Daily Bits

Media

Graphic Novels Specifically Designed for the iPad

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Hardcore graphic novel lovers just might be shaking their heads. I know a number of people who will not even consider reading their graphic novels in digital format, and I totally respect that. However, there are also people who get quite excited about the idea of graphic novels being available in digital format.

With the prevalence of e-book readers (e-book reader wars, remember?), it is not a surprise that graphic novels are soon going to be staple content. This is actually not a new idea since there are graphic novels that have been converted to digital format. Two groups are looking to change that now.

Cognito Comics and Tall Chair, two start ups based in San Francisco are working on creating comics specially designed for the iPad. The New York Times recently covered this development, and shared how David Burwen (Executive Producer of Cognito) showed his graphic novel Operation Ajax. This is based on the nonfiction book All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer.

Their verdict?

“Animated transitions give the comic a cinematic feel, and also give the artist more control over how the page unfolds. The format provides an opportunity to make supplementary material such as photos and documents available within the relevant comics panel.

It’s different from anything I’ve seen in digital comics. Technologies like ComiXology’s “guided view” create a smooth experience by moving the reader from panel to panel, but you’re still reading your basic, old-fashioned comics page.”

I believe that this will introduce a new age in graphic novels. Pretty soon, I think we will be seeing more titles available for download.

Pirates Under Attack

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The Pirate Bay is arguably the best known file sharing web site today. This group has risen to fame over the years due to their service of providing millions of users around the world with all sorts of files – many of them considered to be illegally shared. There was a time when The Pirate Bay was taken down and was temporarily “closed.”

Recently, it has been quite active again, with users continuing their file sharing activities. This time, though, The Pirate Bay came under attack – from a different source. A group of researchers from Argentina took it upon themselves to show the vulnerability of the site.

What they did was to hack into the system, compromising the data of more than 4 million registered users of The Pirate Bay. The group announced its “feat” in their blog, Insilence.biz, and went one step further by outlining the specific details of how they did it. This is what they have to say:

As any other website, as any other system or mechanism, www.thepiratebay.org has robust parts and soft spots. We [believe] that the people behind this [community] always acted with the local laws on their side, and so have we. The community caused problems to huge companies and corporations[,] which turned into threats between this companies and them. What we have done, we did not do it with anger, or for commercial value. As always, we saw the change, the moment and decided to take it. The protocol or procedure done to achieve this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary…

Just like many of the commenters in their blog, I do not totally understand why they hacked the site. Perhaps it was out of a twisted sense of justice? What do you think about this move? Is it justified or is it a mere publicity stunt?

Welcome to the eParty Borders, Have a Seat by Amazon and Barnes & Noble

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In my town, there used to be a Borders bookstore every few miles, until a few years ago, when they all started to disappear. I’m not hunting them down or anything, so it’s not like I know exactly where they are today, but the only one I’ve seen recently is downtown by my old work. Otherwise, I haven’t seen them around.

That makes me wonder how well Borders is doing, but not enough to actually research it in any way. What I do know is that they just released an e-reader app, in the same vein as the Kindle and Barnes & Noble apps, for both the iPhone and iPad [iTunes link]. So how is it?

[Read more…] about Welcome to the eParty Borders, Have a Seat by Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Amazon Launches Kindle DX

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So you thought the wars were limited to computers, gaming consoles, and mobile phones only. If so, you are wrong. It looks like there is a war between e-book readers going on, and it is getting exciting.

Three years ago, this wouldn’t have been happening. With the onslaught of various e-book readers in the market, it is not surprising that manufacturers are trying to outdo one another now. Amazon just announced that it’s souped up Kindle is going to be available on the 7th of this month – that’s today!

The new Kindle is called Kindle DX and it is supposed to be the high end version of the original. What can the Kindle DX offer avid e-book readers out there?

One, it has a lower price. It’s still several hundred dollars at $379, but that’s a considerable drop from the original. Then again, that’s still almost $200 more than the standard version.

Two, it has better screen contrast. Figures say that this has been upped by 50 percent.

Three, documents in PDF may now be zoomed in and out.

Four, users can now share selections from books and periodicals via 3G. This comes free with the unit.

Five, the software that comes with the Kindle DX has also been improved, allowing for better organization of one’s collection.

Is all that worth it for the relatively high price of the new Kindle? Perhaps. In any case, head on over to Amazon to check it out.

VLC 1.1 Is Faster And Better

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Since its original release, VLC media player has gotten a lot of attention and has become one of the most used – if not the most used – media players today. This is due to many reasons, but for the most part it is due to ease of use and the functionalities that the software offers. I can’t say how many times seeing that striped cone icon has made me happy!

Last week, a new version of VLC was released – VLC 1.1.0 – and true to form, the software has received largely positive reviews. One big reason behind the enthusiasm of users for VLC 1.1.0 is the fact that it is ready for HD.

How so?

VLC 1.1.0’s hardware video acceleration makes it ready to process high resolution images and offers much smoother playback. With the trend pointing to the use of HD more and more, this is a welcome development for users. Another important update added to this version is the support for WebM, which is being touted as the new standard for video. Of course, there are countless other fixes and tweaks that have been made for this release.

On the flip side, SHOUTcast streaming has been removed – VLC 1.1.0 does not support this anymore. The reason behind this is that AOL was demanding that VLC bundle AOL software with the player. This included adware, mind you. It was either that or remove the SHOUTcast support. Guess what the guys behind VLC chose?

In any case, the removal of SHOUTcast, while it will be missed, is not that big of an issue. The software is still free and works perfectly. Download VLC 1.1.0 here.

Android Phone And Music Piracy

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There is no denying that music piracy – or any sort of piracy, for that matter – is an illegal thing. However, we also cannot ignore the fact that there are still countless people all over the world who engage in this activity. For one reason or another, music piracy still exists.

Now, it seems that there is more potential for music piracy, as Android apps for music downloads are surfacing. We all know how cool Android phones are, and the fact that policies on third party apps are laxer makes these phones even better!

The news is that there are several apps that have come up – all of them with the idea of downloading music straight to the phone. Some examples are Music Junk, Music Wizard, Pandemonium, Tunee Music, MP3 Music, and Music Zilla. So what’s wrong with the rationale behind these apps? Well, it’s just that they were all made with the goal of bypassing music stores where you have to pay for the music that you download.

The thing about these apps is that users can only download one song at a time. This is unlike current peer sharing apps for computers, where you can download albums. Also, the Android apps do not really allow users to share their files. It’s more like downloading a single song from an anonymous location.

What does Google have to say about this? They do not monitor all third party apps, but if they do find out that a particular app violates certain rules, then it can be taken down. For now, I believe there are still music download apps that you can use on Android phones…