March 31, 2014
"Thunderstruck" Covered on Cellos

2 Men With Their Cellos covering one of the greatest rock songs ever.

Things get going around 1:00 in, if you feel the need to fast forward.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:03 PM
Mysterious Fluid Appears to Freeze and Boil at the Same Time

We all learned in elementary school about how water has three states, solid (ice), liquid (water) and gas (boiling). How about this Mysterious Fluid that Appears to Freeze and Boil at the Same Time?

Witchcraft I say!

Posted by Arcterex at 01:50 PM
March 28, 2014
Crazy and Dangerous Australia

37 Pictures That Prove Australia Is The Craziest over on buzzfeed.

I think I’ll just hide at home.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:49 PM
March 27, 2014
Microsoft Office for iPad

Microsoft Office for iPad Review from Paul Thurrott.

The rumors are true: By the time you read this you should be able to download Office for iPad, the first full-featured version of Microsoft Office for a mobile platform. As I had expected, Office for iPad fills a useful niche between Office Mobile for smart phone handsets and the more full-featured Office we see in Windows and on the Mac. But Office for iPad has been written from the ground up for Apple’s device. And the only thing holding it back, really, is Apple’s antiquated mobile OS.

Finally.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:59 AM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Trailer

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES - Official Trailer (2014):

Now there’s a lot to think about here. I don’t like that it looks like it’s an origin story, and how (I’m guessing) they’re going to explain the turtles. They don’t need explaining. They’re teenage mutant ninja turtles. Nothing more needed. Then there’s Michael Bay. I see lensflare in the future. Though I see some good here.

If you’re looking for more, check out the reddit discussion thread.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:51 AM
March 26, 2014
Twitter Updates Mobile Apps, Adds Tagging and Multiple Image Display

Twitter introduces photo tagging, multiple photos in a single tweet, without affecting your character count.

Interesting to see how this will change things (I can’t wait for the twitter image tag spam to start). Wonder if other apps will follow suit with similar updates and support (I’m looking at you Tweetbot).

Posted by Arcterex at 04:09 PM
GNOME 3.12 Changes in Video

GNOME 3.12 video changelog.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:10 PM
Amazing Video of A Rescue From a Fire Near AIG Campus

Jim at Loop Insight calls it a Harrowing rescue. I call it an OMGWTFHSOMGOMG rescue. Make sure you watch it to the end, it’s not over when you think it’s over.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:47 AM
March 25, 2014
Microsoft open-sources MS-DOS

Microsoft open-sources MS-DOS. Wow.

You can grab the code and re-live the world of single user, single tasking, not having to worry about shutting your computer down, rebooting to “fix” things, or just search through the source code comments for naughty words.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:22 PM
Gulf Photo Plus 2014 Shootout Video is Live

Gulf Photo Plus 2014 Shootout Video is Live. I wish I could express how excited I am that this is posted.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:35 AM
GNOME Software 3.12.0 Released

GNOME Software 3.12.0 Released!

Not a huge number of improvements it seems, some nice tweaks and under-the-hood improvements it looks like though.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:45 AM
March 24, 2014
X-Men: Days of Future Past Second Trailer

A second trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past was released this morning.

Looking forward to this…

Posted by Arcterex at 02:18 PM
How to Build a Maze

How to Build a Maze:

Our objective here is to create a perfect maze, the simplest type of maze for a computer to generate and solve. A perfect maze is defined as a maze which has one and only one path from any point in the maze to any other point. This means that the maze has no inaccessible sections, no circular paths, no open areas. 

If you’re bored today, here’s something to pass the time.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:17 PM
March 20, 2014
My Experience using a Bitcoin ATM

My Experience using a Bitcoin ATM:

In my opinion, the current state of Bitcoin ATM machines are a stark reminder of how raw bitcoin is at the moment. It is simply not ready for normal consumer use yet.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:58 AM
March 19, 2014
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Final Trailer

Here’s the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Final Trailer:

Posted by Arcterex at 10:30 AM
March 17, 2014
Microsoft Announces Surface 2 LTE

Microsoft Surface 2 LTE is out and is the next logical step for mobile computing. Kinda. Tablets have had LTE for a couple of years now, but the Surface 2 (being a bit of an odd duck stuck between tablet and laptop) is getting it now.

Microsoft announced today that a long-expected new Surface model, the Surface 2 (AT&T 4G LTE), will be available for purchase starting to tomorrow. This LTE-equipped version of the Windows RT 8.1-powered Surface 2 device commands a $130 premium over a similarly equipped Surface 2, and will retail for $679. Whether this new model is worth such a heady sum is of course up to the buyer.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:11 AM
March 14, 2014
More About the Pono Player

Read about the Pono player from Neil Young and think there’s something suspicious about it but don’t have any references to convince your audiophile friends chomping at the bit (pardon the pun) for this? Check out the great collection of reading material on Pono that @marcoarment put together.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:07 PM
March 13, 2014
Drone with Camera Flies Into Active Volcano

Oh wow: Dji Phantom flies into Volcano

Posted by Arcterex at 12:39 PM
March 12, 2014
Behind the Scenes of Obama's "Between Two Ferns"

Behind the Scenes of Obama’s “Between Two Ferns” is a great look at how they got the president to play along and really embrace doing the show. Pretty amazing.

To find out exactly how it happened and what it was like to work with the Commander-in-Chief, we spoke with Scott Aukerman, host of IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang! (the third season premieres on IFC on May 8) and executive producer and director of “Between Two Ferns.” He talks about how the White House let them get away with basically everything, how the president was easier to work with than some celebrities, and what it was like to give notes to the most powerful man on earth.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:10 PM
Bad Words Official Red Band

Pretty sure I’ve posted the Bad Words Official Red Band Trailer before, but listening to Jason Bateman being interviewed on the Howards Stern show made me watch it again. And share it again. Oooh yea.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:53 PM
Neil Young's New Music Player Pono Kickstarter

Neil Young’s Pono kickstarter crushes fundraising goal.

If all I did was listen to what the critics were saying, I would have assumed that Neil Young would have difficulty raising money for his new Pono Player. But contrary to expectations, Mr. Young is crushing it, at least financially.

Currently over $1,000,000 of the $800,000 goal with 34 days to go. However, from what I can tell it’s going to be a bust (outside of the kickstarter backers).

It is an odd shaped (triangles?), FLAC playing (don’t most android phones play FLAC already?), device that will cost $400, and have it’s own store. So you end up having to re-buy all the music you already have from iTunes / Google / CDs again, and hope that the music listening experience is as mindblowingly different than your 320kb ripped MP3s, without having to spend $900 on a pair of audiophile-approved headphones.

Honestly I don’t think that this will be a blip on the radar of anyone outside the audiophile community, who pay $200 for gold plated connectors anyway. Honestly even if it is mindblowingly different, is that enough for the common man to put another device in his pocket, just when he’s gotten rid of his iPod and replaced it with a smartphone?

Guess we’ll see.

The linked critique is indeed fairly scathing, and honestly, not unexpected based on where it’s coming from.

Pono Music was launched by Neil Young and its easy to see that this device was created by old school music big wigs with very little knowledge about technology or design.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:38 AM
March 11, 2014
Kevin Bacon on 80s Awareness

Kevin Bacon shares hilarious message for millennials: You don’t know the ’80s

Check out his hilarious PSA below, in which he calls the under-30 crowd out for not truly understanding how hard life was back then. At least he doesn’t mention having to walk to school in the snow uphill both ways.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:49 PM
March 10, 2014
Synology Releases DiskStation Manager 5.0

Any Synology users in the crowd? You’ll be happy to hear that DSM 5.0 is out.

TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Synology® today announced the availability of the official version of DiskStation Manager (DSM) 5.0, the latest NAS operating system that runs on DiskStations and RackStations. “Designed with an entirely new interface and loaded with a myriad of new features, DSM 5.0 is built to redefine how people think about NAS,” said Alex Wang, CEO of Synology Inc. DSM 5.0 offers: [….]

Posted by Arcterex at 04:47 PM
What to do in Canada

What to do in Canada

Looks like a standard day for me….

Posted by Arcterex at 11:26 AM
Facebook Revamps Pages

The Next Web: Facebook revamps Pages on the desktop with new one-column Timeline design to match user profiles

The biggest change is that the Timeline for Pages now puts all posts into one column, just like on user profiles. As a result, posts will appear the same on your Page as they do in the News Feed.

Looking forward to this. I’m still waiting for the March 2013 announced new timeline look though too.

Remember you can follow UFies over on Facebook as well, if you’re interested in that.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:55 AM
Apple releases iOS 7.1

Well, I’ve been checking all week, and today Apple releases iOS 7.1. Lots of fun stuff and improvements.

As we previously reported to expect in March, Apple has released its iOS 7.1 software update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users. The software update delivers a number of user interface tweaks and much needed bug improvements and dramatically faster animations and transitions.

As with most things, I’m upgrading without even looking to see if people are having problems first. That’s the sort of daredevil that I am :)

Posted by Arcterex at 10:33 AM
Bill Gates's Accomplishemnts

Most of what I know about Bill Gates is from the Dark Days of the Linux / Windows battles of the late 90’s and early ’00s. Reading through the list of stuff he’s done I have to say he sounds like a pretty kick ass guy. Though I don’t know about his kids ‘making their own way’ with only the $10m…..

Posted by Arcterex at 09:59 AM
William Shakespeare Presents: Terminator the Second

William Shakespeare Presents: Terminator the Second is probably the strangest thing I found for you this morning.

William Shakespeare Presents: Terminator the Second - Official Trailer from Husky Jackal on Vimeo.

Via JWZ.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:50 AM
March 07, 2014
Behind the stick of the SR-71

Flying the world’s fastest plane: Behind the stick of the SR-71 is an amazing writeup about flying one of the most awesome planes built, ever.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:06 PM
March 06, 2014
Fantastic New Evernote Workflow For Alfred

If you’re on a mac and not using Alfred, that’s just silly, but if you’re an Evernote user you’re relaly missing out. There’s a great new Evernote Workflow for alfred that really rocks.

To keep Evernote at your fingertips, Carlos A. Sztoltz has created a fantastic workflow we’ve been using daily alongside Evernote.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:38 PM
Bitcoin Creator Identified

Newsweek has found The Face Behind Bitcoin by, shockingly, looking him up.

“I don’t think he’s in any trouble,” I say. “I would like to ask him about Bitcoin. This man is Satoshi Nakamoto.” “What?” The police officer balks. “This is the guy who created Bitcoin? It looks like he’s living a pretty humble life.”

Turns out Satoshi Nakamoto is the guys real name.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:24 AM
March 05, 2014
Solar System Map If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel....

If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel - A tediously accurate map of the solar system. I’ve linked to items like this before, and I will again I’m sure. It’s fascinating to see just how tiny we are in the universe.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:13 PM
March 04, 2014
Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface

A really interesting look at Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface from someone moving from an iPad

Basic things that should really not be complicated are borderline impossible on Windows. For example, how do you create a bootable clone of your hard disk, so that you can boot from an identical external USB hard disk in case the internal disk goes belly-up? On a Mac, you just download Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper17 and run it. In case of emergency, connect the external disk, start the Mac, hit Option, select the external disk, you’re done.

Also:

That’s not an isolated example. Finding software for Windows is a nightmare. Windows users sometimes complain that Mac software is expensive. Maybe it is, but on the plus side, it generally tends to work, and typically doesn’t fill your computer with adware and browser toolbars and background processes that install weird buttons in the toolbars of all of your freaking windows.

It’s definitely not a Windows 8 / Surface hate-fest, or an iPad love fest. He finds lots wrong on both sides of the fence, with the conclusions reached fairly interesting.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:26 PM
Linux Critical Crypto Bug

Sadly open source isn’t invulnerable to security bugs either, even with source code seen by hundreds of eyes. A Critical crypto bug leaves Linux, hundreds of apps open to eavesdropping since 2005:

The bug is the result of commands in a section of the GnuTLS code that verify the authenticity of TLS certificates, which are often known simply as X509 certificates. The coding error, which may have been present in the code since 2005, causes critical verification checks to be terminated, drawing ironic parallels to the extremely critical “goto fail” flaw that for months put users of Apple’s iOS and OS X operating systems at risk of surreptitious eavesdropping attacks. Apple developers have since patched the bug.

However, fixes have started rolling out already.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:33 PM
Radio Shack Catalogs Archive

Now that Radio Shack is shutting down, you may want to reminisce by going through an archive of Radio Shack Catalogs from 1939 to current.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:29 PM
March 03, 2014
All About Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Siri

Microsoft’s answer to Siri is profiled over at The Verge.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:20 AM