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Celebs are reading the first Harry Potter novel on Spotify
You can watch videos of the readings on the Wizarding World website too.
Wikipedia to store famous voices for posterity, starting with Stephen Fry's
Virtually everyone in the UK (and many an Engadget reader) is familiar with Stephen Fry's iconic voice, but will anyone remember it in, say, 50 years? He certainly hopes so, but just to be sure, Wikipedia has recorded it for posterity and pegged it to his bio page. The plan is to have a large number of well-known types do the same so that readers will know "what (those folks) sound like and how they pronounce their names." Though there are only a handful of contributors so far (including US astronaut Charlie Duke and British peer Baron Knight of Weymouth), the effort will be soon be bulked up by some "500 to 1,000" celebrity clips thanks to the BBC. As tat for its tit, the Beeb hopes to one day use the Wikipedia archive to power a real-time, open-source voice-recognition engine -- and perhaps add some VIP pizzazz to its own collection of voices.
Man acquitted as #TwitterJokeTrial appeal ends in victory
Paul Chambers, who was previously found guilty of sending a "menacing tweet," has been acquitted by the High Court after two-and-a-half years trapped in legal limbo. On hearing of the closure of his local airport, the 27-year-old had sent out a facetious tweet to his 600 followers that mentioned "blowing the airport sky high!" However, despite airport authorities realizing the message was a joke, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service took the man to court and won. The social network quickly rallied around, with many repeating the tweet with the hashtag #IAmSpartacus and involving celebrities such as Stephen Fry, who helped raise funds to launch an appeal. The court today found that its joking nature was "obvious" and that it was sent by someone who did not hide their identity -- clearing Mr. Chambers name once and for all. For the record, here was the original tweet with expletives removed: "C**p! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your s**t together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!"
Sky 3D enlists Stephen Fry to explain the technology ahead of its October 1 launch (video)
With the official launch of Sky 3D to UK home viewers just days away, the broadcaster's bringing in the big guns. Sure, we've tried explaining the latest in 3D technology ourselves, but it requires a special touch to claim to have invented 3D and still come off as infallibly polite at the same time. For that, you need a professional, and who better than Stephen Fry? If you weren't first in line at the shoppes to buy a 3DTV this video probably won't turn you into a believer right away -- checking in to your local pub for a pint and a Premier League game is a more effective route -- but it's an entertaining preview all the same. The video is embedded after the break and in case this alarm clock showing up on the site, twice, wasn't enough of a clue, we'll feature nearly anything with Stephen Fry involved, especially when he kicks it off by saying "Hello, Engadget."
myFry: Stephen Fry's second autobiography becomes an interactive app
I've been following actor, all around wit, and Apple enthusiast Stephen Fry's career since I saw him play the wonderfully droll and brilliant butler, Jeeves in the English TV series Jeeves and Wooster back in the early 90's. Hugh Laurie, probably better known as Dr. House, played Bertie Wooster over the four seasons of tales from the P.G. Wodehouse's books. Since (and before) then he's done an amazing amount of work, from appearing in V for Vendetta to narrating the English versions of the Harry Potter Audiobooks books. The second volume of his autobiography entitled: The Fry Chronicles has been released in England as a hardcover book (UK£20.00), AudioBook, iBook (£12.99) and an iPhone app titled myFry (£7.99) in the British iTunes store. It's not yet available in the US store. The digital versions are enhanced with seven videos. The myFry app looks quite intriguing. Instead of linearity, (which is so passé) these days Fry opted for a color wheel that can take you to any themed section of the book where you can read sections of that theme. So the book isn't meant to be read in any particular order, at least on the iPhone. Without seeing it, (being a bloody Yank), I can see this working, since Fry's writing is quite anecdotal and randomly breaking it up might be just the thing. I can't wait to get my hands on it. [via 9to5 Mac]
Steve Jobs on Time magazine cover again
There's a super article in the current issue of Time magazine featuring Stephen Fry's interview with Steve Jobs. As you may know, Stephen Fry is a writer, actor and comedian. He was also the 2nd person in all of Britain to own a Macintosh (author Douglas Adams was the first). That's precisely why this interview is such a joy to read -- Fry is a total fanboy (his tremendous skills as a writer don't hurt, either). He admits buying one of those "I visited the Mothership" T-shirts from the Company Store at 1 Infinite Loop, and describes his first meeting with Jobs like this: "I have met five British Prime Ministers, two American Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson and the Queen. My hour with Steve Jobs certainly made me more nervous than any of those encounters." Fry asks Jobs, who resurrected Apple with the iMac's introduction in 1998, if he'd use the iPad's successful release (should that happen) as an opportunity to step down on top; to end his career on a high. Jobs responded as one might expect: "I don't think of my life as a career," he says. "I do stuff. I respond to stuff. That's not a career - it's a life!" In addition to talking with Jobs, Fry met with Phil Schiller (Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing) and Eddy Cue (Apple's VP of Internet services) who showed off the iBooks application. At last, Stephen got some time to use an iPad which he instantly fell in love with. You can watch him unbox his own iPad here. As you pour over the media's reaction to the iPad this weekend, don't miss this article. It was a pleasure to read. While you're at it, use Time's Cover Search to find Steve's other appearances on the magazine.
Stephen Fry unboxes his iPad
Actor/comedian Stephen Fry has published a brief but oh-so-tantalizing iPad unboxing video. Above you'll see Stephen open the Apple-branded case, the iPad itself (complete with a dramatic and thoroughly warranted wooshing sound), the 10W adapter and keyboard dock. He also grabbed the non-keyboard dock. Yes, it's brief but it gives us a nice idea of what the packaging is like (the iPad's box is thicker than I imagined) and, frankly, the sheer joy of opening such a snazzy toy. He's begun playing, too, and is sharing his experience via Twitter. So far, he's called the Gray Wolfram Periodic table "gorgeous" and "alone worth iPad," and posted a screenshot of Scrabble. Thanks for sharing, Stephen, and keep those tweets coming!
Infallibly Polite Speaking Alarm Clock does what it says
Truth be told, there's an alarm clock out there for every type of waker, but this bad boy just might be the most enjoyable (if such a thing actually exists). Sold by the always intriguing Hammacher Schlemmer, the Infallibly Polite Speaking Alarm Clock supposedly "reproduces the subtle wit employed by P. G. Wodehouse's most famous character, the valet Reginald Jeeves." In fact, it plays back 126 fey wake-up messages in the voice of Stephen Fry, with our favorite being the following: "Excuse me sir, I'm so sorry to disturb you, but it appears to be morning... very inconvenient, I agree... I believe it is the rotation of the Earth that is to blame, sir." If only the thing weren't $99.95, we'd have one in every room.[Via Slashgear]Update: ThinkGeek has it for just $69.99 -- score! Thanks David!
Mainstreaming podcasts: First the Queen. Now Blair
First the Queen podcasted her Christmas message, and now Tony Blair appears on a podcast interview with actor Stephen Fry. The State of the Union address and the Democrats' response are both available (for free) in iTunes. And presidential hopeful John Edwards even has his own widget. Politics as usual have changed, and the medium for its delivery is moving with the times. In a kind of humorous aside, that doesn't mean Mr. Blair has moved with it. Unlike his colleagues, his famous "red box" does not contain a laptop--instead, he says he plans to learn about computers after leaving Number Ten. TUAW recommends the MacBook Pro.
