This Simple Wood Contraption Lets the iPhone 4 Film Both Sides of a Story [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5879521/this-simple-wood-contraption-lets-the-iphone-4-film-both-sides-of-a-story

Billed as the "lowest-tech accessory" for the iPhone 4, the limited edition Love Box lets you record both sides of a conversation through the use of a simple sliding mirror. Without the need for a special app or any post-production.

The Love Box was originally conceived in Paris when its creators needed a way to film conversations between two people with just a single iPhone. The fruits of their labors look a lot more like a high school wood shop project than a professional filmmaking tool, but it not only gets the job done, it also allows for some creative effects as you adjust the position of the iPhone and the mirror.

To celebrate its success, and to recoup some of the $12 it looks like it cost to build the original model, The Love Box is now available for sale in a limited edition run of just 100 units. The price? A hard-to-justify $80 given it looks less complicated to build than a birdhouse or spice rack. [The Love Box via Wired]

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X-ray laser bakes solid plasma from aluminum foil, brings us closer to nuclear fusion

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/26/x-ray-laser-bakes-solid-plasma-from-aluminum-foil-brings-us-clo/

Nuclear fusion, like flying cars, is one of those transparent, dangling carrots that've been stymying the scientific community and tickling our collective noses for decades. But recent research out of the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory might help us inch a few baby steps closer to that Jetsonian future. The experiment, conducted by a group of Oxford University scientists, utilized the DOE's Linac Coherent Light Source -- an X-ray laser capable of pulsing "more than a billion times brighter" than current synchrotron sources -- to transmute a piece of aluminum foil heated to 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (or 2 million degrees Celsius) into a cube of solid plasma. So, why go to such lengths to fry a tiny piece of metal at that extreme temperature? Simple: to replicate conditions found within stars and planets. Alright, so it's not that easy and we're still a ways off from actually duping celestial bodies, but the findings could help advance theories in the field and eventually unlock the powers of the Sun. Until that fateful day arrives, however, we'll just have to let these pedigreed pyros continue to play with their high-tech toys.

Continue reading X-ray laser bakes solid plasma from aluminum foil, brings us closer to nuclear fusion

X-ray laser bakes solid plasma from aluminum foil, brings us closer to nuclear fusion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google adding Public Alerts to Maps, keeps you in the loop in times of worry

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/google-adding-public-alerts-to-maps/

You can't deny that Google often hands out marvelous tools for the masses to utilize (yes, some can be a miss), and today the King of Search is launching a fresh virtual apparatus as part of its Crisis Response project. Dubbed "Public Alerts," the feature is accessible from within Google Maps, keeping you in the loop during times of high alert. Your search query will trigger things like weather relevant to your area, public safety and earthquake alerts -- all of which are provided by the NOAA, the National Weather Service and the US Geological Survey. The Crisis Response squad says its goal is "to surface emergency information through the online tools you use everyday," which is a great idea, but we honestly hope that you don't have to use it very often. Those of you stateside can start using Public Alerts now -- as for the rest, let's hope that the search giant brings its alerts to a map near you sooner rather than later...

Google adding Public Alerts to Maps, keeps you in the loop in times of worry originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insert Coin: 50-Dollar Follow Focus

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/50-dollar-follow-focus/

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

If you've watched HD video footage captured by a DSLR, you've probably wondered why, despite the fact that you own the exact same model, your clips lack the fluid feel of a professional production. One culprit may be the lack of a steady support system to maintain balance as you shoot, like the rather complex Steadicam. That's just part of the equation, however. What you're also missing is the precision handling of an external follow focus. As its simplistic name implies, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus is a cheap and effective solution.

Made of CNC-machined aircraft-grade aluminum, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus includes two belts and two pulleys to accommodate a variety of lenses, and with the exception of your DSLR and a pair of support rails, everything you need to get started ships in the box. Author Wiley Davis teamed up with The Robot, his in-house CNC mill, to develop some early prototypes, before bringing the project to Kickstarter and launching a campaign to raise $10,000 in order to buy supplies in bulk and invest in a more efficient production system. The result looks very slick, and while it adds some bulk to your DSLR rig, the size tradeoff seems to be worthwhile. Ready to buy your own? Hit up the Kickstarter link below to make your pledge, and keep an eye on that mailbox -- these are expec! ted to s hip in March. You'll find a video demo just past the break.

Continue reading Insert Coin: 50-Dollar Follow Focus

Insert Coin: 50-Dollar Follow Focus originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eyes-on the innards of Fujitsu's K supercomputer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/eyes-on-the-innards-of-fujitsus-k-supercomputer/

Fujitsu's K supercomputer was on our radar before it was even completed, and naturally, we let you know when it smoked the competition and became the supercomputing speed king. So, when we had the opportunity to see a piece of K at Fujitsu's North America Technology Forum today, we couldn't pass it up. In case you forgot, K is a massive machine powered by 864 racks with 24 boards per rack housing SPARC64 CPUs. We got to see one of those boards, and Yuichiro Ajima -- who designed the inter-connection chips (ICC) on them -- was gracious enough to give us some more info on this most super of supercomputers.

Gallery: Eyes-on the innards of Fujitsu's K supercomputer

As you can see in the gallery above, each board has extensive plumbing to keep the SPARC silicon running at a manageable 32 - 35 degrees Celsius (90 - 95 Fahrenheit) under load. Underneath that copper cooling system lies four processors interspersed between 32 memory modules (with 2GB per module) and four ICCs lined up next to the board's rack interconnect ports. Currently, the system takes 30 megawatts to do its thing, though Ajima informed us that K's theoretical max electricity consumption is about double that -- for perspective, that means K could consume the entire output of some nuclear power plants. When asked if there were plans to add more racks should Fujitsu's supercomputer lose its crown, Ajima-san said that while possible, there are no plans to do so -- we'll see if that changes should a worthy opponent present itself.

Eyes-on the innards of Fujitsu's K supercomputer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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