no more squinting

in case you missed the memo, YouTube has been testing out higher quality videos.

just append a video link with '&fmt=6' or '&fmt=18' and you will see a significant increase in video quality, provided that the source video was of greater quality than the standard flash video quality that YouTube uses.

regular: 320 x 240, audio sample rate: 22050 Hz

&fmt=6: 448 x 336, audio sample rate: 44100 Hz

&fmt=18: 480 x 360, H264 video encoding (MP4), AAC audio encoding

this means that the higher quality videos (&fmt=6) carry twice the information (which also at least doubles the filesize and download time). &fmt=18 uses video and audio encoding that is significantly more efficient, so for nearly the same file size, they can pack in more than twice the information. this is the same encoding being used on YouTube videos that are being converted for viewing on iPhones and iPod Touches.

however, audio is still being converted to mono (single channel), even if videos are recorded in stereo (multi-channel). uploaders can circumvent this restriction by converting their files into flash video at the correct resolution (and in stereo) before uploading so YouTube will forgo the conversion process. not every video has been converted for higher quality yet; recent .wmv uploads seem to be the first batch. if a video does not have an HQ version, all you will see is the black loading screen.

Sample Video: regular; higher quality; MP4. it's easy to see the difference in video game videos.

The Plan

this does not refer to the plan in which i get married off to a cute, very nerdy girl with a deceptive wrist shot and the hand-eye coordination of a ping pong champion by the time i'm 24, but to the plan in which i purchase a Macbook Pro.

i will purchase one late Q3 '09, just before the holiday crush. incidentally, i will be 24, so the following is dependant on that first plan. if plan 1 (wife) does not work, i will have the funds to follow through with plan 2 (MBP).

Apple's notebook lineup was recently updated (last Tuesday) with the latest Penryn processors being dropped onto the Santa Rosa chipset. some time in June 08, the Montevina chipset will be released by Intel and the second iteration of even more efficient Penryns CPUS will coincide with that release. the Montevina chipset will require quite a bit of hardware tweaking due to different architectural requirements, so it would be the prime opportunity for the Macs to undergo redesigns. the Macbook Pro chassis has been around pretty much since Aluminum Powerbook G4s (2003), with only minor modifications to keep pace with new technology.

as is always the case with 1st Gen hardware, there will be flaws and issues and hiccups and burps, so i'm waiting until the next chipset (Calpella) is implemented with the second generation Nehalem CPUs. by then, SSDs will be fairly reasonably priced, the redesigned MBP chassis will have matured reasonably and the operating system will have hit 10.6 by then (18 month revision rate, ideally).

my new obsession

Stop Motion Optimus Prime videos

Optimus Prime - The Evolution of Dance


Bumblebee Beats Optimus Prime

Meet Market

Cosmopolitan recently published a list of locations that desirable single men will congregate. at the top of the list was Apple Stores, followed by gyms, steakhouses, sports bars and Jacksonville, North Carolina. this was echoed by a TUAW post, which is how i caught wind of it. i would not have otherwise (i read YM instead, but only when friends subscribe to it on my behalf without telling me).

while it's hard to take anything that comes out of a magazine that spouts softcore sex slogans seriously, there is a morsel of truth to their asinine and alliterative assertions this time. the premise is that most guys gravitate towards gadgetry, computer gizmos, meat and sports. so chances are that Apple Stores, replete with gadgetry and computers, would boast a bumper-crop of male representatives. of course the same can be said for Best Buy or something like that, but i suppose that demographic is not quite as desirable (i.e. married?).

of course, Apple Stores will now see an influx of vapid Cosmo subscribers and desperate Mac geeks hoping to score on said influx of vapidity, on top of the beleaguered parents who've succumbed to their children's wheedling for a new iPod.

now?

do you think that Boundless is emotion-porn for the single? that's not to say it is lurid, or unwholesome, but merely inducive to desires beyond present privilege.