Blog – Page 126 – Niall Kennedy

Sports Illustrated’s digital workflow

Eamon Hickey follows the path of Sports Illustrated photography from the 2004 Super Bowl from the time the images leave the photographer’s camera. “16,183 digital pictures shot in Houston’s Reliant Stadium by eleven of the magazine’s staff photographers over the course of about six hours” reviewed and then sent to New York. He covers the different equipment used and the staff’s switch from film to digital. (via Tim Bray)

Eric Wynalda : Focus on the core fans

Eric Wynalda says “our core fans are the only ones who matter.” Stark contrast to Mark Cuban’s comments I mentioned on Wednesday. “Our fans now know our names, and it’s time we start doing a better job of learning theirs, because there will come a time when that might not be possible.”

Tiffany stylus

Tiffany & Co. has a sterling silver stylus for $70. It might work with the new Tablet PCs that do not require a battery in the stylus, but I am not sure. Luxury digitized ink!

Salon : Warriors for hire in Iraq

P.W. Singer of Salon details the use of private military firms (PMFs) in Iraq and elsewhere.

“[T]here are more private military contractors on the ground in Iraq than troops from any one ally, including Britain”

“Soldiers within the private military field typically make between two to 10 times what they make with their home-state military. Much as in regular industry, those at the higher end have an elite background, except that in the PMF world, having been in a Green Beret, SEAL or Special Air Service unit supplants being an Harvard or Wharton MBA as a point of distinction.”

Travel Sentry certified TSA locks

Want to lock your luggage but know it will be busted open by the TSA and its purpose rendered useless? Travel Sentry certified TSA locks can open be opened by the TSA without breaking open your lock. You lock and unlock your suitcase own suitcase, but there’s a special TSA key that allows airport security to unlock your bags as well. (via Crypto-Gram)

First person shooter in 96k!

.theprodukkt produced a first person shooter, .kkrieger, with the entire code under fitting into 96k! Impressive. (via Slashdot)

ATT Wireless music recognition service

“AT&T Wireless announced the availability of a new music recognition service today that allows customers to identify songs simply by placing their phones near a music speaker.” Customers dial “#ID” from any AT&T wireless phone and provide a 15 second sample. They then receive a text message on their phone with the artist and song.

NY Times : Glamour gadgets

Seth Schiesel writes in today’s New York Times about the new market for expensive gadgets. The article focuses on Sony’s premium brand: Qualia. “People want their name monogrammed in diamonds on the cellphone or they want the pagers entirely encrusted in diamonds. We had the wife of one rapper who had a pink phone and she wanted it encrusted in pink diamonds.”

Amazon A9 Search launches

Amazon’s search engine, A9, launched in beta. Also includes yet another toolbar. Pages are cached and you can view Alexa data directly from the results page. You can log on using your Amazon account and view search history as well. “You can take notes on any web page, and reference them whenever you visit that page, on any computer that you use. Your entries are automatically saved whenever you stop typing or when you go to another page.”

The business of basketball is fun

Mark Cuban writes about the true business of basketball. The purists are the minority, and in order to survive as a business you must provide entertainment value. The purists hate the arena crew shooting t-shirts and music over the loudspeakers.

I am a soccer purist. I attend a game and detest the constant barrage of marketing. If basketball purists are a minority, soccer purists are an even greater minority. I see the kids stretching out their hands for an autograph from a player they do not even know. They try to figure out who he is from his signature. At the end of the night they feel like they were close to a star, and part of a roaring crowd, and that’s what sticks.

“[T]here should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the business of basketball is not, and will never again be basketball, it is fun.”

Reality is that basketball is not the business of the NBA. Entertainment is the business of the NBA. Every single night of the week we battle movies, books, restaurants, TV and Cable programs, talking a walk, everything and anything that is an alternative to going to or watching an NBA game.