I just gathered some interesting news from Mister Wong:

Zattoo is a RIA [Uhm, just call it a program] that let’s you watch TV on your Compu without extra hardware [PCI tv-card] or a subscription to a commercial service. Zattoo is currently focussed on European channels and licensed content, and it’s completely free.

I was disappointed when I realized that I can’ watch BBC2 or Canal+, because my IP address is recognised as being German, and legal regulations prevent us to watch programs we probably haven’t payed broadcasting fees for. Maybe you can bypass this limitation using an Open Proxy Service, see the link below.

On the other hand, it’s just as simple as switching on the Telly.

Zatto is based on peer-to-peer technology, just like Hobnox, Pando, Joost: or Miro. In a Peer-to-Peer TV system, each user is simultaneously downloading the program to watch it, but also uploading the video stream to other users. This way, all users contribute to the overall bandwidth of the service. The streams are usually slightly delayed to the original sources. But the video quality is better if there are more users, which makes powerful servers farms needless.

Zattoo itself provides very smooth streaming quality and might be considered the service experts were waiting for - due to it’s simplicity.

Check the links for more information:

• Open proxy Services
• Quick summary on popular TV streaming services on ReadWriteWeb
• Interviewing zattoo.com’s co-founders

Zattoo delivers live TV legally, just like a cable network. Presently Zattoo doesn’t create its own channel from archival contents, nor do we yet carry user-generated content. Instead, we work with broadcasters to re-distribute their content simultaneous, unaltered, and unabridged. Compared to Joost, we provide live TV viewing instead of archival content delivered on-demand.

Sugih Jamin, Chairman and Co-founder of Zattoo

Beautiful Twitter Mashup: Twistori. A content harvester that filters emotional twitter microposts. Made by Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs.

A “first person” visualization of Twitter messages, inspired by We Feel Fine. Twitter messages are filtered by occurrences of the phrases:

• I love
• I hate
• I think
• I believe
• I feel
• I wish

which are placed in a visual scrolling message ticker. Similar to Digg Labs BigSpy.

via Information Aesthetics

Grimes: That should better be posted in German. It might work in english, too: Anybody who happens to be in Cologne from April 06th to 13th:
Look out for this cosy venue: The Motoki Wohnzimmer. Motoki will provide us with some happy days during the TRIMM-DICH-TAGE.

Motoki Kollektiv is a bunch of creative blokes and girls who want to share their knowledge, space and time with others. Here’s a panoramic view of the site, if you like that click here for more photos and info. I don’t know if religious habits are part of the program. I will judge for myself because I will attend some of the events. Hope nobody is offended by my name though ;).

The Motoki living room is located in the heart of [Cologne] Ehrenfeld, in 500m distance from Ehrenfeld station and close to Venloer Strasse.
The name Motoki “living room” puts a deeper meaning in the purpose of our place. It is social core of the Motoki collective. We invite friends, neighbors and visitors to events and activities here.

[via]

Here is a new toy for wannabe graphic designers and photographers:

Adobe just released it’s online image proccessing tool Photoshop Express. After creating an account, you are able to upload, edit and publish your photos. Let’s see if this becomes a valuable photo community.
Some info:

• It’s 100% Flash
• There are functions to integrate your work into Facebook, Photobucket and Picasa. Why not Flickr?
• The interface actually does not convince me: Too slow, too much fading effects and shaded buttons.
• Image processing capabilties are reduced, somehow. Do not forget: It’s an online tool, not an replacement of a desktop version of Photoshop.

And Beware: In Adobes General Terms and Conditions it says:

Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later developed.
“Publicly accessible” areas of the Services are those areas of the Adobe network of properties that are intended by Adobe to be available to the general public.

Did I get that right: Adobe is allowed to earn as much dough with my pics as they want to? Without sparing me a dime? No way, this is not going to be used by me. No matter what you think about it - think twice.

Here’s a demo video:

[via]

That’s a free piece of candy for all blognerds and other design wannabes:
It is set up and installed in 14 minutes (I hit the stopwatch), and with my pics it looks like this:
[Feel free control the grid by clicking and moving]

View this in fullscreen

Your own gallery is set up in four steps:

• Download Tiltviewer here
• Customize the file “index.html”: Simply add your Flickr userID
• Upload the bulk to your webhost
• Embed it in your site or blog

That’s all.
Tiltviewer 3D Flash Gallery is provided by Airtight Interactive

Euro 2008 is coming on in big steps. Time to integrate the match timetable into your personal or business calender.

Check out these Euro 2008 iCal-Files that can be imported to Microsoft Outlook, Apple iCal or Mozilla Sunbird:

• Euro 2008 iCal / WebCal Calendar provided by iCalShare
• UEFA Euro 2008 provided by datasafehaven.co.uk

If you are using the iCal files, make sure to link to the original destination so your program can always use the latest schedule version (updates are promised).

Below you can find a link to calendar files in german, thanks to the football centered blog fussball-szene.de:

• iCal (for Apple, Sunbird or Thunderbird with Lightning, also for import to many other applications like OpenXchange, WebCal)
• PST (can be directly opened in MS Outlook and MS Exchange)
• Excel (for the guys who like lists and to printouts)

Check the list here: Spielplan und Spieltermine EM 2008 at fussball-szene.de