During the 2007 TED(Technology Entertainment Design) conference a piece of photosynth software called SeaDragon was announced. The program, which uses images in much the same way as a search engine uses text, was impressive but at the time seemed like a far off pipedream. Focus back on today and that pipedream has been fully realized and the program has launched with a demo.
What makes photosynth so intriguing is that fact that it takes millions of images and creates a multi-dimensional space that you can navigate with ease. Without seeing it action this might be hard to full apprecaiate, but to try and clarify take an image of Notre Dame Cathedral. The imaging software will now cross-reference every other image of Notre Dame Cathedral and align them to the original image. What this does is allow a nearly seamless 3D representation of the cathedral. As long as at least one image exists you will be able to see it. Additionally the technology allows for the storage information unheard of up until now. Imagine a website that features a car image. Under normal web technology what you see is what you get. With Photosynth, however, you will be able to zoom INTO the image and see the detail on the dashboard, or the texture on the seats.
The possible applications for this software are only limited by the imagination and people’s hesitation to adapt. But the fact that this technology is here now, and not something in the works for the future will open eyes to what the web is capable of. In the very near future whole websites could be built around this technology; transporting the 2D limitations of the present into a fully realized 3D environment.
If you would like to try the program for you self view the demo here
The month of July stood out this year as having some of the most malicious Viruses in quite some time. Google, in association with virus and spam filtration program Postini reported that Virus Spam peaked on July 24th with nearly 10 million suspicious emails. Google, which has long kept a watchful eye on the online world, has taken a special interest in the prevention of Spam and Virus attacks for its proprietary email server, Gmail. Google’s Postini is actively tracking all potential attacks and any business that uses either Gmail or the Postini spam filter will benefit from their vigilance.
Google reports that the two largest threats in July came in the form of the CNN and UPS viruses. The UPS virus acted as a front for an attack. The email would contain a faux tracking link that when clicked on would bring you to a malicious download location. The CNN Virus had a similar ploy, replicating the look of a legitimate CNN newsletter. Within the newsletter were a number of actual CNN news articles but mixed in were links to malicious download locations.
When it comes to spam and virus protection common sense is the best defense. In this day and age most people know better than to click on attachments from unrecognized locations but the same applies to links within email. Most modern browsers offer the option to read a url link within an email before clicking on it. If the link looks suspicious then simply choose not to click on it. Links that contain an .exe should never be followed. Lastly be suspicious if you receive an email from a source you didn’t sign up for. All unrequested emails are now required to include a physical address and an option to remove you from the mailing list. If an email does not contain these things then it is likely from a suspicious source. If you use email intelligently then you should never fall victim to an email virus attack.
Most web proficient businesses have turned to the allure of paid click advertising at some point during their run of online advertising. When done correctly this can lead to a boost in sales as the prominent search engines; namely Yahoo and Google, go out of their way to promote these techniques. Despite its popularity recent congressional mediation has raised concern over this form of advertising and the two search engines are taking fire because of it.
What many people don’t realize is that both Google and Yahoo use a system of “Cookies” (Small text files) to track all online searches. If a user visits a particular website the browser downloads the small file and remembers every time it is revisited. This is there congress has decided to step in. up until now this had been largely a grey area, but as tracking technologies have continued to improve, and online advertisements are now capable of targeting by city, many wonder if the invasion of privacy has gone too far.
Trying to cut the bad press both Yahoo and Google have recently announced quick fixes to the problem; Making it possible to “opt-out” of cookie downloading for their services. Whether or not this will amount to anything on the greater scheme, or if it’s even warranted, has yet to be seen. What it does mean is that if you are a paid-click advertiser the future looks to be more costly or at the very least less efficient. Ultimately, as the online advertising world changes the importance of pure Search Engine Optimization is going to increase, leaving many to look for new ways to supplement their web presence.
Among the younger generations of web viewers the Firefox browser developed by Mozilla has already overtaken the market. In an effort to continue this trend Mozilla has announced that it will be looking towards the community of the release of its next generation. Firefox already has a high degree of open source functionality but by putting a call out to the community directly they plan to extend their service even further.
Ultimately the importance of this comes back to web development in general. For years Microsoft Internet Explorer has remained unchallenged in the world internet browsing; to this day they make up 51% of the market. The problem with this is that despite its overall user base Internet Explorer has long been regarded as the worst browser and by far the least friendly system to design web content for. The logic behind how this is even possible comes from the fact that for these years Microsoft has been able to monopolize the market. Every Windows computer ships with Internet Explorer preinstalled and so it’s what the common public uses. When you already have the market cornered there is little need to improve your service. But all this looks to change in the near future.
In the last year Firefox usage on the web has increased from 31.0% to 42%. If this trend continues Microsoft may finally find themselves with no choice but evolve. If Internet Explorer is bought up to the standards of Firefox numerous new design possibilities will arise. Designers will no longer be bottlenecked by an inferior browser. What this means for consumers is a better stronger web environment for everyone.
Well not quite but it’s looking to shake things up a bit. Recently, Esquire Magazine announced that it would be doing something different to celebrate its 75th year. This October when the celebratory issue hits newsstands it will be the first magazine in history to have a moving digital image on the cover. While this might appear gimmicky it does offer up a number of interesting possibilities in the future.
Many people have already long since given up on magazines; they are expensive, filled with ads, and you can find more recent information online. That said there is still something that remains pleasant about the tactile nature of reading a magazine from the comfort of your living room couch. E-paper is still in its infancy but if fully realized could fill the comfort role while removing much of the trouble of the physically printed media.
E-paper, like what will be used on the cover of Esquire later this year is nearly as thin as thick stock paper, light, and has enough give that you can bend it without it breaking. All this is nice but the benefit of the technology comes from storage and updateability. A whole magazine has the capability to be placed in single sheet of e-paper. The benefit of this is that you will no longer have the environmental concerns of magazine dumps. Additionally once you have the one e-paper magazine set up it will be possible to order next month’s issue right to the copy you already have, delivered wirelessly through the internet. All of this on a large easy to read screen that can be rolled up and brought with you anywhere.
Right now the technology isn’t perfect. The magazine cover that will be shipping in October has a very limited power supply of only 90 days. Other companies, such as amazon.com have recently come out with similar technologies such as Kindle that are more reliable but have added heft. Kindle is a “book” that makes use of e-paper technology to store up to 200 novels in a package roughly the size and thickness of a soft cover novel.
Anyway you look at it though it will be interesting to see if e-paper can take hold in the market. If the shortcomings can be rectified the future of paper will be bright indeed.
- Richard Keene IT Computer Support of New York Design and Optimization Department
