31.1.13

Social Sharing Platform and Free Link Shortener - Social Media Share Button that Generates Revenue for Websites and Blogs - Po.st

Social Sharing Platform and Free Link Shortener - Social Media Share Button that Generates Revenue for Websites and Blogs - Po.st


The leading shortening and sharing platform


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30.1.13

Drafts - Agile Tortoise










Drafts - Agile Tortoise



Drafts
Capture and Share

Drafts is a different kind of note taking app. In Drafts, text comes first – open the app and get a new, blank draft. Don’t get bogged down in a timeline to tweet or post to Facebook and App.net. Don’t tap through multiple screens to compose an email or SMS. Don’t navigate folders, create files and name them just to jot down a note or create a todo. Drafts is available for both iPhone and iPad.
Try it in your dock for a week, you won’t regret it!
Reviews | Screenshot Gallery
        

Quick Capture

Launch Drafts and start typing. It’s that simple. No upfront decisions about titles, filenames or folders. Return to drafts later, and a new draft is ready.

Easy Storage, Search and Lightning Fast Sync

Not sure what to do with that text? Type it and leave Drafts - no saving, it will be there when you get back. Draft history works like a stack of paper with recent items on top. Full text searching is also available, and enable sync (learn more) to keep multiple versions of Drafts (on both iPhone and iPad) in line.

Flexible Output

From directly within Drafts send tweets, post to Facebook, compose and send email, SMS/Messages, create calendar events – or save drafts to Dropbox or Evernote. You can also use “Open in” to export a draft to any other app installed which supports importing text files.

Email Actions

Drafts allows you to configure an unlimited number of custom email actions that can have predefined values for recipients, subject and can even be sent in the background. This is a very powerful feature both for convenient emails and for workflow integration with services like IFTTT.com, Evernote, Toodledo and more. Read more about Email Actions on the support page.

Dropbox Actions

Create custom actions that create, append or prepend to any files in your Dropbox with template support and more. Read more

URL Actions and the Action Directory

Create advanced URL scheme based actions to forward text to other apps, or integrate with the web. Or, download ready to use URL Actions from our Action Directory.

Markdown Support

Drafts supports Markdown, the structured markup language. If you write in Markdown, you can preview the HTML output, send it as a formatted HTML email or copy the HTML output to the clipboard for use in other apps.

App Actions

Built-in actions not enough? One-tap actions can send text captured in Drafts on to a growing list of great apps like:
Social Tasks Writing Calendar/Journal Other
Tweetbot
Twitter
Echofon
Buffer
Netbot
Felix for App.net
OmniFocus
Things
The Hit List
Appigo Todo
Clear
Phraseology
Simplenote
Byword
WriteUp
Writing Kit
Threadnote
Nebulous Notes
Notefile
Notesy
Elements
Fantastical
Agenda
Day One
Momento
Due
Pastebot
Quotebook
Sparrow
Bang On

iA Writer for iOS and OS X adds full iCloud folder support, Mountain Lion compatibility | The Verge

iA Writer for iOS and OS X adds full iCloud folder support, Mountain Lion compatibility | The Verge


We were quite fond of the multi-platform minimalist writing app iA Writer when we took a look at it earlier this year, and developer Information Architects has just released an update to both the OS X and iOS versions that should make taking advantage of Apple's iCloud even easier. On the Mac side, version 1.3 features full Mountain Lion compatibility and a revamped window framework that improves speed and should make the app play nicer for those with multi-monitor set-ups. It also features a full browser for perusing documents stored on iCloud, with users able to create and organize folders and files within the app.

The iOS version matches the file system capability, allow the creation of iCloud folders by dragging and dropping individuals files atop one another, and also features what Information Architects is calling "responsive typography": basically, it improves the quality of text whether users are taking advantage of a Retina-caliber screen or an older display. The updates for both platforms are available now, though to take advantage of all of the new features in the OS X version you'll need to be running OS X Mountain Lion — which according to Apple should be just around the corner.

25.1.13

Hi,
Just wanted to say thanks… awesome post, informative, and most importantly, accurate. In relation to your comment about not using the gift certificate option for Netflix subscription I thought I would post this link to the support page on unblock-us.com that shows how to use your non-US credit card to set up an account and how to establish a proper postcode to use that will match a US one. Hope it helps: http://support.unblock-us.com/customer/portal/articles/291505

Thanks again,
Natasha


Mattao on said:
I have been using Netflix in Aus for about a year now. I have set it up for some friends and family recently also with great success. The following are the steps I use:
1. set up a dns for about $5. I used overplay.net but I am sure unblock US does a similar thing. I like overplay as it lets me choose netflix from a number of countries around the world. I know little about computers and found a dns far easier than a vpn (and cheaper).
1a. buy an apple TV. Follow instructions provided by DNS provider to set up WIFI.
2. go onto ebay and purchase a USA itunes card. I have done this a number of times and had no trouble.
3. setup a new itunes account. You will need to set up a new email address to do this assuming you already have an AUS itunes account attached to your email.
4. insert the new itunes account details into the apple TV. Netflix icon will appear.
5. click on netflix icon. Choose to pay using your Itunes credit.
6. what netflix!
I prefer netflix to cable and it costs a fraction of the cost.
 

Netflix in Australia – the easy way

The great thing about Apple products is that everything works together.  The bad thing is that everything works together.  So not long after I bought my iPad, I realised that I could share my photos on my TV, if only I had an Apple TV.  So of course I bought one of those too.
When I plugged my Apple TV in and it booted up, I noticed that there was a Netflix application – for about 3 seconds, after which it disappeared.  After a bit of research, I discovered that the Apple TV determines which country you are in.  If you are in the USA, it gives you the option to watch Netflix on your Apple TV.  If you don’t live in the USA, then no bananas (or apples as the case may be).  If you don’t live in the USA and you don’t know what Netflix is, then it is a bit hard to find out.  Try going to http://netflix.com and see what you find out.  Netflix checks for your location and only gives you full access to their site if you are in the USA.  Netflix is a streaming TV and Video service that you can subscribe to for about $8.00 per month if you live in the USA.
So long story short, I set about trying to get around the system to get Netflix working on my Apple TV.  I tried many things (including VPN using DD-WRT) and found the following to be the best solution.  If you don’t know what dd-wrt or VPN means, then this is your lucky day – you don’t need to know.  I have been through the pain already for you and can tell you exactly what to do.  How to get Netflix in Australia – the easy way.
Here is the summary of what you need to do.
  1. Make it look like your computer is physically located in the USA.
  2. Sign up for a new Netflix account giving a false USA address.
  3. Get yourself some Netflix credit to pay your bill – you won’t be able to buy this with your account, but you can use the gift certificate work around.
  4. Start watching all the TV and movies you can eat for $13.00 per month (see below for the maths).
Now don’t get me wrong.  I am not a thief or a scam artist.  But frankly, I see no reason why I should pay more for videos or TV just because I live in Australia.   Frankly it is a disgrace.  Technology exists to treat us all as equals.  Why should I pay more?!  Well I am not going to pay more, hence this post.

Make it look like your computer is physically located in the USA

The easiest and best way to do this is go to http://www.unblock-us.com  This service uses a simple masking technique to make it look like your device (computer, Apple TV, iPod etc) is physically based in the USA.  I am not going to provide instructions here – the instructions on the website are easy to follow.  You can sign up for a 7 day free trial – just to make sure everything works properly before you commit.  After that, it is $5.00 per month.
[Edit Aug 2012].  There is another service like unblock-us that is free called tunlr http://tunlr.net  I don’t know what the service is like as I have never used it.  If you are looking to save the $5 per month, then perphaps give it a try.  Personally I am happy to pay $5 per month to support someone that helps break down these global barriers.

Sign up for a new Netflix account giving a false USA address.

Now your PC looks like it is in the USA, go to http://www.netflix.com  and sign up for an account – one month free trial. Make sure you use a false address.  You will need to provide your credit card details.  Make sure you put the correct address for your credit card, even if it is not in the USA.

Get yourself some Netflix credit to pay your bill

Now I was actually in the USA, and I arranged for a US friend to gift me a 1 year membership to Netflix. I have since tested this in Australia and confirm the process does indeed work.   Sign out of Netflix and then click on this link.  http://www.netflix.com/Gift  You will see a button to “buy” under “give a gift”.  Go ahead and buy a 1 year subscription (1 month if you want to be cautious).  When you buy the gift, make sure you use a different email address than you used for your Netflix account.
[EDIT Feb 2012:  I followed the steps above myself and successfully purchased a gift certificate for 1 month.  I have not been able to apply the certificate to my account as yet, because I still have 5 months to run on my account.  I can however confirm that the purchase of gift cards works.]
Once you get your gift code, log back onto your account and redeem your gift by going to http://www.netflix.com/Gift
Now you are all set.  When I did this, Netflix made some micro charges to the credit card registered on my account (a few cents) to verify that my credit card was valid.  I actually got a call from the bank checking to see if it was a fraudulent transaction. I just confirmed with the bank that it was legitimate and I haven’t had any problems since, and Netflix hasn’t cancelled my account as yet.
Of course, make sure you renew your gift certificate before your initial gift expires so that Neflix never has to charge your credit card properly.  Now I don’t know for sure if the gift certificate route is essential, but that is what I did and it worked.  Happy to take feedback from others if this is not required.
And that’s it.  Watch away.  There are lots of TV shows and movies to watch. The list is growing all the time.  There is not much in the way of “new releases” like you get from a video store, but if you are buying anything other than “new releases”, there is plenty of value at Netflix.  As an added benefit, once you set your PC up for Netflix, you can also access hulu.com   Check that out too.
[Edit Feb 2012:  You can use the same approach to create a US based iTunes account.  I purchased iTunes cards online from http://www.pcgamesupply.com  and they were quite good.  They charge a $5 service fee to scratch the card and email you the number.  The benefits are however that you can get a lot better range of movies to watch, and they are cheaper to rent]
 

22.1.13

Kim Dotcom on his new file-sharing site, Mega - CNN.com

Kim Dotcom on his new file-sharing site, Mega - CNN.com

 Web tycoon Kim Dotcom at his launch event Sunday for Mega, his new file-sharing site, in Auckland, New Zealand.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom launched a new file-storage and sharing site, Mega, on Sunday
  • Authorities shut down Dotcom's previous venture, Megaupload.com, amid piracy allegations
  • Mega offers all-encrypted storage for files that can't be opened by anyone -- even the host
  • Dotcom: "This startup is probably the most scrutinized by lawyers in the history of tech startups"
Auckland, New Zealand (CNN) -- It was a busy weekend, but Kim Dotcom was feeling relaxed.
He was in boyish good spirits as around 150 contractors buzzed around his mansion and its acres of grounds, building a giant "Mega" sign on the front lawn and erecting a mobile stage that production company MadAnt says is New Zealand's largest. He mugged for the camera and joked "it's another raid" as a helicopter flew overhead.

The world's most controversial Internet tycoon was preparing to launch his site at 6:48am on Sunday morning -- a year to the minute after his New Zealand mansion was raided and his old service was shut down by the authorities. (Some press, including Ars Technica, received an early look at the site.)
Ars Technica freelancer Chris Keall spoke with Dotcom on January 18 at his mansion outside Auckland, discussing topics ranging from Mega's business model to legal threats that may come back to bite his business.

"I would have the same fears"

 
Megaupload founder's lavish lifestyle
 
In its heyday, Megaupload had around 50 million unique users -- none of whom have regained access to their files since the site was taken offline. We put the most obvious question to Dotcom first: why should users trust him with their data at all? Wouldn't it be legitimate for users to be spooked by Mega, and refuse to go near it?

"You are certainly right," Dotcom conceded. "If I [were] a user of Megaupload, I would probably have the same fears. There will be users who chose not to work with us because of that, and that is unfortunate."

But Dotcom hopes that enough users will value the service he's offering: all-encrypted storage that can't be opened by anyone—even the host. He knows there will be a lot of people coming to check things out in the weeks to come and first impressions matter.

"There will also be a lot of users who just want to try this new service and see how good it is," he said. "Once they realize there is really no alternative to this service right now in terms of safety and privacy, I think there will be a lot of users who will use this. And over time, you know, when the service is live for a few months and people see these guys are still here, I think the trust will grow."

The jovial pre-launch atmosphere is only broken when Dotcom and his lawyer Ira Rothken are reminded that this week U.S. prosecutors have raised the possibility of fresh charges if the Mega launch goes ahead—an act that could be interpreted as violating a key bail condition Dotcom signed in by affidavit: not to relaunch Mega, or a similar service.

Rothken angrily rejects the notion that Dotcom is violating bail conditions. "Mr. Dotcom is working in consultation with top notch NZ defense counsel on bail compliance," he said. "[He] is innocent, is presumed innocent, and is entitled to innovate and work in technology like any other innocent New Zealander especially when the U.S. takes away all his assets and delays the extradition proceedings."
Nothing in Dotcom's bail conditions or US law precludes his engaging in lawful business, including Internet and technology businesses, said Rothken.

Embracing even the "smallest, most unreliable" hosts

The Mega business plan will be a distributed model, with hundreds of companies large and small, around the world, hosting files. A hosting company can be huge or it can own just two or three servers Dotcom says—just as long as it's located outside the U.S.

"Each file will be kept with at least two different hosters, [in] at least two different locations," said Dotcom. "That's a great added benefit for us because you can work with the smallest, most unreliable [hosting] companies. It doesn't matter because they can't do anything with that data."

More than 1,000 hosts answered a request for expressions of interest on the Mega home page. Dotcom says several hundred will be active partners within months. Successful hosts will get paid E500 per month per server; each server needs to supply 24 hard drives with 72 terabytes of storage and one gigabit of bandwidth, among other requirements.

That's all down the road, however. For now, Mega is launching with just one, professional, hosting operator—a subsidiary of Cogent, based in Dotcom's home country of Germany.

Dotcom says he needed a rock-solid setup for the launch and an operator who could rapidly scale if traffic and hosting requirements suddenly go through the roof after the January 20 launch (he had hoped to have a server rack operating in New Zealand for the launch as well, but says capacity on the Telecom/Singtel/Verizon-owned Southern Cross Cable was prohibitive).

The Washington DC-based, Nasdaq-listed Cogent was one of the suppliers of infrastructure and hosting services to Megaupload before its 2012 take-down. According to the indictment, Megaupload was paying Cogent around $1 million a month to lease "approximately thirty-six computer servers in Washington, DC and France." It was a substantial contract, although one that was dwarfed by that of Virginia-based Carpathia Hosting, where the bulk of Megaupload files were hosted, and are still stranded.

Cogent's fate was closely enough tied to Megaupload that its shares dropped 23 percent in a day after last year's raid, from $19.20 to $15.43. By mid-March, however, the stock had rebounded strongly; it closed recently at $24.11.

Having Cogent back on board is a source of pride for Dotcom; a major public hosting company has made a vote of confidence in his business plan for Mega. He was about to go into further detail on Cogent's hosting operation in Germany when his lawyer Ira Rothken—in Auckland for the launch and sitting in on the interview—stopped him, citing security concerns if the specific location was revealed.

Launching the most lawyered-up startup in tech history

The Mega business plan has been vetted by more than 20 lawyers across the US and New Zealand, Dotcom says—including those at Rothken's firm, and New Zealand law firms Simpson Grierson (one of the largest corporate law firms in NZ) and Lowndes Jordan (an intellectual property specialist). Also on Team Mega are two independent lawyers capable of handling the most difficult work: Queen's Counsel Paul Davison (often cited as the most expensive lawyer in New Zealand) and Guyon Foley—a criminal lawyer who made his mark prosecuting cases for the police before "switching sides," so to speak.

"This startup is probably the most scrutinized by lawyers in the history of tech startups," Dotcom claims.

Dotcom says it's inevitable Hollywood and music labels will "heckle" Mega "going by their past aggression ... they can't help themselves" (and there was certainly a foretaste of possible trouble to come this week as Mediaworks, which owns one of the two big radio networks in NZ, pulled ads for Mega from its stations; an insider said the move followed pressure from music and movie advertisers).
Rothken says anybody who comes after Mega has no case.

"You have companies like Dropbox and Google with Drive with materially similar technologies, and they are in business and they're thriving—and Mega adds encryption," he says.

But doesn't encryption add a sinister edge? After all, encryption means Mega will be like the Swiss bank of online storage services; customers could easily use the technology to hide, say, pirated movies or child porn.

Rothken responds that many technologies have dual uses, but on balance provide more public good. That's how the VCR stayed on the market, despite facilitating video piracy. The same argument applies to cloud computing as a whole, he says.

For good measure, Rothken also notes that former Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Richard Falkenrath wrote about encryption as a desirable feature for cloud computing services ("You don't really need to know where your data is. As long as you know it is safely wrapped in an at-rest encryption cocoon, you should feel secure," the advisor wrote.)

Dotcom adds in that although other services don't have a one-click encryption option built into their interface, the likes of Google Drive allow you to upload encrypted, password-protected files. Dotcom and Rothken's arguments are well rehearsed and, on the face of things, have a solid logic.

But Dotcom, by his own admission, says the apparent movie and music industry push against the Mega radio ads was an "emotional reaction" from the content industry. Those feelings remain. Even with the best precautions, attempts to shut down Mega—and shut up Dotcom—are unlikely to stop.


Leave a message...

  • John Masters 5 hours ago


    While we may think that these corporate executives who own the MPAA have lost money to illegal file exchanges, a common sense analysis quickly reveals its a scam.
    Most of the illegal downloads would not have been purchases if the file were somehow excluded from these file transfer sites. Many people are simply curious, and if they had to pay for these files they would simply do without them, so the argument that the industry is losing money is not credible. If a hundred kids download a million songs many are going to find artists they like who they otherwise would never have heard of. Once they become fans, retail sales follow.
    Also, this has nothing to do with artists getting paid for their work. These very same MPAA and other industry organizations represent the corporations who are stealing from our creative artists every day. These 'suits' are lawyers, business majors, and agents, who have been stealing royalties from artists since the phonograph was invented.
    I wonder if Congress would investigate why artists are begging on the street while their creative works are bought and sold by greedy businessmen who use contracts and sneaky copyright amendments to steal every penny they can for work that they never contributed to.


  • G Michael Leonard 4 hours ago


    Was only just a matter of time. What they can't see, they can't get to. Once again the technology becomes more mightier than the pen that tries to write it off as a illegal.


  • James Boelter 3 hours ago


    MPAA and major corporations (Disney, Sony, etc..) launched new censorship measures on our ISPs (Comcast, BrightHouse,Verizon, etc,..etc..) in 2013 to combat piracy and invade privacy: Very Little news, no one cares that it's against our will and worse than SOPA; it just doesn't have a fancy acronym or is a government controlled project. It's worse people, it's company controlled and can be judge, jury and executioner all outside the legal system and can "reeducate" or "punish" those it deems offenders unilaterally! Any site that opposes them: front page immediately. Starting to see the pattern?


  • Greg Thomas 41 minutes ago


    ya lets us a site to store files that is going to be monitored 24/7 looking for any reason to arrest this guy again.

17.1.13

Important Stacks Update - Google updated hosted version of the jQuery Javascript library

Stacks update 1/16/13?

Brian Corbett's Avatar

Brian Corbett

January 17, 2013 @ 05:12 AM
I just received an email via doobox regarding a stacks update today. Wondering where that is available and how I can obtain it. I am in the midst of preparing my site update for the first quarter and want to make sure I don't have any JQuery issues.
  1. 2 Posted by Areg Jera on January 17, 2013 @ 07:41 AM
    Areg Jera's Avatar
    Yes I have the same issue. Doobox had informed me that I need to download a stacks plugin update in order my my sites to function properly because of the change in Google's jQuery.
  2. Support Staff 3 Posted by Isaiah on January 17, 2013 @ 07:42 AM
    Isaiah's Avatar
    You will likely see the update the next time you start up RapidWeaver and open a Stacks page. If not you can always download it from our site: http://yourhead.com/stacks
  3. Isaiah closed this discussion on January 17, 2013 @ 07:42 AM.
Comments are currently closed for this discussion. You can start a new one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Important Stacks Update

As an owner of our Stack Products we want to inform you about an
important update of the Stacks Plugin.

Google updated their CDN hosted version of the jQuery Javascript library,
that is used by the Stacks Plugin and so by our Stack Products.

This new major version of jQuery might be causing some of our Stack Products
to show unexpected behavior when you are using the Stacks Plugin v2.1.

This affects the following Stack Products:
- Fancy Intro
- ImageMapper
- ShakeIt
- ScrollTo and Bounce


Yourhead Software released a new version of the Stacks Plugin v2.1.8,
that is using an older version of jQuery and so restores the behavior of the Stack Products.

We strongly recommend updating your version of the Stacks Plugin when you are
using one of the mentioned products.

You can update to this version using:
* The direct download link from the YourHead website
* Re-start RapidWeaver with your project file and select an Stacks Page for an automatic update.

After updating the Stacks Plugin it is time to republish your site(s).
We recommend using File -> Republish All Files to make sure that all required page assets are uploaded.


Our apologies for the inconvenience, we are working on updates to prevent this from happening.

In case an issue related to this jQuery update is not solved by the mentioned actions you can
of course contact us via support@tsooj.net


Kind regards,

Joost

©2013 Tsooj Media | Amersfoort | The Netherlands | www.tsooj.net

---------------------------------------
Begin forwarded message:

From: "Elixir Graphics"
Subject: Important update for the Bricks stack
Date: 17 January 2013 2:11:48 AM AEDT
To:
Reply-To: "no-reply@cartloom.com" <no-reply@cartloom.com>


Important Update!

Today Google made an update to their hosted version of jQuery, the javascript file the Stacks plugin uses. This javascript file is what powers much of what the Bricks stack does.

In it being updated this has caused a problem with another javascript library used within the Bricks stack, called Masonry.

I have just pushed out an update to the Bricks stack that will fix the problem for now until the Masonry library is updated, at which time we will likely send out a supplemental update.

Do note that this update to the jQuery library has broken a lot of stacks out there, not just the Bricks stack, so be patient with the Stacks developers as we all sort through these problems.


How to get the update:

The update has been pushed out to all Bricks users via Stacks built-in updater. To make sure you get this latest version and it is applied to your sites, please follow the instructions below:

- If you currently have RapidWeaver open, quit RapidWeaver. Once it has quit, relaunch it.

- Go to a page in your project file that is a Stacks page. This triggers Stacks to look for updates.

- Wait several minutes for Stacks to poll all of your stacks' plugins updates. This time varies depending on the number of stacks you have installed.

- Once it has finished you should see a red exclamation mark on the Bricks stack icon in the Stack Elements library drop down.

- To apply the update, highlight Bricks in the Stack Elements library by single-clicking on it.

- At the bottom of the Stack Elements drop down you will see a small gear, or cog, icon. Click this and choose 'Install Update.'

- Once it has finished, just to be sure all is well, quit and then restart Rapidweaver.

- From the File Menu in RapidWeaver choose the Mark All Pages as Changed. Then go back to the File Menu and choose Republish All Files.

We're terribly sorry for this inconvenience. It is a shame that an update to a javascript library that is remotely hosted, and automatically applied by Stacks, would cause such a hassle for all involved.

Sincerely,
Adam

Sony’s GoPro Alternative, the Action Cam, to Be Released This September - NoFilmSchool

Sony’s GoPro Alternative, the Action Cam, to Be Released This September - NoFilmSchool


Sony's GoPro Alternative, the Action Cam, to Be Released This September


08.29.12 @ 11:05PM Tags : , , , ,


A few months ago, Sony announced that they were going to be entering the action/extreme sports camera arena and go head-to-head with GoPro and Contour. While GoPro seems to be the go-to action sports camera, Sony is hoping to chip away with a similarly-priced alternative. That product, the Action Cam HDR-AS10 and HDR-AS15, will be released this September and will be able to shoot up to 120fps. Check out an in-depth video showing off the new Action Cam below.

Here is a list of specs:

  • 16 Megapixel Sensor (2MP still images)
  • 1080p up to 30fps
  • 72op up to 120fps
  • SteadyShot Image Stabilization
  • 2.7-inch LCD
  • Bitrates: HQ: Approx.16Mbps – SSLOW: Approx.24Mbps – SLOW: Approx.12Mbps
  • Memory Stick Micro/microSD/microSDHC card compatibility
  • Optional Model with WiFi (HDR-AS15)
  • HDMI Output and Built-in Stereo Mic
  • Weight: 2 ounces
  • Availability: September 30th
A little bit from The Verge about the camera:
We were able to briefly play with the new Action Cam line, and from what we saw, the footage looks pretty good. The cameras are really small — smaller than a GoPro — and the prominent record button should be easy to use even with gloves on. The cameras have Sony’s usual quality build, and the one-button set up is pretty easy to use. We also really liked being able to use a smartphone as a viewfinder with the Wi-Fi-equipped model, courtesy of Sony’s PlayMemories Mobile app for Android and iOS.
There will be two models available initially, the HDR-AS10 which will retail for $200 and the HDR-AS15 (with WiFi) which will retail for $270. The higher-priced model seems like it competes very evenly with the GoPro HD HERO2, but obviously if you’re heavily invested in GoPro accessories, they may not work with Sony’s camera. For someone just entering the game who doesn’t need WiFi, the SteadyShot image stabilization should make a huge difference with the quality of the footage, especially if the camera will be moving a lot.
Where GoPro does have an advantage, however, is being able to more closely match film footage. At some point they will be adding 24p and the Technicolor log color profile (I’m not positive if that has happened already or not). Having the ability to get a gradable image and 24p will save a ton of time in post if you’re working in a traditional filmmaking workflow.
Is this worth the money? If you own a GoPro already, are the Sony models fully-featured enough to bring you over to the other side when you decide to update?
Links:
[via The Verge]

Related Posts

  1. GoPro Not the New Kid on the Block Anymore, Sony Releasing Their Own 'Action Camera' This Fall
  2. JVC Getting in on the Action Camera Market with the GC-XA1 Adixxion
  3. Learn How to Replace the Lens on Your GoPro Camera in These Tutorials

Why to use Google hosted jQuery CDN | jQuery By Example

Why to use Google hosted jQuery CDN | jQuery By Example

Thursday, January 5, 2012


Why to use Google hosted jQuery CDN

Google is sea of free services. Do you know that Google is also hosting jQuery libraries on its CDN(Content delivery network) and allows any website to use it for free. But why to use Google hosted jQuery CDN?

Advantage:


  • Caching: The most important benefit is caching. If any previously visited site by user is using jQuery from Google CDN then the cached version will be used. It will not be downloaded again.
  • Reduce Load: It reduces the load on your web server as it downloads from Google server's.
  • Serves fast : You will be also benefitted from speed point of view. As Google has dozen's of different servers around the web and it will download the jQuery from whichever server is closer to the user. Google's CDN has a very low latency, it can serve a resource faster than your webserver can.
  • Parellel Downloading: As the js file is on a separate domain, modern browsers will download the script in parallel with scripts on your domain.

How to use it?


There are 2 ways to load from Google CDN.

Method 1:
1<script  type="text/javascript"
3</script>

Method 2
1<script src="http://www.google.com/jsapi" type="text/javascript"></script>
2<script type="text/javascript"><!--
3google.load("jquery", "1.7.1");
4google.setOnLoadCallback(function() {
5// Place init code here instead of $(document).ready()
6});
7// -->
8</script>

What if Google CDN is down?


It is a good idea to use CDN but what if the CDN is down (rare possibility though) but you never know in this world as anything can happen. So if you have loaded your jQuery from any CDN and it went down then your jQuery code will stop working and your client will start shouting.

Hang on, there is a solution for this as well. Below given jQuery code checks whether jQuery is loaded from Google CDN or not, if not then it references the jQuery.js file from your folder.
1<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
2<script type="text/javascript">
3if (typeof jQuery == 'undefined')
4{
5  document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='Scripts/jquery.1.7.1.min.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
6}
7</script>
It first loads the jQuery from Google CDN and then check the jQuery object. If jQuery is not loaded successfully then it will references the jQuery.js file from hard drive location. In this example, the jQuery.js is loaded from Scripts folder.

Few quick tips


If you want jQuery 1.7.1 you can use a url like this:
1http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js
Suppose you want to use latest version of 1.7 release,
1http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7/jquery.min.js
If you always want to refer the latest version of jQuery,
1http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1/jquery.min.js

Feel free to contact me for any help related to jQuery, I will gladly help you.