Recently I raved about a revolutionary new program called Comic Reader. This program was to be used to premiere a comic book called Murderdrome.

From the title alone, you expect it not to be all bunnies and unicorns and rainbows.

But this is a comic book. A work of drawing and word balloons. It is imaginary. It is fiction.

It was submitted to the Apple App Store and the publishers received notice that it was being rejected for violating terms of the Software Developer Kit which states:

Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users.

Well now wait a minute here.

Murderdrome is not an “application,” Comic Reader is. Murderdrome is content that can be read via the Comic Reader application.

Murderdrome is a book.

Apple has just banned a book.

Mike’s right. And you know what? I have a huge problem with the banning of any book…

… [visit site to read more]

They are much higher performance and a much more demanding environment. That was just another risk reduction step to prove the aircraft was not leaking fuel and the engines were behaving nominally. We asked them [the pilots] point-blank if they noticed any difference in performance and they said it was a "non-event". In other words, they couldn't tell the difference. The aircraft behaved the same.

The test this time started with a 50-minute ground test, pushing the engines to full afterburner. In the flight, the pilots put the F-15 to Mach 2.2, approximately 1,450mph. Hopefully, this experiments will also change the civilian airline industry, all in the name of costs and a cool looking environmentally-friendly brochure. [Defense Tech]

The software is Windows-only, sadly, and the keyboard comes without a standard numeric keypad. That'll cost you an extra $35, and it doesn't light up. But with the main keyboard costing just $200, it's one eighth the price of Art Lebedev's funky keyboard offering. Available in black or white, with the white model having translucent keys. [ThinkGeek via Technabob]

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, the iPhone 3G shortage. Wherever you go it seems that the iP3G is sold out and, let’s face it, cheaper hardware will do that sort of thing, but AT&T stores are a barren wasteland compared to Apple stores. Again, not their fault since Apple hordes them, but today they’ve gone ahead and updated their press site with info on inventory.

We’ve seen incredible demand for iPhone 3G since it launched — and subsequently sold out — on July 11. Many customers have opted to purchase iPhone 3G through direct fulfillment, which lets them purchase the device at their convenience and return to the store to pick it up as soon as it arrives in to the store. For those customers who have ordered through direct fulfillment, and have not yet received their iPhone 3G, here’s a quick update on our current inventory:

* As of July 23, direct fulfillment customers are receiving their iPhone 3G, on average, 13 or 14 days following purchase.
* Delivery times vary based on the specific model a customer chooses (8 GB, 16 GB white, 16 GB black).

AT&T handles direct fulfillment on a first-come, first-served basis, giving everyone an opportunity for stress-free shopping. As we receive new inventory from Apple, we are shipping it out immediately to fill customers’ orders. We hope to begin re-stocking our stores as soon as we can, but first priority goes to those customers who purchased through direct fulfillment.

Looks like I found a reason to rag on you, AT&T. It’s nice that you’ve updated the site regarding the iP3G shortage and all, but it’s sort of “whatever” if you don’t have a stock tracker for your chain of stores like Apple does. Look across the pond at O2 and take some notes. They’ve included a list of stores that have them in stock and update it daily. But hey, at least you’re trying. I can’t say the same for Apple.

Guess I didn’t think this one through all the way.

The pressure was on last night in Barcelona as one of the world's biggest bands took to the stage for their only gig in Spain on their European summer tour. Radiohead and festival organizers Sinnamon Productions had to deliver something extra special to a crowd that had traveled from far and wide to hear them perform tracks from In Rainbows. And deliver they did, not only aurally, which can almost be guaranteed from this group, but also visually with innovative lighting design set that lit up the stage spectacularly. The combined walls of sound and color wowed the crowd in equal measure.

Hanging strips of lights (which were drawn across the stage like a curtain at the beginning of the set) and the banks of seven cell lighting modules, worked in unison to create a dazzling show of pattern and color to chameleon-like effect. The set was designed by the U.K. stage lighting company i-Pix using Titan series LED lighting from Lamina. The same two companies collaborated on the Live Earth concert in London last year, which used a sixth of the energy consumption usually produced by concert lighting.

If last night was a taster of eco-friendly lighting, the future looks amazingly bright and colorful for the entertainment industry. Radiohead are pushing ahead on the sustainability of all aspects of touring, from traveling less to persuading the crowd drink from reusable cups. Take a look at Petz Scholtus' article over at TreeHugger to find out more about the band's "Carbon Neutral World Tour."

All images by Sergio Carratala.

It takes some serious game to rise above the legions of mediocre DIYers out there and stand tall as a true legend. Judging by the video posted up after the cut, James Houston can now consider himself one of the elite. Somehow, this cat managed to tackle the nearly impossible task of remixing Radiohead’s Nude without defacing it entirely (read: merging bits and pieces of the tune into a 4/4 arrangement and calling it a day). Instead, he utilized a host of aging hardware (Sinclar ZX Spectrum, Epson LX-81 dot matrix printer, HP Scanjet 3c, etc.) to create a rendition that even Yorke could admire. For fans of In Rainbows and mesmerizing music videos alike, there’s a must-see waiting just below.

[Via Hack-A-Day, thanks Eliot]

Continue reading Antiquated hardware used to masterfully remix Radiohead’s Nude

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Continue reading Antiquated hardware used to masterfully remix Radiohead's Nude