Archive for January, 2012
Ch-Ch-Changes – Week 2
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012Welcome back to Ch-Ch-Changes. Here is the puzzle for Week #2:
See if you can spot the EIGHT things I changed in this iconic photograph:
One point will be awarded for each correctly identified change. Answers will be posted on Monday morning.
Good luck!
Categories: Ch-Ch-Changes | 9 Comments »
Ch-Ch-Changes: Solution – Week #1
Monday, January 9th, 2012Welcome back to Ch-Ch-Changes. It’s time to reveal the solution to the Week #1 puzzle:
The five changes to this picture were:
- The colors of the stripes on the American Flag were reversed (White <-> Red)
- The reflection in the astronaut’s helmet was changed from the photographer on the moon to the earth
- The astronaut is wearing a Star Trek communicator on his right breast
- The astronaut is wearing an iPod Classic on his right sleeve
- The moon rover has a Lexus logo on its hubcap
Congrats to all who guessed correctly. The scores after one week are as follows:
| Player | Correct Answers |
| Michael Weinmayr | 5 |
| Joe Woods | 5 |
| Ilya | 5 |
| Konstantin | 4 |
| Harlan Freilicher (via Facebook) | 4 |
See you next Wednesday! Thanks for playing…
Categories: Ch-Ch-Changes | 4 Comments »
The Best of TED: Massive-scale online collaboration
Sunday, January 8th, 2012Here’s another installment of my Best of TED series, in which I share talks from the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference that have struck me over the years as particularly insightful or fascinating.
Today’s installment is from Luis von Ahn, a member of the team that invented the Captcha system, which helped websites like Ticketmaster and Amazon ensure that the person buying the product was, indeed, a person. Today, these sites use something called ReCaptcha, which shows the user two words instead of one. If you don’t know why, then you’ll find his talk fascinating. You’ll also learn how the same technology can help you learn a foreign language, while at the same time, making digital content available to people all around the world . . . . for free.
Categories: The Best of TED | Comments Off on The Best of TED: Massive-scale online collaboration
Through the Filters – George Harrison & Friends
Thursday, January 5th, 2012Someone in my Facebook feed sent a link to this classic video. It’s entitled “George Harrison & Friends,” but I’m 99% sure it’s the jam session for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony that year. I saw a TV special years ago, hosted by Paul Shaffer, in which he described the impromptu performance. Apparently, Shaffer wanted everyone at the event on stage at once, and Billy Joel suggested I Saw Her Standing There, which he had performed on piano in the past. The resulting jam not only had Ringo Starr and George Harrison re-creating their original tune, but also some fantastic combinations (like Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen singing into the same mic).
Today’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame jams are much more rehearsed (and tame) by comparison, probably due to the various electronic requirements that many of today’s musicians have before they can go on stage and make music. That, or their inflated egos. Or perhaps today’s crop of musicians just aren’t as talented as the older folks? Maybe all three…
Anyway, whatever the reason(s), enjoy the good ol’ days:
One last comment: this video is a great jumping off point for some serious YouTube surfing, if you’re into that sort of thing. The “related videos” list that YouTube provides includes several live collaborations as well as some classic Beatles performances, and I’m sure each of those videos has some great related videos as well. Happy surfing!
Categories: Through the Filters | 1 Comment »
Ch-Ch-Changes – Week 1
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012Welcome to Ch-Ch-Changes. Here is the puzzle for Week #1:
See if you can spot the FIVE things I changed in this iconic photograph:
One point will be awarded for each correctly identified change. Answers will be posted on Monday morning.
Good luck!
Categories: Ch-Ch-Changes | 6 Comments »
Best & Worst of Tech – 2011
Monday, January 2nd, 2012‘Tis the season for “Best of” and “Worst of” lists, I guess, but I found these lists from CNET pretty thought provoking:
The Top 5 Tech Winners of 2011
5) The Amazon Kindle Fire
4) The MacBook Air
3) The iPad 2
2) The iPhone 4S
1) Motorola Droid Razr
The Top 5 Tech Disappointments of 2011
5) Electric Cars
4) iCloud
3) Chrome Books
2) 3D TV
1) Non-iPad tablets
Read beyond the break for my thoughts on these items, as well as the embedded CNET Videos…
Categories: Tech Talk | 3 Comments »