling. “The whole world is really in play.”
The device will go on sale before the winter holidays. This sounds cool, I probably won’t buy it just because I have enough technology devices as is, but I can appreciate its idea.
Google is unveiling a digital music service without any licensing deals after proving unable to come to an agreement with major labels, reports Billboard.
The service, which was introduced during a keynote today at a conference in San Francisco, will allow users to upload their music library to a personal online storage locker, where they can stream and download files from Internet connected devices.
This is pretty much the same as Amazon’s Cloud Drive, but with a few differences. Google’s service is available on a limited, invite-only basis limited to U.S. users and those wanting to use the service will have to request an invite at music.google.com, with priority given to those with the Motorola Xoom tablet and to attendees of the conference.
Additionally, Google is also limiting the number of songs that can be uploaded to the music locker to 20,000. The service is free while in beta, and the company would not comment on what future pricing options it may have planned.
“We’ve been in negotiations with the industry for a different set of features, with mixed results,” Google director of content partnerships Zahavah Levine says. ”[But] a couple of major labels were less focused on innovation and more on demanding unreasonable and unsustainable business terms.”
Seems like a cool idea. People definitely like fast technology, so this whole streaming and downloading thing sounds promising. But the idea also has some flaws. It’s limited availability is definitely not going to help them – people want things while its hot, and if they wait too long, nobody will want it in a couple months when it’s widely available.
Google has been really pushing forward these days, though. First the Android getting really great reviews and now this. Does Apple have some competition?
When I began my career in the graphics industry, almost 17 years ago, I would approach the design of any new logo by first taking out a pad of paper and a pencil and sketching out basic ideas before diving into any real concept creation. As computers and design software became more and more a part of the design process I tended to find myself heading to the computer immediately to put together my ideas. This only tended to result in a lot of time spent staring at a blank computer screen. As my business expanded and time became a more precious commodity I began to head back to my early days and approached my designs again with a pencil and paper before sitting down at the computer. This not only gave me more free time but helped me to increase the profitability of my business. The following is an outline of the design process I now take whenever I am creating a logo for a client. I hope it will inspire some of you to take pencil in hand prior to sitting down in front of the computer.
Core Practice Partners is a leading international expert in Labor Management for companies that don’t work a traditional “9 to 5″ schedule. Their clients have included such industry leaders as Kraft, BMW, and General Electric. Their approach to creating solutions for their clients is unique and their desire was to have a logo that was both professional and creative.
They approached my company with a few ideas of their own, but were very uncertain whether the look they truly wanted could be achieved. I first set up a phone conference with their president, John Frehse, to discuss the goals he had for the logo and how he wanted to be perceived by the clients he serviced. After our initial discussion I sat down at the drawing board to rough out some ideas for the logo. This is the normal approach that I take in the designing of any logo. It allows for the creation of many concepts within a short period of time and dramatically decreases the amount of time spent producing the initial concepts to be presented to the client.
Once I had 6-8 rough ideas conceived I then scanned in the designs and used them as templates for the creation of computer generated concepts. I typically place them in the background and insert text and graphics over the top. Once the groundwork has been laid in I then remove the sketch from the background and add the finishing touches.
The initial presentation to the client contained anywhere 4 concepts that I felt worked best with the impression they were looking to achieve. These first ideas were presented in black
About The Author
Sitecritic.net Website Reviews, Design Ideas is formed by a group of web addicts, mainly volunteers from all over the world. Our goal is to create a community of web designers and developers who share the common interest in bringing out the best in creatiing effective web sites.
admin@sitecritic.net
Everyone has heard that content is king when it comes to search engine optimization and just good old plain web site marketing smarts. But how you present that content on your site can also make a world of difference.
PHP is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language that lets you create dynamic web pages. PHP-enabled web pages are treated just like regular HTML pages and you can create and edit them the same way you normally create regular HTML pages.
Now here is were it gets interesting. Search engines like Google Yahoo and MSN love fresh new content that is changing on a daily basis. But if you are using a java script snippet the search engines will not be able to read the content. If however you are using a PHP type script the content will automatically be transformed into HTML and the search engines will be able to pick it up and read it.
The first thing you will need to do before you jump onto the PHP bandwagon is to make sure your web host provider has PHP support. Most do but if you are only paying for basic services or using a free host you may have to pay for an upgrade. It?s well worth it trust me.
One of the best PHP based scripts you can add to any web site is the forum or bulletin board. Forums will take on a life of their own after several 100 members have joined and are posting threads on a daily basis. If 100 members seems like a lot think again. I have one work from home internet business forum and after just 2 month I already have over 70 members. Each time someone posts to the forum the HTML changes and the search engines treat it as new content.
Another great PHP script you can add is the link directory. You can actually set up a categorized reciprocal link directory with 20 links on each page and the process is completely automated. I have mine set up so that I have to approve each link first but if you want you could by pass this so that once your script is set up the directory will just start to grow all on its own with no additional work on your part. Again each time someone adds a new link you HTML page is changing. Make sure you add categories that are relative to your main theme. My directory for example has categories for work from home , internet business and business opportunities because that?s what my web site is all about. Also make sure you have added instructions on how they can link back to you. This is the reason why I like to approve all my liks first. No reciprocal link back to my site NO directory listing.
PHP can also be used for blogging. WordPress is one of the most popular PHP script based blogging tools. I have not used WordPress but I do use blogger for all my blogging. A weblog (usually shortened to blog, but occasionally spelled web log) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually updated, tools to automate the maintenance of such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of “blogging”. With a blog or web log you can make daily posts on almost any subject matter creating new content for the search engines to crawl. To date Yahoo seems to be giving a bit of an edge to all my blogs incuding my work form home internet business news site. Ironically most of the post on that blog come from yahoo and or Google news. This is a great way to get free content on a daily basis for your blog. Just go to Google news or yahoo news and type in the keywords you are using for your blog. Each day there will be a new news article that you can legally use on your blog.
There are many more PHP scripts that you can use on your website to automatically create fresh new content with. The ones listed above are the ones I have downloaded for free and installed to my web host. If you are not using PHP now is a good time to get started.
About The Author
Tom Worsley is a successful work from home Internet marketer and independent representative for Strong Future International (SFI) http://freemoneymlm.com/make-money-from-home.html , Owner and Webmaster for http://kawarthapublishing.com & http://www.bigmoolla.com.
