The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 is unofficially supported in MacPro

evga5700-660x320

Tej’s Tech Blog has a post on installed an NVIDIA GTX 570 PC card into a MacPro and it seems to work except for EFI (so it goes straight to desktop or login screen, you don’t see the spinning ball at the start. Guess you can’t do safe mode or boot to another drive then from startup, though not positive on that).

You will have to do some Terminal tricks to get the Adobe suite to see it as compatible as the card is not listed for Mac, but it can be done.

This is great news. Wonder if NVIDIA is going towards one driver for all their cards, or if it means that Apple is planning to include NVIDIA if and when it ever updates the MacPro?

No matter what, more NVIDIA support for Macs is a good thing. And it is great that the new MacBook Pro and the MacBook Pro Retina are run by NVIDIA cards, as more CUDA support means more realtime with the Adobe Suite.

Surgery Update, another Pimple in the scar

Yuch, that is pretty nasty. The bottom part of the main incisision, the small circular hole also seems to have developed a pimple, that keeps popping and I clean it, and it fills again. It doesn’t seem infected, seems like a pimple, so I am going to assume it is probably another ingrown hair, right on the wound.

IMG_7595
IMG_7596

Rather nasty if I do say so myself.

Looks a little better once I squeeze it out.
IMG_7599

Main incision is overall looking pretty good though. With the top part pretty flat and healed, the bump at the top as gone as I think it will be, and above the top wound the skin is starting to look good.
IMG_7594

And the chest tube wounds are looking pretty good. No longer any scab, just divots and very red skin. No longer have to keep them dry in the shower, which is wonderful.

IMG_7593

Still having to use a pillow when I drive though. We bought a small travel pillow to make it easier. And while it does help, since the scar doesn’t like things rubbing on it, especially a seatbelt (and really not even a shirt). And it has actually gotten a lot more sore. Mainly I think because all the nerves were severed, but they have grown back. Went and got a soft travel pillow and it works pretty well.

IMG_7600

Of course it doesn’t help how incredibly hot is of late in Los Angeles! Driving with a pillow on your chest when it is close to 100 degrees outside certainly could be more pleasant!

Still doing pretty well, and just about ready to get back to work. Need to start making some money!

CNET Reviews NEXT ISSUE, Netflix for Magazines

CNET has a review of this new App for iPad and Andriod called Next Issue. Basically for $180 a year you get access to the nearly 40 titles they have and every issue of each. So it is great for Magazine junkies, and they get back issues. You can also do a lesser subscription for $120 a year that doesn’t include weeklies like Time, Entertainment Weekly, and a couple of others.

Seems like a good idea, except not being able to pass it on except to other ipads that share your account. Still interesting, especially as they add more magazines.

Actually my biggest question is if it can be used by multiple users on the same iTunes account, or is it one user per account. As it would be great if my Mom and Wife who share my iTunes account could use all the magazines. That would make it really useful, and a possible money saver.

StudioDaily on AVID

I realized I hadn’t linked to this Studio Daily Article on the reductions at AVID.

By the third quarter AVID will be down to about 1500 after losing more than 350 more employees, and hasn’t said which facilities it will be closing.

I still say if AVID doesn’t really push there opportunity here they are fools. Look at what Autodesk has done with Smoke. I think it should be cheaper than $4000 ($3500 and $500 a year for upgrades and support), but it has moved into Media Composer Range, and it can do all Media Composer can and much more.

What I think AVID should have done

Personally I think AVID should have bit the bullet and pulled the price of Media Composer to $1000 to fight Premiere Pro (I don’t think they need to fight FCP X) and gain market share back. The $1000 that Apple charged for FCP 7 was really a sweat spot and other apps have gone bellow that).

And have made the cross grade even $500 from FInal Cut Pro, and make symphony a plug in that costs another $300-$500 (Or really just roll it in to Media Composer completely to have a unified product line). Now there sales for this year might be down (though they might have gone up do to the amount of sales they would have made), and there customer bass would have grown back to what it used to be, and they would make a ton of money in the future.

They need to focus on less products and make them less expensive. They have already been making Media Composer so much better, so they don’t have to worry about that, but it is there business decisions that seem iffy.

Doddle News on Five Ways Avid Could Stay Alive

An interesting article at Doddle news on how the foundering AVID (which just sold it’s consumer division including M-Audio, Pinacle and even the new iPad app) and cut another 20% of it’s work force after previously losing 10% not too long ago.

Some interesting ideas, though other than doubling down on protools and moving to the cloud like Adobe CS6, I don’t see them trying any of them.

Surgery Update Week 7

Wow, 7 weeks out. Didn’t seem like this point would every come, but I am recovering very well overall. Lost the scabs for my two chest tube wounds, and no scabs are coming back, so now they are just red and divots a bit. They will be worse than the main wound for sure.

IMG_7586
They may not look great, but they are so much better. No more gaping wound.

The main wound now that is weird. I guess the skin is really healing as it is pretty sore now, where it was not before, and not internally, but on the surface. It really doesn’t like anything touching it right now. On the good front, part of it is looking pretty white in the middle, so I guess that part is healing.

IMG_7590
You can see how the skin is getting white in the middle of the scar.

IMG_7587
And here is a wide shot of the whole thing.

Of course there is even more weirdness as there is what seems to be a pimple on the wound, though it could very well be an ingrown hair.

IMG_7589
That is the pimple or whatever it is near the top of the frame.

Other than that I am doing well. Still walking, though I seem to be hotter on the treadmill than walking outside, maybe since it is has a slight incline (and it has been too hot outside to walk much), but I have also started doing kettle bells again. Only a little bit, as not to make the wound any worse, but it doesn’t seem to bother me, at least with a 10 pound bell (vs a 20 I was doing before surgery). Even more surprising is how much less tired after doing it I am, though I can still feel it in my thighs, that is for sure.

Still coughing every day, though not as bad. Hopefully it is getting better.

My back is much better after the chiropractor, though he could only adjust my neck and use the activator on my back. It is better, but really needs a full adjustment, and is still pretty sore. Am icing it and heating it, to try and make it better. Have to wait till 12 weeks for a full adjustment though, but will probably be back for some more activator in the next couple of weeks.

Blood pressure has been good, though my heart beat has been up a bit in the evening, in the 90’s and even 100’s, though it does seem to calm down once I lay down.

One more week till I am cleared to go back to work. And I am up for it. And we really do need the money. Still nice to have one more week!

Zaxwerks releases 3D Invigorator Pro V6

3D Invigorator Prto

Zaxwerks has finally upgraded 3D Invigorator Pro to Version 6. And it had better be a whopper of an upgrade now that After Effects CS6 has Ray Traced Extruded Text and Shapes.

New features for Invigorator Pro include:

Ray-Trace Reflectivity & Shadows! (NEW)
Ultra Realistic Shadows with Ambient Occulusion (NEW)
Create Glass or Water with Refraction (NEW)
Super Easy Grid Creator (NEW)
Increased Number of Sets and Layer Maps (NEW)

Here is what they have to say:

Our new Ray Trace renderer produces ultra-cool pictures, with reflections of objects in other objects, smooth realistic shadows, and glass refractions. Mmmmm. Sweet, sweet pictures.
New workflow features include the ability to trace pictures then map the picture back onto the object with one click; the ability to turn whole folders of images into 3D objects; and the ability to collect all project related files if you have to move the project from one computer to another. If you’re not a 3D-techie this means it’s now easier than ever to turn client artwork into flying 3D objects.
Best of all in version 6 are the new Object Fragmentation features. This set of features lets you slice, chop or crack your 3D objects into little fragments. Big deal, most 3D programs can do this, right? Not even close. What ProAnimator does is to turn fragmentation into a design tool where you can change your mind as the design evolves. Slice your logos into planks, strips, cubes, chips, chunks or shards. No pre-planning required. Change the fragmentation, change the text getting fragmented, change the bevels, change the color, change anything at anytime for the greatest flexibility imaginable.
ProAnimator 6 has also added more animation controls especially designed to take advantage of the thousands of pieces generated by the fragmentation features. So now you can take your thousands of fragments and spin, tumble, whip and cascade them in cooler, fresher and more eye-catching ways than before. Spill the fragments into the screen and watch them assemble into your logo. Drop the fragments and watch one word turn into another. This can be done with any text, logo or imported 3D object.
Stop for a moment and realize that now you can design on the fly with fragments as easily as full objects. It’s like a particle system that’s easy and fun to control and completely real-time and interactive. It’s all waiting at your fingertips to give your work an exciting edge over your competition.

It is $399 or $99 for an upgrade from 5.0.