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Flowfold turns scrap sailcloth and recycled plastic into an attractive iPad 2 sleeve


If you're looking for an eco-friendly case for your iPad 2, you should take a closer look at Flowfold for the iPad. It's an attractive sleeve made of reclaimed sailcloth and recycled plastic bottle felt. This combination of recycled materials produces a sleeve that's weather-resistant on the outside and soft on the inside. It's available in some stylish-looking patterns, too.

The Flowfold iPad 2 case is a Kickstarter project from Charles Friedman, who also makes a wallet with the same materials. He came up with the idea for the Flowfold while working as sailmaker in Yarmouth, Maine. He used surplus sailcloth to fix his grandfather's wallet and spent the next five years perfecting the design from his home in coastal Maine. The iPad 2 case joins the wallet in his product lineup and is available online at Kickstarter. The first production run of sleeves will ship on December 14.

[Via Inhabitat]

Flowfold turns scrap sailcloth and recycled plastic into an attractive iPad 2 sleeve originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog http://www.tuaw.com/2011/12/05/flowfold-an-ipad-sleeve-made-from-scrap-sailcl...

TV Isn't Broken, So Why Fix It?

PolygamousRanchKid sends this quote from a contentious article at CNN that questions the need for further development of TVs and the entire TV-viewing experience. "The technology industry is absolutely bent on reinventing television. ... But nobody seems to be able to answer the big question: what exactly is so broken about TV anyway? The tech industry is filled with engineers and geeks. They naturally want to optimize the TV experience, to make it as efficient and elegant as possible, requiring the fewest number of steps to complete a particular task while offering the greatest number of amazing new features. But normal people don't think about TV that way. TV is passive. The last thing we want to do is work at it. ... As long as there's something on — anything — that is reasonably engaging, we're cool. Most of us are even OK spending a few minutes just shuffling through channels at random." So, what do you think is broken about TV right now? Is there a point at which it'd be better for us to stand back and say: "We've done what we can with this. Let's work on something else."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

from Slashdot http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/12/05/1912214/tv-isnt-broken-so-wh...

How to Learn Ruby on Rails in Boston

Ruby on Rails is a popular web application framework used by companies like Twitter, Groupon, Amazon, and The New York Times. It’s written in the Ruby programming language.

This is my step-by-step, extremely cheap, program for learning it.

It isn’t simple, but it’s straightforward. It isn’t easy, but it’s achievable. It’ll take you between a few weeks to a few months. By the end, you’ll be comfortable writing Rails apps.

Build a project you’re passionate about

You need to care about the product you’re building to learn Rails well. Reading books and documentation is necessary, but not sufficient. Build a real thing as you’re learning.

Set up your development and production environments

Use a Mac OS X laptop. To set it up, follow the instructions for this script and these dotfiles.

You should store your code at Github (starts at $7/month) and deploy your production apps to Heroku (simple apps are free). Get accounts there.

While you’re developing, you’ll refer to the API docs often. So, bookmark them.

Make a habit of learning a little every day

Read Programming Ruby 1.9 ($25 eBook), affectionately known as “The Pickaxe”, on your own, a chapter a night. This is necessary in order to learn Ruby, the programming language.

Read the Ruby on Rails guides (free), on your own, a chapter a night. This is necessary to learn Rails, the web application framework.

Watch Railscasts (free), on your own, an episode a night. Just pick one that looks interesting to you. This is necessary to learn the ecosystem of third-party Ruby gems.

Re-use existing components before writing your own

Someone has probably already written a library to help you achieve some task. Review The Ruby Toolbox (free), then ask the option of the Boston Ruby Group mailing list (free).

Don’t waste time when you’re stuck

If you get an error, copy it and paste in into Google. You’ll probably get an explanation.

If not, submit a question to StackOverflow (free) or the Boston Ruby Group mailing list (free).

Talk to an expert in person when you need help with concepts and process

If you need help understanding broader concepts or need someone to review your passion project’s codebase in person, set up time with a Rails mentor (free) or attend a Boston Ruby hackfest at the thoughtbot office on the first Tuesday night of every month.

If you’re understanding parts of the Rails landscape but can’t figure out how they fit together cohesively, register for a Rails workshop on Skillshare ($50-$500) or take an intensive, two-day, hands-on thoughtbot workshop ($1,099).

If you want to vent, meet other developers, or get a job as a Rails developer, go to the bar after monthly Boston Ruby meetings on the second Tuesday night of every month. It’s usually Meadhall.

Good luck and happy coding!

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2011/12/05/how-to-learn-ruby-on-rails-in-boston/

Cox TV Connect App for iPad Streams Live TV to Cox Customers


Following in the footsteps of DirecTV, Cablevision, and Time Warner, Cox Communications is now offering a free iPad App called Cox TV Connect for iPad that live TV streaming for iPad customers at home.
Cox TV Connect allows you to watch popular shows LIVE, right on your iPad:

- Watch TV on your iPad from anywhere in your house.
- Choose from more than 35 popular channels.
- Yours to enjoy for free as a subscriber to Cox TV Essential and Cox Preferred, Premier or Ultimate Internet service.

Users must be a customer of both Cox TV and Cox internet service in order to be eligible to stream TV to their iPads. [App Store]


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from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Front Page http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/05/cox-tv-connect-app-for-ipad-streams-live-...

20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART]

At what other time in history have undersea cartoon creatures been compared to leggy, toned underwear models? Before you think too hard, take a look at Trendrr’s social TV chart below, where SpongeBob SquarePants and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show both logged the number-two spots.

Apart from the intuitive connection between the underwater city of Bikini Bottom and, well, bikini bottoms, everything else looks pretty standard. WWE Raw and The X Factor have both topped charts past. And Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night” video premiere on E! News made the cable cut, even though the video leaked hours beforehand.

The data below is compliments of our friends at Trendrr, who measure specific TV show activity (mentions, likes, checkins) across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Miso. To see daily rankings, check out Trendrr.TV


Image courtesy of iStockphoto, narvikk

More About: features, Social Media, social tv, social tv charts, Trendrr, TV

For more Entertainment coverage:

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/12/05/social-tv-chart-12-5/?utm_source=feedburner&ut...

Chumby brings app network to LG Smart TV platform, more living rooms

Chumby's app ecosystem expanded to yet another platform last week, thanks to a new partnership with LG. Under the deal, owners of LG's Smart TV-enabled devices will now be able to access more than 1,000 applications available on the Chumby app network, including a variety of news-, entertainment- and music-based tools. The Smart TV crowd can access the ecosystem right now; everyone else, meanwhile, will have to wait a bit longer.

Continue reading Chumby brings app network to LG Smart TV platform, more living rooms

Chumby brings app network to LG Smart TV platform, more living rooms originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/05/chumby-brings-app-network-to-lg-smart-tv-p...

A6-Based Apple Television to Come in Three Sizes Ranging from 32 to 55 Inches?

Smarthouse claims to have received word that Apple will be offering its rumored television set in three different sizes ranging from 32 to 55 inches, with the device being powered by the same "new processor" (presumably the A6) set to appear in the iPad 3.
Sources at a major Japanese company who are involved in manufacturing the TV believe that the 55" model will compete with new Smart TVs from Samsung and LG that will have new processors built in while offering a combination of OLED display, as well as new Super HD TV technology from LG.
Smarthouse has historically been rather unreliable with its Apple rumors, but the claim of three different sizes does match up with previous rumors. Smarthouse had claimed earlier this year that Apple was looking at OLED technology for its 55-inch television, but that claim was later refuted by other sources.


Last week, Piper Jaffray analyst and long-time Apple television set proponent Gene Munster offered his speculation on what Apple's plans might be, also suggesting that the company would be likely to introduce a range of sizes in order to appeal to customers with a broad range of sizes for their television needs.

The latest Smarthouse report doesn't specifically name the A6 system-on-a-chip as the planned brains for the Apple television set, but the claim of it being a "new processor" certainly seems to imply the A6. There has been some uncertainty about the A6 and the iPad 3, with reports indicating that the new iPad will launch in "early 2012" in line with previous years while confusion over whether TSMC or Samsung will produce the A6 has included claims that the chip will not be ready until June 2012.


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Apple Releases Keynote 5.1.1 for OS X
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from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Front Page http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/05/a6-based-apple-television-to-come-in-thre...

Unpaid Parking Tickets? A New Donated Toy Will Wipe Your Record Clean & Make You Feel Like Santa

While you’re out and about this week in Boston, don’t stress out too much about finding the perfect parking spot. As a nice holiday treat courtesy of Mayor Menino, any non-public safety parking tickets issued this week from Monday, December 5 through Friday, December 9 can be absolved by donating a toy to the city’s annual Toys for Tots campaign.

The 18th annual “Toys for Tickets” initiative accepts any non-violent, wrapped toy of equal or greater value than your parking ticket amount, clearing your name of the ticket. Toy drop-off will be from Thursday, December 8 through Friday, December 16 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at City Hall or at the City’s tow lot at 200 Frontage Road. In order to be absolved of the ticket completely, drivers must bring the parking ticket and a receipt for the toy.“We write 1.5 million tickets a year… But, this is the only time of the year we see people coming in and not grousing about their parking ticket,” Thomas Tinlin, commissioner of the transportation department which oversees the parking clerk’s office, told Boston.com. “Someone may get a $25 ticket and we see people come in here with donations well over the violation amount, sometimes $75 in toys.”

This year’s five-day window, from December 5 through December 9, of eligible parking tickets is the longest in the program’s history, which began with only two days of tickets back in 1993. Last year, only three days of tickets were offered. Over 14,000 tickets were eligible for absolution in 2010, but only 103, about one percent, actually participated in the toy drive, and during the 10-day collection period last season, $3,495 worth of toys were donated. There is no goal or cap for the amount of toys that can be donated.

Parking tickets that are exempt from the program include:

  • parking in the way of handicapped ramps;
  • parking in spots reserved for those with handicapped or disabled veteran license plates;
  • blocking fire hydrants;
  • parking in crosswalks;
  • double parking;
  • parking less than 20 feet from an intersection;
  • parking in a fire lane;
  • and being in a no stopping and standing zone.

So this week, if you forget to feed the meter, remember it’s ultimately for a good cause.

Image via cityofboston.gov

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2011/12/05/unpaid-parking-tickets-a-new-donated-toy-will-...

5 Ways the Film and TV Industries Use Twitter


The Digital Marketing Series is supported by HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company based in Cambridge, MA, that makes a full platform of marketing software, including marketing automation tools.

Entertainment and social media are intersecting at a frenetic pace. One of the services driving the socialization of entertainment is Twitter.

When we talk about the conversational aspect social TV, what we usually mean is the backchannel conversation related to a TV show or movie that happens on Twitter. The real-time nature of Twitter is a perfect fit for the film and television industries, as it allows fans, stars and producers to engage and converse together.

Beyond just the conversation, let’s look at some other ways that the film and television industries are using Twitter.


1. Premiering Content


One of the more interesting uses of Twitter in recent months has been as a platform to distribute content.

Paramount kicked things off back in March when it released the first trailer for Super 8 on Twitter.

The UK arm of the studio has followed up on the trend, releasing trailers for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Puss in Boots trailers.

Earlier this month, Sundance Channel distributed the premiere episode of the second season of its show, Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys not on iTunes, but on Twitter.

With the ability for video embeds to appear in stream, Twitter can be an ideal way to distribute content that is not only watchable, but easily sharable.


2. Second Screen Apps


Second screen apps are a major trend shaping the future of media, especially when it comes to bridging social and entertainment.

Twitter’s role in the social conversation aspect of social TV makes it a slam dunk for use with second screen apps designed around a movie or TV show.

Companies like yap.TV, which powers USA Networks’s new USA Anywhere app [iTunes link] are building applications that are designed to help users take part in the social conversation while watching a show.

Other apps, like Umami, are also bringing the social experience to the tablet — including Twitter feeds from the shows and stars that you are watching in real-time.

TVplus, which bills itself as a web browser you use while watching television, allows users to send tweets from specific moments of a show or a movie — and to share moments or quotes with friends.

TVplus powers Disney’s excellent second screen app for The Lion King, as well as the official Xtra Factor app for The X Factor. Both apps make use of Twitter alongside the content that users are seeing from the show or movie itself.


3. Connecting With Fans


Increasingly, film and television stars — as well as writers and producers — are using Twitter as a way to engage with fans.

During November Sweeps, CBS ran a “Social Sweep Week” campaign that let CBS stars take over the social media accounts of their respective shows. That means the stars themselves were tweeting from official Twitter accounts and communicating with fans.

It’s becoming essential for directors and stars to engage with fans on Twitter, especially when building up buzz for a new project. Bridesmaids director Paul Feig spoke with Mashable back in May about the importance of using his own social graph to connect with fans.


4. Being Part of the Show


For us, what really excites us about social entertainment is the way that social tools can be used to actually augment or add to the experience surrounding a television show or movie.

With TV, we’re seeing this happen with live competition shows like The Voice and The X Factor. Both shows make significant use of Twitter during the show itself and in allowing fans to vote.

Integrating social — especially Twitter — with film is more of a challenge, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, Howard Stern decided to live-tweet his own director commentary for the film Private Parts that happened to be airing on HBO. That was part of the impetus behind HBO’s social layer, HBO Connect.


5. Spreading the Word


The film and television industries have fully embraced Twitter as a promotional platform. It’s almost impossible to find a TV show or movie without an official Twitter handle or hashtag.

The entire social campaign behind The Muppets is impressive, but the @MuppetsStudio is a good example of using the natural voice of two characters to spread the word about a project.

During the Fall TV season, every new show had a Facebook and Twitter presence. Twitter as a promotional tool is no longer a “nice to have,” it’s an expectation.


Series supported by HubSpot

The Digital Marketing Series is supported by HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company based in Cambridge, MA, that makes a full platform of marketing software, including marketing automation tools.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mgkaya

More About: features, mashable, second screen, social tv, the x factor, the-voice, tvplus, Twitter

For more Entertainment coverage:

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/12/05/film-tv-twitter/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_med...