Saturday, August 04, 2007
A Techie Moment: The Digital Newstand
I love all things computer and technology-related, so I was a bit intrigued by the story regarding the digital newsstand. It's like a taste of The future today...Scott Walker, assistant editor at the Birmingham News, has found a truly unique use for his Mac mini. Using an old newspaper vending rack found on eBay, a 17-inch LG LCD display, some rope lighting, a Mac mini and some AppleScript, Scott was able to create a digital newsstand that delivers a constant stream of current headlines to his living room, and look extremely cool while doing it.
An iCal alarm wakes the mini each morning and sets in motion an AppleScript which takes some screenshots of various online newspapers (including the Birmingham News, of course), crops them (using GraphicCoverter), then launches a PhotoPresenter slideshow of the pics complete with transitions. The result is geekery at its finest. Check out Scott’s YouTube video (below) to see the device in action. [Source]
Can you imagine walking down the sidewalk and seeing one of these things? Not to mention being able to purchase the latest digital copy and uploading it to some device. Hmm, there's a lot of potential here, but I definitely couldn't see this thing sitting anywhere inside of home. Now that's a bit awkward.
digital newstand scott walker apple mac mini
posted by Soulfull @ 8/04/2007 , 
