An announcement on Friday via Brendan Eich:

ORBX.js, a downloadable HD codec written in JS and WebGL. The advantages are many. On the good-for-the-open-web side: no encumbered-format burden on web browsers, they are just IP-blind runtimes. Technical wins start with the ability to evolve and improve the codec over time, instead of taking ten years to specify and burn it into silicon.

I think the 'remote-screen viewing of videogames' use case is bogus (if anyone notices latency it's gamers), but this is a really important development for the reasons Brendan mentions and more.

Nine years ago, I wrote:

I'd say video compression is maybe 2-4 times as efficient (in quality per bit) than it was in 1990 or so when MPEG was standardised, despite computing power and storage having improved a thousandfold since then.

Not much has changed. The video compression techniques we're using everywhere are direct descendents of 1980s signal processing. They treat video as a collection of small 2D blocks that move horizontally and vertically over time, and encode all video this way. If you want to make a codec work hard, you just need to rotate the camera. Partly this is because of the huge patent thicket around video encoding, mostly it's because compression gets less necessary over time as network capacity and storage increases. However, it was obvious 10 years ago that this was out-dated.

Meanwhile, there has been a revolution in video processing. It's been going on in video games, and in movies and TV. The beautiful photorealistic scenes you now see in video games are because they are textured 3D models rendered on the fly for you. Even the cut scenes work this way, though their encoding is often what compression researchers dismissively call a 'Graduate Student Algorithm' - hand-tweaking the models and textures to play back well within the constraints of the device. Most movies and TV has also been through 3d-modelling and rendering, from Pixar through visual effects to the mundane superimposition of yard lines on sports. The proportion of YouTube that is animation, machinima or videogame run-throughs with commentary keeps growing too.

Yet codecs remain blind to this. All this great 3d work is reduced to small 2D squares. A trimesh and texture codec seems an obvious innovation - even phones have GPUs in them now, and desktops have for 20 years. Web browsers have been capable of complex animations for ages too. Now they have the ability to decode bytestreams to WebGL in real time, we may finally get codecs that are up to the standards we expect from videogames, TV and movies, with the additional advantage of resolution independence. It's time for this change.

What is the best stylus?

Video tutorial with some new and old tips

Top 10 Free Game Apps
Activity #1
See "Find My iPad" (iPhone) Go to Settings, Privacy, Locations Services-ON, Find My iPad-On
(if it' not there then, download the application).

Activity #2
iPad Tips
1. Organize your Apps in a folder
2. Reboot your iPad to solve most issues (Ex: the ipad runs slow, the ipad stops when downloading an app, or an app quits every time you try to load it)
3. Turn down the light/brightness to save power/battery
4. You can skip typing the apostophe
Type the following words: can't, don't, I've, I'll, I'm, couln't, shouldn't, Isn't, and isn't.
5. You can put in a 4 digit pass code on your iPad
Got to settings, General, Passcode Lock, Turn Passcode On, Create a passcode you can remember. (don't do this if you can't remember passcodes) Secure the code in your phone NOT your iPad.
6. Add Apps to your "dock" or bottom tray
Add 1 App to your "dock"
7. Updating your iPad - General, Software update -
If you have an iPad 1 you will need to connect it to a computer for updates
Instructions for updating the iPad

Activity # 3
World Clock
1. Record  the time in Tokyo and Paris
2. Set your alarm for 2 minutes.
3. Stop your stop watch at 30 seconds then reset.
4. Set your timer for 1 minute.

Activity # 4 Watch Side by Side Video

iPad Options

What is iOS

iOS - Apple's Interface Operating System. iOS is what makes the iPad operate the way it does.  The multi-touch screen, the easy to use interface, and the built in applications.

Advanced iOS features Video - Now that you understand your Homepage and status bar icons view this video and try some of the tips and tricks.

Apps - apps are programs tht are designed to run on your device.  What makes them so fun is that they can be almost anything that you are interested in (fun or serious). The iPad has more than 20 built in applications.

The  applications are as follows:
1.  Safari
2.  Mail
3. iBooks
4. Photos
5. FaceTime
6. Maps
7. Siri
8. Newsstand
9. Messages
10. Calendar
11. Reminders
12. Contacts
13. App Store
14. iTunes
15. Music
16. Videos
17. Clock
18. Game Center
19. Camera
20. Notes

iCloud (find my iPhone or iPad)




iCloud Video

Managing Apps and Notificatations
Go to the Settings Screen - Review Notifications
Notifications - these are pop ups, banners and other audio/visual cues that work with your apps.  Notifications can show up as alerts or badges.  You can turn notifications on or off from the settings page if you do not want to read your messages or emails from the home page (in a little box or window).  Most apps generate notifications automatically.

Activity 5
Open iMessages (green icon) on the home page
1. Touch the Pencil and Paper icon beside the word Messages in the top left corner
2. A New Messages window will open to the left
3. In the "ToP Enter the email address or iPhone cell number of  any person inside or outside the class
(you will need to know the person's Apple ID or iPhone #) You do not need their Apple passcode just the Apple ID email address they use.
4.Type in your message (beside the camera)
5. Send your message.
6. Practice sending another message.  This time add a picture.
7. Touch the camera icon.  Use can take a picture now or select a picture from your gallery of pictures.
8. Send your picture with a typed message.

5A
Lock your screen by completing the following steps
Click the home button twice
When the dock raise up and the applications turn transparent swipe to the right
Then, lock your orientation (screen) the way you like it best. Practice locking and unlocking your screen

5B
Lock your screen and mute your iPad
Go into Settings
Touch General
Find "Use Side Switch" on the right
You can lock the rotation or mute the device from here (landscape or portrait)

5C
Pinch with 5 fingers to go to the Home Page without clicking the home button
Touch and open Safari
Then, open and pinch close with your 5 fingers on the page
You should be back at the home page

5D
Check for your status bar
Pull down and check for messages and notifications

5E
Take a screen shot of the iPad (Show someone an app or a game)
Hold down the Power/Sleep button press the Home button at the same time
You will hear the camera take the picture of the screen
Go into photos and the camera roll you will see the screen shot you took
You can then email it if you need to

5F
Create a Digital Picture Frame Using your iPad
Go into Settings
Choose Picture Frame
Touch Origami
Change the Show each Photo to 5 Seconds
Place the Shuffle 'On"
Choose an Album
Then Click the Sleep button
You will see a black and white flower at the bottom of the page near Power Off
Touch the flower
The Picture Frame presentation will began

Apple ID Topics

What is the Apple ID For and Where and When Will I Use My "Apple ID"http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5616

Setting up Apple Accounts

? Lost Your Apple ID - How to Find Your Apple ID

Managing Your Apple Account

The HOME Page