INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY
Today is CAPS LOCK DAY, so feel free to hit caps lock and yell at everyone for the duration. This special day is actually celebrated twice a year. The original date is the 22nd of October (today). June 28th was added later to honor the “Infomercial King” Billy Mays who, before he passed away on that date, showed us exactly how to talk in ALL CAPS. Surprisingly, @KanyeWest and his diamond teeth have nothing to do with this “holiday.”
International Caps Lock Day is in fact a testament to the small mindedness of certain Western individuals: the majority of the world’s population writes in scripts which have no concept of letter casing. Therefore it is advised to laugh at anyone who invokes this day as an excuse to dismiss local typographical conventions: they are simply making an ass out of themselves. – Caps Lock Day Founder Derek Arnold
via TheNextWeb
Obama Meets With Apple’s Jobs and Google’s Mayer
According to Mercury News, President Obama just visited with Steve Jobs and Marissa Mayer to drum up funds for the Democratic party. Some reports say $1.8 million is expected from his efforts. Obama first met with Steve Jobs at the Westin Hotel in San Francisco, whom he also met with in 2008. Later, he met up with Google executive Marissa Mayer at a $30,400 per-plate fundraising dinner. In his speech there, he said:
“My task has also been to try to figure out how do we address some of the structural problems in the economy that have prevented more Googles from being created, prevented more Hewlett-Packards from being created … how do we unleash this incredible energy and dynamism that we know has always driven America, decade after decade.”
Hulu May Drop Price of Plus Package
Hulu is the free video site you know and love for watching some of your favorite shows. Hulu Plus is the premium version, currently in beta, which runs you about $9.95/month. The benefits are a “deeper catalog” of videos to choose from and the ability to watch Hulu on devices like the iPad and Xbox 360. While the service is still Beta, it looks like $9.95 is a bit steep for the limited catalog Hulu has to offer, mostly offering current shows from Disney’s ABC, GE’s NBC and News Corp.’s Fox. For $8.99/month you could just get Netflix, which offers more shows and support for streaming to just about any device (Apple TV, Google TV, etc.). Hulu has declined to comment.
via AllThingsD
Abode Releases HTML5 Player Widget
In an interesting move, Adobe has decided to straddle the fence between Flash and HTML5. Adobe has defended themselves to stay relevant in a time where it looks like HTML5 could make Flash unnecessary. While many are marvelling at what can be done with HTML5, developers are looking for cross-platform solutions to support the largest number of visitors. With their HTML5 video player widget, Adobe may have the solution.
The HTML5 Video Player widget, now available through the Adobe Widget Browser, works with or without Dreamweaver CS5. Code generated from the widget plays video in the best possible player for the requested platform using a range of video codecs. Based on the Kaltura open source library, the HTML5 Video Player widget is fully cross-browser compatible with support for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera. Moreover, the player is completely customizable with industry standard CSS techniques.
via Adobe
Square Redesigns Readers to Work With iPhone 4
Square is the service that lets you accept credit card payments from your mobile phone, something that many small-business and entrepreneurial types would benefit from. To use the service, you install the Square software on your phone and they send you a free card reader that plugs into your headset jack. It was recently discovered that the readers didn’t work with the iPhone 4 because of that pesky metal antennae that wraps around the phone. The readers had to be redesigned with a plastic contact instead of a metal one. If you have an iPhone 4, you should receive a new, compatible reader automatically.
via SAI
12seconds Shuts Down TONIGHT
Just got an email from 12seconds reminding me that the service is going away. Sad to see it go, but at least you can still download your videos. Here is the email they sent me:
Dear 12ers,Tonight at 8:15PM PST we will shut down 12seconds.tv .No videos can be recorded after 5PM PST.If you have not yet downloaded your videos, go to 12seconds.tv and use the awesome 12seconds video export tool and save your memories. The tool will be available until 5:15 PM PST, so be sure to export your videos before then.Is this the last time you will hear from us?Love,Team12