Anyone who was part of the original Identikit might like to come along to this live, interactive event on 27 April; it’s been reborn in 3D:
QUT Creative Industries Shows: Identikit (Interactive)
If you can’t make it to that night, there’s an non-interactive, self-running version playing on its own, from 9-19 April:
Camera nerds, anyone looking at a DSLR, and students of film or video should not miss Zacuto’s Great Camera Shootout 2010. This is part 1, two more to follow. Great detail, great to know what you can and can’t do with these things.
Nice: The Future of Publishing. Also, the next version (we hope) of Photoshop should feature content-aware fill. Select an area, delete, and Photoshop figures out what should be there? Yipes.
Canon have released a plug-in to let you use Log and Transfer in Final Cut Pro. It doesn’t work out of the box with the 550D/T2i, but people have figured out how to make it work.
I don’t recommend it. Why?
To me, it’s a miracle that we can just copy HD QuickTime movies off a disk and just play them. Why jump through all the Log and Transfer hoops we had to with AVCHD?
A long time ago, in 1998, I won a grant as part of Stuff-Art 98 to produce a piece of multimedia art that would fit on a floppy disk. I made something called Identikit. There was a party, I set up lights, I took pictures, then I mushed them all together and let people make their own composite faces. Fun stuff, but a little buggy today.
Fast forward to now, and Identikit has been reborn, in 3D, and will be shown at QUT from 9-19 April, dusk to 9pm. It’s a non-interactive version on two screens, and is fun to watch. Here’s a still, but each segment spins around on its own.
However, for one night only, there will be an interactive version on display. On 27 April, you can visit the opening night of Face to Face, and control it yourself using a fancy joystick. It’s fun, so come along if you can.
Hazelwatch: Discussing the residue left on her foot from a band-aid applied yesterday, she came out with:
“If I don’t hurt myself, I won’t need a band-aid, and I won’t get any sticky stuff on my foot.”
In the mood for some animation? Check out my latest short video, An Apology from a Red-Headed Ex-Politician, currently hosted on the Viewer Videos Gallery on Hungry Beast. Or, if I read things correctly, watch ABC1 tonight (17 March) or ABC2 tomorrow (18 March) to see a little bit of it, but on your TV.
Because spreadsheets aren’t all bad, I just ran some numbers on how much Macs cost here in Australia, compared to the US. GST was removed from the Australian price, as sales tax is not part of the advertised US price.
You’re left with an effective exchange rate. Prices usually only change when a model is refreshed, so the rate varies from model to model. Right now, Mac Pros are most overpriced (US$1=AU$1.31) and the best deal is the MacBook (US$1=AU$1.18). There are smaller fluctuations made locally to make the price end in a “99” (or a “49” for the cheapest Mac mini).
The average is US$1=$AU1.22.
That all means that the Wifi iPads will probably be $649/$799/$950 (if we’re lucky) or $699/$849/$999 (if we’re not). The AU$ is strong and has been for a little while, so let’s hope it’s the lower of the two numbers.
Please feel free to correct my numbers if you wish.
| US Price | AU Price ex GST | AU Price inc GST | |
| iPad WiFi 1 | 499 | A$611.39 | A$672.53 |
| iPad WiFi 2 | 599 | A$733.91 | A$807.30 |
| iPad WiFi 3 | 699 | A$856.43 | A$942.08 |
| iPad WiFi+3G 1 | 629 | A$770.67 | A$847.74 |
| iPad WiFi+3G 2 | 729 | A$893.19 | A$982.51 |
| iPad WiFi+3G 3 | 829 | A$1,015.71 | A$1,117.29 |
I like pictograms. (Remember Airport?) So, I’d like to recommend this visual discussion of Olympic Pictograms Through the Ages.
A couple of things. First, this blog is moving has moved to WordPress, since Blogger is discontinuing FTP and I should really be doing this stuff myself anyway. Templates will take a little while to sort out, so there may be a few issues while I finalise it.
Secondly and more importantly, my first iPhone app is out! Called Lefty and Ron, it’s an illustrated kids book with audio, for free. Grab a copy, amuse your kids, and tell your friends!