Code Retard » Art

Sneak Preview: Doxie scanner from Apparent Corporation

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Apparent Corporation, makers of the popular Intelliscanner barcode scanners, has announced that their new Doxie document scanner is in private beta-testing and on track for release to the public in November, 2009.
Doxie is a USB-powered 600-dpi photo, document, and receipt scanner designed to integrate with a number of undisclosed Web and Mac apps. While I’m personally disappointed that Apparent didn’t go with the pink and white Good & Plenty candy color scheme, the Doxie is heart-friendly and comes emblazoned with a number of pink hearts. The biggest heart is on the single scan button, which is just visible in the top right of the photo above. I was shocked to find a mistake in the press release, in which they said there were 9 hearts on the device. There are actually 10: one above the “i” in the logo, 8 after the logo, and one on the scan button.A cool thing about Doxie is that it will automatically know when you’re trying to scan a photo, clean up the photo (straighten it and trim if necessary), and then politely offer to put the photo into your iPhoto Library, Flickr pool, or other web apps. As an Apparent spokesperson noted, the company isn’t interested in coming out with yet another piece of software to store your receipts and documents. Instead, they want Doxie to work with as many existing Mac, Windows, and Web apps as possible. One comment from the developers that may point to some rather unique functionality is that they recommend using Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Doxie will retail for $129, and you can sign up for updates and early release information at the new website, which went live today.

The history of the mythical iTablet

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:45:00 +0000

Stefan Constantinescu of IntoMobile has written a lengthy piece dissecting the long, tortuous history of the Newton II/Apple Tablet/iTablet/Tablet Mac. It’s a pretty comprehensive look at seven years worth of speculation, rumor, outlandish analyst claims, more speculation, more rumor, and event after event with no release of what’s become Apple’s most infamous vaporware product.

The article is definitely worth a read (as long as you’re not sensitive to its occasionally salty language), but the conclusion Constantinescu reaches at the end of the article is perhaps most interesting of all:

“The Apple Tablet does not exist. What do I believe will happen? [...] I believe what will be announced at the end of this year, or early next year, is a new MacBook with a 10 or 11.6 inch screen. The screen may or may not be touch enabled. This will be the first Mac portable with a 16:9 aspect ratio LCD. Why wide? One reason: foot print. With a wide LCD, a laptop in the open/closed position can house a wider keyboard.”

While that certainly sounds plausible, there’s one thing I have to wonder: aside from a slightly wider keyboard and a possible touch screen, what distinguishes that theoretical miniature MacBook from the glut of netbooks made by other manufacturers, products that Apple has derided as underpowered machines that provide a dismal user experience?

While Apple does have a history of taking existing products, putting their own spin on them, and gaining industry laurels for innovation as a result (iMac, iPod), the introduction of a product like the one Constantinescu is talking about seems a little bit too much “Me too!” even for Apple. Such a device would also heavily cannibalize sales of the MacBook Air, to the point of making that device largely irrelevant.

After reading this piece, our own Aron Trimble noted, “I don’t think it makes any more sense to speculate on what Apple will not do than to speculate on what Apple will do.” Despite the fact that I pretty much did just the same thing, I agree with him.

The only thing that’s certain about all of this: until Apple releases something like an iTablet, or definitively says “We will never, ever make this product, and we mean it, pinky swear!” the speculation will never end.

What do you think? Do you agree with Constantinescu that the long-rumored Tablet Mac will never see the light of day? Let us know in the comments.

Good news, bad news: WD ships first 1 TB mobile drive, doesn’t fit in Mac laptops

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Yes, it’s a lot of storage — but the drive’s form factor won’t fit into any currently available Mac laptop. (Note the update at the end of this post)I was pretty excited when the Western Digital news release hit my inbox. The new drives, the industry’s first in that size for portables, have pretty good specs and capacious storage space. The problem really is the size. With Apple in the business of providing slim notebooks, the drive is just too tall (12.5mm) to make it into any Apple portable, which maxes out at a drive size of 9.5mm. The drive will be available in a USB enclosure, and WD is also offering a 750 GB version of the drive as well. The 1 TB drive lists for US$250, while the 750 GB drive is $189. Those prices are for the drive alone. Mounted in a USB enclosure the 1 TB drive sells for $300.Currently the largest 3rd party drives you can get in current Mac laptops max out at 500 GB.The Mac Mini may be able to house the new drive, but it would be a pretty tight fit, and according to our Steven Sande, may require the removal of the SuperDrive.Update: We’ve had a variety of responses to this post, with different ideas about which, if any laptops could take this new high capacity drive. I thought the quickest and best approach would be to try the experts at Other World Computing, who make a living selling replacement hard drives for Mac Desktops and portables. The tech there told me that the last generation 17″ MacBook Pro can take the 12.5mm drive, but that the 15″ model can’t. He also said none of the unibody MacBook Pro models can take a drive of that size. I’m sure some won’t accept this information either, but these were the most expert opinions we could find since Western Digital wasn’t sure and Apple doesn’t generally comment on such things. Since the drives are just shipping, we’ll wait for some real world experience and report back. Thanks to all who commented.

Cool Post-It Animation Video

adm_snackbar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:23:00 +0000

For his senior project, Bang-yau Liu created this nifty stop-motion video animated with Post-It notes. Post-Its have seen a recent surge in popularity in artists circles, so it’s nice to see a refreshing and well-done end product. Check out the video for that cool retro-gaming vibe we all dig so much. From Liu himself:

This is my senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design. Where my idea comes from is that every time when I am busy, I feel that I am not fighting with my works, I am fighting with those post-it notes and deadline.

Beautiful iPhone Brushes Sketches

adm_snackbar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:52:00 +0000

Check out these beautiful finger paintings done with the Brushes app by Jorge Colombo. He calls these iSketches and if you hit up his website you’ll see these stills animated. Who knew that the iPhone could be such a great artist’s canvas?

Images/Jorge Colombo

Super Mario Craft: Waluigi Crochet Amigurumi Plush

adm_snackbar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:54:46 +0000

Today we’re showcasing another fine piece of amigurumi craftsmanship (yeah we didn’t know what “amigurumi” was either until starwars.com told us): a Waluigi crochet plush! But today we stand better informed, thanks to the R2D2 artist herself, who had apparently heard of this term but had neglected to tell us when we showcased her R2D2 crochet plush toy last year. Shame on us, what kind of lousy geeks are we? So apparently amigurumi refers to the art of cutesy crochet craft of animals or characters. At any rate, this Super Mario Bros themed craft is another wonderfully cute amigurumi from the same craftswoman, who had help from the same person who cut out Artoo’s laser-precise felt detail.

We love Super Mario Bros just as much as we love Star Wars so don’t make us pick a favorite. Waluigi might be a bit of a polarizing character since he and Wario are kind of the bad guys in the later Super Mario series but we adore him just the same. This Waluigi crochet doesn’t have the detail intricacies as R2D2 but his body shape was much harder to crochet. Waluigi has the requisite pink nose, backwards “L” emblems on his hat and gloves, and the same insidious smile and mustache. From what we can tell, Waluigi is actually two pieces–the upper body which starts with the cap and ends with a round belly, and his overalls which actually wrap over his arms and belly and has his legs attached.

If you look closely enough, you’ll see the Waluigi shares Artoo’s glass bead eye and while very faithful to the real thing, has one small anomaly. We won’t give it away, but if you catch it you can make a guess in the comments. We didn’t even know about it until the artist informed us about this minor embarrassment.

Oh and Artoo says beep…

For more information on the artist who did this amazing piece of work, visit her website Cute Amigurumi! and check out her etsy store.

Rachmaninov had big Hands

Son Riku — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:48:01 +0000

Cat Killed by pretend gun

Son Riku — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:16:03 +0000

Basketball Trick Shots

Son Riku — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:03:50 +0000

Mario Brothers 2 Theme Song on two Guitars

Son Riku — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:00:09 +0000