The Coolest (and most expensive) Keyboard EVER!

Ok I'm not one to geek out, but Fritz brought this to my attention a while ago and I just saw a live demo of this and it blew my freakin mind...

It is called Optimus Maximus by design studio Art. Lebedev and it is the most unique keyboard you will ever see.

Optimus Maximus at the start looks like a normal keyboard, but the keys are blank, nice prank right? What is really going is each key is an O-LED mini screen. Which means using the included interface software, you can create your own customized keyboard in minutes!

Check out a demonstration by the folks at Engadget as they take Optimus Maximus through its paces. I love the graffiti effect using the application. Also check out the Optimus Maxiumus interactive online demo here.

For $462.00 (us) it will pay for itself with adaptable workflows especially for web and video artists. Imagine never having to have an editing keyboard for videos?

Optimus Maximus even has an SDIMM slot for saving your custom keyboard setups and sharing with others. Even if this is version 1.0 for the public, it is a great asset and really will open up the future of our tech. Imagine Apple or HP buying into this technology and soon all keyboards will customize with each application.

And if that weren't enough, Art.Lebedev is already working on a full LED keyboard called Optimus Tactus. Which will be able to have custom size keys and digital video screen right on the keyboard.

Find out more here. BOOM! There went my mind, just in time for the weekend...

Fine tune your volume in OS X

Have you ever fiddled with the volume control on your mac, going up and down with the volume control without finding the sweet spot? Here is a shortcut that is sure to help. Hold down Opt + Shift and press your volume up or down key and your volume will change in increments of 1/4 square instead of a whole square.

Control Games with Your Mind, Seriously!

For many gamers, the idea of being able to control video games without using a controller is something we can only dream about or watch in futuristic movies. Well strangely enough, it looks like the future is now...or at least sometime second quarter of next year.

Earlier this month, Emotiv (http://www.emotiv.com/) showcased its new brain-wave helmet which allows the wearer to do some simple tasks all by using the mind. After a short calibration test, the headpiece is able to translate certain facial changes, brain patterns, and thoughts into corresponding actions on a screen.

While currently the "games" that is used for include: a digital real-time representation of a person's face (when subject smiles, so does the digital image...all with no cameras), making 3D cubes disappear and reappear, and creating Stonehedge with big virtual blocks of stone.

Not that sexy...but still impressive considering it can be done with no physical movement. The idea is that once you calibrate the device, as long as you do the same action again, the headpiece will recognize it and complete the digital action.

Cool.

Does this mean that your PS3 controller should go in the trash right now?

Well no. This is not currently for sale, and the developers themselves say that this is not yet designed to remove the controller. In fact, the current digital lag time prevents this device from being an instant successor to recent popular gaming inventions, like the Wii controller and Guitar Hero™ guitar controllers. But yet the concept is quite intriguing.

Now some early bloggers are seeing this as an additional problem to the gaming world, adding even more lethargy to an already sedentary activity. If you can lift blocks without moving, it stands to reason that you could play any game simply by looking and thinking.

But the reality is, is that many people will have difficulty sitting still and thinking without physically also mimicking the movement. Imagine if you will that you are fighting a horde of orcs and your points (and possibly life) would rely on your reaction time to their ax strikes. Would you just sit and think, or would you mimic blocking the ax with your Level 3 Magic Shield? Well maybe I am getting a little to into this.

But what I imagine will happen is that it will create a much more interactive experience, much like the hopes of virtual reality ten years ago. If you can play a boxing game and actually throw your own punches and react instantly to block...or if you can actually control POV with the slight turning of the head? I think this will more that anything get people out of their seats. Fighting games in particular would seem to be a natural fit to this device.

But the possibilities extend much beyond this, I would think. Imagine if you could begin to use this device with a regular computer. Instead of using a mouse to paint in Photoshop, you can use the mind's eye to do it. That novel you have rattling around in your brain...maybe you can put it quicker to paper with a device like this.

At the least it presents some pretty neat ideas, though it is still several years from any kind of common usage. Please check out their site and some of the recent articles about it.

HD Format War Over

For anybody in the video world, the battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD has been an item of interest over the last few years. Well beginning around two weeks, the war rather quickly came to an abrupt halt. Many people point to different tipping points to this battle, which is reminiscent of the video tapes wars of the 1980s (VHS vs. Betamax).

So Blu-ray has won. What does this mean? How did it happen? Is this a good thing?

What does it mean?
Simply speaking it means that HD-DVDs will disappear from shelves over the next two months. Those with HD-DVD players will still have some new titles coming out, but by the end of summer, one cannot expect to find anymore new titles in this format. Blu-ray discs and players will likely drop a little in price, but without competition, many free giveaways will probably end. Also more titles will become available, including some that were exclusively HD-DVD.

In a related note, PS3 sales will skyrocket, as it is one of, if not the, cheapest Blu-ray players available. This is bad news for XBox 360, though rumors are already around that an add-on Blu-ray attachment is in the works.

High definition movies will probably see a surge in sales generally, since people will be more willing to invest now that one format has won. Especially since some put figures around 30% of households with a capable HD television set.

How did it happen?
A lot of companies throwing their weight for Blu-ray made this all but a done deal. The real end happened when Toshiba announced early this week that they would discontinue the manufacture and sales of HD-DVD. But in the weeks leading up to this announcement, many important changes happened. Walmart and Target both decided to be Blu-ray exclusive. Netflix and Blockbuster decided to stop carrying HD-DVD. Warner, who had been making discs in both formats, decided to only produce in Blu-ray. They joined six of the nine major Hollywood studios to be Blu-ray exclusive. Since the Toshiba announcement the other two studios, Universal and Paramount, have also become Blu-ray exclusive.

This means that the two largest commercial distributors, the two largest rental companies, and all the major Hollywood studios lined up on the Blu-ray side. No wonder why Toshiba pulled the plug.

Is this good news?
For the nervous consumer, sure this good news. For now. If you want to buy a Blu-ray player go ahead. It will be the only High Definition DVD format, probably ever. Probably even the last physical medium ever used for media. All the talk now is about direct download media, which is already a reality - but will become even more prevalent over the next three years. Services like Apple TV/iTunes already both sell and rent HD movies. On-demand services for cable have been around in one form or another (remember Pay-Per-View..it is the same thing!) for most of the last decade. DVRs which especially in the last two years have become more standard in households allow you to tape many shows for watching at your convenience, and have such useful things as commercial skip buttons.

And don't forget that it will take a while for people to convert completely over to High Definition DVDs. Do you know the year that DVD sales overcame VHS sales? Are you ready for this?

2006! Yes. As in two years ago.

If you want any more info about this stuff (or you want to fact check me) just do a google search and see how many articles are being written about this topic this week.

How far we've come...

Next time you complain about your computer, sit back and take in some perspective. The ad above is for the original Apple-1 computer (click the image for a larger view). Not only did it have 8K Byte Ram, but a FREE copy of Apple Basic on TAPE.

Use a Forward Delete on Your Apple Laptop

I have been using Apple laptops for almost 7 years straight, but the lack of a forward delete key has always bothered me. I just learned that it is really easy to forward delete by typing "function delete". This blew my mind that I never learned this simple shortcut. For the last few days I have been purposely mistyping just so that I can use my new shortcut.

Mac History Lesson

Ever wonder when your mac was made or better yet, the history of the mac? Well Mactracker can help. Mactracker is a great freeware application created by Ian Page. It has the history, technical specs, notes, photos and the chimes (gotta love the Chimes of Doom) related to any mac model.

Besides all the fun you can have strolling down memory lane, you can also use Mactracker to keep track of all your personal macs for warranty information and view the custom information for each. You can also find helpful links inside each model for user guides and more.

So go ahead download this fun app and get to know mac a little better. While you are at it, make a donation. Quality freeware like this is very rare and the people that develop rely on us to help keep them going.

Just a thought...

Just an odd observation. Ever since the MacBook Air was released last month, bloggers and sites have been finding many legitimate issues with the product from power failures to backlit keyboards failing. But this one takes the cake. Hold on tight, here it comes...

The MacBook Air does not have a Kensington security slot.

As I read this article in MacRumors.com, I thought to myself how silly this "non-issue" really was. Here's their complaint in a nutshell - Apple has just release the most portable and lightweight laptop ever. So lets tie it to a desk.

Wouldn't this constitute an oxymoron? Maybe I'm just being stubborn, but I really think some people tend to over think things and miss the obvious. Be happy with what we have, and if you really want to tie this down, here's my old school "workaround":

slow day, snow day

Wednesday is my day to blog. Well, I got snowed out on 2/6 and if I don't post this tonight, I'll be a delinquent blogger two weeks in a row!

Last week I could have easily posted a blog from home. In fact, I should have. Instead I worked via phone and email all morning, then, realizing I had forgotten my power cord for my laptop, I trekked downtown in the blizzard-like conditions.

Ultimately it was a beautiful (but treacherous) drive. The snow was LOVELY! Truly amazing scenery. I called JC (aka Jim Conway, my brother...but since there's also Jim Fritz, Jim Simon and Jimmy "the Wams" Wamser at C2, we call my brother JC) to encourage him to drive up Lake Drive toward Shorewood to get some cool shots of the trees. He's a pro photog (check out www.jamesconwayphoto.com) and the effect of the snow coating the trees over the road was something I could only admire, but he could turn into a work of art (for me!). My brother, a sucker for a potentially great shot, decided to forge through the snow, alas, his Honda did not fare as well as my truck and he wasn't able to get any pics. Instead he got stuck in a snow drift. Bummer.

It was just that kind of day. I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked to and JC didn't get his photos. Our dad, senior consultant for C2 North, didn't let the snow slow him down. He got some very pretty shots! He compared the snow up north to ivory soap flakes. I think it looks like MOVIE snow.

Maybe a snow day can be cathartic and relaxing every once in awhile. There's always time to to be crazy-busy. Next time it snows, enjoy watching a few flakes fall gently to the ground. Take a few seconds to cherish the miracle and beauty of nature.

For those of you seeking a big TECH blog, hold tight...I'm downloading BENTO, a new FileMaker application just for OS X Leopard! I'll share my experiences soon!

Font Previews

Ever try to figure out what an exotic or dingbat font is called or better yet, have your font list lock up inside the character palette each time you try to choose a font? The problem is font preview or WSYWG (what you see is what you get).

There is a simple solution. Turn off your font preview preference in your CS3 application - ctrl+K (pc) or cmd+K (mac) and navigate to type preferences. When you turn off your font preview size, it also turns off WSYWYG.

Mac OS 10.5.2 fixes Photoshop transform-crop problems

(Above: Screenshot of my options bar after about 30 transformations. Still working fine.)

Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) users who use Photoshop have been patiently waiting for some annoying little bugs to be squashed. The wait is over, the recently released Mac OS 10.5.2 update fixes the transform-crop-numeric settings bug where any numeric transformation or setting in the options bar would only work properly the first time. I've only had a short time to test it but it seems to work perfectly. I always recommend waiting a week or more before performing any major update to a working production machine - let everyone else do the bug testing while you get your work out on time.

How to removed a loaded cursor in InDesign

Have you ever accidentally clicked on a text frame in InDesign and turned your arrow into a loaded cursor? It is really annoying and easy to do. Here is any easy fix, if you ever get a loaded cursor and don't want it anymore just hit the "esc" key. This will remove the loaded cursor and put it back to the regular arrow. This trick only works with InDesign CS3.

Initial View in PDFs

Most designers have large monitors (the lucky ones at least), but clients rarely do. A problem that can happen when you send a PDF of your design to a client is that the PDF opens and appears very large on their small screen. They may get upset and call you at 2 in the morning to inform you that you made the layout "too big." if the client realized they could simply fit the page to fit the screen, they would be able to view the PDF without any issues. Unfortunately, many people do know how or want to know how to do this.

The solution to this problem is to set the initial view the PDF before you send it to them, thus avoiding the early morning wake-up call. To do this, open up the PDF in acrobat professional and look at the document preferences (Cmd-D, Ctrl-D). In the preferences choose initial view and change it to fit page. Now whoever opens the PDF, the file will open and fit the screen no-matter what size their monitor is!

Adobe is Coming to Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Adobe User Group invites you to an evening with Kevin Hoyt, Adobe Platform Evangelist presenting the NEW Adobe® Flex™ application.

Adobe® Flex™ is a cross-platform development framework for creating rich Internet applications. Flex enables you to create expressive, high-quality applications that run identically on all major browsers and operating systems.

If you are involved in any aspect of your company's web development or design, this is a don't miss opportunity. This is a FREE event! C2 is proud to be a sponsor for this event, along with Adobe, The Eisner Museum, DigiCopy, and WCTC.

Drawing prizes include:
Adobe Flex Backpacks
Adobe Flex Shirts
Adobe AIR Shirts
Membership kit from the Eisner Museum
Free Class from C2
A copy of Adobe Flex Software
A copy of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium Software
Apple iPod Nano


February 7, 2008 at 6pm
WCTC - Harry V. Quadracci Center - Q Building
800 Main Street
Pewaukee, WI 53072

Be sure to RSVP kevin@milwaukeeaug.com with your name and company.

Congratulations Fritz!

Congratulations to C2 Instructor, Adobe Certified InDesign Guru, and all-around techno-geek James Fritz on winning the InDesignSecrets.com quizzer contest.

The question was "How many ways can you add a CMYK color to Swatches without using the Swatches panel?" Fritz submitted 76 different ways (nuts I know), which they compressed to 23.

So check out Fritz's winning answers .pdf here and you can even listen to the Podcasters make fun of him in the podcast here. Hil-arious!

Way to go!