be the change you want to see in the world

Well, not right way, but hopefully soon. In the category of true innovation, Apple is once again set to shake things up by getting rid of the traditional lens/ccd combination for digital imaging.

Recall that in Star Trek and other sci fi imaginings the actors all speak directly to each other through imaging technology. Anyone who has used computers to Video conference knows it doesn’t work that way, and the experience is far more askew.

Apple has filed patents for technology to change all that:

The clever idea is to insert thousands of microscopic image sensors in-between the liquid crystal display cells in the screen. Each sensor captures its own small image, but software stitches these together to create a single, larger picture.

A large LCD screen filled with image sensors would be ideal for videoconferencing, Apple suggests, as participants would always appear to look straight into the “camera”. The technique could also add a camera function to a cellphone or PDA without wasting space, and light from the screen should help illuminate a subject.

The more sensors there are, the wider and clearer the image. Sketches accompanying the company’s patent show as many sensors as liquid crystal cells in a screen. If some of the sensors have different focal lengths, switching between them would make the screen behave like a zoom lens.

Recalling our previous discussions of the future of the iPod, we have to conclude that the iPod is destined to integrate this view screen technology as well. Combined with enhanced mobile data rates we’re talking about the true audiovisual communicator. No lens or eyepiece to get dirty. Direct eye contact.

Depending on how the technology develops, those old jokes about the secretary holding the paper up to the monitor to use the computer fax modem won’t be so silly anymore. Use your flat panel LCD to scan? Why not? With software image correction, it may not be that far off.

How about signing into a website by pressing your thumb against the sign-in box on the screen? Or how about retinal scanning? Facial recognition? Seems like some important implications for Identity 2.0 may be inherent in this development.

And think of the interesting possibilities if this technology could be coupled with flexible displays. Roll it up and have panoramic image capture. Put it on the outside of a sphere and have an all-seeing-eye for surveillance. No more lenses for wide-angle.

Things just keep getting more and more interesting.

A logical career progression for a FOX News anchor:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sources close to the White House said Monday that Fox anchor Tony Snow is likely to accept the job as White House press secretary, succeeding Scott McClellan.

The sources said they expect him to announce his decision within the next few days.

A source familiar with the discussions said Monday that newly appointed Chief of Staff Josh Bolten asked Snow to make a decision by early this week.

Two sources familiar with the discussions said Bolten wanted to fill the post this week, as early as Tuesday.

If you are like me and have yet to plunge into the world of Intel Mac (my MacBook Pro arrives next week), you may be wondering how key productivity apps function under Rosetta (Apple’s trick for running PowerPC code on Intel Macs).

Here’s a pretty clear indication of how Office 2004 runs:

We won’t keep you in suspense. In general, Office 2004 under Rosetta works “well enough” to “very well,” and in some cases, it’s even faster than on the PowerPC machine.

To determine this, MacTech ran over a thousand tests across three models of Macs, and the four major Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage. And, since graphics code is shared between Office applications, we ran a suite of graphics tests as well. These are each covered in more detail below.

In one of the most critical set of tests, we specifically looked at whether the user could type or interact faster than Office could keep up, and even in the slowest of scenarios, we never found the user waiting for typing, or other interactions like selecting menus. Even when typing at over 100 wpm, Word was able to stay ahead of the user.

Of the four applications, PowerPoint, is the one that struggled the most. It appears this is due to Office graphics engine shared by all of the Office applications.

At the other end of the spectrum, Entourage was not only on par, it was faster in many cases than our PowerPC baseline. In fact, with the exception of launching the application, Entourage was faster across the board on the Intel iMac, while the MacBook Pro was about on par with the PowerBook G4 (slightly faster in some cases, slightly slower in others).

Whew!

Of course, universal binaries are highly desireable and hopefully will come sooner than later.

Have you thought about making music with your computer, but haven’t tried it yet. Intimidated? Too daunting? No software or hardware?

Try this: The world’s tinest synth, made in flash. I guess there could be smaller ones out there, but I haven’t seen them.

BTW, eye4u is a legendary vector graphic pioneer. Their original home page and demos blew my mind, and are still pretty cool seven years later. Check this out. Be sure to go to the showroom. The page and music haven’t changed since I first came across it way back when the dotcom boom was riding high. Imagine how choppy it was on a Duo 280.

Lying is the core value of our society. The brightest, most creative minds in our society are liars. Paid liars. I’m talking about advertising people (not all of them). Political writers (not all of them). Sales executives (not all of them). In fact, at the heart of all transactions is a core of lying. The more margin, the bigger the lie somewhere back along the transaction chain. What we can get away with without getting called on it. Pushing the limit of the truth to maximise advantage or profit.

Since when is pushing the limit of the truth not lying? A little lie is not as bad as a big lie, I guess. But the big lie is more readily accepted. And more profitable. Everyday hundreds of millions of people buy into big lies. They do so because some smart person had the guts to tell a really big lie and get paid a lot of money for doing it.

I’m tired of it. And if you need me to provide you with examples, you are not paying attention.