Latest news about arts and humanities and books and more

A number of people really want to use the latest in technology, but they just feel held back by a lack of understanding toward the programs. One of the best way for them to overcome this problem is to just get Microsoft Office training. Microsoft Office practically runs the world. If they get a good overview of the programs in the suite, then they will know how to build presentations, databases, and write. That should be all the basics that they really need.

This isn’t that easy for everyone though. Some people have rough schedules or face a tough drive to the local training center. They need a good way to train on their own schedule without leaving the home. This is where the Microsoft Office training CD comes into play. This is a way to teach them everything that they need to know while they are using the computer. If they can put the disc in the drive, then they are set. The CD contains lessons, examples, and simulations to walk them through all the little problems that they could face. Once it is all said and done, they should be just fine. If nothing else, it is a really great way to get them past any initial fear of technology.

Blockbuster has officially entered the “battle of the boxes” with the launch of its new set-top box yesterday. The box will serve movies to TVs over the Internet and is going against Netflix’s set-top box solutions (Xbox, Roku, and Tivo). Blockbuster’s MediaPoint box allows users to watch thousands of movies without the need of a monthly subscription.

To get the MediaPoint player, made by 2Wire, Blockbuster subscribers will have to pay a one-off $99 fee, which also includes 25 pre-paid movies. After that, users will have to pay between $1.99 and $3.99 for each DVD rented, without a monthly subscription fee. Netflix’s box also costs $99, besides your chosen monthly subscription. But unlike Blockbuster’s 2,500 “of the best, biggest and most current movies available“, Netflix offers its whole 10,000 DVD collection for rental through its box.

The major difference between the MediaPoint box and Netflix’s is that Blockbuster does “progressive playback” in comparison to Netflix’s streaming, meaning that the video quality is independent of you broadband’s connection speed. By progressively downloading the movie on the box (up to five movies storage capacity), Blockbuster’s solution can offer a much more consistent video quality. In comparison, Netflix’s service which can reduce the movie’s quality if your Internet connection slows down.

Spec-wise, Blockbuster’s MediaPoint can store up to five full length feature films (rented films must be viewed within 24 hours of downloading) and can connect to both SD and HD television sets. For the SD crowd, you can connect the MediaPoint to your TV with Composite A/V cables and if you have an HD TV you can use an HDMI cable. If none of the above matches you television set, you can use the box’s Component Video and Line Audio connections.

In terms of Internet connectivity, the MediaPoint box can use both wireless and an Ethernet cable from your router. For the full specs, check out MediaPoint’s user manual (PDF link).

Want to optimize your looks without radically altering them? An Israeli team of computer scientists may have the answer.

They have developed a computer software model based on the innate preferences that studies show we have for human faces.

“This technology could become a product where for example there’s a web service where people upload their photographs and have them enhanced or beautified by our software,” said Professor Dani Lischinksi of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Studies show that eyes a certain shape and distance apart, nose a certain length, lips a certain curve, increase the probability that we will find one face more attractive than another.

“We were able to fit a mathematical model to this set of data that we’ve gathered, namely the images that we showed to people and their responses in terms of the beauty scores that they chose to give to each image,” said Lischinksi.

The team then applied the model to modify images so as to make them appear more attractive. They are now exploring a variety of potential commercial applications for the software, Lischinski said.

“This is something we’re looking into,” he said. It remains to be seen whether women would simply use the improved image as a guide to more effective makeup application or whether people take it to a plastic surgeon and say: “Make me look like that.”

SUBTLE SHIFTS

The results can be striking. The photographed face of one conventionally pretty woman processed by what some Israeli media dubbed “the beauty machine” became clearly more beautiful.

Crucially, the software did not attempt to correct the very slight crookedness in her nose, so she was unmistakably the same person but subtly enhanced to great effect.

The aim is not a world “where everybody looks the same or everybody looks like a Hollywood star or a supermodel. What our program tries to do is to improve the perceived attractiveness of the face but in a manner that tries to change as little as possible,” said the professor.

The Israeli scientists say they are well aware of the adage that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

“I think obviously the original faces have more. They represent the true character of that face and when we modify the image some of that character might go away. This is one possible criticism,” Lischinksi said.

So far, the model simply presents the optimized version of a face which could be used as a photograph — if the owner was prepared to disappoint in any real-life encounter.

Some of those asked did not prefer the “improved” looks of movie stars, for example. “I think a lot of it has to do with familiarity,” Lischinski said.

But if the face is anonymous, the modified version is strongly preferred, the team’s trials have shown.

A random trial among Jerusalem women was inconclusive.

One woman said she would not use the program “because then you see yourself in the perfect light and no one is perfect… It’s impossible and it’s unethical and it will just make you upset.”

The software also demands high-quality photographs taken head-on. Blurred images or tilted chins defeat it. Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa loses her enigmatic smile and appears horribly distorted, her lips like those of a cartoon witch.

Infosys co-Chairman Nandan Nilekani feels India can do a lot better with the use of Information Technology as it has a vibrant and growing democracy than its most talked about rival China.”Technology is extremely powerful as a liberal force in its ability to empower citizens and minimise sway of the state. It would strengthen India’s advantage as an open, democratic society and would ensure that information knowledge and services flow unimpeded,” says Nilekani in his book ‘Imagining India, Ideas for the New Century’, which was released on Monday.

Nilekani’s China reference though not direct is evident from his frequent use of the world ‘open society’. He has quoted Tom Friedman, noted ‘The New York Times’ columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author, who says, “I don’t think that this century can belong to a country that censors Google.”

Friedman was replying to a question if he saw China as the emerging superpower of the century.