Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Kindle Fire - touch - keyboard

Nowadays it has become for companies almost impossible to keep their launches in secrecy, the last time someone really pulled a surprise was Apple in 2007, nobody was ready for the iPhone reveal.


We knew that Amazon was about to reveal a small form factor tablet, but we were not sure it would be a kindle, an the rumors also point out that this is only the beginning, we are supposed to see 10 inchers in the next weeks.

The kindle lineup grew and we know have some remarkable items that are really interesting.

When my students (high schoolers in love with their blackberries) try my kindle (the now so called kindle keyboard) they always touch it, they are really used to that interaction, I have to explain to them that you navigate with the buttons to the side, but that is no longer the case, the new Kindle touch is a really remarkable achievement, a touchable screen with e-ink readability, I want someone to buy one so I can compare it to my Kindle Keyboard, but the only problem I have with it is the color, I like the graphite one so much more.

The kindle fire runs android (as we knew it would) and takes advantage of the store amazon had been prepping up to this point, and it was announced a few days before this launch that this is now a global store.

If we are to stay realistic , the Kindle fire is no iPad killer, it is a threat to the nook color and a nicely priced tablet that will be an interesting proposition.

The iPad was the cheapest option for a tablet with that size (people don't realize that sometimes) and the Kindle fire is in a different league, some like the 7 inchers better and with the price of the fire now someone with a real grasp of the business can finally present an option to the ipad, so let us hope that Google and amazon can make this really appealing.

I just want to know what happened to the DX Will we see it ever again? and I believe the only reason the kindle keyboard still exist is to deplete their stock without discounts and to avoid price protection complaints for the jerks (like me) that had just bought one.

Dear Customers,

There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more, and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp.

These are high-end products – the best Kindles we’ve ever made. Kindle and Kindle Touch have the most-advanced E Ink display technology available, and the 3G Kindle Touch adds free 3G wireless – no monthly fees and no annual contracts. Kindle Fire brings everything we’ve been working on at Amazon for 15 years together into a single, fully-integrated experience for customers – instant access to Amazon’s massive selection of digital content, a vibrant color IPS touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle, a 14.6 ounce design that’s easy to hold with one hand, a state-of-the-art dual core processor, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, and an ultra-fast mobile browser – Amazon Silk – available exclusively on Kindle Fire.

We are building premium products and offering them at non-premium prices.

Thank you for being a customer,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO

p.s. – Kindle Fire has a radical new web browser called Amazon Silk. When you use Silk – without thinking about it or doing anything explicit – you’re calling on the raw computational horsepower of Amazon EC2 to accelerate your web browsing. If you're curious, watch this short video to learn more about how it works.



Lo más interesante del kindle fire además del precio (bastante bueno si no hay que pagar fletes e impuestos) es su tecnología para el navegador SILK que nos recuerda los intentos de America online y Opera para hacer que la navegación sea más luida, más fácil y con un menor traslado de datos de y hacia las terminales, en este caso haciendo uso del Amazon Elastic compute cloud (a lo que en un ataque les ha dado por llamar EMC2)

Acá está un paseo por Silk, el cloud powered browser de Amazon

The one when we say "DRM blows" yet again

I was so happy when my starwars: The complete saga finally got here, but alas, the stupid jerks sons of bitches in fox screwed us all once again.

My software of choice for watching bluray movies on my PC (intel core i7 2600 with a geforce GTX470 and 8 gigs of RAM) is cyberlink's PowerDVD (I was happy with version 10) and it just so happens that version 8 (came with the bluray drive but no real 5.1 sound) and 9 (came with the soundcard but no bluray playback)
are not useful either, I was willing to take the plunge and pay the outrageous price (even with the so called discount) they're asking for version 11, so I downloaded the trial and all I got was a Red screen telling me to update my software, I did, now I'm running version 10.0.3306.54 and no luck, Starwars bluray disc 1-6 wont play on my PC, I was so desperate that I even dabbled on the idea of using windvd again (it was my darling on those good days of yore when DVDs were the non plus ultra) but I was not willing to pay for it without knowing if it would play, I scourged the net and found out that people were able to watch them with version 9 but artifacts were present, it is a sad day when we realize cyberlink can not figure this out but other have.

I decided to give TotalMedia Theatre 5 a shot and downloaded the demo, installed it (ugly piece of sotware that requires a restart and enables a connection TM SERVER to the net) and it can play the discs (artifacts included) but only if you allow even more problems in your pc, avira detects the file PCK/Themida they use whenever you start the playback eleven when they say it might be innocuous, and this software is even pricier, so, for the moment fox has screwed us and you need a standalone player in order to watch the movies, I believe they pulled a similar shit on the X-Men: First Class bluray release as well.

I did pay for this movies but the jerks at fox are forcing me to rip them and I will have to share them, I guess they will be OK with this since the release of star wars broke records for the format and they are just Ok with making paying customer's lives hell

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Deus Ex: The missing fridges



Some jerk over youtube had already done something like this, use unconscious bodys as weapons in Deus Ex: Human revolution, now it appears this is an officially sanctioned way to play the game, a fifth pillar if you will

Saturday, September 24, 2011

What now?

Are you aware that I change jobs so fast and so often because I'm so nice (and stupid) that I can never say no to the guys that offer me a job?

I mean, look at the unemployment rates all over the world and like that some guy approaches me and explodes into congratulatory speech making remarks about my intelligence and how they'd be so happy of having me working with them and I fall every single time, I say yes, then I realize what just happened and throw myself into it, like the bull in the china store, that is why now that I'm 30 years old my resume is so long that I need to start grouping the periods I've worked for the same company.

I never want to "betray" anyone and I believe all my employers can say that when I'm with them I become a believer, I always wear the team colors and that shows even in some interviews when they ask for my former company and I still say: "us", "we", "our warehouse", etc , but this is what I've detected and trust me, I'm working on it, I will copy the slogan "No means no" and I will ask for a friend to do the negotiations for the salary.

My life is a mess right now and there are so many things and jerks involved in the genesis of this that is useless to go over it again, i will confess that changing locations would be a more than welcomed trade off.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Deus Ex: Icarus Effect

UDeus Ex: Icarus Effectn tal James Swallow (que tiene un amplio recorrido con los libros del universo Warhammer 40,000) y que la parecer es una máquina, es un autor muy prolífico y bastante capaz de empaparse de un universo para lanzar material adicional (ese que los fans de Star Wars conocemos como Extended universe) ese que es tan cuestionado, criticado y denostado, pero que a veces es bastante bueno..pero me desvío, ese señor Swallow ha hecho esta precuela para la precuela (human revolution) del Deus Ex original (uno de los mejores juegos de la historia) y que deja la mesa puesta, el escenario explicado y el tono bien definido para los verdaderos entusiastas de la franquicia.

Como niño con juguete nuevo, de verdad que se siente mucho más 2011-ish el hecho de poder comprar un libro en segundos, no tener que esperar un flete que contamina y que las editoras no traigan un libro a tu mercado porque no es rentable.

Lo estoy leyendo en paralelo con muchos otros, y ya comencé a jugar Human revolution, pero créanme que ya les contaré cuando termine.

“In the near future, with physical augmentation gaining ground and nano-cybernetics only years away, the dawn of limitless human evolution is just beyond the horizon, and a secret corporate cabal of ruthless men intends to make sure that humankind stays under its control. But two people on opposite sides of the world are starting to ask questions that could get them killed.

Secret Service agent Anna Kelso has been suspended for investigating the shooting that claimed her partner’s life. Anna suspects that the head of a bio-augmentation firm was the real target, and against orders she’s turned up a few leads concerning a covert paramilitary force and a cadre of underground hackers. But the cover-up runs deep, and now there’s a target on her back. Meanwhile, Ben Saxon, former SAS officer turned mercenary, joins a shadowy special ops outfit. They say they’re a force for good, but Saxon quickly learns that the truth is not so clear-cut. So begins a dangerous quest to uncover a deadly secret that will take him from Moscow to London, D.C. to Geneva, and to the dark truth if he lives that long.

The year is 2027; in a world consumed by chaos and conspiracy, two people are set on a collision course with the most powerful and dangerous organization in history and the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.”



Algunas ligas para saber más
Esta es un conversación en audio (en inglés claro, pero ya me han acusado de querer que los no angloparlantes salten del tren hace años)
¿todos le ponen igual a sus textos? ¿ven como el SEO arruina la originalidad en la red?
Y otra más (si, en inglés)



IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. BUT YOU CAN SEE IT FROM HERE.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The one with the media consumption trends

I really like the pace and topics the guys at MBA Online deal with in their releases, this really is one about things that interest me.


Media Consumption - 2011

Sadly, down here in this banana republic some "SME" will copy this data or republish it and then in two or three years will appear on campus party and some jerks will say he or she is really forward looking