Making Animation More Nimble
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| Making Animation More Nimble | |
| Number | 3202 |
| Broadcast Date | JANUARY 19, 2018 |
| Episode Length | 32:13 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane |
| Guests | Rob DeMillo, Len Peralta |
Is it possible to run an on-demand computing operation like animation and VFX into the cloud? We talk to CTO of Nimble Collective Rob DeMillo to find out. Plus Amazon is raising its Prime membership prices, how to turn off Instagram’s new feature, and researchers uncover a malware phishing operation in Lebanon aimed at Windows and Android users.
Guest
Quick Hits
- A patent filed by LG with the World Intellectual Property Organization describes a “mobile phone with a flexible display which can be folded in half.” Two designs show alternate ways of displaying information on the "cover" when the phone is folded.
- The US SEC wants answers to 31 detailed questions before approving mutual funds and exchange-traded funds based on Bitcoin futures trading. AND the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that it has filed a federal civil enforcement action against three virtual currency trading service operators. CabbageTech and Entrepreneurs Headquarters Ltd and one unnamed company face charges of fraud, misrepresentation, misappropriation and more.
- Amazon has added voice to its Alexa app for Android meaning users can speak to the app to have it do things an Amazon Echo would. The update is rolling out to the Google Play store now and is on its way to the iOS App Store as well.
- The Italian Antitrust Authority is investigating allegations that Apple and Samsung conducted “a general commercial policy taking advantage of the lack of certain components to curb the performance times of their products and induce consumers to buy new versions.” Apple has previously denied it tried to shorten the life of its products. If found guilty, the two companies risk multi-million euro fines.
Top Stories
- Instagram has a new feature that tells people you've shared private messages with, or people you tag in your Instagram Stories when you were last active on the app, and it's turned on by default. To turn it off, Tap on your profile page, then click on the settings gear underneath to your name, next to "Edit Profile." Inside the settings menu there's a toggle for "Show Activity Status."
- Amazon is raising the monthly US price for Amazon Prime from $10.99 to $12.99. That ends up being $156 a year up from $132. Customers can still choose to pay for a year at a time at $99.
- OnePlus has been investigating why fraudulent charges were appearing on a small portion of its customers credit cards. Friday it announced that credit card information of up to 40,000 customers was accessed by a malicious actor between November 2017 and now. A script was injected into a server that copied payment information as it was entered into a form. OnePlus will offer a year of free credit card monitoring to affected users.
- Researchers at Lookout and the EFF spotted a server taking in hundreds of gigabytes of data from infected Android phones and Windows machines. The operation is being called Dark Caracal and affects thousands of users in more than 21 countries. The server has been traced to a building belonging to Lebanese intelligence. Users are fooled into installing malware or typing in passwords by phishing messages sent over Facebook and WhatsApp. The malware looks convincingly like WhatsApp or Signal. It can take photos from the phone's camera, lift text messages, pull location data, and record audio.
- As Cape Town South Africa suffers the third year of the worst drought on record, the city has launched an online water map revealing water usage for individual properties. Locations staying under the 50 liters per day limit have a green dot. Properties over the limit are not marked by a dot. The intention is not to shame overuse but encourage people to gain the green dot.
Discussion
- Blade Shadow heads to the US to slay your PC
- NIMBLE COLLECTIVE BRINGS YOU AN ANIMATION STUDIO THROUGH YOUR BROWSER
Mailbag
- The Nintendo Switch Labo stuff looks really cool. I thought I would recommend something a little similar for people who can’t wait for it to come out, or don’t plan on buying a Switch. Pimoroni is a UK based Raspberry Pi reseller, but what really differentiates them is their creative kits around cheap SoCs.
Generally these are recommended for age 8+, but have sewable gadget kits, DIY camera, radios, cars, and tons of cardboard. Kit prices range from $25-70. I know my local Microcenter stocks them so you might not have to pay for UK shipping. Probably not as well baked as Labo will be, but a cool option. - Sent by Rich from Lovely Cleveland
- The Nintendo Switch Labo stuff looks really cool. I thought I would recommend something a little similar for people who can’t wait for it to come out, or don’t plan on buying a Switch. Pimoroni is a UK based Raspberry Pi reseller, but what really differentiates them is their creative kits around cheap SoCs.
- Finally got to listen to the show. “Labo” is indeed Japanese shorthand for laboratory. (Japanese speakers tend to shorten words to the first two syllables of words, i.e., “FamilyMart” becomes “Fami” & “maa” / “Famima”.)
I’m shocked that they just left it named that even in English, though. But I suppose that there’s precedent. (“Tomodachi Life”)
Then again, Japanese language is “cool” now, I suppose, so I guess it makes sense that some folks/kids might think it’s nifty to have it in Japanese. (Or maybe they just wanted a consistent name across regions. :P) - Sent by Kaylee in Slack
- Finally got to listen to the show. “Labo” is indeed Japanese shorthand for laboratory. (Japanese speakers tend to shorten words to the first two syllables of words, i.e., “FamilyMart” becomes “Fami” & “maa” / “Famima”.)
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "Now You’re Playing with Power. Cardboard power!" |
Making Animation More Nimble |
Followed by: "Amazon Go is Checking You Out" |