Tag: Images

Google Image Search now has license tagging

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Google has added a feature to their image search whereby users can choose to only search for images that are available for reuse.

The advance search option gives users the option to only show images that have been tagged with licenses like Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation making it easier to find images that, legally, they are free to use on their blogs or webpages.

Creative Commons licenses allow the rights holders to further define how their images can be used. It’s possible to license images for general reuse, or for non-commercial reuse only. They can also choose whether to grant the right to change their images.

Personally, I think that if someone publishes a picture on the web then they have given up any rights they may have had regarding its redistribution. The web is a huge sharing portal and once a picture is published it is bound to be reused over and over again. If people do want their images to remain exclusive they should add a watermark or block image saving on it.

The new Google search options should suit everyone though. People who aren’t fussed about image rights can continue to search for images the usual way and people who do have concerns can use the new functionality. Everyone’s a winner baby.

(via Google)

Paul Lamkin Internet

RUMOUR: Nikon D3000 and D300s images leaked?

Liked the look of the Nikon D5000 in our review earlier this month but can’t afford to cough up the £640 to make it yours? Well, according to rumours circulating in cyberspace a stripped down version of the D5000 could be on its way in the form of the D3000:

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The D3000 appears to be slightly less, shall we say, fat than the D5000 and it doesn’t look as if there is a swivel LCD display. It will probably have reduced flash components with a smaller viewfinder. There’s no sight of a microphone or an HDMI port either.

It isn’t just the D3000 that is shamelessly flaunting itself for the world to see either – the D300s is also allegedly getting in on the act:

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This looks like an upgrade to the existing D300. Rumours are rife that the D300s may include 720p video recording as well as SD memory card storage, a quiet shutter mode and the muscle to continuously shoot at 8fps.

(via Electronista)

Paul Lamkin Cameras

Facebook changes terms of service, outcry ensues

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A couple of weeks ago, Facebook changed its terms of service so that users won’t be able to delete their data if they leave the site. The blogosphere immediately erupted with criticism and it prompted a blog post from Mark Zuckerberg himself on who owns the data.

Facebook had been criticized for allowing a situation where someone could take a photo of you, upload it to the site, and then neither of you would be able to stop Facebook from using it for whatever purposes they like. You essentially waive all rights to the data.

Zuckerberg’s response to concerns is basically ‘chill out – we’re not going to take the piss here’. He doesn’t apologize, or even offer to soften the language – just asks users to trust the company. But how can users trust a company slowly eroding their rights?

Sure, odds are that Facebook isn’t going to suddenly abuse millions of people’s personal info, but if that’s the case, then why not retain the original language? Facebook has a history of communicating changes badly, and this is just another in a long line of screwups that include the profile redesign and the “Beacon” fiasco.

Duncan Geere Intellectual Property, Web 2.0, Websites

Geek Chic: a t-shirt, bag or mug with a mosiac of your Twitter friends

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My Twitter followers are important to me. No, really, you all are. But I’m not convinced that they’re important enough for me to want to wear them on my chest all day. Still, you might be closer to them than I am, so for £20 you can stick them on on T-Shirt and look down every ten minutes at your lovely disciples.

Also available are mugs (for £11), bags (currently out of stock) and business cards (£5.50). Just think to yourself before you make your purchase – will you genuinely still be wearing that thing in six months’ time?

Twitter Mosaic (via TechCrunch)

Duncan Geere Apparel, Web 2.0

Top 10 Tuesday: Blurry Spy Shots of Gadgets

The art of the tech spy shot is a sophisticated one. There are a few rules that must be followed. Firstly, the product must be unreleased. Secondly, the product must be eagerly anticipated by at least a few people. Thirdly, and most importantly, when you take the shot, you have to shake your arm around as much as you possibly can, so that no-one can remotely see what's going on…

Duncan Geere Top tens

The viral marketing ENDS HERE – Bungie's new game is "Halo 3: Recon"

Halo 3: Recon! It sounds like a joke. But it isn’t. Halo 3: Recon is the result of all that extremely tedious viral marketing nonsense Bungie’s been doing for months now, a game that brings a new character and play style to the dull old Halo universe.

Just announced at the Tokyo Game Show, Halo 3: Recon is a completely new chapter for Halo 3 that features a NEW CHARACTER and tells the story of events leading up to the start of Halo 3. It is a “standalone expansion” which means a separate game – not a downloadable mission pack for Halo 3. More expensive than that.

Halo 3: Recon will arrive in Autumn of 2009. The full official explanation…

Gary Cutlack Gaming

Leaked images of iPhone 2 show it's 3G, has video-chat and a Product (Red) version too

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You know you have nerdlinger friends when someone texts you at 8.15 on a Saturday morning, alerting you to leaked iPhone photos. And you know you too are a nerdlinger when you get out of bed, grab your laptop, and actually write about them, even though you’d normally be asleep for hours longer. Thanks for the ruined beauty sleep, Jason!

Still, it’s news that even I can get excited about – leaked iPhone 2 photos which actually look like the real thing. There’s a second camera located on the front for video-calling (or iChat AV as it’s been dubbed), and it appears to come in two colourways – black, and red, just like the Product (Red) iPods that raised money for fighting AIDS. And yes, it IS 3G enabled…

Katherine Hannaford iPhone, Mobile phones