Final Print
Final Print is a standalone application which prints a list of markers from a Final Cut Pro sequence. This provides a very useful workflow enhancement when handing off a project to someone else for further work.
Excellent little application from Digital Heaven. I also recommend their Final cut Pro plugins, of which I own DH_SubTitle. It does what it says: Make subtitles. (I’m so lucky that I live in an European country where we DO NOT DUB foreign movies, but subtitle them. Going to movies in other European countries (or watching other European channels) is a total nightmare. Dubbing ruins movies…)
Now, back to subject. Digital Heaven is run by talented Martin Baker, who also has made the VideoSpace widget, a widget all video editors should have on their Dashboard.
Using DevonThink for research
I’m a big fan of DevonThink – it’s an amazing application. I also use NovaMind, so this tutorial from DevonThink was perfect for me. It shows how to use NovaMind for mindmapping, then importing the map as an OPML file into DevonThink Pro, and researching further from there.
I didn’t even know that I could import NovaMind mindmaps into DevonThink Pro, so this was a real eyeopener!
T9onym
November 15th, 2006 ago I posted about Tynonym:
Tynonym: Definition. So what is a tynonym? It’s a word that you get as a suggestion on your mobile phone when you spell a word with T9 on.
January 10th, 2007 “Ksimsarian” made a new entry in Wikipedia, about T9onym:
A T9onym is a word that shows up on mobile phones that have T9 text entry that is equivalent through T9 to other words. T9onyms appear by pressing number keys while in T9 mode. For example, Bus and Cup are T9onyms. Other examples are If and He, Book and Cook, Sophie and Roshi. T9onyms can usually be reviewed and selected by placing the cursor at the end of the word and pressing the * (star) key to select an alternate T9onym. T9onyms are slang for those words generated through T9, in general these are referred to as textonyms.
(History for the Wikipedia page here.)
Update
The T9onym page on Wikipedia has been deleted by The_Epopt. Oh, well. I don’t bother to ask why. Some Wikipedia people are really stubborn, and I really don’t care. If you have the time, ask him why. And feel free to comment her if you figure out why… Now back to the original article…
I’m just curious: Did anyone hear about T9onyms before it showed up on Wikipedia?
Jason Kottke writes about it today:
As books are decidedly uncool, you might wonder how this usage came about. Book is a T9onym of cool…both words require pressing 2665 on the keypad of a mobile phone but book comes up before cool in the T9 dictionary, leading to inadvertent uses of the former for the latter.
Hey, Jason. Didn’t you get my tip in November? 
Update 1: Google research
Found a couple of links in Google when searching for T9onym, and yes, in in this messy post, quite a bit down, there’s this:
Hi Guys,
I wanted to know if there is word for ‘like-typed’ words on a mobile phone using T9.For example, to type Cool you need to press 2665. This combination also gives you Book and Cook.
Also, certain combinations give you antonyms. For example, to type Reject, you need to press 735328. This also results in Select. Is there a word for this?
Can we call these words T9onyms?
Cheers,
Mayur
Great word: T9onym. It’s easier to say Tynonym, but I guess T9onym makes it easier for (at the least for the more nerdy) people to understand what it is. So I credit Mayur for the word.
Update 2: Coudal
On Coudal today:
Lovely coinage. T9onyms. Pronounced “tynonyms,” two words made by texting the same numbers on a cell phone pad. jc-today
(link to archived post and screenshot on Flickr)
Great idea: Write it T9onyms, pronounce it “tynonym”. Although English teachers will go bananas…
iPhone, my new book shelf?
1) The new Apple iPhone has a 160 ppi screen, when you flip it 90 degrees, the screen flips too, it can show pdfs… And you have it with you all the time…
2) The iTunes store has sold two billion tracks or so, has a system that works, and has their frontend (iTunes) installed on the majority of computers sold the last couple of years…
Add these together, and you have the perfect portable book reader. Here’s what Booksquare thinks:
We’ve noted in posts past that that an unheralded feature of the iTunes store is the ability to serve up PDF files. Go back and read that sentence again because one key element of the iPhone is its tight integration with iTunes (in retrospect, woefully misnamed). See, if you can browse the web and use iTunes, you can, theoretically, download PDF files. Not a heralded feature, but we have faith in Steve Jobs and his design team.
In other words, you can read lengthy texts. Articles. Short stories. Novellas. Books. Compendiums. On your cell phone/miniature computer/portable media player/killer device.
Setting aside the comfort issues, the iPhone could either kill the nascent e-reader business or take it to new levels. We’ve been saying just about forever that the problem with dedicated e-reader is the fact that the consumer isn’t seeking a device that does only one thing. With its “smart” orientation features, the iPhone could usher in the mass market e-book era.
E-reader to new levels
I have bought quite a few books for my (now retired) Palm Pilot. eReader.com has over 17 000 titles, but reading books on the sharp, but way too small screen on my Sony-Ericsson K800i doesn’t cut it. The Palm had a bigger screen. A lousy screen, but a bigger.
The books are DRM’ed, which of course is a nuisance. But I can live with it. If i WANT to, I get the texts out of the books, but I seldom do.
Tie text and audio together = killer app
Booksquare’s idea is brilliant. If I could buy books for the iPhone in the iTunes store, I would. What if Apple made an app for the iPhone that let you have the same book in both text and audio together? They already sell thousands of audiobooks in iTunes, and if I – for a slightly higher price – could get both audio and text at the same time, that would be a killer. The text could follow the audio when I listen to it, and if I read the text, and later were in my car, the audio version would know where I left reading the text. Let me have a way to set bookmarks with my voice when I listen to the audio version, and let people copy smaller passages and send them by e-mail or by bluetooth. That will help spread the word, and good books will sell more.
The next thing Apple should do with Google: Get all those Google-scanned books into the iTunes store. Let me use Spotlight to search all my books, and give me the most amazing e-reader ever made.
Flickr “author comment” feature
I’ve just made suggestion for a new feature for Flickr. What do you think?
Macs are awesome now
What happened to “Macs are for queers?” (and note the title of the comic).
Multi-touch
Update: There’s a newer video at “Multitouch will revolutionize your computer”. This is certainly something we’ll see in one form or another in Mac OS X pretty soon.
—
Apple let the iPhone out of the box today… and wow! It’s a revolution, especially on the UI side.
So now we know where the multi-touch technology that Jeff Han demoed at TEDtalk in february 2006 went. In the iPhone.
Just to remind you, here’s the video at Google again:
And for rss readers: Here’s the direct link.
Now, watch how it is used in the iPhone.
Where do you think all the other cool things Jeff demoes will go? Obviously 10.5. All MacBooks and MacBook Pros could use the same technology with the touch pad. Or maybe the rumoured new Apple display will have a similar multi-touch feature as the iPhone? Just think about it. Apple has already done this now, on a small scale in the iPhone. Mind-boggling.
Used in Pro apps
Imagine having this way of working in the pro apps; Final Cut Pro, Motion, Logic. Zoom in and out of timelines. Zooming on video effects. Controlling faders and graphs directly on the screen. And you could use your fingers to draw vectors for movements, and easier graphics work. It would be so much more organic. Like playing on the computer, using it more like a musical instrument. I would love it.
4 minutes into the video, Jeff moves around lots of pictures with his hands. Imagine using that to organize your content before putting it on the timeline.
The new OS?
What if the new OS X worked like this in the Finder? Zooming into folders, organizing content. Sorting and analyzing. That would certainly be something different than Vista!
So Eirik, it’s Apple-shares you should buy.
The guys behind it are setting up a company and hope to put it into production. Where can I buy shares?
Or rather – bought. Apple shares went up 8.3% today.
Eirik also has a nice video of the screen in action at Siggraph 2006
Update: TED blog
Several blogs write about this, including the TED Blog. Chris Anderson asked Jeff Han about multitouch, and he answered:
The iPhone is absolutely gorgeous, and I’ve always said, if there ever were a company to bring this kind of technology to the consumer market, it’s Apple. I just wish it were a bit bigger so I could really use both of my hands.
Hm. Does it make you any wiser? A bit secretive?
Just to make this a little more fun, seven different computeres at Apple read this post some minutes after it was digged… Read into it what you want. I still think 2007 will be an amazing year for Apple.
Update 2: Exciting updates coming?
Now Jeff Han comments on the project page for multitouch:
Update: Yes, we saw the keynote too! We have some very, very exciting updates coming soon- stay tuned!
(via daringfireball). Still in doubt something big is in the works?
Update 3: Fast company
Fast Company has an article about Jeff Han, which was done before the iPhone launch:
Not everyone is sold on Han’s idea. Ben Shneiderman, a computer science professor at the University of Maryland and a founding director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab, calls Han a “great showman” who has “opened the door to exciting possibilities.” But he doesn’t think Han’s technology would be suitable for a large-scale consumer product, nor as useful as a mouse on a large display. If you are standing in front of the screen, Shneiderman wonders, how would people behind you be able to see what you’re doing?
One way, Han counters, is for the demonstrator to simply move his ass out of the way. Another: Use a drafting-table display, as Han did at TED, and project the image on a wall-size screen.
But criticisms like these are a million light years from Han’s mind. We’re in his cluttered and cramped office at NYU. Books line a shelf, and a skein of wires unfurls across the floor. A computer circuit board is half taken apart (he stopped losing screws long ago), and a nearby whiteboard contains blueprints and sketches of the touch screen, plus a clever trick for hacking programming code.
Han is explaining why he formed Perceptive Pixel. “I want to create an environment where I can create technology, get it into the hands of someone to market it, and move on to other technologies so I can keep innovating,” he says. “I want to be a serial entrepreneur: Incubate an idea, get it to a good state, and make that an enabler to get to the next state. It’s every researcher’s fantasy.”
Update 4: Fingerworks
According to both Engadget and Charles Arthur, it is FingerWorks technology that is inside the iPhone. Apple bought their technology some time ago.
If you head over to FingerWorks.com, you’ll see…
Important note!
FingerWorks has ceased operations as a business.
FingerWorks products are no longer available for resale, and no further updates to software drivers will be developed.
The fun thing is that both Jeff Han and FingerWorks call their technology Multitouch.
Update 5: Revolution!
You may want to know how multitouch will revolutionize your computer/…
OmmiFocus is progressing
The race for the best Mac GTD app is still on, and today we had a new version of Inbox (1.0.5) out, and yesterday OmniFocus showed the first screenshots of upcoming GTD app OmniFocus in a get-together at MacWorld in San Francisco. TUAW has one (heh, one???) screenshot, which looks promising. I’m sure Merlin Mann will put up more details soon.
Theme of the week
Amazing circles is theme of the week in the Flickr “Theme of the week” group. From January 7th – 14th 2007.
Inbox 1.0.5 is out
Direct download is here. Also see the Inbox review.
Mr. Winter, you’re fired
Please consider this letter notice of your termination, effective immediately. Despite clear expectations and requirements — January temperatures not to exceed 40° F, consistent snow and blustery conditions, minimum of one blizzard with white-out per annum, &c. &c. — you have failed to date to meet expectations and deliver even rudimentary winter weather. A forecast high of 72° today in New York City is clear proof of your failure to do your job.
Make a template, a form, a petition – whatever. I’m so gonna sign this too, Meg!
Now it’s raining cats and dogs again. It’s supposed to be -10 C (14 F). My daughter said today “Dad, do we have something we can cover the snow fortress with?”. A friend and her collected absolutely ALL the snow in our neighbourhood, to make a snow fortress that covered both of them – if they were flat on the ground and didn’t move (it was 30 cm/a foot tall). This is miserable winter.
Change Photoshop serial number from XP to Mac
…or the other way around. I applaud Adobe for doing this!! If you have a Windows license of Photoshop, and then switch to Mac OS X, you now can contact Adobe, and get a working serial for OS X. Or the other way around. Excellent! John Nack of Adobe has the good news on his blog:
In response to very popular demand (to the tune of 150+ requests on the Labs CS3 forum), I’m happy to say that Adobe is now making it possible for Windows customers of Photoshop CS2 to get a Mac CS3 beta serial number, and vice versa. To request a number, you can send mail to photoshopcs3beta@adobe.com & include your CS2 serial number.
We made this decision a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t want to publicize it widely until the staff was back at full strength after the holiday break. Please note that this is a manual process on our side right now, and we appreciate your patience as we handle requests.
Related: If you find that you want to switch an Adobe product license from Mac to Windows or vice versa, please contact Adobe Customer Service. They’ll walk you through the process.
Record companies – listening?
I wish more companies were thinking like this. The principle here is simple: We have a customer who bought something from us, and now he/she wants to change the carrier of the product. It’s almost no cost for Adobe. They will get good PR. And probably sell more software because people know they can change platform if they want.
Now imagine if records companies could start acting this clever? Stop acting like idiots and announce the following:
Do you have a huge stack of LPs you never play anymore? Sure you do. And you paid for those. The artists have already got their money for the making of the music. Now guess what: We are going to start being nice! As of monday 29. January 2007 you can upgrade your music. You have already paid for the art, so you only pay for the actual CD (or downloadable DRM-free file if your prefer), shipping and a small handling fee.
Go to www.musicupgrades.com, check if your LPs are covered with the new MusicUpgrades Plan, order stickers to the nearest central. We have one in most European countries and USA/Canada.
Yes, sure… Anyday now…
Joe’s filters
If you’re using Final Cut Pro and NOT using Joe’s filter… Spend a few minutes at Joe’s Filters. Joe is about to upgrade the filters, he writes in an e-mail today:
I’m finishing a major upgrade (way, way too long in coming) and starting to look for new ways to make the filters bigger, faster and better.
He also want’s you to help with the new filters, so if you have some answers on these questions…
- Which filters do you use most?
- What formats are you working in? (SD, HD, HDV, DVCPRO, Red, etc)
- How did you first learn about Joe’s Filters?
- What other plugins do you use?
- What kinds of new tools would you like to see? (existing things done better, or things that haven’t been done yet)
Last orders please, the world’s about to end!
Chinese Democracy Syndrome
Gus Mueller writes about programming on his site, about how some programmers wants everything to be perfect before they ship something. There’s a whole lot of wisdom in what he says, and not only for programmers:
…I think sometimes developers can get caught in a trap of trying to make things too “perfect”.
“Like Chinese Democracy” Kirstin said.
To which I replied- “That’s the perfect analogy. I’m going to blog that.”
In case you haven’t heard of it already, Chinese Democracy is an album that Axl Rose, the singer of Guns N’ Roses, has been working on for a very, very long time. The hold up is because he wants to get everything “perfect”. So it never ships.
First-time sex
Merlin Mann has been talking about something similar in a podcast he called First-time Sex & the Beauty of 1.0. Quoting Merlin:
Everybody is so busy making things perfect the first time around, that you never actually make anything
Yup. That’s now officially declared the “Chinese Democracy Syndrome” (or CDS for short). Trying so hard to get version 1.0 perfect, that it never ships.
This applies to other things than software, like complex projects. I’m working on a presentation on something that’s quite difficult to explain to people. And I found myself planning and planning and researching, and not working on the actual presentation. Gus talking about CDS made me think about what Merlin said about the first draft, and now I’ve put together a really bad version 1.0: Fonts, colors, facts, timing and length – everything is bad. But it’s version 1.0 and it’s so much easier to fix version 1.0 than making it (this does not necessarily apply to building houses, bridges and spaceships, I must add…)
The secret of Google and VG
Loving the beta-version is also one of the key ingredients of Google’s success: They make a 70% good product, get it out to people, tag it beta, and let it improve by getting feedback from users and their own experience with it. In Norway the tabloid VG is the biggest website, far ahead of the others. They do the same thing: Get things out. Sometimes they fail miserably, sometimes they score big successes. They would never have known if they just kept the projects on the harddrives, tweaking and tweaking them.
