this Sony camera ALMOST got me to buy Sony

http://www.sonystyle.ca/html/multimedia/DSC/T200_microsite_html/feature_4.html

So small, slim, stylish, and supremely capable! From taking pictures to viewing and enjoyment, the HD-compatible DSC-T200 revolutionises your whole photo experience.

Multi Resizing Change your pictures to suit your needs.This function allows original images taken in 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9 aspect ratio to be easily resized in-camera and their mode altered according to the application. Images taken in 4:3 and 3:2 can be resized into 16:9 at 2 Mega resolution for viewing on HDTV; images other than VGA (including 16:9) can be resized into 4:3 at VGA resolution for uploading to a blog or attachment to an e-mail. Fine tuning the trimming position is also easy with the 4-direction button displayed on the Touch Screen, and there's no need to import images into a PC to make all these transformations. Simply resize — and enjoy! Note: It is not possible to upload the screen image from the camera body directly to a blog.

HD (16:9)   WEB (VGA)

Wide zoom display

Change your viewer to fit viewing opportunities. A "wide zoom" function allows photos to be displayed in 16:9 aspect ratio. Even 4:3 and 3:2 aspect ratio photos can be displayed in 16:9 aspect ratio when viewing on actual HDTV or on the full wide-screen LCD display of the camera — for a feeling of HDTV viewing.

Note: Movies are shown in 4:3 aspect ratio.

Relax and enjoy the shooting experience

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DIY: Build a solar water heater for under $5

from Lifehacker by Adam Pash

DIY site Instructables details how to build a solar thermal water heater on the cheap using parts from a recycled refrigerator grill and a few other bits and pieces. So how well does it work?

I let this guy run for a couple of hours one hot sunny day and heated up a five gallon bucket of cold water (measured at 70 degrees F) to over 110 degrees F. The temp that day was about 76 degrees F. If the water is allowed to sit in the panel for several minutes and then forced out (by blowing in one of the hoses) the water was measure at 170 degrees F.

The actual device isn't currently the most practical way to heat water for an entire home (it's more of a prototype), but it's a very cool idea. As for the price, you're going to have to do some salvaging to hit the under $5 mark, but even if you don't the materials should be rather cheap.

Solar Thermal Water Heater For Less Than Five Dollars [Instructables]

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