Kelly Wilson ported the Gnash Flash player clone to Syllable [screenshot], enabling the playing of Adobe Flash content. It uses the Boost C++ libraries, the SDL and Anti-Grain Geometry libraries for graphics rendering and FFMPEG for multimedia decoding. Work on the player is continuing to add the FreeType library and make the player native to Syllable, so it can be integrated in the web browser. Also, on some Adobe Flash news, an upcoming update will be supporting native h.264 videos, HE-AAC audio support, as well as hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced full screen video playback.
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Member since:2006-10-08
"I can't wait till either Gnash or swfdec becomes mature enough to be included by default on all of the free OSes. If it works for 90-95% of uses (basic YouTube playback represents a large part of that) it's probably ready. Then users of free operating systems don't have to depend on a proprietary plugin anymore which so many of us do right now."
I completely agree. Personally, I don't like "Flash" because it's not a standard, there are better (but not very well known) alternatives and still very proprietary. But even if it stays proprietary, along with the development of a free alternative conforming to the "Flash" formats, "Flash" could get a standard. In the same way as web browsers render HTML source nearly the same way, interpret JavaScript the same way, support Java applets the same way, these web browsers could contain "Flash" playing functionalities by default (using the concept of pluggable modules). This would make web pages accessible in a better way, especially for disabled (e. g. blind) people who usually see nothing when they enter a web page which has any content blocked by improper "Flash" use. (Possible conclusion: Web pages that do force you to use nonstandard software to view them may be not worth looking at them.) On the other hand, if people would use free alternatives (such as OGG/Vorbis or OGG/Theora), the actual problems (or uncomfortabilities) with the use of "Flash" would not occur. May I assume the worst solution prevails here, as usual?
Furthermore, I hope web browsers will be more strict in interpreting HTML content, say, displaying nice errors or nothing if a web page does not contain valid HTML. This would force the providers / authors of the web pages to use HTML as it is intended and recommended. Just test your (or the average user's) favourite web pages using the W3C's validator... surprise surprise... :-)
Member since:2005-11-14
They already do that -- if the webserver sends them as "application/xhtml+xml" rather than "text/html". Unsurprisingly, only one browser is incapable of displaying webpages using this MIMEtype.
Member since:2006-01-18
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move."A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane."MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Member since:
2006-06-04
I can't wait till either Gnash or swfdec becomes mature enough to be included by default on all of the free OSes. If it works for 90-95% of uses (basic YouTube playback represents a large part of that) it's probably ready. Then users of free operating systems don't have to depend on a proprietary plugin anymore which so many of us do right now.