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The Thinking Machines flashes back to 1968 for a lesson in computer logic, sideburns (video)
Another dusty gem's emerged from the vintage gold mine that is AT&T's Tech Channel archive, and this one's packed full of useful information and some classic Jetsons-style animation. The Thinking Machines pits man against computer to explain how the things reason, and it does so with a soundtrack that's straight out of, well, 1968. Unsurprisingly, the film's populated by giant, button-laden switchboards, early computer graphics, ladies sporting beehives, and gents rocking unfortunate facial hair, but if that doesn't do it for you, it also offers genuine pearls like this: "Best of all, they never get bored. Like other machines, they can do the same monotonous chores all day long without complaining." Someone should tell that to the disgruntled Roomba residing in our hall closet. Check out the full video in all its dated glory after the break.
William Shatner explains what microprocessors are and do... from way back in 1976
For a man that spent the best part of his acting career representing a savvy dude from the future, William Shatner looks pretty well at home in the past as well. This video, dusted off from AT&T's Tech Channel archives, shows Shatner dressed in a casual tan ensemble and dropping some knowledge on the subject of microprocessors. Aside from the retro visuals and presentation, what's great about the vid is that the seemingly lavish claims about where computers could take us -- and their own move toward increasing importance, utility and ubiquity -- actually seem pretty tame in light of what we know today. Beam yourself past the break to see this golden nugget from the Bell Labs archives. [Thanks, Dan]
AT&T opens up video archives, shares the history inside
Where can you find Orson Welles, Marconi's daughter, Alexander Graham Bell's grandaughter, and inventors of the transistor and television? You might try To Communicate is the Beginning, a 1976 educational publication tracing the history of electronic communication, which AT&T recently decided to exhume from its archives of Bell Labs material. The 30-minute video's just the first in a series, too, as AT&T's website is already playing host to films about the origins of the laser and integrated circuit too, with more on the way. Find them all at our source link -- you do want to know how your favorite technologies evolved, right?
Mac 101: Use Archive Utility preferences for control over archives
Most users know that you can easily create .zip files in OS X by selecting a file in Finder and choosing File » Compress "FileNameHere" or by control+clicking the file and choosing the same option from the context menu. You can open .zip (and other archive formats such as gzip, tar, and bzip2) simply by double clicking on them. You may not have known that additional options are available. For example, after you make a .zip file, you could have the original files moved to the trash automatically, or you could have all .zip files that you create automatically saved to the same folder. Similarly, you can have all archive files that you expand open to the same directory as the archive, or have them saved to a specific folder. The feature that I was looking for was this: after I expand an archive, just move the original file to the trash so I don't have to, because I don't want to keep it. If the default settings work for you, great! But if you'd like a bit more control, there are two ways to do it. (Note: these system paths are current for Snow Leopard. Previous versions of Mac OS X may be different. See note at bottom of this message.)
Atomic bomb tests make for pretty, if unnerving, photography
The things America got up to in the 50s, eh? The New York Times has this week published a gallery of arresting images from atomic bomb testing done by the US military in the middle of the 20th century. From nuking its own destroyers and airships while gauging out their "vulnerability" -- let's hope that vulnerability was categorized as "total" -- to producing atomic cannons like the one you see above, the USA really went to town with its nuclear warfare practice. The Times' story is about atomic cameramen and the crazy risks they took to document these events; we'd advise giving it a read, but if you're pushed for time, just hit the source for all the wild visuals.
A look at some of Chrome OS's latest bits of polish
The release of Chrome OS looms ever closer, but still there are a number of enhancements and changes being rolled in that should make for a somewhat nicer experience, and TechCrunch has highlighted a few. Perhaps most major among those changes is the ability to browse the internet without signing in, but if you want to update your bookmarks or save any form data you'll still need a Google account. There's a new side bar that appears to give access to other apps, replacing tabs on top, and it also adds in battery and WiFi strength indicators. There's also something of a debate going on regarding whether Chrome OS should have support for compressed archives (.zip and .rar files and the like). Right now the OS has no support for those files, which, as one contributor points out, is rather unfortunate given that Gmail itself generates zip files when you click "download all attachments." Let's hope someone at the Googs finds time to add that in so that future users aren't locked out of the joys of extraction.
This day in Engadget: waiting in line comes to an end as the iPhone 3GS launches
Welcome to 'This day in Engadget', where we crack open the archives and take a whimsical look back at the memories and moments of our storied past. Please join us on this trip down random access memory lane. Try to recall if you will, June 19th of 2009, a rainy, ugly day, when the iPhone 3GS launched. People had pre-ordered, sure, but a few hundred people lined up at the cube in New York City anyway, and our very own Paul Miller braved the elements to document the proceedings for us lovingly. And here we are, in 2010, on the cusp of the launch of the iPhone 4, which has pre-sold about 600,000 units by last count. We've heard random reports of a few people already waiting in line (see the photo below of two early birds snapped by a reader in Santa Monica), but we're going to stay inside for now and take a look back at June 19th in the history of Engadget below. Also on this date: June 19th 2009: The Zune HD was confirmed to have a Tegra processor, Microsoft extended Windows XP's downgrade availability to 2011, and Nokia's N86 MP and N97 launched to great fanfare in the United Kingdom. June 19th 2008: The Mars Phoenix lander discovered ice on Mars, Chevrolet's Volt plug-in hybrid got priced at $40,000, and Dell launched its UltraSharp 2709W 27-inch LCD. June 19th 2007: A man was confirmed to have gotten two Zune tattoos, Sony's Ken Kutaragi, father of the PlayStation, stepped down, and Apple was rumored to have a cheaper (and possibly smaller) iPhone in the pipeline. June 19th 2006: Taiwanese company Foxconn denied operating sweatshops, Steve Jobs was rumored to be fighting for $9.99 iTunes movie downloads, Verizon sued Vonage for patent infringement, and we caught sight of a Batman Begins casemod. June 19th 2005: Monks were reported to have started using hyperspectral imaging to retrieve ancient texts, and Engadget took a little aggression out on the mainstream media. June 19th 2004: We checked out the SciFi Museum in Seattle, Washington, caught sight of a 70 megapixel, panoramic camera, and were introduced to a product called the Pixie. [Thanks to Craig for the photo of the store in Santa Monica]
Neil Young's Blu-ray 'Archives' release back on: June 2nd for $299
Take this with a huge grain of salt, but it seems that Neil Young's long (long) awaited Archives release on Blu-ray is back on track. Last we heard, the 10-disc set was shakily headed for a February release date, but given that it's March, we'd say that obviously didn't pan out. Down at South by Southwest in Austin, Young's manager Elliot Roberts was quoted as saying that the collection will now be released on June 2nd. Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972 will include 128 audio tracks (43 unreleased and 13 never-before-heard) along with thousands of images, lyrics, letters and memorabilia. The rough news is that the Blu-ray edition will run fans a shocking $299 while the DVD set goes for $199 and the CD version for $99. Better start saving up now -- worst case scenario, the June date will get bumped and you'll have three bills to blow on cheeseburgers and cookies.
Neil Young's Archives Blu-ray collection back on for February 2009?
Hop back on the Neil Young roller coaster folks, this one's still spinning. The on-again / off-again nature of this release is becoming somewhat of a joke, but after hearing that the Blu-ray version of Archives Volume 1 (1963 - 1972) would likely be axed, HighDefDigest has it that the BD audio collection is back on track. Reportedly, it now touts a tentative street date of February 24 through Warner Music Group. If the set ever launches, it will undoubtedly be a beast: ten discs, over 128 tracks and the full-length documentary "Journey Through the Past." You could always spin the delay into a positive -- you know, considering that you'll probably need everyday between now and then to scrounge up the $431.99 (MSRP) it'll take to make it yours.[Image courtesy of SMH]
Top 10 films that should be released on Blu-ray -- do you agree?
Sound & Vision has a rather interesting article up about the ten films that it most wants to see released on Blu-ray, and while we concur with the most of 'em, we're interested to see what you readers think as well. Before delving into your fanboy-ish desires, however, it's important to note that past popularity isn't necessarily a sign that a particular movie will be re-released on BD. As we've learned before, there are quite a few variables that studios take into consideration outside of just public perception. We're tempted to blurt out all ten right here for discussion, but we know how disgruntled some of you folks get when spoilers are sprung on you.
Neil Young's Archives Blu-ray collection likely axed, will be DVD only
We're pretty sure we speak for music / Blu-ray fans everywhere when we say: "What?" At the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco earlier this year, one of the main news bits to emerge from the show was that Neil Young's entire music archive was going to be released in Blu-ray form. In fact, it was even stressed that BD interactivity would give purchasers the ability to download more songs, photos and tour information via their internet-connected decks. Now, we're hearing that the Archives Volume 1 (1963 - 1972) is being relegated to DVD only, and even the DVD collection is being delayed from November 3rd to "sometime in 2009." Of course, there's still time for Reprise to change its mind and appease all the Blu-ray lovers out in the crowd, but we aren't feeling too optimistic about the possible change of heart.[Image courtesy of Mashable]
Neil Young's Archives Blu-ray collection gets November 3rd release date
Neil Young's Archives project, which will see his entire music collection from 1963 to 1972 spread out over a 10-disc Blu-ray / DVD box set, finally has a release date. After being announced at the JavaOne Conference this May, we've now learned that the set will hit shelves on November 3rd. Interestingly, a price is still eluding us, but we'd just go ahead and assume that 10 Blu-ray Discs won't be exactly cheap. Something to tide you over is waiting just past the break.
How are back catalog titles chosen for Blu-ray release?
C'mon, you know you've asked yourself this. After all, aren't we all tense with anticipation just waiting to see what titles studios are planning to re-release on BD, only to kvetch mightily after our favorite flicks get pushed aside for films that "no one will watch?" Thankfully, Sound & Vision has taken at least some of the mystery out and has revealed five shortcuts to getting a film released on Blu-ray. Essentially, studios are looking for titles that will enable BD setups to shine, and if the movie has proven popular in the past, there's a decent shot the demand will be there for a BD release. Additionally, studios love re-releasing originals when a sequel is in theaters, and of course, if it can stop long enough to hear fans clamoring for a specific title, that too could urge them to crank out a 1080p edition. Be sure and give the read link a visit for the full rundown.
Removing .DS_Store files from archives
The marvelous Shaun T. Erickson tipped me off on a sweet way to remove .DS_Store files from your folders before you archive them. Those are the "invisible" files added by Finder on your Mac. He writes that it doesn't matter whether you zip or tar: if they are in the directory tree, they get picked up by the archive. He suggests running the following command from terminal, substituting the appropriate directory for "your_dir": find your_dir -type f -name .DS_Store -print0 | xargs -0 rm After, just tar or zip up your tree.
MailSteward archiving app for just $34.95 at MacZOT today only
After I realized that I needed to find a way to archive and search the healthy amount of email I deal with in Apple Mail these days, I finally decided on MailSteward. There are indeed a number of email archiving options available (and Hawk Wing's list is probably still as good as any), but MailSteward's powerful array of features and ability to search the archives it creates won me over.If you're looking for a similar solution and MailSteward just might be it, today is a great day to make the jump: software discount site MacZOT is offering the MailSteward for just $34.95. That's a savings of 30% off its normal price of $50, so it's a good opportunity to finally get into the habit of archiving all that mail that you can't entirely delete just yet.
