Recently Edelman Digital launched a brand new web site, which features rich insights from across the organization as well as interviews with different people inside and outside the firm. Definitely check it out. One of the cool things we're running are interviews. 

Blagica Bottigliero: Let’s start with the basics. Your last name. Is it pronounced like the Russian currency? I’ve heard multiple versions, so help us set the record straight.

Steve Rubel: Actually it isn’t – it’s pronounced Roo-Bell, rhyming with “blue bell.”

BB: As a lifestreamer, you spend quite a bit of time online digesting content. How much time per day do you spend doing this? How do you break up your day to consumer such a large amount of data?

SR:I would say that on average I spend two-three hours a day “studying.” How and where I fit this in really depends on my schedule in a given week. If it’s a particularly heavy week and I am traveling or in lots of meetings, it’s whenever I can steal a few minutes during the day. If it’s a “normal” day then it’s often over breakfast, lunch or at night when I get home. But I make it a commitment to keep current since our teams and clients look to me to help them do the same.

My workflow here, however, has changed a lot over the last few years. Until fairly recently I was a heavy user of Google Reader. Now, however, I find myself relying more on Facebook, Twitter and reading email newsletters from my favorite blogs. Also, I am increasingly using my mobile device to consume much of it as well.

BB: In the last few weeks, you’ve put a stronger emphasis on utilizing Facebook as your epicenter for news and communication. With Facebook’s history of sharing its TOS, along with concerns around privacy, do you think more users will shift their attention to Facebook? The addition of Facebook’s new settings come in handy, but do you feel that users don’t feel like adding privacy settings to every single action?

SR: Facebook is at a pivotal moment in its history. All of the data points are trending up – time spent (a staggering seven hours/month in the US), total users (400M worldwide), mobile use (100M users), traffic patterns (one of the top drivers of views to news/broadcast sites), etc. This makes it impossible to ignore.

What’s more, I believe we have passed a key tipping point where a network effect takes over. Randall Stross summarizes this nicely in his New York Times column, comparing it to similar situations like Microsoft Windows. So I don’t see the train slowing down here in any way.

Still, there’s no doubt many have privacy concerns. Facebook needs to make this easier to manage so that an individual can really more easily separate personal and professional circles – if he/she chooses. The settings they have now help. But they have a long way to go.

The other trend to note is how businesses are starting to use Facebook as a hub. There are more than 1.4M Facebook Pages. Some 700,000 are small businesses. This also creates a network effect the way that Google did with Adwords. Also, I have noticed that more brands and movies are prioritizing their Facebook page in ads over their own web site. This is controversial, but in many ways it makes sense.

BB: You just created a fan page on Facebook. How will you decipher information that appears in this stream versus your blog?

SR:I have been on Facebook since 2007 when they opened it up to all users. At first, I was skeptical of their prospects for success. I saw a scenario similar to what AOL did back in the 1990s – e.g. a walled garden. So while I have been on Facebook for years and I was engaged there, I didn’t see a real opportunity, at least for me, to use it to connect professionally with our customers.

However, the statistics I mentioned earlier and my own use recently have evolved my thinking. I began to see that, professionally, there is a real opportunity there for any business to deeply engage their customers in a way that perhaps is not as easy to do elsewhere – and to build thought leadership. One key reason is that clearly people I care most about like our clients are spending time there. It’s easier to go where the people are than to get them to come to you. What’s more, it’s a broader audience than the people who subscribe to my blog or follow me onTwitter.

So as of right now I am largely creating exclusive content there. I am finding Twitter is better for link sharing but that Facebook is more ideal for short bits of insights that spark a larger conversation. My blog will probably evolve into just a place for essays. But I am syndicating the posts into Facebook as well. It’s all evolving right now.

In short, I believe that Facebook will become my primary content platform in the next few months. But I will continue to do it all. As should businesses that have stakeholders scattered on other networks like Twitter.

BB: Your opinions on Google Buzz are pretty strong. What do you think they could have done differently at launch? Do you think it was wise they launched the tool in Gmail?

SR: Google Buzz suffers from complexity because they only tested it within Google, which has a very tech-savvy engineering driven culture. Facebook and Twitter are simple. You get it right away. Buzz feels like something Google is forcing on millions of users to catch up in an area it’s not strong in – social. It would have been better if they launched in in beta or Labs.

Still, I see Buzz remaining an important niche player for the time being. But I would never count Google out. They can get it right.

BB: It seems that there are new tools popping up every second. Whether it’s checking in at a local bistro with Foursquare or taking a picture of a sunset and sending it to a larger network via Yfrog, there is a hefty amount of information to keep track of. Will there come a time where a mini social ‘revolt’ will occur?

SR: I feel there’s way too much focus in marketing on the venues and the technologies – even in the recessionary climate. Businesses must focus first on their stakeholders and the trends and then figure out how to leverage the technologies. Many still go about it in reverse.

In terms of the consumer, I believe we’re already seeing a winnowing down. Facebook is tops for the broadest group. Twitter is loved by a smaller, yet arguably more influential crowd. And YouTube meanwhile sits in the middle. The others, even FourSquare, are more niche.

In the end there’s only so much time in a day and everyone will need to make choices on where to invest. I see Facebook being the big winner and Twitter sitting in neutral for now. The others may eventually just become features of the big sites rather than stand alone entities.

BB: In the 90s, consumers may have sent a complaint via written letter or email to one of their favorite brands. Today, it may be a Facebook status message, YouTube video or tweet. What do you think this says about consumers’ expectations when it comes to corporate two-way dialogue?

SR: I don’t see it being an expectation around dialogue as much as it is power. People now know they have it and that some businesses will bend over backwards to meet the legitimate gripes in real-time. This creates a virtuous or some would argue a vicious cycle that just exacerbates the situation further.

This means that every business needs to understand what they will address and when – with the expectation that it will scale.

BB: With web sites incorporating tools like Facebook connect, video and real-time tweets, do you see social media being more ingrained in a digital strategy, instead of being an after-thought?

SR: Yes, I believe that we’ve passed an inflection. Everyone is looking at the data and the hype in the media and they realize that this is where our time and attention are flowing so they need to front-load social networking into their budgets. This is not just limited to consumer marketing but b2b as well.

BB: You are a big gadget fan and need to be connected a good portion of your day. How do you plug in? What is your go-to gadget that you can’t leave home without?

SR: Without a doubt my mobile phones. I switch back and forth between the Blackberry (a client) and the iPhone depending on what I plan to do in a given day. There are days or even weeks when all I use is a mobile device. I often travel without a computer – sometimes for 10 days at a time and internationally as well. It’s amazing what you can do with these devices. And both fit the bill nicely.

BB: You are a man on the move, visiting many up and coming tech start-ups. ExacTarget recently purchased CoTweet. Do you see more consolidation happening?

SR: Absolutely, I believe that integration between various systems will be key – especially for those providers who serve enterprise customers. It’s no different than how we saw similar consolidation in the desktop/enterprise software markets and for web-based platforms in the early 2000s.

BB: I know you are a big Yankees fan. If you could be a Bat Boy for a day, would you do it?

SR: Wow, I definitely would. I would love to travel with the team and and ask Derek Jeter all kinds of questions about his work ethic and efforts to be a better ballplayer every day. That’s what I hope to do too in my field. Jeter is a rare yardstick of professionalism and quality in a sports word that increasingly lacks such role models. And I find lots of metaphors in sports to inspire me in business.

BB: What is your newest tech obsession?

SR: I would have to say any tools that I an use for free that give me data. My favorites are Google Insights and Ad Planner, Facebook Insights and YouTube Audience Insights.

Image credit: Laughing Squid 

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Geoff Livingston co-founded Zoetica to focus on cause-related work, and released an award-winning book on new media Now is Gone in 2007.

Despite some initial flaws, Google Buzz continues to show promise as a social marketing platform. It has a significant (though somewhat latent) user base, with an increasing number of loyalists who swear by it.

When a green field lies before you, so does opportunity. Some non-profits stand to gain from being part of the early Buzz adopter community. Whether a cause needs to further the dialogue with a tech-savvy crowd, or is attracted to the functionality of Gmail integration, Buzz does bring some new capabilities to bear.

Here are four great uses for Buzz in cause-based activity.

A useful feature of Google Buzz is its public threaded conversation stream. This format has significant advantages over Twitter’s disjointed @reply conversations and hashtag-based threads, as well as Facebook’s often high privacy walls.

“We’ve been looking at using Buzz to have public conversations about Mothers Fighting for Others‘ work with an orphanage in Kenya,” said Jeff Turner, President of Zeek Interactive. “We want to be able to facilitate a consistent thread of conversation, but we want it to be more public and open than Facebook or [Google] Wave would allow. With Buzz, we feel like we can maintain a clear stream of thought around a topic, and at the same time, do it in a public forum where someone we might not be able to envision being interested could join in.”

Non-profits could use Buzz to manage workflow across a group. This can be useful for an organization with project teams spread across multiple offices or in the field. With e-mail integration, it saves the organization from having to set up a separate account with another private conversation tool like Basecamp.

“An example would be to set up Buzz as a private group for a project team, large or small,” said Shireen Mitchell, a Washington D.C.-based digital activist. “Twitter updates, blog posts, and other related content that has an RSS feed can be connected to individual [Buzz] accounts tracking topics related to the project. The team can make comments and select “like” to provide a consensus of interest on each update. This would keep the team updated on news, topics and content for any existing issue-driven social media campaign of the organization. [It's] sort of a mini crowdsourcing of the team.”

Another interesting aspect of Buzz’s workflow and e-mail integration is the use of a system that blends 2.0 functionality with a 1.0 system. Non-profit managers can use this to intelligently blend workforce conversations between younger and older, or tech-savvy and entrenched members of their teams. Crossing the streams may enable better communications.

“Google Buzz allows users to publish private streams to specific contact groups,” said John Haydon, a non-profit social media strategist. “This is a perfect way to include staff members who don’t use social media in important real-time conversations, especially during news-worthy events like the earthquake in Haiti.”

When Google launches a social network, it brings more to bear than your average start-up. Consider the ability to integrate geo-location with Google Maps into your social network activity. People can see social activity on the fly.

“Fast forward to a cause marketing campaign like Starbucks’ partnership with Product RED,” said Joe Waters, author of the Selfish Giving blog. “Buzzing about the latest campaign to a really large audience with geo-location features [enabled] lets people see in real-time all the people [talking] about the campaign in their area — especially in densely packed areas in New York where [Starbucks] are practically right across the street from each other.

“In short, Buzz can potentially broadcast a cause marketing campaign to a much larger audience than say Twitter. And the geo-location feature, if it takes off, can give a program a real-time, tangible quality that can’t be replicated on another [social media] platform.”

- The Science of Building Trust With Social Media
- Why Sex-Ed Remains a Challenge for Social Media
- 3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology
- How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement
- HOW TO: Prepare for Disasters Using Social Media

Tags: collaboration, Google, google buzz, non-profits, nonprofits, social good, social media, social media marketing

• nvcc C compiler
• CUDA FFT and BLAS libraries for the GPU
• Profiler
• gdb debugger for the GPU (alpha available in March, 2008)
• CUDA runtime driver (now also available in the standard NVIDIA GPU driver)
• CUDA programming manual

• Parallel bitonic sort
• Matrix multiplication
• Matrix transpose
• Performance profiling using timers
• Parallel prefix sum (scan) of large arrays
• Image convolution
• 1D DWT using Haar wavelet
• Many more features

Release Highlights

• Support for the new Fermi architecture, with:
• • Native 64-bit GPU support
  • Multiple Copy Engine support
  • ECC reporting
  • Concurrent Kernel Execution
  • Fermi HW debugging support in cuda-gdb
  • Fermi HW profiling support for CUDA C and OpenCL in Visual Profiler
• C++ Class Inheritance and Template Inheritance support for increased programmer productivity
• A new unified interoperability API for Direct3D and OpenGL, with support for:
• • OpenGL texture interop
  • Direct3D 11 interop support
• CUDA Driver / Runtime Buffer Interoperability, which allows applications using the CUDA Driver API to also use libraries implemented using the CUDA C Runtime such as CUFFT and CUBLAS.
• CUBLAS now supports all BLAS1, 2, and 3 routines including those for single and double precision complex numbers
• Up to 100x performance improvement while debugging applications with cuda-gdb
• cuda-gdb hardware debugging support for applications that use the CUDA Driver API
• cuda-gdb support for JIT-compiled kernels
• New CUDA Memory Checker reports misalignment and out of bounds errors, available as a stand-alone utility and debugging mode within cuda-gdb
• CUDA Toolkit libraries are now versioned, enabling applications to require a specific version, support multiple versions explicitly, etc.
• CUDA C/C++ kernels are now compiled to standard ELF format
• Support for device emulation mode has been packaged in a separate version of the CUDA C Runtime (CUDART), and is deprecated in this release. Now that more sophisticated hardware debugging tools are available and more are on the way, NVIDIA will be focusing on supporting these tools instead of the legacy device emulation functionality.
• • On Windows, use the new Parallel Nsight development environment for Visual Studio, with integrated GPU debugging and profiling tools (was code-named "Nexus"). Please see www.nvidia.com/nsight for details.
  • On Linux, use cuda-gdb and cuda-memcheck, and check out the solutions from Allinea and TotalView that will be available soon.
• Support for all the OpenCL features in the latest R195 production driver package:
• • Double Precision
  • Graphics Interoperability with OpenCL, Direc3D9, Direct3D10, and Direct3D11 for high performance visualization
  • o Query for Compute Capability, so you can target optimizations for GPU architectures (cl_nv_device_attribute_query)
  • Ability to control compiler optimization settings via support for pragma unroll in OpenCL kernels and an extension that allows programmers to set compiler flags. (cl_nv_compiler_options)
  • OpenCL Images support, for better/faster image filtering
  • 32-bit global and local atomics for fast, convenient data manipulation
  • Byte Addressable Stores, for faster video/image processing and compression algorithms
  • Support for the latest OpenCL spec revision 1.0.48 and latest official Khronos OpenCL headers as of 2010-02-17

• Top Queries
• Top Users
• Top Tables
• Replication Profiling
• Zoomable GUI
• Free Version

• Added reminder message when license is about to expire.
• Fixed bug #67: Software updates fails on Windows in some situations, related to slow network responses.
• Fixed bug #68: Top Tables tab wont always show all tables that are being used. This can happen if the tables have very low usage.
• Fixed bug #72: Memory leak in pie chart painting leading to OutOfMemoryErrors during prolonged running (days).

• Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later
• Intel 64 bit processor
• Java 6)

Rox / The Hill:
Rep. Engel: Pelosi has abandoned ‘deem and pass’  —  Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) won't use the tactic of deem and pass for healthcare reform.  —  Instead there will be two separate votes, one on the Senate bill and one on the reconciliation bill.

The Hill:
Dems ditch ‘deem and pass’  —  Top Democrats confirmed Saturday that the House would hold separate votes on the Senate healthcare bill and the reconciliation bill, making fixes to it.  —  Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of the chief deputy whips, Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), and Rep. Eliot Engel …

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
House leaders plan separate health vote, rejecting ‘deem and pass’  —  House leaders have decided to take a separate vote on the Senate health-care bill, rejecting an earlier, much-criticized strategy that would have permitted them to “deem” the unpopular measure passed without an explicit vote.

PlaybackPro Collection (PlaybackPro/RecordPro) is a fully modern Macintosh application that takes complete advantage of recent advances in software stability and graphics capabilities. Using one output as the operator interface, it sends clean video to the secondary video output, utilizing the graphics card for hardware acceleration and complete control over size, aspect ratio and levels. By allowing much greater flexibility in both the field and studio, it is intended to replace hardware DDRs (digital disk recorders), DVD players and video tape machines.

While the digital revolution has changed the way video is edited, its effects haven't been truly felt in the live production industry, until now. We like to call it non-linear playback. PlaybackPro leads the way with a simple but powerful interface that allows flexibility and control over the playback of video content. PlaybackPro is completely non-destructive to original video files, allowing the same file to be referenced multiple times with separate in and out points, geometry and levels. All effects are rendered on-the-fly.

Features Include:

• Easy to understand Preview and Program paradigm.
• Clip ordering and play-listing, printable to paper and PDF.
• Resolution agnostic playback of virtually any file type by adding easy to find Quicktime Components.
• Automatically adjusts to the output resolution and aspect ratio. Content can be in any ratio (4:3, 16:9, etc) and has infinite adjustability through sizing, stretching, and cropping.
• Plugs right into todayÕs high-resolution switchers via DVI or VGA.
• PlaybackPro can utilize files placed on a high speed RAID array or media network. With enough disk bandwidth, PlaybackPro is capable of resolutions well beyond HD.
• PlaybackPro uses a document based architecture, which allows multiple shows to be created and switched between.
• Video of any type can be captured using the included RecordPro application in conjunction with any Quicktime-compatible capture device.
• DVD video can easily be extracted with 3rd party software, allowing much higher quality than when recording into another device (and finally fixes all the issues with DVD playback in a professional environment).
• Online back-ups are created easily utilizing the file system and networking capabilities of the operating system for ease of use and no generational loss.
• Ideal for use in ultra-widesceen applications.
• Complete control over each clipÕs levels, including black-level, gain, saturation, gamma, and volume.
• Clean clip aborting, by fading out audio and video.
• Full start and end point controls, with easy fade-in and fade-out settings.
• Clear time-elapsed and time-remaining counters for accurate countdowns.
• Selectable slate frames for visual reference.
• Convenient ÔGoto 10Õ and ÔGoto 30Õ buttons for use during rehearsal Ôcue-to-cueÕ rundowns.
• Created specifically for live environments by video professionals.

Watch this battle unfold. The virtualization wars are just getting started.

On one side we have Microsoft, which announced changes in its licensing structures this week. The change reflects an understanding that the customer wants full access to its virtualization platform and not be charged a tax for that right to access it on a PC, no matter if it is at work or in their home.

And in true fashion, Microsoft is on the attack, Citrix at its side, in a full on fight with VMware for the virtualization market.

Sponsor

On the VMware side, we see a company ready to move into Microsoft's customer base by offering more than virtualization as witnessed with its recent acquisition of Zimbra. VMWare is gearing up to tap into the Microsoft Exchange market by combining its virtualization technology with the Zimbra email platform.

Historically, Microsoft has charged for separate licenses to access Windows operating systems in a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment. Until now, there would be separate licensing fees for people to access their virtual desktops from secondary devices like home personal computers.

The licensing issue in all of this gets complicated pretty fast. According to Simon Bramfitt:

VMWare, in smart retort, praises Microsoft for the move and bowing to "intense customer pressure."

Raj Mallempati, director, product marketing, calls it an opening for VMWare View. You know it's competitive when you see this kind of rhetoric:

By loosening up the restrictive desktop virtualization license policy (VECD), Microsoft has finally bowed to intensive customer pressure. This validates the acceleration in demand in the desktop virtualization industry that VMware helped start and continues to lead. Microsoft's move here is extremely positive for the industry.

But what is Citrix part in all of this?

At the beginning of the year, VMWare offered the opportunity to exchange Citrix XenApp licenses for VMWare View. In response, Microsoft and Citrix announced a partnership this week aimed right at VMWare with some pretty attractive licensing deals.

The promotion intends to undercut VMWare by reaching into its customer base with offers to trade in as many as 500 licenses in exchange for a Microsoft integration offered with Citrix.

To kick it off, the two companies plan a 100-city tour.

But what this really represents is Microsoft providing some flexibility in its virtualization licensing agreements. That move alone will help open up the market.

And VMWare? The company has 80 percent of the virtualization market. Any move on its customer base should be expected. VMware's vision for Zimbra is another matter. That's a battle it is taking right back to Microsoft - square on its home turf.

If you’re a photographer and use a Mac, chances are you’re using Lightroom or Aperture. Probably Lightroom, since Aperture is less popular among pros — and the latest version seems to be an acknowledgment of that. The features added in version 3 are clearly intended to draw casual shooters using iPhoto to the paid image editing honey pot. Since so many of these amazing new features are direct side-loads from iPhoto, it smooths the process and makes the program as a whole more approachable, though whether existing Aperture users will find them helpful is questionable. Brushes, on the other hand, are a welcome addition to any photographer’s toolset, and depending on how dedicated you are, may be worth the price of admission.

Invasion of the iPhoto features

As long as I’ve been using Aperture, I’ve considered it a processing application. Its photo management was troublesome here and there, and iPhoto had the best ways of showing off your shots, but I dealt with it since maintaining two separate libraries of the same photos would be disk space suicide. I’ve only used Lightroom a little bit (and a version or two back) but all my friends say that it just has a better workflow for serious photo work — importing a couple hundred shots, scrubbing through them, doing the necessary adjustments, and outputting to the necessary format. Not that I have trouble doing that in Aperture, but apparently it’s faster and better in Lightroom.

Confronted with such a fearsome opponent, Apple decided that it would be better to flank than to risk a frontal assault. Hence the expansion of Aperture’s incorporation of iPhoto features Faces and Places. I question their relevance in a photo processing application, but given Apple’s tendency towards coalescing functionality, I’m guessing that iPhoto will eventually be Aperture: Gimped Edition, and the only real choice for organizing and messing with large numbers of photos will be Aperture.

There are some kinks to be worked out. Faces plainly doesn’t work. After it spent literally five hours going through my photos (about 1000 per hour), this is what it has come up with:

No, it didn’t have a lot to go on (I hadn’t “trained” it much yet) but really now. After giving it a few more pointers on what I looked like, it still mistook a three-year-old tow-headed girl, my friend Monica (who is Indian, and in a wedding dress), some E3 booth babes, and Casio president Kazuo Kashio for pale, bearded, Devin Coldewey. The cork board background is jarring and the interface for going through your shots is terrible. I realize this is a technology still being perfected, and that is why I am wondering: what is it doing in my RAW editing program?

Places is useful if you have a geotagging camera (still rare) or want to spend a few hours dragging and dropping stuff onto the map. It can be fun, actually, if you take a lot of pictures of your friends, and want to drag and drop this or that night onto the location you went to; it’s like creating a different kind of album (“Linda’s Tavern”), and indeed you can make a browsable smart album from locations. If you’re like me, you won’t feel complete until the photos are more or less where they were within the city, and not all grouped in a single pin, smack in the middle of the city. This could have some promise, but with a backlog of several thousand shots, getting a library up to date in Places is a task I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

It’s a mistake to judge Faces and Places by simply saying “well we were fine before them,” because it may just be that we found ways of working in the old system of organization (Project>Folder>Album) that approximated what these new features do. But I don’t think it’s wrong to say they just don’t really do much, and feel out of place to boot. You have to work at them, or shoot for them, in order for them to really be worthwhile. Still I have to give credit where credit’s due: if you just consider Faces and Places new columns to organize by (like rating or date) then they’re worth their salt. As flagship features, though, they’re duds.

Lastly, the slide show thing. It’s like finding a trout in the milk. Not that it doesn’t work — it works as well as iPhoto’s thing, and I suppose it’s better to have than not. It’s just a little weird to have a sort of… aftermarket feature popped in there next to the serious editing tools. Its little presets are, like in most Apple programs, 25% solid, 75% fluff. Who in the name of all that is holy is going to pick “Shatter” as their slide show transition? It’s ghastly.

The new features are very well explained in little videos accessible through the “Welcome” screen, which will be handy for new users — if they can find the screen after they close it (it’s in Help>Welcome to Aperture).

The good stuff

So if the iPhoto features are icing, the actual cake is the RAW editing, adjustment tools, and user interface. Let’s start with what I would say is the best new feature: Brushes.

You can see a pretty thorough overview of the feature at Apple’s site, but the gist is that it allows you to apply certain effects in limited areas using a brush of adjustable size and intensity. That’s great! I can’t count the number of times I’ve vacillated between two versions of a photo where an adjustment necessary for one part ended up blowing out another, or I just wanted to bring out the color in the eyes but not in the background. A lot of fiddling could usually approximate the effect I wanted, but it would be so much easier to just use a brush. I’ll be using the hell out of this feature, and it’s perhaps the only real step Apple took against Adobe in this update.

(combination Brushes and Help Video screenshot)

The brushes are non-destructive, like any of the dials and curves you can play with in the adjustments panel, so you can feel free to experiment, layer, and try out different effects. One thing I often have to do when shooting review shots is emphasize the color of LEDs, but if the subject is well-lit, the LEDs are going to be barely visible. No problem; make a little brush, add in a little contrast right there, bump the saturation just in the one area, and boom, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Brushes are useful for lots of little things like that.

The new full-screen browser is handy but not really a revolution. They’ve added the ability to get around your library a little more, which is nice, but it’s not as streamlined as the regular browser, which is always accessible by a single keystroke. The fullscreen presentation has definitely been improved, however, and when showing off photos to friends or clients, it’s a better option than either the plain editing window or a slide show.

The preset adjustments, I think we can agree, are being blown way out of proportion. These are the same kind of “professional adjustments” that you have been able to apply on cheap point-and-shoots since the beginning of time. There are a few quick adjust things like high-contrast black-and-white or exposure +1 that are nice to have previews for (the live preview window is handy), but let’s be honest, these are just filters. I’d like to be able to say that they’re carefully adjusted so you won’t see weird color effects, blackouts, or blowouts, but the fact is every one I tried looked cheap and overdone. The others, like white balance and so on, seem pretty redundant considering the actual controls for adjusting those aspects are mere pixels away in the same window.

Click to see it larger. You can’t really tell here, since this photo isn’t very high contrast, but in several of the other shots I tried this on, the vintage look was really purple, cross-processing was really green, and toy camera pushed the contrast way too far. Subtle adjustments these are not.

The good news is that people new to the program might try a couple, see that they were created by dragging curves and color bars around, and then make their own. I’ve had my own “base” adjustment for years now, which was just as easily accessible and just as customizable. Putting together a “look” for a shoot using this feature might be easier now than before, but it’s still just a toy at this point.

The ability to have multiple libraries is nice; splitting work and personal stuff would be my move, so that if a meteor crashed into TC HQ (or, more likely, I’m fired for insubordination), I could free up a couple gigs in one clean sweep. It’s also convenient for backing up and sharing; “here’s my whole ‘wedding’ library, feel free to do what you like with it” rather than “here’s a folder full of RAW files.”

A quick note

Just a PSA: installation of Aperture 3 took ages. Plan on losing at least a working day to 100% processor usage as it converts your library, searches for Faces, and reprocesses your RAW files with the new profile. I’m not holding this against Apple (it’s a LOT of data to sift through) but it’s just something to be aware of.

Conclusion

Aperture is still a great program, in my opinion, and the budding photographer would be a lot better off with this than with iPhoto if they’re planning on doing anything more than collecting snapshots. I’ve gotten used to Aperture’s workflow and they haven’t changed it much in 3, in fact they’ve provided a couple serious improvements with Brushes and potentially Places and Faces — you know, if you’re into that kind of thing.

The trouble I see is that Aperture, once a rather single-minded program, is being diluted with features that have nothing to do with its core functionality. Why not have a new program, called “Collection” or something, that hooks into all your libraries, allows for creating robust slide shows, exporting directly to Facebook, and all that sort of thing? Putting all this junk into Aperture is doing to it what Apple has done to iTunes: once a sleek and straightforward program, it has now grown bloated beyond comprehension; it’s a bit like seeing a once-great fighter gone to seed. I have more of an attachment to Aperture than to iTunes, but if Aperture 4 continues along the vector indicated by Aperture 3, you can consider me a Lightroom conversion.

Give Aperture 3 a 30-day trial for free here. $199 to buy, $99 to upgrade.

Fox News reportedly draws a distinction between its "news hours," which it claims are objective, and its "editorial" programming. But on May 19, purported "news hour" anchor Megyn Kelly constructed an entire segment around "editorial" host Glenn Beck's criticism of New York's proposed restaurant salt ban, airing clips from his show and asking her guest to respond to Beck's arguments.

Kelly introduces segment by airing Beck clip. Kelly began her segment by airing a clip of Beck on the March 10 edition of his Fox News program in which he stated:

BECK: The government cannot make people healthy. If I want to stuff my face, I'm going to stuff my face. If I'm going to have a heart attack in 15 minutes because I stuff my face, it's my fault. If the firemen have to come to my house and cut a huge hole in the side of my wall because I'm stuck to my couch because I'm a big fat fatty just eating marshmallows all day and the firemen have to come in with a crane and pull me out and put me on a flatbed truck to take me to the hospital, you know what? I should have to pay the bill!

Kelly then said of the proposed ban, "It's got Glenn Beck all fired up."

Kelly repeatedly demands NY Assemblyman Ortiz respond to Beck's criticism. Kelly's first question to her guest, New York State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz -- who has introduced legislation banning salt in New York restaurants -- was: "Glenn Beck is all upset with you, Assemblyman. What do you have to say to him?" She later asked, "Ok, salt's not great for you, certainly not in large amounts in any event, but why isn't it up to us? As Glenn said, if I want to become a fatty fat fat, what business is it of yours?"

Kelly to Ortiz: "You wanted Glenn Beck to start talking about you." After Ortiz stated that he introduced his legislation in part because doing so focuses media attention on the issue of the health risks of excessive salt, Kelly stated: "So it's a media stunt. I'm on to you, Assemblyman. Ok. So you just wanted to get on America Live, you wanted Glenn Beck to start talking about you."

In response to criticism, Fox News claims its news hours are objective. The New York Times reported on October 11 that in response to White House criticism, Fox News claimed that its news hours -- which it reportedly defined as "9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays" are objective:

In an interview, Mr. [senior vice president for news Michael] Clemente suggested that there was an element of "shoot the messenger" in the back and forth. "Sometimes it's actually helpful to have an organization or a person that you can go up against for whatever reason," he said.

Fox argues that its news hours -- 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays -- are objective. The channel has taken pains recently to highlight its news programs, including the two hours led by Shepard Smith, its chief news anchor. And its daytime newscasts draw more viewers than CNN or MSNBC's prime-time programs.

"The average consumer certainly knows the difference between the A section of the newspaper and the editorial page," Mr. Clemente said.

America Live replaced Live Desk in early 2010.

In a written statement provided to media outlets, Clemente compared Fox News' purportedly separate "news" and "opinion" programming to "the A-section of the newspaper and the editorial page":

An increasing number of viewers are relying on FOX News for both news and opinion. And the average news consumer can certainly distinguish between the A-section of the newspaper and the editorial page, which is what our programming represents. So, with all due respect to anyone who might still be confused about the difference between news reporting and vibrant opinion, my suggestion would be to talk about the stories and the facts, rather than attack the messenger...which over time, has never worked.

Fox's "news" division routinely promotes and echoes Beck. Fox News' reporters and "news" programs have routinely promoted and echoed Beck on stories such as the 9-12 Project, tea party protests, ACORN and former White House officials Van Jones and Anita Dunn.

Fox's news programs echo its "opinion" shows. Fox News' purportedly straight news programs echo its "editorial" programs, featuring smears, falsehoods, doctored and deceptive editing, and GOP talking points.

Filed under: Sedan, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GM, Police/Emergency

Charting the Five-Ohs: Next-gen Cop Car Comparo originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Tim Conneally, Betanews

This week, documents from Viacom's billion dollar lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement were published, and the three-year-long-and-counting lawsuit has again been brought to the public's attention. In case you haven't been following the case, here's a quick timeline of the major events that led up to the lawsuit, and those that occurred since the original complaint was filed:

May 24, 2005- Viacom subpoenas YouTube for information about a user who uploaded clips from Paramount Pictures' "Twin Towers."

June 2005- Viacom's board of directors approves a plan to spin off assets, which become known as the new Viacom, Inc. That new company is given control of Paramount, while the core company reforms as CBS Corp.

January 2006- 20th Century Fox sues YouTube to have content from Fox TV shows such as The Simpsons and 24 removed from YouTube.

June 2006- YouTube and NBC partner to create NBC channel on YouTube for Internet exclusives, clips, and trailers.

July 2006- Viacom and NBC Universal back journalist Robert Tur in his suit against YouTube for illegally posting his videos of the 1992 L.A. riots. The legal brief said, "YouTube incorrectly contends that the DMCA permits it to avoid any responsibility for the content on its commercial website and completely shift the burden to content owners to discover and notify it of infringements."

September 2006- YouTube signs content deal with Warner to host the company's music videos.

October 9, 2006- CBS and YouTube announce a strategic content and advertising partnership.

October 2006- Viacom and YouTube reach a content syndication agreement.

October 20, 2006- Google Buys YouTube for $1.65 Billion.

December 2006- Viacom reportedly walks away from negotiations with NBC Universal, CBS Corp., and Fox Interactive about creating a TV-centric YouTube competitor site.

February 2007- Viacom retracts its content agreement with Google, pulls everything off the site.

February 2007- YouTube's pending content deal with CBS halts.

March 2007- Viacom Sues Google for over 63,000 separate counts of copyright infringement seeking $1 billion in damages. YouTube protects itself with the "Safe Harbor" provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

March 2007- Viacom General Counsel Michael Fricklas in a Washington Post op-ed says that YouTube was not just a passive content host, and that it is fully aware of what it does. "If the public knows what's there, then YouTube's management surely does. YouTube's own terms of use give it clear rights, notably the right to take anything down."

May 2007- Google signs YouTube content deal with record label EMI.

May 2007- British Premier League files class action suit against YouTube for copyright infringement, says Google "knowingly misappropriated and exploited this valuable property," when it allowed users to post footage from its football games.

June 2007- YouTube introduces Content ID to help content owners identify if their content is being used, gives them the option to remove unauthorized content, or monetize it.

July 2007- Google CEO Eric Schmidt says Viacom was "built from lawsuits."

August 2007- Google asks Comedy Central personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to testify against Viacom in copyright hearings. Comedy Central is a Viacom property.

October 2007- Viacom joins MySpace, Microsoft, Veoh, and Dailymotion in signing the "Copyright Principles for User Generated Content Services," hoping it will become a sort of "television code" of online copyright protection.

March 2008- Viacom President and CEO Phillippe Dauman says "We've already achieved a number of things with this lawsuit. It took a long time, but because of our actions, YouTube has moved in the right direction. They're where they should have been all along."

May 2008- Google claims Viacom's suit threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression," claims it could have a chilling effect on all Internet communications.

June 2008- New York District Court rules that Google has to turn over user IDs and IP addresses to Viacom. Angry users upload nearly 5,000 "Viacom Sucks" videos to YouTube. Google is later allowed to make this data anonymous.

July 2008- Movie studio Lionsgate partners with YouTube for a branded channel with ad-supported official content from the studio.

October 2008- The McCain/Palin presidential campaign asked YouTube to stop taking down campaign videos that incorporated clips of news broadcasts. YouTube said that it was doing so at the request of broadcasters who objected to the use of their copyrighted footage.

April 2009- Content owners discus "TV Anywhere" plan to tie Web-based video content into cable subscription fees. Viacom CEO Dauman says, "People are used to paying for video subscriptions," sees it as a good idea.

June 2009- "TV Everywhere" network scheme launches.

July 2009- Some claims from the Premier League's 2007 suit against YouTube are dismissed, but claims for "statutory damages for works not registered in the US" are allowed.

September 2009- Google gives individual copyright holders access to the Insight metrics of YouTube videos that contain their intellectual property according to Content ID.

October 2009- Viacom presents "smoking gun" evidence for its case: internal e-mails from YouTube staff that show "actual knowledge" that copyright infringement was taking place on the video sharing site.

November 2009- Google announces YouTube Direct, a system where media outlets can directly communicate with users and arrange rebroadcasting rights on a one-to-one basis.

March 2010- Some of Viacom's "smoking gun" documents go public, company claims "YouTube was intentionally built on infringement."

Following the Congressional Budget Office's score of the health care reform reconciliation package, Fox News has attempted to portray the nonpartisan CBO as untrustworthy and unreliable. By contrast, after the CBO gave a "favorable" score to the GOP health care plan, Fox praised the office as "nonpartisan" and advanced false GOP claims about the CBO's findings.

 Beck mocks CBO score of health care reform: "Well, that's a party in my pants." On the March 18 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck, Beck asked, "How would the CBO numbers even make any difference? You know, 'Only 900 and' -- what is it -- '$954 billion.' Ooh. Well, that's a party in my pants. Thank you for sending that one by. How does that make a difference?"

 Doocy: "[C]an you really rely on the numbers that the Congressional Budget Office comes out with?" On the March 19 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy claimed, "Democrats say it will reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion over the first decade." After guest host Dana Perino responded by saying, "Well, but there are other members who say that it actually will cost $2.4 trillion over the 10 years once you add it all up," Doocy asked, "Because, can you really rely on the numbers that the Congressional Budget Office comes out with?"

 Perino: "[C]an we trust these numbers?" Introducing an interview with Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) on the same edition of Fox & Friends, Perino said, "Nine hundred and forty billion dollars over the next decade. That's the preliminary price tag for the Democrats' health care bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also says the plan will cut the federal deficit by $130 billion in that time, but can we trust these numbers?" Weiner said the score "came out really better than we thought it would. It was a great savings number, and so the deficit hawks now have things that they can point at and say, 'You know what? This really does save money." Perino then asked him, "But do you think ... that those numbers can be trusted later on?"

 Johnson Jr.: "I don't expect or anticipate that their numbers are real." On the same edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade said that the "average person" would say, "[I]f a plan costs $940 billion, tell me how I'm saving 130 billion. So it doesn't make any sense." Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. then noted that Perino had asked, "Do we really trust these numbers?" and claimed that "if you read carefully the latest CBO things, they say, 'Well, we don't usually project out another 10 years.' And there's so many variables and so many wiggle words that I don't expect or anticipate that their numbers are real." He later said, "I think we're being spun."

 Hannity calls CBO score "budgetary gimmicks and tricks." On the March 18 edition of Fox News' Hannity, host Sean Hannity called the CBO score of the health care bill reflected "budgetary gimmicks and tricks" and said that it is "[f]lat-out dishonest" that the score didn't contain separate legislation that cancels scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. After guest Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) claimed "the only way that [Democrats] pay for those additions is to reduce seniors' health care benefits on their Medicaid or raise taxes," Hannity responded, "[W]hy would the CBO not highlight this to give a truly educational, informational, you know, scoring of this to the American people?"

 Hemmer asks Juan Williams "do you believe" the CBO long-range forecast. On the March 18 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, Fox News contributor Juan Williams called the CBO score a "deal-maker" because it will "reassure those independents and, by extension, those Democrats that have been on the fence because they are deficit hawks" because of the deficit reduction. Co-host Bill Hemmer then said to Williams, "That's 20 years out. You've lived in Washington a long time. Do you believe that?"

 Fox Nation headline: "CBO Score Called a 'Lie.' " On March 18, Fox Nation posted a National Review article under the headline "CBO Score Called a 'Lie.' " From Fox Nation:

 Fox's Shively touted "favorable" CBO report on GOP health care bill and advanced false GOP claim that GOP plan would lower premiums more than Democrats' plan. On the November 5, 2009, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, contributor Caroline Shively adopted the GOP spin by reporting, "Now, on the other side of the aisle, Republicans have gotten favorable reports from the Congressional Budget Office on the cost of their health care bill. GOP lawmakers say that means premiums for millions of families will be almost $5,000 lower under their plan, compared to the cheapest plan in the Democrats' exchange." In fact, the $5,000 difference Shively cited ignored premium caps in the House Democrats' plan. As Media Matters for America has noted, because the Democrats' health care bill provides premium caps on a sliding scale based on income, the lowest amount that a family would have to pay in premiums is significantly less than the GOP alternative.

America's Newsroom attributes Republican talking point to CBO. On the November 5 edition of America's Newsroom, host Martha McCallum claimed, "The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is saying that the Republican bill ... will carry lower costs for Americans. The CBO estimates that health insurance premiums would be nearly $5,000 cheaper under the Republican reforms than the Democratic ones." In fact, the CBO never made that claim. The comparison was based on calculations done by Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee. From America's Newsroom:

Fox & Friends report obscures that GOP plan wouldn't cover uninsured, wouldn't significantly lower premiums, would reduce deficit less than Democrats' plan. Shively's Fox & Friends report ignored that the GOP plan would not cover most uninsured Americans. Shively also did not report that the CBO estimates indicate that House Democrats' bill lowers the deficit more than the GOP's proposal.

The fourth annual Pwn2Own contest—which takes place at the CanSecWest security conference every year—kicks off next week. Like last year, 2010's contest will offer security experts and hackers the chance to "pwn" a number of mobile platforms in addition to various browser/OS combinations. Though no mobile devices were successfully hacked last year, expectations are high that the iPhone will go down in this year's contest.

"With all the recent research on mobile phone security being presented worldwide, these devices are quickly becoming a ripe target," wrote Aaron Portnoy, security researcher at TippingPoint and Pwn2Own contest organizer. "First to fall: the iPhone."

Mac OS X security expert Charlie Miller, known for his past exploits of Safari and discovery of a possible arbitrary code execution exploit for the iPhone, is also confident that the iPhone will go down this year. "Someone I know quite well says they have an exploit for it and plan on using it," he said recently during a chat with Kapersky Labs' ThreatPost. "From an exploitation perspective, iPhone is no harder than [Mac] OS X now that Snow Leopard has data execution protection," Miller explained.

However, Miller plans to stick to Safari, which he successfully attacked the last two years, netting him thousands in cash and two MacBooks. "There isn't as much exposed code on the iPhone," he said. "The easy to exploit bugs I know about happen to live in the code that Safari has but Mobile Safari doesn't," mostly due to Mobile Safari's lack of support for Java, Flash, and other third-party plugins.

Also, Miller said, "in real life the iPhone is harder because you can't just execute a shell. You have to write your return-oriented payload to do all your dirty work, which can be a pain."

Miller said that attacking Safari this year will be harder than last year, since Snow Leopard has DEP and Safari sandboxes plug-ins in separate processes. However, he noted that Snow Leopard's incomplete support for address space layout randomization still leaves the Safari and Mac OS X combination open to vulnerabilities.

This year, contestants will have a chance to nab a laptop and a $10,000 cash prize for demonstrating exploits for IE8, Firefox 3, and Google Chrome 4 running under Windows 7, or Safari 4 running on Mac OS X 10.6. Contestants that successfully hack an iPhone 3GS, BlackBerry Bold 9700, a Nokia E62, or a Motorola Droid will get to keep the device as well as $15,000 in cash.

Read the comments on this post

The fourth annual Pwn2Own contest—which takes place at the CanSecWest security conference every year—kicks off next week. Like last year, 2010's contest will offer security experts and hackers the chance to "pwn" a number of mobile platforms in addition to various browser/OS combinations. Though no mobile devices were successfully hacked last year, expectations are high that the iPhone will go down in this year's contest.

"With all the recent research on mobile phone security being presented worldwide, these devices are quickly becoming a ripe target," wrote Aaron Portnoy, security researcher at TippingPoint and Pwn2Own contest organizer. "First to fall: the iPhone."

Mac OS X security expert Charlie Miller, known for his past exploits of Safari and discovery of a possible arbitrary code execution exploit for the iPhone, is also confident that the iPhone will go down this year. "Someone I know quite well says they have an exploit for it and plan on using it," he said recently during a chat with Kapersky Labs' ThreatPost. "From an exploitation perspective, iPhone is no harder than [Mac] OS X now that Snow Leopard has data execution protection," Miller explained.

However, Miller plans to stick to Safari, which he successfully attacked the last two years, netting him thousands in cash and two MacBooks. "There isn't as much exposed code on the iPhone," he said. "The easy to exploit bugs I know about happen to live in the code that Safari has but Mobile Safari doesn't," mostly due to Mobile Safari's lack of support for Java, Flash, and other third-party plugins.

Also, Miller said, "in real life the iPhone is harder because you can't just execute a shell. You have to write your return-oriented payload to do all your dirty work, which can be a pain."

Miller said that attacking Safari this year will be harder than last year, since Snow Leopard has DEP and Safari sandboxes plug-ins in separate processes. However, he noted that Snow Leopard's incomplete support for address space layout randomization still leaves the Safari and Mac OS X combination open to vulnerabilities.

This year, contestants will have a chance to nab a laptop and a $10,000 cash prize for demonstrating exploits for IE8, Firefox 3, and Google Chrome 4 running under Windows 7, or Safari 4 running on Mac OS X 10.6. Contestants that successfully hack an iPhone 3GS, BlackBerry Bold 9700, a Nokia E62, or a Motorola Droid will get to keep the device as well as $15,000 in cash.

Read the comments on this post

The fourth annual Pwn2Own contest—which takes place at the CanSecWest security conference every year—kicks off next week. Like last year, 2010's contest will offer security experts and hackers the chance to "pwn" a number of mobile platforms in addition to various browser/OS combinations. Though no mobile devices were successfully hacked last year, expectations are high that the iPhone will go down in this year's contest.

"With all the recent research on mobile phone security being presented worldwide, these devices are quickly becoming a ripe target," wrote Aaron Portnoy, security researcher at TippingPoint and Pwn2Own contest organizer. "First to fall: the iPhone."

Mac OS X security expert Charlie Miller, known for his past exploits of Safari and discovery of a possible arbitrary code execution exploit for the iPhone, is also confident that the iPhone will go down this year. "Someone I know quite well says they have an exploit for it and plan on using it," he said recently during a chat with Kapersky Labs' ThreatPost. "From an exploitation perspective, iPhone is no harder than [Mac] OS X now that Snow Leopard has data execution protection," Miller explained.

However, Miller plans to stick to Safari, which he successfully attacked the last two years, netting him thousands in cash and two MacBooks. "There isn't as much exposed code on the iPhone," he said. "The easy to exploit bugs I know about happen to live in the code that Safari has but Mobile Safari doesn't," mostly due to Mobile Safari's lack of support for Java, Flash, and other third-party plugins.

Also, Miller said, "in real life the iPhone is harder because you can't just execute a shell. You have to write your return-oriented payload to do all your dirty work, which can be a pain."

Miller said that attacking Safari this year will be harder than last year, since Snow Leopard has DEP and Safari sandboxes plug-ins in separate processes. However, he noted that Snow Leopard's incomplete support for address space layout randomization still leaves the Safari and Mac OS X combination open to vulnerabilities.

This year, contestants will have a chance to nab a laptop and a $10,000 cash prize for demonstrating exploits for IE8, Firefox 3, and Google Chrome 4 running under Windows 7, or Safari 4 running on Mac OS X 10.6. Contestants that successfully hack an iPhone 3GS, BlackBerry Bold 9700, a Nokia E62, or a Motorola Droid will get to keep the device as well as $15,000 in cash.

Read the comments on this post

Researchers at the University of Liege have developed an algorithm to separate movement from background. They call it ViBe and this patented piece of code comes in at under 100 lines of C. Above you can see the proof of concept shown by hacking the code into CHDK, a Canon PowerShot alternative firmware. The package is available for non-commercial use and might be just the thing you need to get your project to recognize where it needs to serve the beer.

[Thanks Juan via Slashdot]