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Skype 4.0 Beta 1 for Windows now available

Skype has released Skype 4.0 Beta 1 for Windows. A new re-designed wider interface, targeted more towards video calling. This will take a little getting used to, so far looks good, except the default font is too small, and I can’t seem to find the option to change the font size.

See here for some of the available and missing functionality.

So what’s new then? We’ve given video calling the screen size it finally deserves, plus we’ve made it really simple to use. A single click on the Video call button and you’ll be seeing and talking. Video doesn’t start off really small anymore – it’s big and beautiful to begin with. You can also resize and move your own video window around the screen quite easily. Plus in one click, you can have an IM conversation alongside the video call.

Kakul Srivastava to head Flickr, Cofounders leave

Flickr cofounders, Caterina Fake (website) and Stewart Butterfield are leaving Flickr, and current director of product management, Kakul Srivastava (linkedin, blog) is going to take over as the general manager.

Anyone know the reason for this exodus?

CrunchBase Information

Kakul Srivastava

Information provided by CrunchBase

Firefox 3 Download Counter

The Firefox 3 Guinness World Record downloads attempt is underway. Check out the real-time counter for the latest number of total downloads and a break down by country. Download Firefox 3

If you are having trouble downloading, see @jordantbro

Iran withdraws $75 billion from Europe

Reuters is reporting that, in light of possible sanctions, Iran has withdrawn $75 billion from Europe, and transferred to Asian Banks.

“About $75 billion of Iran’s foreign assets which were under threat of being blocked were wired back to Iran based on Ahmadinejad’s order,”

Meet GINA

BMW’s new car design which uses flexible textile material as the skin, allowing for amazing flexibility in the shape of the car.

This is most evident in the GINA Light Visionary Model’s outer skin, which is made entirely out of textile fabric that’s pulled taut around a frame of metal and carbon fiber wires. The skeleton of the car is controlled by electro-hydraulic devices and can actually move and change shape beneath the fabric skin.

Fenway HD Camera

Tom Guilmette, who shoots Red Sox games in HD for living, shares a video blog of how he uses his $94,700 Sony HDC-910 camera.

I use a Sony HDC-910 camera head with a 75x (9.5mm to 700mm zoom 1:1.7) Canon HD lens with an optical image stabilizer. The camera head new has a retail price of $94,700.00 and that does not include the viewfinder or the lens! The lens is almost as much! The camera is mounted to a large fluid head on Miller sticks. The fluid head is the Vinten Vector 70 and I would ague that this is the best hard camera pan head ever made.

iPhone 3G video conferencing kit

Ever wanted a forward camera and video conferencing on the iPhone? Gizmodo is reporting that a video conferencing kit will be available for the iPhone 3G!

Via Gizmodo

This is not a first, Blackberry 8100’s have a small self-portrait mirror on the back.

2008 Dwell Wacom Live Ecodesign Winners

Here are the winners from Dwell’s Wacom Live Ecodesign challenge where designers had to produce 2D sustainable and modular dwellings, rooms and furniture in a live tournament of two rounds of 45 minutes each.

During the event, each Contestant will draw on a Wacom Cintiq Digital Tablet on either HP PC Workstations or a Mac, using Adobe Photoshop, and/orAutodesk Sketchbook, producing 2D sustainable and modular homes, rooms and furniture designs. Each Contestant may bring a thumbdrive of their brushes, colors and textures.

First Place: Olek Novak-Zempli?ski

Second Place: Mark Goerner

Abu Dhabi to Buy Chrysler Building

Abu Dhabi Investment Council is planning to buy a 75% stake in the Chrysler Building for estimated $800 million. America buys oil, Arabs buy America!

The Chrysler assets would be purchased from TMW – the German arm of an Atlanta-based investment fund that’s been eager to cash out of its Chrysler stake.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gerhard Bos

Fist Pound or Terrorist Jab?

Fox News anchor E.D. Hill thinks Obama fist pound is a terrorist jab!

“A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently.”

Looks like E.D. Hill has lost her show on Fox News because of this. And for those wanting getting in with the new gesture, here is fist pounding 101 from Pat Buchanan!

iPhone 3G: Twice As Fast, Half The Price

iPhone 3G will be available July 11th in 22 countries. 8GB for $199 and 16GB for $299. Other features include: GPS, support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and new white color option.

Creativebits’ Gmail Labs Review

Creativebits’ reviews the 13 new Gmail features available for user testing via Gmail Labs.

The only one I really care about and have been waiting for a long time is the ability to place signature before the quoted text.

Related: Introducing Gmail Labs

Pencil Icon Tutorial

An in-depth icon design tutorial using Adobe Illustrator from Smashing Magazine.

“This article explains the process of designing a simple pencil icon, one of the icons of the icon set. The tutorial is very detailed and in-depth, so you will hopefully be able to follow each step without any problems.”

The pencil icon can be found in the free Mikly Icon Set.

30 Inspirational Posters

Design Reviver has put together a list of 30 posters. Very cool inspirational resource for web designers.

“One of my favorite alternatives for inspiration is poster design. By looking at great posters, you can learn a lot about composition, typography, and use of color.”