Expect a lot of interesting things to start on this very soon.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00.html

And, coming soon, http://www.global-cool.com/

Tags are going n-dimensional…

Ben (the new-look Ben) & Co have implemented a nice 3D tag system using 2 spatial dimensions and the 3rd with colour.

Also have a look at the “schematic”/time-linked cross-tagging presented at the recent “technology 2.0″ event.

This helps pave the way for some nice n-dimensional data visualisation techniques: 3 spatial dimensions, font size, colour allow 5 dimensions out of the box, then add density (spatial clustering) for a sixth, and animate for a seventh (of course you could use orientation to create each word as a vector to take you to ten, but that might be getting a bit silly/incomprehensible).

Yet another “first” … this time it’s AOL and Warner Bros. Launch In2TV - the First Broadband Television Network

“In2TV begins to realize the true potential of Web-based TV by putting the viewer in charge of their own TV schedule online,” said Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.”

Glad they’ve caught up. Pity its limited to AOL.

“… can be viewed full-screen with Windows Media streaming technology as well as in the new AOL® Hi-Q(TM) video format, which can deliver DVD-quality videos directly to consumers quickly and efficiently.”

Yawn! The new AOL compression format, that’s just what we needed!

I hope Dirac arrives soon as it’d help put a stop to some of this format nonsense.

way to go Lee
http://flickr.com/photos/deity/92577318/

Significant Hi-Fi geekery (hopefully my only such post), and possibly one of the more frivolous purchases I’ve made - ATC SCM100A’s - the Rolls Royce of loudspeakers (as used by BBC, Abbey Road and many of the best studios). This pair were bought from Presshouse Studios in Devon, where they’d been used by the likes of Jethro Tull and Portishead…

I used an ATC setup in Glasgow Uni concert hall over a decade ago and always remember being completely astounded by the results.

We just watched Lord of the Rings (which was mastered on the same brand) and it’s amazing - a 10-foot screen, the SCM100A’s as the primary stereo pair, SCM10’s as surround and a center channel (all decoded from a Nakamichi AV10).

Now I have to listen to my entire music collection again to see what I’d missed… it really is like listening to velvet.

(The “A” on the end of the SCM100 means they are ‘active’ - they weigh in at a mere 65Kg each, with a dedicated power-amp per driver (200W, 100W and 50W for 12″ woofer, 3″ mid and 1″ tweeter - thus a total of 700W between the 2 speakers…)

Then I need to work out what to do with the slightly smaller, but lovely, scm10’s and scm20’s that I already had…

(SCM10, passive, only 9Kg each)

(SCM20, passive, only 18Kg each)

Final speaker pr0n below…

It’s a sad day today … (bbc obituary)

I’m glad I had the privilege of seeing him perform. Certainly one of the most influlential artists in my world.

A lovely review of “Binary Dust” by Steve Mayall at www.musically.com

“It often seems as if digital music manufacturers compete to cram the most technology into the lightest, most tiny, pocket device. So it was refreshing to discover the latest musical release from avant-garde performer and new media veteran Gavin Starks: a musical rock. Starks, who founded Tornado and is now MD of UK digital music services company Consolidated Independent, has embedded a music playback device into a 19kg smooth granite rock, which plays his own compositions when manipulated by optical controls in the stone. There’s something inspiringly retro-futuristic / stone-age / space age about the release, which Starks is calling “Binary Dust” and comes under a Creative Commons licence. But proving that Starks is nothing if not forward-thinking, the creator promises that future versions will be solar powered.”