Minority Report goes real

The biggest GUI evolution ever since 1984 (you know, the Apple, the mouse, the graphics, etc [although technically it was Xerox who invented the mouse, but seriously - who remembers that?]). 

This video shows of something that reminds me of Tom Cruise’s Minority Report.

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler.

(Shit, embedding doesn’t work obviously but just check out the link.)

808’s isn’t so bad!

I feel like it’s time for me to make myself clear about an album opinion as seen in this post to weeks ago. As you can see I listed Kanye West’s new 808’s & Heartbreak as one of the “not so good” cds. After two weeks of listing I have to admit I was wrong, or maybe just not clear enough. The album (especially the first half) is really good. I still think that Kanye’s a better rapper than singer, and I’d love to hear a new album that’s more like Graduation. Nevertheless the new cd is an interesting and – at least for me – inspiring experiment. Some of the songs are catchy, but what I like most about this album is the artist’s determination in using the Roland TR-808 as drum machine for all the tracks. If you check out the info about the TR-808 you’ll notice that it’s a pretty basic piece of equipment with mainly 16 programable buttons for the drum sounds!

Now the best part: if you’re a Mac user you already have GarageBand. What I found out was that the TR-808 emulator is available as part of the Remix Jam Pack from Apple! So you can simply make the exactly same sounds and if you’re good enough, produce something that sounds very much like Kanye’s latest album. Now that’s why I love Macs!

New theme design

So I’ve changed the theme for my blog again. Also it’s time to test out a new feature: poll. Let me know what you think by answering!

Co na Maca?

Tak sobie siedzÄ…c i przeglÄ…dajÄ…c te 1001 przeróżnych newsów które to znajdujÄ… siÄ™ na moim Google Readerze natknÄ…Å‚em siÄ™ na coÅ› czego szukaÅ‚em dÅ‚uższy czas. Otóż, jak wiadomo sam jÄ™zyk polski jest wspomagany na Macu i nie ma problemów z dialogami i menu w naszym ojczystym jÄ™zyku w samym systemie i wielu oryginalnych programach które Apple nam dostarcza wraz z systemem. Wystarczy podczas instalacji wybrać jÄ™zyk polski (można również zmienić to ustawienie kiedykolwiek później w ustawieniach systemowych) i wszystko gra. Choć może nie wszystko…?

No niestety nie. Mac OS X posiada wspaniaÅ‚a funkcje kontroli pisowni wbudowanÄ… w system, tak wiÄ™c piszÄ…c w jakimkolwiek programie – czy to jakiÅ› dokument w Pages czy też komentarz na forum internetowym w przeglÄ…darce – mam dostÄ™p do automatycznej kontroli pisowni. (Patrz screenshot u doÅ‚u.)

Sęk w tym że kontrola polska nie była dostępna out-of-the-box na systemach, i wydawało by się że skoro jej nie ma od Apple to już nie będzie. W końcu system dali po polsku, to i kontrole pisowni by mogli gdyby chcieli? No ale na szczęście się myliłem i dziś znalazłem świetny, intuicyjny pakiet który po zainstalowaniu nie wymaga niczego od użytkownika, o nazwie CheckSpell. Ściąga się bezpłatnie z tej oto stronki, i wszystko samo się instaluje gdzie trzeba. Świetna sprawa dla potrzebujących!

Skoro już jesteśmy przy temacie świata Apple to może zrobię trochę rozgłosu dla ciekawych polskojęzycznych źródeł informacji w tymże języku.

Na poczÄ…tku mamy caÅ‚kiem obszerny Apple Blog.pl. Aktualne newsy, poradniki i nawet podcasty video – z tymże tych ostatnich nie miaÅ‚em okazji sprawdzić bo hotelowy internet pozostawia wiele do życzenia.

Kolejna ciekawostka to Moje Jabłuszko, serwis na którym można załadować w formacie PDF magazyn o tej samej nazwie. A w nim znajdziemy sporo informacji na tematy macowskie, warto zerknąć.

TrafiÅ‚em też na serwis gdzie wszyscy poczÄ…tkujÄ…cy macuserzy, bÄ…dź też przyszli posiadacze komputerów Apple mogÄ… znaleźć naprawdÄ™ wyczerpujÄ…ce informacje na temat tego nowego dla nich Å›wiata. Koniecznie zachowajcie sobie ta stronkÄ™ na przyszÅ‚ość – liczÄ™ że prÄ™dzej czy później otworzycie oczy i przejdziecie na Macki. Nazwa stronki to, bardzo… pomysÅ‚owo, Mój Pierwszy Mac.

To tyle na dziś, następnym razem może zmienię temat. A póki co poczytajcie sobie resztę!

Trying out Blogo

Not much of a post here, just checking out this app I found. Let us see if it enables me to blog from the offline state. Anyway this isn’t needed anymore since I’m on my way back to Europe and I don’t expect as many downtimes in the access to the Cloud as I’ve had while in Egypt. But it can still be nice to have a Mac-friendly and good-looking blogging tool!

Here’s a screenshot:

OK, that’s about it!

I love my camera

Yesterday the Moon appeared really big and bright. National Geographic explains why: “The moon will be at its closest perigee—the nearest it gets to Earth during its egg-shaped orbit around our planet.”. Yeah sweet… So I took my lovely camera and shot a couple of pictures (with this lens attached). A close-up is visible below.

Also, there’s an exclusive wallpaper-ready version of 2048×1152 pixels available for your downloading pleasure! Grab it right here!

(Of course, there’s a Dropbox gallery with those two images as well.)

The Moon on Dec. 12th

Photos from Jordan & Israel

Back from the trip with over 450 new photos on my hard drive from the last trip through the Middle East. In this Dropbox gallery you can see some of the better shots from Jordan (mostly Petra but also the capital, Amman), as well as shots from Bethlehem and Jerusalem, Israel. This time of year the weather is completly different than first time I visited the area, but luckily for me, the lower sun and the cloudy sky gives better photos. Be sure to check them out!

Trip this week!

I’m going for a short vacation before the Holiday season vacation. I’ll visit Jordan and Israel in the next week, no work this time so there’ll be plenty of photos. Stay tuned cause I’ll post the updates here, bye!

My hits and shits of 2008

The year’s coming to an end, so it’s time to start summing it up, right? Let’s start with my favorite albums!

Good ones

4. The Roots – Rising Down

Overall a good CD, pleasant listing. Shows that new hip-hop doesn’t have to be sung using auto tune. 

 

Snoop Dogg's Ego Trippin' cover art

 

3. Snoop Dogg – Ego Trippin’

Let’s face it: Snoop is exactly what I try to stay away from – mainstream. And let’s face it: I still like this record a lot! Press Play is a great opener.

2. O.S.T.R. – Ja tu tylko sprzatÄ…m

Contemporary, kinda ol’ school but still modern hip-hop, that’s still staying away from what’s trendy these days (auto tune, anyone?). Love it, especially Introgliceryna’s second part!

 

1. Coldplay – Viva la Vida

This one was difficult. Sure, Viva la Vida is a great post brit-pop record, but in my opinion not as good as the debut Parachutes a couple of years ago. Still, the track with the same title as the album is amazing and can for sure be compared to my all-time Coldplay favorite track, Don’t Panic.

Coldplay's Viva La Vida cover art

 

 

Not-so-good ones

 

Okay, that’s the good-stuff list. How about the other side? Here are my biggest disappointments of the year…

 

 

3. Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak

Kanye's new record

 

Recently released and played in my iPod with huge anticipation. And what? Well… not much. Let’s hope this an artistic experiment, a side album, a spin-off from Kanye’s ideas, a test… Please Mr. West, turn off the auto tune and go back to rapping’, cause you do it well. More than well on 2006’s Graduation! I’m not saying the album is bad – if it’d have been anyone else, it would be good. But with Kanye’s rap talent… singing R’nB ballades is a waste of time. 

 

2. The Kooks – Konk

Gonk! Konk! It can be played, but you hardly notice the music. How could this happen after such an amazing debut with Inside In / Inside Out (2006)?

 

1. John Legend – Evolver

Finally, the biggest disappointment of the year. Seriously John, what happened? Get Lifted (2004) was amazing, Once Again (2006) was good, though I got tired of it sooner than with Get Lifted. This truly continues the backdown spiral of Legend’s. I’m afraid of the next record which statistically should arrive in 2010. Damn…

 

There’s one more album worth mentioning, namely Dig You Soul by Oasis. Recently released (November 2008), it is for sure the most Beatlesque record of the year. I haven’t been listing to it a lot, but I do like it for its sound and many references to the Fab Four. Still, Be Here Now (1997) is in my opinion the best Oasis record ever. 

 

So these are my biggest favorites and biggest disappointments of the year, in a retrospective opinion. But the statitics say something else. The most listined album during the whole year is… Veronica Maggio’s Och Vinnaren Är! Seriously, I have no idea how this could happen!

How about you?

Alright, that’s my opinion. Which are your favorites or most hated records of the year? Don’t hold back!

The best December ever

So far this month’s been great. Clear sky, 25°C in the air and something similar in the sea. Hey folks, come on and visit me while you still can – I won’t be here forever!

 

The Red Sea in December

More photos on my Dropbox as usual.