JustinFlood.com

Wordpress 2.7 Released!

Wordpress, the go-to blogging platform for the vast majority of bloggers out there, has been given a major facelift with version 2.7.  It had been in testing now for the past few weeks, but is now available to the general public and you can go download it here.

As you can see from the screenshot below, the UI has been DRASTICALLY redesigned to be far more user-friendly and attractive:

From playing around with it for the past 5 minutes or so,  I have to say that it is a serious improvment over the UI from version 2.6.  The ability to write a short post directly from the home screen is outstanding, and may become my main method of posting.  Also, finally the ability to post YouTube videos directly to a post without fiddling with the code or using plugins has been implemented correctly.   YAY.

So far so good Wordpress.   Now I’m off to make sure everything is still working right.

Tags: Wordpress

Is iTunes ditching DRM tomorrow???!

According to an article on Gizmodo,  it looks as though Apple might just be ditching DRM tomorrow across most if not all of it’s music store.

Speculation about if when iTunes would score DRM-free tracks from all major studios like Amazon and Walmart has been rampant, but according to a rumor at AppleInsider, all this speculation may come to an end tomorrow.

AppleInsider cites a Dec. 3 story from the French publication Electron Libre that says iTunes will remove DRM from Sony BMG, Universal and Warner tracks on December 9th, like it already does with EMI and indie content. The story doesn’t say what percentage of tracks from the major labels, or what the cost bump for the new tracks might be, if any, though it seems to say the thing might cover every single album and track on iTunes. In fact, check out this rather ungraceful machine translation of the French story for yourself:

…The signals are clear today. iTunes should offer catalogs of three majors Universal Music, SonyBMG Music and Waner [sic] rid of technological protection measures next Tuesday, Dec. 9. The transition to DRM Free should be at a global level…

With that opener, it almost reads like a fortune. I for one hope this fortune comes true. [Electron Libre viaAppleInsider]

Somehow though, I don’t see this happening tomorrow.   This isn’t something Apple would do lightly, and with the Macworld keynote coming up in around a month,  why not save it until Steve is on stage?  It seems like a strangely un-Apple sort of move, though they’ve surprised me before.

I suppose like most things Apple, I’ll find out somewhere around noon eastern time.

Tags: Apple, DRM, iTunes

Apple’s netbook/tablet to be based on ARM architecture?

In other news that doesn’t surprise me at all, rumors are swirling that Apple’s entrance into the netbook/tablet arena will not be running an intel based chip.   To be honest, I’m not sure why this is shocking anyone.

Apple has always been big on playing with the wording of it’s public statements.  At the last Jobs keynote, the CEO of Apple stated that they didn’t know how to make an inexpensive Mac without compromising quality.   So whatever this device is, you can bet on the fact that it will NOT be a full on Mac.   Hence, it probably won’t run a full on intel processor.   I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  Apple does not want to release a cheap product that will cannibalize the sales of it’s oh-so-popular MacBook line.

So what IS this mystery device that is hidden beneath the bowels of 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino California?  Likely something that is based more on the iPhone archetecture than anything else.  In fact I’d expect it to resemble Nokia’s N-series tablets more than an iMac or a Macbook Air.  This article from Computerworld, makes a good argument for that as well:

To recap, here are the reasons, I believe that Apple will choose the ARM platform for their upcoming Netbook/Tablets.

1. Apple has an internal PA Semi team working on future ARM chips for the iPhone/iPod Touch
2. ARM chips cost an order of magnatude less (to license) than Intel equivalents
3. ARM chips take up less space on a motherboard
4. ARM chips use many times less power, enabling much longer battery life and much sleeker design.
5. You won’t need to virtualize Windows on these types of devices.  Most other Apple applications can be easily ported between chips.
6. Apple wants more control over the processors, which it can’t have with Intel.
7. While a variant of the iPhone version of OSX is the most likely of candidates, Snow Leopard’s optimization release might also be for ARM as well.

So Whatever we’re looking at here. It isn’t a Mac.  I can be pretty sure of that.  With companies starting to produce netbooks running Android,  I can totally see Apple modifying the iPhone OS and subsequently the App Store, so that they will run on a netbook style device.

Hopefully the App Store will become device aware,  only allowing you to download apps written for your specific device, as that would seem to provide the most Apple-like user experience.

So what are the advantages to this new kind of device?   Likely a bigger / higher resolution display,  possibly a physical keyboard, perhaps USB ports for extending the functionality, a faster processor and graphics chip allowing for more complex / graphically intensive apps and games.   Not to mention the fact that a physical keyboard would likely entice devs to write some good office software for the platform as well.

Regardless of what is coming.  I certainly am in the camp that believes that this (comparatively) low-priced device will NOT be a full on Mac, but more of an extension of the iPhone / iPod touch platform.  Either way, January can’t come fast enough.  I want to find out!

Tags: Apple, iPhone, netbook

Adobe fires 600, People stop paying $700 for Photoshop (duh.).

Adobe, makers of almost all of the popular graphics and layout software in use today has announced the layoffs of nearly 600 of it’s workers due to the troubled economic times.  According to an article from ZDNet:

Adobe said Wednesday that it will eliminate 600 full-time positions, or roughly 8 percent of its workforce, amid weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings.

The company said in a statement that it will deliver fourth quarter revenue between $912 million to $915 million, down from its previous outlook of $925 million to $955 million. Wall Street was expecting revenue of $930 million. Earnings excluding items will be 59 cents a share to 60 cents a share. Under generally accepted accounting principles, Adobe said earnings will be 45 cents a share to 46 cents a share. Adobe’s earnings were helped by two tax items that boosted earnings by 5 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 51 cents a share.

Adobe said demand for Creative Suite 4 was weaker than expected and “the main cause for the shortfall in fourth quarter revenue.” Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said the global economic downturn hurt revenue.

Hm..  is this shocking to ANYONE?  Really?

Once an economy goes into a downturn, the higher priced software packages are going to feel a lot of the brunt of the problem, especially when the updates aren’t really NECESSARY for most people.  This is especially true in the case of Photoshop.  If you already have CS2 or CS3, and you can get your work done, there is very little REAL reason to upgrade to CS4.  Sure it’s faster, and sure it has new features, but if your company is on the brink of going out of business, the last thing you’re going to do is spend $1600 per computer for Adobe Software that you already have working versions of.

This should be a serious message to Adobe.   There is no reason you should still be charging thousands of dollars for this software!  There are parts of Photoshop that haven’t changed since version 5, possibly even farther back.   Most of that work is done and paid for.  Not to mention that lowering the price would likely cause people to pirate the software less.

Here’s a price point that would cause people to actually buy and use your software without it being the most pirated piece of software on the internet:  $99.    That’s right, $99.  It’s expensive enough to let people know it’s professional grade software, but cheap enough that it can be bought on a whim at  your local Staples.  I know I’d certainly be more likely to pick up a copy of the new Photoshop at $99 than I would be to UPGRADE my current version for hundreds of dollars.

My point is, that with the flourishing complexity and quality of low-cost and open source options ( Pixelmator and GIMP in Photoshop’s case ), the era of thousand dollar software is quickly coming to a close.  Tough economic times will cause people to either stick with the software they’ve already purchased, or if that option doesn’t exist, to move to a less expensive or open source option if possible.

I hope Adobe learns the lesson before it costs them their business.

Tags: Adobe, Photoshop

iPhone to get human-powered Amazon product search!

Well now this is pretty damned cool.  Following hot on the heels of iPhone apps like SnapTell,  Amazon is taking the whole photo-based product search philosophy to a new level.

Coming tomorrow (hopefully) to the iPhone App Store, is an Amazon Mobile Search App which will apparently let you take a picture of ANYTHING and magically bring you to it’s amazon product page if it has one.

Here’s some more information from the New York Times:

December 3, 2008, 8:30 am

Amazon.com Invades the Apple App Store

By Brad Stone

Amazon.com will join the iPhone frenzy on Wednesday with a new application available free for download through Apple’s App Store.

The software is relatively straightforward, offering a way for iPhone or iPod Touch owners to browse through all the products offered by Amazon.com, as well as by third-party retailers like Target and Macy’s that make their products available online through Amazon.

There is, however, one unusual and noteworthy aspect of the app called Amazon Remembers, which Amazon is calling “experimental.” The tool lets users take a photograph of any product they see in the real world. The photos are then uploaded to Amazon and turned over to the far-flung freelance workers in Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program, who will try to match them with products for sale on Amazon.com. The results will not be instantaneous (between 5 minutes and 24 hours, the company says), but the idea is to entice consumers to buy products from Amazon instead of its offline rivals.

Amazon Remembers is similar to other features Amazon has introduced this year in its ongoing effort to filch sales from other Web sites and retailers. TextBuyIt, a mobile messaging service introduced in April, lets people send a text message to Amazon at 262966 with the name of a product or a search term. It then replies with a number of buying options.

Another new feature that Amazon introduced this year, Universal Wish List, is a Web browser toolbar that lets people directly add the products they covet to their Amazon account when they see them on other Web sites.

This is really pretty damned cool.  Though It’s a shame that the results are less than instantaneous.  I wish that Amazon had applied a two-fold approach to this application.   For example, if you take a picture of a book or dvd cover, it would first get put through the SnapTell like algorithm approach.  If it was successful, you get instant results.  If not, you get a message that you’ve been sent into an extented search queue, and that you should get results in within a couple of hours.

Of course I can still run SnapTell on my phone for the simple stuff,  and send the more complicated things to Amazon,  but it would have been nice to do this all in one app.

Either way I’ll be checking the App Store for this one as soon as it’s released.

Tags: Amazon, iPhone, SnapTell

Steve Jobs – Santa Claus 2.0??!

As of late, emails being addressed to Apple CEO Steve Jobs have actually been getting what seem to be curt responses that actually seem to be FROM Steve.   You would think that the CEO of a major corporation wouldn’t bother to address the unwashed masses, but that’s exactly what seems to have been happening.

And it looks like today Steve (or whoever is playing him), has taken the next step from being adored Tech magician, to… Santa Claus?

Apparently a High School student who wanted desperately to learn Final Cut Pro, but couldn’t afford the exorbitant price for it,  asked Steve if he could be made eligible for the student discount.   The reply he recieved from an Apple exec warms the cockles of my geeky heart.

Courtesy of Gizmodo:

And this is the reply:

Hmm..  I wonder,  if I write to Steve will he send me that 24″ iMac I’ve been dying to own?… Nah.