Category Archives: General Computer Stuff

Google/Firefox Dropping Plugins

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The plugins we use in our browsers are a holdover from an earlier time. They provide handy features not built into the browsers. But, plugins also provide a varied collection of problems. The problems are enough of a pain that Firefox, Google, and other browser publishers are going to remove support for them.

Apps Aging Out

Apps Aging Out

Firefox has a list of the plugins that cause problems for their browser. See: Firefox Blocked Plugins. But, it is not just certain plugins that are going to be blocked. We are talking support for all plugins. Firefox will start by blocking all plugins as their default behavior.

Google will be blocking all but a few plugins. Flash, Silverlight, and Unity plugins have Google’s blessing. But, by the end of 2014 even those will be blocked and eventually support removed. By May Google will be refusing to allow new apps or updates to apps in their App Store. See: Google Will Start Blocking Most Netscape Plug-In API Plug-Ins In January 2014.

What Are Some Plugins?

Flash is a ubiquitous plugin that nearly every person has installed. It is mandatory to play Facebook games. But, Flash is going away. My web design tools have lots of new tools to use for creating web apps that are not plugins.  Continue reading →

More Oculus Rift 2013-39

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Jo Yardley has another article up about the OculusRift. See: Solving virtual User Interface problems. She’s on about User Interface problems. The article includes a video that shows some of the aspects of the User Interface problems.

But there is a funny video out that shows and even more serious problem. Check this out:

[youtube INDKNA7kXoo]

It is obvious balance is going to be a problem. Sixense’s STEM where you wear four motion detectors and stand up has the potential for injury. Jo mentions dancing. That REALLY seems to have the potential for injury. Even if you use the OMNI treadmill dancing would seem to be a problem. Without the Rift I have enough problems dancing when wearing heels and drinking spiced rum. Continue reading →

An Interesting Oculus Rift Review

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Time.com has a review of the Rift by Lev Grossman in their entertainment section. Lev has some interesting takes on use of the Rift. See: Hands-On with Oculus Rift: Virtual Reality Is Almost Here, Finally.

 

Time's Coverage of the Oculus Rift

Time’s Coverage of the Oculus Rift

Lev points out that the Rift’s handling or you peripheral vision makes your experience much more immersive. Using a monitor leaves our minds dealing with all the stimuli being fed in via our peripheral vision. Lev found it much more relaxing using the Rift. I doubt that is the word I would have used. But, his point is well taken.  Continue reading →

Google’s Translate App

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No… not for the Second Life viewer. This is for your web browser. Using Google’s Chrome you may have run into pages that it does not offer to translate. This happens when the browser simply cannot figure out what language was used for the page.

Google Translate App's Button

Google Translate App’s Button

There are a couple of solutions to force Chrome to translate the page in such cases.

Try right clicking the page. Click on an empty part of the page or text. Avoid right clicking on pictures and links. After a right-click look in the popup menu for Translate to [language]. Your native language choice should be in the [ ]. Selecting that will cause the page translation.

Some times the option will be grayed out. When Chrome thinks the page is already in English this happens. If you see this problem then you need the next option. The free Google Translate App. It places a button on Chrome that allows you to trigger a translation. See the image.

The icon used with this app has changed over time. It may also change based on your language. So, don’t be surprised if my picture and your icon are different.

3D Modeling Made Easy

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Jo Yardley has an article on her blog about 3D Sweep, a program that Rod Humble tipped her off about. The program is unique in that it uses techniques similar to what humans use to see 3D objects in 2D photos.

Jo’s article is: Stunning but easy 3D modeling from photos. She includes the video I have here.

[youtube Oie1ZXWceqM]

A more detailed explanation of the software is at Singularity Hub here: Israeli Researchers Debut Software That Extracts 3-D Objects From Photos.

The article explains, “Shamir and his colleagues haven’t decided yet whether to pursue 3-Sweep as a commercial product, but they are continuing to improve the software and have applied for a patent on what they’ve accomplished so far, Shamir told Singularity Hub.”

Since they are patenting it, I would assume someone will make commercial software out of this technique. That will take some time so we likely will not see this out for use any time soon.  Continue reading →

Simulator Sickness

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There is an article on Polygon.com about the Oculus Rift people working to solve reverse motion sickness. Polygon claims this is THE major obstacle for the Rift. I am certain it is a problem. I certainly am hearing more people mention motion sickness in reviews of the Rift. Whether it is THE problem or not I am less sure.

Dog * Feriry = Seasick - By Oliver Ruhm, Flickr

Dog + Ferry = Seasick – By Oliver Ruhm, Flickr

As the article points out, motion sickness is about our sense detecting motion that our eyes cannot see. This is like being below deck on a rolling ship. You can feel the roll. But, the room appears stationary.  Continue reading →