Hasta La Gadget!

Open source programmers and crafters may seem like they come from different worlds. Still, the two communities have much in common, says Ele Carpenter, the founder of Open Source Embroidery, a largely British movement.

The movement brings together knitters, embroiderers and quilters who see parallels between the way they create their crafts and how open source software creators share their ideas. At the BildMuseet University in Sweden, an exhibition — also called Open Source Embroidery — showcases artworks that use embroidery and code as a tool for participatory production and distribution.

“The idea of collaboration has been made cool by open source software,” says Carpenter, the curator of the exhibition. “But artists have been working like this for a long time.”

Even the differences between needlework crafts and open source software are alike, she says. Embroidery is largely dominated by women, while software is created mostly by men, she says. In embroidery, tiny stitches come together to create a pattern visible on the front of the fabric, while its system is revealed on the back. It’s similar to how software is created.

The arguments about open source vs. free software can also be applied to embroidery, says Carpenter, where artists struggle with questions around borrowing and modifying patterns. “The Open Source Embroidery project simply attempts to provide a social and practical way of discussing these issues and trying out the practice,” says Carpenter.

The Open Source Embroidery movement, which started in 2005, says it will hold workshops to explore the idea further. “We are not all programmers,” says Carpenter, “but we are all looking to understand the shared philosophy and methods between craft and technology.”

Programming geeks, largely from the DIY community, are slowly acknowledging these similarities, agrees Becky Stern, an American artist whose work is included in the Bild Museet exhibition.

The exhibition will open in San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Folk Art on Oct. 2.

The Open Source embroidery exhibition also explores the history of computing as a craft. For example, the Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom invented in 1801 that used binary punch cards to design woven patterns. The loom is seen as the first programmed machine and one that inspired Charles Babbage in his design of the analytical engine.

Top Photo: Ele Carpenter

Bottom Photo: George H. Williams

As the dust settles from the last two weeks of mobile madness, one question remains unanswered: Which of the new generation of smartphones should you actually buy? We’ve collected everything you need to know.

We’ve selected the five phones that most feel like modern handsets to us—the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S, the Palm Pre, the HTC Magic (or, as we soon expect, the T-Mobile G2) and the BlackBerry Storm—and broken them down by hardware, software and cost. This is a guide in the strictest sense, meaning we aren’t declaring winners or losers, just giving you the information you need to make your own choice. So! On with the matrices. Phones’ hardware specs tend to dominate carriers’ marketing, but in many cases they just don’t mean much, with a few exceptions: screens, storage, graphics performance and input.

The iPhones and Pre hold a sizable advantage in the screen department, trumping the G2, which doesn’t have multitouch, and the Storm, which has an ill-conceived pseudo-multitouch clickscreen that left most reviewers at best underwhelmed, and at worst downright frustrated.

In terms of storage, our phones take two fundamentally different approaches. The iPhone and Pre include healthy amounts of nonremovable storage—in the case of the iPhone 3G S, up to 32GB—which makes sense: if we’re going to use our phones as they’re marketed (as multimedia devices), we need space. The G2, like the G1 before it, depends on a removable microSD card for file storage, since its inbuilt memory is measured in megabytes. So does the Storm. This is fine if the carrier bundles the handset with a capacious card; Verizon is good about this. T-Mobile, on the other hand, shipped the G1 with a pitifully small 1GB card, so we’ll just have to hope they’re more generous with the G2.

Technical 3D ability is actually fairly uniform across this hardware, with the exception of the iPhone 3G S, which is, in this area, a next-gen product. Only Apple and HTC, though, give developers any meaningful kind of access to their handsets’ graphics accelerators, meaning the G2 and iPhones (particularly the bulked-up 3G S) will be the sole options for would-be gamers. And of the two platforms, iPhone OS has amassed plenty of serious gaming titles, while Android, let’s be honest, hasn’t.

The Pre is an obvious standout in that it has a hardware keyboard in addition to its touchscreen. The hardware QWERTY/onscreen keyboard debate is all about personal preference, so whether this is a boon or a burden is up to you. Typing on a screen is an acquired skill—but much more so on the Storm than the iPhone or G2.

Battery life would seem to be a valuable metric; it’s not. The differences in capacity and claimed endurance don’t really matter much, since realistically, they all need to be charged nightly.

Note: the Storm is due a minor hardware refresh, possibly quite soon. The main change, it’s been rumored, is a different touchscreen.
The greatest hardware in the world couldn’t save a phone with shitty software, and your handset’s OS is the single largest determining factor in how you’ll enjoy your phone. We’ve explored the differences between the major smartphone platforms at length here, and there’s no point getting too far into the specific differences right now.

To summarize: iPhone OS claims advantages in ease of use, its burgeoning App Store, and a respectable core feature set, but falters on multitasking and its lack of ability to install unsanctioned apps. The Pre’s WebOS is extremely slick and friendly to multitasking, but its App Catalog is light on content, and its development SDK is somewhat restrictive. Android and BlackBerry OS are both more laissez-faire, letting users install apps from whatever source they choose. Neither of their app stores is spectacular, but Android’s is markedly less anemic. More on app stores here.

Carrier preferences will often override prices, but here they are anyway. The Pre and G2 are the most economic options, and the Storm roughly ties the 3G S as the most expensive. (It’s easy to underestimate how much a small monthly cost difference can add up over two years.) But again, carrier loyalty (or more likely, disloyalty) and coverage quality is as important as cost. If Sprint’s killing your Pre buzz, it could be worth waiting until next year, when Verizon is rumored to pick it up. Likewise, if T-Mobile coverage in your area is patchy, don’t worry: by the time T-Mobile actually offers the G2, we’ll probably have at least another functionally identical handset lined up for release elsewhere.

So there you have it: everything you need to know about the latest crop of consumer smartphones. Go forth, and be gouged.

We’ve known for a while that Dell’s planning to follow the Mini 10 and Mini 12 with a Mini 11 at some point, and it sounds like that day isn’t far off — word out of the always-poppin’ Display Taiwan 2009 tradeshow is that the company’s placed a large order for 11.6-inch displays from noted party supplier Chunghwa Picture Tubes. We’re also hearing that Samsung’s getting in the action, so we’d assume there’s a new CULV thin-and-light coming our from Korea sometime as well, but we’ll see when we see.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Laptops

Dell and Samsung placing orders for 11.6-inch netbook screens? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Apple iPod Shuffle has always been a model of simplicity. The latest version includes a clip, but no controls, on the Shuffle itself. You need to use buttons built into the earbud cord to change volume or advance the song.

That’s a clever system, but it’s not for everyone. That’s why Scosche introduced the TapStick case. Not only does it protect your Shuffle’s surface with a polycarbonate shell, but it also adds three buttons, letting you play, pause, and adjust volume from the Shuffle itself. One upside to that is that you’re no longer forced to use the Shuffle’s included earbuds, and are free to use whatever headphones you prefer.

The TapStick comes only in black or white. I’d like to see more colors and patterns in the future. Just because the Shuffle comes in only two color options doesn’t mean cases have to follow suit. It sells for $29.99, which is on the steep side, especially since the Shuffle itself costs only $79.00. The TapStick also includes a three-foot audio cable, to connect your Shuffle to your stereo.

Yesterday I made a passing reference to Sarah Palin in this space and got eight responses, six of them bizarrely hostile. Thank you. You don’t know how much that meant to me. I didn’t think anyone read the introductions.

1. You’ll shoot some gorgeous high-definition video this summer if you pick up the Canon Vixia HG20. It records in 1920-by-1080 full HD resolution and offers a 12X optical zoom. You don’t even need to worry about storage cards, since it saves to a 60GB internal drive. Naturally, it includes image stabilization and a variety of shooting modes. J&R has it for $599 with free shipping.

2. With monitor prices this low, you might want to get an extra one so you can line them up and have a super-wide viewing experience at your desk. Buy.com is selling the Samsung 2033SW 20-inch widescreen LCD monitor for $153.99 (after $20 mail-in rebate) and that’s with free shipping. It has a piano black finish that should enhance any office.

3. Your Xbox gaming console becomes a DVD player in one step when you buy the Xbox DVD Playback kit from Buy.com. It’s going for $5.19, including shipping. The kit includes a remote and a sensor. Plug in the sensor and you’re ready to start watching.