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Friday, April 30, 2010

CombineZM Focus Stacks Photos For Greater Macro Shots [Download]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5527335/combinezm-focus-stacks-photos-for-greater-macro-shots

CombineZM Focus Stacks Photos For Greater Macro Shots Windows only: Free utility CombineZM uses a image technique called focus stacking to combine multiple photos together, allowing for a wider depth of field, and clear, sharp images—a useful technique for getting great close-up photography.

Photos by Brian Valentine.

Photography site WonderfulPhotos.com has a step-by-step tutorial on stacking multiple images to create an all-around focused photo using CombineZM. The program can automatically combine these photos, but if you like a little more control, it also allows you to manually align them for a cleaner picture.

Focus stacking is more commonly used in macro-photography, and is done by taking at least three photos of the same object. The photos must focus on different parts of the object, with at least one each on the foreground, middleground, and background. By combining photos with different focuses, CombineZM will create an all-around sharp picture; more than what's possible on your camera.

CombineZM Focus Stacks Photos For Greater Macro Shots

CombineZM is free program available for Windows only.

CombineZM [via WonderfulPhotos.com via Gizmodo]

Confirmed: LG's Moorestown-based GW990 won't be made

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/30/confirmed-lgs-moorestown-based-gw990-wont-be-made/

Considering the almost complete absence of love in the commercial marketplace for Moorestown and Moblin -- and the fact that there's no sign of MeeGo building serious momentum just yet -- we're sure that Intel would've just loved for the drop-dead-sexy GW990 to serve as the platform's crown jewel for 2010. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, because we've just been able to confirm that the 4.8-inch beast (and potential Dell Mini 5 foil) has been wiped off the product roadmap. Though we don't know exactly what happened, the fact that Moblin is effectively dead and MeeGo isn't ready for prime time might be part of LG's justification for killing it off; if you might recall, the GW990 was introduced before MeeGo was official, and the original plan was to have it on the market in the second half of this year. Then again, this might be just as well -- we weren't impressed by the fact that LG was positioning the phone as a closed device back at CES, and there are still plenty of open questions as to how Intel and Nokia plan to offer apps on MeeGo -- so let's just hope this form factor reemerges from LG's labs soon enough, yeah?

Confirmed: LG's Moorestown-based GW990 won't be made originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Scientists Invent 'Elastic Water' [Science]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5527500/japanese-scientists-invent-elastic-water

This is "elastic water," a substance researchers have created in Japan that's 95% water yet retains a jelly-like texture that's perfect for sticking tissues together.

The stuff is made by adding two grams of clay and "a small quantity of some organic matter" to regular old water. And if they're able to figure out how to increase its density, it could produce eco-friendly plastic materials. Also, I bet it feels real weird when you squeeze it. [Japan Science and Technology Agency via Akihabara News]

Ubuntu 10.04 'Lucid Lynx' arrives on the scene

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/ubuntu-10-04-lucid-lynx-arrives-on-the-scene/

It's been less than a year since Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" was released, but the next big version of the Linux OS has now already arrived to take its place: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx." In addition to the usual tweaks and fixes, this one promises a boot speed that is "noticeably quicker" on almost any machine (and especially on those with SSDs), along with a range of new features including a social networking-oriented "Me Menu," Ubuntu Software Centre 2.0 for easier access to new software, and a slew of new cloud-based services courtesy of Ubuntu One -- not to mention the Ubuntu One music store. The release also marks the first time that GIMP doesn't come pre-installed (you get F-Spot instead), and it is naturally complemented by Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition, which promises even faster boot speeds and other optimizations. Ready to make the jump? Then you can grab the Release Candidate right now at the link below, or you can wait a bit for the final Long-Term Support (LTS) version, which is said to be "just around the corner."

Update: And just like that, the LTS version is out! Get it at the source link below.

Ubuntu 10.04 'Lucid Lynx' arrives on the scene originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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