Saturday, October 30, 2010

Legacy Sound Blaster Audio Support

Many old programs and games for DOS require old sound cards. Sound Blaster being the most common.

There is a Sound Blaster Emulator for Windows Available in the open source world just for this purpose.

The VDMSound Project

Friday, October 29, 2010

Microsoft's Strategy has shifted, so what!

on ZDNET: Microsoft: Our strategy with Silverlight has shifted

Who gives a rat's ass.   The only reason I use Silverlight is because Netflix requires it.

I really don't have much patients for Artificial Complexity.
Streaming really isn't that hard, I had full screen full motion working great in 1996.
Meanwhile Microsoft with one press release killed any interest Investor had in us because they would say, "how can you compete against Microsoft".   Well I watch the next 5 years go by, Microsoft never delivered and my technology had reached HDTV levels by 2001.

Still no one could get it out to the public till Macromedia Flash did it in stealth mode in 2002, and it's not streaming, it's a progressive download.
By keeping is secret they were able to get people to install the Video player while no one even knew it could play video.



Even then it took YouTube in 2005 to get the public's attention and get final general acknowledged that the Internet is indeed ready for Video.

Here we are 14 years after 1996 when I was demoing it at my little company in Los Angeles, Digital Video Technology and Internet Broadcast Systems and it's only this year I am finally seeing thing progress to where I was in 2001, 9 years go. And that's streaming HDTV which is now the rage.

I just feel like Microsoft has been nothing but an obstruction. Not enabling the technology yet blocking others with working technology from forward progress because everyone is "waiting" for Microsoft's grand solution.

Well we saw it. Yawn. Oh yea DRM.

I was grabbing 1080p HD movies from the internet using Bit Torrent back in 2001 and it took 9 years for the Industry to offer it legitimately.

Then I see broadcasters trying to pull shows off Hulu and try to put up pay-walls.

Meanwhile I get shows on Bit Torrent, many even a week earlier then the US Broadcast, posted most likely by UK viewers.
Even same day I get show 2 hours before they are broadcast in California because they air in New York 3 hour earlier.

I get a 1 hour show in about 10 to 20 minutes using bit torrent.

The worst part is bit torrent isn't even all that good of a protocol.

The World has changed. I am sorry telco's and cable companies, but those that own wires are just pipes in the future.

Telco's saw the first wave with Voip and it's variations like skype, google talk etc, where they can't own your Phone any more.

Soon Cell Carriers will get hit with it too. It's inevitable just wireless pipes.

I can already root my droid cell and make it in to a Wifi access point. Then using a wireless Ethernet bridge from Linksys in to a Cisco encrypted VPN box and Cisco IP phone, presto awesome phone service in to my employers voip network. It's works just as well as the old Ma Bell phone service, maybe better even.

Oh and it's super secure! Why can't my cell sound that clear in the first place! Only problem is it's a mess of wires and boxes.

Cisco, now there is one of the few companies that actually knows what there doing. At least for making boxes anyhow. Cisco could also be so much more.

There is no reason a Cable company couldn't offer Full Cable service to anyone anywhere on the planet using vanilla Internet. And their wires are just become nothing more than an Internet Bandwidth service.

I have already seen people to high speed channel surfing and live video over the net. Heck I implemented something like it if for a CCTV DVR I architected for VCT Vision.

I can listen to many radio stations from anywhere in the world, yet my local TV channel is limited to just the local area. Why!

Why can't I watch streaming shows from HBO?

These companies are so locked up in legal contracts that it's inviting, no begging, for someone like Apple and Google to come in and take over there Industry.

I am just waiting for a real player to come in produce high quality shows for Internet consumption. And I don't mean posting on youtube.

Meanwhile I have watched so many Set Top Box companies build cool boxes with all sorts of neat tricks, and bite the dust. I have participated in 3 first hand, and must have met so many other people also did the same. Must be almost 100 by now.

Most recently was the founder of Prismiq Inc. You should hear his horror story. Millions wasted on an beautiful front end and back end solutions only to find out the industry has no intention of pulling it's head out of it's ass.

Worst yet I could have told him the outcome from my experiences in 1994 through 1997 trying to pitch the big players.

In 1996 CNN did a news story where they showed my product "Livecam" and then trade markets and send me a cease and desist letter.

I had friends that did an amazing video over IP trial back in 1993, something like 50000 households video on demand. USA Video. You should hear the horror stories.

It's like listening to war veterans about how we where just cannon fodder.

Seem about once a month I have someone contact me wanting to do a set top box play or video over cell phone play. One little piece of advice, Don't do it!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Diminished Reality

Well you've heard of Augmented Reality where computer generate objects are place in to images of the real world. Well now there is Diminished Reality where things in the real word can be removed and hidden.



PopSci Article: Voodoo Software Removes Objects From Video In Real Time


Wait till this technology is integrated in to augmented reality HUD's (Head Up Displays) in 10 to 20 years.

If the clip above doesn't blow you mind check out these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTBS7s_17B4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5vIXX1cBkA

At this point it's become obvious that without a certifiable solid "chain of evidence" CCTV video can not be trusted.

Altering video footage has become child's play if you have the right software.

3dfx Voodoo Graphic Card Emulation Coming To DOSBox

From Slashdot:

"One of the forthcoming versions of the best PC-with-DOS emulator out there should include a very important architectural novelty, ie the software implementation of the historical Voodoo Graphics chipset created by 3dfx Interactive in the Nineties. "Kekko", the programmer working on the project with the aid of the DOSBox crew and the coding-capable VOGONS users, says that his aim is the complete and faithful emulation of SST-1, the first Voodoo chipset marketed in 1996 inside the first 3D graphics accelerated cards on the PC."

The Android Invasion

from Slashdot:

The Android Invasion Cometh; Is Resistance Futile?
"Last month, we learned from Gartner that Android will probably be the number-two worldwide mobile OS this year, and may lead the pack by 2014. With Android's growing use as the OS embedded in phones, in tablets, in set-top boxes, and in LCD HDTVs, it seems like the Linux-based OS could end up dominating the entire non-PC consumer device operating system space. What do Slashdot readers think: Is resistance futile?"


From a developer friend of mine in India in talking about a Set Top Box project:
I think i got a detailed idea on how to implement a proof of concept device. One of the reasons of dropping it was the integration complexity of the opensource libs esp the signaling (we were planning to use tapioca). At the end we were almost decided to use Android as the base platform to develop.  I had Android running on the beagleboard as well. If we develop video calling interfaces(ie in Java and C++) in Android SDK it can be a hit.

I think skype is getting integrated with LCD tvs now. had seen an article http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-tv/

Video is gaining traction in India. I have even saw a shop which exclusively sells video surveillance equipment in my home town. PVR for indian market seems ineteresting.
Short demo of how to publish your phone app
    http://gotoandlearn.com/play.php?id=131
 I really need to learn Android development.  I have a Droid X, Android is lightyears ahead of Symbian. 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Anti-paparazzi Glasses



I was experimenting with something similar years ago to see what it would take to defeat CCTV cameras, High Power IR sources work great in that it doesn't attract attention of people looking with the naked eye, but defeats the cameras.

Chi-Mei Displays LQ035NC111

Check out this cool little color display.

http://www.horizontechnology.com/products/displays/Chi-Mei/LQ035NC111

3.5" 320x240 LCD Display

DataSheet

I can't help but be impressed as hell with these types of little demos.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Google TV: The Future of Interactive Television?

Google TV: The Future of Interactive Television?

from ABC





First, Google revolutionized Web searches -- now it's trying to reinvent the way you watch TV.

Inside a top-secret lab in Silicon Valley, programmers are putting the finishing touches on a new product called Google TV. The company says this new device will take all the best features of watching television, surfing the Web, playing online games, and connecting with friends on Twitter and Facebook, and combine them into a single experience.

It is "a new way to think about television," said Google Senior Product Manager Rishi Chandra. "Basically what we're trying to do here is take all that content that you already watch today on television, and add all that other content that you get on the web today, that you normally can't get on your TV."

With Google TV, users can channel-surf between traditional TV shows, websites, online video, social media, and eventually programs recorded on a DVR, all with just a few clicks of the remote. (The DVR function has not yet been worked out with all major cable and satellite providers.)