Earlier today, YouTube announced that it has increased the video time limit on its videos to 15 minutes. This being a long-awaited feature, along-side being able to upload up to 2gb, YouTube has decided to name this increase the “15 Minutes of Fame.” For more info go to YouTube.com/Blog.

Lev – Lead Writer

Bloatware is a issue that is overlooked by some developers. It’s when a program has too much features that the purpose of the program is difficult to find. Take the program I made in the image for example (I would never release a program like this), can you really find the main purpose of the program? I made this program for word processing. The problem is that this program does so many other things that it really isn’t a word processor anymore, it’s now a word processor that browses the web, shows resource usage, displays photos, etc.. It really can’t do anything perfectly. Now why would you want a program that does so many things badly over a program that does one thing well?

Bloatware is much more common in desktop applications than mobile applications. The thing is that with mobile applications, there really isn’t much room to make a program that does multiple things. On my iPod, I have a separate application for web browsing, viewing photos, listening to music, etc.. simply because the screen is too small to have other functions besides the main function. But on a desktop program such as Firefox, I can have multiple functions using add-ons and extensions, simply because there’s space for those functions. But there are times when desktop applications only perform one function; take Tweetie for Mac by atebits for example , it only lets you post to and read your Twitter.

David – Senior Editor

The hype of the 3-D movie age is only getting larger and larger with new technologies like Digital 3-D and stereoscopic 3-D which requires no glasses, but is this hype really worth it?

3-D movies have never really seemed to amaze me. I mean, I just can’t seem to find two blurred images that make an illusion like they’re popping out of the screen interesting. The movie industry is really focusing on making 3-D movies now that they really can’t seem to make a decent 2-D movie. It’s like having a nice-looking video game that fails when it comes to playability. What’s the point? Also, movie theaters have to invest in new projectors to display some newer movies. Is this really fair?

3-D movies have always seemed to annoy me because they make me dizzy and I can never seemed to focus on the whole picture because the foreground object always seems to be standing out too much. Isn’t the whole point of a movie to enjoy it in its entirety, not to just focus on the frontmost object.

I think that with this 3-D age, the movie industry can’t focus on other technologies that could be cool like 360-degree movies or movies which make the viewer feel like he/she is in the environment using elements such as wind and temperature. I think that 3-D is just an on-going fad that’s taking away from the good part of the movie industry; the movies, and  I hope it gets out-dated soon.

David – Senior Editor

The Old Spice guy (Isaiah Mustafa) has started responding to Twitter users (as well as users on other Web 2.0 sites) mentioning his recent commercials via the Old Spice YouTube channel. And he doesn’t stop just there, he’s started replying multiple times to the several people on Twitter. “OMG… the old spice guy is stalking me.. ha’!!” wrote Kevin Rose on his Twitter account, linking to Isaiah’s second response. After hours of posting, 30+ hysterical videos were listed in the “Responses playlist” on the YouTube page.

This form of advertising has received great feedback from many Web 2.0 sites and even the LA Times’ blog. It’s also great news for the actor himself as he’s recently signed a talent deal with NBC.

Last weekend (July 8-11), a new-age convention began at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Los Angeles called Vidcon. Hosted and created by the Vlogbrothers, otherwise known as Hank and John Green, Vidcon featured a variety of popular web video presenters from web sensation Shane Dawson to the CEO of Revision3, Jim Louderback.

Discussions at Vidcon ranged from how the web changes our interactions with others around the world to how cat videos have impacted the lives of video-makers. Along with these presentations, several YouTubers also hosted meet-ups and Q&A’s on stage.

Vidcon was funded by ticket costs and a long list of sponsors. Ticket prices (depending on when purchased) ranged from $40 to $140.

As of now, there has been no official news that the conference will return for another year but many are speculating (especially due to the popularity) that there is a high chance that it will.

Lev – Lead Writer

Apple’s Mac Mini has always been a great combination of affordability and performance in a small package. The newest model lives up to the Mac Mini name with a complete redesign, an HDMI port, and increased graphics performance. However, these changes do come at a price.

The price of the new Mini is $700, which is $100 more than the previous model.

The new Mac Mini features a design similar to the MacBook Pro. The body is made of one carved piece of aluminum, and I must say, it looks beautiful. The form factor has also changed a lot from the previous model. It is about half as thin, but has gained about an inch around. This makes it perfect if you want it to sit under your monitor or TV, but still want it to have breathing room. The power supply has also been put inside the computer, so the power cord no longer has a huge brick on it.

The internals have changed a lot from previous models. On the back, many inputs have been changed around. There is a FireWire 800 port, an Ethernet port, Audio In/Out, an HDMI port (Apple includes an HDMI-to-DVI adapter in the box), a Mini Display port, 4x USB ports ( down from 5 in the previous model), and an SD card reader (previous models did not have this). There of course, is a SuperDrive in the front on the regular model, not the server edition. Inside is also a 320GB HDD that clocks at 5400RPM. I do wish Apple gave us a choice to put in an SSD or at least a 7200RPM hard drive. The one in it currently seems a little slow for a desktop. The base model also only comes with 2GB RAM. This is completely unacceptable for the $700 price point. If you are going to be running Windows in a virtual machine, you’re going to need much more than that. Luckily, Apple finally made it easy to upgrade the RAM.

There is a door on the bottom of the machine and all you have to do is turn it and remove it, and you have easy access to the RAM. The memory itself however, isn’t cheap. a 2GB stick is going to cost you around $100. Apple are kind of ripping you off with the performance of the computer, going down from a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo to a 2.4GHz and Going down from 4GB of RAM to 2GB. This is all made up for though, with the new GPU, the NVIDIA Geforce 320M. Apple claims that it is twice as fast as the 9400M. I must say, I was impressed by the speed of the chip and if no one told me, I would never be able to tell that it’s integrated. I am able to watch YouTube videos at 1080p with no lag whatsoever and I now use this as my primary gaming computer, it’s that good. On Windows 7 with BootCamp, I am able to play games such as Guitar Hero III, Halo 2, and Modern Warfare 2 at 1920×1080 at med-high settings at around 40-70fps. It is capable at handling Crysis at High settings with ~20fps, but the computer seems to get very hot and loud. I was able to play some older games like Half-Life 2 at 1920×1080, all high, and 6xMSAA at 100+ fps. Seriously, this thing is powerful. If you are a casual gamer this computer is perfect for you.

As for normal business/web use, this probably isn’t going to be as good as the previous model because of the slower
processor and less RAM, but I haven’t been disappointed when it comes to speed. I really don’t think it’s worth buying this computer to use as a home theater PC, despite it’s HDMI port, simply because there are much better uses for it, it’s a very powerful machine. It’s a solid computer and a perfect choice for anyone who wants a Mac but doesn’t want to pay too much for one.

David – Senior Editor

Yes, the future is officially here. YouTube is now supporting videos shot at 4K (4096 x 3072). That means that if you have enough money to drop on a camera that supports that resolution (like the Red One), you can now upload the videos you shoot with it at full quality. Here’s a few videos that demonstrate this new feature. To watch them at 4K, you need to select “Original” from the resolution selector. Unfortunately, as of now, there are no affordable displays that support this resolution, so the videos will look the same as a 1080p on your 1080p television. I’ve tried watching a 4K video on my 2.4GHz Mac Mini, and all I can say that it looks the same as 1080p, but a lot slower. You can head on over to YouTube right now and upload your 4K videos (if you’re really patient). If you want more information on this topic, read YouTube’s official blog post here.

- David, Senior Editor

Continuing their free iPhone game spree, ngmoco:) has released a new app on the App Store called “We Rule“.

Essentially, this app is like Farmville for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as it’s a click-and-wait/ social networking game.

It takes place during the medieval times, in which you are a king. The goal of the game is to design a great kingdom and to rack up on experience points. In order to do so you must achieve a higher level, through experience points, which takes some time.  This makes the app highly addictive.

“We Rule” is powered by the plus+ network, allowing users of this application to connect with their friends. The problem with this: you must be connected to the internet, to play.

The app can be a bit buggy at times, especially with the current popularity. Many players have experienced crashes throughout this game. The ngmoco:) team is currently working on this issue.

This game is definitely worth a try, especially with the low price tag.

“We Rule“ is available on the iTunes App Store for Free.

What is Colorsplash?
Colorsplash is an app for the iPhone, that you can use to to take regular photos, take the color away, then put some of it back in, but only in specific places that you choose. This effect makes a specific element of your picture “stand out.”

Photo credits to: http://www.touchmyapps.com/

Recently I purchased the Sony Webbie HD camcorder. Like many other pocket camcorders, it has a sleek, slim design which allows it to fit right in your pocket.