It's been a long time coming, but Microsoft has finally released a software development kit (SDK) for the Kinect on Windows 7 PCs. The word "hacking" is no longer needed, thanks to the free beta download available at Microsoft Research that allows anyone with a Windows computer and some coding knowledge to take advantage of the Kinect's motion-sensing capabilities.
Video games and art have somewhat of a sticky relationship. Many video games have large teams of talented artists doing amazingly creative work, and yet the art community is only just beginning to utilize video games as art (sometimes). Perhaps if video games were shown not just as a medium of expression, but as a means of creating great art as well, the art community would be forced to consider it differently. The third part in the Hacked Kinect series will focus on the artistic possibilitie...
This might be so '2 weeks ago' but I've been away, oh well. In a few short words: The PS3 has finally been hacked via a USB device!
Feeling comfortable or at home means living in an atmosphere where you are accepted. Some people moving abroad worry about getting adjusted to the new social environment or the western culture. You may have left your home to make big business, excel in your career, get married, meet a relative/friend, discover new places, or for any good reason.
You may have already heard of Zazzle, an online service that allows you to print on a variety of goods (tees, mugs, posters, etc.). You can design-it-yourself, or choose from Zazzle's library of available designs.
Since Oprah has introduced the Pregnant Man, awareness and recognition of transgenderism has grown. Kandi here shows us one popular transition: from male to female. She's created a library of thorough voice lessons geared to the transgender community, but are in no way limited to it. Her lessons in annunciation, falsetto and modulation are pinpoint accurate.
Researching the job market thoroughly and with the correct resources is important to the advancement of your career. Watching this video will establish how to research your career options, find information about companies and familiarize yourself with job titles that are a fit for the degree and/or certifications you have earned as well as your professional background. Find the perfect job today!
If you have a Zune, you probably use Zune's software to organize your music and videos and burn CD's. In this video series you will learn how to use all the functions of the Zune software including navigating the different libraries, ripping songs to your library, burning CD's, customizing options, and how to manually sync your Zune. Use Zune software - Part 1 of 19.
Even if you do not understand Photoshop, you should watch this, because the storytelling is great. As our 90,000+ video library attests, how-to's are a genre, per se. And screencasts are a particular sub-genre, especially useful for software instruction.
The game has undergone many transitions over the years, since its days as LEXIKO (1931) to its briefness as CRISS CROSS WORDS to its current and amalgamated, renowned brand of SCRABBLE. There has been many editions of the word board game along that historic metamorphosis, and SCRABBLE has even given in to pop culture, sports memorabilia, and fanaticism.
If Null Byte had a large Batman-like spotlight calling for help, we would definitely be using it right now. However, we don't, so this is my digital equivalent. Information security is a huge field, far too much for one man to cover adequately, so I need your help!
Here's something fun for the Null Byte community to do—a coding competition! This week, I wanted to get everyone involved by offering you all a nice library of possible program types to choose from and try to code. At the end of this competition, all of the submitted programs will be reviewed by the community and myself. The coder that receives the most votes will be dubbed THE BEST.
Since the launch of Edit on a Dime several weeks ago, I’ve been putting a variety of automatic video editing apps though their paces. One of the first tested was Magisto, a web-based app that’s directly accessed through YouTube, which I enjoyed, but found some obvious problems with. Since then, I’ve been in contact with Oren Boiman, CEO and founder of Magisto, who was kind enough to address my concerns.
By now you’ve heard about the iPhone 4S announcement, possibly through our article about Apple’s newest smartphone. However, the star of the show was not the only announcement, so here are a few other announcements that were served along side the main entrée this morning. Let’s talk iCloud, iPod, iOS, and more.
You'll see a lot of Linux action going down here at Null Byte. We use Linux for hacking-related stuff because it provides a more relaxed programming environment, making it easy to write exploits and tools. Linux has many features Windows is lacking, such as full control over the OS right down to the Kernel and massive availability of mature, open source (read: free & tweakable) tools & projects.
This week's roundup features three games that I've either never bothered to play, was unable to play due to PC technical limitations, or haven't played because they've just been released. None of these three games cost more than $15.
We're ending the week with a lot of big announcements and updates. To date, Google+ has updated its name policy, but is still forbidding pseudonyms. Blocking people on Google+ became even easier, and yesterday, games on Google+ launched.
Games like Minecraft and Braid have proven that there is money to be made in the indie game marketplace, which means more and more designers are following suit, one being Zeboyd Games. The two-man indie design team released two excellent JRPG spoofs on the Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) Marketplace in 2010: Breath of Death VII ($1) and Cthulhu Saves the World ($3). Both have been well-reviewed and spent time near the top of the XBLIG sales charts, but its success couldn't be rivaled by what wa...
Though it could be argued that Apple's popular and widely used iTunes media player was responsible for the growth and explosion of podcasting, I would argue that iTunes is not the best way to manage and listen to your podcast subscriptions—if you're a iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch user. Instead, you will find that a $1.99 mobile app called Instacast (iTunes App Store link) is a much better method. Below, a short video introduction to Instacast, plus a written breakdown of its features. Mobile L...
Over the past few years, I have downloaded several third-party web browsers for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and the one I have found most advanced and feature rich is Atomic Web. While many mobile browsers have their unique features, Atomic Web could well be considered the professional browser for advanced web users. With each version of the app, the developer has included features that make navigating the browser more user friendly and useful for bookmarking, managing and saving website...
There are a few different types of Apple iPhone and iPad users: general household users who largely consume media—e.g. surfing the web, watching movies, listening to music. Other iPhone and iPad owners use their device(s) to produce stuff—written documents, edited movies, blog posts, music tracks, and the like. And then there are those who are very mobile with their devices. They commute to and from work on a regular basis with their iPhone or iPad. Some users may travel a lot on business, or...
With so many wireless iOS networking apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch available, there’s very little reason to connect any of these devices to iTunes, except to update the software. Besides, importing and exporting photos using iTunes has never been one of the best features of Apple‘s mobile device process. Let me introduce you to 5 useful apps for importing and exporting photos to and from your iOS device(s).
In 2008, Audiosurf came out on Steam, creating the psychedelic music game genre. If you haven't played it in the intervening three years, you're missing out on one of the coolest things in video games. The player selects any MP3 on their computer, then the game builds a unique level based on that song, which the player must then navigate whilst playing a block-matching, Tetris-like puzzle game. It's an incredibly compelling audiovisual experience, one with immense replay value and surprisingl...
I was raised in the glory days of Japanese RPG's (JRPG's) on the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were the biggest game franchises, and real gamers could debate their merits endlessly. We remained engaged in the stories of the games, even though the soldiers, princesses and schoolchildren all had spiky day-glo hair. We waded through hours of randomly triggered menu-based battles instead of playing Doom or baseball. And we loved every minute of it.
By now, you probably know that your iPhone secretly tracks and stores the locations you've visited in a backup folder on your computer's hard drive. The files are unencrypted, which means anyone with access to your computer or device can retrieve the information, which is downright scary. But Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan are making it fun with their iPhone Tracker application, which lets you map out everywhere you've been with your smartphone.
Before last Sunday I hadn't been to a proper game store since I was in middle school. Over ten years ago. If you decide to stop reading right now because I obviously don't care enough about MTG to be writing this thing, I don't blame you. But I tell you, friends, as someone who has denied the utter awesomeness of their hobby for too long, that going to Emerald Knights in Burbank made me feel at home. I want to tell you about it and explain why I will be back many times in the future.
Have you ever been in the situation where someone whose taste in books you respect and generally agree with recommends a book that you have seen from time to time and you’ve always thought it looked just “Meh” and then you finally read War Dances which is by the same author and it’s amazing and funny and sad and you think, why didn’t I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, like, three years ago? No? Is that just me?
Ever wonder how all of those tiny chips and components can fit inside your laptop or smartphone? If you tried to squeeze them in there yourself, your laptop would quickly become too heavy for your lap, and your mobile phone would need wheels to stay mobile.
Three-dimensional printing is one of the many wonders of modern technology. It's the first step towards real life Star Trek replicators and Timeline-esque teleportation chambers. While we aren't at the level of reconstructing strands of DNA, it's already possible to make tons of fun and useful designs on a 3D printer.
“Of a generation who remembers Tiananmen Square, 1989, I considered how some excuse – the lack of, or slow progress on, human rights in China because ‘times have changed’, or because other concerns, including making money, come first, or because rights, freedom, and democracy are somehow different issues there than in the West.” Denise Chong
Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. Minecraft is all about big ideas, but we all too often forget the details. Small changes in block type, positioning, or layout can transform builds from mundane to beautiful.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about why I think streaming music services like Rdio.com are better than Apple‘s iTunes Music Store. This week, I follow up with a how-to about Rdio for Mac, a desktop music player that streams music from your Rdio.com account. Even though Apple is introducing new iTunes features, I think you will find Rdio for Mac a much more affordable option—especially if you like to listen to new music on a weekly, or even daily basis.
If you‘re new to Mac, you may not realize that the Dock is not the only place you can access applications and folders. The menu bar of your desktop can also hold a dozen or more applications and plug-ins for easy access to lots of content on your computer.
No time for elaborate practical jokes this April Fool's? Not a problem, it's 2011—meaning, apps can do just about anything these days. Measure beauty, check for STDs, even fix late night drunken social media stupidity. So why not pranks? Below, 10 digital solutions for your April Fool's Day wickedness.
Hallelujah, a miracle tool has been released to the world. This Windows/Mac tool is called Spirit and it enables you to jailbreak any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad quite easily. And Gizmodo is all over it, with an in-depth guide on exactly how to do it.
This extended period at home due to COVID-19 is the perfect time to try out new apps in the Play Store. But instead of buying premium versions, Google Play Pass will give you unlimited access to paid apps and games for about five bucks. And there's an even better deal now to help with coronavirus.
Amazon Prime is a yearly subscription service that offers free two-day shipping as well as free streaming of Amazon Video's movie and TV show catalog, which includes their original award-winning series Transparent.
Apple released iOS 7.0.6 last week, an update to fix a serious security flaw that allowed hackers to not only capture sensitive user information such as bank statements and passwords, but also modify that same data on secure HTTPS sessions.
The folks over at Sony gave a little teaser of what could be, introducing Playstation Now at this year's CES event in Las Vegas. According to the PlayStation blog, PlayStation Now will function as a streaming game service.
There are these people called "ethicists" or "moral philosophers". They make their livings by thinking about what is right and wrong and how to live a moral life. Does all this thinking get them anywhere?
