Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2: Touch, Moveable LCD, Interchangeable Lens

More often than not, simple innovation comes from the most unexpected companies. Recently, Panasonic launched the world’s first digital SLR capable of interchanging lens, with a touch based movable LCD viewfinder; the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2. While there are enough reviews out there to fill your lonesome hours, I would like to highlight the benefits of such technology to the user.

• Improves interaction with the subject through the screen
• Allows you to automatically adjust the auto-focus
• Clicking just by touching the screen improves stability
• Easy browsing of stored images
• Comfortably view images in full-size

Besides the capability to click images, the Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-G2 can record HD quality video at a depth of 1280 x 720 in their proprietary ‘AVCHD Lite’ format. A dedicated video record buttons allows you to access this function almost immediately. External microphone support has been extended while the in-built microphone claims to be able to cut background and wind noise effectively. You can read more about it here.

How to Create the Perfect Twitter Background?

While plenty has been written about how you can create a great Twitter background, very few have been written on how to create an elegant background without the tweet timeline obstructing the view. Creating a Twitter background can actually be a tricky affair, thanks to the various screen sizes now available. Before the launch of wide-screen monitors (or desktops and laptops alike), users had screen sizes to choose from. There were 640*480, 800*600, 1024*768 and 1280*960 variants available. With the advent of LCD/TFT/LED display technologies, computer screens have been growing at an unprecedented rate. My favourite still remains the latest iMac 27″ from Apple; with a screen real estate of 2560*1440 pixels, this is one huge screened computer. Introductions of larger screens has widened the range of screen sizes from the narrowest at 1024*768 to the widest at 2560*1440.

Your Twitter Background on a 27″

Ever wondered how your Twitter background would look on a massive screen? Try it at your closest Apple showroom and I’m sure you’ll be disappointed. Oddly repeated images, if you’ve selected the tile background option; or a lone cornered image if you haven’t. How does one optimise? While the solution is quite simple, few people actually realise it. The steps mentioned below, take you through a simple process of creating your very own customised Twitter background for your profile:

Step 1: Width of the Twitter timeline = 763 px (on any screen)
Step 2: Width of scroll bar = 15-17 px (always)
Step 3: Total max. width = 780 px (max.)
Step 4: Left free space = (ScreenWidth – 780)/2

For a screen width of 1024 px, Step 4 would yield 122 px as result; while for a screen width of 1280 px (more common in recent laptops), Step 4 would yield 250 px as result. So what does it all mean? Well it means if you want to be safe, ensure that the main image (Logo, Photo etc.) in your twitter background image is not wider than 250 px and is placed in the top left-hand corner. If you want to be really safe, ensure the main image is not wider that 120 px. Height of the image should never exceed 550 px. Now that you have your canvas, feel free to get creative within the space, which would mean you are restricted to the height more than the width.

Meanwhile, if you want to tile (repeat / loop) your background. use the above measurements to sensibly cover the free spaces on both sides. This is an option I would never recommend for professional brands or organisations.

Quick Facts

Safe Size = 250*550 px (for wide-screens)
Super Safe Size = 120*550 px (for old screens)
Do not tile the background image.

iBabylon: 75 Language Dictionary and 33 Language Translation

Babylon Ltd., just a few moments back announced the inclusion of iBabylon application over at Apple’s iTunes store. Priced at a steep $11.99, iBabylon is targeted at the international traveler. With a 75 language dictionary and language translation support for 33 languages, iBabylon boasts of the following features:

While there are plenty of translation and dictionary applications for the iPhone, iBabylon integrates the two and provides you a plethora of options. Its features will definitely make you sit-up and take notice, but what remains to be seen is if iPhone users buy into it despite the steep $11.99 price-point. I for one, think it’s money well spent.

#ccdsucks and Lynch Mobs

It started with a blog post against Cafe Coffee Day, by an aggrieved customer and as all things powerful, moved onto some classic bashing online. In this case, a typical social media frenzy on Twitter with the hash tag – #ccdsucks taking on new life. It’s even gone upto the extent of creating an anonymous Twitter account with the handle @CCDSUCKS with a defaced logo for a profile pic. One can only assume it was created by the loud and active tweep @AmolMathur considering the only conversation mentioned there was about his rank as a tweeter on 90di. Trying to get your 15 tweets of fame using a topic which is not equally represented is both unfair and in bad taste. But let’s get down to the facts at hand and represent the issue from both sides:

Tweeps at CCD

If anyone’s been to the Cafe Coffee Day at Ispahani centre in Chennai, you’d realise that it’s a store with very high foot-falls. This would put pressure on the store staff to cater to an ever-growing customer base. I personally think it’s unfair to keep other customers waiting only because you’ve ordered a Latte and seem to have a four hour agenda. I’m only making such assumptions because the blog doesn’t seem to be unbiased and we haven’t had a statement from the other side (Cafe Coffee Day or it’s franchisee). Lack of statement doesn’t mean admission of guilt.

But having stated the above, I think rudeness from a staff is unacceptable under all counts. People are reasonable and if the manager had put forth his point reasonably, then such a backlash could’ve been avoided entirely. Adding to this, there was the lame expectancy of a ‘cover charge’, something that doesn’t take place in any Cafe Coffee Day anywhere. I think such issues can be best avoided if all parties involved can behave gently, diplomatically and honestly; which the tweeps seem to have conducted themselves but the same wasn’t forthcoming from the store management. Taking this a step further, I would’ve expected tweeps to have handled the situation with more maturity:

1. They should’ve protested and tried to reason with the Manager
2. Not bluntly deface the CCD brand
3. Clearly state their dismay and their ‘feelings’ regarding the issue
4. Put forth a sane and practical demand (an apology for instance)
5. Welcome any kind of apology or dialog from CCD

Cafe Coffee Day

Well, clearly they seem to have offended a few customers and that is unacceptable. I do appreciate them getting to the bottom of the issue as quickly as they have, and apologised to the aggrieved parties involved. It’s not everyday that a company accepts their fault and tries to resolve the issue amicably. But clearly, things got out of hand and continued to do so for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the last tweet from Cafe Coffee Day stopped at 12:40 pm on 05 Feb 2010. I would’ve expected a more active participation and it would’ve served them better if they had followed the three As – Admit, Apologise & Act. CCD should’ve handled the matter using the following means:

1. Contacted the franchise and interviewed Mr. Shiva
2. Published the interview and admit their fault (if any)
3. Immediately, publish a blog post with their side of the story and action taken
4. Actively respond to all tweeps using the #ccdsucks tag with their twitter apologies and blog post
5. Conduct pt 4 in a quick timely fashion
6. Try to steer the conversation from #ccdsucks to #ccdresponds

One of the primary reasons #ccdsucks has become a trending topic is because of the lack of active presence of Cafe Coffee Day on twitter. Their incapacity to steer the conversation from #ccdsucks to #ccdresponds  (or the likes of it) seems to have cost them dearly.

Conclusion

#ccdsucks issue does seem to have gone out of hands. While the mob frenzy seems to have stir a storm in a coffee cup, it was clearly uncalled for and completely misdirected. Considering their presence on Twitter, Cafe Coffee Day could’ve done better by actively (and constantly) responding to the issue by steering the conversation away from #ccdsucks to an alternative.

Photo Credit - Karthik Narayan

Dunbar’s Number

According to Robin Dunbar, a British anthropologist, 150 is the maximum number of personal relationships an individual can maintain at any given time.

“cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships”.

While this could explain Facebook’s generous 5,000 friends limit (though a tad on the upper side), what it doesn’t explain is the 2,000 odd contacts I maintain on my phone list. Though the number is a theoretical extrapolation based on the relative size of the noecortex in non-human primates, Dunbar might be onto something. While the number might vary based on your psychographic, it is clear that trying to maintain stable ‘meaningful’ relationships with more than 150 people is both time-consuming and impractical (unless you are a Member of Parliament under the Indian democracy).

My Dunbar is 172

I conducted a simple analysis and tracked back my E-Mail, Facebook and Twitter conversations as well as phone calls made over the past year. I highlighted interactions with a regularity of atleast once every 3 months. Based on this, my Dunbar’s number was a conservative 172. Do let me know about your Dunbar Number in comments below, approximations are welcome.

Interesting Reads

Anil Dash – Life on the List
Clive Thompson – In Praise of Online Obscurity

Photo Credit - Ol.v!er [H2vPk]

Panoramic Videos

It’s not uncommon to find spectacular panoramas and make them interactive using either of the following three technologies:

a. Quick Time VR Plugin
b. Java Applet
c. Flash Script

Panoramas are usually shot either using a 360 lens or by shooting at intervals of 45 degrees and then stitching the photographs. This, might I add, is last generation technology. I found something far more interactive and interesting over at the CNN blog – Video Panorama.

Video Panorama

The next generation in panoramas is the technology which enables panoramic views within a video. While it’s a little difficult to explain it in words, you can experience it by clicking on the following image.

The video was shot using a Yellow Bird Camera. The camera captures all the possible directions using six lenses. The video stream is captured at 1200 Mbps in an uncompressed format. Interestingly, the website has the longest URL ever – http://www.yellowbirdsdonthavewingsbuttheyflytomakeyouexperiencea3dreality.com

iPad – $499 Apple Tease

Before I get onto some serious iPad bashing (and maybe let slip a few glorifications), I must say that the $499 price is a tease. The iPad seems to be a product which was released hurriedly and without much thought, Maybe the marketing team got into development without much consultation with R&D, or maybe they were working backwards from a pre-determined price point; whatever the case, the iPad is not a paradigm-shifting product. So let’s start with the discussion then:

iPad Brand Name

What the hell were they thinking? It’s the worst brand name to come out of the Apple stable. I was personally rooting for iSlate which sounded more sleek, slick and Apple-ish. Tweeple have already begun parodying it with alternate names like iTampon:

@BruinGirl2001: Will the next version of the #ipad come w/wings? will there be a model called the #itampon?

It’s gone to the extent of ‘iTampon’ becoming a trending topic on Twitter; nothing can be more insulting. We netizens would like to see somebody’s head roll.

iPad Screen Size

9.7-inch. Large screens are nice and it is competitively larger than the Kindle DX. But the one big question is, are they competing with the Kindle? Technically speaking they can’t, for the simple reason that Kindle is an e-ink reader while iPad is LCD/O-LED based. On the plus side, we’ve now got colour for those of us who weren’t entirely impressed with B/W readers to begin with. But it will be difficult to use iPad as an e-book reader on a bright sunny day or in rooms with strong backlighting.

At a resolution of 1024×768, the screen’s worst property is its 4:3 aspect ratio. All current displays are being shipped in 16:10 or 16:9 widescreen versions. iPad’s 4:3 aspect ratio is a step back. This will only make the job of web designers and programmers that much more difficult. Not to mention, a lot of screen real-estate will be wasted while watching movies, TV shows and videos.

iPad OS

I have no idea why it took Apple two years to develop the iPad. There is very little work done on the iPad OS since it’s not very different from the iPhone OS. If it’s meant to be a product between the iPhone and MacBook, then the OS should’ve been more Mac OS than iPhone OS. While the OS can be complimented for its simple clean interface (touch-enabled), where it misses out on is:

a. No multi-tasking – You can’t run more than one application at a time
b. No TSR program support – You can’t run small applications in the memory
c. No external device support – You can’t use optical/pen drives, printers etc.
d. No file system browser – You can’t browse and access files independently
e. No multi-user support – You can’t manage multiple users or accounts
f. No flash support – You can’t access websites built using flash

In simple words, the iPad OS is not meant for a full-fledged computing device. The OS is a far cry from being able to support a Netbook or a Tablet PC.

iPad Market

Is there one? If it’s a competition to the Kindle, then we need to wait and watch their positioning. As I see, there isn’t a market for a large iPod Touch and that’s exactly what the iPad is. If the product doesn’t add more than 10% to Apple’s revenue, then it wouldn’t have garnered a mass appeal.

iPad Ergonomics

I’m extremely disappointed to report that the iPad is the most user-unfriendly gadget to come out of Cupertino. With no docking support in landscape, using it in portrait makes little sense. Absence of a groove for a strong palm-hold makes it substantially risky to move around with. Glossy reflective screen does more harm than good. No camera or webcam would mean no video interactions. 8-finger typing is neither here nor there.

iPad Pros

While there’s little to be excited about when it comes to the iPad, there are a few technological advancements:

a. 10-hr battery backup
b. Intuitive multi-touch gestures
c. Custom Apple A4 processor
d. Easy-to-use GUI
e. Newly launched iBookstore

Conclusion

iPad is just an over-sized iPod Touch. The most thoughtless gadget yet from Cupertino. But at $499, it might have hit the sweet spot – The Ultimate Tease.

So what do you think about the iPad? Will you buy one? Share your views in the comments.

Milk

Ideally I would’ve liked to embellish the headline better, but realised it looked perfect as it was. I’m sure the producers of the movie concurred with that thought. Everything about this movie was a ten-on-ten. Everything. From the simplistic title card to the performances by Sean Penn (for which he won his second Oscar) and James Franco.

What I loved most about the movie was the way it ended. It closed like every American Classic should, with a quote; a quote so powerful yet simplistic that you wish you had it pasted on your wall.

I know you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. So you, and you, and you… You gotta give em’ hope… you gotta give em’ hope.

So call up your DVD library and ask him to deliver, Milk (no pun intended). What will bring that ah! moment will be the parting frames where they reveal to you how ‘in character’ Sean Penn is as they show frames of the real Harvey Milk. This actor is a sheer work of genius, and if you think he was fantastic in Milk, then you must order up 21 Grams and I Am Sam. Let me know what you thought of the movie.

Blogging Priests

Pope Benedict XVI needs to be proclaimed as a poster boy for propagating social media. In his latest statement released by the Vatican, he urges his priests to use new media to  evangelise the word of god. An excerpt:

Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.

With an iPhone and Facebook application, and Vatican’s own YouTube channel; I’m just awaiting his check-in to Foursquare.

Infographic on Typing Speeds

Over at Phil Gyford’s website, I found an interesting experiment he had initiated. He compared the speeds of 6 technologies in delivering a (memorised) 221 word passage. I’ve taken the liberty of showcasing his results in the form of an info-graphic which includes the written passage. The numbers describe the time taken in min.

Click on the image to get a full-size clear visualisation, as was intended.