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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Build Your Own 3D Camera Rig with Two Hacked Canon Cameras [Camera Hacks]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/zpQUFYK8d3Q/build-your-own-3d-camera-rig-with-two-hacked-canon-cameras

You don't need to spend a mint on the new 3D-capable camera from Fuji. You can throw two basic Canon point-and-shoot cameras together with $20 worth of parts and make your own for 3D fun.

You'll need a pair of matching Canon PowerShot cameras that have modified firmware—the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) we shared with you last year. You need two cameras in order to simulate the view from the left and right eye.

In addition to the two cameras you'll need about $20 worth of hardware that includes a simple bracket made with basic hardware store parts and a USB trigger button with dual outputs. The USB trigger will take a tiny bit of electronics know-how but if you can wire a lamp you can turn an Altoids tin and a simple circuit board into a dual-trigger for your 3D camera rig.

Once you've got the camera and trigger assembled you're in business on the taking-the-pictures side of things. On the post-processing side of things you'll need to offset the image with proper coloration for 3D glasses—the most popular tool is a free application called StereoPhoto Maker. Using StereoPhoto Maker you can combine and tweak your images for maximum 3D effect. Check out the full tutorial at MaximumPC for a detailed build guide and lots of photos.

Have experience with 3D photography or video? Let's hear about it in the comments.

How to Build Your Own 3D Camera Rig for Under $20 [via Gizmodo]

Five Best Screencasting Tools [Hive Five]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/UeclsGo9jT4/five-best-screencasting-tools

Thanks to broadband and some excellent screencasting applications, you don't need to limit yourself to mere static images when you're trying to show someone how to do something on your computer. Record video, audio, and do even more with these screencasting tools.

Photo by ToastyKen.

Screencasting can be an enormously handy tool for all manner of things: demonstrating a product, broadcasting your favorite software hack to all of the internet, emailing a how-to video to your less savvy friends or relatives to help them finally grok that whole email-attachment maneuver. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite screencasting tools, and now we're back with the top five for your perusal.

ScreenFlow (Mac, $99)

ScreenFlow is a Mac-only screencast editor that fills a nice niche between the limited-but-free options and the car-payment-sized options. Screenflow sports advanced features, like the ability to decouple audio and video streams for independent editing and audio ducking (if you're using background music it's automatically adjusted during speaking portions of the video); the ability to freeze, speed up, or slow down the video to allows you to time lapse or zoom through a more tedious portion of the task you're demonstrating. Screenflow also supports custom cursors and callouts for emphasizing the cursor or foremost window.

Jing (Windows/Mac, Basic: Free, Pro: $14.95 per year)

Jing is the more compact cousin of Camtasia Studio (see below) and great for less complicated—and more economical!—screencasting. Both the free and pro version are limited to five minutes of screen recording and come with a free account at Screencast.com for sharing your captures. The free version can save video as SWF video and is branded with the Jing logo. The pro version allows you to save your videos as SWF and MPEG-4 files, the branding is removed, and you can also share directly to YouTube (in HD) and record from your webcam. Both the free and pro version use the same intuitive and easy menu.

CamStudio (Windows, Free)

CamStudio is a free and open-source offering for the screencasting market. You can record all or part of your screen, customize cursors and text annotations, adjust the quality of the video output, and save screencasts as AVI or SWF files. The interface is easy to understand, and you won't be overwhelmed with extensive options. In a nutshell, it's a free and effective tool for creating screencasts without a lot of bulk or expense.

Camtasia (Windows/Mac, $299)

Camtasia Studio is a powerhouse in the screencasting world. Packed with features, Camtasia Studio makes it easy to create screencasts with presets for a variety of sharing situations like YouTube, HD displays, Screencast.com, and more. You can edit the audio and video independently so you don't have to redo a whole segment just because of an oops in the audio or video portion. Special effects and edits are easy to manipulate thanks to fine control over th! e time l ine—you can select a portion of your editing timeline right down to the tenth of a second. It's far from free, but Camtasia Studio is a well thought out and feature rich screencasting tool.

ScreenToaster (Web-based, Free)

ScreenToaster is the only web-based offering in this week's Hive Five, and it definitely fills a handy niche. Whether you don't screencast enough to want to install a dedicated application or you just need to crank out a quick screencast wherever you are, ScreenToaster can help. You don't get any advanced editing tools—screw up and you're redoing it—but you do get full screen capture, support for picture-in-picture webcam video in the lower right corner, and audio for voice-over. When you're done recording and previewing your clip, you can upload the video to ScreenToaster or YouTube, or download it as a MOV or SWF file. ScreenToaster is free and works with any Java-enabled web browser.

Now that you've had a chance to look over the top five contenders for most popular screencasting tool it's time to cast your vote in the poll below:

Best Screencasting Tool?(online surveys)

Have a favorite tool that didn't get a shout out? Have a tip or trick of your own for better screencasting? Let's hear about it in the comments.

How Do You Hide From the Internet? [Internet]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/LspXrctYt9c/how-do-you-hide-from-the-internet

Wired writer Evan Ratliff spent 27 days in constant fear of getting caught as a small army of amateur and professional investigators hunted him. He had a bounty on his head and the Internet nipping at his heels.

Vanish, a combination of a manhunt and an experiment, began at 5:38 pm on August 14, 2009 as a bold headline on Wired proclaimed "Author Evan Ratliff Is on the Lam. Locate Him and Win $5,000." We would discover if someone could disappear in today's world, or whether the electronic trails from ATM, email, and cell phone usage would give him away.

Of course, in Evan's case it wasn't just a few concerned family members or police officers looking. It was any person on the Internet whose curiosity was aroused, either by the sheer challenge or by the bounty. Any and all traceable information would be shared over the next few weeks. Soon Evan's phone records, credit card statements, IP dumps, interviews with friends, and anything that his hunters could dig up would be posted on Twitter, Facebook, and Wired's own site.

The end goal for the hunters was to locate Evan, photograph him after giving the codeword "fluke," and then submitting that photo along with a codeword Evan would provide to Wired. And after 27 long days, someone did just that. Evan was caught.

You can read the entire tale here. As you do, consider whether Evan made any genuine mistakes or whether his capture was simply inevitable. Is there a way to disappear, without giving up travel ! and tech nology? How would you do it? [Wired]

Sewell USB-to-DVI/VGA/HDMI Delivers Resolutions Up to 2,048x1,152 [Adapters]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/q6q9kMCgWRI/sewell-usb+to+dvivgahdmi-delivers-resolutions-up-to-2048x1152

Old PC, new PC—doesn't matter. This DisplayLink chip-equipped display adapter from Sewell will take any ol' PC and provide support for resolutions up to 2,048 x 1,152, all powered via USB.

So yeah, if you've been chomping at the bit to get HD quality resolutions delivered to your monitor via a USB connection, this may be the adapter for you. Comes in a kind of periwinkle blue hue for $99. [Sewell via Engadget]

Entelligence: Chrome OS, babies, and bathwater

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/entelligence-chrome-babies-and-bathwater/

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

In an age where products that have never been announced get coverage and even critiqued over rumored shipping delays, it's no surprise that Google received a lot of coverage this week with an update on its Chrome OS strategy. While not quite rumorware, it's a lot like the cloud it depends on: more vapor than substance.

I don't think Chrome would be a bad idea if it were something that was targeted to complement existing PC architectures. Why isn't it? If it's web-based, Chrome OS could and should co-exist with Mac OS, Linux and Windows. It's the idea that Google is promoting Chrome as a PC OS replacement for mobile devices and riding the netbook hype all at the same time that gets me, as does the fact that I need to get a new device to run Chrome OS. That's ridiculous, as are reference design requirements like SSDs instead of hard drives. Worse, trying to merge the PC and phone into some weird new intersection of devices is not what the market wants or has ever looked for. This type of specialized hardware sounds like it's going right into the 'tweener category and we know what happens to those devices. You just have to look how successful netbooks running Linux and Firefox have been to get a sense as to how well this concept is likely to go over with consumers.

Continue reading Entelligence: Chrome OS, babies, and bathwater

Entelligence: Chrome OS, babies, and bathwater originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archerfish Quattro video monitoring and recording system now available at Amazon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/archerfish-quattro-video-monitoring-and-recording-system-now-ava/

Cernium's just announced something that should really please the 'I know the cat is putting my stuff on Ebay while I'm at church' crowd. The Archerfish Quattro is a full scale, no messing around video monitoring and recording system that pays attention to the little details while you're not around. Analyzing info in real time, if the Archerfish Quattro spies something funky, it'll send a message to your mobile phone or email. The system is expandable so that you can have as many cameras in the setup as you want (well, up to four), and best of all? It's available at Amazon now, so you can order it without having to leave home -- which you don't want to do yet. It's just not safe. The Archerfish Quattro system can be purchased now for a starting price of $1700. Full PR is after the break.

Continue reading Archerfish Quattro video monitoring and recording system now available at Amazon

Filed under: Household

Archerfish Quattro video monitoring and recording system now available at Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung unleashes two Diva-branded phones, divas everywhere faint

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/samsung-unleashes-two-diva-branded-phones-divas-everywhere-fain/

Samsung's been showing off two new handsets of late. The S5150 Olivia is a clamshell affair with a mirrored body, an external LED, and we know that it will boast a 3 megapixel camera and a 2.2-inch QVGA display. The other - the S7070 - is an iPhone-esque job, with a crazy diamond-shaped button at the bottom, and a quilted-style back cover, with a 3-inch WQVGA display with resistive touchscreen, Bluetooth, and microSD slot. Samsung hasn't formally announced these ladies yet, but they are expected in the first quarter of 2010. One more photo after the break.

Continue reading Samsung unleashes two Diva-branded phones, divas everywhere faint

Samsung unleashes two Diva-branded phones, divas everywhere faint originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips launches 9704 LED Pro televisions in the UK

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/philips-launches-9704-led-pro-televisions-in-the-uk/

Philips has just announced a new 9704 LED Pro line of televisions bound for the UK. The two sets promise a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 200Hz refresh rate, and a 1-ms response time. Philips promises both models -- the 40-inch 40PFL9704 and the 46-inch 46PFL9704 -- are up to 50 percent more energy efficient than previous models, and both boast 5 HDMI ports. Both LED Pros will be available in December, with the 40-incher running £1,799 (around $2969) and the 46-inch model costing £2,499 (about $4,124).

Philips launches 9704 LED Pro televisions in the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atlona's HDAiR wireless USB-to-VGA / HDMI adapter gains audio, usefulness

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/21/atlonas-hdair-wireless-usb-to-vga-hdmi-adapter-gains-audio-u/

Remember that HDAiR adapter we reviewed with exceptionally high hopes earlier this year? Yeah, it wasn't exactly the dream device we wanted, but it seems as if Atlona may have just remedied the primary gripe we had against it. The all-new HDAiR wireless USB-to-VGA / HDMI adapter is essentially the same one as before, but this time audio is involved. In response to widespread demand for the feature, the outfit has added the ability to output audio in both 3.5mm analog, as well as embedded on the HDMI output. This one's also compatible with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, and it's still using the tried-and-true UWB protocol to sling content. If you managed to hold off on the first guy, this one's available to order now for $219.

Continue reading Atlona's HDAiR wireless USB-to-VGA / HDMI adapter gains audio, usefulness

Atlona's HDAiR wireless USB-to-VGA / HDMI adapter gains audio, usefulness originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sewell's DisplayLink-enabled USB-to-DVI / VGA / HDMI adapter does 2,048 x 1,152

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/22/sewells-displaylink-enabled-usb-to-dvi-vga-hdmi-adapter-doe/

It's been a hot minute since we've seen a totally useful display adapter from Sewell, but the outfit's latest is certainly worth a gander if you've been yearning to push high-def signals through USB. The Minideck USB-to-DVI / VGA / HDMI (video only) adapter utilizes the DisplayLink DL-195 chip, which provides support for resolutions as high 2,048 x 1,152, so 1080p and 1,920 x 1,200 LCD monitors are well taken care of. Best of all, this thing doesn't require a Core i7 rig to operate, so your 5 year old corporate laptop should be plenty to handle the rigors of powering a 24-inch LCD via a dusty old USB socket. It's all yours right now for $99.95.

Sewell's DisplayLink-enabled USB-to-DVI / VGA / HDMI adapter does 2,048 x 1,152 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sewell Direct | Email this | Comments

BlackBerry Bold 9700 now on sale to all at AT&T: $200 on contract

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/22/blackberry-bold-9700-now-on-sale-to-all-at-atandt-200-on-contrac/

T-Mobile (along with a number of overseas carriers) have had RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9700 for some time now, and while we knew that the handset was shipping to those who AT&T considers "special" and "irreplaceable," the rest of the collective masses have simply had to sit on the sidelines and wait. Thankfully, that whole bout with patience is over, as the Bold 9700 is now available to order directly from the operator's website for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and your John Henry on a 2-year agreement. So, anyone forcing Santa to come early this year, or what?

[Thanks, Ry]

BlackBerry Bold 9700 now on sale to all at AT&T: $200 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Olympus' $1,100 PEN E-P2 up for pre-order, played with early

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/22/olympus-1-100-pen-e-p2-up-for-pre-order-played-with-early/

Olympus' PEN E-P2 is destined to be a fine product, we're sure. What we aren't sure of, however, is how exactly the company came up with the nearly laughable MSRP. The second-ever Micro Four Thirds offering from the outfit is up for pre-order right now at Amazon, though the $1,099.99 asking price is just far too lofty for us to recommend snagging a place in line. That said, you're still probably interested in learning more about the device, so we'll be pointing you in Gadling's direction for that; the crew over at our favorite travel blog managed to snag one of these buggers early, and exterior color aside, we're told that it looks practically "identical to the E-P1." Hit up the links below for a closer look -- just keep your credit card far, far away until we see a full review.

[Thanks, Misael]

Olympus' $1,100 PEN E-P2 up for pre-order, played with early originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Someone just called me terrorist -- that is, an anti "brand-ing" terrorist crusading against one-way, push branding - http://bit.ly/ueQJJ

Saturday, November 21, 2009

It's an "it is what it is" metric (which isn't actionable) - #netpromoterscore #netpromoter #NPS - http://bit.ly/6EYyc

Friday, November 20, 2009

Net Promoter Score (NPS) like brand sentiment scores are oversimplified averages that are not actionable - http://bit.ly/6EYyc

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