by Neal Campbell | Oct 21, 2014 | design, gadgets, technology |
A while back there was a video released online that got a lot of attention because it demonstrated a Back to the Future hoverboard in action. Those of us who produce video called bullshit. It was obviously special effects. Not long after, the producers of the video admitted it was fake. The problem with the whole idea of a hoverboard like the one in Back to the Future is that it depends on fans and air to achieve levitation. That whole idea is untenable because it would be impossible to power it. This is nothing like that. Engineers at a company called Hendo thought differently to create the first hoverboard that really works. Instead of air and fans, it depends on magnetism. Here’s the demo: The secret to making it work is that it will only hover above a non-ferromagnetic conductor surface like sheets of metal. The company is raising money on Kickstarter to further develop the technology. Anyone who donates $299 or more won’t receive a hoverboard, but they will receive a “WHITEBOX” Developer Kit that includes a Hendo hover engine set and enough surface material for it to hover on. The kit can be modified to create all kinds of other hovering things. Imagine a restaurant using this technology to glide a plate of food from the kitchen to your seat. https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/assets/002/772/046/91f2723e3b74d26170a83dc71e5aead3_h264_high.mp4 There’s a lot of work to do to bring the Hoverboard to market, and the Kickstarter campaign is really all about developing the technology further. You’ll only actually get a Hoverboard with a donation of $10,000, and four out of an available ten are already...
by Neal Campbell | Oct 15, 2014 | Apple |
Apple is usually so good at keeping its organizational moving parts working in harmony to prevent what just happened. A new iPad User Guide was released today as an iBook revealing photos and information about new iPads a day ahead of the planned announcement. New iPads will be the iPad mini 3 and the iPad Air 2. Both will include the Touch ID Home Button found on newer iPhones. The new iBook, iPad User Guide For iOS 8 is still available from iTunes, so if you want to grab it before Apple takes if down, here’s the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id917481145?mt=11 The books description says, “Here’s everything you need to know about iPad, in a handy format. Get to know iPad and discover all the amazing things it can do, and how to do them. It’s the definitive guide for getting the most from your new iPad, straight from Apple. The iPad User Guide covers iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad...
by Neal Campbell | Oct 7, 2014 | Uncategorized |
One of life’s BEST things is Phoebe singing Smelly Cat … until Colbie Caillat covered it Central Perk in New...
by Neal Campbell | Oct 3, 2014 | Apple, Steve Jobs, tech culture, technology |
The worst anniversary of any death in the tech world happens Sunday. Steve Jobs died three years ago. Tim Cook sent this email to the Apple team today. Team, Sunday will mark the third anniversary of Steve’s passing. I’m sure that many of you will be thinking of him on that day, as I know I will. I hope you’ll take a moment to appreciate the many ways Steve made our world better. Children learn in new ways thanks to the products he dreamed up. The most creative people on earth use them to compose symphonies and pop songs, and write everything from novels to poetry to text messages. Steve’s life’s work produced the canvas on which artists now create masterpieces. Steve’s vision extended far beyond the years he was alive, and the values on which he built Apple will always be with us. Many of the ideas and projects we’re working on today got started after he died, but his influence on them — and on all of us — is unmistakeable. Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for helping carry Steve’s legacy into the future. Tim Damn, I miss Steve...
by Neal Campbell | Sep 22, 2014 | creativity, Documentary, Filmmaking, production, technology |
If you make chips that process graphics, I guess the best ways to tell the world how powerful they are would be to show the world how powerful they are. NVIDIA is releasing a new graphics processing unit powered by a chip called Maxwell. Maxwell-powered GPUs are the first with the ability to dynamically render indirect light, which has implications for video gaming and film making. Because the better you can digitally duplicate how light behaves in the real world, digital creations become significantly more lifelike and believable. To demonstrate the power of the new GPU, NVIDIA used it to create a simulation of how light would behave on the moon in order to debunk Lunar conspiracy theories that suggest the moon landing didn’t happen because the lighting in the photos can’t be explained. Well, now it...
by Neal Campbell | Sep 21, 2014 | books, Filmmaking, Interview, movies, People, Writing |
As much as I’d love to call myself a hardcore Harry Potter fan, the truth is, I can’t. I love the books and I love the movies, but to claim the title, “Hardcore Harry Potter Fan,” I think you have to watch and read as much as you can about the books and movies. If you are a hardcore Harry Potter fan, you’ve probably already seen this conversation between Daniel Radcliffe and JK Rowling. I just watched it this morning and it’s quite lovely. One of the coolest things about the conversation is that it’s a passionate insiders look at the story and how the story moved from books to film. It’s almost an hour long, but definitely worth your time, if you love the books, the movies, or...
by Neal Campbell | Sep 20, 2014 | audio, equipment, How To, iPad, iPhone, podcasting, production, The Neal Show, the studio |
If you’re recording an audio interview with someone in a different location, the best way to get great sound quality is to record a “Double Ender.” If the interviewee and the Interviewer each have good gear, they can record themselves as they talk via skype or phone. The interviewee sends his or her audio recording to the interviewer who edits the two audio tracks together to get and end product that sounds like the two people are in the same room. I the early days of podcasting, most people a podcaster would want to interview were not likely to have an optimal recording setup, so we recorded interviews via Skype using a setup on our mixers called, “Mix Minus.” It’ not complicated, but when you first start trying to wrap your brain around it, it seems much more complicated than it is. It’s still not a great solution though because Skype audio can be great, but is often shitty. A few days ago I realized that something has radically changed since the early days of podcasting. Now, almost anyone interesting enough to interview probably has a smartphone and smartphones make pretty decent digital audio recorders. I wanted to test it out to see if having an interviewee record their own audio on their smartphone would produce better audio than recording a Skype or phone call. The only technicality is that they have to plug headphones or earbuds into their computer to hear the Skype conversation. Two friends volunteered. One is a veteran podcaster with tons of experience and skill with audio production, and the other is a new podcaster...
by Neal Campbell | Sep 19, 2014 | travel, YouTube |
This video of a classic VW that pulls a travel trailer comes through my Facebook feed about once a week. I’ve never shared it because I assume everyone has seen it. I’ve decided not everyone has seen it, and it’s really cool. The travel trailer attaches to the top of the Volkswagen Beetle using a receiver and ball assembly designed specifically for the VW. There’s room for the Beetle to turn 360 degrees while the camper is attached. If you’ve ever pulled trailer of any kind, it’s instantly clear how easy this would make it to park. The travel trailer was called the Shadow and it was only manufactured for a short time by in the early 1970s by Harmon Industries. Shadow trailers ranged in length from 18 to 27...
by Neal Campbell | Sep 11, 2014 | Apple, iPad, iPhone, iTunes, music, technology |
UPDATE: I knew that it was just a matter of time before Apple released an official solution for permanently removing the U2 Songs of Innocence album from iTunes, and that solution has arrived! To remove this album: Go to http://itunes.com/soi-remove. Click Remove Album to confirm you’d like to remove the album from your account. Sign in with the Apple ID and password you use to buy from the iTunes Store. You’ll see a confirmation message that the album has been removed from your account. If you downloaded the songs to iTunes on your Mac or PC or to the Music app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you’ll need to delete them manually. Feel free to what I wrote before down below. I think it’s kind of entertaining, but the steps below no longer apply. U2 is a very popular band, and Bono does wonderful things for the world, but that doesn’t mean we ALL enjoy their music and want it in our iTunes libraries! On Facebook, some of my friends don’t see what the big deal is, since it’s free, but they tend to be the people who like U2, or at least Songs of Innocence. Those of us for whom the sound of Bono’s voice draws blood from our ears see it differently. Jason Dobrolecki had the best analogy, “I’m going to bring you an ugly chair and put it in your house. Don’t complain because it’s free. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to sit in it. But no, you can’t get rid of it. Is that ok? I thought not.” Musical...
by Neal Campbell | Sep 9, 2014 | Book, books, GBTV, LGBTQ, production, technology, Writing |
Back in the early days of the dot com era, when Amazon started obviously mattering to those of up paying attention, I had an idea. I wanted to build a platform that made it possible for anyone to publish anything they wanted to write. The system involved having editors to skim everything published and push the best content to the top. Everything would be published on the author pages, but the best stuff would be promoted on a range of genre specific sites. This was long before blogging, but what blogging turned out to be works a lot like what I wanted to build. It was around the time one of the very first eBook readers was released. The thing was HUGE and EXPENSIVE. Digital was going to be the future of reading, but I was dreaming of the future way too early. The dot com bubble broke and the whole idea didn’t happen, but I never stopped studying how tech would disrupt publishing. Fast Forward. Fast Forward. Fast Forward. GeekBrief.TV happened and it was AWESOME. Then Luria left and everything sucked. EVERYTHING. As I was dealing with the shitty trauma of divorce, my gay friends were the kindest, most hospitable friends in my life. They took very good care of my broken heart. One of the people, or actually couples, that took care of me in the most healing way was my friend Randy Eddy-McCain and his husband Gary. They welcomed me into their hope and just loved me like a broken lost puppy. Randy told me he had written a book. I didn’t care anything about anything other...
