Monday, March 28, 2005

Go to the cinema and star in the film you're about to see. During the Expo 2005, spectator queueing to see a movie at Toshiba's digital cinema are submitted to a futurecast, they place their faces into a hole in the wall for a few seconds. High-resolution digital cameras perform a quick scan from several angles, and everyone takes their seats. The animated film, Grand Odyssey, begins as normal but the entire cast is made up of walking, talking digital replicas of people in the audience.   . . . Each speactator gets a role -- there are soldiers, doctors, scientists and politicians involved in the story -- as a Toshiba supercomputer is processing the one-time-only film.  . . . Elsewhere, NTT DoCoMo shows its object-recognition binoculars which recognise certain objects and displays details about them in the eyepiece. Fix on a passing plane and the device will tell you the flight number and destination. Turn your attention to a flower, and it will tell you what variety it is. DoCoMo hopes to use the technology in camera-equipped handsets. With particular databases of information installed, the phones could be pointed at objects of interest and used to collect information. Waved past an item in a shop, for example, it might inform users where the same thing could be bought more cheaply. Via The Times. Via we make money not art [unmediated] 6:15:45 AM    comment []

Share those tunes... SourceForge.net: Project Info - getTunes This is great.. It is a pain to get music off of my media machine on to my laptop this should help. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to recognize my wireless connection. From the site: getTunes is a Mac version of myTunes, a small application that allows users to download music from local Rendezvous-shared iTunes music libraries (instead of streaming the songs). Don't steal music. Via sLop [unmediated] 6:12:42 AM    comment []

In the Blog Era, Liz Smith Wonders if There's Room for the Pro. The gossip industry has become so pervasive and ruthless that it is difficult to break through with a distinctive voice. By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE. [NYT > Technology] 6:08:21 AM    comment []

Bruce Schneier sums it up: TSA Lied About Protecting Passenger Data. According to the AP: The Transportation Security Administration misled the public about its role in obtaining personal information about 12 million airline passengers to test a new computerized system that screens for terrorists, according to a government investigation. The report, released Friday [. . . .] stopped short of saying TSA lied. I'll say it: the TSA lied. Here's the report. It's worth reading. And when you read it, keep in mind that it's written by the DHS's own Inspector General. I presume a more independent investigator would be even more severe. Not that the report isn't severe, mind you. Another AP article has more details:  . . . This is major stuff. It shows that the TSA lied to the public about its use of personal data again and again and again. Right now the TSA is in a bit of a bind. It is prohibited by Congress from fielding Secure Flight until it meets a series of criteria. The Government Accounting Office is expected to release a report this week that details how the TSA has not met these criteria. I'm not sure the TSA cares. It's already announced plans to roll out Secure Flight. With little fanfare, the Transportation Security Administration late last month announced plans to roll out in August its highly contentious Secure Flight program. Considered by some travel industry experts a foray into operational testing, rather than a viable implementation, the program will begin, in limited release, with two airlines not yet named by TSA. My own opinions of Secure Flight are well-known. I am participating in a Working Group to help evaluate the privacy of Secure Flight. (I've blogged about it here and here.) We've met three times, and it's unclear if we'll ever meet again or if we'll ever produce the report we're supposed to. Near as I can tell, it's all a big mess right now. [Schneier on Security] 6:08:02 AM    comment []

Supreme Showdown for P2P's Future. The entertainment industry goes head-to-head against file-sharing services at the Supreme Court this week. Some fear the Grokster case could have a devastating effect on development of new technologies. By Katie Dean. [Wired News] 6:05:19 AM    comment []

A Supreme Court Showdown for File Sharing. The Supreme Court will hear a case in which the recording and film industries seek to hold makers of file-sharing software liable for illegal copying. By SAUL HANSELL and JEFF LEEDS. [NYT > Technology] 6:00:18 AM    comment []