Flour Power

(via College Humor)

FIFA and Sony have announced that 25 of the FIFA World Cup 2010 games will be broadcast in 3D.

With a total of seven pairs of Sony’s professional HDC cameras on rigs at every match, the action on the pitch will be captured in a stunning 3D quality enabled through its proprietary multi-image processor and 3D Outside Broadcast truck. Sony’s cutting-edge processor, the only one in the market to date, makes an end-to-end workflow possible in the production process and automatically adjusts the depth-of-field to ensure an unprecedented and optimal 3D viewing experience around the world. Starting from the FIFA Confederations Cup last year in South Africa, Sony has been working on enhancing the 3D capturing of fast-moving football action and has since conducted a number of 3D filming trials in Europe.

Only five out of the ten stadiums – Soccer City and Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth – are chosen for the 3D broadcast. Here’s a complete list of the games to be broadcast in 3D:

June 11 16:00 RSA-MEX
June 12 16:00 ARG-NGA
June 13 20:30 GER-AUS
June 14 13:30 NED-DEN
June 15 20:30 BRA-PRK
June 16 16:00 ESP-SUI
June 17 13:30 ARG-KOR
June 18 16:00 SVN-USA
June 19 13:30 NED-JPN
June 20 20:30 BRA-CIV
June 21 20:30 ESP-HON
June 22 20:30 NGA-KOR
June 23 20:30 GHA-GER
June 24 16:00 SVK-ITA
June 25 16:00 POR-BRA
June 27 20:30 1st B-2nd A
June 28 16:00 1st E-2nd F
June 28 20:30 1st G-2nd H
July 2 20:30 Quarter-final
July 3 16:00 Quarter-final
July 3 20:30 Quarter-final
July 6 20:30 Semi-final
July 7 20:30 Semi-final
July 10 20:30 3rd place match
July 11 20:30 Final

In addition to this eight matches will be fed live to digital cinemas and selected venues in 3D HD quality around the globe. Swiss-based Aruna Media AG will manage the exclusive 3D cinema and entertainment venue rights for live games in 3D and plans to broadcast to around 26 countries and is in advanced discussions with several major markets.

(via Engadget)

If you get bored…

(spotted in a shop in Paris)

A warning: today is April Fools’. I recommend that you pay special attention to whatever “news” are released to day. This is not only a day when your friends, family members and co-workers pull some practical jokes on you. Some big companies have a tradition of perpetrating quite big hoaxes (see Google’s April Fools’ hoaxes from previous years). While some are very obvious, others are so elaborate that a lot of people get fooled. It’s a bit annoying that you need to over-analyse everything to make sure it’s true. But usually a great hoax comes along that makes it all worth it.

Here’s a list of April Fools’ 2010 pranks I’ve found so far around the web.

• Google Changes Name To Topeka
• Google Translate For Animals
• Upload and store anything in the cloud with Google Docs
• Coldplay launch their own fragrance – Angst
• Youtube Launches TEXTp to save on bandwidth costs
• TechCrunch: Introducing The Do-It-Yourself CrunchPad Kit
• TechCrunch: Google To Go Nuclear
• ThinkGeek - iCade – iPad Arcade Cabinet
• ThinkGeek: Canned Unicorn Meet
• ProBlogger Acquired by Google
• Introducing ShoeMoney Modeling Agency
• Grooveshark’s New Ad System
• New World of Warcraft Race – The Two-Headed Ogre
• Improv Everywhere – No Underwear Subway Ride
• Starbucks announces new cup sizes: the Plenta and the Micra
• Sexy romances distract hackers from data theft, Sophos research proves
• Hewlett Packard + Microsoft = Hewlosoft
• Google Street View in 3D
• Get “LifeSize” Pictures in Picasa
• Dreamhost replaces all Ethernet cables in their datacenters with 802.11n wireless

Keep your eyes on this post as I’ll be updating it as soon as I spot other good pranks. Feel free to use the comments to share other pranks you find and I’ll add them to the list.