Kim Bach . Org

Nintendo.com News : Transform your DS into a guitar with Jam Sessions

After having been on the Japanese market for quite a while, Ubisoft is about to launch Jam Sessions to the rest of the world.

Jam Sessions is a Guitar Simulator, and unlike Guitar Hero, it’s focusing on reality, as this (Hidari Mae: Logical Conclusion) great sounding sample demonstrates – it was made without real guitars!

The concept is that you strum the guitar using the touch screen, and use the navigation keys to create chords.

So I might pick up the “guitar” again, it’s been more than 25 years since I tried to learn how to play the guitar – I sort of managed to get the technical details right, and it’s still in “my fingers” – but it never really amounted to anything – you know music is about feelings and “letting go” – when I was 18 I was a serious uptight old fart, with no concept of feelings, I think I might fare better today, and I’ve actually been jamming with my oldest niece using her acoustic guitar, and it actually sounded much better after she coached me – I was amazed or maybe I’m just tone-deaf .

I’m NEVER going to master a traditional game controller, but the new generation of gaming concepts that Nintendo is pioneering strikes a SERIOUS chord (pun intended ) with me.

Last.fm – the online music community – is probably the KEWLest web-site on the planet – and now it’s even KEWLer, since they have a Jaiku channel.

In case you don’t know Jaiku, it’s a web application that makes it easy to follow your friends, and stay updated on your favourite topics and/or sites (if they have a channel that is). Services like Jaiku are often refereed to as “microblogging services”, and it’s somewhat similar to another web-application: Twitter.

In case you don’t know Last.fm – you’re not from this planet, but it’s a service that, based on your musical preference, helps you discover new music, events and friends. Last.fm also operates unlimited streaming “radio stations”, where the users determine the content, for instance based on the similarity of artists, you can for instance ask Last.fm to stream a radio-station similar to a specific artist.

Since I joined the #LastFM channel, I remembered that I one year ago added “Send job-application to Last.fm” to my to-do list – I feel that Last.fm thinks like I do, and they’re looking for lots of people, and it looks like a great place to work.

Jens Martin Knudsens Rosenkjær-foredrag – dr.dk/P1/Rosenkjær/Jens Martin Knudsen

Jens Martin Knudsen var Danmarks bedste formidler af videnskab. Her er et foredrag han gav i forbindelse med at han modtog Rosenkjær prisen

Han døde i Februar 2005, og kort før det meldte han sig frivilligt til at rejse til Mars, mon han er nået frem?

Æret være JMKs minde.

Rækken af Rosenkjær-foredrag findes som Podcasts, du kan finde dem her.

Microsoft Delivers Silverlight 1.0, Extends Support to Linux: “Entertainment Tonight” HSN and World Wrestling Entertainment showcase new online experiences; more than 35 partners commit to Silverlight Partner Initiative.

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 4, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. today released to the Web (RTW) Silverlight™ 1.0, a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering richer user experiences on the Web. In addition, Microsoft will work with Novell Inc. to deliver Silverlight support for Linux, called Moonlight, and based on the project started on mono-project.com.

Silverlight significantly reduces development and deployment costs and provides enhanced Web audio and video streaming and playback using industry-leading Windows Media® Technologies. Microsoft unveiled new Silverlight customer experiences on “Entertainment Tonight,” HSN and World Wrestling Entertainment, and also launched the Silverlight Partner Initiative, a program designed to foster collaboration among solution providers, content delivery networks, tools vendors and design agencies.

“Our expectations for compelling, immersive experiences on the Web are increasing daily,” said Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect. “With today’s release of Silverlight 1.0, we’re making it possible for developers and designers to deliver to individuals the kind of high-def experiences they crave by integrating data and services in rich and unique ways. Silverlight will further accelerate the growth in rich interactive applications by giving developers and designers new options for delivering great experiences that span the Web, PC, phone and other devices.”

I think my jaw just hit the floor, this exceeds my wildest dreams – let’s hope that it’s not just that – and that it will materialise.

This is the validation that the Mono Project needed! Flash will now – finally – get serious competition – or rather a run for it’s money – from a company that understands, and listens to, developers (no “monkey dance” here – they just do!).

It’s WONDERFUL news. GO RAY OZZIE, Microsoft will be “insanely great” – unlike “another” company – that no longer has ANY interest in computers!!!

And guess what: I just started as a Microsoft developer again – seems that I got the timing right.

Get Silverlight 1.0 here (yes: it’s ALSO for the Mac)…

This is part of a lecture by Richard Dawkins, all seven episodes are GREAT, but this segment really drives his points home.

Dawkins is a fantastic lecturer, and it’s tough to find Danish equivalents, the only one I can think of is Jens Martin Knudsen (R.I.P. I’m SO sorry he didn’t get to go to Mars, or see people walking there).

In the 80ies Jens Martin Knudsen did a series of lectures that were broadcast on Danish National Television (DR), I have to go find them.

HAVE FAITH (in scientific method)!

Are you evolved yet?

JPL.NASA.GOV: News Releases

NASA has just issued a press release regarding a new discovery. What the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have discovered are small, dense galaxies in the distant universe (meaning we’re looking WAY back in time), that are considered to be building blocks of the Universe, and it contributes to, and confirms, our understanding of the evolution of the Universe.

This press release caught my interest, in part, due to the mentioning of ‘Lego’ the BEST toy EVER, but behind the headline lies yet another important discovery, that, to me, really demonstrates why we need to invest in Space Telescopes, there’s so much to learn.

“OH MY GOD! IT’S FULL OF STARS!”.

This is a quote from the NASA press release:

A NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have joined forces to discover nine of the smallest, faintest, most compact galaxies ever observed in the distant universe. Blazing with the brilliance of millions of stars, each of the newly discovered galaxies is 100 to 1,000 times smaller than our Milky Way galaxy.

“These are among the lowest mass galaxies ever directly observed in the early universe,” said Nor Pirzkal of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md.

The conventional model for galaxy evolution predicts that small galaxies in the early universe evolved into the massive galaxies of today by coalescing. These nine Lego-like “building block” galaxies initially detected by Hubble likely contributed to the construction of the universe as we know it.

JPL is the NASA body that manages the majority of the robotic missions to the planets and the solar system, this includes the highly successful Mars Rovers, Voyager, Cassini. You can subscribe to the NASA JPL newsletter by visiting this link

Apple – QuickTime – September 2007 Keynote Address

Apple Special Event from today is now available for streaming, Steve is looking sharp, great seeing him playing with iTunes Ringtone Maker: “All we are saying is give peace a chance” – “that’s for when NBC calls” LOL.

And the iPod Touch – should be called the iPod Ouch – Ouch there goes my recent resolution: “No more gadgets!” AGAIN! I am however going to wait until I can try it, before buying. I have some questions…

1. Can I update my calendar and address book and have it synced back to iCal and Address Book? My guess is no.
2. Does the Danish localisation include a Danish touch screen keyboard, including æ, ø and å, Steve only showed the US version?
3. It doesn’t look like it works with Nike+.
4. It doesn’t look like it supports Bluetooth, so no wireless headsets or integration with phones and cameras
5. When will there be a Starbucks in Copenhagen (hey isn’t there one in CPH Airport? Guess I just have to travel some more!)

As a spin off from the Special Event today, I’ve created a Jaiku channel for the Danish Apple community called #appletalkdk, join the fun here.

The picture is Copyright (c) 2007 Apple Inc., I consider my use here to be fair use.

Heyerdahl.no – iDiamond

I knew that there would be a market for “gadget jewellery”, but this bling-iPod shuffle from the Norwegian Jeweller Thomas Heyerdahl in Oslo is just a bit over the top, being priced at €31.000/US $41.000. The shuffle is adorned by a total of 430 diamonds, with 312 used for the player and 118 used for the earbuds.

Looking at the “diggs” this gadget is getting, it’s a great marketing stunt by Heyerdahl. The iPod is “iconic”, but I think that it would have been much more interesting if they had made an exclusive design, instead of relying on a $79 industrial design. OTOH, linking up with the hyped Apple brand is probably a smart move, and it’s unlikely that I’d heard about it, if they had done an exclusive design.

Personally I find the details about how the gadget was manufactured, much more interesting than the gadget itself.

It was manufactured by a Dutch company called Diaro Digital Design, using the 3D-modelling software Rhinoceros.

Details about the iDiamond from the Heyerdahl website:

• 1 pcs. / Special edition / Not for commercial sale.
• Produced for Heyerdahl by: Diaro Digital Design – Robert de Brueijs / The Netherlands / www.diaro.nl
• 3D production: CAD / CAM 3D design / Rhinoceros
• Wax model made by: Solidcape T66Bt2 Wax printer.
• Casting method: Vacuumcasting
• Diamond setting: Handcrafted micro Pavè setting.
• Details engraved: Laser engraved details

Details about iDiamond aren’t available on the Diaro Digital Design website, but I suppose that they’ll update their site soon.

The pictures that accompanies this article were copied from the Heyerdahl website, and are most likely copyright Gullsmed Heyerdahl A.S., I consider my use of the pictures to be fair use.

Speeding-Bullet Star Leaves Enormous Streak Across Sky

NASA has just released this amazing picture of the star Mira, taken by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer space telescope. Mira is a red giant, that is travelling fast through space, the surprising new discovery is that Mira has a comet like tail, that stretches for 13 light years.

From NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) press release:

NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted an amazingly long
comet-like tail behind a star streaking through space at
supersonic speeds. The star, named Mira after the Latin word for
“wonderful,” has been a favorite of astronomers for about 400 years.
It is a fast-moving, older star called a red giant that sheds massive
amounts of surface material.

From the NASA Main Website:

Mira appears as a small white dot in the bulb-shaped structure at right, and is moving from left to right in this view. The shed material can be seen in light blue. The dots in the picture are stars and distant galaxies. The large blue dot at left is a star that is closer to us than Mira.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer discovered Mira’s strange comet-like tail during part of its routine survey of the entire sky at ultraviolet wavelengths. When astronomers first saw the picture, they were shocked because Mira has been studied for over 400 years yet nothing like this has ever been documented before.

Mira’s comet-like tail stretches a startling 13 light-years across the sky. For comparison, the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, is only about 4 light-years away. Mira’s tail also tells a tale of its history – the material making it up has been slowly blown off over time, with the oldest material at the end of the tail having been released about 30,000 years ago.

JPL is the NASA body that manages the majority of the robotic missions to the planets and the solar system, this includes the highly successful Mars Rovers, Voyager, Cassini. You can subscribe to the NASA JPL newsletter by visiting this link.

Hmm…A Kitty Kat/Green Light medley…UHA! siger jeg bare!

Læs mere om mine “problemer” med farven grøn her, og det hjælper ikke på det at slå op på side 132 i IKEAs 2008 katalog!!!, som om jeg IKKE havde nok grønne IKEA produkter i forvejen…