dbp is the dynamic graphics program at University of Toronto and the BumpTop project comes from Anand Agarawala and Ravin Balakrishnan.

Via and Via

You have to sign up for an invitation at this point.

Via Google Blog.

New Features you will enjoy

Clear Private Data
You can now press Shift+Ctrl+Delete in Firefox and have it completely remove your private data. Alternatively, you can select Delete Private Data on the Tools menu. You can also select what data is to be deleted in the options dialog. This is pretty handy if you are using a public computer and want to be absolutely sure that your login or credit card numbers (etc, etc) are no longer stored by Firefox. Or if you are using a work computer and you don’t want it to be found out that you have been reading non-work related websites like BrittleFish.

New “Options” Dialog
The Options dialog box has been redesigned with the tabs moving along the top now, instead of along the left side. There are now more options in the “Privacy” tab, including the settings for the “Clear Private Data” tool. Other than that there isn’t a whole lot of improvement in this area. Not that there needed to be.

Word Highlighting/Searching
This new version allows you to highlight a word or phrase with your mouse, then right-click and choose Highlight Word and Firefox will highlight every instance of that word or phrase on the current page. Or you can choose to search off of that highlighted word and Firefox will open up a new tab with your default search engine (probably Google) already loaded with the search text.

Error Messages
Instead of getting an annoying popup letting you know that the page you were trying to reach is unavailable you will now get an well formatted webpage describing what happened and what your options are to fix the problem. And a handy “Try Again” button, which doesn’t do anything more than hitting the refresh button except giving a little inspiration. “Don’t give up, Try Again.”

What’s Missing?

Here are some things you won’t see in the new beta, which you may have been expecting.

Native SVG support
I was under the impression that the new version of Firefox would have SVG rendering support builtin to the browser, without the need for the Adobe plugin. This is not true, as this beta has no svg capabilities (unless you have to go through hoops to turn it on). This is really too bad, since the Adobe pluging requires you to move files and such to get it to work with Firefox. This leaves non-techy users out in the cold.

Extensions and Themes (for now)
Before you get your panties in a bunch, let me clarify that the beta has the capability to use extensions and themes. It is just that most of them have not been updated to work with the new version yet. By the time the final version comes out I’m sure all of your favorite extensions and themes will be supported. But, as you would expect from a beta, they aren’t available now. So don’t replace your wife’s 1.06 version just yet, unless you enjoy sleeping on the couch.

VMware will also be releasing some sourcecode, albeit only to a select few:

VMware announced that it will provide its partners access to VMware ESX Server source code and interfaces under a new program called VMware Community Source

Replace “it’s partners” with “people with more money than me” to find out exactly who will get to see the source.

The absence of Microsoft among the supporters is disappointing, but not surprising.

No credit card is required for the sign up. All you have to give them is your name, email address and mailing address.

If you create a bandwidth-greedy site you may be charge a tiny little bit more than zero. From the Terms of Service:

12.01 Users are limited to data transfer of 15GB per month. Once the monthly limit is reached for data transfer a cost of .49 cents per GB will be charged.

After the free six months the cost will be about $8 per month and will include a mysql database.

That said, techrageo.us is extremely pleased with the features, services, prices, and support offered by Dreamhost, our hosting company.

In the beginning, we mapped with MapQuest or Yahoo Maps or their ilk. We’d enter an address and get back a zoomable, pan-able vector map. Or we’d enter “from” and “to” addresses and get back a turn-by-turn driving plan. Some of these vector mapping services had features to show local businesses or, now and then, view satellite images of the area.

More recently, Google outdid every generally-available mapping interface on the web with Google Maps, chock-full of draggable scrolling, clever pushpins, a rich API interface, and of course a beta tag. Before long they added satellite images. (As an aside, it puzzles me why they used such old imagery. For example, I always pop in my address and check out the view from above. In Google Maps it’s a black and white lo-res image, while on the other hand, at GlobeXplorer I get a hi-res color image — not for free, of course, but my point is that better is availabe. Google has excellent hi-res color imagery of some areas and I hope they extend this coverage.) Google has also recently added a hybrid viewing mode where the satellite imagery is overlaid with roads and whatnot from the vector maps.

So, as things settled down and Google finished digesting the online mapping world, they released Google Earth, built on Keyhole, which they bought a while back. In its basic form, Google Earth is free and, simply put, amazing. Plus and Pro versions are also available, for $20 and $400, respectively (the Pro price is per year). Plus adds GPS integration and annotation features, while Pro adds layers and overlays, along with the ability to pay more for additional modules (flythrough movie making, premium printing, GIS import, etc.).

Microsoft, already quaking in their clogs over the fact that Google is likely to buy Bill Gates before long (or more likely, build a better one), has released Microsoft Virtual Earth. I wasn’t expecting much, but it’s not too shabby. It has a satellite view that smoothly integrates the overhead imagery with vector bit, roads, parks, labels, etc. much like Google Maps’ hybrid view. I did not see a way to turn the integration off, however.

Micrsoft had already swallowed up Terraserver but this Virtual Earth, while boldly ripping off Google Maps, is a welcome addition to the mapping fray. It’s good to see this technology progressing in a publicly-available way. There’s much more that is being done with mapping in the private and government sectors, but Google Maps, Google Earth, and Microsoft Virtual Earth are leaps and bounds ahead of what we were using only a year ago.

Microsoft Virtual Earth seen here.

One hundred lucky cinemas will be showing Monster house next summer in the new “REAL D Cinema”, which is supposedly a vast improvement over existing 3D technologies. Polar Express was also released using this technology in a small number of IMAX theaters. Will this be the boom theaters have been looking for to make going out to see a movie better than watching it in your own home? Given Sony’s track record of over-hyping things I think we will all just have to wait and see.

Digital Producer has the full story.

That’s the story as I see it unfolding. Steve Jobs finally beats Bill Gates. And with the sale of Apple to Intel, Steve accepts the position of CEO of the Pixar/Disney/Sony Media Company.

Remember, you read it here first.

If this plays out, we might finally start to see some real innovation again. Apple has been out ahead of the curve for some time now but has been mostly seen as a snooty toy-maker by the Windows vs. Linux nerds. Their move to Intel is arguably a step back, but it could play out to several long strides forward.