Tech Radar has a good article about Intel’s upcoming Core i7 processor, the first truly integrated quad core from intel (apparently the previous quad cores were actually just two dual cores cobbled together). Judging from the specs and the multi-threading performance this looks to be a very good thing for us in the multimedia world. Couple that with OS X Snow Leopard’s supposed focus on improving multi-core support and it’s looking like things could get very powerful coming up here. That is of course, if the developers hold up their end of the bargain by creating software that efficiently takes advantage of new hardware. But judging from past experience, it’s pretty clear that’s not going to happen (Case in point: Photoshop is still 32-bit on the Macintosh. WTF?). Either way, it’s exciting to see that processor technology is still moving along at a steady clip. Long live Moore’s Law!
I thought this warranted it’s very own post. I guess I’m just not trying hard enough because I have none of this type of stuff in my house. Where do you even begin looking? Also via Alphanumeric’s HfG Ulm Flickr set.
Artist Bob Stake used Photoshop 3.0 on Mac OS 7 to create this cover for The New Yorker recently. I guess you use what you know… The video above shows Bob progressing through the design, it’s a nice glimpse into another artist’s process. The whole story and more details are here. Via Gizmodo
The “Handshoemouse” was developed by scientists at the medical universities of Rotterdam and Maastricht. It’s meant to be ergonomic and it sure looks the part. I have used Logitech for many years now without much trouble. I had a bout of Repetitive Stress Syndrome years and years ago but I think that was more about the desk height than anything. This looks pretty nice, but it’s sad that you have to compromise all the special features (extra buttons, hyperscroll, etc.) to get the truly ergonomic designs. Still meaning to pick up a MX1100 to replace my old revolution. Via Hot Hardware
An old favorite, this one never goes out of style. The loose breaks are so key, they really carry the song. And no, that’s not the cover to “Programmed to Love” up there. The real cover is so excruciatingly bad that I just couldn’t bring myself to post it along with such a nice track.
All aesthetic concerns aside, the news that the new Macbooks will sport dual GPUs, taking advantage of Snow Leopard’s new-found process offloading abilities, is more than welcome. This is the first time that I’ve seen the whole “GPU as processor” revolution that’s been gaining steam lately actually start to become a reality. It’s no surprise that Apple brought it to the table first. As John Gruber put it: “What we’re seeing may be the beginning of the end of CPU hertz as the rule-of-thumb metric for system performance.” As you may know, Photoshop CS4 already leverages the power of the GPU and it’s great to see that other apps, and even the OS itself will be following in it’s footsteps.
Thought I’d post this nice follow-up to the last 
An old favorite, this one never goes out of style. The loose breaks are so key, they really carry the song. And no, that’s not the cover to “Programmed to Love” up there. The real cover is so excruciatingly bad that I just couldn’t bring myself to post it along with such a nice track.