retroremakes
February 8th, 2010, 23:20
In today's Remainders: tricks of all sorts. Wisair cuts some cords with their wireless display adapters; Netflix warns the FCC of potential loopholes in the Comcast/NBC merger; the inimitable BrussPup plays with our heads (and ping pong balls); and more.
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_remainders-1-wisair.jpg (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/remainders-1-wisair.jpg)Air Ball
I'm all for eliminating cords and wires whenever possible, so I was excited to hear that Wisair's wireless display adapters were coming to Macs by the end of March in products from at least four OEMs. My excitement evaporated when I looked at InFocus's Wisair setup, which incorporates a display, speakers, mouse and keyboard into one unsightly package. If you're looking to get rid of wires for aesthetic reasons, like me, you'll share my hope that some of the other Wisair-based systems will be a little sleeker and a little more flexible. Because making me use your keyboard, mouse, display, and speakers isn't removing clutter from my desk, it's adding it. [Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/wisair-based-wireless-display-adapters-head-to-macs/)]
Tech TV
It seems that with each passing year the Super Bowl's commercials get a little less exciting. Or maybe it's me getting a little more cynical. Either way—Parisian Love (http://gizmodo.com/5465890/what-superbowl-ad-has-google-ceo-eric-schmidt-all-atwitter) aside—seeing high profile, memorable tech commercials during football's big game is increasingly uncommon. Thankfully, Computer World offers a trip down memory lane, collecting the ten most memorable Super Bowl tech ads of all time, starting all the way back with Xerox's "Monks" spot from 1976 and continuing up through today. There's no sudsy Megan Fox, but maybe that's a good thing. [Computer World (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9152078/Top_10_Super_Bowl_tech_ads?taxonomyId=12&pageNumber=2)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_500x_netflix.jpgTo Xfinity and Beyond
Netflix is understandably worried about the impending Comcast / NBC merger. In a recent FCC filing, they warned that if net neutrality policies aren't strengthened and enforced, Comcast could effectively use a loophole to promote NBC content on its own streaming services and keep that content off of others. And they have good reason to worry: as physical disc-dealing loses ground to streaming services, Netflix will have to keep up with companies who own the content and the means of providing it to stay in the game. [Washington Post (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/02/netflixs_main_business_--_dvds.html?wprss=posttech)]
Pup Pong
BrussPup, not content simply to blow our minds with his painters tape anamorphic illusions (http://gizmodo.com/5465883/a-brief-survey-of-recent-tape+based-anamorphic-illusions), posted "iBall" last night, a tech-trick of a slightly different variety. With some very careful timing, he plays a video of a ping pong ball back across four different displays, making look like he's dumping the ball from device to device. Pretty neat. Also, keep an eye out for pieces of the glowing Nintendo controller illusion that are still up in his hallway. That's dedication. Or maybe laziness. [BrussPup on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/brusspup)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/GBPZelIZBDU
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GBPZelIZBDU/)
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_remainders-1-wisair.jpg (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/remainders-1-wisair.jpg)Air Ball
I'm all for eliminating cords and wires whenever possible, so I was excited to hear that Wisair's wireless display adapters were coming to Macs by the end of March in products from at least four OEMs. My excitement evaporated when I looked at InFocus's Wisair setup, which incorporates a display, speakers, mouse and keyboard into one unsightly package. If you're looking to get rid of wires for aesthetic reasons, like me, you'll share my hope that some of the other Wisair-based systems will be a little sleeker and a little more flexible. Because making me use your keyboard, mouse, display, and speakers isn't removing clutter from my desk, it's adding it. [Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/wisair-based-wireless-display-adapters-head-to-macs/)]
Tech TV
It seems that with each passing year the Super Bowl's commercials get a little less exciting. Or maybe it's me getting a little more cynical. Either way—Parisian Love (http://gizmodo.com/5465890/what-superbowl-ad-has-google-ceo-eric-schmidt-all-atwitter) aside—seeing high profile, memorable tech commercials during football's big game is increasingly uncommon. Thankfully, Computer World offers a trip down memory lane, collecting the ten most memorable Super Bowl tech ads of all time, starting all the way back with Xerox's "Monks" spot from 1976 and continuing up through today. There's no sudsy Megan Fox, but maybe that's a good thing. [Computer World (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9152078/Top_10_Super_Bowl_tech_ads?taxonomyId=12&pageNumber=2)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_500x_netflix.jpgTo Xfinity and Beyond
Netflix is understandably worried about the impending Comcast / NBC merger. In a recent FCC filing, they warned that if net neutrality policies aren't strengthened and enforced, Comcast could effectively use a loophole to promote NBC content on its own streaming services and keep that content off of others. And they have good reason to worry: as physical disc-dealing loses ground to streaming services, Netflix will have to keep up with companies who own the content and the means of providing it to stay in the game. [Washington Post (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/02/netflixs_main_business_--_dvds.html?wprss=posttech)]
Pup Pong
BrussPup, not content simply to blow our minds with his painters tape anamorphic illusions (http://gizmodo.com/5465883/a-brief-survey-of-recent-tape+based-anamorphic-illusions), posted "iBall" last night, a tech-trick of a slightly different variety. With some very careful timing, he plays a video of a ping pong ball back across four different displays, making look like he's dumping the ball from device to device. Pretty neat. Also, keep an eye out for pieces of the glowing Nintendo controller illusion that are still up in his hallway. That's dedication. Or maybe laziness. [BrussPup on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/brusspup)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=GBPZelIZBDU:ELOdIjd795I:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/GBPZelIZBDU
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GBPZelIZBDU/)