Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The rumors were true. Canon has crammed the $1500 50D's sensor and 5D-Mark-II-like 1080p video capture into an $899 entry-level Rebel. We ran it through its paces for a few hours, and it's awesome.So what we have here is almost the exact sensor from the 50D-a 15.1 megapixel CMOS with sensitivities up to ISO 12,800 at its top-end H2 boost setting. And almost the exact same HD capture from the 5D Mark II-the only change is that 1080p video is captured at 20fps, down from the 5D Mark II's 30fps.
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On Tuesday night, a Los Angeles Times blog post pointed to an soundbite that Facebook "gaming guru" Gareth Davis produced at the GamesBeat conference in San Francisco: that the company is "looking at" offering a virtual currency to developers. The virtual goods industry, the article notes, is a $1.5 billion behemoth.
This would mean that games and other apps with a presence on Facebook could use a universal "Facebook currency" that would not only be interoperable between apps, it could also line Facebook's pockets with some extra cash. But Davis' language ("looking at") is about as ambiguous as it gets, so my advice to potentially-excited developers would be "don't hold your breath."
Late last year, Facebook switched the payment system for Facebook Gifts from U.S. dollars to "credits," making it easier for the site to charge more or less than its previous standard $1 for the virtual items.
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If you're planning on any outdoor parties, like camping out or just hanging around a bonfire, it's always nice to bring some music with you. This BoomCooler is easy to wheel around no matter where you go, although you might want to keep a tarp or something around to protect it just in case it rains. It has a built-in CD player or you can hook up your iPod to the cooler. They actually recommend for better sound using something plugged into the aux input or USB input as opposed to using the CD player.*~*~*
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's GDC keynote today has revealed that the Wii will not be on the receiving end of a new hard drive, but will instead support the SDHC memory card format. Owners of the Wii will be able to do so using the Wii Menu 4.0 by downloading content straight onto the SDHC card from the Wii Shop Channel, where up to 240 SD channels are supported. With the SDHC standard to hit 32GB in the near future anyways, it makes perfect sense to use this relatively diminutive card instead of a portable hard drive.
And a new Zelda in the works?
Nintendo's CEO Satoru Iwata took the keynote stage at GDC this morning to encourage the developer community, talk about the DSi handheld and unveil some new titles for the Wii and DS platforms including a new Zelda game called Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (working title).
Labels: boomcooler, camera, canon, digital, dsi, Facebook, nintendo, photography, video, wii, zelda
Monday, February 2, 2009
CHOMPr, is a conceptual hamburger grasping device bound to divide the burger savoring tongues and hands in at least one way.If I ever see anyone using something like this I think I'd scoff aloud and throw something at them. Licking the salt off your cheeseburger fingers is part of the process. And if it's a really ketchupy burger than just use the wrapper or a napkin for pete's sake. This invention is ludicrous.
Pshaw to whomever thought it up!
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Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Grab a whole cluster of links and open, bookmark, copy, or download them with Snap Links, a nifty extension recently updated for Firefox 3.
After installing the add-on, you head to the options, choose which button—left, right, or middle—you want to activate it from, then use a familiar rectangle selection tool to select multiple links on a page. The basic option is to open each selected link in a new tab, but hold the control key when releasing your button and you'll get a range of convenient options—the "Download All" choice, in particular.
Snap Links Plus, updated recently by the official author after months of unofficial versions for Firefox 3, is a free download, works wherever Firefox does.
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How to photograph snow?
in a nutshell: turn your exposure up to +1 - find it in exposure compensation, of just the menu option marked +/-
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Rubik's 360.It's sphereical!
Imagine that, right? Said device is about to be officially unveiled in Germany this week at a national toy show, and while many question its ability to recreate the wonder and amazement associated with the original Cube, puzzle aficionados the world over are still enthusiastic about giving it a go. The unit features six balls trapped inside of three transparent plastic spheres; in order to solve it, players must figure out how to get the internal balls "from an inner sphere into matching slots on the outer sphere by shaking them through a middle sphere that has only two holes."
I will definitely be getting one for Braeden.
Labels: bookmarking, firefox addon, Gadgets, photography, rubik cube, snap links, stupid inventions
Monday, August 20, 2007
Adobe announced that it will be creating an online version of Photohop within the next 6 months! The company already offers Acrobat Connect, a service for Web conferencing introduced with the most recent release of its Acrobat PDF reader. But I feel the online image editor will reach a wider and more diverse audience.The online image editor is said to be laying the foundation for Adobe Remix, a Web-based video-editing tool.
The program will be free and similar to Adobe's more sophisticated image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Hmmm, this is an excellent way to tempt an otherwise non-interested user into wanting the said "more sophisticated" product. Adobe, you sneaky weasels!
This just adds to the many reasons for why you should go to Adobe MAX. Adobe MAX, Chicago, USA, Sept. 30 - Oct. 3.
Labels: adobe, online tools, photography
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Here's a cool concept: Spray your face with a product that will render you invisible to cameras. Impossible! Well it's still a concept, but Blur anti-photography spray may make some paparazzi sweat. The idea is that the spray would contain nanoparticles with uber-reflective properties. This high reflection would throw off the photo sensors and just white out your face. Apparently HP has something similar in mind too - an electronic badge that jams digital cameras. An infrared signal would jam any nearby digital camera - making the camera blur beyond recognition the faces of those wearing the badge. Interesting stuff, wouldn't you say?
Blur
HP Badge Article.
Labels: photography, technology
Saturday, April 21, 2007
"What if your photo collection was an entry point into the world, like a wormhole that you could jump through and explore..."
Photosynth will wow you. Some brilliant minds at the Microsoft Live Labs have figured out a way to arrange 2D images taken from digital cameras and create a 3D environment. This Photosynth program intelligently organizes the data from a collection of images (of the same scene) and compiles a beautiful 3D image. Imagine being able to "walk through" you photos as if you were there again? And zooming is cool too - only the data that is required to display the current view is used, which means two images of the same subject taken at different distances will not be displayed at the same time. Also, while looking at the entire collection, you can see where each image was placed to create the final compilation. You can save and share your collections as well. The system requirements aren't too bad: Windows XP SP2, 1 GB RAM, and a video card with at least 128 MB RAM and DirectX 9. This is quite an exciting technology, and I think you should check it out here.
Labels: Microsoft, photography, technology
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